Digital image capturing device having an input/output interface through which the device is controlled

• US 6,300,976 B1
• Filed: 05/01/2000
• Issued: 10/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Fukuoka, Hiroki
• Primary Examiner(s): Garber, Wendy R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vu, Ngoc-Yen, VU, NGOC YEN T
• Application Number:
  US09/562,324
• Time in Patent Office: 526 Days
• Field of Search: H04/N.700, H04/N.576, H04/N.5225, 358/906, 358/909.1, 348/207, 348/222, 348/231, 348/232, 348/233, 348/373, 348/375, 348/376, 348/552, 396/310, 396/312, 396/321, 396/322, 396/419, 396/429, 386/95, 386/96, 386/104, 386/107, 386/108, 711/100, 711/103, 711/115
• US Class Current: 348/231.99
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00127 Connection or combination of a still picture apparatus with another apparatus, e.g. for storage, processing or transmission of still picture signals or of information associated with a still picture
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00962 Input arrangements for operating instructions or parameters, e.g. updating internal software program loading in general G06F9/445; network-specific protocols involving the movement of software or configuration parameters H04L67/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00973 from a remote device, e.g. receiving via the internet instructions input to a computer terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0034 Details of the connection, e.g. connector, interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0036 Detecting or checking connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0051 Card-type connector, e.g. PCMCIA card interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• 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 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8063 using time division multiplex of the PCM audio and PCM video signals
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 358/906 Hand-held camera with recorder in a single unit

Abstract

A digital image capturing device which communicates through an input/output interface with an external processing device which monitors and/or controls the camera. The image capturing device communicates with the external device in order to output status information to the external device, receive commands from the external device and to transfer images and sound between the image capturing device and the external device. Various parameters describing the state of the image capturing device are transmitted to the external device including characteristics of the captured images, whether the flash is ready, the state of the device battery, whether the memory is full, or the parameters used when capturing images. The commands which can be sent from the external device to the image capturing device include commands to change any of the parameters of the image capturing device and a command to capture an image or a series of images, and whether or not sound is recorded.

Claims

1. A digital image capturing system, comprising

a digital image capturing device including:

a lens;

an electronic image pick-up which receives images through the lens;

a processor;

a communication interface, connected to the processor, which transfers information into and out of the digital image capturing device,

a detachably connected input/output interface including;

a connector which detachably connects to the communication interface of the digital image capturing device; and

a connector which connects to a processing device which is external to the digital image capturing device,

wherein;

the communication interface of the digital image capturing device receives commands for controlling an operation of the digital image capturing device from the processing device and the processor of the digital image capturing device controls the digital image capturing device in accordance with the received commands,

the communication interface of the digital image capturing device transmits parameters describing a state of the digital image capturing device to the processing device, and

the detachably connected input/output interface further includes;

 

a memory for storing a control program for controlling communication between the digital image capturing device and the processing device.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein the commands received by the communication interface from the processing device include at least one of a command for changing an image compression rate, a command for changing a number of pixels of images, and a command to change an aspect ratio of the images.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein the digital image capturing device further comprises:

means for encoding images captured by the electronic image pick-up; and

selection means for selecting whether the means for encoding images encodes the images to include a quantization table or a scale factor used for determining a quantization value.

4. A system according to claim 1, wherein the processor of the digital image capturing device creates at least one of exposure evaluation information, white balance evaluation information, and focus evaluation information which is transferred to the processing device through the communication interface of the digital image capturing device.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein the communication interface of the digital image capturing device operates using the control program.

6. A system according to claim 5, wherein the digital image capturing device further includes:

a control program memory; and

means for transferring the control program from the memory of the interface to the control program memory of the digital image capturing device.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein the digital image capturing device further includes:

a memory for storing images captured by the electronic image pick-up,

wherein the communication interface of the digital image capturing device further includes means for transferring images stored in the memory of the digital image capturing device to the processing device.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein the digital image capturing device further includes:

a display which displays images stored in the memory of the digital image capturing device.

9. A system according to claim 8, wherein:

said display is for displaying the parameters describing the state of the digital image capturing device and a state of the detachably connected communication interface.

10. A system according to claim 1, wherein the digital image capturing device further includes:

image coding means for encoding digital representations of images captured by the electronic image pick-up.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the digital image capturing device further includes:

a microphone for capturing audio signals.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the commands received by the communication interface from the processing device include at least one of a command to change a compression rate of the audio signals, and a command to change a number of sampling bits of the audio signals.

13. A system according to claim 11, wherein the digital image capturing device further comprises:

means for encoding audio signals captured by the microphone; and

selection means for selecting whether the means for coding audio signals encodes the audio signals to output only encoded audio or both encoded audio and a table used during a decoding process.

14. A method for communicating between a digital image capturing device and a processing device external to the digital image capturing device, comprising the steps of:

transmitting control commands from the processing device to the digital image capturing device;

receiving the control commands by a detachable communication interface connected to the digital image capturing device; and

changing a state of the digital image capturing device using the received control commands,

said method further comprising the steps of;

determining a state of the digital image capturing device;

transmitting parameters describing the determined state of the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device,

said method further comprising the steps of;

loading a control program from a memory in the detachable communication interface into a memory of the digital image capturing device,

wherein the step of transmitting parameters transmits the parameters using the control program in the memory of the digital image capturing device.

15. A method according to claim 14, further comprising the steps of:

capturing an image by an electronic image pick-up device of the digital image capturing device; and

transmitting the captured image from the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device.

16. A method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

capturing audio signals by a microphone of the digital image capturing device; and

transmitting the captured audio signals from the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device.

17. A method of operating a digital image capturing device which is for connection to a processing device external to the digital image capturing device, comprising the steps of:

receiving control commands which were transmitted from the processing device by a detachable communication interface connected to the digital image capturing device; and

changing a state of the digital image capturing device using the received control commands,

said method further comprising the steps of;

determining a state of the digital image capturing device;

transmitting parameters describing the determined state of the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device,

said method further comprising the steps of;

loading a control program from a memory in the detachable communication interface into a memory of the digital image capturing device,

wherein the step of transmitting parameters transmits the parameters using the control program in the memory of the digital image capturing device.

18. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

capturing an image by an electronic image pick-up device of the digital image capturing device; and

transmitting the captured image from the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device.

19. A method according to claim 17, further comprising the steps of:

capturing audio signals by a microphone of the digital image capturing device; and

transmitting the captured audio signals from the digital image capturing device through the detachable communication interface to the processing device.