Electronic imaging device

• US 6,734,909 B1
• Filed: 10/26/1999
• Issued: 05/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Original Assignee: Olympus Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Takashi, Terane, Akio
• Primary Examiner(s): Moe, Aung
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ye, Lin
• Application Number:
  US09/426,842
• Time in Patent Office: 1,659 Days
• Field of Search: 348/333.01, 348/333.05, 348/333.11, 348/333.12, 348/333.02, 348/328, 345/721, 345/723, 345/837, 345/835
• US Class Current: 348/333.05
• 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 1/32122 in a separate device, e.g. in a memory or on a display separate from image data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/325 Modified version of the image, e.g. part of the image, image reduced in size or resolution, thumbnail or screennail
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/50 Constructional details
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/63 by using electronic viewfinders
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/70 Circuitry for compensating brightness variation in the scene

Abstract

An electronic imaging device has a reproduction section which reproduces at least one of a thumbnail image and a full image, display section to display reproduced at least one of the thumbnail image and the full image, a scene select section which selects a desired thumbnail image and outputs a scene select signal, and display controller to display a full image corresponding to the desire thumbnail signal in the display section based on the scene select signal output at the end, and the display controller controls the record reproduction section before reproducing the full image corresponding to the thumbnail image based on the scene select signal output at the end when the plurality of scene select signals are input.

Claims

1. An electronic imaging device capable of selectively reading one of a thumbnail image and a full image from a recording medium, and reproducing said one of the thumbnail image and the full image, comprising:

an index image generation section which generates an index image by using a thumbnail image stored as data in the recording medium;

a display unit which displays at least the generated index image;

a scene selection section which selects a desired one of thumbnail images in the index image displayed by the display unit, and sets an active state wherein said selected desired one of the thumbnail images is expandable to a full image; and

an index image switching section which switches the index image displayed by the display unit to one of a first index image corresponding to an image picked up before each of thumbnail images in the displayed index image and a second index image corresponding to an image picked up after said each thumbnail image in the displayed index image;

wherein when the index image switching section designates the first index image, the first index image is generated by the index image generation section, and displayed by the display unit, and a thumbnail image having the oldest scene number in the first index image is set in the active state, and when the index image switching section designates the second index image, the second index image is generated by the index image generation section and displayed by the display unit, and a thumbnail image having the newest number in the second index image is set in the active state.

2. The electronic imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the scene selection section and the index image switching section includes a scene selection key and an index image switching key, respectively, the scene selection key being designated to select a desired one of the thumbnail images by indicating said desired one of the thumbnail images, the index image switching key being provided along with the scene selection key as a single body.

3. The electronic imaging device according to claim 2, wherein the scene selection key and the index image switching key include respective pairs of keys which are formed as a cross key, and the thumbnail images are selectable one by one in an imaging order or the opposite order by operating the scene selection key, and the displayed index image is switched to said one of the first and second index images by operating the index image selection key.

4. The electronic imaging device according to claim 1, which further comprises a display type designation unit which designates a display type (the total number of scenes) of the index image, and wherein the index image switching section generates one of an index image which precedes the displayed index image by one index image and an index image which is subsequent to the displayed index image by one index image, on the basis of the display type (the total number of scenes) designated by the display type designation unit.

5. The electronic imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the index image switching section designates one of a first index image which is of the same type as the index image displayed by the display unit, and which is picked up by one index image before the index image displayed by the display unit, and a second index image which is of the same type as the index image displayed by the display unit, and which is picked up by one index image after the index image displayed by the display unit.