Imaging apparatus having improved usability when moving images and still images are recorded

• US 8,587,683 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2012
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Fujii, Akio
• Primary Examiner(s): CHEN, CHIA WEI A
• Application Number:
  US13/598,004
• Publication Number:
  US 20120321274A1
• Time in Patent Office: 447 Days
• Field of Search: 348/220.1, 348/221.1, 3482311-23199
• US Class Current: 348/220.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/212 Motion video recording combined with still video recording television signal recording H04N5/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/333 Mode signalling or mode changing; Handshaking therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/115 Selection of the code volume for a coding unit prior to coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/124 Quantisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/152 by measuring the fullness of the transmission buffer
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/154 Measured or subjectively estimated visual quality after decoding, e.g. measurement of distortion use of rate-distortion criteria H04N19/147
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/60 using transform coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/61 in combination with predictive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/212 Selecting different recording or reproducing modes, e.g. high or low resolution, field or frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/33357 Compression mode
• 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 5/772 the recording apparatus and the television camera being placed in the same enclosure
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/781 on disks or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/85 on discs or drums
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/907 using static stores, e.g. storage tubes or semiconductor memories H04N5/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/7921 for more than one processing mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8042 involving data reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/8047 using transform coding

Abstract

An imaging apparatus includes a signal processing unit that generates moving image data and still image data using image data output from an imaging unit, a moving image coding unit that encodes the moving image data, a still image coding unit that encodes the still image data, a recording unit that records the coded moving and still image data on a recording medium, a setting unit that sets a data rate of the coded moving image data, and a control unit that controls the moving and still image coding units. The control unit controls the moving image coding unit based on the set data rate to adjust the data rate of the moving image data and the still image coding unit based on the set data rate and a recording data rate of the recording medium to adjust an amount of the still image data.

Claims

1. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

a recording unit configured to record the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit on a recording medium;

a setting unit configured to set a data rate of the moving image data to be compressed by the moving image compressing unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data,

wherein the recording unit records the still image data on the recording medium during recording of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit to adjust a data rate of the moving image data, and controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit and an information relating to a recording data rate of the recording medium to adjust an amount of the still image data generated during recording of the moving image data.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts the amount of the still image data on the basis of a difference between the recording data rate of the recording medium and the set data rate.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing unit generates still image data of N frames in unit time, and

wherein the control unit adjusts the amount of the still image data so that still image data of each of N frames has the same information amount.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the setting unit selects one of a plurality of predetermined data rates in accordance with a user operation.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued when the moving image data is not recorded, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit so that the data rate of the still image data generated when the moving image data is not recorded is adjusted regardless of the set data rate.

6. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

a recording unit configured to record the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit on a recording medium;

a setting unit configured to set a data rate of the moving image data to be compressed by the moving image compressing unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit to adjust a data rate of the moving image data, and controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit and an information relating to a recording data rate of the recording medium to adjust an amount of the still image data so that the generated still image data can be recorded during recording of the moving image data.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit adjusts the amount of the still image data on the basis of a difference between the recording data rate of the recording medium and the set data rate.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the signal processing unit generates still image data of N frames in unit time, and

wherein the control unit adjusts the amount of the still image data so that still image data of each of N frames has the same information amount.

9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the setting unit selects one of a plurality of predetermined data rates in accordance with a user operation.

10. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued when the moving image data is not recorded, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit so that the data rate of the still image data generated when the moving image data is not recorded is adjusted regardless of the set data rate.

11. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the setting unit sets an image quality of the still image data to be recorded when the moving image data is not recorded to a given value, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the image quality of the still image data set by the setting unit.

12. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the still image compressing unit includes a quantizer configured to quantize the still image data, and

wherein the control unit adjusts a quantization step of the quantizer on the basis of the set image quality.

16. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the setting unit sets the data rate of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit in response to an instruction for starting recording of the moving image data, and adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the amount of the still image data generated and compressed during recoding of the moving image data and the recording data rate of the recording medium in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data.

17. The apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit after the recording unit finishes recording the still image data.

13. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

a recording unit configured to record the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit on a recording medium;

a setting unit configured to set an image quality of the still image data to be compressed by the still image compressing unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data, and

wherein the recording unit records the still image data on the recording medium during recording of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the image quality set by the setting unit to adjust the data amount of the still image data, and controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data amount of the still image data compressed in accordance with the set image quality and an information relating to a recording data rate of the recording medium to adjust a data rate of the moving image data,

wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the amount of the still image data generated and compressed during recording of the moving image data and the information relating to the recording data rate of the recording medium.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of a difference between the recording data rate of the recording medium and the amount of the still image data.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the setting unit selects one of a plurality of predetermined image qualities in accordance with a user operation.

18. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the still image compressing unit includes a quantizer configured to quantize the still image data, and

wherein the control unit adjusts a quantization step of the quantizer on the basis of the set image quality.

19. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

a recording unit configured to record the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit on a recording medium;

a setting unit configured to set an image quality of the still image data to be compressed by the still image compressing unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the image quality set by the setting unit to adjust the data amount of the still image data, and controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data amount of the still image data encoded in accordance with the set image quality and an information relating to a recording data rate of the recording medium to adjust a data rate of the moving image data,

wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data to be compressed by the moving image compressing unit so that the still image data can be recorded during recording of the moving image data.

20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of a difference between the recording data rate of the recording medium and the amount of the still image data.

21. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the setting unit selects one of a plurality of predetermined image qualities in accordance with a user operation.

22. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the setting unit sets the data rate of the moving image data, and

wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit in response to an instruction for starting recording of the moving image data, and adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the amount of the still image data generated and compressed during recoding of the moving image data and the recording data rate of the recording medium in response to a still image shooting instruction issued during recording of the moving image data.

23. The apparatus according to claim 22, wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit after the recording unit finishes recording the still image data.

24. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the still image compressing unit includes a quantizer configured to quantize the still image data, and

wherein the control unit adjusts a quantization step of the quantizer on the basis of the set image quality.

25. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

an output unit configured to output the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit, the output unit outputting the compressed moving image data and the compressed still image data to a recording device;

a setting unit configured to set a data rate of the moving image data to be compressed by the moving image compression unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued in a period from a moving image shooting start instruction to a moving image shooting stop instruction,

wherein the output unit outputs the still image data in the period from the moving image shooting start instruction to the moving image shooting stop instruction, and

wherein the control unit controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit to adjust a data rate of the moving image data, and controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the data rate set by the setting unit and an information relating to a data rate which can be employed by the output unit to adjust the data amount of the still image data generated in the period from the moving image shooting start instruction to the moving image shooting stop instruction.

26. An imaging apparatus comprising:

an imaging unit;

a signal processing unit configured to generate moving image data and still image data using image data output from the imaging unit;

a moving image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the moving image data;

a still image compressing unit configured to compress a data amount of the still image data;

an output unit configured to output the moving image data compressed by the moving image compressing unit and the still image data compressed by the still image compressing unit, the output unit outputting the compressed moving image data and the compressed still image data to a recording device;

a setting unit configured to set an image quality of the still image data to be compressed by the still image compressing unit;

a control unit configured to control the moving image compressing unit and the still image compressing unit,

wherein the signal processing unit generates the still image data in response to a still image shooting instruction issued in a period from a moving image shooting start instruction to a moving image shooting stop instruction,

wherein the output unit outputs the still image data in the period from the moving image shooting start instruction to the moving image shooting stop instruction, and

wherein the control unit controls the still image compressing unit on the basis of the image quality set by the setting unit to adjust the data amount of the still image data, and controls the moving image compressing unit on the basis of the data amount of the still image data compressed in accordance with the set image quality and an information relating to a data rate which can be employed by the output unit to adjust a data rate of the moving image data,

wherein the control unit adjusts the data rate of the moving image data on the basis of the amount of the still image data generated and compressed in the period from the moving image shooting start instruction to the moving image shooting stop instruction and the information relating to the data rate which can be employed by the output unit.