US-12620417-B2 - Information recording/reproducing apparatus

US12620417B2US 12620417 B2US12620417 B2US 12620417B2US-12620417-B2

Abstract

Module compression/encoding plural images for recording, or an image recording apparatus or image recording system including the module. At least two first and second image input module types capture an image of frames from a video signal source, and convert into digital image data for output; an image input arbitration module arbitrates to place digital image data provided by the first type before digital image data provided by the second type. The first type image input module is provided with a real-time image. The apparatus or system further includes: a memory module temporarily storing the real-time image by a processing time for the arbitration module to process digital image data provided by the second type of image input module, an image encoding module compressing and encoding the digital image data, and changing a processing speed to perform a process of compression an encoding more in real time.

Inventors

Yasuo Mutsuro
Keisuke Inata
Hiroki Mizosoe
Akihito Nishizawa

Assignees

MAXELL, LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20241025
Priority Date: 20070614

Claims (18)

1 . An imaging apparatus comprising: a transceiver configured to wirelessly acquire, from an external device wirelessly connected with the imaging apparatus, current position information of the external device and information relating to an image-capturing command; an imager configured to perform an image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command acquired by the transceiver; a recorder configured to record image data, acquired by the imager through the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command, onto a recording medium in association with the current position information of the external device acquired by the transceiver; and a controller configured to control at least one of the transceiver, the imager or the recorder, wherein the controller is further configured, in a first control mode, to: read the image data from the recording medium and automatically output the image data outside the imaging apparatus after performing the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command acquired by the transceiver, wherein the image data to be output is acquired through the image-capturing process and is associated with the current position information of the external device acquired by the transceiver; and wherein the controller is further configured, in a second control mode different from the first control mode, to: read the image data from the recording medium and output the image data outside the imaging apparatus in response to user operation, wherein the image data to be output is acquired through the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command acquired by the transceiver and is associated with the current position information of the external device acquired by the transceiver.
2 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the transceiver is configured to acquire the current position information of the external device when acquiring the information relating to the image-capturing command.
3 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured, in the first control mode, to control the transceiver to output the image data so that the image data is transferred to a server on a network.
4 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured, in the second control mode, to control the transceiver to output the image data so that the image data is transferred to a server on a network.
5 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured, in the first control mode, to control the transceiver to output the image data with a thumbnail of the image data.
6 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured, in the second control mode, to control the transceiver to output the image data with a thumbnail of the image data.
7 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the image data is video data.
8 . An imaging apparatus comprising: a first transceiver configured to wirelessly acquire, from an external device wirelessly connected with the imaging apparatus, current position information of the external device; an imager configured to perform an image-capturing process based on information relating to an image-capturing command from the external device; a recorder configured to record image data, acquired by the imager through the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command, onto a recording medium in association with the current position information of the external device acquired by the first transceiver; a second transceiver, which is different from the first transceiver, configured to wirelessly output the image data outside the imaging apparatus; and a controller configured to control at least one of the first transceiver, the second transceiver, the imager or the recorder, wherein the controller is further configured, in a first control mode, to: read the image data from the recording medium and automatically output the image data outside the imaging apparatus by the second transceiver after performing the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command, wherein the image data to be output is acquired through the image-capturing process and is associated with the current position information of the external device acquired by the first transceiver; and wherein the controller is further configured, in a second control mode different from the first control mode, to: read the image data from the recording medium and output the image data outside the imaging apparatus by the second transceiver in response to user operation, wherein the image data to be output is acquired through the image-capturing process based on the information relating to the image-capturing command and is associated with the current position information of the external device acquired by the first transceiver.
9 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the current position information of the external device is acquired when acquiring the information relating to the image-capturing command.
10 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured, in the first control mode, to control the second transceiver to output the image data so that the image data is transferred to a server on a network.
11 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured, in the second control mode, to control the second transceiver to output the image data so that the image data is transferred to a server on a network.
12 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the first transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver.
13 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured, in both the first control mode and the second control mode, to control the second transceiver to output the image data with a thumbnail of the image data.
14 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the image data is video data.
15 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured, in the first control mode, to: when first image data acquired by the imager through first image-capturing process based on first information relating to first image-capturing command from the external device is recorded in association with the current position information of the external device, automatically output the first image data associated with the current position information outside the imaging apparatus, when second image data acquired by the imager through second image-capturing process based on second information relating to second image-capturing command from the external device is recorded in association with the current position information of the external device, automatically output the second image data associated with the current position information outside the imaging apparatus.
16 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 1 , wherein, in the first control mode, the image data is automatically output outside the imaging apparatus each time the image-capturing process is performed based on information relating to image-capturing command from the external device.
17 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured, in the first control mode, to: when first image data acquired by the imager through first image-capturing process based on first information relating to first image-capturing command from the external device is recorded in association with the current position information of the external device acquired by the first transceiver, automatically output the first image data associated with the current position information outside the imaging apparatus by the second transceiver, when second image data acquired by the imager through second image-capturing process based on second information relating to second image-capturing command from the external device is recorded in association with the current position information of the external device by the first transceiver, automatically output the second image data associated with the current position information outside the imaging apparatus by the second transceiver.
18 . The imaging apparatus according to the claim 8 , wherein, in the first control mode, the image data associated with the current position information of the external device acquired by the first transceiver is automatically output outside the imaging apparatus by the second transceiver each time the image-capturing process is performed based on information relating to image-capturing command from the external device.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/898,515, filed Aug. 30, 2022, which is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/883,101, filed May 26, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,456,018, which is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/245,443, filed Jan. 11, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,685,681, which is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/797,653, filed Jul. 13, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,210,904, which is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/932,130, filed Jul. 1, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,099,154, which is a cont. of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/103,734, filed Apr. 16, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,477,850. This application relates to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-156959, filed on Jun. 14, 2007. The entirety of the contents and subject matter of all of the above is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND The present invention relates to a system and method for recording and reproducing a set of moving images of the combination of an image of position information and an image captured by a user. The recent progresses of digitalization are remarkable for still and video cameras, and users thus find it very easy to use such cameras for image capturing and recording, thereby allowing recording of a large amount of video information. The concern here is that, with a large amount of video captured during a long trip, for example, users may not remember where they have captured which video after the trip. If this is the case, the users may find it very convenient and useful for later viewing and editing if each video is with its map information in a piece of video data. This is also true for data captured by video cameras disposed at a plurality of places for monitoring use, and the video data is considered useful if it carries therein any captured video together with an image of position information. The technology similar thereto is exemplified by drive recording, which is recently adopted for use in taxies and others. With drive recording, situation data including position information and image-capturing data are recorded at any image-capturing timing that is automatically determined. The problem with such a technology is that, because the image-capturing timing is determined automatically, there is no way in some cases of avoiding recording a large amount of unneeded data. For prevention of such a problem, Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2007-11907) describes the technology with a learning function for selection of recorded data, and after-a user captures any image, he or she inputs needed/unneeded information so that the learning is made about image capturing. SUMMARY The problem of the above technology is that, because images are captured in an automatic manner as such, there remains some doubt about a complete matching with users' needs, and it is thus considered not suitable for users to freely capture their desired images together with map information. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for recording and reproducing a set of moving images of the combination of an image of position information and a user-captured image with no need for a complicated process. In an aspect of the invention, a video camera is provided not only with means for receiving any general captured images but also with means for receiving images from any other video input source. The video camera is also provided with an image input arbitration section that captures, after arbitration, video data coming from these two input means, and stores the resulting data into a memory. If this is the configuration, when the video input source is a video output terminal of a car navigation system, the screen of the car navigation system, i.e., map information, can be stored in a memory together with a user's captured image. When the video camera is used for monitoring, data capturing into a memory is also enabled when the video input source is a medium already carrying therein map image data, e.g., USB (Universal Serial Bus) flash memory and SD (Secure Digital) card, and means for reading the map image data from the medium. The data in the memory is subjected to a process of compression and encoding as moving images so that the image of position information and the user's captured image can be processed as a set of moving images. According to the aspect of the invention, with no need for a complicated process, an image of position information and a user-captured image can be recorded and reproduced as a set of moving images. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image recording/reproducing system of a first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the image recording/reproducing sy