Abstract:
The present invention provides an active image capture device, comprising: an image capture unit capable of capture image for generating an image data; and a processing unit connecting to the image capture unit; wherein when the active image capture device is connected to an image forming device, the processing unit is used for outputting the image data to the image forming device and further controlling the operation of the image forming device.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to an image capture device, and more particularly, to a digital image capture device capable of outputting imaging data actively.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In recent years, in associated with the progress of image technology, digital image capture devices, such as digital cameras and digital camcorders, have become popular. Typically, the digital image capture devices capture images electronically and ultimately store the image as binary data in a memory. Flash memory is one of the most common storage devices for use in digital cameras.  
           [0003]    However, conventional methods of downloading or transferring the image data from the memory within the digital image capture device for displaying or printing are not convenient for users. Please refer to FIG. 1A, which is a schematic diagram depicting a conventional architecture of accessing image data stored in the image storage device  15  of a digital camera  1 . The image storage device  15  is manually removable from the digital camera  1  and plugged into the card reader  19  connecting to a personal computer  2  such that a user can access the image data stored in the image storage device  15  for processing through operating the personal computer  2  or for transferring the image data to a printer  31  connecting to *the personal computer  2 . Please refer to FIG. 1B, which is a schematic diagram depicting another conventional architecture of accessing image data stored in the image storage device  15  of a digital camera  1 . Also, the image storage device  15  is manually removed from the digital camera  1  and plugged into a printer  32  equipped with a card reader  19  such that a user can access the image data stored in the image storage device  15  for processing or for printing through operating the printer  32 . Please refer to FIG. 1C, which is a schematic diagram depicting yet another conventional architecture for accessing image data stored in the image storage device  15  of a digital camera  1 . The digital camera  1  is equipped with an output interface  14 , such as an USB interface or an IEEE 1394 interface, that the output interface  14  is connected to the I/O interface  334  of an active printer  33  with a communication medium, such as a cable  18 . Hence, a user can access the image data stored in the digital camera  15  through operating the active printer  33 .  
           [0004]    However, the conventional methods described above for outputting the stored image data have several disadvantages. For both the methods with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the image store device, i.e. a memory card, must be manually removed form the digital camera that are not convenient to operate. For the method with reference to FIG. 1C, the active printer is needed which is a lot more expensive than an ordinary printer. In addition, in the conventional methods described above, the digital camera is a passive image data providing device which can only be employed by other image processing devices.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide an active image capture device capable of not only capturing images, but also being an active image data provider which can actively output image data to other image processing devices.  
           [0006]    Another one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide an image data providing system that is convenient to use, that is, the image data providing system capable of outputting the image data without being controlled by other image processing device, such as a personal computer. The image data providing system of the present invention can provide data actively to the common image display device, such as an ordinary printer.  
           [0007]    In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an active image capture device, comprising: an image capture unit, capable of capture image for generating an image data; and a processing unit, coupling to the image capture unit; wherein when the active image capture device is coupled to an imaging forming device, the processing unit is used for outputting the image data to the imaging forming device and further controlling the operation of the imaging forming device.  
           [0008]    These and other objectives of the claimed invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram depicting a conventional architecture of accessing image data stored in the image storage device of a digital camera.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram depicting another conventional architecture of accessing image data stored in the image storage device of a digital camera.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram depicting yet another conventional architecture of accessing image data stored in the image storage device of a digital camera.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an active digital image capture device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]    Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic diagram of an active digital image capture device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The active digital image capture device, such as a digital camera  5 , comprises a image capture unit  51 , an input interface  52 , a processing unit  53 , an output interface  54 , an image data storing unit  55 , and a displaying unit  56 . The image capture unit  51  including a camera lens for capturing the predefined image. The captured image is inputted to the processing unit  53  to generate an image data corresponding to the captured image. Then, the image data is stored in the image data storing unit  55 .  
         [0014]    The active digital camera  5  further includes an input interface  52  for receiving controlling commands, such as image processing, output data format setting, image outputting, or printing, so as to control the operation of the active digital camera  5 . In this embodiment, the input interface  52  includes a command panel having command buttons and/or keys. The user can inputting the command to control the operation of the active digital camera  5  through the input interface. The processing unit  53  is capable of processing the image data according to the controlling command inputted from the input interface  52 . For example, the processing unit  53  has the capability of executing the image processing operations, such as image zooming, color enhancing, image coding, and image compressing, etc. Moreover, according to the format of the outer imaging forming device  3 , such as a common printer, coupled to the active digital camera  5 . The processing unit  53  is capable of converting the image data into the formats suitable to the connected imaging forming device  3 . For instance, if the imaging forming device  3  is a common printer  31 , the processing unit  53  can transfer the image data from the red-green-blue (RGB) format to the cyan-magenta-yellow-black (CMYK) format used by the common printer  31  before outputting the image data to the common printer  31 . Also, in printing, the image data must be halftone processed such that shades of color are reproduced by tiny dots of varying diameter so as to acquire a better printing quality. If the outer imaging forming device  3  is a monitor, the processing unit  53  only need to perform a simply transformation on the image data to be displayed on the monitor according to the resolution of the monitor. The output interface  54  is for transferring the converted image data to the outer imaging forming device  3 . The transferring can be accomplished using a cable, a optic fiber, a network, an USB interface, an IEEE 1394 interface, a Bluetooth communication and/or wireless LAN communication, etc. The active digital camera  5  further includes a displaying unit  56  for displaying the processed image data. A user is able to directly preview the image in processing when giving commands to control the image processing operation of the processing unit  53  without outputting the image to the outer imaging forming device  3 .  
         [0015]    One embodiment of the present invention can be a digital camera, which stores the captured image data in the storing unit  55  thereof. The digital camera can be coupled to the imaging forming device  3  by the output interface  54  so as to transfer the stored image data to the imaging forming device  3 , such as a computer, a printer, or a multi-function peripheral (MFP). The aforementioned output interface  54  can be implemented by a USB interface, an IEEE 1394 interface, etc. If a USB interface is employed as the output interface, the digital camera should be the USB host and the imaging forming device  3  should be the USB device. However, if the USB interface adopts the USB on-the-go (USB OTG) specification, both the USB peripherals have the capability to be the host.  
         [0016]    The conventional digital image capture device, such as a digital camera, can only act as a passive image data provider that the image data stored in the image data storing unit is outputted through the controlling of other imaging forming device, such as a personal computer or an active printer. However, the digital image capture device of the present invention is capable of converting the image data stored therein into a format corresponding to the imaging forming device  3  and further actively transferring the converted image data to the imaging forming device  3  through the output interface  54  without the controlling of the imaging forming device  3 . In addition, the user can control the operation of the active digital image capture device to perform the image inputting/outing and various image processing operations via the input interface having functional keys and/or buttons. Thus, the active image capture device of the present invention is able to utilize an ordinary printer to print out a picture without previously processed by a personal computer  2  or using a specified high-level printer. Also, the digital image capture device of the present invention do not require to take out the memory card manually.  
         [0017]    While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the scope of the invention.