Abstract:
A file managing method for an image capturing apparatus includes selecting at least one image from a plurality of images captured by the image capturing apparatus as a directory name of the plurality of images.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a method for an image capturing apparatus, and more specifically, to a method for shortening display interval between displaying two images for an image capturing apparatus.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Conventional film cameras utilize chemicals on a film to record images, which can be viewed after development. Moreover, if a user wants to take pictures with special effects, the user is required to be skillful in controlling the stop, the shutter as well as the lens and film development, which is inconvenient for an amateur. In contrast to the conventional film cameras, digital cameras convert images into digital signals by a photosensor to directly store them into a memory device in image format compatible with a computer. Digital cameras can also be connected to a computer system and store images on its hard disk drive. The images can then be viewed on a screen or printed on a printer. In addition, the user can further process the images recorded by the digital camera using: image processing software to produce special effects, which previously could only be realized by a professional photographer with a conventional optical camera, or perhaps even could not be achieved using a conventional optical camera.  
         [0005]     The digital cameras are increasingly popular, but it is not easy for user to manage a amount of taken pictures. Before showing a picture, a processor of the digital camera will read the picture from the memory which stores the taken pictures in digital image formats, such as JPEG. Sometimes, the user wants to view a specific picture, he has to spend much time to view pictures one by one. That is very inconvenient for a non-patient user. In order to solve such problem, U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,192 and No. 6,147,703, disclose resolutions that candidate pictures in low resolution and in smaller size are being showed at the corner of a display as a selected pictures is being showed. The user is able to select the required picture from the candidate pictures, which is then displayed in high resolution. In doing so, a period of processing picture can be shortened, because the required picture is read in advance. But the pictures in low resolution and in smaller size are vaguer than those in high resolution, so that the user sometimes fails to distinguish which picture he wants. If a non-recognized picture is selected, the user has to spend extra time to search the accuracy picture again, which indeed causes time to be wasted.  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0006]     It is therefore a primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of shortening a period of displaying images for an image capturing apparatus, in order to solve the problems mentioned above.  
         [0007]     Briefly summarized, a file managing method for an image capturing apparatus includes selecting at least one image from a plurality of images captured by the image capturing apparatus as a directory name of the plurality of images.  
         [0008]     According to the claimed invention, a digital camera includes a memory for storing a plurality of taken images in sequence, a control button set for selecting a image from the plurality of images captured by the digital camera, a display screen for displaying the selected image, and a cache for temporarily storing at least one of the previous displayed images and at least one of the next images corresponding to the selected image before displaying the selected image.  
         [0009]     The claimed invention can read a selected image, a previous displayed image and a next image with respect to the selected image, after the previous image is displayed.  
         [0010]     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0011]      FIG. 1  is a front view of an image capturing apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a rear view of the image capturing apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a functional block diagram of the image capturing apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart of the file managing method for the image capturing apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a flowchart of the file managing method used in the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]     Please refer to  FIG. 1  showing a front view of an image capturing apparatus  30  according to the present invention,  FIG. 2  showing a rear view of the image capturing apparatus  30  shown in  FIG. 1 , and  FIG. 3  showing a functional block diagram of the image capturing apparatus  30  shown in  FIG. 1 . The image capturing apparatus  30  can be a digital camera or a digital camcorder. The image capturing apparatus  30  includes a memory  32  for storing a plurality of taken pictures, a display screen  34  for viewing the object, which can be a LCD or a LTPS display, a control button set  36  for image editing, browsing, and parameter settings, a processor  38  for processing the images stored in the memory  32  so as to display on the display screen  34  and a cache  40  for temporarily storing the images stored in the memory  32 , which can be a synchronous DRAM.  
         [0017]     Concerning the improved method provided by the present invention, please refer to  FIG. 4  showing a flowchart of the file managing method for the image capturing apparatus according to the present invention. It occurs as follows:  
         [0018]     Step 100 : Store a plurality of taken images to a memory in sequence.  
         [0019]     Step 102 : Select an image.  
         [0020]     Step 104 : Whether the cache stores the image. If it is, go to Step  106 , if not go to Step  110 .  
         [0021]     Step 106 : Read the image from the cache.  
         [0022]     Step 108 : Display the image, and read a previous image of the image and a next image corresponding to the image from the memory, and temporarily stores in a second cache area and a second cache area.  
         [0023]     Step 110 : Read the image from the memory.  
         [0024]     In order to illustrates the present invention in detail, suppose that the digital camera  30  stores images P 1 -P 6  in sequence. The user manipulates the control button set  36  to view the image P 1  (as described in Step  102 ). Meanwhile, the processor  38  determines whether the cache  40  stores the image P 1  or not. Because the image P 1  is not stored in the cache  40 , it will be read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored into a first cache area  41 . The image P 1  stored in the first cache area  41  can be processed by the processor  38  and then displayed on the display screen  34 . When the image P 1  is being displayed, the image P 2  is also read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the second cache area  42 , and the image P 6  is stored in the third cache area  43 . Then, the user can manipulate the control button set  36  to view the next image P 2 , as the processor  38  can determine whether the image P 2  is stored in the cache  40 . Because the image P 2  is stored in the second cache area  42  in advance when the image P 1  is being displayed, it can be processed by the processor  38  and then displayed on the display screen  34 . When the image P 2  is being displayed, the image P 3  is read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the third cache area  43 , and the previous displayed image P 1  is still stored in the first cache area  41 . If desiring to view the image P 3 , the processor  38  reads the image P 3  temporarily stored in the third cache area  43  to display it. At this moment, the first cache area  41  stores the image P 4  from the memory  32 , at which time the image P 2  is still stored in the second cache area  42 . If the user desires to view the image P 2  again, the processor  38  reads the image P 2  temporarily stored in the second cache area  42  to display it through the display screen  34 . At this moment, the first cache area  41  stores the image P 1  from the memory  32 , at which time the image P 3  is still stored in the third cache area  43 .  
         [0025]     Please refer to  FIG. 5 , which is a flowchart of the file managing method used in the present invention. It occurs as follows:  
         [0026]     Step 202 : Select an image.  
         [0027]     Step 204 : Read the selected image, a previous displayed image, and a next image corresponding to the selected image from the memory.  
         [0028]     Step 206 : Temporarily stores the selected image, the previous displayed image, and the next image corresponding to the selected image to a cache.  
         [0029]     Step 208 : Read the selected image from the cache and display it.  
         [0030]     In order to illustrates the present invention in detail, suppose that the digital camera  30  stores images P 1 -P 6  in sequence. The user manipulates the control button set  36  to view the image P 1 . Meanwhile, the image P 1  is read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the first cache area  41  of the cache  40 , the image P 2  is read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the second cache area  42  of the cache  40 , and the image P 6  is read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the third cache area  43  of the cache  40 . Then, the processor  38  processes the image P 1  stored in the first cache area  41  to display it on the display screen  34 . If the user manipulates the control button set  36  to view the next image P 2 , the processor  38  processes the image P 2  stored in the second cache area  42  to display it on the display screen  34 . In the meantime, the image P 3  is read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the third cache area  43 , at which time the displayed image P 1  is still stored in the first cache area  41 . If the user wants to view the image P 3 , the processor  38  will read the image P 3  stored in the third cache area  43  to display it, at this moment, the image P 4  will be read from the memory  32  and temporarily stored in the first cache area  41 , at which time the previous displayed image P 2  is still stored in the second cache area  42 . If the user wants to view the image P 2  again, the processor  38  will read the image P 2  stored in the second cache area  42  to display it, and the image P 1  will be read from the memory  32  and stored in the first cache area  41  again, at which time the previous displayed image P 3  is still stored in the third cache area  43 .  
         [0031]     The difference between the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4  and the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 5  is the timing of storing the selected image, the previous displayed image and the next image to the cache. As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the selected image is displayed, the previous displayed image and the next image are stored in the cache at the same time. For the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5 , storing all the selected images, the previous displayed image and the next image in the cache is prior to displaying the selected image.  
         [0032]     The cache can also stores the selected image, a plurality of displayed images, and a plurality of next images corresponding to the selected image. For example, before the image P 3  is displayed, the previous displayed images P 1 , P 2  and the next images P 4 , P 5  can be stored in the cache. In this way, the user can shorten a wait time for reading and processing images.  
         [0033]     The method according to the present invention can also be applied in digital camcorders. Although a digital camcorder records motion pictures, pre-reading one of the motion pictures also can shorten a wait time.  
         [0034]     In contrast to prior art, the present invention method discloses that pre-reading a previous displayed image and a next image corresponding to a selected image from the memory  32  to a cache  40 , while the selected image is being showed. In this way, a wait time of reading the previous displayed image or the next image is shortened because each is stored in the cache and ready to be displayed.  
         [0035]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.