Patent ID: 7286165

Claim:
An image pickup apparatus comprising: image pickup means for converting an object image to an image signal and outputting the image signal; orthogonal transform means for orthogonally transforming the image signal; plural quantization tables having different quantization characteristic values; quantization means for quantizing the orthogonally transformed image signal using the quantization tables; coding means for variable-length coding the quantized image signal; recording means for recording the variable-length-coded image signal to an external recording medium external of said image pickup apparatus; data quantity detection means for detecting the quantity of data of the variable-length-coded image signal; mode selecting means selecting a first mode for outputting one frame of the image signal from the image pickup means and selecting a second mode for outputting plural frames of the image signal from the image pickup means; and output control means operable in the second mode to judge if the detected quantity of data of the image data is equal to or more than a predetermined value, so as to cause the image pickup means to output a succeeding entire frame of the image signal from the image pickup means, and to cause the quantization means to quantize said succeeding entire frame of the orthogonally transformed image signal using a different quantization table.