PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-8432472-B2
Application Number: US-57943109-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Camera for displaying digital images

Abstract:
A camera includes memory for storing one or more stored images each with at least a day and month of capture; a processor which, based on the stored images, determines which day and month at least an image was captured; and a display that displays only the day and month on which at least an image was captured along with a visual indicator of whether a plurality of images was captured on the displayed day and month.

Claims:
The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A camera for presenting images, the camera comprising:
 (a) memory for storing one or more stored images each with at least a day and month of capture; 
 (b) a processor which, based on the stored images, determines which day and month at least an image was captured; and 
 (c) a display that displays only the day and month on which at least an image was captured along with a visual indicator of whether one or a plurality of images was captured on the displayed day and month; and wherein the visual indicator is a plurality of stacks in which one image is represented by one graphical indictor in a stack and a plurality of images are represented by a plurality of graphical indictors in a stack, and the plurality of stacks does not display actual image or images in any resolution that have been captured and stored in the memory. 
 
     
     
       2. The camera as in  claim 1 , wherein the stored images include a year associated with each stored image which is displayed with the corresponding day and month.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     Reference is made to commonly assigned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/579,429, filed herewith, entitled “A Method for Displaying Digital Images”, by Timothy J. White, et al. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention generally relates to presentation of images on a camera display and more particularly to such camera displays which efficiently displays images by displaying only the dates on which there are corresponding captured images along with an indication of whether there are multiple images (images are inclusive of still images and/or videos) or a single image on the displayed dates. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently, digital cameras capture still and video images which are subsequently stored in memory. The still or video images can then be displayed by the user on the camera display at his and/or her pleasure. In some cameras, in order to enhance the viewing experience, a graphical calendar with each day is displayed, and an indicator is placed on the dates on which images were captured that particular day. The user may then select a particular date, and the images on that particular date are then displayed. In other cameras, all the images from a particular day are displayed at one-time, and the days are then scrolled through with all the images from that particular day being displayed. 
     Although the current cameras are satisfactory for displaying images, improvements are always desirable. More particularly, further human-factor efficiencies are desirable to enhance the viewing of images on the camera display. For example, since the area of the camera display is limited, better use of displaying the images is desirable. One such better use is eliminating dates that do not have images since they are not of interest to the user. Another better use would be to eliminate showing the images day-by-day in sequence since images from some days may not be of interest to the user. The present invention provides such improvements. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above. Briefly summarized, according to one aspect of the invention, the invention resides in a camera for presenting images, the camera comprising (a) memory for storing one or more stored images each with at least a day and month of capture; (b) a processor which, based on the stored images, determines which day and month at least an image was captured; and (c) a display that displays only the day and month on which at least an image was captured along with a visual indicator of whether a plurality of images was captured on the displayed day and month. 
     These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
     Advantageous Effect of the Invention 
     The present invention has the advantage of providing efficient display of images on a camera display by eliminating unnecessary information. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter of the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the camera of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is perspective view of a camera display; and 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram in a flowchart format illustrating the operation of displaying images on the display of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Before describing the present invention, it is noted that, as used herein, “images” are defined as still images and/or video images. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of an exemplary digital camera  10  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is shown. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the digital camera  10  includes a lens  12  which directs image light from a subject (not shown) through an aperture/shutter controller  13  upon an image sensor  14  having a discrete number of photosensitive sites or pixels arranged in a two-dimensional array to form individual photosensitive sites corresponding to the pixels of the image. The image sensor  14  can be a charge coupled device (CCD) sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imager. The photosensitive sites of the image sensor  14  collect charge in response to incident. Each photosensitive site is overlaid with a color filter array (CFA), such as the Bayer CFA described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,065, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The Bayer CFA has 50% green pixels in a checkerboard-pattern mosaic, with the remaining pixels alternating between red and blue rows. The photosensitive sites respond to the appropriately colored incident light illumination to provide an analog signal corresponding to the intensity of illumination incident on the photosensitive sites. 
     The analog output of each pixel is amplified and analog processed by an analog signal processor (ASP)  16  to reduce the image sensor&#39;s output amplifier noise. The output of the ASP  16  is converted to a digital image signal by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter  18 , such as, for example, an 8 bit A/D converter which provides an 8 bit signal in the sequence of the Bayer CFA. 
     The digitized image signal is temporarily stored in a frame memory  20 , and is then processed and compressed by a digital signal processor (DSP)  22 . The image processing typically includes white balance, color correction, tone correction, and image sharpening. The DSP  22  also decimates (or re-samples) the digitized image signal for each still image to produce a thumbnail image having fewer pixels (i.e., lower resolution) than the original captured image as described in commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,831 to Kuchta et al., the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The image file containing both the full resolution image and the thumbnail image is stored in a data memory  26 , and then transferred through a memory card interface  32  to a memory card  28  that is present in a memory card slot  30  of the digital camera  10 . The thumbnail image is also sent to an image display  24  through an LCD controller  25  where the user can view the image. Although the display is shown as an LCD display, OLED displays may also be used. The image display  24 , which is shown in more detail in  FIG. 2  and which will be discussed later, includes a conventional arrangement for displaying the captured image or images. The image display  24  may, alternatively, utilize many other types of raster image displays, including miniature CRT&#39;s, organic light emitting diode (OLED) arrays, or field emission displays. 
     The memory card  28  can be adapted to the PCMCIA card interface standard, such as described in the PC Card Standard, Release 2.0, published by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, Sunnyvale, Calif., September 1991. The memory card  28  can also be adapted to the Compact Flash interface standard, such as described in the CompactFlash Specification Version 1.3, published by the CompactFlash Association, Palo Alto, Calif., Aug. 5, 1998. 
     Electrical connection between the memory card  28  and the digital camera  10  is maintained through a card connector (not shown) positioned in the memory card slot  30 . The memory card interface  32  and the card connector provide, e.g., an interface according to the aforementioned PCMCIA card or CompactFlash interface standard. The image file may also be sent to a host computer (not shown), which is connected to the digital camera  10  through a host computer interface  34 . 
     In operation, a camera microprocessor  36  receives user inputs  48 , such as from a shutter release (not shown), and initiates a capture sequence by signaling a timing generator  38 . The timing generator  38  is connected generally to the elements of the digital camera  10 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , for controlling the digital conversion, compression, and storage of the image signal. The camera microprocessor  36  also processes a signal from a photodiode  44  for determining a proper exposure, and accordingly signals an exposure driver  46  for setting the aperture and shutter speed via the aperture/shutter controller  13  and triggers a flash unit  42  (if needed). The image sensor  14  is then driven from the timing generator  38  via a sensor driver  40  to produce the image signal. The user inputs  48  are used to control the operation of the digital camera  10  in a well-known manner. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a back view of the camera  10  of the present invention having an exploded view of the display  24 . The display  24  is capable of displaying either still images or video images in a plurality of resolutions. For example, in the present invention, thumbnail images are preferably displayed in low resolution, and still images that typically cover the entire display are preferably displayed in high resolution. Video images are preferably displayed in low resolution to provide an efficient display rate. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is shown an illustration of the operation of the camera  10  of the present invention. It is understood that, prior to the reviewing of images described herein below, images have been captured and stored in memory  28 , and the processor  36  directs the steps described herein below. Initially, when the camera  10  is in review mode, a still image  50  is displayed on the display  24 , and the images may be scrolled through one-at-a-time by using the user inputs  48 . The user may then display a portion of the images (if there are more images than can be displayed) as a plurality of thumbnail images via  52  user inputs  48 . If necessary, the remaining images may then be displayed by scrolling through the plurality of thumbnails using the user inputs  48 . 
     The user then uses the user inputs  48  to display the images by date  54 . It is noted that only the dates with either still or video image(s) are displayed. Dates in which there are no images are omitted from being displayed. The dates with multiple images (i.e., a plurality of images) are graphically indicated by a graphical indicator in the form of a stack  56 . In an alternative embodiment, only the day and month  58  may be displayed since the year is inherently known by the user. 
     By pressing one of the user inputs  48 , the user navigates to a row of selectable images  60  arranged chronologically by date, and is then able to move left/right through all days in which image(s) were captured through use of user inputs  48 . As previously stated, days in which no images were captured are not displayed. In  FIG. 3 , for example, the date of Jan. 12, 2009, is selected. The user can then view each of the images  62  on that particular date through use of user inputs  48 . 
     By pressing another one of the user inputs  48 , the user navigates to a control  64  for moving through the set of images captured by month. The months and/or years in which no images were captured are not displayed. While, the invention discloses a specific flow of the images, the flow of images may be arranged without departing from the scope of the invention. 
     In summary, the invention is a camera for presenting images. The camera comprises memory for storing one or more stored images each with at least a day and month of capture; a processor which, based on the stored images, determines which day and month at least an image was captured; and a display that displays only the day and month on which at least an image was captured along with a visual indicator of whether a plurality of images was captured on the displayed day and month. 
     The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     PARTS LIST 
     
         
           10  Camera 
           12  Lens 
           13  Aperture/shutter controller 
           14  Image Sensor 
           16  Analog Signal Processor 
           18  A/D converter 
           20  Frame Memory 
           22  Digital Signal Processor 
           24  Image display 
           25  LCD controller 
           26  Data Memory 
           28  Memory card 
           30  Memory card slot 
           32  Memory card interface 
           34  Host Computer Interface 
           36  Camera Microprocessor 
           38  Timing Generator 
           40  Driver 
           42  Flash 
           44  Photodiode 
           46  Driver 
           48  User Inputs 
           50  Image 
           52  Thumbnail Images 
           54  Images by Date 
           56  Stack 
           58  Day and Month 
           60  Selectable Images 
           62  Thumbnail Images 
           64  Control

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20091015
Publication Date: 20130430
Grant Date: 20130430
Priority Date: 20091015
Inventors: WHITE TIMOTHY J.
BONCHA ALISON
HAHN JOHN CHRISTOPHER
WATKINS CHRISTOPHER
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "H04N23/633", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N23/633", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N21/4223", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/00442", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3214", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3274", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3214", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/2112", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N5/77", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2101/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G11B27/34", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3273", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/00442", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2101/00", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3274", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G11B27/105", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/32133", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N5/77", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G11B27/105", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N21/4223", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/00458", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N2201/3273", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G11B27/34", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/32133", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/2112", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04N1/00458", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 43879008