Digital Camera Patent AbstractA digital image processing device, more particularly, a digital
camera, which includes: a static digital image extracting device
used to extract the static digital image and output; a compressing
device used to compress the static digital image using wavelet transform
to produce a compressed image data file; a memory card used to store
the compressed image data file; a central processing unit used to
calculate and compare the storage space left in the memory card,
storage space used in the memory card and the size of the compressed
image data file, when the storage space left in the memory card
is less than the size of the compressed image data file, part of
the image data file stored in the memory is eliminated to store
the compressed image data file, otherwise the compressed image data
file is directly stored in the memory card; a decompressing device
used to decompress the compressed image data file to produce an
image data file; and an image display device used to display the
image data file.
Digital Camera Patent ClaimsWhat is claimed is:
1. An image processing device, suitable for displaying a static
digital image on an image display device, comprising: a compressing
device used to compress the static digital image using a wavelet
transform to produce a first compressed image data file; a memory
device used to store the compressed image data file; a processing
device used to calculate and compare the storage space left in the
memory device, the storage space used in the memory device and the
size of the first compressed image data file, when the storage space
left in the memory device is less than the size of the first compressed
image data file, part of the compressed image data files stored
in the memory device is eliminated to store the first compressed
image data file, otherwise the first compressed image data file
is directly stored in the memory device, wherein the size of the
eliminated part of the image data files is equally divided among
the compressed image data files stored in the memory device; and
a decompressing device used to decompress the first compressed image
data file to produce image data file, and display it on the image
display device.
2. The image processing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the
eliminated part of the image data files is the end portion of the
compressed image data files stored in the memory device.
3. A digital camera, comprising: a static digital image extracting
device, used to extract static digital images and output; a compressing
device, used to compress the static digital image using a wavelet
transform to produce a first compressed image data file; a memory
card, used to store the first compressed image data file; a central
processing unit, used to calculate and compare the storage space
left in the memory card, the storage space used and the first compressed
image data file, when the storage space left in the memory card
is less than the first compressed image data file, part of the compressed
image data files in the memory card is eliminated to store the first
compressed image data file, otherwise the first compressed image
data file is directly stored in the memory card, wherein the size
of the eliminated part of the compressed image data files in the
memory card is equally divided among the compressed image data files
stored in the memory card; a decompressing device, used to decompress
the first compressed image data file to produce the image data file;
and an image display device used to display the image data file.
4. The digital camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein the eliminated
part of the compressed image data files is the end portion of each
of the individual compressed image data files stored in the memory
card.
5. The digital camera as claimed in claim 4, wherein the static
digital image extracting device is a camera lens.
6. The digital camera as claimed in claim 5, wherein the image
display device is a liquid crystal display.
7. The digital camera as claimed in claim 5, wherein the image
display device is a computer. Digital Camera Patent DescriptionBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital image processing device,
more particularly to an image processing device of a digital camera.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present, the storage method for photographs of digital cameras
uses the JPEG compressing technique to compress the photograph and
then store the compressed data. However, this method cannot process
the compressed data flexibly, therefore cannot maximize the use
of memory devices.
The conventional JPEG compressing technique uses Discrete Cosine
Transform (DCT) coding method. In this method, imagine an image
is a brick wall constructed by the DCT coefficients, the brick is
constructed by individual DCT block. Compressing data can be seen
as knocking the end portion of the brick and exposing the indentations
and compressing the bricks with indentations. The compressed brick
wall leaves filling slits and obscures the image (see FIG. 1). Furthermore,
if part of the image data is eliminated to store the rest of the
image data in the limited space, then part of the image may be lost.
For example, an image which was originally a person's figure may
lose its upper half, leaving the lower half intact.
FIG. 2 shows the conventional digital camera, including: a lens
1, a JPEG compressing device 2, a memory device 3, a decompressing
device 4, and an image display device 5. Lens 1 is used to take
in a digital image. JPEG compressing device 2 is used to compress
the input digital image. The memory device 3 is used to store the
compressed digital image. The decompressing device 4 is used to
decompress the compressed digital image stored in the memory device
3. The image display device 5 (for example, liquid crystal display
or computer) is used to display the decompressed image data file.
Here, the image stored in the memory device 3 cannot be trimmed
and thus the use of the memory device 3 cannot be maximized.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the above, the object of the present invention is
to provide an image processing device, suitable for displaying a
static digital image on an image display device. The image processing
device includes: a compressing device used to compress the static
digital image using a wavelet transform to produce a compressed
image data file; a processing device used to calculate and compare
the storage space left by the memory device, the storage space used,
and the size of the compressed image data file. When the storage
space left is less than the compressed image data file, part of
the image data stored is eliminated to store the compressed image
data file. Otherwise, the compressed image data file is stored directly
in the memory device; and a decompressing device used to decompress
the compressed image data file to produce the image data tile and
display the image data file on the display device.
The size of the image data eliminated is equally divided among
the individual image data files. The eliminated part of the image
data stored is the end portion of the compressed image data file
stored in the memory device.
Furthermore, a digital camera is provided, including a static digital
image extracting device used to extract the static digital image;
a compressing device used to compress the static digital image using
the wavelet transform to produce a compressed image data file; a
memory card used to store the compressed image data file; a central
processing unit used to calculate and compare the memory storage
space left in the memory card, the storage space used and the size
of the compressed image data file, when the memory storage space
left is less than the compressed image data file, part of the image
data stored is eliminated to store the compressed image data file,
otherwise, the compressed image data file is directly stored in
the memory card; a decompressing device used to decompress the compressed
image data file to produce an image data file; and an image display
device used to display the image data file.
The size of the eliminated part of the image data is equally divided
among the individual compressed image data file. The eliminated
part of the compressed image data file is the end portion of the
compressed image data file stored in the memory card. In addition,
the static digital image extracting device is a camera lens, and
the image display device is a liquid crystal display or a computer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows the image being processed by JPEG compressing technique;
FIG. 2 shows the block diagram of the structure of the conventional
digital camera;
FIG. 3 shows the image being processed by JPEG compressing technique;
FIG. 4 shows the block diagram of the structure of the digital
image processing device in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 5 is the block diagram of the structure of the digital camera
in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiment:
The present invention uses the JPEG 2000 gradual compressing technique.
JPEG 2000 uses a wavelet transform multi-resolution coding method.
This method has been used in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,041,143 and 6,069,977.
The difference between this method and the DCT of JPEG is that,
in wavelet transform, the irregular indentation produced occurs
on the edge, i.e., the intersection of two lines. On the compressed
brick wall, because the degree of the edge match is better, the
slit produced by the compression is not easy to see, thus generating
a smoother viewing effect (see FIG. 3). At the same time, wavelet
transform technique allows the JPEG 2000 to be more flexible, so
that when receiving part of the image, a full picture can be seen.
FIG. 4 shows the digital image processing device according to the
present invention. The image processing device of the present invention
is suitable for the static image extracting device (for example,
a lens) 11 displaying the static digital image on the display device
(for example, a liquid crystal display or a computer) 16. The image
processing device includes: a compressing device 12, a memory device
13, a processing device 14, and a decompressing device 15. The compressing
device (for example, the JPEG 2000 compressing device) 12 compresses
the static digital image from the static digital image extracting
device 11 using the wavelet transform to produce a compressed image
data file and output the compressed image data file to the memory
device 13. The memory device 13 is used to store the compressed
image data file from the compressing device 12. The processing device
14 is used to calculate and compare the storage space left in the
memory device, the storage space used and the size of the compressed
image data file, when the storage space left is less than the compressed
image data file, then part of the image data stored in the memory
device is eliminated to store the compressed image data file from
the compressing device 12, otherwise the compressed image data file
from the compressing device 12 is directly stored in the memory
device 13; wherein the size of the eliminated part of the image
data stored in the memory device is equally divided among the individual
compressed image data file stored in the memory device, and the
eliminated part of the image data is the end portion of the individual
compressed image data file stored in the memory device. The decompressing
device 15 is used to decompress the compressed image data file from
the memory device 13 to produce the image data file and displays
them on the display device 16.
In detail, an image is input through the static digital image extracting
device 11, and is compressed by the JPEG 2000 compressing device
12, and performs the wavelet transform to produce compressed image
data file. Then, the processing device 14 calculates the storage
space left in the memory device, the storage space used and the
size of the compressed image data file. When the storage space left
in the memory device 13 is greater than or equal to the compressed
image data file, the compressed image data file is directly stored
in the memory device 13. When the storage space left in the memory
device 13 is less than the compressed image data file, then the
size (N) of the compressed image data file is divided by the number
of images stored in the memory device (X), and N/X bits of each
image stored in the memory device is eliminated. The eliminated
bit data is the end portion of the compressed image data file, which
is the high frequency data, so the original resolution of the image
can be maintained. The compressed image data file stored in the
memory device 13 is then decompressed and output to the image display
device 16.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the structure of the digital camera.
The digital camera of the present invention includes: a static digital
image extracting device 21, a compressing device 22, a memory card
23, a central processing unit 24, a decompressing device 25 and
an image display device 26. The static digital images extracting
device (for example, lens) 21 is used to extract static digital
image, and output to the compressing device 22. The compressing
device (for example, JPEG 2000 compressing device) 22 is used to
compress the static digital image using the wavelet transform to
produce the compressed image data file. The memory card 23 is used
to store the compressed image data file from the compressing device
22. The central processing unit (CPU) 24 is used to calculate and
compare the storage space left in the memory card, the storage space
used in the memory card, and the size of the compressed image data
file, when the storage space left in the memory card is less than
the size of the compressed image data file, part of the compressed
image data in the memory is eliminated, otherwise the compressed
image data from the compressing device 22 is directly stored in
the memory card 23; wherein the eliminated part of the image data
is equally divided among the individual compressed image data file
stored in the memory card, and the eliminated part is the end portion
of the individual compressed image data file stored in the memory
card. The decompressing device 25 is used to decompress the compressed
image data file from the memory card 23 to produce an image data
file and output to the image display device 26. The image display
device 26 (for example, a liquid crystal display or a computer)
is used to display the image data file.
In detail, a static digital image signal is taken in by a camera
lens 21. The signal is input to the JPEG 2000 compressing device
22 and compressed using wavelet transform to produce a compressed
image data file. The processing device 24 calculates the storage
space left in the memory card 23 and the storage space used in the
memory card and the size of the compressed image data file, and
compare the storage space left in the memory card 23 and the size
of the first compressed image data file. When the storage space
left in the memory card 23 is greater than or equal to the size
of the compressed image data file, the compressed image data tile
is directly stored in the memory card 23. When the storage space
left in the memory card is less than the compressed image data file,
the size of the compressed image data file (N) is divided by the
number of images (X) in the memory card 23. The N/X bits of the
end portion of each individual compressed image data file in the
memory are eliminated. Since the data at the end portion of the
data file is the high frequency data, the image can maintain its
original resolution. Thereafter, the stored image can be decompressed
by the decompressing device and then sent to the output device such
as a liquid crystal display or a computer. In case of taking in
another photograph, the above steps can be repeated. It is noted
that when number of images stored in the memory device is increased,
the compressing rate is increased, and the resolution is decreased.
The advantages of the present invention includes maximizing the
use of the memory device; since the gradual compressing technique
is used, the quality of the image being trimmed can be maintained;
and users can determine the quality of the images as requested.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in
terms of the preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the
invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary,
it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements
as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the
scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation
so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
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