Image control device with information-based image correcting capability, image control method and digital camera

Abstract

A digital camera includes an image control processing section in which a memory controller controls a video memory, a bus arbitrator, a display sequencer, and a timing adjusting section. Image data are read out of the video memory and fed to a data corrector. The display sequencer adjusts a sampling order in accordance with the combination of luminance data and color data constituting the image data, while varying a packet size. The bus arbitrator arbitrates access requests in accordance with priority to thereby reduce the occupation ratio of a bus. The data corrector restores and processes the image data and then delivers them to a buffer memory included in the timing adjusting section.

1 . An image control device for controlling input image data, executing signal processing with controlled image data, and outputting processed image data in accordance with a preselected standard, said device comprising: 
 a memory for storing the input image data;    a standard adjusting circuit for storing the image data read out of said memory therein and outputting stored image data at a timing matching with the preselected standard;    a memory control circuit for controlling at least said memory and said standard adjusting circuit, said memory control circuit controlling input and output of the image data from said memory, setting a unit amount of continuous image data to be handled together at the time of output, setting a unit number of image data for a single line and consisting of unit amounts of continuous image data, and outputting a request for an access to said memory to thereby control read-out;    a communicating circuit for selectively sending or receiving the image data;    an image correcting circuit for analyzing, when the image data read out of said memory are smaller in amount than the unit number of image data, particular information particular to said image data and relating to display, and executing, based on a result of analysis, at least one of restoration and processing with each unit image data of divided image data; and    an instruction information feeding circuit for encoding the particular information and feeding encoded particular information to said image correcting circuit;    wherein said image correcting circuit and said instruction information feeding circuit precede said standard adjusting circuit.    
     
     
         2 . The device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said communicating circuit comprises an interface for interchanging the image data with a unit located outside of said device.  
     
     
         3 . The device in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein said communicating circuit communicates via an extended bus width or an additional exclusive line assigned to the particular information as well as to data and operation control.  
     
     
         4 . A digital camera for focusing incident light representative of a scene on optics, picking up said incident light by photoelectric transduction, converting resulting signal charges to a digital signal to thereby output raw image data, executing matrix processing with said raw image data to thereby produce dot-sequential image data consisting of luminance data and color data, compressing or expanding said image data, writing compressed image data in a recording medium or reading said compressed data out of said recording medium, said digital camera comprising: 
 a memory for storing the input image data;    a standard adjusting circuit for storing the image data read out of said memory therein and outputting stored image data at a timing matching with the preselected standard;    a memory control circuit for controlling at least said memory and said standard adjusting circuit, said memory control circuit controlling input and output of the image data from said memory, setting a unit amount of continuous image data to be handled together at the time of output, setting a unit number of image data for a single line and consisting of unit amounts of continuous image data, and outputting a request for an access to said memory to thereby control read-out;    a communicating circuit for selectively sending or receiving the image data;    an image correcting circuit for analyzing, when the image data read out of said memory are smaller in amount than the unit number of image data, particular information particular to said image data and relating to display, and executing, based on a result of analysis, at least one of restoration and processing with each unit image data of divided image data; and    an instruction information feeding circuit for encoding the particular information and feeding encoded particular information to said image correcting circuit;    wherein said image correcting circuit and said instruction information feeding circuit precede said standard adjusting circuit.    
     
     
         5 . The camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said communicating circuit comprises an interface for interchanging the image data with a unit located outside of said device.  
     
     
         6 . The camera in accordance with  claim 5 , wherein said communicating circuit communicates via an extended bus width or an additional exclusive line assigned to the particular information as well as to data and operation control.  
     
     
         7 . The device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to the background of a picture.  
     
     
         8 . The device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to instruction information.  
     
     
         9 . The device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to a plurality of kinds of instruction information.  
     
     
         10 . The digital camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to instruction information.  
     
     
         11 . The digital camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to a plurality of kinds of instruction information.  
     
     
         12 . The digital camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said particular information particular to said image data and relating to display further comprises information relating to the background of a picture.  
     
     
         13 . The device in accordance with  claim 1 , wherein said image correcting circuit comprises a display adjusting circuit for adjusting, based on a condition input in accordance with a combination of luminance data and color data constituting the image data read out of said memory, a sampling order and controlling feed of the unit number of image data.  
     
     
         14 . The device in accordance with  claim 13 , wherein said display adjusting circuit further comprises a size controlling circuit for controlling, when supplied with valid pixel number information representative of a number of pixels to be actually used for display and independent of a data size whose unit is the unit amount of image data, output of image data short of the unit number of image data on the basis of said number of pixels or controlling, based on said data size, delivery of said unit number of image data on a single line, and delivering controlled image data to said memory.  
     
     
         15 . The digital camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said image correcting circuit comprises an instruction analyzing circuit for separating and analyzing a content of the particular information as the instruction information and outputting a control signal representative of a result of analysis of said instruction information.  
     
     
         16 . The digital camera in accordance with  claim 4 , wherein said image correcting circuit comprises a restoration adjusting circuit for restoring the image data to a preselected data size in accordance with, among the instruction information included in the control signal, first information representative of a data size of said image data.