Hand-manipulated electronic camera tethered to a personal computer
Contents
1. 358 209 4 942 477 7 1990 Nakamura 358 401 5 019 699 5 1991 Koenck 235 472 5 023 635 6 1991 Nealon 354 76 E 42 LI ER US005402170A ij Patent Number 5 402 170 45 Date of Patent Mar 28 1995 5 040 068 8 1991 Parulski et al 358 209 5 065 229 11 1991 Tsai et al 358 21 R 5 086 344 2 1992 D Luna et al 358 213 15 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 0308075 8 1988 United Kingdom HON 3 15 OTHER PUBLICATIONS User s Manual for Model 1 Digital Still Camera Dycam Inc 1991 User s Manual Kodak CCD 4000B Sync Camera Eastman Kodak Co Apr 1991 Primary Examiner Howard W Britton Attorney Agent or Firm David M Woods 57 ABSTRACT A portable electronic camera is connectable to a com puter for capturing an image and providing the cap tured image to the computer for storage therewith The camera ergonomically acts like an independent self functioning peripheral device while in actuality depend ing on instructions from the computer The camera is remotely linked to the computer e g by a cable thereby allowing mobility of the camera independent of the computer The camera includes an electronic image sensor and circuit for driving the sensor to generate an image signal that is applied to the computer through the remote link The rea2. a digital interface standard may be used for instance if the Small Computer System Interface SCSI is used the interface 14 is a SCSI interface board 14b The choice of interface as will be shown deter mines the type of signal processing employed in the camera 10 The computer 12 additionally includes a conventional keyboard 18 and a conventional disk drive 20 the latter being used to store pictures captured by the camera 10 Although not shown the computer 12 includes the usual RAM storage for buffering incoming image data The camera 10 includes an optical system repre sented by the lens 22 for directing image light from an object to an image sensor 24 The optical system may optionally include in certain embodiments a shutter 26 and a diaphragm 28 for regulating the quantity of image light exposed upon the image sensor 24 The sensor 24 is biased and driven by a sensor clock generator 30 which provides the signals used to clock an output image signal from the sensor 24 The output image sig nal is applied to a signal processor controller 32 the complexity and type of processing and control varying according to the embodiment The output of the signal processor 32 exits the camera through a connector 34 which accepts a suitable connector not shown on the cable 16 The camera 10 further includes a shutter but ton 36 for initiating either an exposure sequence or a frame capture depending upon the embodiment a sta tus indi
3. an LCD display and a large capacity hard disk drive With that utility in mind the operation of the camera of FIG 2 is described in the self explanatory flow chart shown in FIG 3 The user begins by connecting the camera 10 to the com puter 12 and turning on the power supply 44 The user opens a tethered camera application program in the computer 12 and selects capture parameters from a menu shown in FIG 4 The options can include the color mode 8 or 24 bit color or monochrome images storing the full resolution images or lower resolution subsampled images e g allowing the user the choice of full resolution e g 512768 pixel images or lower resolution e g 256X384 or 128X 192 pixel images i e thereby using lower resolution to allow more im ages to be stored in the memory storing compressed or uncompressed images and so on A suitable image compression technique for images from a 3 green color image sensor is disclosed in U S Pat No 5 065 229 Compression Method and Apparatus for Single Sensor Color Imaging Systems which is incor 30 40 45 55 60 65 6 porated herein by reference The user also specifies the image group name and the maximum number of images to be saved The computer then calculates the required storage space to determine if the required amount of disk memory is sufficient Once the selections are made the camera ready lamp 38a is lit and the user can close t
4. ergonomics of a hand held camera that is to permit framing exposure flash status indica tion etc without having to interact with the host com puter What is needed is a design for a tethered com puter camera and associated computer software that allows the user to easily capture and store multiple images from the camera into the computer disk mem ory without needing to interact with the computer at the instant each image is captured SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a portable electronic cam era connectable to a computer for capturing an image and providing the captured image to the computer for storage therewith In accordance with the invention the camera ergonomically acts like an independent self functioning peripheral device while in actuality depending on instructions from the computer The cam era is linked by signal connection means to the com puter e g in one embodiment by a cable thereby al lowing mobility of the camera independent of the com puter The camera includes electronic image sensing means and means for driving the sensing means to gen erate an image signal that is applied to the computer through the signal connection means The readiness of the computer to accept an image signal is manifested by operative means in the camera which condition the camera for image capture in response to a status signal from the computer transmitted through the signal con nection means In one emb
5. image signal generated by said driving means comprises a stream of image signals corresponding to a stream of consecutive images and wherein the camera further comprises a capture switch for outputting a capture command signal to the computer to identify an image signal selected from the stream of image signals 6 A camera as claimed in claim 5 for use with a computer including a framestore capture circuit having a capture input for initiating the capture of an image and wherein the capture command signal output by said capture switch is applied to the capture input of the frames tore capture circuit in order to initiate the capture of a particular image signal 7 A camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein specific image capture options are specified through interaction with the computer and wherein said driving means outputs a common image signal that is subsequently configured in the computer according to the specified capture options 8 A camera as claimed in claim 7 wherein the specific image capture options are used for a multiplicity of images 9 A camera as claimed in claim 7 wherein said image capture options include storage of either a full resolu tion image or a subsampled image 10 A camera as claimed in claim 7 wherein said sens ing means includes a color filter array for generating color responsive signals and said image capture options include storage of either a color or a monochrome im age 11 A portable elec
6. sensing means specified options to a plurality of images having a maximum resolution and being capable 21 A system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the speci of producing a color output fied image processing options include the ability to limit 3 means for driving said sensing means to generate 30 the maximum number of captured images an image signal corresponding to the image and T GEI UD 35 45 50 55 65
7. storage of the image signal after providing the status signal and 5 402 170 7 exposure release mean connected to said driving means for initiating the generation of an image signal thereby capturing an image and wherein said operative means inhibits actuation of said ex posure release means until receipt of said status signal indicates that the computer is ready to re ceive the image signal 2 A camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein the camera further comprises a capture switch for outputting a capture command signal and wherein said driving means generates a single image signal corresponding to a still image in response to the occurrence of the capture command signal and the receipt of the status signal from the computer 3 A camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein the camera further comprises an exposure readiness indicator and wherein said operative means energizes said exposure readiness indicator when said status signal indicates that the computer is ready to receive the image signal 4 A camera as claimed in claim 3 wherein said expo sure readiness indicator has a plurality of indicator states and wherein the status signal has a plurality of components each actuating a corresponding one of said indicator states to show that the computer is ready to receive an image signal that the computer is busy pro cessing an image signal and that a storage device in the computer is full 5 A camera as claimed in claim 1 wherein the
8. AMPLIFIER VIDEO A D CONVERTER uz d WY FIG 2 U S Patent Mar 28 1995 Sheet 3 of 4 5 402 170 CONNECT CAMERA CABLE AND TURN ON COMPUTER AND CAMERA OPEN CAMERA CAPTURE APPLICATION SOFTWARE AND CHOOSE RESOLUTION COLOR MODE COMPRESSION MODE AND MAXIMUM NUMBER OF IMAGES CAMERA READY LIGHT ON CHOOSE OPTIONS FROM CAMERA CAPTURE l APPLICATION COMPOSE PICTURE VIA SOFTWARE TO OPTICAL VIEWFINDER AND ALLOW VIEWING DEPRESS CAPTURE OF MULTIPLE BUTTON ON CAMERA TO THUMBNAIL TAKE THE NEXT PICTURE IMAGES AND DELETION OF UNWANTED IMAGES IMAGE SAVED TO DISC FOLLOWING OPTIONAL COMPRESSION BUSY LIGHT ON TURN ON CAMERA FULL LIGHT CHECK IF THERE IS ROOM FOR MORE IMAGES YES FIG 5 U S Patent Mar 28 1995 Sheet 4 of 4 5 402 170 IMAGE NAME NEW IMAGES COMPRESSION MAX NUMBER OF IMAGES 10 TR MEMORY REQUIRED IMBYTES COMPRESSION ON MEMORY AVAILABLE 5 MBYTES O COMPRESSION OFF RESOLUTION COLOR MODE 768 X 5I2 PIXELS 24 BIT COLOR 384 X 256 PIXELS C 8 BIT COLOR C 192 X 128 PIXELS C 8 BIT MONOCHROME FIG 4 5 402 170 1 HAND MANIPULATED ELECTRONIC CAMERA TETHERED TO A PERSONAL COMPUTER This is a continuation of application Ser No 805 220 filed Dec 11 1990 now abandoned BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Field of the Invention This invention pertains to the field o
9. TROL IN line includes several status components for illuminating several different status indicator lamps In one implementation of the invention the sensor 24 is a scan rate video sensor producing a motion video signal and the signal processor controller 32 includes a stage for converting the image signal into an analog NTSC video signal which is transmitted through the connector 34 to the computer 12 as the IMAGE OUT signal Typically the interface 14 in such an application is a framestore board 14a In the implementation just mentioned actuation of the shutter switch 36 pulses the CAPTURE OUT line which is connected through the connector 34 to e g the capture control line of the framestore board 14a The framestore board 14a then captures a frame from the continuous video signal out put on the IMAGE OUT line An appropriate signal on the CONTROL IN line to the signal processor con troller 32 activates the shutter button 36 that is allows the signal processor controller 32 to output a capture pulse on the CAPTURE OUT line likewise appropri ate signals on the CONTROL IN line energize appro priate indicator lights 38 to tell the user the status of the computer 12 that is whether the computer 12 is ready to capture the next image whether it is in the process of storing the present image to the disk drive 30 or whether the drive 20 is full A second preferred implementation of the invention is shown in FIG 2 in block diagram fo
10. United States Patent r Parulski et al 54 75 73 21 22 63 51 52 58 56 HAND MANIPULATED ELECTRONIC CAMERA TETHERED TO A PERSONAL COMPUTER Inventors Kenneth A Parulski Rochester Robert H Hamel Walworth John J Acello East Rochester ali of N Y Assignee Eastman Kodak Company Rochester N Y Appl No 938 573 Filed Aug 31 1992 Related U S Application Data Continuation of Ser No 805 220 Dec 11 1991 aban doned Tnt CLE ue e ra at HOAN 5 232 US CL Susa alaq sasasaswa 348 211 348 376 348 552 Field of Search 358 442 479 310 335 348 64 211 220 376 362 552 HO4N 5 232 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 3 993 865 11 1976 Browne et al 358 473 4 074 324 2 1978 Barrett 358 296 4 581 761 4 1986 Ichinokawa et al 382 13 4 663 661 5 1987 Weldy et al 358 44 4 714 963 12 1987 Vogel 358 909 4 738 526 4 1988 Larish 354 412 4 751 583 6 1988 Levine 358 256 4 805 037 2 1989 Noble 358 335 4 827 347 5 1989 Bell 358 210 4 849 811 7 1989 Kleinerman 358 903 4 855 813 8 1989 Russell et al 358 22 4 858 014 8 1989 Zeevwi 358 209 4 901 364 2 1990 Faulkerson et al 382 59 4 903 132 2 1990 Yamawaki
11. al CAPTURE OUT or it could be e g a bit set in a header that travels with the image signal IMAGE OUT In the latter case a separate CAPTURE OUT signal is unnecessary If the camera 10 provides a single still image signal rather than a stream of image signals the mere existence of an image signal on the IMAGE OUT line is determinative of the captured image In that case there is no need to communicate a separate CAP TURE OUT signal to single out a particular image frame A status signal on the CONTROL IN line controls usage of the shutter release 36 such that the shutter release 36 only activates a still capture or pulses the CAPTURE OUT line when the status signal is set Several alternatives are possible the status signal could illuminate the indicator lamp 38 passively showing that the shutter release 36 will have no effect until the lamp 38 is extinguished ie continued depression of the shutter release 36 would not be recognized by the com puter 12 Alternatively the status signal could actively inhibit the shutter release 36 e g by preventing the generation of a CAPTURE OUT signal or the initiation of a still exposure Moreover the CONTROL IN line may have separate status signals for enabling the shutter release 36 and illuminating the lamp 38 or if the two states are mutually exclusive the two conditions of a single binary status signal may manifest both states Furthermore in a preferred implementation the CON
12. ation and incorporated herein by refer ence Imager defects are corrected in a defect correc tion stage 58 the actual defect locations are stored in a defect ROM 60 Red green and blue look up tables LUTs 62 are provided for gamma correction and white balance The output signals are converted to the SCSI standard by a SCSI interface 64 and transmitted through the connector 34 to the SCSI interface board 14b in the computer 12 A programmed microprocessor driven controller 66 provides the commands instructions and signals neces sary to operate the camera in particular responding to control inputs from the computer 12 through the SCSI interface 64 to initiate a still exposure sequence subject to actuation of the shutter switch 36 In other words the controller 66 waits for instructions from the com puter 12 before recognizing an input from the shutter switch 36 During the interim indicator lamps 38a 38b 38c are illuminated to indicate the condition of the cam era 10 relative to the computer 12 The indicator lamps are illuminated by a signal from the controller 66 pursu ant either to specific instructions from the computer 12 or particularly if only one lamp is used by the absence of an enable signal for the shutter switch 36 The camera shown in block form in FIG 2 is particu larly adapted for connection through a digital interface such as a SCSI interface to a small light weight com puter such as a laptop computer with
13. cator 38 which may include a liquid crystal display LCD panel or a plurality of indicator lamps for indicating the status of the computer 12 to the user that is ready for another picture or busy process ing the just taken picture a viewfinder 40 which may be an optical viewfinder as represented by the lens 40a 40b or an electronic viewfinder as represented by the LCD display 40c connected by broken line 40d to the signal processor controller 32 an electronic flash 42 which may be detachable or integrally formed with the camera and a power supply 44 for powering the vari ous circuits and electrically powered components in the camera 10 For purposes of broadly describing the functions of the camera 10 the signal processor controller 32 is shown as outputting CAPTURE OUT and IMAGE OUT signals to the computer 12 In particular the pro cessor controller 32 is operative to condition the cam era for image capture in response to a CONTROL IN signal received from the computer 12 These signals are exemplary of the supported functions and are not meant 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 65 4 to specify a minimum or maximum number of signals or signal connections For instance if the camera 10 pro vides a continuous stream of image signals the CAP TURE OUT line is needed to single out one image frame for capture by the computer 12 Of course de pending upon the embodiment this could be a separate sign
14. diness of the computer to accept an image signal is manifested by operative device in the camera which condition the camera for image capture in response to a status signal from the computer trans mitted through the remote link In one embodiment a capture switch is positioned on or with the camera for user engagement whereby the operative device inhibits actuation of the capture switch until receipt of the status signal In another embodiment the operative device energizes an exposure readiness indicator when the status signal is received 21 Claims 4 Drawing Sheets Lco VIEWFINDER Sheet 1 of 4 5 402 170 Mar 28 1995 U S Patent JNN 108 1NO9 FYNLAVI O3GIA 2S LN Dbl 8l OOOOO0 i guv08 3y bl E 39V 443 LNI YFLNAIWOD TVNOSH 3d ANY ASIC 0c al LNd LNO LNANI 9l qti 1 l l 1 I YOSNIS 92 i A gt N l ATS HS Ol M3WOd ri ia E I NI T08 1N02 YFTIOULNOD pE LNO IWNI YOSSFIIOUd O LNO FYNLdVI Ta oo U S Patent Mar 28 1995 Sheet 2 of 4 5 402 170 VIEWFINDER 22 LENS LCD 42 SHUTTER 26 40c mers APERTURE BLUR FILTER 24b 3G CFA FULL FRAME 24 SENSOR 24a 3g CLOCK DRIVERS BIAS CIRCUITS SENSOR TIMING BATTERY f DEFECT DEFECT ROM CORRECT ION 66 RGB 36 CONT ROL SCSI 38 INTERFACE a READY TY INDICATOR Busy L 38b 38 FAULT L 38c CONNECTOR TO 34 COMPUTER I VIDEO
15. es or otherwise correct the problem and the ready lamp 38a is again illuminated If the storage medium is filled a mosaic of small thumbnail images may be produced on a single screen image of the computer s monitor to facilitate choice of unwanted images The invention has been described in detail with par ticular reference to a presently preferred embodiment but it will be understood that variations and modifica tions can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention For instance while analog and SCSI inter faces have been described it is also feasible to use the parallel and serial ports conventionally available on a personal computer What is claimed is 1 A portable electronic camera connectable to a computer for capturing an image and providing the captured image to the computer for storage therewith said camera comprising signal connection means for linking the camera to the computer means for sensing an image means for driving said sensing means to generate an image signal corresponding to the image and for applying the image signal to said signal connection means for transmission to the computer operative means for conditioning the camera for image capture in response to the readiness of the computer for accepting an image signal said opera tive means responsive to a status signal from the computer transmitted through said signal connec tion means whereby the computer is adapted for
16. f electronic imag ing and more particularly to an image acquisition pe ripheral operated as an input device to a personal com puter or professional workstation 2 Background Art Video cameras and computer frame grabbers are well known in the prior art A typical system employs a video motion camera such as the CCD 4000 RGB Flash Sync Camera manufactured by Eastman Kodak Co Rochester N Y and a frame grabber board such as a TARGA TM frame store board manufactured by True Vision Inc Indianapolis Ind attached to the PC bus of a personal computer or professional workstation The camera provides the timing to interface with the video frame store board by activating the frame acquire line of the frame store board whenever an external voltage input to the camera is dropped low e g by dropping the Camera Acquire In line to the CCD 4000 camera While the external voltage input may be separately and directly enabled it is customary when using a video camera such as the CCD 4000 camera with a personal computer to design software to activate the camera s frame acquire line from the computer To capture an image into the computer in such a customary application the operator frames the subject while ob serving the live camera output on a video monitor and then interacts with the computer keyboard at the proper moment The need to use the computer keyboard fre quently interferes with effective use of the camera Other know
17. he computer if required and sling it over the shoulder while holding the camera The user frames the image and depresses the capture button 36 This begins a sequence which fires the flash 42 if required actuates the shutter 26 and reads the digitized image sensor data a line at a time over the SCSI bus connection 16 to the computer RAM mem ory Depending on the capture options selected the data is either stored directly from RAM to the hard disc 20 or other non volatile computer memory is com pressed using e g the aforementioned known image compression method etc The first image is stored as image group name 1 and subsequent images are stored as image group name 2 image group name 3 etc While this happens the computer turns off the ready lamp 38a and illuminates the busy lamp 38b so the user knows that the computer operations are occurring without having to look at the computer display screen Assuming that the current image number is less than the maximum number of images so that there is room to store more images and that the flash has recharged if required the ready lamp 38a is illuminated so that the user knows that the next image may be framed and captured If the disk drive 20 or other storage device is full or other problems are noted then the fault lamp 38c is illuminated The user then proceeds to sub stitute another disk if drive 20 uses removable media move or delete some imag
18. initiate the capture of a particular image signal 13 A camera as claimed in claim 11 wherein said readiness indicating means toggles between two states indicating whether or not the computer is ready to accept an image signal and wherein said capture switch is rendered effective in outputting a capture command signal after said readiness indicating means has changed to the state indicating that the computer is ready to accept an image signal 14 A camera as claimed in claim 11 further including a cable interface connecting said signal connection means with the computer whereby the camera remains tethered to the computer 15 A portable electronic camera connectable to a computer through a peripheral interface for capturing an image and providing the captured image over the interface for storage with the computer said camera comprising means for sensing an image and generating an image signal an interface controller for controlling the transmis sion of data between the camera and the computer a capture switch for generating a capture signal that initiates a still exposure means responsive to a a control signal from the computer transmitted through the interface con troller for enabling said sensing means to generate a still image signal and b actuation of said capture switch for triggering the enabled sensing means to capture a desired still image and status indicator means responsive to a status signal from the comp
19. n scanners that interact with a host com puter include U S Pat No 4 901 364 Faulkerson et al and U S Pat No 4 581 761 Ichinokawa et al Faulker son et al describes an interactive linear scanner system for text in which a hand operated optical scanner includes a plurality of function keys that are user pro grammable so as to assume certain functions that are ordinarily accessed through a keyboard For instance the function keys can be programmed to provide move ment from field to field within a spreadsheet program while entering data using the scanner without e g requiring the user to use arrow keys on the computer keyboard The camera exposure functions however such as control of a light source and the enablement of the optical scanning function are controlled by a video processor located in the scanner Moreover the image data is edited to eliminate duplicative character infor mation between successive image data frames The edited frame data is then transmitted via data bus to a host computer In Ichinokawa et al a video processor is detached from a hand operated scanner A switch on tlie bottom of the scanner triggers the detached proces sor when the scanner is pushed down upon a document The processor then receives image data and additional information e g for switching from draw to erase setting coordinates and changing magnification from the scanner in turn providing processed data to a host computer A
20. odiment a capture switch is positioned on or with the camera for user engagement whereby the operative means inhibits actuation of the capture switch until receipt of the status signal In an other embodiment the operative means energizes an exposure readiness indicator when the status signal is received BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The invention will be described in relation to the drawings in which FIG 1 is a schematic diagram of an image capture system for a computer including a portable electronic camera connected to a conventional personal computer according to the invention 5 402 170 3 FIG 2 is a block diagram of a preferred implementa tion of the camera illustrated in FIG 1 FIG 3 is a flow diagram showing the operation of the camera of FIG 2 and FIG 4 shows a typical menu selection presented to the user by the computer DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring first to FIG 1 an electronic camera 10 is coupled to a personal computer 12 through a computer interface 14 The camera 10 is preferably remotely linked to the computer 12 with a cable 16 thus allowing a certain amount of mobility for the camera 10 indepen dent of the computer 12 The interface 14 depends on the interface standard used for example if the interface standard accommodates an analog NTSC video signal the interface 14 is typically a frame store board 14a such as the aforementioned TARGA TM board Alter natively
21. onnection means whereby the 10 is adapted for storage of the image signal after computer processes the desired image according to providing the status signal and the specified capture options after receipt of the b a computer connectable to the camera for storing capture command signal the image according to specified options dependent 18 A camera as claimed in claim 17 wherein said upon processing of the image signal said computer capture options include the choice of either full resolu 15 comprising tion or subsampled resolution or color or monochrome 1 an image compression algorithm providing at reproduction least one mode of compression 19 A system including a camera and a computer for 2 means for selecting a specific image processing capturing a still electronic image said system compris option including the mode of compression the ing 20 resolution of the captured image as derived from a a portable camera connectable to the computer for the image signal and the processing of color or capturing the image and providing the captured monochrome images from the image signal and image to the computer for storage therewith said 3 means for generating and transmitting the status camera comprising signal to the camera 1 signal connection means for linking the camera 25 20 A system as claimed in claim 19 wherein the speci to the computer fied image processing options include application of the 2 means for sensing an image said
22. rm wherein identical reference characters are used to identify com ponents similar to those described in FIG 1 In this implementation the signal processor controller 32 gen erates a digital color image signal for application through the connector 34 to the SCSI interface board 14b shown in FIG 1 A still image signal is generated 5 402 170 5 by the image sensor 24 which in this embodiment in cludes a full frame sensor 24a such as the Model KAF 0400 768X512 pixels manufactured by Eastman Kodak Company and a 3 Green color filter array 24b The principle of the 3 green color filter pattern along with the concomitant use of a blur filter 50 such as a birefringent optical filter is described in U S Pat No 4 663 661 Single Sensor Color Video Camera with Blurring Filter which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application and incorporated herein by reference The signal processor controller 32 includes a video amplifier 52 which applies an ampli fied video signal to a video analog digital A D con verter 54 Sampling noise is removed from the digital video signal in a digital correlated double sampling circuit 56 A suitable digital sampling circuit 56 is dis closed in Ser No 522 030 filed May 11 1990 entitled Digital Correlated Double Sampling Circuit for Sam pling the Output of an Image Sensor which is an al lowed application assigned to the same assignee as the present applic
23. s alluded to earlier it is desirable to disassociate the camera from keyboard interaction to the extent possi 10 20 25 35 40 45 50 60 65 2 ble In one desirable application a low cost electronic still camera would be tethered to a small battery oper ated notebook or penpad personal computer which provides image processing storage and display of the captured images By relying on the computer to per form these tasks the camera cost can be greatly re duced In such an application the computer would typically be slung over the shoulder or rested on a table while the user held the camera to compose the image However if the user must press buttons or pointers on the computer to capture each image as is typical in the prior art the system will be very unwieldy to use since the user will have to hold the camera in the right posi tion with one hand while operating the computer with the other hand By tethering the camera to the computer as exempli fied by the Faulkerson et al patent it is possible to have both complex camera exposure functions and to control some computer functions from the camera itself The complex camera exposure functions remain in the cam era however which is contrary to the objective of low cost Though it may be feasible as done in the prior art to download most complex processing to the computer in effect slaving the camera to the computer it is desir able to maintain the
24. tronic camera connectable to a computer for capturing an image and providing the captured image to the computer for storage therewith said camera comprising signal connection means for remotely linking the camera to the computer thereby allowing mobility of the camera independent of the computer means for sensing an image 5 10 15 35 45 55 65 8 means for driving said sensing means to generate an image signal corresponding to the image and for applying the image signal to said signal connection means for transmission to the computer means for indicating the readiness of the computer for accepting an image signal said indicating means responsive to a status signal from tbe computer transmitted through said signal connection means and a capture switch for outputting a capture command signal for initiating the capture of an image signal corresponding to a selected image whereby the computer initiates storage of the image signal after providing the status signal and receiving the cap ture command signal 12 A camera as claimed in claim 11 for use with a computer including a framestore capture circuit having a capture input for actuating the capture of an image and wherein said driving means generates a series of image signals corresponding to a series of images and the capture command signal output by said capture switch is applied to the capture input of the frames tore capture circuit in order to
25. uter transmitted through the inter face controller for indicating when the computer is ready to accept a still image signal 16 A camera as claimed in claim 15 wherein said status signal is included with said control signal 17 A portable electronic camera connectable to a computer for capturing an image according to image capture options specified by the computer and provid ing the captured image to the computer for storage therewith said camera comprising signal connection means for remotely attaching the camera to the computer and thereby allowing mo bility of the camera independent of the computer 5 402 170 9 10 means for sensing an image for applying the image signal to said signal con means for driving said sensing means to generate an nection means for transmission to the computer image signal corresponding to the image regardless and of specified image capture options and applying 4 operative means for conditioning the camera for said image signal to said signal connection means 5 image capture in response to the readiness of the a viewfinder for viewing a plurality of images in computer for accepting an image signal said order to select a desired image and operative means responsive to a status signal a capture switch for initiating the capture of an image from the computer transmitted through said signal and transmission thereof to the computer signal connection means whereby the computer through said signal c
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search