Digital still camera and method of controlling operation of same

Abstract

If a telop-character recording mode is selected, then, in response to depression of a shutter-release button, the image of a subject is sensed and voice enters from a microphone for a fixed period of time so that data representing voice is obtained. Character data for indicating the content of voice by characters is generated from the data representing voice. Image data representing the image of a subject, the voice data and the character data is recorded on a memory card. When an image is reproduced, the character data is combined with the image data and the characters represented by the character data are combined with the image and displayed together with the image. The content of voice can be ascertained by telop characters even with a playback device that is incapable of outputting voice.

1 . A digital still camera having an image sensing device for sensing an image of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject, and an image recording controller for recording image data output from the image sensing device, on a recording medium, comprising: 
 a mode selection unit for selecting a voice recording mode or a character recording mode;    a voice input unit for inputting a voice and outputting voice data representing the voice;    a voice recording controller for recording the voice data output from said voice input unit on the recording medium in response to a selection of the voice recording mode by said mode selection unit;    a character data generating unit for generating character data representing the voice data output from said voice input unit;    a character recording controller for recording the character data generated by said character data generating unit on the recording medium in response to a selection of the character recording mode by said mode selection unit;    a determination unit for determining whether 
 all of the image data, the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, or  
 only the image data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other;  
   a first control unit, in response to a determination by said determination unit that all of the image data, the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, 
 for controlling a voice output unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the voice data is output, and  
 for controlling a display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data and characters represented by the character data are output as a combined image; and  
   a second control unit, in response to a determination by said determination unit that only the image data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, 
 for controlling the voice output unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the voice data is output, and  
 for controlling the display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data is output.  
   
     
     
         2 . A method for playing back data recording in a storage medium, comprising: 
 reading from the storage medium, wherein the storage medium includes a structure to record image data, character data related to the image data, and voice data related to the image data and wherein the related character data is a visual representation of text data corresponding to the related voice data, and determining if the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium;    outputting the related voice data only if it is determined that the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium; and    displaying only the image data or both the related character data and the image data based on the result of the step of determining if the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the step of displaying only the image data or both the related character data and the image data comprises: 
 determining if the related character data is recorded in the storage medium if it is determined that the related voice data is recorded in the storage medium;    displaying both the related character data and the image data if it is determined that the related character data is recorded in the storage medium; and    displaying only the image data if it is determined that the related character data is not recorded in the storage medium.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the step of displaying both the related character data and the image data comprises: 
 combining the image data and the character data into combined image data; and    displaying the combined image data.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising displaying only the image data if it is determined that the related voice data is not recorded in the storage medium.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the image data and the related character are stored as a combined image data in the storage medium, and wherein the step of displaying both the related character data and the image data comprises displaying the combined image data.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 determining if a voice erase command has been issued; and    erasing the voice data if it is determined that the voice erase command has been issued.    
     
     
         8 . A digital still camera having an image sensing device for sensing an image of a subject and outputting image data representing the image of the subject, and an image recording controller for recording image data output from the image sensing device, on a recording medium, comprising: 
 a voice input unit to enable input of voice and to enable output of voice data representing the voice;    a voice recording controller to enable recording the voice data output from said voice input unit on the recording medium;    a character data generating unit to enable generating character data representing the voice data output from said voice input unit; and    a character recording controller to enable recording the character data generated by said character data generating unit on the recording medium;    a determination unit to enable determining whether 
 all of the image data, the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, or  
 only the image data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other;  
   a first control unit, in response to a determination by said determination unit that all of the image data, the voice data, and the character data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, 
 to enable controlling a voice output unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the voice data is output, and  
 to enable controlling a display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data and characters represented by the character data are output as a combined image; and  
   a second control unit, in response to a determination by said determination unit that only the image data and the voice data are recorded on the recording medium in a form linked to each other, 
 to enable controlling the voice output unit of the camera in such a manner that the voice represented by the voice data is output, and  
 to enable controlling the display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data is output.  
   
     
     
         9 . The digital still camera of  claim 1 , wherein the character data generated by the character data generating unit is a visual representation of text data of the voice data output by the voice input unit.  
     
     
         10 . The digital still camera of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 an image combining unit for combining the image data and the character data into the combined image,    wherein the first control unit controls the display device to display the combined image from the image combining unit.    
     
     
         11 . The digital still camera of  claim 9 , 
 wherein the image data and the character data are recorded in the recording medium as the combined image, and    wherein the first control unit controls the display device to display the combined image read from the recording medium.    
     
     
         12 . The digital still camera of  claim 1 , wherein the determination unit is also for determining whether the voice data are not recorded, the digital still camera further comprising: 
 a third control unit for controlling the display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data is output in response to a determination by the determination unit that the voice data are not recorded on the recording medium.    
     
     
         13 . The digital still camera of  claim 8 , wherein the character data generated by the character data generating unit is a visual representation of text data of the voice data output by the voice input unit.  
     
     
         14 . The digital still camera of  claim 13 , further comprising: 
 an image combining unit for combining the image data and the character data into the combined image,    wherein the first control unit controls the display device to display the combined image from the image combining unit.    
     
     
         15 . The digital still camera of  claim 13 , 
 wherein the image data and the character data are recorded in the recording medium as the combined image, and    wherein the first control unit controls the display device to display the combined image read from the recording medium.    
     
     
         16 . The digital still camera of  claim 8 , wherein the determination unit determines whether the voice data are not recorded, the digital still camera further comprising: 
 a third control unit for controlling the display device in such a manner that the image represented by the image data is output in response to a determination by the determination unit that the voice data are not recorded on the recording medium.