Flashpoint Digital Image Copier Driver

Flashpoint Digital Image Copier Driver Slide. Edge. A white bar will. Home / Driver & Software / HP Compaq 6735s Drivers For Windows XP. May 19, 2018  To use the digital image copier you must install the DigitalImage Copier Driver and ArcSoft PhotoImpression 6 in advance.

A method and apparatus for editing heterogeneous media objects in a digital imaging device having a display screen, where each one of the media objects has one or more media types associated therewith, such as a still image, a sequential image, video, audio, and text. The method aspect of the present invention begins by displaying a representation of each one of the media objects on the display screen to allow a user to randomly select a particular media object to edit. In response to a user pressing a key to edit a selected media object, one or more specialized edit screens is invoked for editing the media types associated with the selected media object.

If the media object includes a still or a sequential image, then an image editing screen is invoked. If the media object includes a video clip, then a video editing screen is invoked. If the media object includes an audio clip, then an audio editing screen is invoked.

And if the media object includes a text clip, then a text editing screen is invoked. The present invention is related to the following U.S. 5,903,309, entitled “Method and System For Displaying Images And Associated Multimedia Types In The Interface Of A Digital Camera,” issued May 11, 1999; U.S.

6,249,316, entitled “Method and System For Creating A Temporary Group Of Images On A Digital Camera,” issued Jun. 19, 2001; U.S. 6,683,649, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Creating A Multimedia Presentation From Heterogeneous Media Objects In A Digital Imaging Device,” issued Jan. 27, 2004; and U.S.

6,738,075, entitled “Method And Apparatus For Creating An Interactive Slide Show In A Digital Imaging Device,” issued May 18, 2004.FIELD OF THE INVENTION. Digital video cameras differ from digital still cameras in a number of respects.

Digital video cameras are used to capture video at approximately thirty frames per second at the expense of image quality. Digital video cameras are more expensive than still cameras because of the extra hardware needed. The uncompressed digital video signals from all the low-resolution images require huge amounts memory storage, and high-ratio real-time compression schemes, such as MPEG, are essential for providing digital video for today's computers. Until recently, most digital video recorders used digital magnetic tape as the primary storage media, which has the disadvantage of not allowing random access to the data. All three types of cameras typically include a liquid-crystal display (LCD) or other type of display screen on the back of the camera.

Through the use of the LCD, the digital cameras operate in one of two modes, record and play. In record mode, the display is used as a viewfinder in which the user may view an object or scene before taking a picture. In play mode, the display is used a playback screen for allowing the user to review previously captured images and/or video. The camera may also be connected to a television for displaying the images on a larger screen.

For example, in order to create a multimedia presentation, the user first captures desired images and video with the camera, and then downloads the images to a personal computer or notebook computer. There, the user may import the images and video directly into a presentation program, such as Microsoft PowerPoint™. The user may also edit the images and video using any one of a number of image editing software applications. After the PowerPoint presentation has been created, the user must connect the PC or notebook to a projector to display the presentation. Finally, the user typically controls the play back of the presentation using a remote control. Due to the limitations of today's digital cameras in terms of capabilities and features, the user is forced to learn how to operate a computer, image editing software, and a presentation program in order to effectively create and display the multimedia presentation. As the use of digital cameras becomes increasingly mainstream, however, the number of novice computer users will increase.

Indeed, many users will not even own a computer at all. Therefore, many camera owners will be precluded from taking advantage of the multimedia capabilities provided by digital cameras. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for editing heterogeneous media objects in a digital imaging device having a display screen, where each one of the media objects has one or more media types associated therewith, such as a still image, a sequential image, video, audio, and text. The method aspect of the present invention begins by displaying a representation of each one of the media objects on the display screen to allow a user to randomly select a particular media object to edit. In response to a user pressing a key to edit a selected media object, one or more specialized edit screens is invoked for editing the media types associated with the selected media object.

If the media object includes a still or a sequential image, then an image editing screen is invoked. If the media object includes a video clip, then a video editing screen is invoked.

If the media object includes an audio clip, then an audio editing screen is invoked. And if the media object includes a text clip, then a text editing screen is invoked. The present invention is a method and apparatus for creating and presenting a multimedia presentation comprising heterogeneous media objects stored in a digital imaging device. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Although the present invention will be described in the context of a digital video camera, various modifications to the preferred embodiment will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and the generic principles herein may be applied to other embodiments. That is, any digital imaging device used to store and display and/or video, could incorporate the features described hereinbelow and that device would be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein. The CPU 124 may include a conventional microprocessor device for controlling the overall operation of camera. In the preferred embodiment, The CPU 124 is capable of concurrently running multiple software routines to control the various processes of camera within a multithreaded environment. In a preferred embodiment, The CPU 124 runs an operating system that includes a menu-driven GUI. An example of such software is the Digita™ Operating Environment by FlashPoint Technology of San Jose, Calif. Although the CPU 124 is preferably a microprocessor, one or more DSP 116's (digital signal processor) or ASIC's (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) could also be used.

Dynamic Random-Access-Memory (DRAM) 126 is a contiguous block of dynamic memory that may be selectively allocated for various storage functions. DRAM 126 temporarily stores both raw and compressed image data and is also used by CPU 124 while executing the software routines used within computer 112. The raw image data received from imaging device 110 is temporarily stored in several input buffers (not shown) within DRAM 126. A frame buffer (not shown) is used to store still image and graphics data via the video control 132 and/or the mixer. Power supply 134 supplies operating power to the various components of camera. Power manager 136 communicates via line with power supply 134 and coordinates power management operations for camera. In the preferred embodiment, power supply 134 provides operating power to a main power bus 152 and also to a secondary power bus 154.

The main power bus 152 provides power to imaging device 110, I/O 150, Non-volatile memory 128 and removable memory. The secondary power bus 154 provides power to power manager 136, CPU 124 and DRAM 126. Power supply 134 is connected to main batteries and also to backup batteries 360. In the preferred embodiment, a camera user may also connect power supply 134 to an external power source. During normal operation of power supply 134, the main batteries (not shown) provide operating power to power supply 134 which then provides the operating power to camera via both main power bus 152 and secondary power bus 154. During a power failure mode in which the main batteries have failed (when their output voltage has fallen below a minimum operational voltage level) the backup batteries provide operating power to power supply 134 which then provides the operating power only to the secondary power bus 154 of camera.

2A and 2B are diagrams depicting an exemplary form factor design for the DVC 100, shown here as a clam-shell design having a rotatable imaging device 110. 2A is a top view of the DVC 100 in an opened position, while FIG. 2B is a top view of the DVC 100 in a closed position.

2A shows the display screen 140, a four-way navigation control 200, a mode dial 202, a display button 204, a set of programmable soft keys 206, a shutter button 208, a menu button 210, and an audio record button 212. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2A, during live view, the imaging device 110 transfers raw image data to the image processing DSP 116 at 30 frames per second (fps), or 60 fields per second. The DSP 116 performs gamma correction and color conversion, and extracts exposure, focus, and white balance settings from the image data and converts the data into CCIR 650 streaming video. (CCIR 650 is an international standard for digital video designed to encompass both NTSC and PAL analog signals, providing an NTSC-equivalent resolution of 720×486 pixels at 30 fps.

It requires 27 MB per second and uses three signals: one 13.5 MB/sec luminance (gray scale) and two 6.75 MB/sec chrominance (color)). After processing, the streaming video from the DSP 116 is transferred to the mixer for the overlay of optional graphics and/or images onto the video. The graphics data from the DRAM's 126 frame buffer is transferred to the mixer in synch with streaming video, where the mixer combines the graphic data with the video. After the streaming video and the graphics are combined, the video is displayed on the display screen 140 via the video control 132. A video out port is also provided to display the video on an external display device. When the user initiates the video capture function to record the digital video, the streaming video output from the DSP 116 is also transferred to the video codec 132 for compression and storage.

The video codec 132 performs MPEG-2 encoding on the streaming video during recording, and performs MPEG-2 decoding during playback. The video codec 132 may include local memory, such as 32 Mbits of SDRAM 126 for example, for MPEG-2 motion estimation between frames. Such video codecs 132 are commercially available from Sony Electronics (CXD1922Q0) and Matsushita Electronics Corp. As the video codec 132 compresses the digital video, the compressed video stream is transferred to a temporary buffer in DRAM 126. Simultaneously, audio is recorded by the audio subsystem 142 and transferred to the audio codec 132 for compression into a compressed audio format, such MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3), which is common internet format. In an alternative embodiment, the audio could be compressed into AC-3 format, a well-known Dolby Digital audio recording technology that provides six surround-sound audio channels.

Although the resolution of the display screen 140 may vary, the display screen 140 resolution is usually much less than the resolution of the image data that's produced by imaging device 110 when the user captures a still image at full resolution. Typically, the resolution of display screen 140 is ¼ the video resolution of a full resolution image. Since the display screen 140 is capable of only displaying images at ¼ resolution, the images generated during the live view process are also ¼ resolution. As stated above, the DVC 100 is capable of capturing high-resolution still images in addition to video. When the user initiates the capture function to capture a still or sequential image, the image device captures a frame of image data at a resolution set by user.

The DSP 116 performs image processing on the raw CCD data to convert the frame of data into YCC color format, typically YCC 2:2:2 format (YCC is an abbreviation for Luminance, Chrominance-red and Chrominance-blue). Alternatively, the data could be converted into RGB format (Red, Green, Blue). A still image is a high-quality, single image that may have a resolution of 1536×1024 pixels, for example.

A time-lapse image is a series of images automatically captured by the DVC 100 at predefined time intervals for a defined duration (e.g. Capturing a picture every five minutes for an hour).

A burst image is similar to a time-lapse, but instead of capturing images for defined period of time, the DVC 100 captures as many images as possible in a brief time frame (e.g., a couple seconds). A panorama image is an image comprising several overlapping images of a larger scene that have been stitched together.

A burst image, a time-lapse image, and a panorama image are each objects that include multiple still images, therefore, they may be referred to as a sequential images. In a preferred embodiment, one or more of the different media types can be combined to form a single media object. Since various combinations may be formed, such as single image with sound, or burst image with text, etc, the DVC 100 can be described at storing heterogeneous media objects, each comprising a particular combination of media types, such as images, video, sound, and text/graphics. Some types of media objects are formed automatically by the DVC 100, such as a captured image or an annotated image, others are formed manually by the user.

Each object cell 300 includes an image area 304 and an icon/information area 306. In the case of a still image, the image area 304 of a object cell 300 displays a thumbnail of the media object, which in the case of an image-based media object is a small, low-resolution version of the image.

In the case of sequential images and video segments, the image area 304 of a object cell 300 displays a representative thumbnail or frame from the image sequence or video, respectively, typically the first one. In a preferred embodiment, the filmstrip 352 displays four thumbnail images 350 at a time, although other numbers are also suitable. The user may navigate through the series of displayed thumbnails 350 in the display screen 140 using the four-way navigation control 200 ( FIG. When the user holds down the left/right buttons on the four-way control 200, the thumbnails 350 are scrolled-off the display screen 140 and replaced by new thumbnails 350 representing other stored media objects to provide for fast browsing of the camera contents. As the user presses the buttons on the four-way control 200 and the thumbnails 350 scroll across the display screen 140, the thumbnail 350 that is positioned over a notch in the selection arrow line 356 is considered the active media object 302. When there are more than four media objects in the camera, the selection arrow line 356 displays arrowheads to indicate movement in that direction is possible with the left/right navigation buttons. In a first aspect of the present invention, a method and apparatus is provided for creating and presenting a multimedia presentation from the heterogeneous group of media objects stored and displayed on the DVC 100.

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This is accomplished by navigating through several displays showing the heterogeneous media objects, selecting and marking the desired objects in the preferred order to create an ordered list of objects, and then saving the ordered list of objects as a slide show, thereby creating a new type of media object. After the slide show is created, the user may present the slide show wherein each media object comprising the slide show is automatically played back to the user in sequence that it was selected. The slide show may be played back on the display screen 140 and/or on an external television via the video out port. After a soft key label 308 has been displayed, the user may press the corresponding soft key 206 to have the function indicated by its label 308 applied to the current image. The functions assigned to the soft keys 206 may be changed in response to several different factors. The soft 206 keys may change automatically either in response to user actions, or based on predetermined conditions existing in the camera, such as the current operating mode, the image type of the media object, and so on. The soft keys 206 may also be changed manually by the user by pressing the menu button 210.

Providing programmable soft keys 206 increases the number of functions that may be performed by the camera, while both minimizing the number of buttons required on the user interface 114, and reducing the need to access hierarchical menus. To create an ordered group of images, the user navigates to a particular media object using the four way control 200 and presses the “Mark” soft key 206 a corresponding to the mark function indicated by soft key label 308 a. In response, a mark number is displayed in the object cell 300 of the highlighted image 302 and the highlighted image 302 becomes a marked image. After an image is marked, the “Mark” soft key label 308 a is updated to “Unmark”.

The “Unmark” function allows the user remove an image from the group, which removes the mark number from the object cell 300 of the highlighted image. The process begins when a user selects a media object by positioning the highlight area 302 over the object cell 300, or otherwise selects the object cell 300, using the four-way navigational control 200 in step 500. The user then presses the function key corresponding to the Mark soft key label 308 a in step 502. After the “Mark” soft key 206 a is depressed, the object cell 300 is updated to display the number of images that have been marked during the current sequence in step 504. The object cell 300 may also be updated to display an optional graphic, such as a dog-ear corner or a check mark, for example. After the object cell 300 has been updated, the “Mark” soft key in the command bar is updated to “Unmark” in step 506. After the “Unmark” key is depressed, the object cells 300 for the remaining marked media objects may be renumbered.

This is accomplished by determining whether the selected media object is the highest numbered media object in the marked group in step 522. If the selected media object is not the highest numbered media object in the marked group, then the marked media objects having a higher number are renumbered by subtracting one from the respective mark number and displaying the result in their object cells 300 in step 524. After the mark number is removed from the unmarked media object and the other mark numbers renumbered if required, the “Unmark” soft key in the command bar is updated to “Mark” in step 526. The user may then continue to modify the group by marking and/or unmarking other media objects accordingly.

Referring now to FIG. 6 a diagram illustrating the result of the user pressing the Mark function key is shown. The selected media object cell 302 is updated with the number “1”, which indicates that the media object is the first to be marked. 7 is a diagram showing the user marking another media object by selecting a second media object cell 322 and pressing the Mark function key. This causes the media object cell 322 to be updated with the number “2”. 8 is a diagram showing a third media object being selected and marked, as described above, in which case, the icon area of the media object 342 is updated with the number “3”. Referring again to FIG.

5, while marking media objects, the method for removing media objects in the group (steps 512- 524) also allows a user to dynamically reorder or re-sequence the media objects in the group. For example, assume the user has marked five media objects, labeled as “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, and wants to make media object “3” the last media object in the group. This can be accomplished by unmarking media object “3”, which results in media objects “4”, and “5” being renumbered “3” and “4”, respectively. Thereafter, the user may mark the original media object “3”, which results in the media object being labeled with the number “5”. After the slide show 360 has been created using any of the described embodiments, it is displayed as a new media object cell 300 on the display screen 140 along with an icon indicating that the media object is a slide show. Selecting the new slide show object cell 300 and pressing the display button 204 or switching to play mode causes each of the media objects included in the “slide show” to be individually played back on the display screen 140 in the sequence that they were marked without user intervention. When the slide show is presented, each media object therein is played by playing each of the media types comprising the object.

For example, a still image is played by displaying the image for a predefined time on the display screen 140 while playing any associated audio. Sequential images are played by displaying each still comprising the sequential image while playing any associated audio. Video segments are played as a convention movie. A text-based object is played by displaying the text on the display screen 140. And a stand-alone audio clip is played by displaying a blank screen or the name of the clip while the audio is played through the DVC's 100 speakers. 10 is a diagram illustrating the DVC 100 connected to external projector 380, and alternatively to a large television 382.

When the slide show 360 is played, the images, video and audio are automatically displayed directly on the large screen 384 or on the screen of the television 382 from the DVC 100. Thus, the present invention enables a novice user to show multimedia presentations without the need for downloading images and/or video to a computer for incorporation into presentation software to create a multimedia presentation. Referring again to FIG. 8 in a second aspect of the present invention, the DVC 100 is provided with an advanced feature that allows the user to edit the media objects either before or after incorporation into the slide show 360 using specialized media type editors. In one preferred embodiment, the user edits the slide show 360 by selecting the slide show object in either review or play mode, and then pressing the “Edit” soft key 206 b. In response a slide show edit screen appears displaying the thumbnail images of all the media objects in the slide show.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a diagram illustrating the components of the slide show edit screen is shown in accordance with the present invention. The slide show edit screen is based on the review screen layout of FIG. 4B, where like components share like reference numerals. The slide show edit screen 400 includes, the filmstrip 352, a list page 402, and the command bar 310.

The filmstrip 352 displays a scrollable series of thumbnails representing all the media objects in the slide show. The list page 402 displays a scrollable list of menu items that can be applied to the selected media object. And the command bar 310 displays several of soft key functions 308.

In the implementation shown in FIG. 11, the user may move a target cursor to discrete cursor locations 404 within the screen 400, shown here as diamond shapes, using the four-way navigational control 200. The cursor is active at any given time in either the filmstrip 352 or the list page 402. The current target-cursor location is shown as a black diamond, and the element associated with the current cursor location is the target element. In a preferred embodiment, the soft key labels 308 displayed in the command bar 310 are only associated with the target element. From the list page 402, the user may choose the “Edit Object” item 406 for editing the selected media object 302, or choose the “Properties” item 408 to change the properties associated with the selected media object 302.

Choosing the “Edit Object” item 406 invokes an edit screen for editing the selected media object's content, which means editing the media types associated with the selected media object. In a preferred embodiment, for editing still image and sequential image media types, an image editor appears to enable the user to change the appearance of the image(s). For video, a video editor appears to enable the user to edit and rearrange scenes. For the audio, a sound editor appears to enable the user to edit the sound.

And for text, such as a list of email addresses for example, a text editor appears to enable the user to modify the text. Referring now to FIG.

12, a diagram illustrating the image editing screen 420 is shown. The image editing screen 420 displays the thumbnail image 422 of the selected media object in the filmstrip 352 along with a real time preview of the modified image 424.

The user may select which editing function to apply to the selected media image 422 by moving the target cursor to the item in the list page 402 and pressing the “Choose” soft key 206 a. In response, a menu or screen showing modifiable parameters for the selected item is displayed. When the parameters are changed, the results are applied to the selected image and displayed as the modified image 424. The user may then choose to keep or discard the changes. Referring now to FIG. 13, a diagram illustrating the video editing screen is shown.

The video editing screen 430 displays a movie graph 432 in the filmstrip 352 showing a pictorial representation of a video's duration, a position of a playback head 434, and cue locations 436 and 438 that mark significant moments in the video. The video's duration can be sized to fit the length of the movie graph 432 or scaled up and down via the “Zoom In” and Zoom Out” soft key functions 308 a and 308 b. A preview pane 440 is provided to play back that portion of the video shown in the filmstrip 352.

Referring now to FIG. 17, in move mode, the user may drag the clip 444 left and right to the desired location in the video using the navigation control 200. The video will scroll if required. The user can choose to insert the clip 444 at its new location by pressing the “Insert” soft key 206 a (which “offsets” the video content underneath it), or replace the video content with the clip content by pressing the “Replace” soft key 206 a. If the user inserts the clip 444, all cues downstream are preferably offset by the duration of the clip. Once the clip 444 is dropped into its new position, the move mode is turned off, and the user may edit the clip, navigate to another clip, or navigate to the list page to perform other operations. To enter text, the user navigates to a desired character in the keyboard 462 and presses the “Type” soft key 206 a whereupon the letter appears in the both the filmstrip 352 and the edit field 464.

The user may edit a current word 466 by press the “up” button twice on the four-way navigational control 200 to enter the filmstrip 352. A cursor may be moved back and forth using the navigational control 200 to select a word 466, causing the word to appear in the edit field 464. The word may then be edited using the key board 462.

Referring again to FIG. 11, after creating and/or editing the slide show, the slide show is ready to present. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the user may choose different presentation styles to apply to the slide show to create interactive presentations. In addition, the user may change the properties of media objects so that the objects in the slide show are not displayed linearly during playback, but rather are displayed in an order that is dependent upon user defined events.

19 is a diagram illustrating the mapping of functions to the four-way control during slide show presentation. The function mapped to the right (or forward) button 200 a is to display the next media object in the slide show when the button 200 a is pressed. The function mapped to the left button 200 b is to display the next media object in the slide show when the button 200 b is pressed. And the function mapped to either the up or down buttons 200 c and 200 d is to display a list of media objects in the slide show when either the up or down buttons 200 c and 200 d is pressed. Once the list is displayed, the user can scroll to a desired media object and select that media object to cause it to be displayed, thus providing random access to the objects in the slide show during presentation. Referring now to FIG.

21, a diagram illustrating the properties page of the current media object 482 is shown. The properties page 480 displays the thumbnail of the current media object 482 in the filmstrip 352. The list page 402 displays a scrollable list of user-defined properties associated with the current media object 482 that control how and when the media object is played back during the slide show presentation. The user chooses which property to change by moving the target cursor to the discrete cursor locations 404 using the four-way navigational control 200. The second property the user may change is the duration the media object will be played back before the next media object is played. In a preferred embodiment, three types of duration settings are provided. The first duration type is a predefined fixed duration, such as 3 seconds, for example.

The second duration type is automatic and is used when the media object includes audio. The automatic setting causes the media object to be played for the duration of the associated audio. The third type of duration is random, where the user overrides the duration setting by manually playing the next media object using the navigation control during slide show presentation, as described with reference to FIG. As stated above, another property the user may change is branching, which causes the slide show to branch to predefined media objects during presentation. In a preferred embodiment, the user specifies which media objects may be branched to by associating the media objects to the soft keys 206. When the edited media object is subsequently played in the slide show, the soft key labels 308 display the names of the specified media objects that may be branched to. When the user presses one of the soft keys 206, the slide show jumps to the specified media object and the presentation continues.

In accordance with the present invention, the properties screen 480, the text editing screen 460, the audio editing screen 450, the video editing screen 430, and the image editing screen 420 have been provided with an integrated user interface so that all the screens operate similarly, thus making the advance editing functions easy to learn by novice users. In addition, the variety of functions provided by the editing screens enable the user to edit the text, audio, video, and image media types all within a DVC. For example, the functions of creating the slide show, editing the heterogeneous media objects, and changing the properties of the heterogeneous media objects, may be included as part of the operating system, or be implemented as an application or applet that runs on top, or in place, of the operating system. In addition, the present invention may be implemented in other types of digital imaging devices, such as an electronic device for archiving images that displays the stored images on a television, for instance. In addition, software written according to the present invention may be stored on a computer-readable medium, such as a removable memory, or transmitted over a network, and loaded into the digital camera for execution.

Accordingly, many modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.Claims ( 15). The image capture device as recited in claim 14 wherein each one of the selected media objects to edit are stored in a slide show media object.