Digital camera

Details Digital camera Digital camera

1998-09-30

2004-01-27

Garber, Wendy R. (Department: 2612)

Television

Camera, system and detail

With electronic viewfinder or display monitor

C348S333020, C348S563000, C348S569000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06683650

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digital cameras and, more particularly, to a digital camera which is adapted to superpose character images on a photographic image being displayed, for example, on an LCD, according to a character display command.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional digital cameras of this kind, where character images such as icons are superposed on a photographic image displayed on an LCD, the character and photographic image are displayed at a same luminance level.
This, however, makes the character image and the photographic image difficult to distinguish therebetween, thus raising a problem of encountering difficulty in recognizing the character images.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a novel digital camera.
It is another object of this invention to provide a digital camera which is easy to recognize a character image superposed on a photographic image.
According to the present invention, a digital camera comprising: an image monitor; a display means which displays a photographic image on said image monitor; an input means which inputs a character display command; a superposing means which superposes a character image on the photographic image in response to the character display command; and a first luminance reducing means which reduces a luminance of the photographic image in response to the character display command.
If a character display command is inputted during displaying a photographic image on the image monitor, the superposing means superposes a character image on the photographic image in response to the character display command. Also, the first luminance reducing means lowers the luminance of the photographic image in response to the character display command.
In one aspect of the present invention, the photographic image is a still image reproduced from a memory. The luminance of the photographic image lowered by the first luminance reducing means is increased by the first luminance increasing means for a predetermined time period from a start of renewing the photographic image by the renewing means.
In one embodiment of the present invention, image data of the photographic image compressed by a predetermined method is stored in a memory. This compressed image data is decompressed by the predetermined method by a decompressing means during renewal.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a display suspending means suspends display of the character and the photographic image prior to renewal. The character suspended of display is redisplayed by the character redisplay means after a lapse of a predetermined time period. Incidentally, the predetermined time period is a time period requiring the renewal.
In another embodiment of the present invention, if an erasing means erases the photographic image recorded in the memory, the first enabling means enables the enabling means. When an instructing means instructs to switch the photographic image being displayed on the image monitor, the second enabling means enables the renewing means.
In another aspect of the present invention, if the canceling means cancels the display of the character image, the second luminance increasing means increases the luminance of the photographic image.
According to the present invention, since the photographic image displayed on the image monitor is reduced according to the character display command, the character image is easy to recognize.


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