Storage and playback of digitized images in digital database together with presentation control file to define image orientation/aspect ratio

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. For use with a digital image processing system in which images are digitized by an opto-electronic device for storage in a digital database, a method of storing said digitized images in said digital database comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in said digital database respective image data files associated with each of said digitized images, each digitized image having an orientation and an aspect ratio; and

(b) storing, together with each of the respective image data files stored in said digital database in step (a), a presentation control file which contains at least one of first data representative of the orientation of the associated digitized image as stored by said digital database and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated digitized image as stored by said digital database.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the orientation of the associated digitized image as stored by said digital database.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the aspect ratio of the associated digitized image as stored by said digital database.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file include both said data representative of the orientation of and said second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated digitized image as stored by digital database.

5. A method according to claim 1, further including the step of:

(c) reading out from said digital database image data representative of said digitized image stored in step (a) and coupling the read out image data to an image reproduction device in a manner that depends upon the contents of the associated presentation control file stored in step (b).

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein said image reproduction device comprises a television display, and wherein step (c) comprises coupling the read out image data to said television display such that the image reproduced by said television display has an upright orientation.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said television display displays said reproduced image at a spatial resolution which is different from a spatial resolution of the digitized image stored in step (a).

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein step (c) comprises controllably generating border image signals representative of image characteristics of at least one border region to be combined with said read out image data and coupling said border image signals to said television display, so that the reproduced image displayed thereby is bond by said at least one border region.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein step (c) comprises controllably generating said border image signals in dependence upon the contents of said presentation control file.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein step (c) comprises controllably generating border image signals exclusive of the contents of said presentation control file.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said digital database comprises an optical compact disk. PG,25

12. For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images, that have been captured on a photographic recording medium and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images, each image having an aspect ratio, are digitized into respective digital image data files, each digital image data file containing digital image data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed spatial resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, a method of controlling the manner in which said digital image data files may be accessed for presentation to a reproduction device, so that a reproduced image may be viewed in an upright orientation comprising the steps of:

(a) digitizing each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of the actual orientation as captured by said photographic recording medium, and storing, in a digital database, each digitized image in a respective digital image data file; and

(b) storing, together with each of the respective digital image data files stored in said digital database in step (a), a presentation control file which contains at least one of first data representative of the actual orientation of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file include both first data representative of the orientation of and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium.

14. A method according to claim 12, further including the step of:

(c) reading out from said digital database data representative of said digitized image stored in step (a) and causing said digitized image to be reproduced by said reproducing device in said upright orientation in accordance with the contents of the associated presentation control file stored in step (b).

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein step (c) comprises controllably generating border image signals representative of image characteristics of at least one border region to be combined with the digitized image and coupling said border image signals to said reproduction device, so that the image reproduced thereby is bounded by said at least one border region.

16. A method according to claim 12, wherein said digital database comprises an optical compact disk.

17. For use with a digital image processing system in which images are digitized by an opto-electronic device for storage in a digital database, an apparatus for storing digitized images in said digital database so as to facilitate reproduction of said digitized images by an image reproduction device, each digitized image having an orientation and an aspect ratio, comprising:

a digital recording unit which is operative to record digital data on said digital database; and

a digital recording control unit which is operative to cause said digital recording unit to store, in said digital database, respective data files associated with each of the images digitized by said opto-electronic device and, accompanying each of the respective data files stored on said digital database, a presentation control file which contains at least one of first data representative of the orientation of the associated image as digitized by said opto-electronic device and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the orientation of the associated image.

19. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the aspect ratio of the associated image.

20. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file include both said first data representative of the orientation and said second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image.

21. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said digital image processing system includes an image reproduction device, and wherein said apparatus further includes a reproduction control unit coupled to read data stored by said digitized image database and operative to read out, from said digital database, data representative of said digitized image stored thereby and to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that a digitized image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in a manner that depends upon the contents of the associated presentation control file.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said image reproduction device comprises a television display, and wherein said reproduction control unit is operative to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that the image displayed by said television display has an upright orientation.

23. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said television display displays an image at a spatial resolution which is different from a spatial resolution of the digitized image stored in said digital database.

24. An apparatus according to claim 23, wherein said reproduction control unit is operative to controllably generate border image signals representative of image characteristics of at least one border region to be combined with said read out data and to couple said border image signals to said television display, so that the image displayed thereby is bounded by said at least one border region.

25. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said reproduction control unit is operative to controllably generate said border image signals in dependence upon the contents of said presentation control file.

26. An apparatus according to claim 24, wherein said reproduction control un it is operative to controllably generate border image signals exclusive of the contents of said presentation control file.

27. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein said digital database comprises an optical compact disk.

28. For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images, that have been captured on a photographic recording medium and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images, each image having an aspect ratio, are digitized into respective digital image data files, each digital image data file containing data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed spatial resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, an apparatus for controlling the manner in which said digital image data files may be accessed for presentation to an image reproduction device, so that an image reproduced thereby may be viewed in an upright orientation comprising:

a digital recording unit which is operative to digitize each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of its actual orientation as captured by said photographic recording medium, and operative to store, in a digital database, each digitized image in a respective digital image data file; and

a digital recording control unit which is operative to cause said digital recording unit to store, together with each of the respective digital image data files stored in said digital database, a presentation control file which contains at least one of first data representative of the actual orientation of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium.

29. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file include both first data representative of the orientation of and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as captured by said photographic recording medium.

30. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said digital image processing system includes an image reproduction device, and wherein said apparatus further includes a reproduction control unit coupled to read data stored by said digitized image database and operative to read out, from said digital database, data representative of said digitized image stored thereby and to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that a digitized image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in a manner that depends upon the contents of the associated presentation control file.

31. An apparatus according to claim 30 wherein said reproduction control unit is operative to controllably generate border image signals representative of image characteristics of at least one border region to be combined with the digitized image and to couple said border image signals to said reproduction device, so that the image reproduced thereby is bounded by said at least one border region.

32. An apparatus according to claim 28, wherein said digital database comprises an optical compact disk.

33. For use with a digitized image processing system in which images, each of which has an orientation and aspect ratio, are converted by an opto-electronic device into digital format and stored as digitized image datafiles in a digital database, each of said digitized image data files containing digitized image data representative of the associated image as converted by said opto-electronic device into digital format, and a respective presentation control file for each of said respective data files, said respective presentation control file containing at least one of first data representative of the orientation of the associated image as stored by said digital database and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as stored by said digital database, a playback control apparatus for controlling the manner in which digitized images are accessed from said digital database for reproduction by an image reproduction device comprising:

a digital data memory; and

a digital data transfer unit which is operative to read out, from said digital database, digitized image data of a respective data file and to write the thus read out digitized image data into said digital data memory, and to controllably access digitized image data that has been written into said digital data memory in accordance with the contents of its associated presentation control file and to couple accessed data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in a manner that depends upon the contents of said associated presentation control file.

34. A playback control apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the orientation of the associated image as stored by said digital database.

35. A playback control apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the aspect ratio of the associated image as stored by said digital database.

36. A playback control apparatus according to claim 33, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file include both said first data representative of the orientation of and said second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as stored by said digital database.

37. A playback control apparatus according to claim 33, further including a border generator unit which is operative to controllably generate border image signals representative of image characteristics of at least one border region to be combined with read out digitized image data and to couple said border image signals to said reproduction device, so that the image reproduced thereby is bounded by said at least one border region.

38. A playback control apparatus according to claim 37, wherein said image reproduction unit comprises a television display, and wherein said digital data transfer unit is operative to couple read out data to said television display such that the image displayed by said television display has a upright orientation.

39. A playback control apparatus according to claim 33, wherein said digital database comprises an optical contact disk.

40. An arrangement for storing digitized images for use with a digital image processing system in which images, each of which has an orientation and an aspect ratio, are digitized by an opto-electronic device for storage as digitized image in a digital database, the contents of which may be selectively accessed for application to an image reproduction device for display of one or more digitized images, said arrangement comprising a compact digital data recording medium, as said digital database, said compact digital data recording medium containing a first plurality of storage locations in which digitized image data files respectively representative of digitized images output by said opto-electronic device are stored, said compact digital data recording medium further containing a second plurality of storage locations in which presentation control files respectively associated with said digitized images are stored, each presentation control file containing at least one of first data representative of the orientation of the associated image as stored by said compact digital data recording medium and second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as stored by said compact digital data recording medium.

41. An arrangement according to claim 40, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the orientation of the associated image as stored by said compact digital data recording medium.

42. An arrangement according to claim 40, wherein the contents of said respective presentation control file represent the aspect ratio of its associated image as stored by said compact digital data recording medium.

43. An arrangement according to claim 40, wherein the contents of a respective presentation control file include both said first data representative of the orientation of and said second data representative of the aspect ratio of the associated image as stored by said compact digital data recording medium.

44. An arrangement according to claim 40, wherein said compact digital data recording medium comprises an optical compact disk.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to digitized image data processing systems and is particularly directed to a mechanism for controlling the manner in which digitized images are to be accessed from a digital database for presentation by an image playback device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Digital imaging systems, such as those employed for converting still color photographic film (e.g. 35 mm) images into digital format for storage in a digital database and subsequent playback, as by way of a color television monitor, customarily encode the output of an opto-electronic film scanning device to some prescribed resolution and store the encoded image in an associated database as a respective image file. When it is desired to display a particular stored image, the contents of the respective addresses of the database in which the digitized image has been stored are read out and coupled to display driver circuitry for energizing corresponding pixels on the TV monitor.

Because each frame of a typical roll of 35 mm film has different horizontal and vertical frame dimensions, for example a dimension of 36 mm in the horizontal direction, parallel to the lengthwise direction of the film, and a dimension of 24 mm in the vertical direction, orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the film (a horizontal:vertical aspect ratio of 3:2), a photographer often rotates the camera ninety degrees about the lens axis in order to capture a subject in what is conventionally referred to as a `vertical` condition. Since the digitizing mechanism that scans the film strip digitizes each frame as though it contains a `horizontally shot` image, then, when a `vertically shot` image is displayed, it will be rotated unless the recording and playback system has been designed to accommodate vertical images.

One conventional approach to handle the problem, similar to that described in the U.S. Pat. No. to Ohta, No. 4,641,198, is to rotate those film frames which contain vertical images by ninety degrees before scanning and to fill in the left and right sides of the image with a uniform `border` color (e.g. black). Although this scanning method will provide the proper orientation of the displayed image, it suffers from two drawbacks. First, the actual scanning mechanism must be modified to effect a rotated scan of the vertical images. This is conventionally accomplished by physically reorienting the film by ninety degrees and changing the lens magnification of the scanning device by an amount related to the frame aspect ratio. Secondly, since side borders, which contain no useful information in terms of the captured image, are also recorded, some of the information storage capacity of the recording medium is wasted. A second solution to the problem is to rotate the display device, which is obviously impractical in many applications.

A third solution is to allow for different image orientations to be stored, together with digital control data indicative of the orientations of the images, and to employ an image playback device designed to read the orientation control data to properly orient the images on playback. Some conventional computer image file formats, for example, the Tag Image File Format (TIFF), Revision 5.0, developed jointly by Aldus Corporation, Seattle, Washington, and Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, and described in "An Aldus/Microsoft Technical Memorandum, Aug. 8, 1988, include the provision for an optional "tag", which can be used to indicate the orientation of the image. Page 25 of this document describes the TIFF `orientation tag`, which can have eight different values, indicating whether the zeroth row and zeroth column of the pixel data matrix represents the top and left, top and right, bottom and right, bottom and left, left and top, right and top, right and bottom, or left and bottom of the visual image, respectively. However, the Aldus document further states that such a field is recommended for private (non-interchange) use only. The default condition, where the zeroth row represents the visual top of the image, and the zeroth column of the pixel data matrix represents the visual left hand side of the image, is recommended for all non-private applications, including those involving importing and printing. Thus, the TIFF orientation tag is never used to re-orient for display images which have been stored in different orientations in an image database.

In addition to the problem of different image orientations, captured images may have different aspect ratios. For example, dedicated use panoramic cameras, such as the Kodak Stretch (.TM.) camera have an aspect ratio of 3:1 which is considerably wider than the above-referenced 3:2 aspect ratio of conventional 35 mm cameras. Other camera types, such as those which employ 126 type film also have aspect ratios other than 3:2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, advantage is taken of the information storage capability of the database in which the digitized images are stored to incorporate an additional presentation control file for each stored image. This presentation control file contains orientation and aspect ratio information, so that the image playback device will know how each image has been stored on the database and will therefore know how to access the stored image so that it is played back in a proper upright condition.

More particularly, the present invention is directed to an improved storage and retrieval mechanism for a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of photographic images that have been captured on a photographic film strip are digitized for processing and subsequent display. The film strip can be expected to include both horizontally-shot (whether upright or inverted) and vertically-shot (in either a right or left hand rotation) images. Digitized images are stored on a digital data storage recording medium, such as a compact disc, which is capable of being coupled to an image playback device for reproduction of a digitized image on a display such as a color TV monitor.

Pursuant to the present invention, rather than cause a relative physical rotation between film strip and the digitizing scanner, each image on the film strip is scanned and digitized as though it were horizontally oriented, irrespective of its actual orientation on the film. The digitized image is entered into a frame store and displayed on a display monitor of a system workstation, so that the image may be viewed by the operator. Using a workstation input device (e.g. keyboard or mouse) the operator may then enter a set of `presentation` control codes that are incorporated within a presentation control file associated with a respective image file. These presentation control codes preferably include a first digital code representative of the orientation in which the image is currently displayed (corresponding to its orientation as digitized from the film strip) and a second digital code representative of its aspect ratio. Once all control information relative to the image has been defined, both the digitized image and its presentation control file are written to a portable storage medium, such as a write once optical disc.

Subsequently, when the disc is inserted into a playback device for driving an output display such as a color TV monitor, the playback device decodes the presentation control file information in the course of reading out the digitized image, and uses the presentation control file to control the playback device in such a way as to display the image in an upright orientation and at the correct aspect ratio for the display. A border generator fills in non-accessed pixel addresses to complete the image on the display. In addition to responding to presentation control file orientation and aspect ratio codes, the playback apparatus may respond to user-generated control signals for defining the limits of an auxiliary border to be injected onto the displayed image, so that cropping of selected portions of an image may be controlled by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a photographic color film processing system in which the present invention may be employed;

FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates a portion of a film strip that contains a plurality of successive image frames on each of which an image of an arrow has been recorded;

FIG. 3 shows the format of a header file;

FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the signal processing architecture of an image retrieval mechanism in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates the overlay of a rectangular perimeter frame sized to an NTSC TV monitor on a pixel array represented by the contents of the image memory of FIG. 4 for a horizontal normal image;

FIG. 6 illustrates a rotated rectangular perimeter frame overlay associated with a decimated sub-array portion of data entries of the image memory of FIG. 4 on an NTSC pixel matrix, where the contents of the image correspond to a 90.degree. rotated picture that has been slightly demagnified;

FIG. 7 illustrates the manner in which entire horizontal dimension of a stored 512.times.768 image may be displayed on a 484.times.640 pixel matrix by performing a five-sixths decimation of column and row addresses of a normal or inverted horizontal image;

FIG. 8 illustrates the manner in which address decimation may be employed to display the entire horizontal dimension of a panoramic image having a 3:1 aspect ratio; and

FIG. 9 shows a displayed image having a user-generated auxiliary border.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before describing in detail the particular improved digital image storage and retrieval mechanism in accordance with the present invention, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in a novel structural combination of conventional signal processing circuits and components and not in the particular detailed configurations thereof. Accordingly, the structure, control and arrangement of these conventional circuits and components have been illustrated in the drawings by readily understandable block diagrams which show only those specific details that are pertinent to the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with structural details which will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Thus, the block diagram illustrations of the FIGS. do not necessarily represent the mechanical structural arrangement of the exemplary system, but are primarily intended to illustrate the major structural components of the system in a convenient functional grouping, whereby the present invention may be more readily understood.

FIG. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a photographic color film processing system in which the present invention may be employed. For purposes of the present description such a system may be of the type described, for example, in co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 582,305, filed Sept. 14, 1990, by S. Kristy, entitled "Multiresolution Digital Imagery Photofinishing System," assigned to the assignee of the present application and the disclosure of which is incorporated herein. However, it should be observed that the system described in the above-referenced co-pending application is merely an example of one type of system in which the invention may be used and is not to be considered limitative of the invention. In general, the invention may be incorporated in any digitized image processing system.

In accordance with the digital image processing system of FIG. 1, photographic images, such as a set of twenty-four or