Camera that records an active image area identifier with an image

A camera including an image receiver for capturing an image of an object, an optical section having an optical path for directing image light from the object to the image receiver, and a viewfinder having an auxiliary optical path for viewing the object prior to capture, said camera comprising:

• an electro-optical display panel positioned relative to the auxiliary optical path to be visible through the viewfinder;
• a memory for storing a plurality of different tile patterns each composed of a plurality of individual tile areas;
• a selector for selecting a particular tile pattern stored in the memory;
• means responsive to the memory for activating the display panel to generate a tiled image of the particular tile pattern, said tiled image composed of a plurality of individual tile areas that are visible through the viewfinder together with the image of the object;
• means for designating one or more individual tile areas as one or more active areas of the image, said one or more individual areas comprising a subset of the individual areas visible together with the image and which are used in an apparatus external to the camera for special processing distinct from processing applied to areas not designated by said designating means;
• and
• means for storing a location of said one or more active areas in association with the captured image.

A method for identifying and designating active areas in an image, said image captured by a camera including an image receiver, an optical section for directing image light from an object to the image receiver, a viewfinder for viewing the object prior to capture, and a memory location that is accessible to an apparatus external to the camera, said method comprising the steps of:

• generating a pattern in the viewfinder composed of a plurality of individual areas that are visible through the viewfinder together with the image of the object;
• designating one or more individual areas as one or more active areas of the image, said one or more individual areas comprising a subset of the individual areas visible together with the image and which are used in the apparatus external to the camera for special processing distinct from processing applied to areas not designated by said designating means;
• means for associating the captured image with the memory location;
• and
• recording a location of said one or more active areas in the memory location that is accessible to the apparatus external to the camera.

A system for identifying and designating active areas in an image, said system including a digital camera and a peripheral processor, said system comprising:

• (A) the digital camera including
• an electronic image sensor for capturing an image of an object and generating an image signal representative of the object;
• an optical section for directing image light from the object to the image sensor;
• a viewfinder for viewing the object prior to capture;
• a memory;
• means for generating a pattern in the viewfinder composed of a plurality of individual areas that are visible through the viewfinder together with the image of the object;
• means for designating one or more individual areas as one or more active areas of the image, said one or more individual areas comprising a subset of the individual areas visible together with the image and which are used in the peripheral processor for special processing distinct from processing applied to areas not designated by said designating means;
• and
• means for recording the image signal in the memory together with location data identifying the location of said one or more active areas;
• and
• (B) the peripheral processor including:
• a computer for accessing the memory and generating a display signal from the image signal and the location data;
• a monitor responsive to the display signal for displaying a screen image of the object together with the active areas;
• and
• a program running on the computer and responsive to the recorded locations for enabling one or more specific actions to be assigned to the active areas of the recorded image.