Image pickup apparatus

An image pickup apparatus for obtaining image information and audio information by shooting an object, and recording an audio visual (AV) stream including the image information and the audio information, said apparatus comprising:

• an image pickup unit for shooting an object to output an image signal;
• an image processing unit for subjecting the image signal obtained by shooting the object to signal processing, and extracting image information including an image parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the image;
• an audio acquisition unit for obtaining audio to output an audio signal;
• an audio processing unit for subjecting the audio signal to signal processing, and extracting audio information including an audio parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the audio;
• a parameter determination unit for checking the image parameter or the audio parameter to determine whether a shoot timing at which the image or the audio changes is appropriate as an edition point or not;
• and
• an information generation unit for generating edition point information indicating a shoot timing which is determined to be appropriate as an edition point,
• wherein an audio video stream including the image information, the audio information, and the edition point information is stored in a recording medium,
• wherein said information generation unit
• checks whether buffer data as image information before coding are stored in the image processing unit or not,
• sets the edition point to a picture corresponding to a shoot timing at which the image, audio, or shooting condition changes, when the buffer data before coding are stored,
• compares the remaining time which can be used for coding in the image processing unit with the time required for Trans-coding, when buffer data before coding are not stored,
• sets the edition point to a head picture of a VOB unit as a unit of random access, which is closest to a shoot timing at which the image or audio changes, in an image stream obtained by coding the image signal with the image processing unit, when the time required for Trans-coding exceeds the remaining time which can be used for coding in the image processing unit, and
• instructs the image processing unit to perform Trans-coding of the image stream, when the time required for Trans-coding does not exceed the remaining time which can be used for coding in the image processing unit, and
• wherein said image processing unit
• generates a VOB unit so that the picture corresponding to the edition point becomes a head picture of the VOB unit, when buffer data before coding are stored, and
• performs Trans-coding on the image stream obtained by coding the image signal so that the picture corresponding to the edition point becomes an I picture positioned at the beginning of a VOB unit, when buffer data before coding are not stored and the time required for Trans-coding does not exceed the remaining time which can be used for coding in the image processing unit.

An image pickup method for obtaining image information and audio information by shooting an object, and recording an audio visual stream including the image information and the audio information, said method comprising:

• an image pickup step of shooting an object to output an image signal;
• an image processing step of subjecting, using an image processing unit, the image signal obtained by shooting the object to signal processing, and extracting image information including an image parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the image;
• an audio acquisition step of obtaining audio to output an audio signal;
• an audio processing step of subjecting the audio signal to signal processing, and extracting audio information including and audio parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the audio;
• a parameter determination step of checking the image parameter or the audio parameter to determine whether a shoot timing at which the image or the audio changes is appropriate as an edition point or not;
• an information generation step of generating edition point information indicating a shoot timing which is determined to be appropriate as an edition point;
• and
• a step of storing an audio video stream including the image information, the audio information, and the edition point information into a recording medium,
• wherein said information generation step comprises:
• checking whether buffer data as image information before coding are stored in the image processing unit or not;
• setting the edition point to a picture corresponding to a shoot timing at which the image, audio, or shooting condition changes, when the buffer data before coding are stored;
• and
• setting the edition point to a head picture of a VOB unit as a unit of random access, which is closest to a shoot timing at which the image or audio changes, in a stream obtained by coding the image signal with the image processing unit, when the buffer data before coding are not stored, and
• wherein said image processing step comprises generating a VOB unit so that the picture corresponding to the edition point becomes a head picture of the VOB unit, when buffer data before coding are stored in the image processing unit.

A semiconductor device for obtaining image information and audio information by shooting an object, and recording an audio visual stream including the image information and the audio information, said device comprising:

• an image processing unit for subjecting an image signal obtained by shooting an object to signal processing, and extracting image information including an image parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the image;
• an audio acquisition unit for obtaining audio to output an audio signal;
• an audio processing unit for subjecting the audio signal to signal processing, and extracting audio information including an audio parameter that indicates a feature of a change in the audio;
• a parameter determination unit for checking the image parameter or the audio parameter to determine whether a shoot timing at which the image or audio changes is appropriate as an edition point or not;
• and
• an information generation unit for generating edition point information indicating a shoot timing which is determined to be appropriate as an edition point;
• wherein an audio video stream including the image information, the audio information, and the edition point information is stored in a recording medium,
• wherein said information generation unit
• checks whether buffer data as image information before coding are stored in the image processing unit or not,
• sets the edition point to a picture corresponding to a shoot timing at which the image, audio, or shooting condition changes, when the buffer data before coding are stored, and
• sets the edition point to a head picture of a VOB unit as a unit of random access, which is closest to a shoot timing at which the image or audio changes, in a stream obtained by coding the image signal with the image processing unit, when the buffer data before coding are not stored, and
• wherein said image processing unit generates a VOB unit so that the picture corresponding to the edition point becomes a head picture of the VOB unit, when buffer data before coding are stored in the image processing unit.