Abstract: According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an information recording apparatus, such as a digital camera, arranged to record information on a detachably mountable storage medium, such as for example to record video data on the storage medium. In one version of the apparatus, when a connection of an AC adapter is cancelled, the storage medium is detected by a storage medium detection unit, and in a case where the storage medium is not mounted to the mounting unit, a warning is issued, for example in an audio output unit or a display unit. Accordingly, the user can find out that the storage medium is not mounted before the digital camera has been brought outside for use. Thus, it may be possible to prevent a failure in which the user first realizes that they forgot to mount the storage medium only when they are already away from home.

Abstract: In one aspect, an impedance component which exhibits a high impedance in a high frequency region is arranged on a high pressure line formed on a secondary side of a transformer. The potential difference generated at both ends of the impedance component is used to detect an abnormal electrical discharge generated in the high pressure line. When the abnormal electrical discharge is detected, a switching operation is stopped by a controlling circuit whereby a protection operation is performed.

Abstract: An improved driving device for a display panel. In the display panel, pixel cells serving as pixels are positioned in a plurality of display lines. The driving device drives the display panel according to pixel data derived from an input image signal. The display lines are divided into a plurality of display line groups, and each group includes a plurality of neighboring display lines. The driving device has a light emission driving circuit. This circuit causes the pixel cells in each of the neighboring display lines in the respective display line groups to emit light at different brightness levels based on weighting values assigned to the display lines. The weighting values are assigned to the display lines such that bias in brightness differences between the pixel cells positioned in neighboring display lines falls within a prescribed range for all neighboring display lines in the display panel.

Abstract: In one aspect, an impedance component which exhibits a high impedance in a high frequency region is arranged on a high pressure line formed on a secondary side of a transformer. The potential difference generated at both ends of the impedance component is used to detect an abnormal electrical discharge generated in the high pressure line. When the abnormal electrical discharge is detected, a switching operation is stopped by a controlling circuit, whereby a protection operation is performed.

Abstract: A drive method of a plasma display panel that can increase the dark contrast, without causing a discharge failure. When a discharge cell that assumes a black display state in a first field from among first and a second fields that are adjacent in time and switches to a display state representing a brightness other than black in the second field is detected as a lighting transition cell, at least one drive of the below-described first and second forced lighting drives is executed. In the first forced lighting drive, the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of a predetermined subfield within the field in the first field. In the second forced lighting drive, an adjacent discharge cell that is adjacent to the lighting transition cell is forcibly set into the lighting mode only in the address process of the predetermined subfield in the second field.

Abstract: A reproducing apparatus includes a reproduction unit configured to reproduce a file recorded on a storage medium, a transfer unit configured to transfer a file recorded on the storage medium to an external device, an external device connection detection unit configured to detect a connection with the external device, and a display processing unit configured to display file information about the file in a first display style if a connection with the external device is detected by the external device connection detection unit and to display file information about the file in a second display style if a connection with the external device is not detected by the external device connection detection unit.

Abstract: The data transfer apparatus includes a recording unit which records a plurality of image data on a first recording medium, a management unit which manages the plurality of image data by classifying the image data into a plurality of groups, an addition unit which adds one of the plurality of groups as a group of a second recording medium, a determination unit which determines a group corresponding to the group from the plurality of groups, a search unit which searches the plurality of image data for image data classified into the group determined by the determination unit, a display control unit which displays information of image data found by the search unit, and a transfer unit which transfers selected image data to a recording apparatus for recording information data on the second recording medium so as to record the selected image data on the second recording medium.

Abstract: A driver device for a display panel. Pixel cells are arranged on respective display lines of the display panel. Each N adjacent display lines makes one display line group. N is an integer of two or more. The pixels in each display line group are driven to emit light at different luminance levels based on one of M different dither patterns. One of the M dither patterns is selected sequentially and in predetermined periods, and the selected dither pattern is used. M is less than N. In the dither processing, N different weighting values are allocated to the N display lines in the display line group, respectively.

Abstract: A display panel drive suppresses dither patterns in a displayed image. Each of the display lines of the panel is divided into M display line groups including a group of [M?(k?1)+1]th display lines (where M is a natural number, and k is a natural number of n/M or smaller), a group of [M?(k?1)+2]th display lines, . . . and a group of [M?(k?1)+M]th display lines. A different offset value is added to pixel data corresponding to each display line group to derive multi-grayscale pixel data. Then, a lighting or extinction mode setting is done based on the pixel data with respect to each pixel cell belonging to the display line groups, each different in at least M subsubfields among subfields constituting a video signal field. In one example, the luminance levels represented by the pixel cells vertically adjacent to one another in a screen are varied.

Abstract: A block noise removal device calculates a block boundary correction value. This correction value indicates a correction amount for a pixel sample value immediately before a block boundary position and a correction amount for a pixel sample value immediately after the block boundary position for each block boundary position in a pixel sample value sequence. Each pixel sample value represents a level of each pixel in a video signal. The block noise removal device obtains the block boundary correction value based on at least two consecutive pixel sample values immediately before the block boundary position and at least two consecutive pixel sample values immediately after the block boundary position.

Abstract: A method of grayscale-driving a display panel in accordance with pixel data derived from a video signal. The display panel includes a plurality of display lines, with a plurality of pixel cells serving as pixels being arranged on each display line. A display period of a single field of the video signal is divided into a plurality of subfields. The method includes dividing one subfield into M lower subfields. M is an integer greater than one. M groups of display lines are prepared by sequentially taking every M display lines from the display lines. First to Mth address steps are performed in the M lower subfields respectively and sequentially. Each address step sets the pixel cells belonging to the display lines of the display line group concerned, to a drive mode determined by the pixel data. A first light emission step is performed to cause the pixel cells whose drive mode is a lit mode, to emit light directly before or after the address step concerned. Another subfield is divided into N lower subfields.

Abstract: A block noise removal device classifies, into separate pixel groups, interpixel differential values by using a block size N (where N is an integer) of the decoded video signal or by using M which is an integer multiple of the block size N. The block noise removal device accumulates the interpixel differential values in the pixels disposed in the nth position (where n is 1 to N or 1 to M) in the respective pixel groups. This accumulation is performed for each of the first to Nth positions or the first to Mth positions in all the pixel groups. The results of the accumulation provide first to Nth block noise values or first to Mth block noise values. Then, the largest block noise value among the first to Nth block noise values or the first to Mth block noise values is found. A block boundary position signal is produced that represents, as a block boundary position, the pixel position in the pixel group that corresponds with the largest block noise value.

Abstract: A video signal conversion apparatus which can enhance display qualities for video signals of both film source and video source. The conversion apparatus includes an input signal discrimination unit which discriminates the sort and signal supply source of an input video signal, and an operation mode setting unit which sets the operation modes of the individual sorts of video signals for each of a plurality of signal supply sources. The operation mode which corresponds to the sort and signal supply source of the input video signal as discriminated by the input signal discrimination unit is obtained from the operation mode setting unit, and the operation of at least one of a film source discrimination unit, an interlace/progressive conversion unit and a frame rate conversion unit is controlled in accordance with the obtained operation mode.

Abstract: In one aspect, an impedance component which exhibits a high impedance in a high frequency region is arranged on a high pressure line formed on a secondary side of a transformer. The potential difference generated at both ends of the impedance component is used to detect an abnormal electrical discharge generated in the high pressure line. When the abnormal electrical discharge is detected, a switching operation is stopped by a controlling circuit, whereby a protection operation is performed.

Abstract: A video signal processing apparatus which performs a frame-rate conversion of a progressive line-scan video signal based on a film source of M film frames per second (wherein M is a natural number) into a video signal in which a same film frame is repeated N times for each 1/M second, and mixes, frame by frame, a video signal of a preceding frame and a video signal of a following frame of the converted progressive line-scan video signal. Thus, the display quality of telecine-converted images can be improved.

Abstract: A driving method of a plasma display panel capable of executing a dither processing without lowering display quality. When only discharge cells set to a light emission cell state in accordance with input image signals are allowed to emit light a predetermined number of light emissions allotted in accordance with weighting of sub-fields, the number of light emissions to be allotted is rendered different for each discharge cell inside a discharge cell block.

Abstract: A video signal processing apparatus in which an input video signal is written in a frame memory on a line sequential scanning frame unit base in synchronism with a first vertical synchronizing signal and which the line sequential scanning video signal written in the frame memory is read out in synchronism with a second vertical synchronizing signal. The second vertical synchronizing signal having a frequency different from a frequency of a first vertical synchronizing signal is generated in synchronism with the first vertical synchronizing signal of a starting frame of five frames forming a pattern after the conversion in the 2-3 pulldown conversion system when it is judged that the input video signal is based on a telecine-converted video signal.

Abstract: In an apparatus for processing video signals to control a display device that displays a video, a display video signal is generated for each of the colors from received video signals; a delayed display video signal is generated for each display video signal by delaying the display video signal by one field; an afterglow level of at least a first color among the colors is calculated based on the delayed display video signals; a correction signal is generated based on the afterglow level; a display video signal for the first color is selected as the display video signal of the first color when a level of the display video signal of the first color is equal to or higher than the correction signal, and the correction signal is selected when a level of the display video signal of the first color is lower than the correction signal.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus receives an input image signal and performs an enhancement process on a high frequency component included in the input image signal based on a low frequency component of the input image signal. The apparatus extracts a low frequency component from the input image signal and combines a step variation component of the input image signal with the low frequency component to generate a combined wave component. The apparatus performs an enhancement process on the high frequency component obtained by removing the combined wave component from the input image signal.

Abstract: The movement of an image between the image information of a current frame and the image information of a frame which is one, two, or three frames prior to the current frame is detected. On the basis of the detection result, a noise reducing process is performed. Moreover, identity between the pixel information of the current frame about a pixel which is currently the target of the process and the pixel information of the current frame or the frame which is one, two, or three frames prior to the current frame about a plurality of pixels located near the target pixel is detected. On the basis of the detection result, the noise reducing process is performed.