Storage and retrieval of digitized photographic images

Claim 2

For use with a digitized image processing system in which images that have been captured on an image recording medium are converted into digital format and stored as digitized image data files on a transportable digital data storage medium, a method of controlling the manner in which digitized images are accessed therefrom for storage comprising the steps of: (a) causing a digital data recording device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, respective data files associated with each of the images that have been digitized from images captured on said image recording medium, each of said data files containing digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium; (b) for each of said respective data files, causing said digital data recording device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, a presentation file, the contents of which represent the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured, on said image recording medium; (c) providing an image retrieval device, which contains a digital data memory having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium on which digital data files and presentation files have been stored in steps (a) and (b) to said image retrieval device and coupling said transportable digital data storage medium to said image retrieval device; and (e) causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file stored in step (a) and to write the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory of said image retrieval device in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium in step (b).

Claim 3

A method according to claim 1, wherein said image retrieval device is coupled to an image reproduction device and further comprising the step of: (f) controllably causing said image retrieval device to read out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 4

A method according to claim 1, wherein the digitized image of a respective image file corresponds to an MXN array of pixels and said digital data memory has a storage capacity associated with an MXP array of pixels, where P is less than N.

Claim 5

A method according to claim 2, wherein the resolution of said reproduction device is different than the storage capacity of said digital data memory.

Claim 6

A method according to claim 2, wherein the resolution of said reproduction device is greater than the storage capacity of said digital data memory.

Claim 7

A method according to claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises causing said image retrieval device to controllably decimate digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto and to write the decimated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 8

A method according to claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises causing said image retrieval device to controllably interpolate digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto and to write the interpolated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 9

A method according to claim 2, wherein step (e) comprises controllably causing said image retrieval device to decimate or interpolate digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto and to write the decimated or interpolated data into said digital data memory of said image retrieval device.

Claim 10

A method according to claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises, in response the contents of said presentation file indicating that said image has a first orientation, controllably causing said image retrieval device to decimate a first portion of the digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and to write the decimated image data from said transportable digital data storage medium into said digital data memory of said image retrieval device.

Claim 11

A method according to claim 9, wherein step (e) comprises, in response the contents of said presentation file indicating that said image has a second orientation, controllably causing said image retrieval device to interpolate a second portion of the digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and to write the interpolated image data into said digital data memory of said image retrieval device.

Claim 12

A method according to claim 1, wherein step (b) comprises causing said digital data recording device to store, within a respective presentation file, first data representative of the orientation of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium.

Claim 13

A method according to claim 2, wherein said image reproduction device comprises a television display.

Claim 14

A method according to claim 1, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said image retrieval device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 15

A method according to claim 1, wherein step (e) comprises causing said image retrieval device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 16

A method according to claim 14, wherein said step (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 17

A method according to claim 2, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (e) and (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 18

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (, are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files, each digital imagery data file containing data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, a method of controlling (the manner in which said) access to said digital imagery data files (may be accessed) for storage comprising the steps of: (a) digitizing each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of its actual orientation on said photographic recording medium, and causing a digital data recording device to store each digitized image in a respective digital imagery data file on a transportable digital data storage medium; (b) for each digital imagery data file stored in step (a), causing said digital data recording device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium a presentation data file, the contents of which are associated with the actual orientation of its image on said photographic recording medium; (c) providing a digital image retrieval device having a digital data memory, the storage capacity of which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium on which digital data files and presentation files have been stored in steps (a) and (b) to said image retrieval device and coupling said transportable digital data storage medium to said image retrieval device; and (e) causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled to said image retrieval device, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file stored in step (a) and to write the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory, in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file stored in step (b).

Claim 19

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (, are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files, each digital imagery data file containing data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, a method of controlling (the manner in which said) access to said digital imagery data files (may be accessed) for storage comprising the steps of: (a) digitizing each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of its actual orientation on said photographic recording medium, and causing a digital data recording device to store each digitized image in a respective digital imagery data file on a transportable digital data storage medium; (b) for each digital imagery data file stored in step (a), causing said digital data recording device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium a presentation data file, the contents of which are associated with the actual orientation of its image on said photographic recording medium; (c) providing a digital image retrieval device having a digital data memory, the storage capacity of which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium on which digital data files and presentation files have been stored in steps (a) and (b) to said image retrieval device and coupling said transportable digital data storage medium to said image retrieval device; and (e) causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled to said image retrieval device, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file stored in step (a) and to write the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory, in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file stored in step (b).

Claim 20

A method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of: (f) causing said image retrieval device to controllably read out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 21

A method according to claim 17, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said digital image retrieval device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 22

A method according to claim 17, wherein step (e) comprises causing said image retrieval device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 23

A method according to claim 20, wherein said step (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 24

A method according to claim 18, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (e) and (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 25

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of photographic images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium are digitized and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, said transportable digital data storage medium being capable of being coupled to an image playback device for display of an image, a method of controlling the displayed presentation of said image by said playback device comprising the steps of: (a) digitizing each of said plurality of images on said photographic recording medium and storing each digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium in the orientation in which the image was captured on said photographic recording medium; (b) for each digitized image stored in step (a), causing a digital data recording device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium at least one digital code respectively representative of the orientation of the image; (c) providing, with said image playback device, a digital data memory(,) having a (the) storage capacity (of) which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image stored on said transportable digital data storage medium; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage (device) medium to said image playback device; (e) causing said image playback device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported thereto in step (d), a respective digitized image stored in step (a) and to write the read out digitized image into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated at least one digital code stored in step (b); and (f) causing said image playback device to read out a digitized image that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out digitized image to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 26

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of photographic images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium are digitized and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, said transportable digital data storage medium being capable of being coupled to an image playback device for display of an image, a method of controlling the displayed presentation of said image by said playback device comprising the steps of: (a) digitizing each of said plurality of images on said photographic recording medium and storing each digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium in the orientation in which the image was captured on said photographic recording medium; (b) for each digitized image stored in step (a), causing a digital data recording device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium at least one digital code respectively representative of the orientation of the image; (c) providing, with said image playback device, a digital data memory(,) having a (the) storage capacity (of) which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image stored on said transportable digital data storage medium; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage (device) medium to said image playback device; (e) causing said image playback device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported thereto in step (d), a respective digitized image stored in step (a) and to write the read out digitized image into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated at least one digital code stored in step (b); and (f) causing said image playback device to read out a digitized image that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out digitized image to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 27

A method according to claim 23, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said image playback device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 28

A method according to claim 23, wherein step (e) comprises causing said image playback device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 29

A method according to claim 25, wherein said step (f) comprises causing said image playback device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 30

A method according to claim 23, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (e) and (f) comprises causing said image playback device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 31

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images, are) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, Said images being digitized into respective digital imagery data files and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, each digital imagery data file containing a base resolution image associated with an MXN pixel array and formatted as a plurality of interlaced image fields each of which is associated with a respective JXK pixel subarray within said MXN pixel array, a method of controlling (the manner in which) access to a digital imagery data file (may be accessed) for application to an image reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising the steps of: (a) causing a digital data recording device to store, within each of said data files, digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said (image) photographic recording medium; (b) for each respective data file, causing said digital data recording device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, a presentation file the contents of which represent the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said photographic recording medium; (c) providing an image retrieval device having a digital data memory(, the) with a storage capacity (of) which is less than the resolution of said MXN pixel array, but greater than the resolution of said JXK pixel sub-array; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium and coupling said transportable digital data storage medium with said image retrieval device; (e) defining an image window within the array of pixels associated with the respective storage locations of said digital data memory; (f) for a vertical imagery data file, causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium, digitized image data associated with one of its interlaced image fields, to interpolate data values for the vertical dimension of said one interlaced image field so as to effectively increase its vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio, and to store the (resulting) increased vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio of said one interlaced image field in storage locations of said digital data memory that effectively produce an orthogonal rotation of said increased vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio interlaced image field; and (g) causing said image retrieval device to read out from said digital data memory those image values stored in step (f) that fall within said image window and to couple the read-out image to said image reproduction device, such that the read-out image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 32

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images, are) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, Said images being digitized into respective digital imagery data files and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, each digital imagery data file containing a base resolution image associated with an MXN pixel array and formatted as a plurality of interlaced image fields each of which is associated with a respective JXK pixel subarray within said MXN pixel array, a method of controlling (the manner in which) access to a digital imagery data file (may be accessed) for application to an image reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising the steps of: (a) causing a digital data recording device to store, within each of said data files, digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said (image) photographic recording medium; (b) for each respective data file, causing said digital data recording device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, a presentation file the contents of which represent the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said photographic recording medium; (c) providing an image retrieval device having a digital data memory(, the) with a storage capacity (of) which is less than the resolution of said MXN pixel array, but greater than the resolution of said JXK pixel sub-array; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium and coupling said transportable digital data storage medium with said image retrieval device; (e) defining an image window within the array of pixels associated with the respective storage locations of said digital data memory; (f) for a vertical imagery data file, causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium, digitized image data associated with one of its interlaced image fields, to interpolate data values for the vertical dimension of said one interlaced image field so as to effectively increase its vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio, and to store the (resulting) increased vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio of said one interlaced image field in storage locations of said digital data memory that effectively produce an orthogonal rotation of said increased vertical-to-horizontal aspect ratio interlaced image field; and (g) causing said image retrieval device to read out from said digital data memory those image values stored in step (f) that fall within said image window and to couple the read-out image to said image reproduction device, such that the read-out image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 33

A method according to claim 28, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said image retrieval device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 34

A method according to claim 28, wherein step (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 35

A method according to claim 30, wherein said step (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 36

A method according to claim 28, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (f) and (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 37

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images,) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, each digital imagery data file containing a base resolution image associated with an MXN pixel array, a method of controlling (the manner in which) access to a digital imagery data file (may be accessed) for application to an image reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising the steps of: (a) causing a digital data storage device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium, within each of said data files, digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said photographic recording medium; (b) for each respective data file, causing said digital data storage device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, a presentation file the contents of which represent the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said (image recording) transportable digital data storage medium; (c) providing an image retrieval device having a digital data memory(, the) with a storage capacity (of) which is less than the resolution of said MXN pixel array; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium and coupling said transportable digital data storage (device) medium to said image retrieval device; (e) defining an image window within the array of pixels associated with the respective storage locations of said digital data memory; (f) for a horizontal imagery data file, causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto, digitized image data associated with said MXN pixel array, to decimate data values for the horizontal dimension of said MXN pixel array so as to effectively decrease its horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratio, and to store the (resulting) decreased horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratio (image) in storage locations of said digital data memory; and (f) causing said image retrieval device to read out from said digital data memory those image values stored in step (f) that fall within said image window and to couple the read-out image to said image reproduction device.

Claim 38

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images,) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, each digital imagery data file containing a base resolution image associated with an MXN pixel array, a method of controlling (the manner in which) access to a digital imagery data file (may be accessed) for application to an image reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising the steps of: (a) causing a digital data storage device to store on said transportable digital data storage medium, within each of said data files, digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said photographic recording medium; (b) for each respective data file, causing said digital data storage device to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, a presentation file the contents of which represent the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said (image recording) transportable digital data storage medium; (c) providing an image retrieval device having a digital data memory(, the) with a storage capacity (of) which is less than the resolution of said MXN pixel array; (d) transporting said transportable digital data storage medium and coupling said transportable digital data storage (device) medium to said image retrieval device; (e) defining an image window within the array of pixels associated with the respective storage locations of said digital data memory; (f) for a horizontal imagery data file, causing said image retrieval device to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto, digitized image data associated with said MXN pixel array, to decimate data values for the horizontal dimension of said MXN pixel array so as to effectively decrease its horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratio, and to store the (resulting) decreased horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratio (image) in storage locations of said digital data memory; and (f) causing said image retrieval device to read out from said digital data memory those image values stored in step (f) that fall within said image window and to couple the read-out image to said image reproduction device.

Claim 39

A method according to claim 33, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said image retrieval device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 40

A method according to claim 33, wherein step (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 41

A method according to claim 35, wherein said step (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 42

A method according to claim 33, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (f) and (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 43

For use with a digitized image processing system in which images that have been captured on an image recording medium are converted into digital format and stored as digitized image data files on a transportable digital data storage medium, an apparatus for controlling the manner in which digitized images are accessed therefrom for playback comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device, which is operative to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, respective data files associated with each of the images that have been digitized from images captured on said (transportable) image recording medium, each of said data files containing digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium, and a presentation file for each of said respective data files, the contents of said presentation file being representative of (the manner in which) its associated digitized imagery data (has been) as captured on said image recording medium and stored as a digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium; and a playback device including a digital data memory, the storage capacity of which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said digital data storage medium, and being operative to read from said transportable digital data storage medium, that has been transported from said digitized image recording device and coupled to said playback device, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and writes the read out digitized imagery data from said transportable digital data storage medium into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file, and controllably reads digitized imagery data that has been written into said memory and couples the read out data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 44

For use with a digitized image processing system in which images that have been captured on an image recording medium are converted into digital format and stored as digitized image data files on a transportable digital data storage medium, an apparatus for controlling the manner in which digitized images are accessed therefrom for playback comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device, which is operative to store, on said transportable digital data storage medium, respective data files associated with each of the images that have been digitized from images captured on said (transportable) image recording medium, each of said data files containing digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium, and a presentation file for each of said respective data files, the contents of said presentation file being representative of (the manner in which) its associated digitized imagery data (has been) as captured on said image recording medium and stored as a digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium; and a playback device including a digital data memory, the storage capacity of which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said digital data storage medium, and being operative to read from said transportable digital data storage medium, that has been transported from said digitized image recording device and coupled to said playback device, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and writes the read out digitized imagery data from said transportable digital data storage medium into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file, and controllably reads digitized imagery data that has been written into said memory and couples the read out data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 45

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the digitized image of a respective image file corresponds to an MXN array of pixels and said digital data memory has a storage capacity associated with an MXP array of pixels, where P is less than N.

Claim 46

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein the resolution of said reproduction device is greater than the storage capacity of said digital data memory.

Claim 47

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said playback device is operative to controllably decimate digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto and to write the decimated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 48

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said playback device is operative to controllable interpolate digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been coupled thereto and to write the interpolated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 49

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said playback device is operative, in response to the contents of said presentation file indicating that said image has a first orientation, to controllably decimate a first portion of the digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and to write the decimated image data into said digital data memory.

Claim 50

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said digitized image recording device is operative to store, within a respective presentation file, first data representative of the orientation of its associated image as stored on (transportable) said transportable digital data storage medium.

Claim 51

An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein said image reproduction device comprises a television display.

Claim 52

An apparatus according to claim 45, wherein said television display contains an array of pixels the resolution of which is greater than the resolution of a respective data file.

Claim 53

An apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said playback device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 54

A method according to claim 38, wherein step (f) comprises causing said image retrieval device to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 55

A method according to claim 48, wherein said step (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 56

A method according to claim 38, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of steps (f) and (g) comprises causing said image retrieval device to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 57

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (, are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files, each digital imagery data file containing data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, an apparatus for controlling (the manner in which said) access to said digital imagery data files (may be accessed) for presentation to a reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device which is operative to digitize each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of its actual orientation on said photographic recording medium, and stores each digitized image in a respective digital imagery data file on a transportable digital data storage medium and stores on said transportable digital data storage medium, for each digital imagery data file, a presentation data file the contents of which are associated with the actual orientation of its image on said photographic recording medium; and a playback device including a digital data memory having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium, said playback device being operative to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and to write the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file, and to controllably read out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 58

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium, said images being (and may include horizontally and vertically oriented images) oriented along one of a plurality of orientation axes, including vertical and horizontal axes, said images being (, are) digitized into respective digital imagery data files, each digital imagery data file containing data values associated with an array of pixels corresponding to a prescribed resolution representation of a respective one of said plurality of images, an apparatus for controlling (the manner in which said) access to said digital imagery data files (may be accessed) for presentation to a reproduction device, so that a reproduced image (may be) is capable of being viewed in an upright orientation comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device which is operative to digitize each of said plurality of images in accordance with a prescribed orientation, irrespective of its actual orientation on said photographic recording medium, and stores each digitized image in a respective digital imagery data file on a transportable digital data storage medium and stores on said transportable digital data storage medium, for each digital imagery data file, a presentation data file the contents of which are associated with the actual orientation of its image on said photographic recording medium; and a playback device including a digital data memory having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium, said playback device being operative to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium, the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and to write the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file, and to controllably read out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory and to couple the read out data to said image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 59

An apparatus according to claim 51, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said playback device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 60

An apparatus according to claim 51, wherein said playback device is operative to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 61

An apparatus according to claim 53, wherein said playback device is operative to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 62

An apparatus according to claim 51, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein said playback device is operative to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 63

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of photographic images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium are digitized and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, said transportable digital data storage medium being transported to and coupled to an image playback device for display of an image, an apparatus for controlling the displayed presentation of said image by said playback device comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device which is operative to digitize each of said plurality of images on said photographic recording medium and to store each digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium in the orientation in which the image was captured on said photographic recording medium, and, for each digitized image, to store at least one digital code respectively representative of at least one of the aspect ratio and orientation of the image; a digitized image playback device including a digital data memory, said digital data memory having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image stored on said transportable digital data storage medium, and is operative to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported from said digitized image recording device and coupled to said digitized image playback device, a respective digitized image and to write the read out digitized image into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated at least one digital code, and controllably reads out a digitized image that has been written into said digital data memory and couples the read out digitized image to said image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 64

For use with a digital image processing system wherein a plurality of photographic images that have been captured on a photographic recording medium are digitized and stored on a transportable digital data storage medium, said transportable digital data storage medium being transported to and coupled to an image playback device for display of an image, an apparatus for controlling the displayed presentation of said image by said playback device comprising, in combination: a digitized image recording device which is operative to digitize each of said plurality of images on said photographic recording medium and to store each digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium in the orientation in which the image was captured on said photographic recording medium, and, for each digitized image, to store at least one digital code respectively representative of at least one of the aspect ratio and orientation of the image; a digitized image playback device including a digital data memory, said digital data memory having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image stored on said transportable digital data storage medium, and is operative to read out, from said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported from said digitized image recording device and coupled to said digitized image playback device, a respective digitized image and to write the read out digitized image into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated at least one digital code, and controllably reads out a digitized image that has been written into said digital data memory and couples the read out digitized image to said image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 65

An apparatus according to claim 56, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc and said digitized image playback device comprises a photo compact disc player.

Claim 66

An apparatus according to claim 56, wherein said digitized image playback device is operative to write digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 67

An apparatus according to claim 58, wherein said digitized image playback device is operative to read digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 68

An apparatus according to claim 56, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein said digitized image playback device is operative to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.

Claim 69

For use with a digitized image processing system in which images that have been captured on an image recording medium are converted into digital format and stored as digitized image data files on a transportable digital data storage medium, each of said data files containing digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium, and a presentation file for each of said respective data files, the contents of said presentation file being representative of the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said image recording medium and stored as a digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium, a playback apparatus for controlling (the manner in which) access to said digitized images (are accessed) from said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium for presentation by an image reproduction device comprising, in combination: a transportable digital data (recording) storage medium interface to which said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium is transported and coupled; a digital data memory coupled to said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium interface and having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported and coupled to said interface; first means for reading from said transportable digital data storage medium the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and writing the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file; and second means for controllably reading out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory from said transportable digital data storage medium coupled to said interface and coupling the read out data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 70

For use with a digitized image processing system in which images that have been captured on an image recording medium are converted into digital format and stored as digitized image data files on a transportable digital data storage medium, each of said data files containing digitized imagery data representative of its associated image as captured on said image recording medium, and a presentation file for each of said respective data files, the contents of said presentation file being representative of the manner in which its associated digitized imagery data has been captured on said image recording medium and stored as a digitized image on said transportable digital data storage medium, a playback apparatus for controlling (the manner in which) access to said digitized images (are accessed) from said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium for presentation by an image reproduction device comprising, in combination: a transportable digital data (recording) storage medium interface to which said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium is transported and coupled; a digital data memory coupled to said transportable digital data (recording) storage medium interface and having a storage capacity which is different from the resolution of the image represented by the contents of a digitized image data file stored on said transportable digital data storage medium that has been transported and coupled to said interface; first means for reading from said transportable digital data storage medium the digitized imagery data of a respective data file and writing the read out digitized imagery data into said digital data memory in a manner that depends upon the contents of its associated presentation file; and second means for controllably reading out digitized imagery data that has been written into said digital data memory from said transportable digital data storage medium coupled to said interface and coupling the read out data to an image reproduction device such that the reproduced image is reproduced by said image reproduction device in an upright orientation.

Claim 71

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the digitized image of a respective image file corresponds to an MXN array of pixels and said digital data memory has a storage capacity associated with an MXP array of pixels, where P is less than N.

Claim 72

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein the resolution of said reproduction device is greater than the storage capacity of said digital data memory.

Claim 73

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said first means includes means for controllably decimating digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and writing the decimated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 74

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said first means includes means for controllably interpolating digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and writing the interpolated data into said digital data memory.

Claim 75

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said first means includes means, responsive to the contents of said presentation file indicating that said image has a first orientation, for controllably decimating a first portion of the digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and writing the decimated image data into said digital data memory.

Claim 76

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said first device includes means, responsive to the contents of said presentation file indicating that said image has a second orientation, for controllably interpolating a second portion of the digitized image data stored on said transportable digital data storage medium and writing the interpolated image data into said digital data memory.

Claim 77

A playback apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said transportable digital data storage medium comprises a photo compact disc.

Claim 78

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said first means includes means for writing digitized imagery data into said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 79

An apparatus according to claim 69, wherein said second means includes means for reading digitized imagery data from said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions of a digital image.

Claim 80

An apparatus according to claim 61, wherein said digital data memory has a capacity of an equal number of lines of pixels and pixels per line of a digital image storable therein, and wherein each of said first and second means is operative to access said digital data memory using a common clock for both pixel and line scan directions.