JPH033356B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is used to remotely control the dimming of lighting lamps in studios, stages, etc. by transmitting a dimming signal from a dimming control regulator (fader) using a power line. Regarding optical devices.

In a conventional lighting lamp dimmer device that uses a power line, when you press the button on the transmitter's controller to command the light intensity change operation of the lamp, a digitally coded control signal is superimposed on the power line and sent to the receiver. In accordance with the control signal received by the push button, the dimmer of the illumination lamp is operated at a predetermined constant dimming change rate. However, with this method, the speed of dimming change is constant, and the change in light amount cannot be controlled arbitrarily from the controller side over time, so when used for lighting lamps in studios, stages, etc., it is difficult to achieve lighting effects. The disadvantage is that they are either scarce or practically unusable. In addition, depending on the location where the dimmer is used, such as in a studio, stage, or horizon, the characteristics of the fader amount for dimming and the light amount of the illumination lamp will differ, so it is necessary to have a device with characteristics that match each installation location. In addition, there is non-linearity in the fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristic due to the lighting lamp used and the configuration of its dimming control circuit, and it must be manufactured separately depending on the purpose and applicable equipment, resulting in a large number of product models. Also, there is a disadvantage that adjustment is complicated.

The present invention solves the conventional drawbacks by adopting a method of digitally processing the fader amount for dimming using the power line of the lighting lamp, and superimposing the processed signal on the power line to control the lighting lamp. ,
In addition to eliminating the electric line for transmitting fader signals that was previously necessary, the light intensity of the lighting lamps can be controlled arbitrarily over time using the fader means installed on the transmitting side to fully demonstrate the lighting effect of studios, stages, etc. In addition, the fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristics can be stored in advance in memory, such as when the installation location is different such as a studio or stage, or when the applied lighting equipment is different, and the selection can be changed freely to suit the installation location. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light control device that can obtain matched fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristics and that can be easily manufactured and adjusted.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a dimmer device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is an operating device and 31 is a dimmer controller, each of which is connected to a power line 90 that supplies power to an illumination lamp. has been done. The operating device 1 is composed of a fader means 2 having a digital fader 3 and a power synchronized transmitter 10, or a dimming controller 31 includes a power synchronized receiver 40, a curve forming memory 60, and a digital dimming control. circuit 70
and a thyristor 80.

Below, we will explain the block in Figure 1 along with its operation.The digital fader 3 is divided into the entire sliding range of the knob 128, and outputs a 7-bit digital signal according to the position of the knob (fader amount). Actually, it is output in the form of 8-bit gray code.

The output of this digital fader 3 is converted into a serial signal by a serial conversion circuit 4, and this serial digital signal is sequentially distributed and sent to gate circuits 12a and 12b alternately. The gate circuits 12a and 12b are operated in synchronization with the power supply of the power line 90 by the generated basic pulse, and the carrier wave frequency generation circuits 14a and 14b have respective f ₁ (100KHz) and f ₂ (120KHz).
Hz) and is amplified by the amplifier/gate circuits 13a and 13b, which operate depending on the presence or absence (1 or 0) of the output signals of the gate circuits 12a and 12b. The carrier waves are superimposed on the power supply of the power line 90 via the coupling capacitor 15. do.

The transmitter 10 receives a digital signal from the fader means 2 and repeats this operation, for example, every cycle of the power supply. Here, the reason why carrier waves with two different frequencies are used is to enable checking the phase shift of the carrier waves with respect to the power supply, and also as a countermeasure against noise. Select a band other than the noise frequency band that is likely to be superimposed on the noise frequency band. 18a, 18b and 19 are insulating circuits using photocouplers.

The carrier wave superimposed on the power source of the power line 90 as described above is transmitted to the dimming controller 31, and the frequency selection circuit 41 divides it into 100 KHz and 120 KHz and converts it into a pulse train depending on the presence or absence of the carrier wave. This is then amplified by the amplifier circuit 42, and furthermore, similarly to the controller 1, it is synchronized with the power source of the power line 90 using basic pulses generated by the power synchronization signal generation circuit 45 and the basic pulse generation circuit 46, and a polarity and phase check is performed. The polarity ( _f1 side or _f2 side) and phase shift are checked in circuits 43a and 43b, and if there is no abnormality, the signal is output to the memory circuit 44. Further, if there is an abnormality, the memory circuit 44 is cleared. The storage circuit 44 has its contents updated, for example, every cycle of the power supply, and outputs digital signals converted in parallel according to the input to the curve forming memory 60. 47a, 47
b, , 48a, 48b and 49 are insulating circuits using photocouplers.

Next, the curve forming memory 60 is constructed of a memory in which fader amount versus lamp light amount characteristics are stored in advance in accordance with the purpose and applied equipment, and can be continuously written to. In general, an important characteristic of a light control device is that the visual brightness of the subject can be adjusted at will by the operator, and the relationship between the fader scale of the light control device and the visual sense amount of light is exactly the same. Ideally, it should change linearly from 0% to 100% and from 100% to 0%. However, this relationship differs depending on the applied lighting lamp and dimming control circuit, and there is also a difference between the brightness directly perceived by the human eye and the amount of light measured by an illuminance meter. It also varies depending on the location and the machine used.

In other words, as shown in Fig. 3, for example, in order to have linearity in the change in visual sense light amount (L) with respect to the fader amount, each of the curves A, B, and C should be used in the studio, stage, or horizon. It must have the following fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristics. Therefore, the curve forming memory 60 stores each of these curves in advance in the form of fader amount versus thyristor 80 output voltage, and allows the curve selection switch 61 to appropriately select the curves. Also, in this curve forming memory 60, at the same time, the digital dimming control circuit 7
Since the characteristic of 0 itself is not linear, a circuit is provided to correct this. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the digital signal input to the curve forming memory 60 is 7 bits and has a resolution of 128, similar to the digital fader 2, but the input to the digital dimming control circuit 70 is a BCD signal. 100 with 2 digit code
It is a step. Therefore, if the fader amount is 50%, the digital number input to the curve forming memory 60 is 63, which corresponds to 49 on the input side of the digital dimming control circuit 70. However, if the characteristic curve of the digital dimming control circuit 70 is X, there is a deviation from the characteristic curve A of 1 stored in the curve formation memory 60. The input digital signal of 70 is corrected to 60.
70 is a digital dimming control circuit that generates a firing pulse for a thyristor 80 that controls the phase of the power supply of the lamp in order to change the light intensity of the illumination lamp according to the output signal of the curve forming memory 60; is in sync with. 47
a, 47b, 48a, 48b, 49 and 50 are insulating circuits using photocouplers, and 81 is a reactor that suppresses the noise generated when the thyristor is fired from coming out to the power line side, and the receiver 40 malfunctions due to these noises. In addition to preventing this, it also has the role of blocking the carrier wave to the thyristor 80 side.
Therefore, the noise suppression characteristics in the reactor are
It has a characteristic that the noise spectrum from the thyristor etc. does not affect the superimposed transmission band.

Although the fader means 2 in FIG. 1 is constructed by separating the digital fader 3 and the serial conversion circuit 4, it is also possible to use a digital fader that directly outputs serial data in response to pulses from the basic pulse generation circuit 17. The serial conversion circuit 4 can also be omitted.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the digital fader 3 was used as the fader means 2, and the digital dimming control circuit 70 was used, but instead of these, as shown in FIG. Circuit 70' may also be used.

However, in this case, each A/D converter 1
00 and D/A converter 101 are required,
The other configurations can be made exactly the same as in FIG. 1.

Furthermore, in the light control device shown in FIG. 1, the carrier wave superimposed on the power source can be of one frequency instead of having two different frequencies. When such one frequency is used, it is not necessary to have two gate circuits and phase check circuits in the transmitter/receiver, and the circuit can be simplified.

Note that the transmission method in the present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. It is also possible to use a modulation format.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the signal transmitted through the power line was mainly explained as a digital value signal corresponding to the dimming fader position (analog amount).
As shown in Figures 6 and 7, there are other options, such as the selection of the optical filter of the illumination lamp (selection of magenta, yellow, and cyan) and the direction of the lighting equipment (including lamps) (pan, tilt, and focus settings). ) can also be transmitted in the form of a digital signal, arranged in front of the serial digital signal from the fader. By multiplexing and transmitting signals such as dimming signals, optical filter selection, and direction adjustment of lighting equipment, it is possible to perform remote control even in places where only power lines for lighting are installed, for example. to easily preset lighting equipment (optical filter selection,
direction adjustment) and light amount adjustment can be easily performed.

As described above, the light control device of the present invention digitally processes the fader amount using the power line of the lighting lamp, and superimposes the processed signal on the power line to control the lighting lamp. By eliminating the conventionally necessary electric line for transmitting the fader signal for dimming the lighting lamp, and by freely controlling the fader amount using the fader means provided on the transmitting side, the light intensity of the lighting lamp can be adjusted over time. It is possible to freely control the lighting effects in studios, stages, etc., and it is also possible to control the fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristics when the studio, stage, etc. are installed in different locations, or when the applied lighting equipment is different. It is possible to easily manufacture and adjust the fader amount versus lamp light amount characteristics by storing them in memory in advance and selecting and switching them to obtain the fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristics that match the installation location.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a light control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram in the device shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a fader amount vs. lamp light amount characteristic diagram, and FIG. 4 is a curve forming memory An explanatory diagram for explaining the operation, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a light control device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram according to still another embodiment of the present invention in which the transmission method is FSK format. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a light control device, and a waveform diagram in the device of FIG. 6. In the figure, 1... operating device, 2... fader means, 3
...Digital fader, 3'...Analog fader, 10...Transmitter, 31...Dimming controller, 40
...Transmitter, 60 ...Curve formation memory, 61
...Curve changeover switch, 70...Digital dimming control circuit, 70'...Analog dimming control circuit, 9
0...Power line.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Fader means for outputting a serial digital signal corresponding to the fader amount for dimming in synchronization with the power supply of the illumination lamp, and a frequency sufficiently higher than the power supply frequency according to the output digital signal of this fader means. A transmitter that superimposes a frequency carrier wave on the power source of the illumination lamp, a receiver that receives the carrier wave and outputs a digital signal corresponding to the carrier wave, and a receiver that stores several types of selectable nonlinear characteristics in advance and according to these characteristics. A curve forming memory that outputs a digital signal corrected according to the characteristics of the dimming control means described later in accordance with the output signal of the receiver, and a dimming control that controls the power source of the illumination lamp in accordance with the output signal of the curve forming memory. A light control device consisting of a control means. 2. A light control device according to claim 1, wherein the nonlinear characteristic is a characteristic that makes the fader amount vs. visual sensation light amount characteristic linear.