JPH04355570A - Video camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the user to confirm a lightness setting state as required and to confirm a lightness display area in a limited view finder area by displaying the lightness setting state when a lightenss button is depressed while a cover covering the lightenss button is opened. CONSTITUTION:A slidable cover 2 is provided on a side face of a video camera 1 and a switch circuit in interlocking with the opening/closing of the cover 2 is provided on the side face. With the cover 2 opened, a lightness button 3 and a lightness setting dial 4 are exposed, and when the ligthness button 3 is depressed, the current lightness display is indicated in a view finder as, e.g. 24-stages of bar graph. When the lightness setting dial 4 is moved, the lightness state is changed and the display of the lightness setting state is changed according to the set lightness.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera device, and more particularly to brightness settings of a video camera.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional video cameras are equipped with an auto iris mechanism and an AGC circuit, and brightness is normally set automatically. However, it is desirable to be able to manually set the brightness, for example when panning and photographing a mountain top or seaside scenery on a sunny day and wanting to keep the brightness constant.

However, the brightness of a video camera is set by both the open/closed state of the iris and the gain of the AGC amplifier, and in order to set the brightness over a wide range, it is necessary to Both sides need to be adjusted. As described above, it is not easy to manually adjust both the opening/closing state of the iris and the gain of the AGC amplifier. Therefore, a device has been proposed in which a brightness setting dial is provided, and when the brightness setting dial is operated, the AGC gain and the iris opening can be changed continuously. This allows you to manually set the brightness by simply moving one brightness setting dial.

0004

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In such a video camera in which the brightness can be manually set, it is desirable to be able to check the brightness settings. The brightness setting status is
You can check the brightness of the screen from the viewfinder, but you cannot fully understand the setting status from this screen brightness. Therefore, it is conceivable to display the brightness setting state in the viewfinder, for example. However, since many other displays such as mode setting states and counters are displayed within the viewfinder, it is difficult to secure a display position within the viewfinder for displaying the brightness. Further, if the brightness setting state is always displayed in the viewfinder, there is a possibility that the user may be misled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a video camera device that allows the user to confirm the brightness setting state and secure the display position of the brightness setting state within the viewfinder.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention has a cover that can be opened and closed to cover operation buttons and dials, a switch that is linked to the opening and closing of the cover, a brightness button, and a brightness setting dial. A video camera device characterized in that when opened, a brightness variable state is set and a brightness button and the brightness setting dial are exposed, and when the brightness button is operated, the brightness setting state is displayed. be.

[0007]

[Operation] When you press the brightness button with the cover covering the brightness button open, the brightness setting status will be displayed, and the brightness can be displayed automatically when manually setting the brightness. Further, by sharing the display of the brightness setting state and the display of the zoom state, the display area is not wasted.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a video camera to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 1, a video camera 1
A slidable cover 2 is provided on the side surface of the holder. Switch circuits 11 and 12 linked to opening and closing of cover 2 (Figure 6)
will be provided. When you open this cover 2, the brightness button 3
and the brightness setting dial 4 are exposed. When the brightness button 3 is pressed, the current brightness display 5 is displayed in the viewfinder as a bar graph with, for example, 24 levels, as shown in FIG. When the brightness setting dial 4 is moved, the brightness state changes as shown in FIG. 3, and the display 5 of the brightness setting state changes in accordance with the set brightness.

The brightness setting dial 4 sets the brightness by changing the opening degree of the iris with the gain of the AGC amplifier constant until a predetermined brightness, and from the predetermined brightness, the gain of the AGC amplifier is constant and the opening degree of the iris is constant and the brightness is set by changing the opening degree of the iris. The brightness is set by changing the gain of the amplifier. FIG. 4 is an example of the relationship between the setting state of the brightness setting dial, the gain of the AGC amplifier, and the opening degree of the iris.

As shown in FIG. 5, a zoom display 6 can be displayed at the same position as the brightness display 5. When the brightness display 5 is not displayed, when the zoom switch 7 (FIG. 5) is pressed, the zoom display 6 appears, and the zoom setting position is displayed in, for example, nine levels. When the zoom switch 7 is released, the zoom display 6 disappears after, for example, one second. When the brightness display 5 is displayed, when the zoom switch 7 is pressed, the zoom display 6 appears preferentially. When the zoom switch 7 is released, the zoom display 6 changes to the brightness display 5 after, for example, one second. In this way, since the brightness display 5 is displayed at the same position as the zoom display 6, the display area can be used effectively. Note that the brightness display 5 is a bar graph with 24 levels, and the zoom display 6 is a bar graph with 9 levels, so even if the brightness display 5 and zoom display 6 are displayed at the same position, it is not obvious that the display has changed. I understand.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the settings of the brightness button 3 and brightness setting dial 4 are input to the controller 10. When automatically setting the brightness, an optimal reference value is output from the controller 10 and set in the D/A converter 30. When setting the brightness manually, a value corresponding to the setting value of the brightness setting dial 4 is set in the D/A converter 30.

The controller 10 also controls the cover 2.
The switch circuits 11 and 12 are switched depending on whether the switch circuits 11 or 12 are open or closed. When cover 2 is closed, switch circuits 11 and 12 are connected to terminals 11A and 12, respectively.
It is set to the A side. When the cover 2 is opened, the switch circuits 11 and 12 are switched to the terminals 11B and 12B, respectively.

A setting signal for the zoom switch 7 is also input to the controller 10 . When the zoom switch 7 is operated, a drive signal is supplied to the zoom motor 15 via the driver 14. This moves the zoom lens.

The object image passed through the lens 21 is focused on the light-receiving surface of the CCD image sensor 23 via the iris 22. The output of the CCD image sensor 23 is supplied to the AGC amplifier 25 via the preamplifier 24, and the detection circuit 2
6. The output of the AGC amplifier 25 is supplied to a video signal processing circuit 27 and also to a detection circuit 28 . The output of the detection circuit 26 is supplied to the terminal 11A of the switch circuit 11. The output of the detection circuit 28 is supplied to the terminal 12A of the switch circuit 12.

A video signal processing circuit 27 generates a luminance signal Y and a chroma signal C from the image signal. This luminance signal Y is supplied to the viewfinder 32 via the addition circuit 31. A display signal is generated from the character generation circuit 33 in accordance with the output of the controller 10, and this display signal is supplied to the addition circuit 31. By the addition circuit 31,
Necessary characters are displayed in a superimposed manner on the screen of the viewfinder 32.

When the cover 2 is closed, the brightness is automatically set. In this case, switch circuits 11 and 1
2 are set on the 11A and 12A sides, respectively. When the switch circuit 12 is set to the terminal 12A side, the detection circuit 2
The output of 8 passes through the switch circuit 12 and the integrating circuit 34,
The signal is supplied to the AGC amplifier 25 and also to the controller 10 via the buffer 42. As a result, A
The gain of the GC amplifier 25 is automatically set.

Furthermore, when the switch circuit 11 is set to the terminal 11A side, the output of the detection circuit 26 is supplied to one input terminal of the comparator 35 via the switch 11. The output of the D/A converter 30 is supplied to the other input terminal of the comparator 35 . The output of the comparator 35 is supplied to an iris motor 37 via a driver 36. Thereby, the opening degree of the iris 22 is automatically set according to the imaging signal level.

When the cover 2 is opened, the brightness is set manually. At this time, when the brightness button 3 is pressed, the brightness display 5 is generated from the character generation circuit 33 and displayed in the finder 32, as described above. Depending on the setting value of the brightness setting dial 3, the value of the D/A converter 30 is varied. Further, in this case, the switch circuits 11 and 12 are set on the 11B and 12B sides, respectively. When the switch circuit 12 is set to the terminal 12B side, the output of the D/A converter 30 is transferred to the buffer 41,
The signal is supplied to the AGC amplifier 25 via the switch circuit 12 and the integrating circuit 34, and the gain of the AGC amplifier 25 is set according to the output of the D/A converter 30.

Further, when the switch circuit 11 is set to the terminal 11A side, the open/closed state of the iris 22 is detected by a sensor 38 consisting of a Hall element, and this detection output is compared with the output of the D/A converter 30 by a comparator 40. The output of the comparator 40 is supplied to the comparator 35 via the switch circuit 11. The output of the comparator 35 is supplied to an iris motor 37 via a driver 36. This sets the open/closed state of the iris 22.

As described above, in one embodiment of the present invention, the brightness setting state display 5 and the zoom setting state display 6 are provided.
are shared. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining this display control. First, zoom switch 7
It is detected whether or not is pressed (step 51),
When the zoom switch 7 is pressed, the zoom display 6 is performed (step 52), and when the zoom switch 7 is released (step 53), after one second has elapsed (step 54), the display is erased (step 55).

If the zoom switch 5 is not pressed in step 51, it is determined whether the brightness button 3 has been pressed (step 56), and if the brightness button 3 has been pressed, the brightness display 5 is performed. (Step 57). If the zoom switch 7 is pressed while the brightness display 5 is being displayed (step 58), the brightness display 5 is changed to the zoom display 6 (step 59). When the zoom switch 7 is released (step 60), after 1 second has elapsed (step 61),
The display returns to brightness display 5 (step 57).

[0022]

[Effect of the invention] According to this invention, when the brightness button is pressed with the cover covering the brightness button open, the brightness setting status is displayed, and the brightness is automatically displayed when manually setting the brightness. can. Further, by sharing the display of the brightness setting state and the display of the zoom state, the display area is not wasted.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a video camera to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram used to explain a display in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram used to explain a display in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram used to explain one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram used to explain a display in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram used to explain one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart used to explain one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Cover 3 Brightness switch 4 Brightness setting dial 5 Brightness display 6 Zoom display

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A cover that can be opened and closed to cover operation buttons and dials, a switch that is linked to the opening and closing of the cover, a brightness button, and a brightness setting dial, and when the cover is open, the brightness changes. A video camera device characterized in that the brightness button and the brightness setting dial are set to a variable state, and the brightness button and the brightness setting dial are exposed to the outside, and when the brightness button is operated, the brightness setting state is displayed in a finder. . 2. The video camera device according to claim 1, wherein the display area in the brightness setting state and the display area in the zoom state are shared.