JP2008191613A - Remote conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a remote conference system, in which remote conference having high presence can be conducted by displaying an image with high contrast, even under bright room environment. <P>SOLUTION: Image information obtained by a communications device 5 through a communications network 7 is projected and displayed on a screen 1 by a projector 3. A light-absorbing portion 13 is provided in the screen 1 and effectively absorbs external light from an illumination device 6, and the like. Furthermore, the image photographed by a camera 4 is sent to other places via the communications network 7 by the communications device 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a remote conference system for performing a conference with a person in a remote place.

In recent years, opportunities for using remote conferences via communication lines have increased. In such a remote conference, the quality of the images and the screen size of the participants from a remote location are important for enhancing the sense of reality of the conference. As for the screen size, it is desirable to make it as large as possible. If possible, if a life-size opponent is projected, the presence is enhanced. Displaying images in such a large size is difficult with current PDPs (Plasma Display Panels) and LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays), using large rear projection televisions, or displaying images from projectors on reflective screens. It is realistic to use a projection method (front projection method).
However, since the screen size is required to be 100 inches or more, there is a problem that when the rear projection television is used, there is a problem in that the installation space is restricted when considering the rear projection space. In order to achieve a large screen size, the front projection method is most preferable.

However, in the conventional front projection method, for example, a mat-like screen with a white reflecting surface is used, and the contrast does not increase in the bright room, and the image on the other side projected on the screen is whitened, so The feeling was damaged.
In addition, since it is a teleconference, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to read and write documents if the lighting is dimmed.
In addition, the lighting could not be dimmed in order to photograph participants with a camera.
Therefore, there is a problem that the conference is not established if the illumination is darkened in order to increase the contrast of the image on the other side projected on the screen.

In order to improve such problems, Patent Document 1 discloses a screen that can be used without reducing contrast even in a bright room, and a remote conference using the screen. In the invention of Patent Document 1, the entire surface of the screen is covered with a polarizing plate, and the illumination light is absorbed by attaching a polarizing plate whose extending direction is directed to the direction orthogonal to the polarization direction for indoor illumination.
However, a polarizing plate having a size of 100 inches or more is very expensive and unrealistic.
In recent years, the LCD type or DLP (Digital Light Processing) type is the mainstream of projectors. However, in the LCD type, the image light itself is also polarized. In an LCD projector that emits light having orthogonal polarization directions, there is a problem in that all image light is absorbed. And even if it is the image light projected from a DLP projector, the half was absorbed by the polarizing plate, and there existed a problem that a bright image could not be obtained.
JP-A-2-267536

  An object of the present invention is to provide a remote conference system that can display a high-contrast video even in a bright room environment and can perform a remote conference with a high sense of reality.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to the Example of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.
The invention of claim 1 includes a camera (4), a projector (3) that projects image light, a screen (1) that displays an image projected by the projector, information captured by the camera, and And a communication device (5) that communicates information projected by the projector with a remote place, the screen includes a reflective layer (23) that reflects video light, and more than the reflective layer. A teleconferencing system comprising: a light-absorbing layer (10) having a light-absorbing portion (13) that is provided on the projector side and that absorbs part of the light that reaches the projector. is there.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the teleconferencing system according to the first aspect, the light absorbing layer (10) includes a light transmitting portion (12) that is formed between the light absorbing (13) portions and transmits light. The teleconference system is characterized in that the light absorbing section and the light transmitting section are alternately formed.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the teleconferencing system according to the first or second aspect, the light transmission unit (12) has a cross section orthogonal to the projection plane, and the video source side is wider than a width on the back side. The teleconference system is characterized in that it has a substantially trapezoidal shape with a wide width, and is a unit prism shape formed side by side along the projection plane.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the teleconference system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the light absorbing portion (13) is a refraction of a material forming the light transmitting portion (12). The teleconference system is characterized in that the refractive index is lower than the rate.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the teleconference system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the illuminating device (6) for illuminating at least a subject to be photographed by the camera (4) is upward. The teleconferencing system is characterized in that the illumination device is a spotlight or an illumination device having a louver.

According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The screen is a reflection layer that reflects video light, and a light absorption layer that is provided closer to the projector than the reflection layer and has a light absorption part that absorbs part of the light that reaches the screen. Because of this, even in a bright room environment, it is possible to display a high-contrast video and perform a remote conference with a high sense of presence.

(2) The light absorption layer has a light transmission portion that is formed between the light absorption portions and transmits light, and the light absorption portions and the light transmission portions are alternately formed, so that an image with high contrast over the entire surface. Can be displayed.

(3) The light transmitting portion has a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the width on the image source side is wider than the width on the back surface side in a cross section orthogonal to the projection surface, and a unit prism shape formed in a large number along the projection surface Therefore, the image light can be efficiently reflected in the necessary observation direction.

(4) Since the light absorption part has a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the material forming the light transmission part, the image light can be totally reflected and reflected at the boundary surface between the light transmission part and the light absorption part. Bright images can be displayed with minimal loss.

(5) An illuminating device that illuminates at least a photographing object to be photographed by a camera is provided above, and the illuminating device is a lighting device having a spotlight or a louver. Unnecessary illumination light reaching the screen can be reduced, and a clearer image can be displayed.

A light-absorbing layer that has a light-absorbing part that absorbs part of the light that can be used to display a high-contrast video even in a bright room environment and to have a remote conference with a high sense of presence. By using a screen equipped with a low cost.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of an embodiment of a remote conference system according to the present invention.
The remote conference system according to the present embodiment includes a screen 1, a projector 3, a camera 4, a communication device 5, and an illumination device 6.
The screen 1 is a reflective screen that reflects and displays the image light projected from the projector 3, and is arranged independently by the support legs 2. The screen 1 of the present embodiment is a winding type screen that can be wound, and has a maximum projectable screen size of 100 inches. Details of the screen 1 will be described later.

The projector 3 is a projector that projects image light onto the screen 1, and is connected to the communication device 5. The projector 3 of the present embodiment is an LCD projector, but may be another projector such as a DLP projector. The projector 3 projects the video included in the data obtained from the communication device 5 onto the screen 1 and reproduces the sound included in the data obtained from the communication device 5 through a speaker (not shown).
The camera 4 is a photographing device that photographs the participants and the like of the conference, and is connected to the communication device 5. The camera 4 of this embodiment captures a moving image with sound and transmits the data to the communication device 5.

The communication device 5 is a device that is connected to the projector 3 and the camera 4 and communicates with a remote conference system provided elsewhere via a communication network (for example, telephone line, LAN, Internet, etc.) 7. Note that the remote conference system provided in another place may be the same system as in this embodiment, or may be another remote conference system.
The illumination device 6 is a light source that illuminates the participants of the conference, and in this embodiment, a spotlight is used. Note that the illumination device 6 uses a lighting device having a louver (for example, a fluorescent lamp with a louver) in addition to a spotlight, thereby obtaining necessary illumination light while reducing external light reaching the screen 1. be able to.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the screen 1 according to the present embodiment cut in the vertical direction in the use state. FIG. 2 also shows how light travels when the teleconference system is in use.
In addition, FIG. 1 shown previously including FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 to be described later appropriately exaggerate the dimensions, shapes, etc. of each part for the sake of explanation. In particular, FIG. 2 schematically shows the external light source G, the projector 3, and the screen 1 together, so that the arrangement relationship is different from the actual one, and the incident angle of each light ray is different from the magnitude relationship in the description below. It is included.
Also, the projector 3 side (observation side) of the screen 1 will be referred to as the front side, and the opposite side will be referred to as the back side. Shall be shown.
The screen 1 in the present embodiment efficiently reflects the image light projected by the projector 3 toward the viewer side, and selectively absorbs unnecessary light from above by a light absorbing unit 13 described later, thereby achieving a very high contrast. This is a screen that can display high-quality images even in a bright environment.

The screen 1 includes a light absorption sheet 10, a reflection sheet 20, and an adhesive layer 25, and is a reflection type screen formed by adhesively bonding the light absorption sheet 10 and the reflection sheet 20 with the adhesive layer 25.
The light absorbing sheet 10 is a light absorbing layer including a light absorbing sheet base material layer 11, a unit prism shape 12, a light absorbing portion 13, and a surface treatment layer 14.

The light-absorbing sheet base material layer 11 is a portion that becomes a base material necessary for forming the unit prism shape 12, and is formed from a resin sheet or film such as acrylic, PC (polycarbonate), or PET (polyethylene terephthalate). In this embodiment, acrylic resin is used. The light-absorbing sheet substrate layer 11 may be colored (tinted) with a dye, pigment, or the like such as gray, which is reduced to a predetermined transmittance as necessary.

The unit prism shape 12 has a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the width on the image source side is wider than the width on the back surface side in the cross section of FIG. A large number of unit prism shapes 12 are formed side by side along the sheet surface (in the vertical direction which is the vertical direction in FIG. 2). Here, the sheet surface indicates a surface in the planar direction of the sheet when viewed as the entire sheet.
The unit prism shape 12 is vertically symmetrical in the vertical direction, and the angle formed by the upper and lower slopes with the normal of the screen surface is 5 °, the top width is 40 μm, and the valley bottom The height from the top to the top is 200 μm. The unit prism shape 12 is made of an ultraviolet curable resin having a refractive index of 1.56. In addition, not only ultraviolet curable resin but other photocuring resin such as ionizing radiation curable resin may be used, or it may be produced by hot melt extrusion using thermoplastic resin such as acrylic resin or PET resin. .

  The light absorbing portion 13 is a portion having an action of absorbing light formed while the unit prism shapes 12 are arranged. The light absorbing portion 13 in the present embodiment wipes (squeezes) an ultraviolet curable resin (refractive index: 1.49) containing a black pigment having an average particle diameter of 6 μm as fine beads that absorb light. The unit prism shape 12 is filled and irradiated with ultraviolet rays.

  The surface treatment layer 14 is a layer provided on the most side of the projector 3, and is a layer on which various surface treatments such as anti-glare treatment, antireflection treatment, antistatic treatment, hard coat treatment, and antifouling treatment are performed. In Example 1, an antireflection treatment is performed. In addition, what is necessary is just to select the process performed to this front process layer 14 suitably as needed.

The reflection sheet 20 includes a reflection sheet base layer 21, a shaping layer 22, and a reflection layer 23.
The reflective sheet base layer 21 is a part that becomes a base necessary for forming the shaping layer 22, and is a sheet made of resin such as PET, PC, polyolefin, modified polyolefin, acrylic, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), etc. Or it forms from a film. In this embodiment, PET resin is used.

  The shaping layer 22 is a layer that is provided on one surface of the reflective sheet base layer 21 and has a large number of unit surface shapes arranged side by side in the horizontal direction in use. The unit surface shape of the present embodiment has a substantially sine wave shape in a horizontal cross section in use, and the substantially sine wave shape maintains substantially the same shape and extends in the vertical direction. The shaping layer 22 is formed of a photo-curing resin such as an ultraviolet curable resin or an ionizing radiation curable resin.

The reflective layer 23 is a layer that is formed on the unit surface shape of the shaping layer 22 and increases the reflectance. In this embodiment, aluminum is deposited and formed. The reflective layer may be formed by various coatings in addition to vapor deposition, but it is desirable that the reflective layer has a reflectance of 40% or more in order to reduce the reflection loss of image light.
The adhesive layer 25 is a layer formed of an adhesive that adhesively bonds the light absorbing sheet 10 and the reflective sheet 20. The light transmittance of the adhesive layer is preferably 70% or more in order to reflect image light efficiently.

Here, how the screen 1 of the present embodiment reflects or absorbs image light and external light will be described.
First, the light absorption sheet 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, a spotlight is used for the illumination device 6 to reduce unnecessary external light reaching the screen 1. However, in FIG. 2, the traveling direction of the illumination light is not restricted for the sake of explanation. It is assumed that the external light source G is provided near the ceiling.
In the light absorbing sheet 10, the image light beams L 1 and L 2 projected from the projector 3 travel through the unit prism shape 12 and undergo total reflection at the boundary surface with the light absorbing unit 13 as shown in FIG. The refractive index of the light absorbing portion 13 is lower than the refractive index of the unit prism shape 12, and therefore light incident at an angle larger than the critical angle at this boundary surface is totally reflected.
Then, the image light totally reflected at the boundary surface between the unit prism shape 12 and the light absorbing portion 13 reaches the reflection sheet 20 and is reflected and then further totally reflected to the observer side as an observable light beam. Returned.

  On the other hand, since the external light G1 and G2 from the external light source G provided above the reflection screen 1 has a large incident angle with respect to the light absorbing sheet 10, the boundary surface between the unit prism shape 12 and the light absorbing portion 13 is used. The incident angle at becomes small, and there are many components that do not exceed the critical angle, and the light is incident on and absorbed by the light absorbing portion 13 without total reflection. Therefore, the rate at which external light is reflected and reaches the observation position can be greatly reduced.

Next, the reflection sheet 20 will be described.
The light absorbing sheet 10 described above controls light in the up and down direction in the use state. However, the horizontal direction in use is hardly affected optically. On the other hand, the reflection sheet 20 diffuses and reflects the image light that has passed through the light absorption sheet 10 in the horizontal direction.

  Since the reflection layer 23 of the reflection sheet 20 is formed on the shaping layer 22, it is formed in a form that undulates along the unit surface shape shaped on the shaping layer 22. Further, the unit surface shapes are arranged in a large number in the horizontal direction in use, and the substantially sinusoidal shape in the horizontal section is substantially the same shape and extends in the vertical direction. Is reflected almost without being diffused in the vertical direction, but is diffused and reflected in the horizontal direction.

Here, in order to confirm that the screen 1 displays a high-contrast image, a comparative example was prepared and the contrast was compared with the screen 1 of the present example.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a measurement state when contrasts are compared.
As a comparative example, a white mat (60 inches) manufactured by Kikuchi Science Laboratory Co., Ltd. was used.
For the projector 3, an MP-700 (4300ANSI LUMEN) liquid crystal type manufactured by AVIO was used.
The illuminance of the conference room is 1000 lx. The illuminance in the conference room was measured with the illuminometer facing upward at 500 mm in front of the screen. The illuminometer used was Minolta T-1H. Moreover, the measurement for evaluation evaluated the screen 1 of a present Example also by setting the projection range to 60 inches in order to match the measurement conditions.
As a result of comparing the contrast, the contrast in the case of the comparative example was as low as 8.6, and the image was white and very difficult to see. On the other hand, in the case of the screen 1 of the present embodiment, the contrast is an overwhelmingly clear image of 42.9, and the effectiveness of the remote conference system of the present embodiment was confirmed.

When the image light was actually projected onto the screen 1, the projected image had a high reflectance and the outside light could be sufficiently absorbed. Therefore, even in a bright room, a clear image with high contrast can be displayed without dimming the illumination. Further, since the reflection sheet 20 diffuses and reflects the image light in the horizontal direction, a so-called hot spot where a part of the screen is observed brightly when observed from a specific direction is not generated, and the horizontal viewing angle is wide. I was able to display it.

  According to the present embodiment, it is possible to display a bright projected image with high contrast while keeping the environment such as the conference room used bright. Therefore, a remote conference with high presence can be performed.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes are possible, and these are also within the scope of the present invention.
(1) In this embodiment, an example in which the screen 1, the projector 3, the camera 4, and the communication device 5 are independent from each other has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the camera 4 is built in the screen 1 or the projector 3. Alternatively, the projector 3, the camera 4, and the communication device 5 may be integrated, and these configurations may be changed as appropriate.

(2) In the present embodiment, an example in which the projector 3 and the camera 4 are directly connected to the communication device 5 has been shown. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the communication device 5 is connected via a data processing device such as a computer. Also good.

(3) In the present embodiment, the reflection layer in the projection region is formed on the unit surface shape of the shaping layer and diffuses and reflects light in the horizontal direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A flat reflective layer may be provided without providing a layer, or a diffusion layer may be added at a position away from the reflective layer.

(4) In the present embodiment, the unit prism shape has an example in which the cross-sectional shape is a trapezoidal shape, but is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a rectangular shape.

(5) In the present embodiment, the unit prism shape and the light absorption part are shown extending in the same cross-sectional shape in the horizontal direction. However, the unit prism shape and the light absorption part are not limited thereto. They may be two-dimensionally arranged in two horizontal and vertical directions.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the Example of the remote conference system by this invention. It is sectional drawing which cut | disconnected the screen 1 of a present Example in the perpendicular direction in the use condition. It is a figure which shows the measurement state when comparing contrast.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Screen 2 Support leg 3 Projector 4 Camera 5 Communication apparatus 6 Illumination apparatus 7 Communication network 10 Light absorption sheet 11 Light absorption sheet base material layer 12 Unit prism shape 13 Light absorption part 14 Front treatment layer 20 Reflection sheet 21 Reflection sheet base material layer 22 Molding layer 23 Reflective layer 25 Adhesive layer

Claims (5)

A camera,
A projector that projects image light;
A screen for displaying an image projected by the projector;
A communication device for communicating information taken by the camera and information projected by the projector with a remote place;
In a remote conference system equipped with
The screen includes a reflection layer that reflects video light, a light absorption layer that is provided on the projector side of the reflection layer, and has a light absorption portion that absorbs part of the light that reaches the screen. Providing
Remote conference system characterized by The teleconference system according to claim 1,
The light absorption layer has a light transmission portion that is formed between the light absorption portions and transmits light, and the light absorption portions and the light transmission portions are alternately formed,
Remote conference system characterized by In the remote conference system according to claim 1 or 2,
The light transmissive portion has a substantially trapezoidal shape in which the width on the video source side is wider than the width on the back surface side in a cross section orthogonal to the projection surface, and a unit prism shape formed in a large number along the projection surface. There is,
Remote conference system characterized by The remote conference system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The light absorbing portion has a refractive index lower than the refractive index of the material forming the light transmitting portion;
Remote conference system characterized by The remote conference system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
An illumination device that illuminates at least a subject to be photographed by the camera is provided above,
The lighting device is a spotlight or a lighting device having a louver;
Remote conference system characterized by

Images