JP3341183B2 - Video cameras and accessories - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera and accessories, and more particularly to a video camera and accessories designed to reduce the power consumption of the video camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when taking a picture with a video camera, a video camera is set to a recording standby state after power is turned on, and thereafter,
By operating recording start / stop, switching between a recording state and a recording standby state is performed. By the way, the reason why the recording standby state is set after the power is turned on is that the recording can be started immediately at the time of the recording start / stop operation. Therefore, in the recording standby state, almost all of the camera block, the VTR block and the system control block Circuit is operated.

However, if the recording standby state continues for a long time, the power consumption increases and the capacity of the battery is constant, so that the actual recording time may be significantly shorter than the nominal recording time. In order to solve this problem, a video camera has recently been proposed in which an optical viewfinder is provided, and a circuit for generating a video signal in a camera block is turned off in a recording standby state, thereby saving power. (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-74270)
Specification).

[0004]

By the way, there is a case where an accessory such as a liquid crystal monitor is connected to the video camera and the liquid crystal monitor is used as a finder. In this case, a video signal is output even in a recording standby state. Since the data must be output to a liquid crystal monitor, it is necessary to cancel the above power saving.

However, even when the accessory is connected to the video camera, the user turns off the power switch provided on the accessory to save energy.
Is considered. Therefore, if the power saving state of the video camera body is released simply by connecting the accessory, even if the power switch of the accessory is turned off and not actually used, the circuit on the video camera side for the accessory is used. Will be driven,
A problem arises in that unnecessary consumption of the power supply battery is caused.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and even when an accessory is connected to a video camera, the video camera can be placed in a power-saving state when the accessory is not used. It is an object to provide a video camera and accessories that can save power.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a first type for identifying a type of an accessory.
And a first terminal for transmitting and receiving signals between the accessory identification terminal and the accessory, and identifies the presence / absence and type of the accessory connection based on the identification information input from the first accessory identification terminal. Determining that the accessory is not connected, at least a circuit for driving the accessory is made inoperable to set the power saving state, and at least a first accessory identification terminal and a first terminal of the video camera And a second accessory identification terminal and a second terminal respectively connected thereto, a power switch, and when the power switch is turned on, identification information of the second accessory identification terminal is replaced with identification information indicating the accessory. When the power switch is turned off, the identification information indicating that the accessory is not connected. It is characterized by being comprised of, and accessories with identification information control means to.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a first accessory identification terminal for identifying the type of an accessory is provided in a video camera, and the video camera is provided with an accessory based on identification information input from the first accessory identification terminal. If it is determined that the connection is not established, at least a circuit for driving the accessory is disabled and a power saving state is set.
On the other hand, a power switch for an accessory alone is provided on the accessory side, and when this power switch is turned on, identification information of a second accessory identification terminal connected to the first accessory identification terminal is provided. Is controlled to identification information indicating the accessory, and when the power switch is turned off, the identification information indicates a state in which the accessory is not connected. That is, when the power switch is turned off even when the accessory is connected, the identification information of the second accessory identification terminal indicates a state in which the accessory is not connected, whereby the power consumption of the video camera is reduced. It will maintain its state.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a video camera and accessories according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG.
1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a video camera to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG.
0 is thin in the front-back direction of the camera (the direction of arrow AB in FIG. 1),
It has a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped appearance. The taking lens 110 and the optical viewfinder 120 are provided above the camera, and the stereo microphone 130 is provided at the top of the camera. Reference numeral 140 denotes a VTR deck unit, 150 denotes a side grip unit, 152 denotes a shooting button, and 154 denotes a tele / wide switching button.

A photographing lens 110 is a bifocal lens which is electrically driven to switch between one of a focal length for wide-angle photographing and a focal length for telephoto photographing (approximately 2 × zoom).
Each time the wide switching button 154 is pushed one time, the focal length is alternately switched between the two focal lengths. The photographing lens 110 has a large depth of field, and is designed so that, even when the focal length is switched to any one of the focal lengths, focusing can be performed from the closest to infinity depending on the depth of field. Further, the tele / wide switching time of the taking lens 110 is about 0.2 seconds.

The optical viewfinder 120 is operated in response to switching of the focal length of the photographing lens 110 so that the photographing range and the visual field range coincide with each other.
The visual field range is configured to be switched according to the operation of the button 54. The optical viewfinder 120
Switches the field of view by using both the switching of the finder magnification by the lens and the switching of the size of the field frame.

The VTR deck section 140 includes a rotating head drum (not shown), a tape loading mechanism, a tape feeding mechanism, and the like, and outputs a video signal indicating a subject photographed by the photographing lens 110 and an audio signal detected by the stereo microphone 130. Magnetic recording and reproduction on video tape of milli-cassette. Reference numeral 142 denotes a cassette lid which is opened and closed when inserting and removing a cassette, and 144 denotes a cassette eject button.

The side grip 150 is formed with a bulge, and a finger hook 151 is formed on the front of the camera. The shooting button 152 is provided on the front of the camera, and is operated by the right forefinger holding the side grip 150. Also, the tele / wide switching button 154 is disposed at a position where it can be operated by the index finger of the right hand. Reference numeral 156 denotes a grip belt.

Next, the internal configuration of the video camera 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the video camera 100 includes a camera block 10 and a VTR block 20.
, A system control block 30, and a multi-connector 40. Camera block 10
Mainly includes the photographing lens 110 and the camera microcomputer 1
1, a microphone 12, an audio circuit 13, and a circuit for generating a video signal (a circuit indicated by a broken line E). The circuit indicated by the broken line E is a solid-state imaging device (CCD) 14.
In addition, the sample and hold circuit and the AGC circuit 15, A
A / D conversion circuit 16, a white balance circuit, a gamma correction circuit, an encoder circuit, and the like. The digital signal input from the A / D conversion circuit 16 is processed to generate a luminance signal (Y signal).
And a signal processing circuit 1 for outputting a chroma signal (C signal)
7, 18, etc.

The VTR block 20 generates a recording signal suitable for magnetic recording from the Y / C signals input from the recording / reproducing amplifier 21 and the camera block 10, and converts the signal input from the recording / reproducing amplifier 21 into a video signal. It comprises a Y signal processing circuit 22 and a C signal processing circuit 23 for conversion, and a serial / parallel conversion circuit 24.
The VTR block 20 performs serial data transfer with the system microcomputer A of the system control block 30.
Converts the input serial data into parallel data and outputs it to each unit of the VTR block 20. That is, most of the exchange of control signals between the VTR block 20 and the system control block 30 uses this serial data transfer, thereby simplifying the connection between the VTR block 20 and the system control block 30 and reducing the number of wire harnesses and connectors. Has been made.

The system control block 30 drives a system microcomputer A, a backup battery 31, a main battery 32, a DC / DC converter 33, a key switch 34, a mechanical microcomputer 35, a drum motor, a loading motor, a capstan motor, and these motors. Drive device D comprising a motor driver for performing
It comprises a mechanical deck 36, an ATF circuit 37 and the like. The ATF circuit 37 detects a track deviation between the rotary head and the recording track during reproduction and performs servo control of the capstan motor.

The multi-connector 40 is used for connection with accessories and is connected to each of the above circuits. As shown in FIG. 4, power / ground terminals (UNREG, UNRE)
G GND), Camera power ON / OFF identification terminal (LANC DC)
, Accessory identification terminals (ADPSEL0, 1, 2), video / audio input / output terminals (VIDEO Y, C, AUDIO OUT), and the like.

The accessory identification terminal has three terminals, and inputs accessory identification information composed of a combination of levels (H level, L level) of each terminal. The video camera 100 uses the multi-connector 4 based on the accessory identification information input from the accessory identification terminal.
Recognize the type connected to 0. Here, the logic of the accessory identification terminal and the type of the accessory are as shown in the following table, for example. The “liquid crystal monitor” in Table 1 is an accessory that monitors the video and audio of the video camera and displays a reproduced image when the video camera is used as a deck. It can also be used as

Next, a power saving method of the video camera when no accessories are connected to the video camera will be described in detail with reference to a timing chart shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, when the backup battery 31 is attached first, power is supplied only to the system microcomputer A. The current consumption at this time is about 8 μA. Subsequently, when the main battery 32 is mounted, power is supplied to a power supply system such as the system microcomputer A and the DC / DC converter 33 (that is, a circuit indicated by a dotted line B in FIG. 2). The current consumption at this time is about 1.5 mA.

Next, the power switch is turned on without the cassette.
Then, the circuit shown in the range B and the camera block 1
Power is supplied to the 0 and a part of the VTR block 20 (that is, a circuit indicated by a dashed line C in FIG. 2). In the above state, the photographing lens 110 can operate only the tele / wide switching based on the operation of the tele / wide switching button 154. Therefore, every time the tele / wide switching button 154 is pushed one time, the photographing lens 110 is turned on. The focal length can be alternately switched between the two focal lengths.
The field of view range is switched in conjunction with the tele / wide switching of 0, but power is not supplied to the aperture (not shown) of the taking lens 110, and the aperture is inoperable. The VTR block 20 is supplied with power to the recording / reproduction amplifier 21 and the serial / parallel conversion circuit 24, but the other circuits (the Y signal processing circuit 22 and the C signal processing circuit 23) are supplied with power. Not supplied. The current consumption at this time is about 200 mA.

On the other hand, when the power switch is turned on and the cassette is mounted, the apparatus enters a recording standby state. That is, during the transition to the recording standby state,
The system control block 30 includes the mechanical microcomputer 3
5, the drum motor of the driving device D by the control signal from
Driving the loading motor and the capstan motor, and when they are at the respective predetermined positions, stop the loading motor and the capstan motor, complete the transition to the recording standby state by driving only the drum motor,
Enter the recording standby mode. The current consumption in the recording standby state is about 300 mA.

In the recording standby state, when the photographing button 152 is pushed once, the camera block 10
And power is supplied to the remaining circuits to which power is not supplied to the VTR block 20 (the circuit indicated by the broken line E of the camera block 10 and the signal processing circuits 22 and 23 indicated by the dotted line F of the VTR block 20 in FIG. 2). Then, power is also supplied to the aperture of the photographing lens 110 and recording is started.
It should be noted that power is supplied to the signal processing circuits 22 and 23 of the VTR block 20 indicated by a dotted line F with a slight delay from the timing of supplying power to the circuit indicated by the broken line E of the camera block 10 after one-push of the shooting button 152. You. When the recording is started, it goes without saying that the capstan motor is driven and the tape is fed. The current consumption during this recording is about 700 mA.

If the photographing button 152 is pushed once during recording, the system returns to the recording standby state. on the other hand,
When recognizing that the accessory is connected to the multi-connector 40, the video camera 100 releases the power save of the circuit necessary for driving the accessory. The following description is based on the assumption that a liquid crystal monitor is used as an accessory.

Upon recognizing that the liquid crystal monitor is connected to the multi-connector 40, power is supplied to the circuit indicated by the broken line E of the camera block 10 in FIG. Output. Thus, the liquid crystal monitor can be used as a finder for photographing with a camera. Next, video camera 1
A liquid crystal monitor connected to the multi-connector 40 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal monitor 200
Mainly a multi-connector 202, a power switch 204,
Power supply block 206, accessory identification terminal control block 208, video block 210, liquid crystal display unit 21
2. It comprises an audio block 214 and a speaker 216. The multi-connector 202 of the LCD monitor 200 is connected to the multi-connector 40 of the video camera 100.
Power / ground terminal (UNREG, UNREG GND), camera power ON / OFF identification terminal (LANC DC), accessory identification terminal (ADP SEL0,1,2), video / audio input / output terminal (V
IDEO Y, C, AUDIO OUT)
The liquid crystal monitor 200 supplies power from the video camera 100 via this multi-connector 202, and turns on / off the camera power.
Information (LANC DC), video signals, audio signals, etc. can be input. The power supply block 206 supplies power to each circuit of the liquid crystal monitor 200, and power is supplied from a power supply / ground terminal (UNREG, UNREG GND) of the video camera 100. The power supply block 206 operates only when the power of the video camera 100 is turned on and the power switch 204 is turned on, and becomes inoperable when the power switch 206 is turned off.

The video block 210 includes the video camera 1
The liquid crystal display unit 212 is driven and controlled based on the luminance signal Y and the chroma signal C added from 00.
Display an image on the audio block 214
Drives the speaker 314 based on an audio signal applied from the video camera 100 to generate audio. Next, the accessory identification terminal control block 218 will be described.

When the power of the video camera 100 is turned on and the power switch 204 is turned on, the accessory identification terminal control block 218 stores accessory identification information (L, H,
H) is output to the accessory identification terminal, and when the power switch 204 is turned off, accessory identification information (H, H, H) indicating “no accessory” is output to the accessory identification terminal (see Table 1). 1).

That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, the accessory identification terminal control block 218 determines whether or not the video camera 100 is turned on (step 220). Note that the signal of “LANC DC” is a signal that is at “H” level when the camera power is on and is at “L” level when the camera power is off, and the accessory identification terminal control block 218 uses this “LANC DC” signal.
The above determination can be made from the signal "DC".

If the power of the camera is turned on, it is determined in step 222 whether or not the power switch of the liquid crystal monitor 200 is turned on. If the power switch is turned on, accessory identification information (L, H, H) is output (step 224). On the other hand, when the camera is not turned on or the power switch of the liquid crystal monitor 200 is turned off, the accessory identification information (H, H,
H) is output (step 226).

Thus, the multi-connector 40 of the video camera 100 is connected to the multi-connector 20 of the liquid crystal monitor 200.
2 is connected, for example, the power switch 2 on the liquid crystal monitor side
04 is turned off, the video camera 10
0 is recognized as “no accessory” from the accessory identification information (H, H, H), and operates in the power saving mode with no accessory.

The accessory identification terminal control block 218 can be realized by a simple circuit shown in FIG.
In the figure, a switch 208A is turned on / off in conjunction with the power switch 204. Therefore, the transistor 208B is turned ON only when the power of the video camera 100 is turned on, “LANC DC” is set to “H” level, and the switch 208A is turned ON in conjunction with the ON operation of the power switch 204, and the accessory is turned ON. Identification terminal (AD
P SEL 0) becomes “L” level.

In this embodiment, the liquid crystal monitor has been described as an accessory. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be applied to other accessories.

[0033]

As described above, according to the video camera and the accessory according to the present invention, if the accessory is not turned on even if the accessory is connected to the video camera, the type of the accessory can be identified. The accessories automatically change the identification information to the “no accessories” identification information on the accessory side, allowing the video camera to perform the optimal power saving operation for each operation without requiring the user to perform any special operation. Thus, the power consumption of the video camera can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the video camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing a normal power saving method of the video camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a liquid crystal monitor connected to the video camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of an accessory identification terminal control block shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing one embodiment of an accessory identification terminal control block shown in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Camera block 20 ... VTR block 30 ... System control block 31 ... Backup battery 32 ... Main battery 40 ... Multi connector 100 ... Video camera 110 ... Shooting lens 120 ... Optical viewfinder 200 ... LCD monitor 202 ... Multi connector 204 ... Power switch 206: power supply block 208: terminal control block for accessory identification 208A: switch 208B: transistor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-61685 (JP, A) JP-A-6-292062 (JP, A) JP-A-57-127979 (JP, A) JP-A-57-27957 35481 (JP, A) JP-A-63-18886 (JP, A) JP-A-6-303478 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5 / 222-5 / 257

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A first accessory identification terminal for identifying a type of the accessory; and a first terminal for transmitting and receiving a signal to and from the accessory, and inputting the signal from the first accessory identification terminal. A video camera that identifies the presence or absence and type of the accessory based on the identification information and determines that the accessory is not connected, and disables at least a circuit for driving the accessory to make the power saving state; and A second accessory identification terminal and a second terminal respectively connected to at least the first accessory identification terminal and the first terminal of the camera, a power switch,
When the power switch is turned on, the identification information of the second accessory identification terminal is used as identification information indicating the accessory, and when the power switch is turned off,
A video camera and an accessory, comprising: an accessory having identification information control means for setting identification information indicating a state in which the accessory is not connected. 2. The liquid crystal monitor having video display means for displaying video based on a video signal input from the second terminal, wherein the video camera has an optical viewfinder, and a video recording standby. 2. A power saving means for turning off power to a circuit for generating a video signal when it is determined that the liquid crystal monitor is not connected in the state.
Video camera and accessories.