JPH01292321A - Liquid crystal finder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operability and to reduce the size and weight of the liquid crystal finder by displaying images at while varying the size of a liquid crystal display screen according to the attachment or detachment detection of an attachment/detachment detecting part which detects the attachment and detachment of an eyepiece part for macroviewing of the image displayed on a liquid crystal display part. CONSTITUTION:The entire surface of the liquid crystal display part 14 is scanned and both of back illuminations 13A, 13B are simultaneously lighted to illuminate the entire surface of the display part 14 while the eyepiece lens is not attached. The attachment of the eyepiece lens is detected by an SW 19 for detecting the attachment of the eyepiece part when the eyepiece lens is attached. The scanning range which defines only a part of the display part 14 as a scanning range is then reduced in a scanning part 15. The enlargement and reduction of the screen are executed at this time and the image does not change. The back illumination 13 simultaneously executes the back illumination in the range conforming to the scanning range as an SW 16 is turned off by the detection signal of the SW 19. The illumination SW 16, 17 are turned off by the detection signal of a SW 20 for deetching kick-up and the scanning direction of the screen is inverted by the scanning part when the display part 14 is kicked up and, therefore, the normal image is visible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application J] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal finder that is attached to an imaging device such as a video camera and used as a monitor during photographing.

[Conventional technology] In conventional video cameras, many of the viewfinders have a C
RT (cathode ray tube) was used.

However, in recent years, as video cameras have become smaller and lighter, finders using liquid crystals have been attracting attention instead of CRTs. The LCD viewfinder is thin and lightweight, yet allows viewing on a large screen, so it is suitable for use as a monitor during playback, or for looking into the viewfinder from above while keeping your eye a certain distance from the viewfinder.

On the other hand, when shooting hand-held, it is necessary to press your eye against the eyepiece, so it is better to magnify the small screen with the eyepiece, like in a conventional CRT viewfinder, for stability and operation. Good sex.

[Problem to be solved by the invention 1] However, in the past, in order to attach an eyepiece of a size that matches the screen of the liquid crystal finder and press the eye against the lens to take pictures, a huge eyepiece was required. This had the disadvantage that the advantages of small size and light weight disappeared. For this reason, it is conceivable to use a liquid crystal with a small screen, but in that case, the disadvantage is that the advantages of a liquid crystal finder, which is a large screen, small size, and light weight, cannot be utilized at all.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a liquid crystal finder that is easy to operate, compact, and lightweight.

[Means for Solving the Problems J] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides an attachment/detachment device for detecting attachment/detachment of a liquid crystal display unit and an eyepiece unit for enlarging and viewing an image displayed on the liquid crystal display unit. The device includes a detection section and a display control section that changes the size of the display screen of the liquid crystal display section in response to detection of attachment/detachment of the detection section.

[Function] In the present invention, when the eyepiece is attached, a part of the entire surface of the liquid crystal display is used as a display screen, and the small screen is enlarged for viewing.When the eyepiece is removed, the liquid crystal display By making it possible to directly view a large screen using the section surface as a display screen, it can be made smaller and lighter.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a circuit configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, 1 is a camera unit, which takes pictures of the object, 11
is a signal processing unit, which converts the image signal output from the camera unit 1 into a standardized signal of the NTSC system, for example,
It is output to the liquid crystal display section 14.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a synchronization separation section, which outputs a synchronization signal to the scanning section 15. 1647 is a switch (SW), and the backlight 1
Perform the switching of 3. 18 is a backlight power supply.

19 is an eyepiece attachment detection switch, and 20 is a flip-up detection switch, which detects flip-up of the liquid crystal display section 14. When the eyepiece (not shown) is not attached, the entire surface of the liquid crystal display section 14 is scanned, and at the same time, both A and H of the backlight 13 are turned on to illuminate the entire surface of the liquid crystal display section 14. When the eyepiece is attached, the eyepiece attachment detection SWI
9 detects its attachment, and in response to the detection signal, the scanning section 15 reduces the scanning range to cover only a part of the liquid crystal display section H. Here, the size of the screen of the display section is changed, and the screen is enlarged or reduced, but the displayed image remains unchanged. At the same time, the backlight 13 also turns off the SWI 6 based on the detection signal of the eyepiece detection SWI 9, thereby performing backlighting in a range that matches the scanning range.

Furthermore, when flipping up the liquid crystal display section 14 to view an image using external light, the backlights Sw 16 and 17 are turned off by the detection signal of the flipping detection 5W20, and the scanning direction of the screen is reversed by the scanning section 15. You can see normal images.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the internal configuration of a video camera to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied. Here, 1 is a camera section, 2 is a part of a recorder, and 3 is a liquid crystal display section. Reference numeral 4 denotes a backlight, which brightens the screen of the liquid crystal display section 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes an eyepiece lens, which magnifies the screen of the liquid crystal display section 3. FIG. 1 is an example of viewing an image through an eyepiece.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of a liquid crystal display section according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Here, 3C is a rotation axis around which the liquid crystal display section 3 is rotated. 5 is an eyepiece lens, 5A is an eyecup for holding the lens 5, and 5B is a claw for attaching and detaching the eyecup 5A to and from the display section 3. 6 is the main body of the video camera. Reference numeral 7 denotes an eyepiece holding frame, which fixes the eyepiece 55. 7^ is a hole provided in the holding frame 7 to fix the claw 5B. 7B is a detection terminal for detecting attachment of the eyepiece, and detects whether or not the eyepiece 5 is attached.

Normally, during hand-held photography, the eyepiece lens 5 is fixed to the eyepiece holding frame 7 by fitting with the claw 5B and the hole 7A, and the photographer presses his/her eye against the eyecup 5A to view the displayed image. At this time, the liquid crystal display section 3 is scanned in a part of the scanning range 302, and the person in the shadow can enlarge and view the small screen with the eyepiece lens 5.

In addition, when the above-mentioned liquid crystal finder is used for monitoring playback images, or when the eyepiece lens 5 is removed during shooting, the scanning range 301, which is the entire surface of the liquid crystal display section 3, is used.
By scanning, a large screen can be viewed directly with the naked eye without being magnified using the eyepiece lens 5.

In this embodiment, with such a configuration, it is possible to press the eye against the eyepiece lens 5 for stable photography without making the eyepiece lens 5 larger than necessary, and at the same time, it is possible to produce a large screen, which is a characteristic of a liquid crystal finder. becomes possible. Also,
The scanning range can be switched using a manual switch.The camera eyepiece attachment detection terminal 7B is arranged so that when the eyepiece 5 is attached, the scanning range 302 is scanned, and when it is removed, the scanning range 301 is scanned. The shift in automatic switching to scan is
Furthermore, operability is improved.

Normally, a liquid crystal finder is provided with backlighting (not shown in FIG. 2) to improve the visibility of the image. Fluorescent tubes, EL (electroluminescence), and LED (light emitting diodes) are generally used for backlighting. The power consumed by these lights was very large, which was disadvantageous for video cameras that used small batteries with small capacity. Therefore, in the pillar structure mentioned above,
When the eyepiece is removed, that is, when scanning the scanning range 301, the entire surface of the liquid crystal display is illuminated according to that range.On the other hand, when the eyepiece is attached, that is, when scanning the scanning range 302, the entire surface of the liquid crystal display is illuminated. Depending on the range, it is configured to partially illuminate the area. As a result, when the eyepiece lens, which is usually used most frequently, is attached, it is only necessary to illuminate a part of the liquid crystal display section 3, so that the power used for illumination can be saved.

FIG. 4 shows a detailed configuration example of the backlight as described above.

Here, 8 is a diffusion plate that diffuses illumination light. 9A
, 9B are fluorescent tubes that emit illumination light. IO is a backlighting box, IOA is a partition plate, and 10B is a terminal. When illuminating the scanning range 301, the fluorescent tubes 9A and 9B are turned on. In addition, when illuminating the scanning range 302, the fluorescent tube 9B
All you need to do is turn on the light. Note that the partition plate 1OA plays a role in preventing light from being diffused within the back lighting box 10 and reducing illumination efficiency when only the fluorescent tubes 9B are turned on.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the use of the liquid crystal display section of the embodiment of the present invention, and shows another method of using the embodiment shown in FIG. In this system, the liquid crystal display section 3 is rotated around a rotation axis 3C, so that images can be viewed using external light without using back illumination. In this example, the detection switch (20 in FIG. 1) detects that the liquid crystal display section 3 is flipped up, and the backlight 3 (first
(see figure) is configured to turn off the light. With this configuration, the liquid crystal display section 3 is viewed from the back, so the backlight is turned off at the same time so that the image appears normal.
It is necessary to change the scanning direction.

Therefore, when it is detected that the liquid crystal display section 3 is flipped up, the scanning direction is switched, thereby improving the operability.

By the way, when viewing the liquid crystal display with the eyepiece attached in the above configuration, if each pixel of the liquid crystal display is the same size, the image will be smaller than when the eyepiece is removed and the entire screen is viewed. may look rough. Therefore, pixels are configured as shown in FIG. 6 to increase the number of scanning lines.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the boundary of the scanning range of the liquid crystal display section.

The area between each pixel A, B and each pixel c, c', D, D' is the boundary between the scanning range 302 when the eyepiece is attached and the scanning range 301 when it is not. Let the pitch of pixels A and B be PI, and the pitch of C and C' be P2, and P r =
2 P 2. When the eyepiece is not attached, C and C' and D and D' are the same pixel, and when the eyepiece is attached, C and C' and D and D' are different pixels, thereby changing the way the image looks. can be made more natural.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the configuration when a mask is attached to the eyepiece. As shown in this figure, by attaching the mask 5C to a position corresponding to the scanning range 302, the mask 5C
Since the image frame is clearly demarcated, it is possible to improve the poor visibility of the boundary of the scanning range due to the fact that only a part of the liquid crystal display section is used as the scanning range.

As shown in FIG. 8, the liquid crystal display unit 14 includes a Y shift register 21 and an
2. It consists of a drive circuit 23 that samples and holds the video signal output from the signal processing section 11 and applies it to the display cell designated by the X and Y shift registers. The liquid crystal display section 14 supplies the horizontal synchronization signal separated by the synchronization separation section 12 to the Y shift register 21, sequentially scans the display cells of the liquid crystal display section 14 in the vertical direction, and outputs the signal from the synchronization separation section 12. The X shift register 22 is driven by the clock CL to specify the position of the display cell in the horizontal direction for each row, and in synchronization with the specification of the display cell, the drive circuit 23 performs resampling. It operates to supply a video signal.

The display start position of the liquid crystal display section 14 is determined by the (2) start pulse and the H start pulse. These pulses are also the start signals of a field or frame, and the screen of that field or frame is displayed from a specified position on the liquid crystal display section.

On the other hand, Y shift register 21 and X shift register 2
The horizontal synchronizing signal, the clock signal V start pulse and the H start pulse respectively supplied to There is a mode in which the entire LCD screen is used as the display screen to drive the X shift register 22 and Y shift register 21, and a mode in which the H signal and CLK are driven through a 1/2 frequency divider to drive the Y shift register 21 and X shift register 22, respectively.
It is possible to switch between feeding modes.

As a result, the designated period of the display cells of the liquid crystal display section 14 is l.
/2, so every other sampled signal is captured when compared when displaying in full screen.
The screen data displayed on the display unit for one field or one frame is thinned out to 1/2 and is displayed on 172 screens both vertically and horizontally.

At the same time, switches 19B and 19D are used to shift the X and Y shift registers 2 so that the reduced screen is in the center of the display section.
2 and 21. The register positions to which the V and H start pulses for designating the display start position are supplied are also supplied to the registers corresponding to the positions set so that the reduced screen is located at the center of the screen.

With the above configuration, when the eyepiece 55 is removed, the switches 19^, 19B, 19G and 19D are switched to the positions shown to display the full screen, and the eyepiece 55 is removed.
5 is installed and the screen is enlarged, the display screen can be reduced to the center by switching the switches 19A, 19B, 19C, and 190 to the opposite side from that shown.

Note that in the above example, one pulse is applied to the H pulse and the CL.
Divide the frequency by 72 and set the screen size to 1 using the 172 frequency divider 24.
We have explained the case of reduction to /2, but the H pulse,
The screen size and display position can be freely set by changing the frequency division ratio of the CL pulse and the supply position of the 2 and H start pulses to the shift register. This shows a configuration for turning the image upside down when the viewfinder is flipped up. At this time, the switches 20-1 and 20-2 linked to the splash detection switch 2o
The driving direction of the Y shift register may be reversed to the normal direction, and the Y-direction position of the display cell may be specified by sequentially driving from the lower register to the upper register in the figure.

Note that when the finder was flipped up, the eyepiece was not attached, and the image was not reduced to 172 pixels.

FIG. 9 shows another means of changing the screen size and display position.

In this example, an A/D converter 31 performs /D conversion on an image signal of 1 frame, stores it in a frame memory 32, reads it out, and displays it on a liquid crystal display section 14. Now, considering the case where the screen is reduced to 172 pixels, when sampling the video signal output from the signal processing unit 11 and A/D converting it, the sampling period is set to 1.
72, and similarly set the clock of the counter that specifies the write rate in the H direction and ■ direction to the frame memory to 172.
Make it. The writing position is also the microcomputer 3.
3 specifies the write start address so as to be at a position corresponding to the image display position. At the time of reading, the data is read out at a normal reading rate and displayed on the liquid crystal display section 14. As a result, a 172-reduced screen can be displayed at the center of the liquid crystal display section 14.

However, fcK: clock supplied to the A/D converter and a clock that determines the memory read rate in the horizontal direction, fH: memory read clock in the V direction, fcx, fu, fcK/2 and f,/2 is supplied by the microcomputer 3.

That is, since the data is written at the normal 172 clocks and read at the normal rate, the display position of one image where an image with the amount of information multiplied by 172 is output can be easily determined by specifying the address counter.

Switching between the two modes described above is performed by the microcomputer 3 determining whether the eyepiece attachment detection switch 19 is ON or OFF.

FIG. 1O shows another embodiment of the invention.

Regarding the inner frame 302 shown in FIG. 3, the pixel pitch of the liquid crystal is narrowed to i/2, and when the eyepiece is removed, CC'
Apply the same signal to c+c' and treat it like an A or B pixel, and when viewing through the eyepiece, cc'
By operating the pixel electrodes as separate adjacent pixels, the entire scanning range can be made as large as the inner frame 302.

When the eyepiece 55 is not present, the switch is placed in the solid line as shown in FIG. 10, and when the eyepiece 55 is present, the switch is placed in the dotted line.

Switching of the pixel pitch is performed in this way.

When the eyepiece section 55 is not used, the switch is switched to the position shown by the solid line, and pixels c and c' are used as one pixel. The image signals are A, B, c+c'.

d+d' is supplied as the entire scanning range.

When using the eyepiece section 55, the switch is set to the dotted line position, c, c', d, and d' are separate pixels, and image signals are supplied to c, c', d, and d' as the scanning range. .

Therefore, in both modes, large controllers are required when the individual pixel electrodes supplying the image signal have to be changed significantly.

In FIG. 10, 41 is a pixel electrode. 42 is an electrode switching block, which includes switches a, b, and c.

Switch c', d and d'. 43 is an image signal controller that controls the electrode switching block 42 and the signal processing block. The signal processing block 44 is a circuit for setting the scanning range.

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention, when the eyepiece is attached, a small screen is enlarged and viewed using a part of the entire surface of the liquid crystal display as the scanning range, and when the eyepiece is removed, the liquid crystal Since it is possible to directly view a large screen with a scanning range of the section surface, it can be made small and lightweight even if it has an eyepiece.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an example of the internal configuration of a video camera to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the internal configuration of the backlight of the liquid crystal display; FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of the use of the liquid crystal display according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an enlarged part of the screen of the liquid crystal display section; FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a mask attached to the eyepiece lens; FIG. 8 is an illustration of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. 3.14...Liquid crystal display section, 3C...rotation axis, 4.13...back illumination, 55...eyepiece section, 7...eyepiece holding frame, 7B...eyepiece 11... Signal processing section, 12... Synchronization separation section, 15... Scanning section, 16.17... Switch, 19... Eyepiece section attachment detection switch, 20... - Jump-up detection switch, 21...Y shift register, 22...X shift register, 23...drive circuit, 24...l/2 frequency divider, 31.../D converter, 32 ...Frame memory, 33...Microcomputer. 5fH Ai Lens. ＼ FF Suitable Field Views Ilite Food Boiled F -Koma, Lighting θ θ イ 列 列 列Figure 5, Figure 4, 8 CC'DD' Book (Item 7, table 7)
Monthly map Figure 6 A: 1 side eye display 1 mask attached 1 line showing 4 rows #
+ Nekatsu Figure 7 Figure 10 of the 11th prisoner showing the 1st row of 1 self

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) a liquid crystal display section; an attachment/detachment detection section for detecting attachment/detachment of an eyepiece section for enlarging an image displayed on the liquid crystal display section; A liquid crystal finder characterized by comprising a display control section that displays a variable size of a display screen of a liquid crystal display section. 2) The liquid crystal display section is characterized in that it includes a backlight section that illuminates the liquid crystal display section from the back, and a changeover switch that switches the illumination range of the backlight according to the size of the display screen. A liquid crystal finder according to claim 1.