JPH09102902A - Camera controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the control operation of a camera by displaying a rectan gle showing a maximum visual field at the time of zooming and changing the size of the rectangle. SOLUTION: In a window 46 for display, a rectangular frame 40 is displayed for showing a latent maximum photographic range (or visual field) depending on pan/tilt limit with a maximum zoom value (namely at maximum telescoping) and in the rectangular frame 40, a rectangular frame 42 is displayed for showing the maximum photographic range depending on the pan/tilt limit with a current zoom value. Further, a rectangular frame 44 is displayed for showing a photographic range under pohotographing at present. The central position coordinate of the rectangular frame 44 is fixed in the window 46 for display. Panning/tilting and zooming is operated by manipulating the rectangular frame 42. Corresponding to the changes of pan/tilt and zoom values, the size of the rectangular frame 42 and its display position in the rectangular frame 44 are changed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera control device, and more particularly to a camera control device for controlling a shooting direction (pan / tilt) and a shooting magnification (zoom).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as means for remotely controlling pan / tilt and zoom of a video camera, an operation lever corresponding to rotation of two axes, a joystick, a push button switch, or buttons on a display imitating these is used. is there. In these cases, the angle of rotation or angular velocity is made to correspond to the angle of the lever, or rotation is made in corresponding directions such as up, down, left and right while the button is being pressed. Similarly, for zoom control, a button for instructing movement to the wide (wide-angle) side or the tele (telephoto) side is used.

[0003]

In the camera operating means or control device as described above, for example, in the case of pan / tilt, the camera pans / tilts according to the operation, so that the operation while looking at the monitor screen is not possible. Although suitable, it is unsuitable when it is desired to operate or control the target position regardless of the current camera position.

On the other hand, a method of directly inputting each angle of pan / tilt as a numerical value and leaving the movement to that position to the control device can be considered, but in this case, the movable range of pan / tilt is possible. There is a drawback in that the operator cannot perceptually grasp which region of the eye falls within the field of view.

It is an object of the present invention to present a camera control device that eliminates such inconvenience.

That is, it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera control device capable of controlling a target state simply and quickly regardless of the current camera state.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera control device capable of clearly presenting to the operator what the obtained visual field of view is when the control to the target state is performed.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a first frame showing a maximum photographing field defined by a limit of a photographing direction,
A second frame indicating the range currently being photographed within the first frame is displayed. The display position of the first frame is fixed while the display position of the second frame is fixed.
Since the second frame is changed so that the second frame has a position and a size corresponding to the current shooting direction and shooting magnification, the zooming operation is an approaching action when a person looks at a large object. Will be closer to and will be more intuitive to understand.

Furthermore, since the camera direction and zoom can be operated by directly operating the first frame, the operability is remarkably improved.

Further, by capturing the subject within the maximum field of view in advance and displaying it in the first frame, it is possible to more accurately select the portion to be photographed and operate the camera orientation and zoom value to appropriate values.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10 is a video camera capable of pan / tilt and zoom, and 20 is a video camera 10.
1 is a camera control device for controlling a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 22 is a display device for displaying the potential maximum shooting range of the video camera 10 and the shooting range at the current value or control value of pan / tilt and zoom, 24 is a shooting direction instructing means for instructing a target shooting direction, and 26 is Zoom instructing means for instructing a zoom value in a desired imaging direction, 28 is an instructing instructing means for instructing to enter a new imaging range,
Reference numeral 29 is an update instruction means for instructing to update the captured image of the potential maximum shooting range, 30 is an interface with the video camera 10, 32 is a CPU for controlling the entire camera control device 20, 34 is a control program for the CPU, It is a storage device that stores control variables and current values and limit values of pan / tilt and zoom.

FIG. 2 is a display example of the display device 22. The camera control device 20 of the present embodiment is configured, for example, as a part of a workstation which is a communication terminal for a video conference system, and one window of a monitor screen of the workstation functions as a screen of the display device 22.

In FIG. 2, a rectangular frame 40 indicated by a broken line is
The potential maximum shooting range (or field of view) due to the pan / tilt limit at the maximum zoom value (that is, the tele end) is shown, and the rectangular frame 42 shows the maximum shooting range due to the pan / tilt limit at the current zoom value. . Therefore, the rectangular frame 42 does not go out of the rectangular frame 40.

A rectangular frame 44 indicates the currently photographed range, and its center position coordinates are fixed with respect to the display window 46. In addition, here, the display window 4
6 is set to be larger than the rectangular frame 40, but this is for easier understanding and is not always necessary. Even if the rectangular frame 40 is larger than the display window 46, it is sufficient that the information displayed in the display window 46 can be moved into the display window 46 by vertically and horizontally scrolling with a slider bar or the like.

The rectangular frame 48 assumes that the rectangular frame 42 has been moved to the pan / tilt limit (actually, the display position and size of the rectangular frame 42 are changed, as will be described later). The center of 44 indicates the limit coordinates that can be taken within the rectangular frame 42. The sizes of the rectangular frames 42 and 48 change in proportion to the zoom value.

FIG. 3 shows the maximum pan angle of -80 to + 80 °,
An example of a display screen of the display window 46 is shown when the pan tilt angle is 20 ° and the tilt angle is 20 ° for the camera having the maximum tilt angle of −50 to + 50 ° and the zoom value variable range of 1 to 3. The potential maximum photographic field of view when the zoom value is 1 is displayed as a rectangular frame 43, and the potential maximum photographic field of view when the zoom value is 3 is displayed as a rectangular frame 45. Rectangular frame 47
Indicates the limit coordinates that the center of the rectangular frame 44 can take within the rectangular frame 43, assuming that the rectangular frame 44 indicating the current shooting range is moved to the pan / tilt limit. Similarly, for the rectangular frame 49, the rectangular frame 44 indicating the current shooting range is set to the zoom value 3
Assuming that the pan / tilt limit has been moved to, the center of the rectangular frame 44 indicates the limit coordinates that can be taken within the rectangular frame 45.

FIG. 4 shows the maximum pan angle of -80 to + 80 °,
An example of a display screen of the display window 46 is shown when a camera having a maximum tilt angle of −50 to + 50 ° and a zoom value variable range of 1 to 3 is set to a pan angle of −80 ° and a tilt angle of 0 °.

The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a main routine of this embodiment. The process of the instructing unit 24 (S1), the process of the instructing unit 26 (S2), and the process of the instructing unit 28 (S3) are sequentially called. After the processing of the instructing means 28 (S3), if the target values of pan, tilt, and zoom are confirmed (S4), the designation of a new shooting range ends, so the pan angle and tilt angle corresponding to the designated values are completed. Then, the camera 10 is controlled to the zoom value (S5). If not confirmed (S4), S1, S2
And S3 are repeated.

FIG. 6 shows a detailed flowchart of S1. In the present embodiment, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse is used as the pointing means 24, and the rectangular frame 42 shown in FIG.
A new position of the rectangular frame 42 is designated. Needless to say, the rectangular frame 42 cannot move to the outside of the rectangular frame 40.

Specifically, first, the instructing means 24
It is determined whether there is an input (S11). Here, input means, while the mouse button is being pressed on the rectangular frame 44,
It means that the mouse moves. If the mouse button has not been pressed, the processing of FIG. 6 ends, and the process proceeds to S2 of the main routine shown in FIG. If there is a mouse movement (S
11), it is determined whether or not the rectangular frame 40 indicating the pan / tilt limit is exceeded (S12), and if it is exceeded, the process directly returns to S11.
The value of the pan / tilt angle stored in (4) is redisplayed at the new position on the screen of the display device 22 together with the value corresponding to the new position of the rectangular frame 42 (S13).

FIG. 7 shows a detailed flowchart of S2. In the present embodiment, for example, as the zoom instruction means 26,
Specific key inputs (eg keys assigned to zoom up / down) or similar buttons on a graphical user interface (GUI) shall be used.

It is confirmed whether or not there is an input from the instruction means 26 (S21). If there is no input, the process of FIG. 7 ends, and the process proceeds to S3 of the main routine shown in FIG. If there is an input (S21), it is judged whether the zooming limit is exceeded (S22).
21. If not exceeded, the zoom value stored in the storage device 34 is updated to a new value according to the input of the instruction means 26, and the new zoom value is displayed on the screen of the display device 22. The rectangular frame 42 is displayed again at the size and position (S23).

FIG. 8 shows a detailed flowchart of S3. In this embodiment, for example, a specific key input (for example, the ENTER key) or a similar button on the GUI is used as the instruction unit 28. Check if there is any input (S31).
Pan / tilt of the rectangular frame 42 stored in the storage device 34
The parameter value and the zooming parameter value are output for other processing, and the process ends (S32).

In this embodiment, the main routine has been described to check the inputs of the instructing means 24, 26 and 28 one after another by the polling method.
The processes 26 and 28 may be interrupt processes or may be implemented as a procedure activated from the GUI.

Although a specific key input is set as the instruction means 26, a pointing key such as a mouse is also used for this.
A device may be provided with a specific control point on the frame 42 and the zooming may be designated by moving the control point as seen in drawing software or the like. In addition, move the frame, as seen in the drawing software,
Pan / tilt and zoom can be specified in the same process by the same processing as scaling.

In the above embodiment, the camera 10 is controlled in response to the determination of a new command for the rectangular frame 42 (S5 in FIG. 5), but any operation for changing pan / tilt or zoom may be performed. For example, the control value of the camera 10 may be immediately set. Of course, both control methods may be selectable as the operation mode.

An example of such pan / tilt and zoom operation will be briefly described. With respect to the rectangular frame 42 (FIG. 2) that defines the field of view at the current zoom value, as shown in FIG.
52, 54, that is, the area 5 overlapping the four corners of the rectangular frame 42
The area is divided into 0, a rectangular area 52 extending along the four sides, and an area 54 excluding the area 44 from the area 42, which is an operation area for pan / tilt and zoom.

The area 54 is used for pan / tilt. When the mouse cursor is brought into the area 54, the mouse cursor has a shape indicating that a pan / tilt operation is performed (in FIG. 11, the shape of the opened hand). When dragged in this state, the CPU 32 accordingly updates the rectangular frame 42 to a position moved by the corresponding movement direction and movement amount, and pans / tilts the camera 10 by a corresponding angle. FIG. 11 shows an example in which the mouse is moved to the upper left. As is well known, releasing the mouse button ends the drag operation and also ends the pan / tilt operation.

If the processing capacity of the camera control device 20 is high, the camera 10 can be rotated and controlled following the drag operation. However, if the processing capacity is low, the camera 10 is not controlled during the drag operation. It is sufficient to update only the rectangular frame 42 and wait for the end of the drag operation to control the rotation of the camera 10.

For zooming, area 50 and area 52
Is used. When the mouse cursor is brought into the area 50 or 52, the mouse cursor has a shape indicating that a zoom operation is to be performed (in FIG. 11, a two-way arrow shape that indicates enlargement / reduction of the rectangular frame 42). If you drag the mouse while holding down the mouse button in this state, C
The PU 32 updates the rectangular frame 42 to a size according to the amount of movement to the outside or inside while maintaining the aspect ratio, and controls the camera 10 to a corresponding zoom value. By releasing the mouse button, the drag operation ends and the zoom operation also ends. Whether or not the zoom control of the camera 10 is performed following the drag operation even in the case of the zoom operation depends on the processing capability of the camera control device 20.

A calculation example of the display position and size of each area when the zoom value is changed will be described. Rectangular frames 42, 44,
It is assumed that the coordinates of 48 have the relationship shown in FIG. The center of the rectangular frame 44 is fixed to (0,0). For example, when the zoom value is changed from α to β, the new x3 is a value obtained by multiplying x3 before the change of the zoom value by α / β. Similarly, x1, x2, x4, y1, y2, y3, y4 can be obtained.

FIG. 9 shows a modification of the main routine shown in FIG. Here, the captured image corresponding to the maximum photographing field of view is displayed in the rectangular frame 42 indicating the potential maximum photographing field of view. That is, first, with the zoom set to the wide end, the captured images are sequentially captured while panning / tilting from one limit to the other limit, stored in the memory (for example, the storage device 34), and stored in the rectangle 42. It is displayed so that it fits exactly (S41). This makes it possible to see at a glance what kind of object or person is located in which part of the rectangle 42.

Similar to FIG. 5, the processing of the instruction means 24 (S4
2) and the processing of the instruction means 26 (S43) is called.
If there is a request for updating the maximum field-of-view image from the instruction means 29 (S4
4), the image displayed in the rectangular frame 42 is updated (S4)
5). That is, with the zoom at the wide end, while panning / tilting from one limit to the other limit, the captured images are sequentially
It is captured, stored in a memory (for example, the storage device 34), and displayed so as to fit in the rectangular frame 42. When the processing of the instruction means 28 is called (S46) and the input of the camera operation is confirmed (S47), the pan / tilt and zoom of the camera 10 are controlled to the control value corresponding to the new position of the rectangular frame 44. (S48).

Since the image of the maximum field of view displayed within the rectangle 42 is a composite of a plurality of captured images, distortion is conspicuous at the joint, but this does not impair the operational advantage of this embodiment. Absent. Also, an update request (S44)
Is not limited to the operation of the dedicated instruction means 29 for that purpose. For example, it is obvious that a plurality of specific operations may be the update request. Furthermore, the current captured image may be fitted and displayed in the rectangular frame 42.

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart obtained by modifying FIG. 9 in this way. That is, after the camera control (S48), the captured image of the camera 10 is fetched,
That is, in the current captured image, the part corresponding to the rectangular frame 44 of the image of the maximum visual field range previously stored in the storage device 34 in S41 or S45 is updated, and then the rectangular frame 42
The display of the image in the maximum visual field range is updated (S49).

By doing so, it is possible to confirm which image portion within the maximum field of view is actually photographed, and to easily determine how much the pan / tilt or zoom should be adjusted. In this embodiment, the display window 4
The size of 6 is fixed and is larger than the rectangular frame 40 indicating the moving range of the rectangular frame 42, but the size of the rectangular frame 46 is variable, and if it is smaller than the rectangular frame 40, a slider bar or the like is attached. You may make it display only a part. As a matter of course, in that case, some restrictions are imposed on the operation by the GUI.

[0038]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the size of the rectangle showing the maximum field of view is changed and displayed during zooming, thereby providing a display without any discomfort. You can

Further, it becomes clear at a glance what kind of state the pan / tilt or zoom is in a controllable range.
In addition, it is possible to immediately control to an arbitrary control value regardless of the current state. Furthermore, by capturing the image of the maximum shooting visual field range and displaying it in the frame showing the maximum shooting visual field range,
At the time of operating the camera, it becomes clear at first glance what kind of subject is in the shooting range, it becomes easy to understand how to operate the camera, and the operability is greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic display element of the display device 22 of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a display example of the display device 22 of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is another display example of the display device 22 of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a main routine of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of S1 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart of S2 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a detailed flowchart of S3 in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a modification of the main routine.

FIG. 10 is another modification of the main routine.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which a GUI for pan / tilt and zoom operations is set so as to overlap a rectangular frame 44.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: video camera 20: camera control device 22: display device 24: shooting direction instruction means 26: zoom instruction means 28: confirmation instruction means 29: update instruction means 30: interface 32: CPU 34: storage device 40: at maximum zoom value Rectangular frame that indicates the maximum potential shooting range due to the pan / tilt limit of 42: Rectangular frame that indicates the maximum potential shooting range due to the pan / tilt limit at the current zoom value 43: Potential maximum when the zoom value is 1 Rectangular frame indicating the photographing range 44: Rectangular frame indicating the photographing range 45: Rectangular frame indicating a potential maximum photographing range when the zoom value is 3 46: Display window 47: Limit of the center of the rectangular frame 44 to the rectangular frame 43 48: A frame indicating the center limit of the rectangular frame 44 with respect to the rectangular frame 42 49: A frame indicating the center limit of the rectangular frame 44 with respect to the rectangular frame 45 5 0, 52: area for zoom operation 54: area for pan / tilt operation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A camera control device for controlling a camera capable of externally controlling a shooting direction and a shooting magnification, the first frame showing a maximum shooting field of view defined by a limit of the shooting direction, and the first frame. A frame display means for displaying a second frame indicating the currently photographed range inside is provided, the display position of the second frame is fixed, and the display position and size of the first frame are The second frame is changed in accordance with the current shooting direction and shooting magnification so that the second frame has a position and size corresponding to the current shooting direction and shooting magnification with respect to the first frame. The camera control device. 2. The above 1 displayed by the frame display means
In accordance with the operation means for operating the frame and the operation of the first frame by the operation means, the shooting direction and the shooting direction of the camera are matched so as to match the relative relationship between the first frame and the second frame. A camera control device comprising: a control unit that controls a magnification. 3. A means for capturing an image in a maximum photographing field of view at a current zoom value while moving the camera within a control limit of a photographing direction at a predetermined time and displaying the image in the first frame. Item 3. The camera control device according to item 1 or 2. 4. The camera control device according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is a start time of camera control. 5. The camera control device according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is when an operator inputs a specific instruction. 6. The camera control device according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined time is when a camera operation input is confirmed. 7. A camera operation area setting means for setting a camera operation area in at least one of the inside and the vicinity of the first frame, and an operation means for operating the camera operation.
The camera control device according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that controls the camera while updating the display of the first frame on the frame display unit in response to an operation on the camera operation area. 8. The control means causes the frame display means to update the display position of the first frame in response to a predetermined drag operation of the operation means starting from the inside of the camera operation area, and The camera control device according to claim 7, which controls a camera. 9. The control means causes the frame display means to update the display size of the first frame in response to a predetermined drag operation of the operation means starting from inside the camera operation area, and The camera control device according to claim 7, which controls a camera. 10. The display according to claim 1, wherein the first frame is displayed so as to show a maximum photographing field of view at a current photographing magnification defined by the limit of the photographing direction. Camera control device.