JP2002218288A - Camera display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera display system capable of performing camera operation while grasping surrounding conditions, which are not projected on a camera for photographing. SOLUTION: In this camera display system, at least one camera for photographing and a camera for condition grasping for photographing the conditions of a wider range while including an area photographed by this camera for photographing are provided and on the basis of comparison of wide range video photographed by the camera for condition grasping and video for photographing photographed by the camera for photographing, the relative position relation of such video is detected and a photographing area corresponding to the video for photographing is framed within an image based on the wide range video, and displayed with a window on a display device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera display system which can be suitably used in television program production, movie production, remote video conference, etc., and more particularly to a camera for photographing and a wide area including a photographing area photographed by the camera. The present invention also relates to a camera display system that enables a camera operator to take a picture while grasping the surrounding situation by using a situation grasping camera for photographing the surrounding area.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of television program production and the like, a camera operator (hereinafter simply referred to as an operator) performs necessary camera work while watching an image shot by a camera. In recent years, remote controllable robot cameras have been developed. When shooting with a robot camera, the operator adjusts the tilt angle, panning angle, angle of view, etc. of the robot camera while watching the image projected at a predetermined position in the production room so that a desired shooting is performed. It is operated via an operating device called a joystick or panning stick. A driving unit for controlling the robot camera and an operating device such as the joystick are provided with an interface R.
422 or a telephone line, so that the operator can remotely control the robot camera.

[0003]

Conventionally, when an operator operates a photographing camera, the operator generally refers to an image from the photographing camera operated by the operator himself. Therefore, image information outside the photographing range from the photographing camera cannot be referred to. Therefore, when the operator is watching only the image from the photographing camera, an unexpected situation may occur, and the change may jump into the photographing range. In such a case, it is difficult for the operator to operate the camera immediately in response to the change.

[0004] In particular, when an operator is remotely operating a robot camera from a production room remote from the actual shooting site, the operator operates the robot camera based on only the image from the robot camera, which may cause an unexpected situation. Response is even more difficult. Furthermore, one operator may operate a plurality of robot cameras, and the images from the respective robot cameras may be used to understand the mutual positional relationship between the robot cameras and the positional relationship between the subject and each robot camera. In the case where the operation is performed, it is more difficult to cope with an unexpected situation.
That is, when a robot camera or the like is remotely operated, it is particularly difficult to realize highly reliable imaging.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a camera display system capable of performing a camera operation while grasping surrounding conditions that are not reflected on a photographing camera.

[0006]

The object of the present invention is to provide at least one photographing camera and a situation in a wider area including an area photographed by the photographing camera. A camera for grasping a situation to be photographed, an image processing device for performing image processing on a video photographed by the camera for photography and a video photographed by the camera for situation grasp, and an image processed by the image processing device. A camera display system comprising: a display device for displaying the wide-range image based on a comparison between a wide-range image captured by the situation grasping camera and a video captured by the shooting camera. And detecting a relative positional relationship between the image for shooting and the image for shooting, frame an image area corresponding to the image for shooting in an image based on the wide-range image, and display a window on the display device. It is.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a photographing area corresponding to a photographing image by the photographing camera is framed in an image based on a wide range image from the situation grasping camera displayed on the display device. Is displayed like a window. Therefore, the operator can operate the camera for shooting while grasping the surroundings of the image captured by the camera for shooting, so that more efficient camera operation than before can be realized.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A camera display system according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the camera display system of the first embodiment.

The camera display system of this embodiment includes a robot camera 2 for photographing by remote control, and a situation grasping camera 1 having a wide photographing range including a photographable range of the robot camera 2. Camera for situation grasp 1
Is set in advance so that a relatively wide photographing range including at least the entire range photographed by the robot camera 2 is set, and a predetermined wide-range image is projected in a fixed state.

[0010] Here, the robot camera 2 is the original camera for photographing, and the operator operates the robot camera 2 to appropriately project the subject. In the display system of the present embodiment, the video signal 21 from the robot camera 2 and the video signal 11 from the situation grasping camera 1 are supplied to the image processing device 3 and undergo predetermined processing.

The image processing device 3 performs a process of generating a composite image in which an image area corresponding to the image to be shot by the robot camera 2 is displayed in a window in an image based on the wide-angle image shot by the situation grasping camera 1. This processing will be described later.

Further, the robot camera 2 includes a driving means such as a motor, and adjusts a horizontal angle around a panning axis.
Vertical angle adjustment around the tilt axis is possible. The angle of view (zoom) can also be adjusted by providing a drive unit. Each of the panning angle, the tilt angle, and the angle of view of the robot camera 2 is detected by a panning angle detector 6, a tilt angle detector 7, and an image angle detector 8. The detection signals 23 from the detectors 6, 7, 8 are supplied to the image processing device 3 and are referred to when the composite image is generated.

The image processing device 3 creates a composite image using the video signal 11 from the camera 1 for grasping the situation and the video signal 21 from the robot camera 2, and supplies the composite image signal 34 to the display device. To display an image. Display device 4
Displays the composite image on a monitor.

The image processing apparatus 3 refers to the panning angle, the tilt angle, and the angle of view detected by the panning angle detector 6, the tilt angle detector 7, and the image angle detector 8,
The relative positional relationship is detected by comparing the wide-range image from the situation grasping camera 1 and the photographing image from the robot camera 2,
Image synthesis processing is performed to display a window corresponding to an image for shooting from the robot camera 2 as a shooting area in an image based on a wide-range image from the camera for situation grasp 1 as a shooting area.

For this purpose, the image processing apparatus 3 includes an image comparing section 32 and a composite image generating section 34. Image comparison unit 3
Numeral 2 detects a relative positional relationship between the two images by comparing the wide-range image captured by the situation grasping camera 1 with the image captured by the robot camera 2. The synthetic image generation unit 34 recognizes the scale of the image to be photographed on the robot camera 2 side after the processing of the image comparison unit 32, and generates an image based on the wide-range image from the situation grasping camera 1. A composite image in which a shooting area corresponding to the video is framed and displayed on a window is generated.

When an operator performs a shooting operation using an operating device such as a joystick (hereinafter simply referred to as an operating device), the shooting range and magnification of the robot camera 2 change. The image processing device 3 constantly monitors detection signals from the panning angle detector 6, the tilt angle detector 7, and the image angle detector 8, and constantly grasps changes in the photographing range and photographing magnification of the robot camera 2. I have. Based on this detection, the image comparison unit 3
2 and the composite image generation unit 34 always execute the above-described processing, so that a window display as an imaging area from the robot camera 2 is imposed in an image based on the wide-range image of the situation grasping camera 1. The window display moves on the monitor by operating the operation device, and the range of the window frame is enlarged or reduced.

FIG. 2 shows an example in which the camera display system according to the first embodiment is used at the site of television program production.
Parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The robot camera 2 is mounted on a camera platform equipped with a motor and the like, and the horizontal and vertical angles are adjusted by controlling rotation around a panning axis and a tilt axis. When the panning angle changes by driving the motor, the panning angle detector 6 detects this. When the tilt angle changes by driving the motor, the tilt angle detector 7 detects this. The angle of view can also be adjusted by driving the motor, and when the angle of view changes, the angle of view detector 9 detects this.

The operator 9 operates the motors to rotate the robot camera 2 in a desired direction by remotely operating the operating device 5 and adjusts the angle of view to capture an image of the subject. Reference numeral 51 in FIG. 2 indicates a transmission line that supplies an operation signal from the operating device 5 to the robot camera 2.

A video signal 21 from the robot camera 2 is input to the image processing device 3 via a transmission line 121. The situation grasping camera 1 always captures a wide range including the entire range captured by the robot camera 2, and its video signal 11 is also input to the image processing device 3 via the transmission line 111.

The image processing device 3 has the above-described functions, performs a predetermined process, and supplies a processed signal to the display device 4. In the case of FIG. 2, the display device 4 has a monitor 41, and on the monitor 41, an image 42 corresponding to the image to be captured by the robot camera 2 has a window in an image 42 based on a wide-range image from the camera for grasping situation Is displayed.

In the case of FIG. 2, the subject to be photographed by the robot camera 2 operated by the operator 9 is the cast 1
01, only the performer 101 is shown in the photographing area 10. However, the camera 1 for grasping the situation is
Performer 10 facing 1 and approaching performer 101
Also captures 2 images.

As is clear from the above, according to the first embodiment, the operator 9 shoots the performer 101 with the robot camera 2 and places another performer 102 near the performer 101.
Can be confirmed, and the camera operation can be performed on the premise of this. Therefore, for example, even if the performer 102 suddenly starts running and approaches the performer 101 and jumps into the shooting range of the robot camera 2, the operator 9 can recognize this in advance, so that the operator 9 can efficiently recognize the next. You can enter the preferred camera operation.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first embodiment, even when a photograph is taken using a robot camera which is generally remotely operated, the surrounding information, which is not sufficient only with the image of the robot camera, is used for grasping the situation. Since it can be complemented by the video from the camera, highly reliable and efficient camera operation can be realized.

Next, a camera display system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment shows a case where a plurality of robot cameras are used for shooting. FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment in which three robot cameras are used. In FIG. 3, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 3, the camera display system of the second embodiment includes three robot cameras, a first robot camera 2A, a second robot camera 2B and a third robot camera 2C. The operator 9 operates the robot cameras 2A to 2C via the operation device 5 to photograph the subject.

The video signals from the robot cameras 2A to 2C are transmitted through transmission lines 121A to 121C to the image processing device 3A.
Supplied to In the second embodiment, the image processing device 3
The same image synthesis processing as described above is executed for each of the three video signals, and the robot cameras 2A to 2A
The shooting areas 10A to 10C corresponding to the image from C are displayed on the window.

According to the second embodiment, even when a plurality of robot cameras are operated, the situation grasping camera 1 can be used.
A program can be created while observing the necessary information by looking at the image based on the video. In addition, in the image based on the image of the camera 1 for grasping the situation, the relative relationship between the imaging areas 10A to 10C corresponding to the images from the robot cameras 2A to 2C is also displayed. Therefore, even when one operator operates a plurality of robot cameras, which has been particularly difficult in the past, a camera display system with high reliability and efficient production can be provided.

Next, a camera display system according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The third embodiment shows an example in which a plurality of situation grasping cameras are used and the operator can operate the cameras with a sense of realism. FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment in which two situation grasping cameras are used. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIG. 2 shown in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Referring to FIG. 4, the camera display system according to the third embodiment includes two situation grasping cameras, a first situation grasping camera 1A and a second situation grasping camera 1B. In order to allow the operator 9 to view the stereoscopic image of the subject, these situation cameras 1A and 1B are set to have parallax in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction, so that the entire photographing area can be photographed in stereo. ing. By wearing the stereo glasses 24, the operator 9 can operate the robot camera 2 with a sense of realism as if at a shooting site.

The video signals from the cameras 1A and 1B for grasping the situation are supplied to the image processing device 3 via the transmission lines 111A and 111B, and the video signal from the robot camera 2 is supplied via the transmission line 121. Also in the third embodiment, the image processing device 3 executes the above-described image synthesizing process on the video signal from the robot camera 2 and displays an image area corresponding to the video from the robot camera 2 on the monitor 41 displayed in stereo. 10 is displayed on the window.

As is apparent from the above description, according to the third embodiment, not only the video from the camera for grasping the situation is used complementarily for the photographing by the remotely operated robot camera, but also it is as if the user is at the photographing site. Operate the robot camera with a great sense of realism.

The monitor 41 in the third embodiment is used.
And stereo glasses 24 are HMD (Head Mounted Display)
May be adopted.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the area to be photographed by the robot camera is set in advance and the situation grasping camera is used in a fixed state has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the photographing range of the situation grasping camera can be changed. Good.

Also, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which an image is taken by remote control using a robot camera. However, if the display device is adopted as the display unit of the image taking camera,
Even when shooting at the shooting site, a highly reliable and efficient shooting operation can be performed while viewing the image projected on the display device.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention described in the appended claims. Can be modified and changed.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a photographic area corresponding to a photographic image is framed in an image based on a wide-range image and a window is displayed on a display device. With a simple configuration, the operator can know not only the video from the shooting camera that is actually shooting, but also the surrounding situation with the situation grasp camera, so that reliable and efficient shooting can be performed. it can.

In particular, when a remotely operated robot camera is used as the photographing camera, the photographing operation of the subject can be performed while checking a wide range of conditions. Also, when operating a plurality of robot cameras, it is possible to accurately grasp the position where each robot camera is shooting, the position of the subject, etc. and operate the cameras. The operation of the camera can be smoothly carried out without the camera operation being disturbed by an unexpected situation. As described above, since it is possible to supplement shooting information that was not sufficient with the video from the shooting camera alone, it is possible to provide a camera display system that can realize highly reliable remote operation and efficient video production.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a camera display system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the camera display system according to the first embodiment is used in a television program production site.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second embodiment using three robot cameras.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third embodiment in which two situation grasping cameras are used.

[Description of Signs] 1 Camera for grasping situation 2 Robot camera 3 Image processing device 5 Operating device 4 Display device 6 Panning angle detector 7 Tilt angle detector 8 Image angle detector 10 Shooting area

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takao Tsuda 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Inside the Japan Broadcasting Corporation Research Institute of Broadcasting (72) Inventor Seiki Inoue 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo No. Japan Broadcasting Corporation Broadcasting Research Institute (72) Inventor Shigeru Shimoda 1-10-11 Kinuta, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo Japan Broadcasting Research Institute F-term (reference) 5C022 AA00 AB62 AB65 AB66 AC01 AC69 AC74 5C023 AA18 CA01 5C054 AA02 CF05 CG08 FE19 HA25 5C061 AA01 AB04 AB14

Claims (1)

[Claims] At least one photographing camera, a situation grasping camera for photographing a situation in a wider area including an area photographed by the photographing camera, and a photographing camera for photographing the situation. A camera display system comprising: an image processing device that performs image processing on a video that is being captured and a video that is being shot by the situation grasping camera; and a display device that displays an image processed by the image processing device. Based on a comparison between the wide-range image captured by the camera for grasping the situation and the captured image captured by the camera, the relative positional relationship between the wide-range image and the captured image is detected. A camera display system, wherein a shooting area corresponding to the shooting video is framed in an image based on a wide-range video, and a window is displayed on the display device.