JP2005043754A - Camera - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera in which information is displayed on at least two surfaces out of the camera surfaces by using one display device. <P>SOLUTION: A display device 20 which can be folded is disposed over the upper surface and the back surface of the camera body 10. Items to be displayed on the back side display area R and items to be displayed on the upper surface side display area U of the display device 20 are registered beforehand, and information is displayed in the display device based on the registered contents. For example, information more necessary for photographing is displayed on the back surface side display area R of the display device 20, while information to be displayed during non-photographing period is displayed on the upper surface side display area U of the display device 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera including a display device on a part of a surface of a main body.

  The camera is provided with a display for displaying information such as remaining battery information and the number of frames taken. The display is composed of a liquid crystal panel or the like, and is observed through a transparent member such as glass or plastic. In general, since the liquid crystal panel has a planar shape, the display portion is limited to the outer surface such as the upper surface or the back surface of the camera. Patent Document 1 discloses that camera information is displayed using an organic electroluminescent material formed so as to be adapted to a non-planar camera surface.

JP-A-8-220618 JP 2001-92387 A

  When the user is carrying the camera, if the display device is disposed on the upper surface of the camera, the user can check the display content on the display device from above the camera. On the other hand, at the time of shooting, if the display device is provided on the finder installation surface of the camera, that is, the back surface of the camera, the user can confirm the display content on the display device with a small line of sight movement from the finder. However, providing a display on each of a plurality of surfaces of the camera leads to an increase in the cost of the camera.

The camera according to the present invention includes a display device disposed along the surface so as to include a part of a side formed by at least two adjacent surfaces of the camera surface, and display control means for displaying predetermined information on the display device. It is characterized by providing.
You may comprise a display with the display member which has curvature.
The display control means can also control the display position in the display area of the display so that predetermined information is displayed within one of the two surfaces or displayed within the other surface. . The display control means can also display predetermined information at a preset position to be displayed.
The display may hold the control signal from the display control means and the display contents even when the power supply to the display is cut off. In this case, the camera further displays the display when the main switch is turned off. Control means for instructing the display control means to display information indicating that the main switch is turned off on the device and for instructing the power cutoff means to shut off the power supply may be provided.

  In the camera according to the present invention, it is possible to display on at least two surfaces of the camera surface using one display.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a top surface and a back surface of a camera according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a photographic lens 100 is attached to the camera body 10. A finder 11 is provided on the back of the camera body 10, and a hot shoe 19 is provided on the top surface of the camera body 10. The camera body 10 is further provided with a display 20 having a curved shape so as to cover a part of the rear surface and a part of the upper surface. The user observes the subject from the viewfinder 11 during shooting and operates the release button 18.

  The display device 20 is constituted by a thin, lightweight and foldable display member called so-called electronic paper. This display member displays information such as images and texts using techniques such as particle rotation and electrophoresis (see Patent Document 2). The display device 20 can rewrite the information to be displayed, and the display content is held even when the main switch of the camera is turned off (the power supply to the display device 20 and the control signal for display are cut off). Non-volatile characteristics.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the camera shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the CPU 1 inputs a signal output from each block described later, performs a predetermined calculation, and outputs a control signal to each block based on the calculation result.

  The CPU 1 and the clock generation circuit 2 are supplied with power from a battery (not shown). The CPU 1 starts a predetermined program when a battery (not shown) is loaded in the camera and a clock signal is supplied from the clock generation circuit 2. The switch 3 is turned on / off in conjunction with a main switch (not shown) of the camera body 10. The switch 3 is turned on when the main switch is set to the on position, and the switch 3 is turned off when the main switch is set to the off position. One terminal of the switch 3 is connected to the input port I1 of the CPU 1, and the other terminal of the switch 3 is grounded.

  When the switch 3 is turned on and the input signal to the input port I1 becomes low level, the CPU 1 turns on a power supply circuit (not shown). The power supply circuit converts the voltage from the battery into a voltage necessary for each block of the camera and supplies it to each block. When the switch 3 is turned off and the input signal to the input port I1 becomes a high level, the CPU 1 turns off the power supply circuit to cut off the power supply to each block.

  The operation member 4 includes a release button 18 and various operation switches. When the switches are operated, the operation member 4 sends an operation signal to the input port I2 of the CPU 1 according to the operation content. The CPU 1 performs a predetermined process according to an operation signal input from the input port I2.

  The photometric device 5 detects the amount of light transmitted through the photographing lens 100 (FIG. 1) and outputs a detection signal to the CPU 1. The CPU 1 performs a known exposure calculation using the detection signal from the photometry device 5, and determines the aperture value and the shutter time (exposure time at the time of photographing) so that an appropriate exposure can be obtained. The diaphragm driving mechanism 6 drives a diaphragm (not shown) according to a command from the CPU 1 to obtain a predetermined diaphragm value. The shutter drive mechanism 7 drives a shutter (not shown) according to a command from the CPU 1 so as to obtain a predetermined exposure time.

  The display 20 displays the exposure calculation mode set in the camera according to the display control signal from the CPU 1, the shutter time and aperture value determined by the CPU 1, the number of frames that can be taken, the remaining battery level, and the date. To do.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example by the display device 20. On the display device 20, a display “A” indicating an exposure calculation mode and a calendar are displayed in a display area U located on the upper surface side of the camera body 10. In addition, on the display 20, a display “(•)” indicating that the center-weighted metering mode is set in the display area R located on the back side of the camera body 10, a battery mark display indicating the remaining battery level, and The number of shootable frames “267” is displayed. The bent portion T is along a side corresponding to the boundary between the upper surface and the back surface of the camera body 10.

  The CPU 1 displays information that is highly necessary at the time of shooting in the display area R on the back side of the display 20. When the user is observing the finder 11 (FIG. 1) at the time of photographing, the user can observe information displayed in the display area R on the back side of the display 20 by moving his / her line of sight from the finder 11 to the right lateral direction. The amount of movement of the line of sight from the finder 11 to the rear surface side display area R of the display device 20 is smaller than when moving from the finder 11 to the upper surface side display area U of the display device 20.

  Items to be displayed in the rear display area R of the display device 20 are registered in the CPU 1 in advance. For example, when the user registers in the CPU 1 to display the exposure calculation mode and display the number of shootable frames, the CPU 1 displays the display “A” indicating the exposure calculation mode in the rear display area R of the display 20. ”And the number of shootable frames“ 267 ”are displayed. Registration of items to be displayed in the rear display area R is performed by operating the operation member 4. The registered content is stored in a nonvolatile memory in the CPU 1.

  The CPU 1 displays in the upper display area U of the display device 20 information that is less necessary at the time of photographing and information that is displayed even when not photographing. When the user carries the camera body 10 using a strap (not shown) or the like, the user observes information displayed in the display area U of the display device 20. When the camera is carried, the camera is often positioned below the position of the user's eyes, so that the user can display the camera body 10 in the upper display area U without changing the orientation of the camera body 10. Can observe the information. Items to be displayed in the upper surface side display area U of the display device 20 may also be registered in the CPU 1.

  Unlike the display member that displays light emission by a light emitting element or the like, the display 20 is a display immediately before the power supply and the display control signal are cut off even when the power supply is cut off and the display control signal from the CPU 1 is not input. Keep the contents. If the CPU 1 is registered to display the calendar on the display device 20, the calendar display is retained even after the main switch is turned off, so that the date display using the camera can be retained last.

  In addition, when the user feels uncomfortable when the display is continued on the display 20 when the main switch is turned off, an “OFF” display indicating that the power is turned off may be performed together. In this case, when the switch 3 linked to the main switch is turned off and the input signal to the input port I1 becomes a high level, the CPU 1 adds an “OFF” display to the display device 20 and displays an unnecessary display when the main switch is turned off. After erasing, the power supply circuit (not shown) is turned off.

According to the embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the display device 20 that can be bent so as to straddle the upper surface and the back surface of the camera is provided, the space occupied by the display member can be reduced compared to the case where display members are provided on the upper surface and the back surface, respectively. .

(2) Since information that is highly necessary at the time of photographing is displayed in the display area R on the back side of the display device 20, the user can check the display content of the display device 20 with a small amount of line of sight movement from the viewfinder 11. As a result, the possibility of missing a photo opportunity is reduced.

(3) Since information to be displayed at the time of non-photographing is displayed in the upper display area U of the display 20, when the camera body 10 is carried using a strap (not shown) or the like, the user can The display content of the display 20 can be confirmed without changing the orientation.

(4) Items to be displayed in the rear display area R of the display 20 and items to be displayed in the upper display area U are registered in the CPU 1 in advance, and information is displayed on the display 20 based on the registered contents. Therefore, display items can be rearranged as desired by the user, and the display content of the display 20 can be customized.

(5) Since the calendar display is held on the display device 20 when the main switch is turned off, the user does not have to worry about forgetting the date when the camera was last used.

  As shown in FIG. 4, display may be performed on the bent portion T of the display device 20. In this case, the CPU 1 displays the display “A” indicating the exposure calculation mode and the number of shootable frames “267” on the bent portion T of the display device 20. By displaying information on the bent portion T, the display content can be confirmed from both the upper surface side and the rear surface side of the camera body 10.

  The camera described above may be a digital camera or a silver salt camera.

  Although the example which arrange | positions the display 20 which has a curvature so that it may straddle 2 surfaces of a camera was shown, you may arrange | position so that it may straddle 3 surfaces.

  Correspondence between each component in the claims and each component in the best mode for carrying out the invention will be described. The display control means and the control means are constituted by, for example, the CPU 1. The power shut-off means is constituted by a power supply circuit, for example. In addition, as long as the characteristic function of this invention is not impaired, each component is not limited to the said structure.

It is the perspective view which looked at the upper surface and back surface of the camera by one embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the camera of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display by a display. It is a figure which shows the other example of a display.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... CPU
4 ... Operation member 10 ... Camera body 11 ... Viewfinder 20 ... Display device R ... Back side display area T ... Bending part U ... Top side display area

Claims (5)

A display disposed along the surface so as to include a part of a side formed by at least two adjacent surfaces of the camera surface;
A camera comprising display control means for displaying predetermined information on the display. The camera of claim 1,
The said display is comprised with the display member which has curvature, The camera characterized by the above-mentioned. The camera according to claim 1 or 2,
The display control means controls the display position in the display area of the display so that the predetermined information is displayed in one of the two surfaces or displayed in the other surface. A camera characterized by that. The camera according to claim 3.
The display control means displays the predetermined information at a preset position to be displayed. The camera according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The display retains its display contents even when the control signal from the display control means and the power supply to the display are cut off,
When the main switch is turned off, the display control means is instructed to display information indicating that the main switch is off on the display, and further includes control means for instructing the power cutoff means to shut off the power supply. A camera characterized by that.

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