JP2005326557A - Projector device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a projector device capable of preventing the inclination of an image and blur caused by shaking, without preventing the size reduction of the device, in a projector capable of projecting images in a state where it is held with a hand. <P>SOLUTION: In the projector device capable of projecting the image, in a state where of being held with a hand, a horizontal index image 202a and a vertical index image 202b as index images, in determining the projecting position of the projected image 201 before projecting the projected image 201 are composed with the projected image 201 and are projected. Since the projected image 201 is positioned according to the index images, inclination of images and blur caused by the device shake are prevented. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a projector device, and more particularly to a projector device capable of projecting a projection image while being held by a hand.

Various proposals related to a stationary projector device capable of projecting an image onto a projection surface such as a screen have been made conventionally (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Conventional projector devices are difficult to miniaturize because of the size of the light source used for image projection and the heat generated from the light source, and must be stationary. By the way, recently, a high-intensity white LED has been put into practical use, and a light source that is small and generates a small amount of heat can be realized. Therefore, if this white LED is employed as a light source for a projector, it is possible to realize an ultra-small projector device that allows a user to project an image onto a screen while holding the projector device in hand.
JP-A-6-281906

  However, when the projector apparatus is actually used by hand, the problem of camera shake due to image tilt during image projection and long-time image projection is unavoidable. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the user holds the projector device 100 with his hand and projects an image on the screen 200, if the camera shake occurs, the projected image is indicated by reference numeral 204. The person who sees this projection image may feel very uncomfortable. However, mounting a projection image tilt prevention mechanism or a camera shake prevention mechanism in the projector apparatus is not preferable because it hinders downsizing of the apparatus.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a projector capable of projecting an image while being held by hand, a projector device capable of preventing image tilt and camera shake without hindering downsizing of the device. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, a projector device according to a first aspect of the present invention is a projector device capable of projecting an image while being held by a hand, and projects the projected image when projecting the image. Projecting an index image for determining the position is characterized.

  In order to achieve the above object, a projector device according to a second aspect of the present invention is a projector device capable of projecting an image while being held by a hand, and the inclination of the projected image around the projected image. An index image is projected so that the state can be recognized.

  According to the first and second aspects, since the index image is also projected when the projection image is projected, the tilt state of the image can be easily recognized and camera shake can be prevented.

  According to the present invention, in a projector capable of projecting an image while being held by a hand, it is possible to provide a projector device that can prevent image tilt and camera shake without hindering downsizing of the device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
First, the concept of the present invention will be described. As one of camera shake prevention techniques used in video shooting and the like, a technique for preventing shaking of the shooting screen by aligning the shooting screen frame with a horizontal line or a vertical line is known. In other words, the shooting screen can be tilted by shooting while superimposing the shooting screen frame on a horizontal or vertical subject, or keeping the distance between the shooting screen frame and the horizontal or vertical subject within the viewfinder constant. It is possible to suppress the occurrence of camera shake.
In the present invention, by using the above method, an index image for positioning the projection image is projected together with the projection image when the image is projected.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of a projector apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The control unit is a control unit for performing image projection control of the projector apparatus. The control unit 1 is connected to the image generation unit 2 and the drive unit 7. Furthermore, a detection unit 18 is connected to the control unit 1.

  The image generation unit 2 is connected to the image storage unit 4 via the mounting unit 3. Further, the image generation unit 2 is connected to the index storage unit 5 and the image display unit 6. The image generation unit 2 receives an image projection start instruction from the control unit 1, and stores image data (projection image data) and index stored in the image storage unit 4 attached to the projector apparatus via the attachment unit 3. The index image data stored in the unit 5 is synthesized, and the synthesized image data is output to the image display unit 6. Here, the image storage unit 4 is a storage unit configured to be detachable with respect to the projector apparatus. For example, a card-type memory used in a digital camera is used. The index storage unit 5 is a non-volatile storage unit for storing in advance image data related to the index image for enabling the inclination state of the projection image to be visually recognized.

  The image display unit 6 is connected to the liquid crystal panel 10. In this image display unit 6, image display control to the liquid crystal panel 10 is performed based on the image data synthesized by the image generation unit 2, and as a result, an image synthesized for projection is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10. Is done.

  The drive unit 7 is a current supply unit for driving the light source 8 for projecting an image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10 onto a screen (not shown). That is, the driving unit 7 receives the image projection start instruction from the control unit 1 and supplies the light source 8 with current to cause the light source 8 to emit light. Here, the light source 8 is preferably a small light source that generates a small amount of heat, such as a high-intensity white LED. By using such a light source, an increase in the size of the projector device can be suppressed.

  A condenser lens 9 is disposed on the optical path of the light source 8, and the light that has passed through the condenser lens 9 is condensed into parallel light. The composite image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10 is projected by the parallel light. This projection light enters the projection optical system including the first prism 12, the aperture stop 13, and the second prism 14 through the protective glass 11.

  Here, the projection optical system of the projector apparatus is configured by combining two prisms as shown in FIG. In general, in order to improve the optical performance, it is necessary to design an optical path length of the entire optical system to be increased to some extent. However, if the optical path length is increased, the apparatus becomes larger. Therefore, in this projector apparatus, a free-form surface prism optical system in which a part or all of the entrance surface, exit surface, and reflection surface is formed with a curved surface having a power (a free-form surface greatly deviating from a spherical surface) The optical path length is increased by bending the optical path with the free-form curved prism. Thereby, high-performance image projection can be performed while suppressing an increase in size of the projector device. Here, the first prism 12 has a light incident surface, two reflection surfaces, and a light exit surface that are free-form surfaces. The second prism 14 has a light incident surface, a reflection surface, and a light exit surface that are free-form surfaces. An aperture stop 13 disposed in the projection optical system is provided to restrict the projection surface.

  The composite image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 10 is projected on a screen (not shown) as an image projection surface via the protective glass 15 by the projection light emitted from such a projection optical system.

  The detection unit 18 is provided to detect the operation state of the operation button 16 connected to the detection unit 18 and the operation state of the operation dial 17. Here, the operation button 16 is an operation member used by the user of the projector apparatus to give an instruction to start or end the projection to the projector apparatus. The operation dial 17 is a dial operation member used by the user to switch the projection image when projecting an image.

  FIG. 2 shows an external view of the projector apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2, the projector device 100 has the operation button 16 and the operation dial 17 exposed. FIG. 2 also shows a mounting unit lid 3 a that covers the mounting unit 3 for mounting the image storage unit 4 to the projector apparatus 100.

  When the user presses the operation button 16, this is detected by the detection unit 18. In response to this, the control unit 1 gives an image projection start instruction to the image generation unit 2 and the drive unit 7. On the other hand, when the pressed state of the operation button 16 is released, the control unit 1 gives an image projection end instruction to the image generation unit 2 and the drive unit 7. That is, in the projector device, image projection is always performed while the operation button 16 is pressed by the user. When the user rotates the operation dial 17, the amount of rotation is detected by the detection unit 18. In response to this, the control unit 1 performs selection switching of the image to be projected from the image data stored in the image storage unit 4.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a projection image 201 projected onto the screen 200 by the projector apparatus 100 and index images 202a and 202b projected after being synthesized with the projection image 201. Here, the index image in FIG. 3 is a horizontal index image 202a that is a line segment image parallel to the horizontal direction of the projection image and a vertical index image that is a line segment image parallel to the vertical direction of the projection image. 202b. In addition, it is more preferable that the color of these index images be sufficiently conspicuous with respect to the color (generally white) of the screen 200 that is the projection surface.

  That is, when the projection image 201 is projected by the projector apparatus 100, the projection is performed after the projection image data and the index image data are synthesized by the image generation unit 2 as described above. Here, when the projection image data and the index image data are combined, the combined image data is generated so that the index images 202 a and 202 b are combined around the outside of the projection image 201. In this way, the index images 202a and 202b are synthesized around the outer periphery of the projection image 201, so that it does not get in the way during projection.

  By projecting such a composite image, as shown in FIG. 3, the user of the projector apparatus 100 can display the horizontal index image 202 a synthesized and projected on the projection image 201 on the upper end of the screen 200. If the projector apparatus 100 is held so as to be aligned with 200a and the vertical index image 202b is aligned with the left end portion 200b of the screen 200, the projected image 201 can be tilted and camera shake can be reduced. Further, by projecting the index images 202a and 202b, there is no need to match the end of the projection image 201 with the end of the screen 200, so that a part of the projection image 201 does not protrude from the screen 200. The projected image 201 can be reliably projected on the screen 200. Furthermore, even when the edge color of the projection image 201 and the color of the screen 200 are substantially the same color and the boundary between the projection image 201 and the screen 200 cannot be visually recognized, the projection position of the projection image 201 is surely adjusted. Can do.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when projecting a projection image, the projection is performed after the index image for projecting alignment is synthesized, so that the user can tilt the projection image. The camera shake can be easily recognized, the projected image is not tilted, and camera shake can be reduced.

  Although the present invention has been described based on the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are naturally possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in FIG. 3, the horizontal index image is projected on the upper side of the projected image, but it goes without saying that it may be on the lower side. Moreover, you may make it project simultaneously up and down. In FIG. 3, the vertical index image is projected on the left side of the projected image, but it may be on the right side, and these may be projected simultaneously.

  Furthermore, the index image is not limited to a line segment, and may be images such as corner index images 203a to 203d showing the corners of the projection image as shown in FIG. Here, the corner index images 203a to 203d shown in FIG. 4 do not need to project all the images, and the projection images can be aligned as long as at least one corner index is projected.

  Further, the above-described embodiments include various stages of the invention, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, the problem described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the effect described in the column of the effect of the invention Can be extracted as an invention.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the projector apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is an external view of a projector device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the mode at the time of projecting a projection image with the projector apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure shown about the corner parameter | index as a modification of an index image. It is a figure which shows about the shake of a projection image at the time of projecting a projection image with the conventional projector apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control part, 2 ... Image generation part, 3 ... Mounting part, 3a ... Mounting part cover, 4 ... Image memory | storage part, 5 ... Index memory | storage part, 6 ... Image display part, 7 ... Drive part, 8 ... Light source, 9 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS: Condenser lens, 10 ... Liquid crystal panel, 11, 15 ... Protective glass, 12 ... 1st prism, 13 ... Aperture stop, 14 ... 2nd prism, 16 ... Operation button, 17 ... Operation dial, 18 ... Detection part, 202a ... horizontal index image, 202b ... vertical index image, 203a to 203d ... corner index image

Claims (7)

In a projector device that can project a projection image while being held by hand,
A projector apparatus, wherein when projecting the projection image, an index image for determining a projection position of the projection image is projected. In a projector device that can project a projection image while being held by hand,
A projector apparatus, wherein an index image is projected around the projection image so that the tilt state of the projection image can be recognized.   The projector apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the index image is projected so as to be parallel to at least one side of the projection image.   The index image is an image composed of at least one of an index image parallel to a horizontal direction of the projection image and an index image parallel to a vertical direction of the projection image. The projector device according to 1 or 2.   The projector apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the index image is an image projected to show at least one corner of the projection image.   The projector apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the projection image and the index image are projected as a combined image.   The projector apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the index image is synthesized at a position outside a display range of the projection image.

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