JP2006317485A - Projector and control method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a projector capable of shortening time needed for an initial image to be projected after a power source is turned on, and to provide a control method therefor. <P>SOLUTION: After a power source is turned on, a CPU initializes an image processing section, a light valve drive section, a fan control section and an LED display section, a timer, and a lamp control section (steps S101 to S106). Subsequently, the CPU performs the operation of turning on a light source lamp (step S106). Then, before checking the on-state of the light source lamp (step S113), the CPU performs a drawing process (step S108) for projecting an initial image. After the operation of turning on the light source lamp, the CPU initializes an OSD processing section (step S107). After the drawing process for the initial image, a temperature sensor, a voice processing section, a receiver, and an operating section are initialized (steps S109 to S112). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a projector that modulates and projects light emitted from a light source and a control method therefor.

  For a projector that modulates light emitted from a light source according to an input signal (image signal) with a light modulator and enlarges and projects an image on a screen or the like, a discharge type light source such as an ultra-high pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp is used as the light source. Lamps are mainly used. A discharge-type light source lamp takes a long time (several tens of seconds) from turning on the power and starting lighting until it becomes a stable lighting state with sufficient brightness. For this reason, a projector that projects a predetermined image (initial image) until a stable lighting state is achieved is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). By displaying the initial image, it is possible to recognize that the projector is being prepared until the lighting state is stable and an image corresponding to the input signal can be projected.

  In order to project an initial image, it is necessary to put the projector into an operable state. Conventionally, when the projector is started up, after the preparation (initialization) of each function in the projector is completed, the light source is turned on. After the lighting of the light source was confirmed, drawing processing of the initial image (data processing for modulation by the light modulation device) was performed.

JP 2004-151658 A

  However, it takes a few seconds to initialize each function, and it also takes a few seconds to check the lighting after turning on the light source, so the initial image is projected after the power is turned on. The time during which no image is projected continues for a while (ten seconds or more). In addition, since the light source is turned on after the initialization of each function is completed, not only the time until the initial image is projected, but also a long time from when the power is turned on until the stable lighting state is obtained. Needed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and a first object of the invention is to provide a projector capable of reducing the time until an initial image is projected after power-on and a control method thereof. A second object of the present invention is to provide a projector capable of shortening the time until the light source is stabilized after the power is turned on, and a control method therefor.

  The projector of the present invention is a projector that projects a first image according to an image signal input from the outside and projects a second image after power-on and before projecting the first image. An image memory, an image signal input unit for inputting the image signal from the outside, input image drawing means for storing image data corresponding to the input image signal in the image memory, and the second image The image data representing the image data is emitted from the light source according to the image data stored in the image memory by the initial image drawing means, the light source, and the input image drawing means or the initial image drawing means. A light modulation device that modulates the light, a projection lens that magnifies and projects the light modulated by the light modulation device, a light source lighting means that performs a lighting operation on the light source, and a point of the light source Lighting detection means for detecting a state, the lighting detection means for the first detection after the lighting operation by the light source lighting means after the power is turned on, the initial image drawing means the image data to the image memory It is characterized by being performed after starting to store.

  According to this projector, since the drawing process for projecting the second image is performed before the light source is turned on, the time from when the power is turned on until the second image is projected is set. It can be shortened.

  The projector includes an initialization unit that performs initialization for enabling the projector, and the light source lighting unit turns on the light source after the power is turned on and before initialization by the initialization unit is completed. It is desirable to perform the operation.

  According to this projector, since the light source is turned on before all initialization is completed, the light source can be turned on earlier, and the light source is stabilized after the power is turned on. It is possible to shorten the time to do.

  The projector includes an initialization unit that performs initialization to enable the projector to operate, and the initial image drawing unit includes the image data after the power is turned on and before initialization by the initialization unit is completed. Is preferably stored in the image memory.

  According to this projector, since the drawing process for projecting the second image is performed before all the initialization is completed, the time from when the power is turned on until the second image is projected Can be further shortened.

  The projector control method according to the present invention includes a light source, an image memory, a light modulation device that modulates light emitted from the light source in accordance with image data stored in the image memory, and a light modulation device that modulates the light. A projection lens that magnifies and projects the projected light, stores image data corresponding to an image signal input from the outside in the image memory, projects a first image corresponding to the image signal, A projector control method for projecting the second image by storing image data representing a second image in the image memory before projecting the first image, wherein the light source is turned on after the power is turned on. A light source lighting step for performing a lighting operation, an initial image drawing step for storing image data representing the second image in the image memory after the light source lighting step, and after the initial image drawing step, Characterized in that a lighting detection step of detecting a lighting state of the serial light source.

  According to this projector control method, since the drawing process for projecting the second image is performed before the lighting of the light source is confirmed, the second image is projected after the power is turned on. It becomes possible to shorten the time.

  The projector control method includes first and second initialization steps for performing initialization so that the projector can be operated after turning on the power, and the light source lighting step includes the first initialization step and the first initialization step. It is desirable to carry out between the second initialization step.

  According to this projector control method, since the light source is turned on before all initialization is completed, the light source can be turned on earlier, and accordingly, the power is turned on. It is possible to shorten the time until the light source is stabilized.

  The projector control method includes first and second initialization steps for performing initialization for enabling the projector after power is turned on, and the initial image drawing step includes the first initialization step. And the second initialization step.

  According to this projector control method, since the drawing process for projecting the second image is performed before all initialization is completed, the second image is projected after the power is turned on. It is possible to further shorten the time until.

  In addition, when the projector and the control method described above are constructed using a computer provided in the projector, the present invention can read the program for realizing the function or the program can be read by the computer. It is also possible to configure in the form of a recording medium or the like recorded in As recording media, flexible disks, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disks, IC cards, ROM cartridges, punch cards, printed matter on which codes such as barcodes are printed, projector internal storage devices (memory such as RAM and ROM), Various media that can be read by the computer, such as an external storage device, can be used.

  Hereinafter, a projector according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The projector according to the present embodiment can input an image signal and a sound signal from the outside, project an image according to the image signal, and output a sound according to the sound signal.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a projector according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, a projector 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM 12 such as a flash ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program and the like, and a RAM (Random) that temporarily stores various setting values and the like. A main control unit 10 as a computer having an (Access Memory) 13 and the like, and a timer 14 for timing. The main control unit 10 performs overall control of the operation of the projector 1 by the CPU 11 executing the control program.

In addition, the projector 1 includes an operation unit 16 that can be operated by the user and an LED display unit 17 that can notify the user of the operation state of the projector 1 and the like as user interfaces. The operation unit 16 includes keys for performing various operations on the projector 1 such as image quality adjustment. When the user operates the operation unit 16, the operation unit 16 operates according to the operation content. The signal is output to the CPU 11. The LED display unit 17 is composed of one or more LEDs (light emitting diodes), and can notify the operating state of the projector 1 to the outside by its lighting state (on, off, blinking), lighting color, and the like. It has become.
Furthermore, the projector 1 includes a light source lamp 21 as a light source, a liquid crystal light valve 22 as a light modulation device, and a projection lens 23.
The liquid crystal light valve 22 has a plurality of pixels (not shown) arranged in a matrix, and modulates the light emitted from the light source lamp 21 for each pixel. The light modulated by the liquid crystal light valve 22 is enlarged and projected by the projection lens 23, and an image is displayed on the screen SC or the like.

  A discharge-type light source lamp is used as the light source lamp 21 of the present embodiment, and lighting and extinguishing of the light source lamp 21 are controlled by a lamp control unit 24 that functions as a light source lighting unit based on an instruction from the CPU 11. Further, the lamp control unit 24 can detect the lighting state (whether or not it is lit) of the light source lamp 21 based on the current (light source current) consumed by the light source lamp 21, and the detection result is sent to the CPU 11. Output. That is, the lamp control unit 24 also functions as a lighting detection unit in the present invention. The lighting detection means is not limited to the detection based on the light source current, and a light sensor may be provided at a position where the illumination light of the light source lamp 21 can be received, and lighting may be detected based on the amount of light received. .

  An image signal supplied from the outside is input to a receiver 31 as an image signal input unit via an input terminal (not shown). Image signals that can be input include video signals such as component video signals and composite video signals supplied from video equipment, analog or digital RGB signals supplied from personal computers, etc. The image signal is converted into image data in a format that can be processed by the image processing unit 32 described later, and is output to the image processing unit 32.

  Based on the instruction from the CPU 11, the image processing unit 32 performs resolution conversion, brightness adjustment, contrast adjustment, sharpness adjustment for the image data input from the receiver 31 to match the resolution (number of pixels) of the liquid crystal light valve 22. Various image processing such as image quality adjustment such as adjustment or trapezoidal distortion correction when tilt projection is performed, and the processed image data is written in the frame memory 33 as an image memory. That is, the receiver 31 and the image processing unit 32 function as input image drawing means for inputting an image signal and storing image data corresponding to the image signal in the frame memory 33. The image data stored in the frame memory 33 is output to an OSD (On Screen Display) processing unit 34.

  The OSD processing unit 34 functions as an image composition unit, and performs processing for superimposing an OSD image composed of a menu image, a message image, and the like on a display image (an image corresponding to an image signal) based on an instruction from the CPU 11. . Specifically, the OSD processing unit 34 reads out OSD image data corresponding to an instruction from the CPU 11 from an OSD memory (not shown), and synthesizes the OSD image data with the input image data. The image data synthesized by the OSD processing unit 34 is output to the light valve driving unit 35. Note that when the OSD image is not displayed, the above synthesis processing is not performed, so that the image data output from the image processing unit 32 is supplied to the light valve driving unit 35 as it is.

  The light valve drive unit 35 generates a drive signal for driving the liquid crystal light valve 22 in accordance with the input image data. The liquid crystal light valve 22 modulates the light source light according to the drive signal, thereby projecting an image corresponding to the image data, that is, an image corresponding to the image signal input by the receiver 31 (first image). .

  The audio signal supplied from the outside together with the image signal is input to the audio processing unit 36, subjected to processing such as sound quality adjustment, and then amplified by the amplifier 37 and output from the speaker 38 as audio.

  Inside the projector 1, a temperature sensor 41 and an air cooling fan 42 including a thermistor and the like are provided. The temperature sensor 41 outputs a detection signal corresponding to the detected temperature to the CPU 11. The operation of the air cooling fan 42 is controlled by the fan control unit 43, and the CPU 11 can cool the inside of the projector 1 by rotating the air cooling fan 42 by instructing the fan control unit 43. The temperature sensor 41 and the air cooling fan 42 are not limited to one each, and may be provided for each part requiring temperature management, such as the light source lamp 21 and the liquid crystal light bulb 22.

  The projector 1 also includes a power circuit 44, a power switch (SW) 45, and a power control unit 46. The power supply circuit 44 can input a commercial power supply such as AC 100 V and convert it into various power supply voltages necessary for the operation of each unit including the lamp control unit 24 and the fan control unit 43. The power switch 45 is a switch for starting and stopping the projector 1, and the power control unit 46 starts operating together with the input of commercial power, monitors on / off operation of the power switch 45, and power circuit 44. The power supply to each unit is controlled. When the power supply control unit 46 detects that the power switch 45 is turned on, the power supply control unit 46 instructs the power supply circuit 44 to start supplying power to each unit, and the control by the main control unit 10 is started accordingly. When an off operation is detected, an off signal is output to the main control unit 10.

  In addition to the control program, the ROM 12 stores initial image data representing an initial image (second image) to be projected when the power is turned on. When the CPU 11 reads initial image data from the ROM 12 and outputs it to the image processing unit 32 when the power is turned on, the image processing unit 32 stores the input initial image data in the frame memory 33. That is, in the present embodiment, the ROM 12, the CPU 11, and the image processing unit 32 function as an initial image drawing unit that stores initial image data in the frame memory 33. As the initial image, an arbitrary image such as a manufacturer logo indicating a manufacturer, a user logo indicating a user, or a blue background (a full blue image) can be used. Here, the initial image data is not necessarily stored in the ROM 12, and may be generated by the CPU 11 or the like according to the control program, for example. In the case of a monotonous image such as a blue background, it can be easily generated.

Next, the operation of the projector 1 according to this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation when the projector 1 is turned on. When the power switch 45 is turned on and the power supply voltage is supplied to the main control unit 10, the CPU 11 performs a boot process, starts the operating system stored in the ROM 12, and is also stored in the ROM 12. Initialization and control of each part of the projector 1 are started according to the control program. Here, the initialization is an operation for the CPU 11 to make each part in the projector 1 operable, and signals for enabling or operating the ports for communicating with each part are provided. Sending to each part as necessary, or setting a pre-determined value (initial value) for those that require settings (register settings, etc.) to specify operating conditions, etc. In the present embodiment, the CPU 11 corresponds to an initialization unit that performs the initialization.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in step S101, the CPU 11 initializes the image processing unit 32 (including the frame memory 33) and the light valve driving unit 35. In step S102, the CPU 11 initializes the fan control unit 43 and air cooling fan. 42 is driven to rotate at an initial speed (low speed).

  In step S103, the CPU 11 initializes the LED display unit 17 and sets the LED of the LED display unit 17 to a lighting state indicating that warm-up is in progress. In step S104, the timer 14 is initialized.

  In step S105, the CPU 11 restores the setting value when the projector 1 was used last time. During the operation, the projector 1 stores various setting values in the RAM 13. When the power switch 45 is turned off and an off signal is received from the power control unit 46, the various setting values stored in the RAM 13 are saved in the ROM 12. It is supposed to be. That is, in this step, an operation is performed in which various setting values saved in the ROM 12 are read and stored in the RAM 13 again.

  In step S106, the CPU 11 initializes the lamp control unit 24 and instructs the lamp control unit 24 to perform a lighting operation (voltage application) on the light source lamp 21.

  In step S <b> 107, the CPU 11 initializes the OSD processing unit 34.

  In step S108, an initial image drawing process is performed. Specifically, the CPU 11 reads out the initial image data from the ROM 12 and outputs the initial image data to the image processing unit 32. The image processing unit 32 stores the input initial image data in the frame memory 33 and the OSD processing unit 34. To the light valve drive unit 35. The light valve driving unit 35 drives the liquid crystal light valve 22 based on the initial image data. Here, if the light source lamp 21 is normally lit by the lighting operation of the light source lamp 21 in step S106, the projected initial image can be gradually recognized as the luminance of the light source lamp 21 increases with the passage of time thereafter. It becomes.

  After performing the initial image drawing process, the CPU 11 initializes the temperature sensor 41 to start temperature control (step S109), initializes the audio processing unit 36 (step S110), and initializes the receiver 31 (step S110). Step S111), the operation unit 16 is initialized (Step S112).

  In step S113, the CPU 11 receives the detection result of the lighting state of the light source lamp 21 from the lamp control unit 24, and determines whether or not the light source lamp 21 is normally turned on by the lighting operation in step S106. If it is normally lit, the process proceeds to step S115, and if it is not normally lit, the process proceeds to step S114.

  When the lighting of the light source lamp 21 in step S106 fails and the process proceeds to step S114, a relighting process of the light source lamp 21 is performed. Specifically, the CPU 11 repeatedly performs the lighting operation by the lamp control unit 24 and the lighting detection after a predetermined time until the lighting of the light source lamp 21 is detected or until the lighting operation reaches a predetermined number of times. As a result, if the lighting of the light source lamp 21 is detected, the process proceeds to step S115. In addition, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, in step S114, when lighting is not detected even if it repeats lighting operation | movement by the predetermined number of times, for example, a lamp run out etc., the LED display part 17 will notify that and process finish.

  In step S115, the CPU 11 confirms the input source. Specifically, it is detected whether or not an image signal is input to the receiver 31, and if it is input, the display mode of the image signal is specified. When a plurality of input terminals are provided, this step is repeated until an image signal is input from any one of the input terminals. Thereafter, in step S116, the CPU 11 instructs the receiver 31 to sample the image signal according to the specified display mode, and generate image data. The image data generated by the receiver 31 is subjected to image processing and synthesis processing by the image processing unit 32 and the OSD processing unit 34 as necessary, and then supplied to the light valve driving unit 35. Thereby, the projection of the image according to the image signal is started, and the processing at the time of turning on the power ends.

  Note that “starting up the projector 1” and “turning on the power of the projector 1” refer to the case where the power supply voltage is supplied to the main control unit 10 and the CPU 11 starts operating as described above, and from the standby state. This refers to a case where an operation process involving at least a lighting operation of the light source lamp 21 is performed, such as a return or a reset operation by a reset switch (not shown).

As described above, according to the projector 1 of the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) According to the projector 1 and its control method of the present embodiment, the drawing process (step S108) for projecting the initial image is performed before the light source lamp 21 is turned on (step S113). It is possible to shorten the time from when the power is turned on until the initial image is projected.

  (2) According to the projector 1 and its control method of the present embodiment, the image processing unit 32, the light valve driving unit 35, the fan control unit 43, the LED display unit 17, the timer 14, and the lamp control unit 24 are initialized ( After the first initialization step), the light source lamp 21 is turned on, and then the OSD processing unit 34, the temperature sensor 41, the audio processing unit 36, the receiver 31, and the operation unit 16 are initialized (second initial setting). Process). That is, since the lighting operation of the light source lamp 21 is performed before all initialization is completed, the lighting timing of the light source lamp 21 can be advanced, and accordingly, the light source lamp 21 is turned on after the power is turned on. It becomes possible to shorten the time until the stabilization.

  (3) According to the projector 1 and its control method of the present embodiment, the image processing unit 32, the light valve driving unit 35, the fan control unit 43, the LED display unit 17, the timer 14, and the lamp control unit 24 are initialized. After the initialization (first initialization process) of the OSD processing unit 34, a drawing process for projecting an initial image is performed, and then the temperature sensor 41, the sound processing unit 36, the receiver 31, and the operation unit 16 are initialized. (Second initialization step) is performed. In other words, since the drawing process for projecting the initial image is performed before all initialization is completed, it is possible to further reduce the time from when the power is turned on until the initial image is projected. Become.

(Modification)
In addition, you may change embodiment of this invention as follows.
If the initialization necessary for performing each of the lighting operation of the light source lamp 21 and the drawing process of the initial image has been performed in advance, the order of initialization of each unit is not limited to the above.

  The CPU 11 may advance the operation after step S109 in parallel with the initial image drawing process after starting the initial image drawing process.

  In the above-described embodiment, the light source light is modulated using the transmissive liquid crystal light valve 22, but LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon), which is a reflective light modulator, can also be used. Further, a DMD (registered trademark of Texas Instruments) (digital micromirror device) that modulates the light emitted from the light source by controlling the emission direction of the incident light for each micromirror as a pixel is used. You can also.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a projector. The flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of power activation of a projector.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Projector, 10 ... Control part, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... ROM, 13 ... RAM, 14 ... Timer, 16 ... Operation part, 17 ... LED display part, 21 ... Light source lamp, 22 ... Liquid crystal light valve, 23 ... Projection Lens, 24 ... Lamp control unit, 31 ... Receiver, 32 ... Image processing unit, 33 ... Frame memory, 34 ... OSD processing unit, 35 ... Light valve drive unit, 36 ... Audio processing unit, 37 ... Amplifier, 38 ... Speaker, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Temperature sensor, 42 ... Air cooling fan, 43 ... Fan control part, 44 ... Power supply circuit, 45 ... Power switch, 46 ... Power supply control part.

Claims (6)

A projector that projects a first image according to an image signal input from the outside and projects a second image after power-on and before projecting the first image,
Image memory,
An image signal input unit for inputting the image signal from the outside, and an input image drawing means for storing image data corresponding to the input image signal in the image memory;
Initial image drawing means for storing image data representing the second image in the image memory;
A light source;
A light modulation device that modulates light emitted from the light source in accordance with image data stored in the image memory by the input image drawing means or the initial image drawing means;
A projection lens for enlarging and projecting the light modulated by the light modulation device;
A light source lighting means for performing a lighting operation on the light source;
Lighting detection means for detecting the lighting state of the light source;
The lighting detection means performs the first detection after the lighting operation by the light source lighting means after the power is turned on, after the initial image drawing means starts to store the image data in the image memory. A projector characterized by that.   The projector according to claim 1, further comprising an initialization unit that performs initialization for enabling the projector, and the light source lighting unit completes initialization by the initialization unit after power is turned on. A projector characterized by previously performing a lighting operation of the light source.   The projector according to claim 1, further comprising an initialization unit that performs initialization to enable the projector to operate, and the initial image drawing unit completes initialization by the initialization unit after power is turned on. The projector stores the image data in the image memory before performing. A light source, an image memory, a light modulation device that modulates light emitted from the light source according to image data stored in the image memory, and a projection lens that enlarges and projects the light modulated by the light modulation device The image data corresponding to the image signal input from the outside is stored in the image memory and the first image corresponding to the image signal is projected, and after the power is turned on, before the first image is projected And a projector control method for storing image data representing a second image in the image memory and projecting the second image,
A light source lighting step for performing a lighting operation on the light source after turning on the power;
An initial image drawing step of storing image data representing the second image in the image memory after the light source lighting step;
After the initial image drawing step, a lighting detection step of detecting a lighting state of the light source,
A projector control method comprising: The projector control method according to claim 4, comprising first and second initialization steps for performing initialization for enabling the projector after power-on,
The projector control method, wherein the light source lighting step is performed between the first initialization step and the second initialization step. The projector control method according to claim 4, comprising first and second initialization steps for performing initialization for enabling the projector after power-on,
The projector control method, wherein the initial image drawing step is performed between the first initialization step and the second initialization step.

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