JP2007074425A - Camera switching system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly fetch an image after switching even when a camera which fetches the image is switched upon changing setting of an operation mode. <P>SOLUTION: In this camera switching system having a camera switcher 301 with a built-in camera switching means 301a for switching the camera being objects for fetching the image among a plurality of connected cameras 300a-300d, controllers 303, 304 which instruct selection of a camera to be switched next by the camera switching means 301a to the camera switcher and control image fetching from the camera after switching, the camera switcher 301 has a built-in operation mode changing means 301c for changing the setting of the operation mode by instructions from the controllers to non-selected cameras except for the camera fetching the image together with the camera switching means 301a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera switching system, and more particularly to a camera switching system suitable for application when switching a plurality of cameras and efficiently capturing images from an arbitrary camera.

  Conventionally, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a camera to which an image (video) is to be captured is changed by appropriately switching a plurality of cameras.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a camera switching system (image processing apparatus) including a conventional camera switch.

  In this system, four cameras denoted by reference numerals 100a, 100b, 100c, and 100d, a camera switch 101 that switches between cameras that select one of these and capture an image, and control that captures an image from the selected camera. An image capturing board 102 for performing the above and a host computer 104 for controlling and managing the entire system.

  The camera switch 101 includes a camera switching circuit 101a that functions as a switch for selecting one of four cameras, and a camera switching signal input from the host computer 104 to the camera switching circuit 101a via the communication cable 103. The camera switching I / F circuit 101b is transmitted.

  The image capture board 102 stores an image memory 102 a for storing an image captured from the selected camera and image data from the camera selected by the camera switching circuit 101 a based on a command from the host computer 104. And an image capturing control circuit 102b for capturing the image data via the signal cable 105.

  The conventional camera switching system shown in FIG. 8 includes the camera switching device 101 to which the four cameras 100a, 100b, 100c, and 100d are connected as described above, and the camera switching circuit 101a in the camera switching circuit 101a includes: Based on the camera switching signal generated by the host computer 104 and transmitted via the communication cable 103, one camera signal of the four cameras is selected by the selection signal generated by the camera switching I / F circuit 101b. And the camera signal, that is, the image data is transmitted to the image capturing board 102 connected via the signal cable 105.

  The communication cable 103 that transmits a camera switching signal generated by the host computer 104 is configured by general-purpose communication means such as RS232C, for example, in order to improve connectivity with the host computer 104.

  The camera switching is not performed via general-purpose communication means, but a switch (not shown) is attached to the camera switch 101, and the camera switching circuit 101a is controlled by the switch signal. There is also.

  The image capture control circuit 102b built in the image capture board 102 controls the camera selected by the camera switching circuit 101a, and the image memory 102a in the image capture board 102 stores the image data from the camera. Is stored. The image data stored in the image memory 102 a is displayed on the host computer 104 for image processing and image display.

  Therefore, in the conventional camera switching system, by using the camera switching unit 101, it is possible to capture images from a plurality of cameras even when the image capturing board 102 has only one camera connector. In addition, when changing the number of cameras, it is only necessary to change the camera switch 101 in hardware, and there is an advantage that it is not necessary to change the image capture board 102 in hardware.

  By the way, in recent cameras, a signal for setting an operation mode of the camera is incorporated and transmitted in a camera cable connecting the camera and the image capturing board such as the signal cable 105 in addition to the camera data signal. Many digital I / F cameras, in particular, can specify an image capture window size or the like for the camera by using a built-in operation mode setting signal. By setting the image capture window size according to the size of the object to be imaged in this way, it becomes possible to capture an image with the minimum necessary data size, and as a result, it is possible to shorten the image capture time. It is effective because it is possible.

JP-A-8-65576

  However, changing the setting of the operation mode of the camera requires several ms to several tens of ms depending on the camera specifications and the like. Moreover, in the conventional camera switcher, when changing the camera switching operation mode together, it is necessary to switch all the signals of the camera operation mode and the camera data signal. Changes could only be made after switching cameras.

  Therefore, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 9 when the image capture is switched from the camera 100a to the camera 100d while the camera 100a captures an image, and the operation mode setting is changed, the operation mode change is Since it can only be performed after the camera is switched, after the image capture by the camera 100a is completed, the image capture by the selected camera 100d can be started until several ms indicated by an arrow range indicated by M in FIG. There is a problem that it takes a time of several tens of ms and image capture cannot be executed immediately.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described conventional problems, and even when the operation mode setting of the camera to be switched next is changed, the image can be quickly captured after switching to the camera. It is an object to provide a camera switching system.

  The present invention relates to a camera switch having a built-in camera switching unit that switches a target camera from among a plurality of connected cameras, and to the camera switch by the camera switching unit. And a control device for controlling image capture from the camera after switching, the camera switcher together with the camera switching means other than the camera that is capturing an image. This problem is solved by incorporating an operation mode changing means for changing the setting of the operation mode according to an instruction from the control device.

  According to the present invention, the camera switch further selects the camera switching unit or the operation mode change unit based on the camera switching information or the operation mode change information transmitted from the control device, so that the camera switching operation or Operation control means for controlling the operation mode change operation may be incorporated, in which case the camera switching information and operation mode change information are transmitted to the operation control means via the same transmission path. You may make it do.

  According to the present invention, since the setting of the operation mode for the next camera to be switched can be changed while capturing an image with an arbitrary camera, it is necessary to change the setting of the operation mode after the camera switching as in the past. As a result, the image can be captured quickly.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram corresponding to FIG. 8 showing an outline of a camera switching system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The camera switching system according to the present embodiment includes four digital I / F cameras denoted by reference numerals 300a, 300b, 300c, and 300d, a camera switching unit 301 that selects and switches one of these cameras, and a selected camera. An image capturing board 303 for capturing camera signals (image data) through a signal cable 302 and a host computer 304 for controlling the entire system are provided. The image capturing board 303 and the host computer 304 A control device is configured.

  The camera switcher 301 selects a target camera for capturing an image from four cameras, selects a camera switching circuit (means) 301a for switching, and selects a camera for changing the operation mode setting from the four cameras. The camera operation mode setting signal switching circuit (operation mode changing means) 301c for changing the setting of the operation mode, etc., and the control (change) operation by the both switching circuits 301a and 301c input from the host computer 304 ( It incorporates a slave communication I / F circuit (operation control means) 301b which is controlled based on information of camera switching and operation mode change.

  The image capture board 303 is connected to the host computer 304 and the camera switch 301 together with the image memory 303a and the image capture control circuit 303b which are substantially the same as those shown in FIG. A host communication I / F circuit 303c for transmission is incorporated.

  In the camera switching system of the present embodiment configured as described above, four digital I / F cameras 300a to 300d are connected to the camera switching unit 301, and an arbitrary camera is selected and switched. The image can be transmitted to the image capture board 303 via the signal cable 302.

  This signal cable 302 is a composite cable that is combined with a cable for general-purpose communication signals (for example, RS232C) separately from a camera data signal (image) cable.

  In this embodiment, when selecting a camera for image capture, the camera selection (switching) information output from the host computer 304 is converted into a general-purpose communication signal by the host communication I / F circuit 303c, and the general-purpose communication signal is converted into the general-purpose communication signal. The data is transmitted to the slave communication I / F circuit 301b in the camera switch 301 via the signal cable 302.

  When the slave communication I / F circuit 301b generates a camera selection signal based on the received camera selection information and outputs it to the camera switching circuit 301a, the camera switching circuit 301a instructs the camera switching circuit 301a to capture an image. The selected camera signal is selected from the output signals of the four digital I / F cameras 300a to 300d.

  The selected camera signal is transmitted to the image capture board 303 connected by the signal cable 302. In this image capture board 303, the built-in image capture control circuit 303b controls the camera selected by the camera switching circuit 301a, and the image memory 303a in the image capture board 303 is transferred from the target camera. The transmitted camera signal is stored as image data. Thus, the image data stored in the image memory 303a is subjected to image processing and image display by the host computer 304.

  In the present embodiment, when changing the camera operation mode, the selection information of the target camera whose operation mode setting is output from the host computer 304 is changed, and the setting value information regarding the operation mode whose setting is changed for the camera. Is converted into a general-purpose communication signal by the host communication I / F circuit 303c. Next, the general-purpose communication signal is transmitted to the slave communication I / F circuit 301 b using the communication cable in the signal cable 302.

  The slave communication I / F circuit 301b generates a camera selection signal for changing the operation mode setting based on the received selection information of the camera for changing the operation mode setting, and switches the signal to the camera operation mode setting signal switching. When output to the circuit 301c, the switching circuit 301c selects a camera for which camera operation setting is to be changed.

  Thereafter, the slave communication I / F circuit 301b generates an operation mode setting value signal for the selected camera based on the received operation mode setting value information, and sends it to the selected camera. Thereby, the operation mode such as the window size is changed.

  The above-described operation for changing the camera operation mode is the time chart of FIG. 2 corresponding to FIG. 9 in the case of switching to another digital I / F camera 300d while an image is being captured by the digital I / F camera 300a. As shown, since it is possible for a non-selected camera other than the selection target camera 300a that is currently being captured by the camera switcher 301a, the next image is captured while the camera 300a is capturing an image. By changing the camera operation mode for another camera 300d, it is possible to overlap the image capture and the operation mode setting change.

  Therefore, when the image is captured by the digital I / F camera 300d after changing the operation mode, the image capture can be started by the camera 300d immediately after the image capture by the camera 300a is completed. It is possible to shorten the time until the start of loading.

  Note that the conventional camera switch 101 in FIG. 8 has a camera switch signal that is different from a cable (not explicitly shown) and a signal cable 105 that transmits an image when the switch is operated remotely. Since it was necessary to supply with the communication cable 103, there also existed a problem of becoming a factor of a cost increase.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, the setting information for changing the camera operation mode is transmitted (transmitted) via the signal cable 302, and the camera selection information is also transmitted through the same transmission path. This eliminates the need to add an extra signal cable 103 for camera selection as in the prior art, which is advantageous in terms of cost.

  Next, a detailed operation at the time of camera selection and camera operation mode setting in the camera switching system of the present embodiment will be described.

First, for each of the four digital I / F cameras 300a to 300d, an ID for distinguishing the cameras is set, for example, ID “0” of the digital I / F camera 300a.
ID “1” of the digital I / F camera 300b
ID “2” of the digital I / F camera 300c
ID “3” of the digital I / F camera 300d
Attach like this.

  The procedure for switching to the digital I / F camera 300a is as follows. First, the host computer 304 sends “camera switching instruction command” as camera switching information and “camera ID0” of the camera 300a to the host communication in the image capture board 303. The data is sent to the I / F circuit 303c.

  The host communication I / F circuit 303 c converts the “camera switching instruction command” and “camera ID 0” sent from the host computer 304 into general-purpose communication signals (for example, RS232C serial signal), and the slave communication I / F via the signal cable 302. Sequentially sent to the F circuit 301b.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a transmission command that is sent when the camera 300a is selected as an image capture target and is switched. The command EOT constituting the communication data shown in FIG. 3 means the end of the command string.

  The slave communication I / F circuit 301b interprets the received “camera switching instruction command” and “camera ID0”, generates a selection signal for selecting the digital I / F camera 300a, and supplies the selection signal to the camera switching circuit 301a.

  The camera switching circuit 301a switches the camera signal to the digital I / F camera 300a based on the given selection signal. Image capture is started using the camera signal of the digital I / F camera 300a thus switched.

  While the digital I / F camera 300a captures an image, the operation mode of the camera that captures the next image is set. Assuming that the camera for capturing images next is the digital I / F camera 300d as described above, the procedure for setting the camera operation mode of the digital I / F camera 300d is as follows. The “camera operation mode setting command”, “camera ID 3”, and “camera operation mode setting value” are sent to the host communication I / F circuit 303c.

  The host communication I / F circuit 303c converts the “camera operation mode setting command”, “camera ID3”, and “camera operation mode setting value” sent from the host computer 304 into general-purpose communication signals (for example, RS232C serial signal). The signal cable 302 sequentially sends the signal to the slave communication I / F circuit 301b. FIG. 4 shows an example of a transmission command that is sent when the camera that is the target of changing the operation mode setting is selected.

  The slave communication I / F circuit 301b interprets the received “camera operation mode setting command” and “camera ID3”, generates a selection signal for selecting the digital I / F camera 300d, and supplies it to the camera operation mode switching circuit 301c. . The camera operation mode switching circuit 301c switches the camera operation mode setting signal to the digital I / F camera 300d based on the given selection signal.

  Next, the “camera operation mode setting value” is output to the digital I / F camera 300d with a signal specification suitable for the camera, and the operation mode of the digital I / F camera 300d is changed.

  Thereafter, after the image capture of the digital I / F camera 300a is completed by the control command from the host computer 304, the image capture target is performed according to the same camera switching procedure as that of the camera 300a described with reference to FIG. The camera is switched to the digital I / F camera 300d and image capture is started.

  Thereby, as shown in the time chart of FIG. 2, even when the setting of the operation mode of the camera to be selected next is changed, the image can be quickly captured by the camera after switching.

  In the above embodiment, the host computer 304 has been described as existing outside the image capture board 303. However, a function as a control device is mounted on the image capture board 303 using a general-purpose CPU. You may do it.

  Further, the means for communicating the “camera switching command” and the like between the image capture board 303 and the camera switch 301 is not limited to the general-purpose communication means (for example, RS232C), and can be realized by an original communication means. It is.

  The slave communication I / F circuit 301b in the camera switcher 301 may be configured only by hardware. However, as a software control, an inexpensive one-chip microcomputer or the like is used to interpret received commands. It may be realized.

  Although the case where the target camera is a digital I / F camera has been described, an analog-digital (A / D) converter is provided in the image input unit of the camera switch 301 even if the camera is an analog I / F camera. Thus, a camera switching system can be realized in the same manner.

  Further, the camera I / F connecting the four digital I / F cameras 300a to 300d and the camera switch 301 has the signal specifications of the signal cable 302 as shown in FIG. By configuring with the same specifications, by replacing a part of the camera with another camera switch having the same function as the camera switch 301, as shown in FIG. It is also possible to expand the number of cameras by cascade connection such that a lower switch 503 is connected to a switch 505 corresponding to the switch 301 and a lower switch 501 is further connected to the switch 503. is there.

  Even in this case, the operation mode setting can be changed for non-selected cameras other than the image capture target camera. Specifically, taking “Camera Link”, which is one of the standard I / Fs of FA (Factory Automation) digital cameras, as an example, this “Camera Link” is a transmission for camera data signals in a camera signal cable. And a serial communication path for setting the camera operation mode. By applying the “camera link” I / F specification to the signal cable 302, the cascade connection configuration shown in FIG. 5 can be realized.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when not a camera but a camera switch is cascade-connected to the camera switch, communication information (command, camera ID, camera operation mode setting value, etc.) from the host computer 507 is received. A mechanism for transmission is also required in the camera switch located at the lower level.

  FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show an example of a required mechanism in the extended camera switching system of FIG. In this case, it is assumed that the host computer 507 that controls the camera switch grasps connection information between the camera switch and the camera.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a transmission command in the case of switching to image capture from the camera 500c by the lowest-order camera switch 501 based on switching information output from the host computer 507 in the system of FIG.

  The command sequence indicated by A in the figure is a command received by the camera switch 505, B is a command received by the camera switch 503, and the camera switch 505 bypasses this command. C is a command received by the camera switch 501 and the camera switches 505 and 503 bypass this command. As described above, the camera switches 505 and 503 receiving the camera selection command bypass the EOT command and recognize the subsequent commands.

  The lowest-order camera switching unit 501 switches the cameras according to the received ID and ends the series of commands without bypassing the EOT command.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of a transmission command when the setting of the operation mode is changed for the camera 500d by the camera switch 501 at the lowest level.

  A command sequence D in the figure is a command received by the camera switch 505, E is a command received by the camera switch 503, and the camera switch 505 bypasses this command. F is a command received by the camera switch 501 and the camera switches 505 and 503 bypass this command. G is a command related to the operation mode setting value received by the camera 500d, and the camera switches 505, 503, and 501 bypass this value.

  As described above, the camera switches 505 and 503 receiving the bypass command (BPS) bypass the EOT command and recognize the subsequent commands. The camera switch 501 that has received the camera operation mode setting command (MSEL) for the camera switch 503 bypasses the operation mode setting value to the camera 500d and ends the process without bypassing the EOT command.

  According to the embodiment described above in detail, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) Since the operation mode of a camera other than the image capture target camera can be set during camera image capture, the image capture time after camera switching can be shortened.

  (2) Since a signal cable provided with a camera data signal transmission path and a camera operation mode setting communication path is used, it is not necessary to separately provide a camera switching communication cable. The cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

  (3) By connecting camera switchers in cascade, the number of target cameras can be expanded without adding special hardware.

  In the above embodiment, the window size is exemplified as the operation mode of the camera. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be a shutter speed or the like.

The block diagram which shows the outline | summary of the camera switching system of one Embodiment which concerns on this invention Time chart showing the relationship between image capture and camera mode setting in the camera switching system of this embodiment Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the communication data transmitted at the time of camera switching Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the communication data transmitted at the time of camera mode setting change The block diagram which shows the other usage example of the camera switching system of this embodiment Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the communication data transmitted at the time of camera switching in the example of FIG. Explanatory drawing which shows an example of the communication data transmitted at the time of the setting change of camera mode in the example of FIG. Block diagram showing the outline of a conventional camera switching system Time chart showing the relationship between image capture and camera mode settings in a conventional camera switching system

Explanation of symbols

300a to 300d ... Digital I / F camera 301 ... Camera switcher 301a ... Camera switching circuit 301b ... Slave communication I / F circuit 301c ... Camera operation mode setting signal switching circuit 302 ... Signal cable 303 ... Image capture board 303a ... Image memory 303b ... Image capture control circuit 303c ... Host communication I / F circuit 304 ... Host computer

Claims (3)

A camera switching unit having a built-in camera switching unit that switches a target camera from among a plurality of connected cameras, and a camera switching unit that is next switched by the camera switching unit with respect to the camera switching unit; In the camera switching system including a control device that instructs selection and controls image capture from the camera after switching,
The camera switch includes an operation mode change unit that changes the setting of the operation mode in response to an instruction from the control device for a non-selected camera other than the camera that is capturing an image, together with the camera switching unit. Camera switching system.   The camera switch further selects the camera switching unit or the operation mode change unit based on the camera switching information or the operation mode change information transmitted from the control device, and controls the camera switching operation or the operation mode change operation. 2. The camera switching system according to claim 1, further comprising an operation control means for performing the operation.   The camera switching system according to claim 2, wherein the camera switching information and the operation mode change information are transmitted to the operation control unit via the same transmission path.

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