JP2007158899A - Imaging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging apparatus in which more functional setting and control are enabled by a small number of operating members and moving picture shooting is possible. <P>SOLUTION: A rotary type dial is rotatable by making an axis of rotation as center and constituted so as to be movable between a first existence position (position in which depression is not performed) and a second existence position (depression position). Signals showing rotation status, depression status and non-depression status of the dial is input from a rotary type dial input circuit 31 into a control circuit 33 which consists of e.g. a microprocessor. In the control circuit 33, status of the rotary type dial is detected, menu item, functionality and various set points of the imaging apparatus are selected corresponding to rotation status of the rotary type dial and velocity control at the time of reproduction is performed, and these selection and control are determined corresponding to existence positions (depression, non-depression) of the rotary type dial. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus capable of moving image shooting.

  In recent years, imaging devices such as digital still cameras and video cameras have tended to increase their functions, but the size of the main body has progressed, and as a result, the position and number of external keys to be attached are also limited, and compared to conventional devices It is necessary to reduce foreign keys.

  However, it is not preferable for the user to reduce the number of external keys or other operation members because the immediacy of the user's operation is reduced. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it is required that more function settings can be performed with fewer operation members.

  In an imaging apparatus, a large number of keys are necessary for reproduction control. In the conventional imaging apparatus such as playback / stop, fast forward / rewind, double speed playback, slow playback, etc., these operations are all realized with an external key.

Also in the conventional video tape recorder, the playback control means is realized by a plurality of external keys as in the playback device described in Patent Document 1, for example.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-258836

  In Patent Document 1, a rotary operation body is provided exclusively for reproduction speed control. However, since an external key is used as an operation member for many other functions, these occupied areas are very large.

  As described above, the conventional apparatus including Patent Document 1 requires a large number of operation members in order to realize a large number of functions, and the same operability can be achieved with a smaller number of operation members in order to respond to recent demands. It needs to be realized.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an imaging apparatus capable of performing more function setting and control with fewer operation members.

  The image pickup apparatus of the present invention is an image pickup apparatus capable of shooting a moving image, is rotatable about a rotation axis, and is movable between a first existence position and a second existence position that are separated from each other by a predetermined distance. Rotating body configured in the above, speed control means for controlling the playback speed according to the rotating state of the rotating body, and menu items, functions, and various setting values of the imaging device are selected according to the rotating state of the rotating body, respectively. And selecting means for determining an element selected by the selecting means in accordance with the position where the rotating body is present.

  In addition, a control target function assigning unit that assigns which of the speed control unit and the selection unit to operate according to the operation mode and display screen of the imaging apparatus is provided.

  The speed control means switches the speed in a stepwise manner according to the amount of rotation of the rotating body.

  The determining means is characterized by switching between a reproduction mode and a reproduction pause mode.

  Further, the determining means is characterized by switching between a reproduction mode, a fast forward mode and a rewind mode.

  Specifically, the control of the playback speed operated using a plurality of external keys is also shared by a rotary dial used for selecting items such as normal menu items. By this means, an operation that has been conventionally realized with a plurality of external keys is performed with a rotary dial, so that the operability that conventionally required a plurality of operation members can be realized with a single operation member.

For example,
(1) Rotation state of a depressible rotary dial (rotating body), a rotation detection unit that detects the depression state, and an item selection unit that selects and sets menu items based on the detection output from the rotation detection unit (Selection means, determination means) and set value changing section (selection means, determination means), and a variable speed reproduction dedicated screen, based on the detection output by the rotation detection section, the reproduction speed according to the rotation amount of the rotary dial And a reproduction control unit (speed control means) that controls the change of the above-mentioned rotary dial. The rotary dial is also used for item selection control and reproduction speed control.
(2) In addition to the conventional method of using a rotary dial as setting means, the rotary dial is provided with a playback speed control function, thereby reducing external keys and unifying setting means.
(3) The assignment of the function to the rotary dial is determined based on the mode and display screen of the imaging apparatus that is performing the operation, and is assigned to the target control according to the state.
(4) As a method of controlling the playback speed, the step type is switched by the rotary dial, and the rotation is switched by changing the speed step by step such as playback → slow playback → double speed playback → fast forward according to the amount of rotation. The playback speed is controlled by the expression dial.

(1) According to the present invention, it is possible to select menu items, various setting values of the imaging apparatus, and control the playback speed by operating only a single rotating body.

  For this reason, the number of parts such as a plurality of external keys for selection and reproduction speed control can be reduced, and the price can be reduced.

  Further, since the number of operation members is reduced, the operation procedure that the user has to understand is simplified, and the usability and convenience can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. 1 to 7 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a video camera recorder.

  1A and 1B are perspective views of the video camera recorder 100, in which FIG. 1A shows a state in which the liquid crystal panel unit 1 is opened, and FIG. 1B shows a state in which the liquid crystal panel unit 1 is closed. 2A shows a state where an operation is performed while viewing the display screen of the liquid crystal panel unit 1, and FIG. 2B shows an enlarged view of the rotary dial portion.

  The liquid crystal panel unit 1 can be opened in a direction orthogonal to the main body as shown in FIG. 1A by photographing with a hinge 2 that can be rotated in multiple directions, as shown in FIG. ) And the display screen can be arranged facing the outer peripheral side as shown in FIG. 2A in the panel housing recess 3 during image reproduction.

  1 and 2, 4 is a lens, 5 is a viewfinder, 6 is a power switch, 7 is a battery, and 8 is a cassette cover.

  Reference numeral 9 denotes an AC adapter. An AC cable 10 is plugged into the input side, and a DC plug 11 on the output side is plugged into a DCIN terminal 12.

  A rotary dial 15 (rotating body of the present invention) that can be rotated and pressed is provided in front of and below the main body of the video camera recorder 100. The rotary dial 15 can operate a plurality of functions such as reproduction speed control and menu item selection control with one dial. Specifically, as will be described later, the rotary dial 15 is used to select an item on the screen displaying the menu, and the rotary dial 15 is selected on the reproduction execution screen for reproducing the recorded image while changing the speed. This is a function for selecting a playback speed and a playback direction by using.

  A plurality of buttons as external keys, that is, a RESET button 21, an easy dubbing button 22, a title button 23, a brightness button 24, a menu button 25, and a video operation button 26 (stop, roll) Counter, reset button 27, time button 28, and date button 29 are provided.

  The rotary dial 15 is formed in a disc shape having a predetermined thickness as shown in FIG. 2, can be rotated around the rotation axis, and is pressed in the radial direction of the dial to thereby display the position indicated by the solid line (for example, the first line). ) And a broken line position (for example, the second position) shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the rotary dial 15 is operated by rotating and pressing the liquid crystal panel section 1 and enabling the external keys (video operation buttons 26, etc.) while photographing. Menu items, functions, camera settings, etc. can be selected and set.

  In addition, the rotary dial 15 is arranged in the panel housing recess 3 with the display screen of the liquid crystal panel unit 1 facing outward during playback of a recorded image as shown in FIG. By rotating and pressing the button while the button cannot be operated, menu items, functions, etc. in the playback mode can be selected and the playback speed can be controlled.

  Control targets of the rotary dial 15 include menu item selection, setting value change / confirmation at the time of item selection (eg, strobe, screen display, etc. on / off), function selection (eg, selection of functions to be used from multiple effect functions) And change / determination of item level values (for example, adjustment of volume, focus, etc.), switching between a plurality of screens (for example, transition from a menu to a normal screen), and the like.

  Next, the system configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 31 denotes a rotary dial input circuit, which outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the rotational state and pressed state of the rotary dial 15. Reference numeral 32 denotes an external key input circuit for controlling a plurality of functions, and outputs electric signals corresponding to the operations of the buttons 21 to 29 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 33 denotes a control circuit (for example, a microprocessor) (speed control means, selection means, determination means, control target function assignment means), which AD-converts the input voltage from the external key input circuit 32 and determines what is present from the converted value. Determine if the button is pressed. Further, the rotation and pressing operation from the rotary dial input circuit 31 is used as input, and the dial rotation amount and pressing state are determined by A / D conversion. Thereby, the menu item is selected and determined by rotating and pressing the rotary dial 15 on the screen displaying the menu, and the playback speed and playback speed of the recorded image are selected on the variable speed playback screen. Send a command.

  An on-screen display circuit (hereinafter referred to as an OSD circuit) 35 interprets a command sent from the control circuit 33 and sends a display signal created on the VRAM (memory) to the superimposing circuit 36 in scanning units. Further, the bitmap data sent from the control circuit 33 is developed on the VRAM, and the display signal is sent to the superimposing circuit 36 in scanning units.

  The superimposing circuit 36 superimposes and outputs the video signal that has passed through the lens 4, CCD (imaging device) 37, and camera signal processing circuit 38 and the display signal from the OSD circuit 35. The output destinations are the LCD panel 39, the viewfinder 5, the LINEOUT 40, and the like.

  The LCD panel 39 performs OSD display on the LCD panel 39 according to the signal sent from the superimposing circuit 36.

  The lens 4 collects external light and sends it to the CCD 37. Further, according to the control signal received from the control circuit 33, the aperture value is changed to adjust the enlargement amount of the photographed image.

  The CCD 37 converts the optical signal input via the lens 4 into an electrical signal and sends it to the camera signal processing circuit 38.

  The camera signal processing circuit 38 processes the electrical signal received from the CCD 37 as an image and sends it as a video signal to the recording circuit 34 and the superimposing circuit 36. Further, in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 33, a video effect is added to the video signal.

  The recording circuit 34 records the video signal from the camera signal processing circuit 38 on the recording medium 41 in accordance with a control signal instruction from the control circuit 33. The recording medium 41 is composed of a magnetic tape, a disk-shaped recording medium, a hard disk, a solid memory, or the like.

  Reference numeral 42 denotes a power supply circuit that supplies power to the control circuit 33 using the battery 7 and the AC cable 10 as supply sources. The power supply to the other circuit is performed by the control circuit 33 operating (turning on and off) the power control circuit 43 (switch or the like) inserted in the electric circuit connecting the other circuit and the power circuit 42.

  The battery 7 serves as a power source for supplying power to the power circuit 42 and can be charged by the power circuit 42 based on the power supplied by the AC cable 10.

  The LINEOUT 40 is a terminal for outputting the video signal sent from the superimposing circuit 36 to another device such as a television. Similarly to the LCD panel 39, the viewfinder 5 is a display device for confirming a recorded image during photographing or reproduction and viewing information displayed by the OSD circuit 35.

  Next, the state of the imaging device and the switching of the control target function by the display screen in the apparatus configured as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The imaging apparatus according to the present embodiment has two modes, an A shooting mode for shooting a moving image and a B playback mode for playing back a recorded moving image. Perform function control.

  First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the power is on. If not, the process is invalidated (step S2). If the power is on, the operation mode is determined in step S3, and if it is the A shooting mode, the current display screen type is determined in step S4.

  If the current display screen is on the C shooting screen or the D menu display screen, the rotary dial 15 is enabled (steps S5 and S6), and disabled on other screens (step S7).

  The camera setting value is controlled by the rotary dial 15 on the C shooting screen, the menu item selection control is performed by the rotary dial 15 on the D menu display screen, and otherwise the rotary dial 15 is disabled.

  If it is determined in step S3 that the mode is the B playback mode, the type of the current display screen is determined in step S8. If the current display screen is the E playback execution screen or the F menu display screen, the rotary dial 15 is enabled (steps S9 and S10), and the other screens are disabled (step S11).

  On the E playback execution screen, the playback speed control is performed by the rotary dial 15, and on the F menu display screen, the menu item selection control is performed by the rotary dial 15. Otherwise, the rotary dial 15 is disabled.

  In step S5 of the C shooting screen, in order to change setting values such as camera signals, items to be set (digital zoom magnification, camera shake correction, presence / absence of infrared light, etc.) are validated with other external keys and rotated in that state. A process of changing the set value by rotating the expression dial 15 is performed.

  In steps S6 and S10 on the D and F menu display screens, the selected item is changed by a rotating operation of the rotary dial 15, and is executed by a pressing operation. In step S9 of the E playback execution screen, if the recording device is in the playback state, the playback speed is changed by rotating the rotary dial 15. If the playback device is in the playback pause state, the current position is moved back and forth by one frame by the rotating operation. Move to.

  In a state where the other rotary dial 15 is not enabled (steps S7 and S11), no processing is performed even if the dial is operated.

  Next, the state transition of the menu item selection control is shown in FIG. As a menu item selection procedure, first, after entering the menu screen of FIG. 5A, the item to be changed is moved by the rotation of the rotary dial 15 (FIG. 5B).

  Therefore, the item is determined by pressing the dial, and the control shifts to the set value control after the item is selected (FIGS. 5C and 5D). When the dial is rotated in this state, the setting value of the selected item changes. The set value is determined by pressing the dial in a state that matches the set value to be set, and then the state shifts to the item selection state (FIG. 5A).

  FIG. 6 shows the state transition of the variable speed regeneration control. The reproduction speed is changed by rotating the rotary dial 15 while the reproduction execution screen in the reproduction mode is displayed. Depending on whether the playback state at that time is the normal playback state (FIGS. 6A and 6B) or the playback pause state (FIGS. 6C and 6D), the switching order of the playback speed is changed. By changing, the speed is adjusted to meet the user's request.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the rotary dial 15 is rotated during reproduction, the speed is increased in stages such as 1 to 3 steps and −1 to −3 steps according to the amount of rotation of the dial. If the rotary dial 15 is rotated while the reproduction is paused, the frame advance and frame return states are entered. The playback state and the playback pause state are switched by pressing the rotary dial 15, and the start and stop of playback are performed using an external key (for example, the video operation button 26 in FIG. 1A).

  As another embodiment, if the rotary dial 15 is rotated while being pressed, fast-forwarding and rewinding (picture search) are performed while displaying an image. The rewinding may be configured.

  Various operations such as menu item selection, setting value change, function selection, and the like, which have been performed by a plurality of external keys in this way, can be performed by the single rotary dial 15. For example, each of the above-described operations shown in FIG. The functions of the buttons 21 to 29 can be configured to be executed by the rotary dial 15.

  Therefore, since the number of operation members is reduced, the operation procedure that the user must understand is simplified, and the usability and convenience can be improved. Moreover, it is possible to reduce the price by reducing the number of parts.

  In addition, the number of functions that can be operated does not change compared to when using an external key, and the user's immediacy and convenience are not impaired, and the same operability as before can be realized. Furthermore, as a developmental effect, by using a rotary dial to change the state during variable speed playback, the speed can be set according to the amount of rotation, compared to when speed control was performed with multiple external keys. Even intuitive control can be performed.

1A and 1B show an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view with a liquid crystal panel portion opened, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view with a liquid crystal panel portion closed. An embodiment of this invention is represented, (a) is a perspective view at the time of reproduction | regeneration, (b) is a principal part enlarged view. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. The flowchart of the process which the control object function allocation means in one embodiment of this invention performs. Explanatory drawing showing operation of selection of a menu item in one example of the present invention, and a decision. Explanatory drawing showing the reproduction speed change operation in the example of 1 embodiment of this invention. The change transition diagram of the reproduction speed in the example of one embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid crystal panel part, 2 ... Hinge, 3 ... Panel accommodation recessed part, 4 ... Lens, 5 ... Viewfinder, 6 ... Power switch, 7 ... Battery, 8 ... Cassette cover, 9 ... AC adapter, 10 ... AC cable, 11 ... DC plug, 12 ... DCIN terminal, 15 ... Rotary dial, 21 ... Reset button, 22 ... Easy dubbing button, 23 ... Title button, 24 ... Brightness button, 25 ... Menu button, 26 ... Video operation button, 27 ... Counter reset button, 28 ... Time button, 29 ... Date button, 31 ... Rotary dial input circuit, 32 ... Key input circuit, 33 ... Control circuit, 34 ... Recording circuit, 35 ... On-screen display circuit, 36 ... Superimposition circuit, 37 ... CCD, 38 ... camera signal processing circuit, 39 ... LCD panel, 40 ... LINOUT, 41 ... recording Deer, 42 ... power supply circuit, 43 ... power supply control circuit.

Claims (5)

An imaging device capable of shooting a movie,
A rotating body configured to be rotatable about a rotation axis and movable between a first existence position and a second existence position separated from each other by a predetermined distance;
Speed control means for controlling the playback speed according to the rotational state of the rotating body;
Selection means for selecting each of menu items, functions, and various setting values of the imaging device according to the rotation state of the rotating body;
An imaging apparatus comprising: a determination unit that determines an element selected by the selection unit in accordance with a position where the rotating body exists.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a control target function assigning unit that assigns which of the speed control unit and the selection unit to operate according to an operation mode and a display screen of the imaging device.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the speed control unit switches the speed in a stepwise manner in accordance with a rotation amount of the rotating body.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit switches between a playback mode and a playback pause mode. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the switching by switching between a reproduction mode, a fast forward mode, and a rewind mode.