JP2008211500A - Television interphone apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a television interphone apparatus which secures an excellent image quality as far as a circumference at a dark field time even if a camera provided with a wide angle lens is used, and furthermore solves a heating problem. <P>SOLUTION: In the television interphone apparatus, a slave unit 1 arranges light sources 6 (6a, 6b to 6h) as a plurality of photographing lights at symmetrical positions of a periphery with the camera 4 having the wide angle lens positioned at its center and sets a light source controller 12 to control a light emission of the light sources 6. A master unit sets an operation portion to enlarge a part of a camera imaging image image-output on a monitor, the master unit CPU controls the enlarged output image by a zooming operation and transmits a light source selecting signal to the slave unit 1. The light source controller 12 receives the light source selecting signal and an AGC signal brought from an image processor 5 and controls the plural pieces of light sources 6a, 6b to 6h individually according to the part zoomed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television intercom apparatus that can capture a visitor's image with a television camera at an entrance / gate / entrance and monitor a captured image in a living room.

  In recent years, from the viewpoint of crime prevention, an increasing number of general households install a TV intercom device that can check a visitor with a TV camera. Specifically, a slave unit with a TV camera is installed at the entrance, etc., and a master unit with a monitor is installed in the room. The camera is activated by a call signal from the slave unit, and the resident talks to the visitor. It is configured so that visitors can be confirmed on the monitor. In particular, handset devices equipped with illumination for imaging are widely used because they have the advantage of brightly illuminating visitors even after sunset and easily checking visitors.

As such a television intercom apparatus, there exists a thing of a structure as shown to patent document 1, for example. In this patent document 1, a plurality of illumination lamps having an oblong illumination pattern are used, and the illumination direction of each lamp is individually directed to the left and right to illuminate a wide angle. is doing. Even if the visitor is short like a child, or even if the visitor is not standing in front of the camera, an image that can be easily confirmed can be displayed on the monitor of the master unit.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-103459

Such a TV intercom device is effective for crime prevention because it can respond while confirming the visitor, so when it makes a noise outside, it captures not only a narrow range of images at the entrance, but also a wide range of images in front of the entrance. There were many requests to check the situation on the monitor, and such requests could not be fully met.
For this reason, it is possible to acquire a wide range of images by attaching a wide-angle lens to the camera of the slave unit, and display the entire captured image, or enlarge and display a part of it on the monitor if necessary. The use of the zoom function is considered.

  However, in the case of such a configuration, the conventional technique as disclosed in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. Certainly, the above-mentioned conventional technology has made it possible to illuminate a wide area. However, since the illumination lamp is biased with respect to the camera, the illuminance distribution changes depending on the distance between the imaging target and the camera. The problem that the vicinity of the illumination lamp group near the center is bright and becomes darker toward the periphery has not been solved. In addition, since a plurality of illumination lamps are arranged in a concentrated manner, there is a problem of heat generation and a problem that reliability is reduced due to the problem.

  Therefore, in view of such problems, the present invention provides a television intercom apparatus that can ensure good video quality up to the periphery even in the dark field and can also eliminate the heat generation problem by a camera equipped with a wide-angle lens. For the purpose.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention described in claim 1 has a function of calling a resident and a slave unit provided with a camera for imaging a visitor, a function of responding to a call and a camera. In a TV intercom device equipped with a main unit having a monitor for outputting captured images, the camera has a wide-angle lens and a plurality of light sources as photographing illuminations are arranged at symmetrical positions around the wide-angle lens. It is characterized by that.
According to this configuration, the light source for illumination is arranged in a symmetrical position with the wide-angle lens as the center, so that the light quantity is not partially biased and a wide range can be irradiated with a uniform illuminance distribution around the wide-angle lens. It becomes. As a result, regardless of the distance between the object to be imaged and the camera, natural images can be projected from the monitor, not only in the center but also in the periphery, even when shooting using a wide-angle lens, and the light sources are distributed. Therefore, there is no fear of heat generation due to concentration of light sources.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the parent device has zoom control means for zooming out a part of the captured image of the camera displayed on the monitor and controlling zooming, and zooming for zooming. And the zoom control means has a function of transmitting zoom part information of the camera-captured image to the slave unit, while the slave unit receives a plurality of zoom part information and zooms into a plurality of parts. It has the illumination control means which controls a light source separately, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
According to this configuration, by controlling the light emission of the light source according to the zoom region, for example, at night, when the image captured by the wide-angle lens is displayed on the monitor by electronic pan / tilt or zooming, that region By turning on only the light source that illuminates the light source and turning off the light source in unnecessary places, the power consumption can be reduced without reducing the clarity.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 2, the light quantity of the light source is controlled by the illumination control means, and the optimal illumination is obtained by controlling the light quantity of the light source by this configuration. Can provide environment.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect of the present invention, the video processing unit that processes the imaging signal of the camera includes an AGC circuit, and the illumination control means is a light source based on the AGC signal of the AGC circuit. This configuration makes it possible to automatically control the exposure condition by controlling the light source so that the face of the visitor can be recognized.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the fourth aspect, the illumination control means controls the light amount of the light source by the duty ratio of the drive current, and the brightness is favorably controlled by this configuration. it can.

  The invention of claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each light source is housed in a slave unit housing, and illumination is emitted from a window provided in the housing. Therefore, with this configuration, the front surface of the slave unit casing can be flattened and the casing can be easily manufactured.

According to the present invention, since the illumination light source is disposed at a symmetrical position with the wide-angle lens as the center, it is possible to irradiate a wide range with a uniform illuminance distribution around the wide-angle lens without the light amount being partially biased. Become. As a result, even when shooting with a wide-angle lens, a natural image can be projected from the monitor not only in the central part but also in the peripheral part, and since the light sources are distributed, there is a risk of heat generation due to concentration of the light sources. There is no.
In addition, in the configuration that controls the light emission of the light source according to the zoom part, for example, when the image captured by the wide-angle lens is displayed on the monitor by electronic pan / tilt or zooming, only the light source that illuminates the output part is lit. By doing so, power consumption can be reduced without degrading clarity.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a TV intercom apparatus according to the present invention. 1 is a slave unit installed at an entrance / gate / entrance or the like for a visitor to call a resident, and 2 is a slave unit. 1 is a base unit for responding to a call from 1, and both are connected by a transmission line L.

  The handset 1 is configured as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, and has a camera 4, an AGC circuit, an NTSC, and the like having an image sensor composed of a wide-angle lens and an image sensor for capturing a wide range of images of a visitor and the entrance. A video processing unit 5 having a modulation circuit for generating a video signal, a light source 6 (6a to 6h) comprising a plurality of LEDs for illumination, a light source driving circuit 7 for causing the light source 6 to emit light, a call button 8, and a microphone 9 and an acoustic unit 11 for controlling the speaker 10, a light source control unit 12 for controlling the light source drive circuit 7, a slave unit interface (slave unit IF) 13 for communicating with the master unit 2, and the like.

The light sources 6 are provided at symmetrical positions around the camera 4, and a total of eight light sources 6 are provided. The light sources 6 are respectively embedded in the slave unit casings, and are arranged so as to irradiate a predetermined front through transparent windows (at least transparent with respect to the emission color of the light source 6). Specifically, the illumination is arranged so as to correspond to FIG. 4A of a monitor output state explanatory diagram described later, and illuminates a portion corresponding to each of the sections a to h.
The light source driving circuit 7 drives the light source 6 with a pulse signal output from the light source control unit 12, and changes the illuminance by changing the pulse width. Moreover, as LED which comprises the light source 6, power LED with a lens which can irradiate light with a wide angle is suitable.

  The master unit 2 includes a video processing unit 15 that performs processing such as demodulation of the video signal transmitted from the slave unit 1, a monitor 16 that includes an LCD that displays video, a video memory 17 that records video, and video An operation unit 18 for performing various operations such as zoom-in operation, a call button 19, an acoustic unit 22 for controlling a microphone 20 and a speaker 21 for a call, and a CPU for controlling the master unit 2 (hereinafter referred to as a master unit CPU). ) 23 and a base unit interface (base unit IF) 24 for communicating with the handset. The operation unit 18 includes a touch panel installed on the front surface of the monitor 16.

The operation of the television intercom apparatus having the above configuration will be described below. By pressing the call button 8 of the child device 1, the calling operation is started, and a calling signal is transmitted from the child device 1 to the parent device 2. The master CPU 23 receives the calling signal and reports a calling sound from the speaker 21. Also, the camera 4 is activated in conjunction with the calling operation to start imaging, and a video signal is sent to the video processing unit 5. This video signal is signal-processed and modulated by the video processing unit 5, and is transmitted to the parent device 2 via the child device IF 13.
The master unit 2 that has received the imaging signal is output to the monitor 16 by being demodulated by the video processing unit 15. Thus, the resident who hears the ringing tone operates the call button 19, so that a call can be made with the visitor while viewing the visitor video displayed on the monitor 16.

At this time, the video image displayed on the monitor 16 is a video imaged by a wide-angle lens, and is a video image of the entire entrance including the visitors. As shown in the monitor output state explanatory diagram of FIG. 4A, this captured image is divided into 9 parts (upper left, middle left, lower left, middle upper, middle, middle lower, upper right, (Right middle, lower right) Then, by touching the touch panel (operation unit 18) installed on the front surface of the monitor 16, the touched region is enlarged from the divided nine regions and displayed on the entire monitor surface. The CPU 23 performs electronic pan / tilt and electronic zoom-in processing.
For example, when the upper right area a in the monitor display unit is touched, the area a is enlarged and displayed on the entire monitor surface as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the light source 6 operates as follows in response to the change in the output of the monitor 16. The light source 6 does not turn on in a bright situation such as daytime, but emits light in the dark field according to the brightness of the imaging target. The operation in this case will be described. First, since the entire image of the image captured by the camera 4 is displayed on the first image displayed on the monitor 16, light is emitted so that all the light sources 6a to 6h are turned on and the entire region becomes bright. .
When the enlargement operation of the upper right area “a” is performed as described above, the light source selection signal including the zoom part information of the area “a” is transmitted from the parent device CPU 23 to the child device 1. The light source controller 12 that has received this light source selection signal controls the light source drive circuit 7 to turn on the light source 6a and turn off the other light sources. Further, when the left middle d region is enlarged, the light source control unit 12 similarly controls the light source driving circuit 7 to change the lighting to only the light source 6d. Further, when the central region i is selected, the light source control unit 12 controls the light source driving circuit 7 to turn on all the light sources 6a to 6h with a light amount of about 50%. Table 1 shows a summary of the above light emitting operations.

As described above, since the illumination light source is arranged around the wide-angle lens, the light amount is not partially biased, and it is possible to irradiate a wide area around the wide-angle lens with a uniform illuminance distribution. As a result, regardless of the distance between the object to be imaged and the camera, natural images can be projected from the monitor, not only in the center but also in the periphery, even when shooting using a wide-angle lens, and the light sources are distributed. Therefore, there is no fear of heat generation due to concentration of light sources.
In addition, by controlling the light emission of the light source according to the zoom part, for example, at night, when the image taken with the wide-angle lens is displayed on the monitor by electronic pan / tilt or zooming, only the light source that illuminates that part By turning on and turning off unnecessary light sources, power consumption can be reduced without degrading image quality, and the light source is placed inside the slave unit casing and irradiated from the window. Can be made flat, and the housing can be easily manufactured.

Further, the light amount of the light source 6 is controlled as follows. The light source driving circuit 7 controls the light quantity of the light source 6 by changing the duty ratio of the pulse, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the light emission control of the light source 6. Reference numeral 30 denotes a wide-angle lens provided in the camera 4, 31 denotes an image sensor, 32 denotes a DSP constituting an AGC circuit of the video processing unit 5, and 33 denotes an encoder. The light source control unit 12 generates a pulse signal for driving the light source 6 based on the AGC signal transmitted from the DSP 32 in addition to the light source selection signal transmitted from the master unit 2, and changes the duty ratio of the pulse to change the illuminance. Feedback control is implemented.
Therefore, from the state where only the light source 6a is lit with 100% illuminance, the illuminance of the light source 6a can be controlled to be lit with 50% illuminance by the AGC signal according to the ambient brightness. Of course, when it is sufficiently bright, it remains off. The generation of the pulse signal for driving the light source 6 is controlled in accordance with the imaging timing of the camera 4.

Thus, the optimal illumination environment can be provided by controlling the light quantity of the light source. Further, by performing feedback control using an AGC signal, it is possible to automatically control the exposure conditions by controlling the light source so that the face of the visitor can be recognized.
Further, since the light amount is controlled by the duty ratio of the pulse waveform, the brightness can be controlled satisfactorily.

In the above embodiment, when the zoom-in operation is performed on the peripheral portion, only one light source 6 corresponding to the image output area is caused to emit light and the others are turned off. It is also possible to perform control to lower the ambient illuminance. Further, when the central portion is enlarged, the entire light amount is 50%. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the 50% light amount may be changed and controlled by receiving an AGC signal.
Further, the number of light sources does not need to be eight, and may be four as shown in FIG. 6, for example, and good illumination can be obtained by arranging them symmetrically with respect to the camera 4.
In addition, although the zoom operation of the displayed image is performed by the touch panel operation, the pan / tilt operation can be performed using the cross-shaped operation button and the zoom button can be used for zooming.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of embodiment of the television intercom apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a circuit block diagram of the subunit | mobile_unit of FIG. FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the parent device in FIG. 1. It is a monitor output state explanatory drawing, (a) shows the state before zooming, (b) shows the zoomed state. It is a block diagram for light emission control explanation of a light source. It is a block diagram of the television intercom apparatus which shows the other example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1 .. Slave unit, 2 .. Master unit, 4 .. Camera, 5 .. Image processing unit, 6 .. Light source, 7 .. Light source drive circuit, 12 .. Light source control unit, 16. -Operation unit, 23-Master CPU, 30-Wide-angle lens, 32-DSP

Claims (6)

A slave unit having a function of calling a resident and having a camera for imaging a visitor; and a master unit having a function of responding to the call and a monitor for displaying an image captured by the camera TV intercom device
The television interphone apparatus, wherein the camera includes a wide-angle lens and a plurality of light sources as photographing illuminations are arranged at symmetrical positions around the wide-angle lens. The master unit has zoom control means for enlarging a part of the captured image of the camera displayed on the monitor, and zoom operation means for zooming, and the zoom control means further includes: While having a function of transmitting zoom part information of the camera captured image to the slave unit,
The television intercom apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the slave unit includes an illumination control unit that individually controls the plurality of light sources according to a zoomed part in response to the zoom part information. 3. The television intercom apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the amount of light of the light source is controlled by the illumination control means. 4. The video processing unit that processes an imaging signal of the camera includes an AGC circuit, and the illumination control unit controls the light source based on an AGC signal of the AGC circuit. TV intercom device. 5. The television intercom apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the illumination control means controls the light amount of the light source by a duty ratio of the drive current. 6. The television intercom apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each light source is housed in a slave unit casing, and illumination is emitted from a window provided in the casing.

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