JP2011113873A - Light control device, light-adjustment control method, and projector - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately adjust the degree of a change if needed when changing the luminance of a light source. <P>SOLUTION: The light control device comprises: a light source 13 which can adjust luminance; a delay part 12 which delays the change of a drive signal inputted into the light source 13; and a control unit 11 which outputs a light-adjustment control signal for driving the light source 13 and switches the necessity of the execution of the delay operation by the delay part 12 by the selection signal according to the indication signal which commands an increase or decrease of the luminance of light source 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light control device, a light control method, and a projection device suitable for illumination using a plurality of light source elements.

  Conventionally, at the time of step dimming, the current dimming rate and dimming are provided in order to provide a dimming device that allows the dimming person to recognize the change in brightness of the incandescent lamp regardless of the current dimming rate. The following patent document discloses a technique for dimming control to a step dimming level that is skipped by one step when the difference from the closest step dimming rate level in the down direction is less than a predetermined set dimming rate difference. Are listed. (Patent Document 1)

JP 2006-012648 A

  The technology described in the above-mentioned patent document intentionally gives a slightly larger luminance change when the luminance change instructed by the user is very small.

  On the other hand, in any of high-brightness LEDs and other light-emitting elements that are rapidly spreading recently, the light-emission brightness may change even under the same driving conditions due to changes over time, ambient brightness, ambient temperature, etc. Many.

  For light-emitting elements whose light emission luminance changes depending on factors other than the instructions intended by the user, the light emission element driving conditions are changed without being recognized by the user, and the same light emission luminance as before is maintained. Need to be automatically controlled.

  As described above, there are two contradictory requirements for intentionally expressing the change in light emission luminance and for adjusting the light emission luminance change as little as possible, and it is difficult to achieve both. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object of the present invention is to adjust the degree of change appropriately when necessary when changing the light emission luminance of the light source. An object of the present invention is to provide a light control device, a dimming control method, and a projection device.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a light source capable of adjusting light emission luminance, a light source driving means for outputting a driving signal for driving the light source, and a delay means for delaying a change in the driving signal output by the light source driving means. And an instruction means for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source, and a light source control means for switching presence / absence of execution of the delay operation by the delay means in accordance with an instruction from the instruction means.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the light source of the light source according to the first aspect of the invention further includes a detecting unit that detects an operating environment of the light source. In addition to instructing increase / decrease in luminance, the light source control means does not execute the delay operation when an instruction in the instruction means is based on a detection result of the detection means.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 2, wherein the detection means detects at least one of temperature and luminance of the light source.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the delay means comprises an integration circuit having a preset integration constant.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the light source control means emphasizes a drive signal output from the light source driving means when executing a delay operation by the delay means. It is further characterized by further comprising an emphasizing means.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the light source includes a plurality of light source elements, and the delay means has a drive signal change period for the plurality of light source elements of the light source. It is characterized by delaying sequentially so as to be different from each other.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the light source has a plurality of light source elements, and the light source control means initially changes a drive signal for the plurality of light source elements of the light source. The driving signal is supplied so that the lengths of the emphasis periods of the driving signal output from the light source driving unit emphasized by the emphasizing unit are different from each other.

  The invention according to claim 8 is a light source capable of adjusting light emission luminance, a light source driving unit that outputs a driving signal for driving the light source, and a delay unit that delays a change in the driving signal output from the light source driving unit. A dimming control method in a light source device comprising: an instruction step for instructing increase / decrease of light emission luminance of the light source; and switching of execution of a delay operation by the delay unit according to an instruction in the instruction step And a light source control step.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light source capable of adjusting light emission luminance, a light source driving unit that supplies a driving signal for driving the light source to the light source, and a driving signal that the light source driving unit supplies the light source. Delay means for delaying the change, instruction means for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source, light source control means for switching the execution of the delay operation by the delay means in accordance with an instruction from the instruction means, and an image signal Input means, and projection means for forming and emitting a light image based on an image signal input by the input means using light from the light source.

  According to the present invention, when changing the light emission luminance of the light source, it is possible to appropriately adjust the degree of change as necessary.

1 is a block diagram showing a basic circuit configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The timing chart which shows the outline of the operation waveform which concerns on the same embodiment. The timing chart which shows the outline of the other operation | movement waveform which concerns on the same embodiment. The block diagram which shows schematic function structure of the electronic circuit with which the data projector apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention is provided. The timing chart which shows the outline of the operation waveform which concerns on the same embodiment. The timing chart which shows the outline of the other operation | movement waveform which concerns on the same embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic circuit configuration of a dimming control device 10 according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the dimming control device 10 includes a control unit 11, a delay unit 12, a light source unit 13, and a temperature sensor TS.

  The control unit 11 inputs an instruction signal instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 from a key operation unit (not shown) here, and outputs a dimming control signal and a selection signal to the delay unit 12 according to the input. .

  The delay unit 12 converts the dimming control signal from the control unit 11 and sends it to the light source unit 13 as a dimming signal after appropriately giving a time delay. The light source unit 13 is configured by a light emitting element that emits light by changing the brightness so that the light emission luminance according to the dimming signal from the delay unit 12 is obtained.

  In addition, the delay unit 12 is configured to be able to select whether or not to give a time delay to the dimming signal output by the selection signal from the control unit 11.

  The temperature sensor TS is installed with respect to the light source unit 13, detects the temperature when the light source unit 13 emits light, and outputs a detection signal to the control unit 11.

  Next, specific examples of each circuit when the dimming control is performed at the voltage level of the signal will be described. The control unit 11 includes a D / A converter 11 a and outputs a dimming control signal having an intended dimming voltage level to the delay unit 12.

  The delay unit 12 is configured by an integration circuit including, for example, a resistor R and a capacitor C. A selection signal from the control unit 11 is given to the switch SW connected in parallel with the resistor R, and the switch SW is turned on. / Turn off. When the switch SW is turned on by the selection signal, the resistor R is short-circuited and the delay effect by the integrating circuit is invalidated.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2A, in the state where the switch SW is turned on by the selection signal from the control unit 11 to the delay unit 12, the delay effect in the delay unit 12 is invalidated. Therefore, when a dimming control signal from the control unit 11 as shown in FIG. 2B is supplied to the delay unit 12, the delay unit 12 directly uses the dimming signal having the same waveform as shown in FIG. The light source unit 13 is provided. As a result, the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 changes following the dimming control signal output from the control unit 11 linearly.

  Therefore, when the user wants to recognize the change in the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 such as when the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 is changed by an instruction operation by the user, the user can respond to the instruction signal input to the control unit 11. By turning on the switch SW by the selection signal from the control unit 11 to the delay unit 12, the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 changes rapidly as the dimming control signal changes.

  Next, in the state where the switch SW is turned off by the selection signal from the control unit 11 to the delay unit 12 as shown in FIG. Therefore, when a dimming control signal from the control unit 11 as shown in FIG. 2B is supplied to the delay unit 12, the delay unit 12 gradually increases according to the integration constant in the integration circuit as shown in FIG. Is converted into a waveform that changes to, and supplied to the light source unit 13 as a dimming signal. As a result, the light emission luminance at the light source unit 13 finally changes to the intended level after a certain time corresponding to the integration constant with respect to the dimming control signal output from the control unit 11.

  Accordingly, when the user does not want the user to recognize the change in the light emission luminance at the light source unit 13, for example, when the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 is changed in response to the detection signal from the temperature sensor TS, the control unit 11. Since the switch SW is turned off by the selection signal from the delay unit 12 to the delay unit 12, the delay function in the delay unit 12 is set to be effective, and the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 does not follow the change of the dimming control signal. , Can change slowly.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the delay function in the delay unit 12 for the dimming control signal output from the control unit 11 can be easily selected and reflected in the dimming signal to the light source unit 13. Therefore, it is possible to appropriately adjust the degree of change as necessary between when the user wants to actively recognize the change in light emission luminance due to dimming control and when he wants to execute it slowly without recognition. Become.

  In addition, the delay unit 12 is configured by a simple integration circuit including, for example, a resistor R and a capacitor C, and the delay function is enabled / disabled simply by turning on / off the switch SW connected in parallel with the resistor R. It was supposed to be.

  As a result, since the integration constant (time constant) can be calculated by simple calculation with a very simple configuration, an arbitrary delay characteristic can be set, and a variable resistor and a capacitor C can be used instead of the resistor R. If a variable capacitor is used, it becomes easy to arbitrarily change the delay characteristic, and it is possible to cope with individual differences of elements used as the light source unit 13.

  In the above-described embodiment, the temperature sensor TS is provided as a detection unit that detects the operating environment of the light source unit 13, and the light emission temperature of the light source unit 13 is detected and the detection result is output to the control unit 11. The present invention is not limited to this. For example, an illuminance sensor that detects the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 is provided, and the result obtained by the illuminance sensor is fed back to the control unit 11 so that the light emission luminance of the light source unit 13 is accurately maintained. Or it becomes controllable.

  Furthermore, the detection means for detecting the operating environment of the light source unit 13 is not limited to the temperature sensor and the illuminance sensor, and may be one that detects electrical characteristics such as a current value and a voltage value.

  If the amount of change in light control is small even if the delay operation by the delay unit 12 is disabled, and it is difficult for the user to recognize the change in light emission luminance, the target level is temporarily set when the light control signal is changed. It is also possible to give an emphasis that exceeds that.

Hereinafter, such a control operation will be described as another operation example of the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 shows each signal waveform when the user wants to recognize a change in light emission luminance.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the control unit 11 uses a dimming control signal as a signal to change the voltage level so that the voltage level is more emphasized with respect to the change direction for the initial predetermined time T1 when the target level is changed. Control the level.

  At the same time, as shown in FIG. 3A, the control unit 11 invalidates the delay operation by the selection signal to the delay unit 12 at the initial timing of changing the target level, while starting from the middle of the predetermined time T1. The delay operation is enabled by a selection signal to the delay unit 12 at least until the integration time of the integration circuit of the delay unit 12 elapses.

  As a result, as shown in FIG. 3C, the degree of change in the light emission luminance at the light source unit 13 is emphasized so that it can be easily recognized by the user, and then the delay function is enabled to achieve the original target level. The light emission luminance can be gradually converged, and dimming control that does not feel uncomfortable for the user can be realized.

(Second Embodiment)
Hereinafter, a second embodiment when the present invention is applied to a data projector apparatus having a dimming control function will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic functional configuration of an electronic circuit provided in the data projector device 20 according to the embodiment.
An input unit 21 receives image signals of various standards. An image signal input from the input unit 21 is input to an image conversion unit 22 that is generally also referred to as a scaler, via the system bus SB. The image conversion unit 22 unifies the input image signal into an image signal having a predetermined format suitable for projection, and then sends the image signal to the projection image processing unit 23.

  The projection image processing unit 23 multiplies a frame rate according to a predetermined format, for example, 30 [frames / second], the number of color component divisions, and the number of display gradations, in accordance with the transmitted image signal. The micromirror element 24, which is a spatial light modulation element (SLM), is driven to display by high-speed time division driving.

  This micromirror element 24 is turned on and off at a high speed individually by tilting angles of a plurality of micromirrors arranged in an array, for example, XGA (horizontal 1024 × vertical 768 dots). Form an image.

  On the other hand, the LED array 25 is configured by regularly arranging a large number of LEDs that emit high-luminance white light. The light emitted from the LED array 25 is collected by a truncated pyramid-shaped housing 26 having a reflecting mirror attached to the entire inner surface, and is converted into a luminous flux having a uniform luminance distribution by an integrator 27, and then colored through a color wheel 28. Further, it is totally reflected by the mirror 29 and applied to the micromirror element 24.

  Then, an optical image is formed by the reflected light from the micromirror element 24, and the formed optical image is projected and displayed via a projection lens unit 30 on a screen (not shown) to be projected.

  The LED array 25 is driven and controlled by the projection light processing unit 31 and emits light with a luminance corresponding to the drive current value.

  The projection light processing unit 31 controls the light emission timing and drive current of each LED constituting the LED array 25 in accordance with the projection timing signal of the image data given from the projection image processing unit 23.

  Further, the projection light processing unit 31 supplies power to the motor (M) 32 that rotates the color wheel 28 and receives a detection signal from a temperature sensor 33 that measures the temperature of the LED array 25.

  The CPU 34 controls all the operations of the above circuits. The CPU 34 uses the main memory 35 and the program memory 36 to execute control operations in the data projector device 20. The main memory 35 is composed of a DRAM and functions as a work memory. The program memory 36 is composed of an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory storing an operation program, various fixed data, a table to be described later, and the like, and the program, data, and the like are read out to the main memory 35 by the CPU 34 as necessary.

  The CPU 34 performs various projection operations in response to key operation signals from the operation unit 37. The operation unit 37 includes a key operation unit provided in the main body of the data projector device 20 and a laser light receiving unit that receives infrared light from a remote controller (not shown) dedicated to the data projector device 20. A key operation signal based on the key operated via the controller is directly output to the CPU 34.

  As described above, the data projector device 20 according to the present embodiment has a dimming control function, and is basically the same as the dimming control device 10 of FIG. 1 in order to realize the function. Includes circuit configuration. That is, the control unit 11 and the delay unit 12 of the light control device 10 are provided in the projection light processing unit 31, the light source unit 13 corresponds to the LED array 25, and the temperature sensor TS corresponds to the temperature sensor 33.

  Accordingly, both the dimming control signal and the selection signal output from the control unit 11 to the delay unit 12 in FIG. 1 are signals inside the projection light processing unit 31. The dimming signal output from the delay unit 12 to the light source unit 13 corresponds to a drive signal to the individual LEDs that the projection light processing unit 31 constitutes the LED array 25.

  Incidentally, when the light source element is an LED, the dimming control is executed by varying the current value with a constant voltage, and therefore the dimming control signal and the dimming signal described later are signals that increase or decrease the current value.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In the state where the delay effect is invalidated by the selection signal inside the projection light processing unit 31 as shown in FIG. 5A, the dimming control signal oscillating inside the projection light processing unit 31 shown in FIG. As a reference, as shown in FIGS. 5C to 5F, dimming signals 1 to N having the same waveform are generated as they are, and are supplied to the individual LEDs (1 to N) constituting the LED array 25. As a result, the light emission luminance of the LED array 25 composed of a plurality of LEDs changes linearly following the dimming control signal used as a reference in the projection light processing unit 31 as shown in FIG. 5 (G). .

  Therefore, when the user wants to recognize the change in the light emission luminance of the LED array 25, such as when the light emission luminance of the LED array 25 is changed by an instruction operation by the user, the CPU 34 responds to the operation signal from the operation unit 37. When the projection light processing unit 31 intentionally disables the delay effect via the, the emission luminance of the LED array 25 changes rapidly as the dimming control signal oscillated in the projection light processing unit 31 changes.

  Next, when the delay effect is validated by the selection signal inside the projection light processing unit 31 as shown in FIG. 5A, a dimming control signal oscillating inside the projection light processing unit 31 shown in FIG. As a reference, the dimming signals 1 to N having the same waveform with different phases that are sequentially delayed by the minute time t11 as shown in FIGS. To the LEDs (1-N).

  As a result, the light emission luminance of the LED array 25 composed of a plurality of LEDs is set to rise and rise with respect to the dimming control signal used as a reference in the projection light processing unit 31 as shown in FIG. The falling part changes so as to have a gentle slope.

  Therefore, when the user does not want the user to recognize the change in the light emission luminance of the LED array 25, for example, when the light emission luminance of the LED array 25 is changed in response to the detection signal from the temperature sensor 33, the projection light processing is performed. By enabling the delay effect inside the unit 31, the light emission luminance of the LED array 25 can change slowly without following the change of the dimming control signal oscillating in the projection light processing unit 31.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the individual LEDs constituting the LED array 25 are controlled to be sequentially delayed so that the change periods of the drive signals are different from each other. Even if you do not have a circuit configuration with, you can change the degree of change according to need, whether you want the user to actively recognize the change in light emission luminance due to dimming control, or if you want to execute it slowly without recognition It becomes possible to adjust appropriately.

  If the amount of change in light control is small even if the delay operation by the projection light processing unit 31 is disabled, and it is difficult for the user to recognize the change in light emission luminance, the target level when the light control signal is changed It is also possible to apply emphasis that temporarily exceeds.

Hereinafter, such a control operation will be described as another operation example of the present embodiment.
FIG. 6 shows signal waveforms when the user wants to recognize a change in light emission luminance.

  In the projection light processing unit 31, as shown in FIG. 6B, the voltage level is changed with the dimming control signal so as to emphasize the voltage level with respect to the change direction only for the initial predetermined time T21 when the target level is changed. The signal level is controlled accordingly.

  At the same time, as shown in FIG. 6A, the projection light processing unit 31 invalidates the delay operation at the initial timing of changing the target level, while enabling the delay operation from the middle of the predetermined time T21. Yes.

  As shown in FIGS. 6C to 6F, the projection light processing unit 31 uses one of the dimming signals to the individual LEDs constituting the LED array 25 based on the dimming control signal. The “dimming signal 1” is made the same as the above-mentioned dimming control signal, and for the other dimming signals 2 to N, the predetermined time T21 for applying the above-mentioned emphasis is sequentially extended by the time width t22, and the original target level. The dimming signals 1 to N are individually changed so that the timings until they return to are different.

  As a result, the emission luminance of the LED array 25 composed of a plurality of LEDs rises at the beginning of the change with respect to the dimming control signal used as a reference in the projection light processing unit 31 as shown in FIG. While the (or falling) portions coincide and form a steep waveform, the portion returning to the original target luminance level changes so as to have a gentle slope.

  As a result, the degree of change in the light emission luminance in the LED array 25 is emphasized to make it easy for the user to recognize, and thereafter, the light emission luminance can be gradually converged to the original target level, and there is no sense of incongruity for the user. Dimming control can be realized.

  In the second embodiment, the light source element is an LED and the light emission luminance is controlled by the current value. However, the present embodiment does not limit the light emitting element and the control content of the light emission luminance. Absent.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention in the implementation stage. Further, the functions executed in the above-described embodiments may be combined as appropriate as possible. The above-described embodiment includes various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by an appropriate combination of a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent requirements are deleted from all the constituent requirements shown in the embodiment, if the effect is obtained, a configuration from which the constituent requirements are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Light control device, 11 ... Control part, 11a ... D / A converter, 12 ... Delay part, 13 ... Light source part, 20 ... Data projector apparatus, 21 ... Input part, 22 ... Image conversion part, 23 ... Projection image Processing unit 24 ... Micromirror element (SLM) 25 ... LED array 26 ... Housing 27 ... Integrator 28 ... Color wheel 29 ... Mirror 30 ... Projection lens unit 31 ... Projection light processing unit 32 ... Motor (M), 33 ... temperature sensor, 34 ... CPU, 35 ... main memory, 36 ... program memory, 37 ... operation unit, SB ... system bus, TS ... temperature sensor.

Claims (9)

A light source with adjustable emission brightness;
Light source driving means for outputting a drive signal for driving the light source;
Delay means for delaying a change in the drive signal output by the light source drive means;
Instruction means for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source;
A dimming control device comprising: a light source control unit that switches the execution of the delay operation by the delay unit according to an instruction from the instruction unit. It further comprises detection means for detecting the operating environment of the light source,
The instructing unit instructs to increase or decrease the light emission luminance of the light source based on the detection result by the detecting unit, and the light source control unit is configured such that the instruction in the instructing unit is based on the detection result of the detecting unit. The dimming control device according to claim 1, wherein the delay operation is not executed.   The dimming control device according to claim 2, wherein the detection unit detects at least one of a temperature and a luminance of the light source.   2. The dimming control device according to claim 1, wherein the delay means is constituted by an integration circuit having a preset integration constant.   5. The light source control means according to claim 1, further comprising an emphasizing means for emphasizing a drive signal output from the light source driving means when executing a delay operation by the delay means. Dimming control device. The light source has a plurality of light source elements,
2. The dimming control device according to claim 1, wherein the delay unit sequentially delays the plurality of light source elements of the light source so that the drive signal change periods are different from each other. The light source has a plurality of light source elements,
The light source control means is set at the beginning of the change of the drive signal for the plurality of light source elements of the light source, and the lengths of the enhancement periods of the drive signal output by the light source drive means emphasized by the enhancement means are different from each other. 2. The dimming control device according to claim 1, wherein the driving signal is supplied as follows. A light source device comprising: a light source capable of adjusting light emission luminance; a light source driving unit that outputs a driving signal for driving the light source; and a delay unit that delays a change in the driving signal output from the light source driving unit. A light control method,
An instruction step for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source;
And a light source control step of switching whether or not the delay operation is performed by the delay unit in accordance with an instruction in the instruction step. A light source with adjustable emission brightness;
Light source driving means for supplying a drive signal for driving the light source to the light source;
Delay means for delaying a change in drive signal supplied to the light source by the light source drive means;
Instruction means for instructing increase / decrease of the light emission luminance of the light source;
A light source control means for switching the presence or absence of execution of a delay operation by the delay means in response to an instruction from the instruction means;
An input means for inputting an image signal;
A projection apparatus comprising: projection means for forming and emitting a light image based on an image signal input by the input means using light from the light source.

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