JP2022016948A - Electronic rearview system - Google Patents

Abstract

To contribute to safe driving by making it easier for the driver to grasp a sense of distance by providing a wider range of much more viewing information when the driver is checking the rearview and by making it easy to display an image that approximates a reflected image familiar from conventional flat or convex mirrors.SOLUTION: An electronic rearview system has a simple basic configuration of a camera 1, a display driver 2, and a display 3 for rearward photography without using a half mirror or a camera with a zoom lens. In addition to an image of almost the entire horizontal area of the rear of a vehicle captured by the camera 1, a partially enlarged image of a camera-captured image to a display range close to that of a reflected image of a conventional flat or convex mirror is displayed with simple operation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an image display technique in an automobile or a two-wheeled vehicle equipped with an electronic rear view system.

In recent years, a rear view system has been devised in a vehicle using a camera that captures the rear and a display that displays the image. These systems have a relatively wide-angle field of view camera so that a wide range of safety conditions around the vehicle can be confirmed. There are many things that use.

In addition, as a technology for displaying the image behind the vehicle, in an electronic mirror system equipped with a camera that captures the rear of the vehicle and a rear-view mirror type monitor placed at the position of the conventional rear-view mirror, the lower area of the image captured by the camera is moved up and down. A technique is known that makes it easier to obtain a sense of distance by displaying a compressed image only in the direction or partially in the left-right direction. (For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

In addition, when a half mirror (plane mirror) is combined with the display surface of the display device of the electronic rear view system and the image is displayed on the display, the displayed image on the display can be confirmed through the half mirror, and when the display is turned off, the surface of the half mirror, etc. A system has also been devised that allows the double-reflection image to be confirmed and allows the selection of both a wide-range view from the display and a same-magnification reflection image from a plane mirror that makes it easy to obtain a sense of distance.

JP 2016-195301 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2020-088405

However, in the image taken by the camera with a wide-angle field of view, it is difficult to get a sense of distance because the following vehicle that you want to check is smaller than the conventional rear-view mirror such as a rearview mirror or door mirror or a rear-view mirror with a convex mirror. Further, as in the case of the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2, if the image is generated and displayed by compressing only a part of the image in the vertical direction or in addition to the image in the horizontal direction, the driver can see which part of the image is used. There was a drawback that it was confusing whether to get a sense of distance from. In addition, there is a combination of the display and a half mirror (plane mirror) to make up for these drawbacks, but depending on the brightness conditions inside and outside the company, the reflection image of the half mirror and the display display overlap and are difficult to see. There were weaknesses, and there were problems with the large size of the display device and high cost. It is also possible to shoot from a wide field of view to a relatively narrow field of view similar to the reflected image of a plane mirror or convex mirror with a camera using a zoom lens, but the camera itself becomes large and expensive, and it is also possible. A mechanism to move the optical axis of the camera is also required to adjust the viewing direction, which makes the system complicated and relatively expensive.

The present invention is an electronic rear-view system that can display a wide range of rear-view images taken with a camera using a relatively wide-angle lens, by tapping a dedicated operation button or a specific position on the display, or By a series of simple operations on the display (for example, double-tapping the display screen with your finger), the driver can create an image in the same range as the reflected image that can be confirmed with a conventional plane mirror such as a rear-view mirror or door mirror or a convex mirror. The feature is that it can be set by operation or set in advance in the display driver so that it can be easily displayed.
You can also move the display range within the range shot by the camera while maintaining the display magnification by using a dedicated operation button or a series of simple operations on the display (for example, pressing and sliding your finger on the display screen). Can be done.

This makes it possible to check a wide range of safety conditions around the vehicle with a simple and relatively inexpensive basic configuration system consisting of a wide-angle camera, display driver, and display. It is possible to recognize the following vehicle with a sense of distance that is close to that of the vehicle, and the safety when changing the course of the vehicle is improved.

The block diagram which shows the functional structure which concerns on embodiment of this invention. A simplified representation of an image in which an enlarged image is flipped horizontally and displayed on a display from the images taken by the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the arrangement of the camera and the display which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention, and shows the method of cutting out the image which approximated the 1x reflection image of a plane mirror from the image taken by a camera. (Example 1) It is a figure showing the horizontal angle of view M of the same magnification reflection image when the display display of FIG. 3 is replaced with a plane mirror. The figure which showed the horizontal angle of view M2 of the reflection image at the time of using the door mirror using the convex mirror in a normal vehicle, and the horizontal field of view W2 at the target assumed position. It is a figure which shows an example of the arrangement of the camera and the display which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention, and shows how to cut out the image which approximated the reflection image of the convex mirror in FIG. (Example 2) When the enlarged image is displayed horizontally inverted on the display from the images captured by the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention, the image when the display image range is moved in the left-right direction or the up-down direction is simplified by taking the convex mirror mode as an example. It is a representation of the image.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, these embodiments are examples of the present invention, and are not limited to these embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic rear view system is installed in automobiles and two-wheeled vehicles, and as shown in the figure, it has a camera 1, a display driver 2, a display 3, an operation button switch 4 as needed, and a sensor output 5 indicating the status of various vehicles. I have.

FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of an image in which an enlarged image is flipped left and right on a display from the images taken by the camera according to the embodiment of the present invention. Each mode is a tentative name and is shown as an example. Explaining each of them, in the wide field mode, the display display image range DW, which is an almost full width area in the horizontal direction of the image captured by the camera, is cut out and displayed on the display by flipping left and right. In general, the safety confirmation area by the vehicle is wide in the horizontal direction, so the display screen of the display is often horizontally long. In that case, the terminal area in the vertical direction is cut off as shown in the figure even in the wide field of view mode. Will be displayed. In the arbitrary magnifying mode, the convex mirror mode, and the plane mirror mode, each display display image range DN, display display image range DT, and display display image range DS, which are narrower than the wide field of view mode, are cut out and displayed in reverse.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the arrangement of the camera for rearward shooting of the vehicle according to the first embodiment of the present invention and the display for displaying the image processed by the display driver toward the driver based on the captured image of the camera. It is a figure which shows the method of cutting out the image which is close to the same-magnification reflection image of a plane mirror from a photographed image. The case where the camera 1 is installed near the rear window in the rear part of the vehicle interior and the display unit of the display 3 is installed in the same size and shape as the normal room mirror mirror surface and in the same position as the room mirror is shown. Here, assuming that the display unit of the display 3 is replaced with a plane mirror, the horizontal viewing angle of the same-magnification reflection image from the eye point H is set to M, and the target assumed position is a distance at which the approaching vehicle or the like is frequently confirmed. (For example, assuming an appropriate inter-vehicle distance behind the vehicle, a position 10 m to 30 m or more behind), the horizontal viewing range at this position is W. A part of the image near the center of the camera-captured image is cut out from the horizontal angle of view C of the camera-captured image at the horizontal angle of view D corresponding to the viewing range W, and the left-right inverted image is displayed in the horizontal direction of the display 3. The image taken by the camera is enlarged and displayed according to. In this way, it is possible to display a photographed image that is close to the same-magnification reflection image of the plane mirror by the conventional rear-view mirror, and the driver can easily grasp the sense of distance.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a horizontal viewing angle M of a 1x reflection image obtained from the positional relationship between the eye point H and the plane mirror when it is assumed that the display unit of the display 3 in the first embodiment is replaced with a plane mirror.

FIG. 5 shows a target assumed position (for example, suitable for the rear of the vehicle) at a distance where the horizontal angle of view M2 of the reflected image when a door mirror using a convex mirror in a normal vehicle is used and the approaching following vehicle are frequently confirmed. It is a figure showing the horizontal field of view W2 in the case of (the position behind 10m to 30m or more assuming a large inter-vehicle distance).

FIG. 6 shows an example of the arrangement of the camera for rearward shooting of the vehicle according to the second embodiment and the display for displaying the image processed by the display driver based on the captured image of the camera toward the driver, and the convex mirror from the image captured by the camera. It is a figure which shows the method of cutting out the image which is close to the reflection image of. The case where the camera 11 is installed near the normal door mirror installation position and the display unit of the display 33 is installed in the middle portion between the meter portion in the vehicle interior and the lower part of the front window and closer to the camera 11 than the front of the driver is shown. There is. In the wide-view mode, the lateral range C2 of the image captured by the camera is displayed on the display as it is or a wide range close to it, but in the convex mirror mode, as described in FIG. Assuming that the convex mirror is placed at the installation part of the camera 11, the horizontal viewing angle of the image reflected from the eye point H is M2, and the target position (for example, behind the vehicle) where the frequency of confirming the approaching following vehicle is relatively high is relatively high. Assuming an appropriate inter-vehicle distance, the horizontal viewing range W2 is 10 m to 30 m or more behind, and the center of the captured image at the horizontal angle of view D2 corresponding to the above viewing range W2 from the horizontal angle of view C2 of the camera captured image. The image in the vicinity of the part is cut out and the image captured by the camera is enlarged and displayed according to the horizontal display width of the display 33. In this way, the captured image similar to the convex mirror reflection image by the conventional door mirror can be displayed. It becomes easier for a person to get a sense of distance.

The image cut out from the images taken by the cameras in the first and second embodiments of the present invention and enlarged and displayed may be set in the display driver in advance in consideration of the arrangement of the camera and the display in the vehicle, the size of the display, and the like. The driver can set an arbitrarily enlarged image with a simple operation, or can set it by both means, and the set partially enlarged image can be stored automatically or multiple times with a simple operation. Furthermore, these partially enlarged images can be called up with a simple operation.

The display display image in the first and second embodiments of the present invention may be a dedicated operation button in the vertical or horizontal direction within the range of the image captured by the camera, or a series of simple operations on the display (for example, on the display screen). You can move the display range while maintaining the display magnification by pressing and sliding your finger, etc., and you can also memorize the moved position. FIG. 7 shows an image when the displayed image is moved by taking the convex mirror mode of FIG. 2 as an example.

When the assumed target position changes in the first and second embodiments, the ratio of the angles of view M and M2 of the reflected image by the mirror surface to the angles of view D and D2 cut out from the image captured by the camera, that is, the image displayed from the image captured by the camera. The magnification of cutting out also changes. Further, when the positions of the camera and the display are greatly separated in the front-rear direction of the vehicle as in the first embodiment, the change becomes remarkable. Therefore, for example, a sensor such as a millimeter-wave radar continuously detects the distance to the following vehicle, etc., and the display driver calculates based on that distance to continuously increase the magnification when cutting out the displayed image from the image taken by the camera. The electronic rear view system of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, which is provided with a function of bringing the reflected image closer to the mirror surface by changing the image.

The electronic rear view system according to the present invention can be applied to a rear view system for a vehicle that performs image processing on a rear image of a vehicle captured by a camera and displays it on a display.

1 Camera center 11 Camera right 111 Camera left 2 Display driver (display image processing device)
3 Center of display (display device)
22 Display right (display device)
222 Display left (display device)
4 Operation buttons, switches, etc. 5 Vehicle status (sensor input, etc.)
H eye point (driver's viewpoint position)
DMR door mirror right
DML door mirror left

Claims (3)

It is an electronic rear view system that flips left and right the image taken by the camera using a lens with a relatively wide field of view and displays it on the display, and displays the horizontal angle of view of the image taken by the camera on the display almost as it is. In addition to the mode, the electronic rear view has a mode in which the image taken by the camera is partially enlarged and displayed on the display for the purpose of obtaining a sense of distance similar to that obtained from the reflected image of the conventional room mirror or door mirror. system. The partially enlarged image can be set in the display driver in advance in consideration of the arrangement of the camera and display in the vehicle, the size of the display, etc., or can be set by the driver with a simple operation, or both means. The electronic rear view of claim 1 can be set by, and a plurality of set partially enlarged images can be stored automatically or by a simple operation, and these partially enlarged images can be recalled by a simple operation. system. The electronic rear view system according to claims 1 and 2, wherein the image displayed on the display can be moved in the vertical and horizontal directions by a simple operation as long as the image displayed on the display is within the range of the entire image captured by the camera.

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