JP2919631B2 - Display camera device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display camera device, and more particularly to a new electronic camera which efficiently captures images including a photographer who is looking at a viewfinder. It is used as a camera for information gathering, crime prevention, market research, etc., which captures a person's appearance as information, and a camera display, such as a videophone or a public videophone, which realizes natural matching of the sender's eyes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a display camera apparatus in which a small display and a camera lens are arranged adjacent to each other and an image of a person watching a monitor is taken by the adjacent camera lens has been put to practical use in a videophone.

Further, a display camera apparatus has been proposed which captures an image by matching a camera lens with a line of sight of a viewer.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a display camera apparatus for capturing an image by matching the line of sight.

That is, a transparent glass plate 48 is fitted into the front opening 41a of the cabinet body 41,
A half mirror 42 is disposed adjacent to the front opening 41a at an angle of 45 degrees. And the glass plate 4
A straight line L11 connecting the center of 8 and the center of the half mirror 42
Above, a liquid crystal display 43 illuminated by a backlight 44 is arranged. Also, the half mirror 42
On a straight line L12 orthogonal to the straight line L11 at the center of
A CCD camera 46 equipped with a lens 45 is arranged.

However, in the display camera device having the above configuration, the display surface of the liquid crystal display 43 is located in the inner part of the cabinet main body 41, so that it is very difficult to see.

In order to solve the problem that the display surface of the liquid crystal display 43 is located inside the cabinet main body 41, a display camera apparatus of a time-division photographing type shown in FIG. 5 has been proposed.

That is, the screen 52 is arranged on the front of the cabinet body 51. This screen 52
Is made of, for example, light control glass, and the degree of transparency changes by controlling the applied voltage. Then, two straight lines L13 and L14 intersecting at the center of the screen 52 are set, and the lens 53, the liquid crystal display 54, and the backlight 55 are arranged on one straight line L13. Further, a CCD camera 56 having a shutter 57 and a lens 58 mounted thereon is arranged on the other straight line L14.

The screen 52 is made transparent in a time-sharing manner, for example, about 1 to 2 milliseconds every 16 milliseconds. In this transparent state, the shutter 57 is opened, and the CCD camera 56 closes the information receiving side. It is designed to capture a natural figure.

[0010]

However, in the display camera apparatus shown in FIG. 5 , the optical axis (straight line L13) of the liquid crystal display 54 does not coincide with the center line L15 of the screen 52.
The image light radiated from the above becomes a distorted screen whose upper part is enlarged as shown in FIG.

In the case of a large display camera device such as a 40-inch or 60-inch display, the straight line L
There is not much problem because the intersection angle between the center line 13 and the center line L15 is small, but in the case of a small display camera device of about 10 inches or less, the straight line L
13 and the center line L15, the distortion angle of the projected image (that is, the display screen) increases,
There is a problem that image quality is significantly reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display camera device which eliminates distortion of a display screen regardless of the size of the display device.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display camera apparatus provided with a screen disposed on a front surface of a cabinet body, the transparency of which varies depending on an applied voltage, provided inside the cabinet body. An imaging unit arranged on the center axis of the screen and imaging video light incident from the front of the screen, and provided inside the cabinet main body and arranged at a position slightly deviated from the center axis of the screen, and an image output means for irradiating image light to the screen, a projection lens that constitutes the image output means
By changing the refractive index of the image, the aspect ratio of the display screen of the image light emitted from the image output means to the screen is corrected .

[0014]

According to the above arrangement, the image light emitted from the image output means disposed at a position slightly deviated from the center axis of the screen changes its refractive index by changing the refractive index of the projection lens. When the aspect ratio of the display screen is corrected and the image is projected on the screen, the display screen becomes a substantially square or rectangular display screen with an appropriate ratio.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a display camera apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a screen 2 is arranged at an opening on the front surface of a cabinet body 1. The screen 2 is made of, for example, a light control glass, and the degree of transparency changes by controlling an applied voltage.

A CCD camera 1 having a shutter 8 and a lens 9 mounted on a center line L1 of the screen 2
0 is arranged.

Further, the center line L1
A projection lens 4, a liquid crystal display 5 for displaying a monitor screen, and a backlight 6 are arranged on a straight line L2 that intersects with.

That is, the entire system is housed in the cabinet body 1 so as to completely block external light, so that light of the backlight 6 of the liquid crystal display 5 does not leak outside.

Since the liquid crystal display 5 and the like are located off the center line L1 of the screen 2, the display image projected from the liquid crystal display 5 onto the screen 2 has a lower side shorter than the upper side as shown in FIG. This results in an inverted trapezoidal shape and distortion. Therefore, in this embodiment,
As a correction means for correcting this distortion , a liquid crystal display
5 changes the refractive index of the projection lens 4 arranged in front of
By doing so, the distortion of the displayed image is corrected .

That is, the refractive index of the lens 4 is shown in FIG.
The upper side to the normal refractive index and go to the lower side
, The refractive index is gradually increased. At this time, the lens
The relationship between the refractive index on the upper side and the refractive index on the lower side of FIG.
Distance d3 from the lens 4 to the lower piece of the screen 2 shown in FIG.
And the ratio of the distance d4 from the lens 4 to the upper piece of the screen 2 , and the upper dimension d6 and the lower dimension of the display image shown in FIG.
It is determined by the ratio to the part side dimension d5 .

The shutter 8 is provided so as to be linked with the screen 2. For example, the screen 2 is made transparent in a time-sharing manner, for example, every 1 to 2 milliseconds every 16 milliseconds. Open shutter 8 and CCD
The camera 10 captures an image of the information receiving side.

According to the above configuration, when the voltage applied to the screen 2 is controlled to make the screen 2 most scattered, the image light emitted from the liquid crystal display 5 is transmitted by the projection lens 4. It is enlarged and evenly projected on the entire surface of the screen 2 to act as a monitor. Thus, a person in front of the screen 2 can obtain information from the video projected on the monitor screen.

When the voltage applied to the screen 2 is controlled to bring the screen 2 to the highest transparency state, the shutter 8 is opened. CC via 9
The image is taken by the D camera 10.

At this time, the line of sight of the person in front of the screen 2 is the optical axis of the CCD camera 10 (that is, the center line L
Since it coincides with 1), the person in front of the screen 2 can be photographed in a natural form photographed with the gaze point of the camera.

[0027]

[0028]

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the liquid crystal display 5 and the like are disposed below the CCD camera 10 has been described. However, the liquid crystal display 5 and the like may be disposed on the upper side or on the left or right side. In this case, since the projection direction of the image light also changes according to the arrangement position, it is natural that the correction by the liquid crystal display 5 and the correction by the lens 4 also need to be changed vertically or horizontally.

The liquid crystal display 5 is configured to display, for example, the video output of a video tape recorder in a matrix, and the output of the CCD camera 10 is recorded on a video tape as an input of a video tape recorder (not shown). By outputting the reproduced output of the video tape to the liquid crystal display 5, it is possible to record the video on the video tape while monitoring the video including the video of the photographer himself.

In a conventional video camera, a photographer looking at a viewfinder cannot enter the photographed image. However, in this apparatus, the photographer looks at a normal monitor with a normal camera. You will be able to take a picture.

Of course, it is also suitable as a camera display for a videophone or videoconference.

When this camera display is used, the person watching the display does not notice the camera, so that it is suitable for recording the dynamics of nature, and is different from a conventional camera as a security camera. The effect is expected.

[0034]

According to the display camera device of the present invention, the aspect ratio of the display screen of the image light emitted from the image output means to the screen can be determined by the liquid crystal display constituting the image output means.
Change the refractive index of the projection lens
Because be corrected by Rukoto, distortion of the display screen is projected on the screen is corrected, it is possible to obtain an excellent image quality. In addition, projection is used as a means for correcting distortion.
Since the refractive index of the projection lens is changed,
Compared to the case where the correction means is provided in the play itself,
This has the effect of reducing the cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a display camera device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a conventional display camera device.

FIG. 3 Changes refractive index to correct display screen distortion
It is a figure which shows the shape of the projection lens which was made to be.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a conventional display camera device.
FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of a conventional display camera device.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-228893 (JP, A) JP-A-63-52585 (JP, A) JP-A-2-7085 (JP, A) JP-A-2-76485 (JP) , A) JP-A-3-80683 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) H04N 5/225 H04N 5/74

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A screen disposed on a front surface of a cabinet body and having a degree of transparency that varies according to an applied voltage, and an image provided inside the cabinet body and arranged on a center line of the screen and incident from the front of the screen. imaging means for imaging the light, is disposed and is mounted within said cabinet body at a position deviated slightly from the center line of the screen, Bei a video output means for irradiating image light to the screen
For example, varying the refractive index of the projection lens that constitutes the image output means
By reduction, correct the aspect ratio of the display screen of the image light irradiated on the screen from the video output means
Display camera device comprising a call.