JP3089058B2 - Memory dimmer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage control system in which a dimming level is stored in advance for each scene in order to produce a lighting effect on a stage or the like, and the stored contents can be stored in an external storage medium such as a floppy disk. It relates to an optical device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a dimming console used for lighting effects or the like stores a dimming level for a plurality of scenes with a combination of dimming levels for a plurality of lighting loads as one scene. Scenes in sequence. As an internal memory for storing a scene, a random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as “RAM”) such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (abbreviated as “C-MOS”) is used. The internal memory is backed up by a battery or the like so that the stored contents are maintained even when the power is turned off.

As described above, although the internal memory can be backed up, stored data may be erased due to a failure or the like. Therefore, the data stored in the internal memory can be stored in an external storage medium such as a floppy disk. The use of the external storage medium facilitates the transfer of scene data between different light control consoles. That is, when a large number of lighting loads are subjected to dimming control as one scene, much effort is required to set the dimming level for each lighting load. In such a case, the data of the scene set by another light control console can be used via an external storage medium to save power.

When the number of lighting loads to be controlled is large and the number of scenes is large, it takes time to save data to a floppy disk, and it takes several minutes to process data depending on the number of data. When the number of changed scenes is small, it is possible to specify only the changed scene and save it in a short time, but an extra operation for specifying the scene is required.

Therefore, when a scene is stored, the stored time or the number of histories is also stored at the same time, and the time data or the history data are compared with each other, and only the scene related to the newly updated data is automatically replaced by the floppy disk. Control for storing data on a disk or the like is also used. Here, the number of histories is an initial value of 1 when a scene is newly created,
This is a number that is incremented by one each time the dimming level of the scene is corrected.

FIG. 5 shows an operation for controlling writing to a floppy disk based on date data for which data for each scene is created. Starting from step a1, in step a2, the scene number i is initialized to 1. In step a3, it is determined whether the date of the i-th scene in the internal memory is different from the date of the i-th scene in the floppy disk. It is determined that the date data is different when the data of the i-th scene is changed and when the data of the i-th scene does not exist on the floppy disk and the data is newly added. If it is determined that the dates are different, data of the i-th scene is written to the floppy disk in step a4.

When step a4 is completed, or when it is determined in step a3 that the date data matches, the process proceeds to step a5. In step a5, the scene number i is incremented by one. Next, in step a6, it is determined whether or not the search for all scenes has been completed. When the scene remains, the process returns to step a3. When the scene search ends, the process ends in step a7.

The operation shown in FIG. 5 will be described based on the data shown in FIG. FIG. 6A shows the contents stored in the internal memory of the light control console. Scene 1 to scene 5 are stored as dimming data, and date data when each scene is set is stored. In the storage contents of the floppy disk shown in FIG. 6B, data from scene 1 to scene 3 are stored as light control data, and date data is also stored. Comparing the data in FIG. 6A with the data in FIG. 6B, it is determined that there is no change in the date for scene 1 and that there is no change in the date in step a3 shown in FIG. Regarding scene 2 and scene 3, the date has been changed and it is determined that the data has been corrected, and the data is written to the floppy disk in step a4 shown in FIG. For scenes 4 and 5, there is no storage of scene data corresponding to the floppy disk, and it is determined that the data is a newly added scene. For scenes 4 and 5, data is written to the floppy disk at step a shown in FIG.

As described above, only the changed and added data is written to the floppy disk, so that the time and labor for storing the data can be reduced.

[0010]

According to the conventional storage control of internal memory data as shown in FIG. 5, all changed scenes are stored on a floppy disk. In lighting effects, it may be necessary to slightly change the dimming level every day, and depending on the scene, the level may be experimentally changed. If such a scene is also written on a floppy disk, for example, there is a problem that important data before being changed on a trial basis is rewritten with data changed on a trial basis. Restoring the lost original data requires a great deal of trouble, especially when the number of lighting loads is large.

An object of the present invention is to provide a storage dimming device capable of designating only a scene that needs to be saved among scenes changed or added and storing the scene in an external storage medium such as a floppy disk. That is.

[0012]

According to the present invention, a dimming level for dimming control of a plurality of lighting loads is set for each scene, stored together with set date and time data in internal storage means, and stored in an external storage medium. In a storage dimmer that can store the storage content of each scene in which the date and time data for each scene and the set date and time data are different from each other in an external storage medium, update of the set date and time data in the internal storage unit is prohibited or performed for each scene. A storage dimming device which can be set to blank, and does not store a scene with blank set date and time data in an external storage medium.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the dimming level for dimming control of a plurality of lighting loads is stored in the internal storage means together with the set date and time data in the storage dimming device. The storage contents for each scene in which the date and time data for each scene and the set date and time data stored in the external storage medium are different can be stored in the external storage medium. As a result, with respect to the changed scene, the dimming levels of a plurality of lighting loads can be saved only by comparing the date and time data, and the time and labor required for saving can be reduced.

Further, since the change of the set date and time data in the internal storage means can be prohibited for each scene, it is possible to keep the set date and time data unchanged even for the changed scene. If the set date and time data is not changed for the scene in which the dimming level has been changed, the date and time data in the external storage medium and the set date and time data will not differ,
Even the changed scene is not stored in the external storage medium. Further, it is also possible to set the set date and time data to blank so that the data is not stored in the external storage medium. This makes it possible to prevent the storage contents from being rewritten for a scene in which it is not desired to change or add storage contents in the external storage medium. In addition, since all scenes in which settings have been changed or settings have been added are not necessarily stored in the external storage medium, the time and labor required for storage can be further reduced.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows a schematic electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. The light control console 1 includes an operation panel 3 for a control circuit 2 including a microcomputer or the like to perform an operation for setting a light control level for each scene, a memory 4 as internal storage means, and the like. The control circuit 2 can save the contents stored in the memory 4 to a floppy disk 5 which is an external storage medium.

The light control console 1 includes a plurality of light control devices 21,.
A signal representing the dimming level is derived for 2n. Each dimmer 21,..., 2n drives a lighting load such as a lamp 31,..., 3n based on a given dimming level.
The dimming level derived by the control circuit 2 to the dimmers 21,..., 2n is provided for each channel including one or a plurality of lamps 31,. From the operation panel 3, a combination of dimming levels for a plurality of channels can be set as one scene. The light control level data set for each scene in this manner is stored in the backup battery 40.
Dimming data 4 in the memory 4 backed up by
It is stored as 1. Data indicating the set date and time of the scene stored as the light control data 41 is also stored as date data 42 in the memory 4. However, attribute data 43 is set in the memory 4, and new storage of the date data 42 is not performed for a scene in which the change of the date data 42 is prohibited by the attribute data 43. Therefore, when the change is prohibited for the added scene, the date data 42 is blank.

In the lighting effect using the light control console 1, when the light control data 41 stored in the memory 4 is recalled for each scene by operating the operation panel 3, the transition from one scene to the next scene is performed. Is performed by crossfade control using a crossfader or the like provided on the operation panel 3.

FIG. 2 shows the operation when the control circuit 2 shown in FIG. 1 stores the scene data set by the operation panel 3 in the memory 4. When scene data is set in step b1, it is determined in step b2 whether writing to the floppy disk is permitted for the scene. If permitted, the date data for the scene stored in step b3 is updated. If writing to the floppy disk is not permitted, the process proceeds to step b4, and the scene in which the dimming level is set is a modification of a scene already stored in the floppy disk, or is not stored in the floppy disk. It is determined whether a scene is added. If the scene is to be modified, the date data 42 in the memory 4 is left unchanged in step b5. If it is an additional scene,
At step b6, the storage contents of the date data 42 are blanked. For this additional scene, the date data is blank before the scene is set, so it can be said that the date is not changed before and after the scene setting. Step b3,
When step b5 and step b6 end, the process ends in step b7.

FIG. 3 shows a data structure at the time of the storage data storing operation according to the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 3A shows the storage contents of the memory 4 of the light control console 1, and FIG. 3B shows the storage contents of the floppy disk 5. In the storage contents of the floppy disk 5, it is assumed that the dimming levels of scenes 1 to 3 are all set as dimming data on March 22, 1991. The light control console 1 reads the stored contents of the floppy disk on March 23, 1991, changes the light control data of the scenes 2 and 3, and adds the light control data of the scenes 4 and 5. As attribute data 43 of the memory 4, change of date data for the scenes 3 and 5 is prohibited. Therefore, even when the scene correction data for scenes 2 and 3 is stored in the memory 4, the date data for scene 3 is not changed. Scene 4 and scene 5
Is stored in the memory 4, the date data for the scene 5 is not stored, and the date data remains blank. When the storage contents of the memory 4 of the light control console 1 shown in FIG. 3A as described above are stored in the floppy disk 5 having the storage contents shown in FIG. 3B, the light control of the scenes 2 and 4 is performed. Only data and date data are saved. Although the light control data for scene 3 has been changed, it is not saved because there is no change in the date data. Scene 5 is not saved because the dimming data is added, but the date data is left blank and not changed.

FIG. 4 shows the control for the storage operation described with reference to the data structure of FIG. The operation starts from step c1, and in step c2, the new number i is initialized to 1. In step c3, the date data of the i-th scene is compared between the memory 4 and the floppy disk 5. If the date data is different, the process proceeds to step c4, where it is determined whether the i-th date data in the memory 4 is blank.
If the date data is not blank, the process proceeds to step c5, where the storage contents of the i-th scene are written and stored on the floppy disk 5.

When the date data matches in step c3, when the date data is blank in step c4, or when step c5 is completed, the process proceeds to step c6, where the scene number i is incremented by one. If it is detected in step c7 that the scene number i exceeds the maximum value of the scene number, the process proceeds to step c8 and the process ends. Steps c3 to c7 are repeated until the scene number i reaches the maximum value.

In the control shown in FIG. 4, when the date data 42 of the i-th scene of the step i is blank, even if the date data of the i-th scene of the floppy disk 5 is not blank, the steps c4 to c6 are performed. Then, the writing to the floppy disk in step c5 is not performed. Even after the dimming data for each scene is rewritten and the date data 42 is changed, if the date data 42 is left blank, it is possible not to save the data on the floppy disk 5.

According to the present embodiment, when the dimming level of the scene is temporarily changed due to a failure of a lamp, a filter, or the like, or when the dimming level is experimentally changed due to the necessity of lighting or the like. Even if it is, it is easy to write-protect the changed data on the floppy disk 5. In particular, if the date data 42 of the memory 4 is left blank, it is possible to prevent the dimming data 41 of the channel from being stored on the floppy disk 5, so that write-protection designation for each scene can be easily performed. .

For the scenes for which writing has been prohibited in this way, by reading the light control data from the floppy disk, the light control data for each scene that has been temporarily changed or experimentally changed can be restored. And can be easily deleted. Of course, the date setting 42 may include the scene setting time.

In the above embodiment, the floppy disk 5 is used as the external recording medium. However, a medium such as a magnetic tape or a medium using other physical quantities, such as an optical disk for optically storing data, may be used. Of course it is good.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the dimming level of each scene stored in the external storage medium from being undesirably changed. In addition, since only the storage contents for each scene to be stored among the storage contents of the internal storage means are stored in the external storage medium, the time and labor required for storing the storage contents of the internal storage means can be reduced. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of storing scene data according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data to be stored according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a data storage operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a conventional data storage operation.

6 is a diagram showing data to be subjected to the data saving operation shown in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dimming console 2 Control circuit 3 Operation panel 4 Memory 5 Floppy disk 21, ..., 2n Dimmer 31, ..., 3n Lamp 40 Backup battery 41 Dimming data 42 Date data 43 Attribute data

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dimming level for dimming control of a plurality of lighting loads is set for each scene, stored together with set date and time data in an internal storage means, and stored in an external storage medium for date and time data for each scene. In a storage light control device capable of storing the storage content of each scene different from the set date and time data in an external storage medium, the set date and time data in the internal storage means can be set to update prohibited or blank for each scene. A storage dimmer, wherein a scene with blank date and time data is not stored in an external storage medium.