JP3275266B2 - Mode selection device for video equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a novel video device which has a hierarchical display of menus related to operation modes in a video device, and which can facilitate mode setting to improve operability. It is intended to provide a mode selection device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In portable video equipment such as a small video camera, the number of modes performed by a user with respect to functions of the equipment tends to increase with the increase in the number of functions.

For example, in a portable video camera, the currently selected mode is indicated by an EVF (Electric
It has a function to display on the external view monitor and a function to display the index corresponding to the mode selected by the key operation by a symbol or the like on the screen. The mode selected from the type can be grasped.

[0004]

However, the conventional apparatus has the following problems regarding the operation of the mode setting key and the display format of the menu.

(1) Problems related to the arrangement and shape of mode setting keys.

(1-a) The key arrangement does not correspond to the operation procedure for mode setting.

(1-b) Directionality of key operation is not unified.

(1-c) Since the shapes of the keys are similar, it is difficult to distinguish the keys when the number of keys is large.

(2) Problems related to menu display.

(2-a) It is difficult to display a sub (sub) menu having a large number of modes for options of a main (main) menu.

(2-b) At the time of mode setting, information relating to the current setting mode is not displayed.

Due to the above problems, the mode setting operation becomes very complicated, and the user must spend considerable skill and time to fully utilize the functions of the device. It was difficult.

[0013]

Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a mode selection device in a video apparatus according to the present invention has a first input for displaying a main menu relating to an operation mode on a display means or for extinguishing the display. Means, second input means for selecting a desired item from the menu displayed options, third input means for determining the selected mode, and holding means for holding the mode determined by this In addition, a sub-menu is provided in a hierarchical structure under the main menu in accordance with an instruction from these input means, and the sub-menu is created together with the main menu.
A menu creating means is provided for sending to the display means for display, and for displaying items related to the current setting mode based on the setting mode information by the holding means so as to be distinguished from others.

[0014]

According to the present invention, after a menu is displayed by the first input means, a desired mode is selected by the second input means and determined by the third input means. A sub-menu provided with a hierarchical structure is created and displayed together with the main menu, and the mode can be set while referring to the menu display.

[0015] Therefore, the operation procedure may be performed in order from the main menu to the sub-menu located below the main menu, and the minimum required by the unified operation of selecting and confirming the mode setting in each menu. Can be performed with only the key.

For a sub-menu having a large number of modes, consideration is given to avoiding complicated display by adopting a hierarchical structure, and when a mode relating to the sub-menu is selected, a main menu is selected. By leaving this without deleting it and displaying it with the sub menu, the ideal connection between the main menu and the sub menu, which is the highest level, can always be grasped, and the items related to the current setting mode can be distinguished from other items. By distinguishing and displaying, it is possible to eliminate waste of duplicate setting operations.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A mode selection device in a video apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in accordance with an embodiment applied to a small video camera.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the video camera 1.

The light from the subject passes through the lens 2 and reaches the CCD
After being received by the solid-state imaging device 3 such as a mold area image sensor, it is transmitted to the camera signal processing circuit 4.

The video output after the processing related to color reproduction and the like by the matrix processing in the camera signal processing circuit 4 is sent to the mixing unit 5, where the OSDC (OS
nScreen Display Control
r) after being synthesized with the menu display signal from the section
6 and output via a video signal output terminal 7 to an external monitor (not shown).

Reference numeral 8 denotes an input unit, which has a menu key 9, a selection ring 10, and a feed / fix key 11.

Among these keys, a menu key 9 is a key provided for displaying a main menu relating to mode setting, and a selection ring 10 is provided for selecting an option relating to mode setting. , And feed /
The enter key 11 is provided for sending (transferring) from a certain menu to a sub-menu located at a lower level and for fixing an item selected by the selection ring 10.

In this example, a push-type switch is used for the menu key 9 and the feed / confirmation key 11, and their sizes are made different to distinguish them from each other. A rotary switch is used.

A key input unit 12 includes a key input reading unit 13 and a rotation detecting unit 14.

The key input reading section 13 is provided with a menu key 9
The rotation detector 14 is provided to detect whether the feed / fix key 11 is pressed, and the rotation detector 14 is provided to detect the rotation amount, speed, and direction of the selection ring 10.

The detection results of the key input reading unit 13 and the rotation detection unit 14 are sent to the menu creation unit 15 at the subsequent stage.

The menu creating section 15 comprises a setting mode state storing section 16, a cursor position storing section 17, a display data creating section 18, and an OSDC section 19.

The display data creation section 18 receives the signal from the key input section 12 and creates menu display information while referring to the information stored in the setting mode state storage section 16 and the cursor position storage section 17, and converts this into OSDC. The information transmitted to the mixing unit 5 via the unit 19 and the predetermined information such as the default mode are stored in the setting mode state storage unit 16 and the cursor position storage unit 17.

FIG. 4 conceptually shows a menu display in the video camera 1. In this example, a display format is used in which the menu is arranged in a horizontal direction of the screen so that the menu hierarchy goes down to the left. In the vertical direction of the screen, it is determined that options having equal qualifications are arranged in parallel.

That is, the screen 20 is one third in the horizontal direction.
The display area 21 of the main menu is located at the leftmost position, and the area 22 on the right is a display area of a submenu immediately below the display (described as “sub (1)” in the figure). An area 23 located to the right of the area is a display area for a submenu further below (described as “sub (2)” in the figure).

When the menu hierarchy is deep and a large number of sub-menu screens are required, a plurality of pages are divided for the sub-menu, and switching to the page screen to be operated is performed as necessary. A desired item can be selected (in FIG. 4, page (1) includes submenu (1) and submenu (2), and submenu (3) below it). An example is shown in which page (2) includes submenu (4).)

In the case of one submenu, if the number of options is too large to fit in the vertical direction of the screen, the options are displayed partially above and below the current setting mode, and A desired item can be selected by performing an up scroll in the direction and a down scroll in the D direction.

Next, some operation examples of the mode setting will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 5 to 9 show examples of operations when selecting a title color. In this case, only one submenu related to color selection exists below the main menu.

1) Pressing a menu key.

First, when the menu key 9 is pressed, a main menu is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. that time,
The mode located at the top of the main menu (“photographing mode” in the figure) is highlighted, and a submenu for this mode is displayed in area 22.

In the submenu, the mode ("AE Auto" in the figure) which has been set is highlighted.

2) Selection of "title color" using a selection ring.

Next, when the selection ring 10 is turned, the inverted display of the main menu moves up and down according to the rotation direction (see FIG. 6).

At this time, if the rotation speed of the selection ring is low, a submenu corresponding to the highlighted item in the main menu is displayed. If the rotation speed of the selection ring is high, the main menu is displayed. No submenu is displayed for the selected item.

In FIG. 6, the current setting mode of the item "title color" of the main menu is "red", which is shown in reverse video.

3) Pressing the feed / confirm key.

When the feed / confirmation key 11 is pressed, a cursor 24 is displayed at the head of the currently selected mode "red" as shown in FIG.

4) Submenu mode selection using a selection ring.

When the selection ring 10 is turned, the cursor 24 moves up and down in accordance with the rotation direction (the cursor moves downward in FIG. 8 and points to the position of "black").

That is, the cursor 24 moves to the selection ring 10
Indicates the mode selected according to the rotation of.

In the case of the default mode, the item remains highlighted.

5) Pressing the feed / confirm key.

When the feed / confirmation key 11 is pressed, the mode of the submenu is decided as shown in FIG. In the figure, the title color that was previously “red” is set to “black”. Then, the state returns to a state in which the main menu can be selected.

6) Pressing a menu key.

The menu display disappears from the screen, and a series of mode setting operations performed so far ends.

Next, a mode setting operation in the case where submenus exist over a plurality of levels will be described with reference to a display example shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows an example of setting whether or not the title is to be displayed in reverse, and whether or not to scroll and specify the direction in each case.

The operation relating to the sub-menu located immediately below the main menu may be performed in the same manner as in the above-mentioned steps 1) to 3). After the menu key 9 is pressed, the selection ring 10 is used. Select "Title" and press the send / confirm key 11.

4 ') Operation of selection ring and feed / fix key.

Since the submenu has already been displayed by pressing the feed / confirmation key 11, a desired item is selected by the selection ring 10 and confirmed by the feed / confirmation key 11.

As a result, a submenu below the submenu is displayed, and one of the options is selected and confirmed by the same operation as in the above 4) and 5).

FIG. 10 shows an example in which “normal” is set as the default mode for “title” and the scroll direction is “up”.

For example, when it is desired to change only the direction of scrolling, it is only necessary to determine the default value of “normal”, and then set a desired item for scrolling with the selection ring 10.

In the case where the layers are various, as described with reference to FIG. 4, if the feed / fix key 11 is pressed one after another, the page screen of the sub menu is switched.

When the cursor is positioned at the lowermost sub-menu, a dead end occurs, and the mode returns to a state where selection of the main menu is possible after the mode is determined.

Next, an operation example in the case where there are many mode options will be described with reference to display examples shown in FIGS.

When there are many options, a scroll operation is required for the display items of the submenu as described above. FIGS. 11 and 12 show a case where the number of place names is so large that it does not fit on one screen with respect to the designation of “area”.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 11, options are partially displayed above and below the item (“Tokyo” in the figure) which is set to the default mode, and are displayed at the top and bottom of the submenu. Arrows 25 (upward arrow) and 26 (downward arrow) are displayed, respectively.

However, when the option reaches the end, for example,
When reaching the upper end as shown in FIG.
6, only the upward arrow 25 is displayed when the option reaches the lower end.

When the above selection operation is interrupted halfway, if the menu key 9 is pressed when selecting a mode in the submenu, the state returns to the state when the feed / fix key 11 was last pressed, and the menu display is displayed. It is going to disappear.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are flowcharts showing the flow of the mode setting. FIG. 2 shows the first half of the process, and FIG. 3 shows the second half of the process.

As shown in FIG. 2, when an operation relating to key input is performed in step a), it is determined in next step b) whether or not the menu key 9 has been pressed by the key input reading unit 13. If the key is pressed, the process proceeds to the next step c). If the menu key 9 is not pressed, the process jumps to the step g).

In step c), it is determined whether or not the menu is already displayed. If it is displayed, the item being selected is canceled in step d), and the menu is deleted in step e). If the menu is not displayed, the menu is displayed in step f).

For the menu display, the display data creation unit 18 of the menu creation unit 15 sets the setting mode state storage unit 1
6, the uppermost item is highlighted in the case of the main menu, and the item related to the default mode is highlighted in the case of the submenu while referring to the storage information of the cursor position storage unit 17. The menu display data obtained by the display data creation unit 18 is converted into a character or graphic signal via the OSDC unit 19, superimposed on the video signal by the mixing unit 5, and the combined output is sent to the EVF 6 or an external monitor. .

In this example, the menu information and the video information are combined by an electric signal. However, the menu display displayed by the liquid crystal display means is optically combined with the video screen by a half mirror or the like. You may do it. Also, depending on the mode, it may not be necessary to refer to the image.Therefore, it is necessary to add variety to the expression form, such as displaying the menu on the blue screen screen without combining the image and the menu. Good.

In the following step g), it is further determined whether or not a menu is displayed. If the menu is displayed, the process proceeds to the next step h) to ask whether or not an input has been made by the selection ring 10.

If no menu is displayed, the process returns to step a).

When the operation of the selection ring 10 is performed in step h), the timer is reset in the next step i), the operation of the timer is started in step j), and the process proceeds to step k) (see FIG. 3). ).

In step h), the selection ring 10
If the above operation is not performed, the process simply jumps to step k).

When it is determined in step k) that the predetermined time has elapsed by the timer, the amount of change in the selection ring 10 is detected by the rotation detecting unit 14 in step l).

Then, in step m), it is asked whether the cursor is on the main menu. If so, the cursor is moved on the main menu in the next step n), and then the cursor is moved on the main menu in step o). Display the submenu for the selection mode of step p)
Proceed to. If there is no cursor in the main menu in step m), the cursor is moved to the submenu in step q) and the process proceeds to step p).

If the selection ring 10 is operated before the predetermined time has elapsed in step k), the flow jumps to step p) without displaying the submenu as described above.

In step p), it is determined whether or not the feed / fix key 11 has been pressed. If so, the process proceeds to the next step r), but if not, the process returns to step a).

In step r), it is determined whether the cursor has been moved to the lowermost submenu by the feed / fix key 11, and if there is no submenu lower than this, the process proceeds to step s), and further lower layers are selected. If there is a sub-menu, go to step t).

That is, when the submenu of the lowest layer is reached, the mode currently selected is set in step s), and the cursor relating to the submenu is deleted in the next step u), and then the first step a) is performed. Return to

If a sub-menu is further reserved, the currently selected item is set in step t), and the corresponding sub-menu is displayed.
Then, in the next step v), the cursor is displayed for the default mode in the submenu, and the process returns to the first step a).

Finally, some embodiments relating to switches and menu display will be described.

In the above example, the cursor is moved to a desired one of the options by operating the selection ring 10. However, this is because the easiness of the operation is taken into consideration. As shown in FIG. 13, a direction key may be configured by an up key 27 and a down key 28 so that the cursor moves upward when the up key 27 is pressed and moves downward when the down key 28 is pressed.

In the above example, as shown in FIG. 13 (a), the vertical direction of the display screen is selected as the mode selection direction, and the horizontal direction of the display screen is selected in the menu hierarchy. The vertical direction is set so that the operation direction of the (or up / down key) corresponds to the mode change direction. On the contrary, as shown in FIG. Select the selection direction and the vertical direction of the display screen to the menu hierarchy and select the selection ring 10
A horizontal arrangement may be adopted in which the operation direction of the (or the up / down key) corresponds to the mode change direction.

The menu can be displayed in various forms. For example, in the above example, the selection of the selected item is indicated by a triangular cursor in the above example. The selected item may be distinguished from the other items by changing colors or types of display characters, or the selected item may be distinguished by blinking display.

The method of expressing the options is not limited to the display using characters, but icons may be used.
In the case of setting the amount, for example, setting the date and time, in addition to the digital expression form in which numbers are listed as shown in FIG. 14, an analog expression form by bar graph display as shown in FIG. 15 is adopted. be able to.

It is preferable that the shape of the menu is determined in consideration of the easiness of the operation and the selection of the options, such as arranging the options linearly, arranging the menus in a curved line or an annular shape.

[0089]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the mode can be set while referring to the sub menu provided in a hierarchical structure under the main menu together with the main menu. In the case of sequentially proceeding from the menu to the sub-menu located at the lower layer, the mode setting at each layer can be performed by a unified operation of selecting and fixing.

Further, for a sub-menu having a large number of modes, consideration is given to avoiding display complexity by adopting a hierarchical structure, and when selecting a mode related to the sub-menu , the sub-menu is not deleted without deleting the main menu. By leaving and displaying it together with the submenu, it is possible to grasp the ideal connection between the selection mode related to the main menu that is the highest level and the options of the submenu below it, and the entirety of the mode.
it can. Then, by displaying the item related to the current setting mode separately from the other items, it is possible to eliminate waste of the duplicate setting.

In the above-described embodiment, the scroll operation can be performed with respect to the options related to the mode. However, it is possible to cope with a menu display having a large number of options.

Further, according to the present invention, mode setting can be performed by a relatively small number of operation means such as presence / absence of menu display, selection, and confirmation. At this time, the shape and size of keys are changed by each. If the keys can be easily distinguished by touch, the operation can be performed by blind touch without keeping an eye on the display image.

The above-described embodiment is merely an embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not construed to be narrow by only this embodiment.

For example, in the above example, the menu key,
Although an example is shown in which a selection ring and a feed / confirmation key are separately provided, a key having both functions of a menu key and a selection ring (for example, a role of a menu key by a pressing operation, and a role of a selection ring by a rotation operation) It is also possible to select a combination of a key and a feed / confirm key.

Further, the present invention is not limited to a video camera.
Of course, it can be widely applied to video equipment such as TRs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a video camera according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a first half of a flow of processing related to menu display and mode setting.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing subsequent to FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of a menu display method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a menu display example when a menu switch is pressed for the first time.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display example of a relationship between a main menu and a submenu.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display example when a mode is set for a main menu.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display example regarding display and movement of a cursor in a submenu.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen display when a mode is set for a submenu.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display example in a case where submenus exist over a plurality of levels.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen display in a case where there are many choices of a submenu, and selection items before and after the item designated by the cursor are displayed.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen display in a state where a selection item has reached the end when a large number of submenu options exist.

13A and 13B are explanatory diagrams conceptually showing a correspondence relationship between a menu structure and a selection key. FIG. 13A shows an example in which a mode is selected in a vertical direction of a screen, and FIG. 13B shows a mode selection. Is performed over the horizontal direction of the screen.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a screen display when a quantitative selection is made in setting a mode of a submenu.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing another screen display example different from FIG. 14 in a case where a quantitative selection is made in setting a mode of a submenu.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mode selection device in video equipment 6 Display means 9 First input means 10 Second input means 11 Third input means 16 Holding means 18 Menu creation means 21 Main menu 22, 23 Sub menu

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-3-248684 (JP, A) JP-A-62-144147 (JP, A) JP-A-1-2333881 (JP, A) JP-A-5-244 191683 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Hei 2-70580 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/225-5/247

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first input means for displaying a main menu relating to an operation mode on a display means or extinguishing the display, and a second input means for selecting a desired item from options displayed on the menu. A mode selection device for video equipment , comprising: third input means for determining the selected mode; and holding means for holding the mode determined by the third input means.
There are, to create a sub-menu provided with a hierarchical structure under the main menu in accordance with an instruction from the input unit, the sub
Display hand to display the menu with the main menu
A mode selection device for a video device, comprising: a menu creation unit that sends the current setting mode item to the other based on the setting mode information from the holding unit and that displays the item related to the current setting mode. 2. A main menu relating to a mode by a pressing operation.
Input means for displaying or extinguishing the display on the display means.
Desired among the options displayed in the menu by rotating and rotating
Provide both functions of input means for selecting items
In 請, characterized in that the input means are integrated
A mode selection device in a video device according to claim 1 .