JP3278230B2 - camera - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises an external display disposed outside a camera, an internal display disposed in a viewfinder, and an illuminating means for supplementary illumination of the external display in the dark. It is related to improvement of the camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a camera which has display means inside a viewfinder and outside a camera to inform a photographer of photographing information such as shutter time and aperture value.

[0003] Particularly in recent cameras, as a display means,
Various devices using a liquid crystal display have been proposed and commercialized. In addition, as for the external display, there is a type in which a light emitting diode or the like is arranged as a backlight on the back of the liquid crystal display so that the operation can be confirmed so as to be visible even in the dark.

When a liquid crystal is used for each of the internal and external displays, if driving circuits are separately arranged, the circuit configuration becomes complicated and leads to an increase in cost. As a general method, one driving circuit is provided. By using the same for each display, the circuit configuration is simplified. In other words, when both the internal display and the external display display "1/1000" seconds of the shutter time, a single drive circuit is used to connect the internal and external liquid crystal displays in parallel.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the above conventional example.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 51 denotes an external liquid crystal display disposed on a top surface of a camera or the like, 52 denotes an internal liquid crystal display disposed in a finder, and 53 denotes a liquid crystal driving circuit (hereinafter, LC).
Reference numeral 54 denotes a microcomputer for controlling the LCD decoder driver 53.

[0007] The LCD decoder driver 53 decodes a code indicating the display content output from the microcomputer 54, and outputs the external liquid crystal display 51 and the internal liquid crystal display 5
2 is driven for display. At this time, the same voltage value drive signal is supplied to both the liquid crystal displays 51 and 52.

With such a configuration, while the circuit configuration is certainly simplified, it is necessary to make the driving voltages of the external liquid crystal display 51 and the internal liquid crystal display 52 the same. Since the optimum drive voltage differs for each device, when the drive voltage is set so as to improve the visibility with respect to the external liquid crystal display 51, the visibility with respect to the internal liquid crystal display 52 decreases. There are cases. vice versa,
If the driving voltage is set so as to improve the visibility with respect to the internal liquid crystal display 52, there is a problem that the visibility with respect to the external liquid crystal display 51 is reduced. In particular, as the drive duty of the liquid crystal decreases to 1/4, 1/5, the degree of the decrease becomes severe.

[0009]

Therefore, conventionally, a drive voltage has been commercialized by setting a voltage that does not cause a great dissatisfaction with both the internal liquid crystal display 52 and the external liquid crystal display 51. This means that the internal liquid crystal display 52,
There is a problem that both external liquid crystal displays leave some dissatisfaction with visibility.

As described above, a camera having an LED or EL as a backlight on the back of an external liquid crystal display has been proposed so that a photographer can operate the camera even in the dark, as described above. In some types of cameras, the backlight on the back is kept on even when the photographer is looking at the internal liquid crystal display, that is, when not looking at the external liquid crystal display. There is a problem that the used battery is wasted.

(Object of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to improve the visibility of a liquid crystal display that the photographer is looking at , regardless of whether the photographer is looking at the liquid crystal display either inside or outside. It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera capable of preventing power consumption from being wasted.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a determination means for determining which of an external liquid crystal display and an internal liquid crystal display is used by a photographer; That the photographer is performing eye movements on the viewfinder eyepiece, or
If it is determined that an operation of the operation member for starting the shooting preparation operation has been performed, the display mode is changed from the first display mode in which the visibility of the external liquid crystal display is prioritized to the internal liquid.
Display mode switching means for switching to a second display mode in which the visibility of the crystal display is prioritized, in order to determine that the photographer is in eye contact with the finder eyepiece, or to start a photographing preparation operation If it is determined that the operation member has been operated, it is determined that the photographer is looking at the internal liquid crystal display,
The display mode is switched to the second display mode in which the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display disposed in the viewfinder is prioritized.

[0013] In addition to the above-described units, an illuminating unit that performs auxiliary illumination of the external liquid crystal display in the dark, and a case where the second display mode is selected by the display mode switching unit. Is
And lighting control means for stopping the driving of the lighting means,
When the display mode is switched to the second display mode in which priority is given to the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display disposed in the viewfinder, the photographer is looking at the internal liquid crystal display and not looking at the external liquid crystal display. Therefore, auxiliary lighting for the external liquid crystal display is not performed. Further, a drive voltage switching means for switching the drive voltage of the liquid crystal display is provided according to the detection result of the eyepiece detection means, and the drive voltage switching means is provided depending on whether or not the photographer is in eyesight.
The drive voltage of the liquid crystal display is switched. Further, an illuminating unit control unit for controlling the illuminating unit is provided according to the result of the eyepiece detecting unit, and the illuminating unit for illuminating the liquid crystal display is controlled according to whether or not the photographer is in eye contact.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing each display provided in a camera and a control drive unit thereof in a first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an external liquid crystal display disposed on a top surface of a camera or the like, 2 denotes an internal liquid crystal display disposed in a viewfinder, and 3 denotes a code indicating display contents output from a microcomputer described later. And an LCD decoder driver 4 for driving the display of the external liquid crystal display 1 and the internal liquid crystal display 2, and a microcomputer 4 for controlling the LCD decoder driver 3. Reference numeral 5 denotes a reference voltage generating circuit that provides an optimal driving voltage for the external liquid crystal display 1, reference numeral 6 denotes a reference voltage generating circuit that provides an optimal driving voltage for the internal liquid crystal display 2, and reference numeral 7 denotes the external liquid crystal.
An LED 8 as an auxiliary lighting device in the darkness of the display 1 is provided in an eyepiece section and LE for detecting a photographer's eyepiece movement is provided.
D and 9 are phototransistors for detecting the reflected light of the LED 8, 10 is a resistor for converting a photocurrent flowing through the phototransistor 9 into a voltage, and 11 is an eyeball of a photographer.

The LED 7 has an anode connected to the + side of a power supply battery (not shown) and a cathode connected to an output port P 2 of the microcomputer 4. The LED 8 has an anode connected to the + side of a power supply battery (not shown) and a cathode connected to the output port P3 of the microcomputer 4. In addition, the full
The phototransistor 9 has a collector connected to the + side of a power supply battery (not shown) and an emitter connected to one end of the resistor 10. The other end of the resistor 10 is connected to the negative side of a power supply battery (not shown), and a signal obtained by current-voltage conversion by the resistor 10 is connected to an input port P4 of the microcomputer 4.

Next, the operation of the microcomputer 4 of the camera having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. [Step 101] When it is detected that a power supply battery (not shown) of the camera is turned on, a low-level signal is output from the output port P3.

As a result, the LED 8 is biased in the forward direction and lights up. [Step 102] The input state of the input port P4 is read in order to determine whether or not the photographer is performing an eyepiece operation on the eyepiece unit. This is because if the photographer is performing eye-movement, the light emitted from the LED 8 will be the eyeball 11 of the photographer.
And the photocurrent flows into the phototransistor 9 and the photocurrent flows to change the input state of the input port P4.
Can be determined. That is, if the eyepiece operation is performed as shown in FIG. 1, a photocurrent flows through the phototransistor 9 and the resistance 1
A voltage is generated by 0, and the input signal of the input port P4 becomes high level. Conversely, if the photographer does not perform an eyepiece operation, the light emitted by the LED 8 is reflected and is not input to the phototransistor 9, so that no photocurrent flows through the phototransistor 9 and the input port P4 Is at a low level. As a result, when it is determined that the eyepiece operation is being performed, step 1 is performed.
The process proceeds to step 06, and if it is determined that the eyepiece operation has not been performed, the process proceeds to step 103. [Step 103] Since the eyepiece operation is not performed here, it can be estimated that the photographer is looking at the external liquid crystal display 1. Therefore, a low-level signal is output from the output port P2.

As a result, the LED 7 is turned on by being biased in the forward direction, and functions as an auxiliary lighting device of the external liquid crystal display 1. [Step 104] Since the eyepiece operation is not performed here, the liquid crystal driving voltage is transmitted from the output port P1 to the external liquid crystal display 1 through the output port P1 in order to inform the external liquid crystal display 1 to switch to the optimum driving voltage reference voltage generating circuit 5 side. A low-level signal is output to the decoder driver 3.

As a result, the LCD decoder driver 3 selects the reference voltage generating circuit 5 side as the reference voltage of the driving voltage, and as a result, the visibility of the external liquid crystal display 1 becomes good, and the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 becomes good. Gets worse.

After step 104, the microcomputer 4 controls the operation of the camera in accordance with the operation switch of the camera (not shown), but the details thereof are omitted because they do not relate to the present invention. Then, step 10
Go to 5. [Step 105] Here, a code indicating display contents (aperture shutter time and aperture value) to be output to the LCD decoder driver 3 is output.

Thus, the LCD decoder driver 3 decodes the received code and drives the external liquid crystal display 1 and the internal liquid crystal display 2 to display the contents. Thereafter, the process returns to step 102, and the same operation is repeated.

If it is determined in step 102 that the eyepiece operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step 106 as described above. [Step 106] Here, since the eyepiece operation is being performed, it can be estimated that the photographer does not look at the external liquid crystal display 1. Therefore, a high-level signal is output from the output port P2 to the LED7.

As a result, the LED 7 is turned off because there is no forward bias, the function of the external liquid crystal display 1 as an auxiliary lighting device is stopped, and the consumption of the power supply battery is stopped. [Step 107] Since the eyepiece operation is being performed, the liquid crystal driving voltage is notified to the internal liquid crystal display 2 to switch to the optimum driving voltage reference voltage generating circuit 6 side.
The output port P1 outputs a high-level signal to the LCD decoder driver 3.

As a result, the LCD decoder driver 3 selects the reference voltage generating circuit 6 side as the reference voltage of the drive voltage, and as a result, the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 is improved, and The visibility deteriorates.

Thereafter, the same operation as above is repeated.

[0028] The configuration of the whether the detector is an ocular in the finder eyepiece portion are known by the camera, such as starting the photometric operation in the eyepiece when, also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open
No. 1 -42,639, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3 -36532, Hei 3
Means disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 36533 can also be easily used as the eyepiece detection means in the present case.

In recent years, a camera that switches the autofocus point by detecting the line of sight of the photographer has also been proposed. By using these detection devices, the camera can be used as the eyepiece detection means of the present invention.

According to the first embodiment, it is determined whether or not the photographer is in eye contact with the finder eyepiece. If it is determined that the photographer is in eye contact, the internal liquid crystal arranged in the finder is determined. For the display 2 to be in the most visible state,
The drive voltage is switched, and the LED 7 provided on the back surface of the external liquid crystal display 1 for auxiliary illumination of the external display is turned off. When it is determined that the user is not in the eye, the driving voltage is switched so that the external liquid crystal display 1 is in the most visible state.

Therefore, if it can be estimated that the photographer is looking at the external liquid crystal display 1, this external liquid crystal display 1
When it can be estimated that the user is looking at the internal liquid crystal display 2, the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 can be increased to make each display easier to see. If it can be estimated that the user is not looking at the liquid crystal display 1, the LED 7 is turned off, so that the power battery is not wasted.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing each display unit provided in a camera and a control drive unit thereof according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals , and description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 12 denotes a pull-up resistor,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a switch interlocked with an operation means for starting a photographing preparation operation. When the switch 13 is turned on, a photographing preparation operation, that is, an operation such as autofocus and photometry starts.

The switch 13 is connected to the pull-up resistor 12 to transmit a low-level signal to the input port P5 of the microcomputer 4 in the on state, and to transmit a high-level signal in the off state to the input port P5 of the microcomputer 4.
Tell

Next, the operation of the microcomputer 4 of the camera having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. [Step 201] The input state of the input port P5 is read in order to determine whether or not the photographer is performing a shooting preparation operation. Here, if the photographer is performing a photographing preparation operation, the switch 13 is turned on, so that the input port P
The input signal of No. 5 becomes low level. Conversely, if the photographer does not perform the photographing preparation operation, the switch 13 is turned off, so that the input signal of the input port P5 is at a high level. If a low-level signal has been input to the input port P5, the microcomputer 4 determines that a shooting preparation operation has been performed and proceeds to step 205, and if a high-level signal has been input to the input port P5, Then, it is determined that the shooting preparation operation is not performed, and the process proceeds to step 202. [Step 202] Since the shooting preparation operation is not performed here, it can be estimated that the photographer is looking at the external liquid crystal display 1. Therefore, a low-level signal is output from the output port P2.

As a result, the LED 7 is turned on by being biased in the forward direction, and functions as an auxiliary lighting device of the external liquid crystal display 1. [Step 203] Since the photographing preparation operation is not performed here, the liquid crystal drive voltage is transmitted from the output port P1 to the external liquid crystal display 1 to inform the external liquid crystal display 1 of switching to the optimal drive voltage reference voltage generation circuit 5 side. It outputs a low level signal to the LCD decoder driver 3.

As a result, the LCD decoder driver 3 selects the reference voltage generating circuit 5 side as the reference voltage of the drive voltage, and as a result, the visibility of the external liquid crystal display 1 becomes good, and the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 becomes good. Gets worse.

After step 203, as in the first embodiment, the microcomputer 4 controls the operation of the camera in accordance with the operation switch of the camera (not shown). The contents thereof are related to the present invention. Omitted because there is no.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step 204. [Step 204] Here, a code indicating display contents (aperture shutter time and aperture value) to be output to the LCD decoder driver 3 is output.

Thus, the LCD decoder driver 3 decodes the received code and drives the external liquid crystal display 1 and the internal liquid crystal display 2 to display the contents. Thereafter, the flow returns to step 201.

If it is determined in step 201 that the photographing preparation operation is being performed, the process proceeds to step 205 as described above. [Step 205] Since the photographing preparation operation has been performed here, it can be estimated that the photographer has not seen the external liquid crystal display. Therefore, a high-level signal is output from the output port P2 to the LED7.

As a result, the LED 7 is turned off because there is no forward bias, the function of the external liquid crystal display 1 as an auxiliary lighting device is stopped, and the consumption of the power supply battery is stopped. [Step 206] Since the photographing preparation operation is being performed, it can be estimated that the photographer is looking into the viewfinder.
Therefore, a high-level signal is output from the output port P1 to the LCD decoder driver 3 in order to inform the internal liquid crystal display 2 that the liquid crystal driving voltage is to be switched to the optimum driving voltage reference voltage generating circuit 6 side.

As a result, the LCD decoder driver 3 selects the reference voltage generating circuit 6 side as the reference voltage of the drive voltage, and as a result, the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 is improved, and The visibility deteriorates.

Thereafter, the same operation as above is repeated.

According to the second embodiment, the switch 13
It is determined whether or not the photographer is looking into the viewfinder according to the state of つ ま り, that is, whether or not the photographing preparation operation is being performed, and if it is determined that the photographer is looking, the internal liquid crystal display arranged in the viewfinder 2, the driving voltage is switched so as to be in the most visible state, and the LED 7 provided on the back surface of the external liquid crystal display 1 for auxiliary illumination of the external display is turned off. When it is determined that the camera is not in the shooting preparation operation and that the user is not looking through the viewfinder, the driving voltage is switched so that the external liquid crystal display 1 is in the most visible state.

Therefore, similarly to the first embodiment, when it can be estimated that the photographer is looking at the external liquid crystal display 1,
If it is presumed that the visibility of the external liquid crystal display 1 is enhanced and that the user is looking at the internal liquid crystal display 2, the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display 2 is enhanced so that each display is easy to see. When it can be estimated that the user does not look at the external liquid crystal display 1, the LED 7 is turned off, so that the power supply battery is not wasted.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention, a discriminating means for discriminating which of an external liquid crystal display and an internal liquid crystal display is used by a photographer, When it is determined that the user is performing an eyepiece operation on the viewfinder eyepiece or that the operation member for starting the photographing preparation operation has been operated, the display mode is set to the external liquid crystal display. Display mode switching means for switching from a first display mode that prioritizes the visibility of the display to a second display mode that prioritizes the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display;
In addition to the above-described units, when the second display mode is selected by the illumination unit that performs auxiliary illumination of the external liquid crystal display in the dark and the display mode switching unit, the driving of the illumination unit is stopped. If the photographer determines that the photographer is in eye contact with the viewfinder eyepiece, or if it is determined that the operation member for starting the photographing preparation operation has been operated, the photographer Is looking at the internal liquid crystal display,
The display mode is switched to a second display mode in which priority is given to the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display disposed in the viewfinder.
When the display mode is switched to the second display mode in which priority is given to the visibility of the internal liquid crystal display disposed in the viewfinder, the photographer is looking at the internal liquid crystal display and not looking at the external liquid crystal display. Therefore, auxiliary lighting for the external liquid crystal display is not performed. Further, according to the detection result of the eyepiece detection means, a drive voltage switching means for switching the drive voltage of the liquid crystal display is provided, and according to the result of the eyepiece detection means,
An illumination means controlling means for controlling the illuminating means is provided, depending on whether the photographer is ocular, or switching the drive voltage of the liquid crystal display, so as to control the illumination means for illuminating the liquid crystal display .

Therefore, the photographer can determine whether the liquid is external or internal.
Even looking at crystal display device, the visibility of the liquid crystal display device looking its can be made good, it becomes possible to prevent the addition wastefully consuming power.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing each display device provided in a camera and a control drive unit thereof in a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the microcomputer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing each display provided in a camera and a control drive unit thereof in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the microcomputer of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing each display provided in a conventional camera and a control drive unit thereof.

[Description of sign]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 External liquid crystal display 2 Internal liquid crystal display 4 Microcomputer 5, 6 Reference voltage generation circuit 7, 8 LED 9 Phototransistor 10 Resistance 13 Switch

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus, which is arranged outside a camera and displays shooting information.
And Shimesuru external liquid crystal display unit is disposed in the finder, shooting
An internal liquid crystal display for displaying the shadow information, and determination means for determining whether the outside and the inside of any of the liquid crystal display device is used, in accordance with the discrimination result of該判another means, the external liquid crystal display <br / > The first display mode that gives priority to the visibility of the indicator and the internal liquid
Display mode switching means for switching to any of the second display modes in which visibility of the crystal display is prioritized. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit is configured to determine whether an external or internal liquid crystal display is used based on whether or not the photographer is performing an eyepiece operation on a finder eyepiece unit. display mode switching means, when the eye operation is being performed by said discriminating means is determined, according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for switching the display mode to the second display mode Camera. 3. The discriminating means is a means for discriminating which of an external and an internal liquid crystal display is being used based on whether or not an operation member for starting a shooting preparation operation has been operated. claim wherein the display mode switching means, when the operation of the operating member by said discriminating means is made is determined, which is a means for switching the display mode to the second display mode The camera according to 1. 4. A lighting unit for performing auxiliary lighting during darkness of the external liquid crystal display unit, when said second display mode is selected by the display mode switching means stops driving of said illuminating means The camera according to claim 2, further comprising: an illumination control unit that performs illumination control. 5. A liquid crystal display for displaying photographing information, an eyepiece detecting means for detecting an eyepiece operation of a photographer, and a driving voltage for switching a driving voltage of the liquid crystal display in accordance with a detection result of the eyepiece detecting means. A camera comprising switching means. 6. A liquid crystal display for displaying the photographic information, the liquid
Located at the back of the crystal display, illuminating means for illuminating the liquid crystal display device, an eyepiece detecting means for detecting a photographer's eye operation, according to the result of ocular detecting means, for controlling said illuminating means A camera comprising illumination means control means. 7. The illumination control unit controls the illumination unit to be turned off when the eyepiece detection unit detects a photographer's eye movement.
The described camera.