JP3454057B2 - Video observation device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image observing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image observing apparatus capable of enlarging and observing an image displayed by an image display means when looking inside the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general optical devices such as photographing lenses and viewfinders, in order to prevent harmful ghost light and flare, antireflection treatment such as blackening the inside of the lens barrel is usually performed, and The inner diameter of the lens barrel is set larger than the effective diameter. As a result, in a camera or video finder, an observer sees a bright subject image or image in the black peripheral portion. In these examples, the observer rarely sees the finder continuously for a long time, so there is no problem.

However, a so-called head-mounted display or the like in which an observer wears a spectacle-shaped or helmet-shaped image display device for giving a virtual image to both eyes, which is often proposed in recent years. In the apparatus, the image is provided in front of the observer's eyes, and the image is continuously viewed for a long time. In this case, if there is a brightness difference between the image and the peripheral portion of the image, there is a problem that the burden on the eyes is large and the eyes are easily tired. On the other hand, there have been proposed methods such as see-through of the device so that the user can see other than the image, and a method of switching between the see-through and the non-see-through, but with these methods, it is costly or the image becomes dark. There are drawbacks.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to display a displayed image in a state where the brightness difference between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image is reduced or eliminated. An object of the present invention is to provide an image observation device capable of observing.

[0005]

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides an image observation apparatus having the following configuration.

The image observing apparatus has, inside the apparatus body, image displaying means for displaying an image and eyepiece optical means for enlarging the image displayed by the image displaying means and guiding it to an observer outside the apparatus body. The image observation device includes a peripheral illumination unit that brightens a peripheral portion of the image displayed by the image display unit.

In the above structure, the image display means is a means for displaying an image on a plane, a means for generating an image signal for displaying an image on the image display means, a means for driving the image display means, etc. May be provided inside the device body or in a device different from the device body. An observer looks into the inside of the apparatus main body from the eyepiece optical means and magnifies and observes the image displayed by the image display means with the eyepiece optical means. At this time, the peripheral portion of the image displayed by the image display means is brightened by the peripheral illumination means. The brightness of the peripheral portion may be set to a constant brightness, for example, the average brightness of the image, or the brightness may be changed every moment in response to a change in the brightness of the image. Good. In the conventional image observing apparatus, the peripheral portion of the image is generally black, but according to the above configuration of the present invention, the observer can see the bright peripheral portion together with the image displayed by the image display means.

Therefore, it is possible to observe the displayed image in a state where the difference in brightness between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image is reduced or eliminated.

In the above structure, the peripheral illumination means can be configured in various ways as follows. That is, the reflective surface may be arranged so that it can be seen in the peripheral portion of the image, and the reflective surface may be illuminated, or the light emitting member that emits light may be arranged in the peripheral portion of the image so that it can be seen. Good.

Preferably, the peripheral illumination means includes a lens barrel arranged between the image display means and the eyepiece optical means. The lens barrel has an inner peripheral surface at least a part of which is made of a diffusion member having a low absorptance.

In the above construction, the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel serves as a diffuse reflection surface, so that a sharp image such as a specular reflection image described later does not appear in the peripheral portion of the image. for that reason,
It becomes easy for the observer to concentrate his attention on the original image displayed by the image display means.

[0012] Preferably, the peripheral illumination means includes a lens barrel disposed between the image display means and the eyepiece optical means. The effective diameter of the image display means is smaller than the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means. The lens barrel has a tapered inner peripheral surface that substantially coincides with a straight line connecting the effective diameter of the image display means and the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means.

In the above structure, since the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel is a tapered reflecting surface whose image display means side is small and whose eyepiece optical means side is large, the light from the image display means impinges on and strikes the light. Is reflected toward the eyepiece optical means. Therefore, the observer can see the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel illuminated by the light from the image display unit around the image displayed by the image display unit. Therefore, it is possible to observe the displayed image with the luminance difference between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image being reduced or eliminated.

More preferably, on the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel,
A partially tapered surface that is tapered and substantially reflects a straight line connecting the effective diameter of the image display means and the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means, and is adjacent to the partially tapered surface and with respect to the optical axis. A step surface extending in a substantially right-angled direction is alternately and repeatedly arranged concentrically with the optical axis. Then, a similar bright and dark pattern surrounding the image displayed by the image display means is observed concentrically.

In the above structure, the partially tapered surface on the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel is illuminated by the light from the image display means, so that the observer observes the partially tapered surface as a bright portion. On the other hand, the step surface of the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel does not face the image display means side but faces the eyepiece optical means side, and the light from the image display means does not strike, so that the observer sees the step surface in a dark portion. , Ie, observe as the shadow part. Since the partially tapered surface and the stepped surface are alternately and repeatedly arranged concentrically with the optical axis, the observer sees the bright portion and the stepped surface due to the partially tapered surface around the image displayed by the image display means. Observe a similar bright and dark pattern that concentrically surrounds the displayed image by alternately repeating and. This bright and dark pattern causes far point guidance that brings the observer's eye into a state of looking far away. Since the human eye is focused on a distant place in a relaxed state, this far point guidance reduces the burden on the observer's eye.

In each of the above-mentioned configurations, the inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel can be made to be a specular reflection surface. Then, an image like a kaleidoscope is displayed around the original image displayed by the image display means. A complicated state reflected in the image will be observed, and extra things will be clearly visible in the peripheral portion of the displayed image.

Preferably, the illumination of the ambient illumination means is
The scattered light of the image of the image display means is used.

In the above structure, it is not necessary to separately prepare illumination, and the structure can be simple and inexpensive, and the observer can see the peripheral portion of the image displayed by the image display means bright. Therefore, it is possible to observe the displayed image with the luminance difference between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image being reduced or eliminated.

Preferably, the peripheral illumination means is composed of a light emitting member. The light emitting member is arranged around the image display means so as to face the eyepiece optical means side.

In the above structure, since the light emitting member emits light toward the eyepiece optical means, the observer observes the light from the light emitting member in the peripheral portion of the image displayed by the image display means. That is, the peripheral portion of the displayed image looks bright. Therefore, it is possible to observe the displayed image with the luminance difference between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image being reduced or eliminated.

Preferably, the peripheral illumination means comprises a diffuser plate surrounding the periphery of the image displayed by the image display means and facing the eyepiece optical means, and a light supply means for supplying light to the diffuser plate. . The diffusion plate emits the light supplied from the light supply means toward the eyepiece optical means.

In the above structure, the diffuser plate is observed in the peripheral portion of the image displayed by the image display means,
Place the diffuser plate. Therefore, the diffusing plate may be arranged along the same optical axis as the image display means, or the image displaying means and the diffusing plate may be arranged along different optical axes, and the images of both images may be formed by a half mirror, for example. May be synthesized. The light supply means for supplying light to the diffusion plate may be arranged outside the diffusion plate or inside the diffusion plate. The light supply means may emit light by itself to supply light, or may guide external light and supply it. The diffuser plate emits the light supplied by the light supply means from the surface facing the eyepiece optical means. At this time, the light is emitted while being diffused, and the observer can see the bright diffuser plate almost uniformly. Since the diffuser plate surrounds the image displayed by the image display means, the observer observes the image displayed by the image display means and the bright diffuser plate in the peripheral portion of the image.

Therefore, it is possible to observe the displayed image in a state where the difference in brightness between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image is reduced or eliminated.

Preferably, the periphery of the eyepiece optical means on the observer side is formed by a reflecting surface, and this reflecting surface is formed as the peripheral illumination means. Alternatively, a light emitting member is provided around the observer side of the eyepiece optical means, and the light emitting member is configured as the peripheral illumination means.

In the above structure, when the observer looks into the inside of the apparatus main body from the eyepiece optical means and the eyepiece optical means is small or the eye is separated from the eyepiece optical means, the observer simultaneously observes the eyepiece optical means. You will also see the surrounding eyepieces. Since this eyepiece portion is the peripheral portion of the displayed image, it is similarly brightened. That is, the eyepiece portion is formed of a reflecting surface so that it can be seen bright by the light from the outside of the apparatus body. Alternatively, the eyepiece portion itself is provided with a light emitting member so that the eyepiece portion emits light. As a result, the observer can observe the image through the eyepiece lens in the central portion of the visual field, while observing the bright eyepiece portion in the peripheral portion of the visual field.

Therefore, the displayed image can be observed in a state where the difference in brightness between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image is reduced or eliminated.

In each of the above constructions, the diffuser plate is not limited to a flat plate shape, but includes various three-dimensional shapes.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The image observation apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 12 will be described in detail below.

First, the overall structure of the image observation apparatus common to the embodiments will be briefly described.

The image observation apparatus comprises the apparatus main body 1 shown in the external view of FIG. 12, a control device and an image generation device (not shown). The image observing device is configured such that the image displayed inside the device main body 1 can be observed by grasping the device main body 1 with both hands and looking into the inside from the eyepiece windows 12 and 13. The control device includes operation members 23 to 29 of the device body 1.
The device body 1 and the image generation device are controlled according to the operation of 1 and the posture of the device body 1 so that the observed image changes. The image generation device is a camera that captures an actual image, a personal computer that generates a virtual image, or the like.

The apparatus main body 1 comprises a box-shaped gripping portion 20 and an observing portion 10 which are integrally connected to each other in a generally inverted L-shaped cross section.
From the upper part of the gripping portion 20 extending in the vertical direction, the observation portion 10
Are projected horizontally.

On the vertical surface 10a on the protruding side of the observation section 10 of the apparatus body 1, the left and right eyepiece windows 1 for the observer to look into.
2 and 13 are provided, and an image display unit and an eyepiece optical unit are provided inside the observation unit 10 so that an image displayed by the image display unit can be enlarged and observed by the eyepiece optical unit. It has become. The eyepiece windows 12 and 13 are covered with transparent glass. An eyepiece detection window 16 is provided in the vicinity of the eyepiece windows 12 and 13, and a sensor, for example, a photoreflector, which is eyepiece detection means for detecting that an observer has looked into the eyepiece windows 12 and 13, is provided inside the eyepiece detection window 16. It is provided. Audio output units 14 and 15 are provided at both ends on the left and right outside of the eyepiece windows 12 and 13. Mirror body 1
On the upper surface 10b of 0, the daylighting window 18 is provided, and the eyepiece window 1
A slit 19 for radiating heat of a circuit board and a backlight 52 (described later) housed inside the apparatus main body 1 is provided at a corner portion opposite to the side portions 2 and 13. A gyro sensor, which is an observation direction detecting means for detecting the observation direction, is fixed inside the observation unit 10 to detect the direction and movement of the device body 1, and correspondingly display on the device body 1. The images that are played are changing.

On one vertical surface 20a of the grip portion 20, that is, the vertical surface 20a on the side where the observing portion 10 is projected, a pair of recesses 22 are formed from the left and right toward the center at approximately the upper and lower intermediate positions thereof. ing. Also, on this vertical surface 20a,
Various operation members 23 to 29, specifically, an observation direction interlocking on / off switch 23, a zoom up button 24, a zoom down button 25, a cross-shaped image direction operation button 26, a pair of focus buttons 27, an auto focus / Manual focus switching button 28, three memory call buttons 29
It is provided. Specifically, when the observation direction interlocking on / off switch 23 is set to the observation direction on, an image matched to the observation direction detected by the observation direction detecting means inside the observation unit 10 is displayed on the apparatus body 1. Will be displayed in. The zoom-up button 24 and the zoom-down button 25 can be operated to change the size of the image observed on the apparatus body 1. The image direction operation button 26 can change the image observed on the apparatus main body 1 into an image in a state of moving in the up, down, left, and right directions by pressing each of the cross-shaped upper, lower, left, and right pieces. The focus button 27 enables focus operation when the auto focus / manual focus switching button 28 is set to manual focus. When the memory call button 29 is operated, the image displayed on the apparatus body 1 can be changed to the image in the stored direction. That is, the image observation device can change the image displayed on the device body 1 into images in various directions, and preset data for generating an image in a specific direction and size in the control device. Since it can be stored, it is possible to change the displayed image to the image of the stored direction and size by operating the memory call button 29. .

In order to observe an image using this image observation apparatus, the thumb is fitted into the concave portion 22 of the grip 20 so that the apparatus main body 1 is held with both hands from both sides, and the apparatus main body 1 is placed in front of the face. Bring it to the left and right eyepiece windows 12 of the observation unit 10,
Look into the inside from 13. The recess 22 makes it easy to hold the apparatus main body 1 and prevents the operation members 23 to 29 provided on the grip 20 from being inadvertently operated. The observation unit 10 projects toward the observer, and a space is formed between the grip 20 and the face of the observer.
It is possible to easily operate the operation members 23 to 29 while grabbing and observing the image.

The device body 1 and the control device are electrically connected by a connecting wire 38. That is, the connection line 38
The video signal and the driving power are supplied from the control device to the device main body 1 via the, and the signals of the observation direction detecting means, the eyepiece detecting means, and the operation members 23 to 29 are transmitted to the control device from the device main body 1. To be done. In the middle part of the connecting wire 38,
The spring portion 39 is provided so that the spring portion 39 elastically extends even when the device body 1 is pulled by the control device with a predetermined tensile force, that is, a force equal to or less than the maximum spring force P _1. There is.

The above configuration is common to the respective embodiments of the present invention. Next, the respective embodiments of the present invention will be described focusing on their respective characteristic points.

First, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the observation section 1 of the apparatus main body 1.
LCD (liquid crystal display device) 51 which is an image display means and an eyepiece lens 5 which is an eyepiece optical means housed inside
6 is a main-portion cross-sectional view taken along the optical axis connecting 6 and the observer's eye 88. FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the eyepiece lens 56 is a convex lens, and the LCD 51 has its image display area 51a.
The image displayed at is enlarged and guided to the observer's eye 88. The luminous fluxes 81a and 81b from the LCD 51 are
The position of the observer's eye 88 is sufficiently thick so that it can cope with the change in the position of the observer's eye 88 with respect to the eyepiece lens 56. That is, the observer can wear the glasses, for example, to observe the image even if the position of the eye 88 is slightly displaced with respect to the eyepiece lens 51. The effective diameter of the eyepiece lens 56 is larger than the effective diameter of the LCD 51, that is, the outer diameter of the image display area 51a. LCD 51 and eyepiece 5
A lens barrel 53 is disposed between the lens barrel 6 and the lens 6. This lens barrel 5
Reference numeral 3 denotes a tapered inner peripheral surface 53a which substantially coincides with a straight line 80 connecting the effective diameter of the LCD 51 and the effective diameter of the eyepiece lens 56.
have. The inner peripheral surface 53a is a reflection surface in the present embodiment, which is where antireflection treatment is applied if it is an ordinary optical device.

In the above-mentioned structure, the light ray directed from the LCD 51 to the observer's eye 88 is not reflected by the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 82, and a light ray 83 reflected by the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 and directed to the observer's eye 88 as indicated by the dotted line in FIG. The former light ray 82 causes the observer to see the image displayed on the LCD 51. On the other hand, due to the light rays 83 reflected by the inner peripheral surface 53a of the latter lens barrel 53, the inner peripheral surface 53 of the lens barrel 53 can be seen by the observer.
a will look bright. In other words, the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 interrupts the observer's field of view to bring about a non-see-through state, and the peripheral portion outside the image display area 51a of the LCD 51 appears bright. Therefore, the difference in brightness between the image displayed on the LCD 51 and the peripheral portion viewed by the observer becomes small.

The inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 may be a mirror reflection surface, but preferably the lens barrel 53.
The inner peripheral surface 53a is made to be a white diffusion surface to increase the reflectance, prevent the reflection of a clear reflected image, and minimize the difference in brightness between the image and its peripheral portion.

Next, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, the lens barrel 5 is provided between the eyepiece lens 51 having a large effective diameter and the LCD 51 having a small effective diameter.
3 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but is different from the first embodiment in that a step 53c is provided on the inner peripheral surface 53b. Specifically, the image display area 51a of the LCD 51 is rectangular, and the inner peripheral surface 53b of the lens barrel 53 is quadrangular truncated pyramid. That is, the inner peripheral surface 53b of the lens barrel 53 is composed of four planes. On each plane of the inner peripheral surface 53b, a plurality of steps 53c are provided concentrically with respect to the optical axis. That is, on the inner peripheral surface 53b of the lens barrel 53, the tapered partial taper surface 53t and the step surface 53s extending in the direction substantially orthogonal to the optical axis are alternately and repeatedly arranged concentrically with the optical axis. ing. The partially tapered surface 53t is a reflective surface, and the LCD 5
Reflects light from 1. Since the step surface 53s does not face the LCD 51, the light beam from the LCD 51 does not hit. Therefore, the step 53s becomes a shadow. This shaded portion enters the eyes 88 of the observer, as shown by the dotted line 83a in FIG. 4, and appears to the observer as shown in the explanatory view of FIG. That is, in the periphery of the display image 82s of the central quadrangle LCD 51, a shaded portion 83s actually shaded in the figure and light from the LCD 51 are formed by the partially tapered surface 53t of the inner peripheral surface 53b of the lens barrel 53. Areas 83t that are reflected and appear bright appear alternately.

At this time, the focus of the observer is the display image 8
2s, that is, the image display area 51a of the LCD 51, is in focus, so the inner peripheral surface 53b of the lens barrel 53 is out of focus. Therefore, the shadow part 83s and the bright part 83t
Is out of focus and is visible. However, since these portions 53s and 53t are not the images themselves to be observed, there is no problem.

The shadow portion 83s and the brightly appearing portion 8
As shown in the figure, 3t is a similar bright and dark pattern that concentrically surrounds the periphery of the display image 82s. Therefore, the shaded portion 83s has the effect of naturally causing the far point guidance described above to the observer's eye 88.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), which is a schematic view seen from the eyepiece lens 56 side, and FIG. 6 (b), which is a sectional view including the optical axis, between the LCD 51 and the eyepiece lens 56. Although the lens barrel 53 is arranged in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments, the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 is not tapered but is parallel to the optical axis, and At the end inside the peripheral surface 53a, adjacent to the image display area 51a of the LCD 51, a plurality of LEDs, that is, light emitting diodes 84, which are light emitting members, are provided around the outside in the radial direction of the image display area 51a. The difference from the first and second embodiments is that the brightness difference between the displayed image and its peripheral portion is reduced by turning on the LED 84. That is, the observer does not reflect on the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The display image of the LCD 51 is viewed by the light ray 82 directly directed from the D51 to the observer's eye 88, and the LED 84 is seen around it and the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 is seen further outside. The brightness of the LED 84 is changed according to the brightness of the image displayed on the LCD 51. Preferably, each of the RGB LEDs 84 is provided and the LCD 51
The effect can be further enhanced by matching the color of the image displayed by. More preferably, L of each color
By disposing a diffuser on the front side of the CD 51, that is, on the side of the eyepiece lens 86, to smooth the color, the difference in brightness is further smoothed. Further, on the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53, LC
In addition to the scattered light from D51, the light ray 83 from the LED 84 hits and is reflected toward the observer's eye 88 as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6B, and the observer sees the inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53a. Will also look bright. The inner peripheral surface 53a of the lens barrel 53 may be a mirror surface.

In order to match the brightness of the LED 84 with the brightness of the LCD 51, the circuit shown in the circuit block diagram of FIG. 7 is used. That is, the left and right video signals from the video generation device (not shown) are processed by the video signal processing circuit 89a in the control device, passed through the liquid crystal drive circuit 89b in the device body 1, and displayed on the liquid crystal display plate, that is, the LCD 51. It is displayed as an image in the area 51a. The video signal is also processed by the peripheral luminance / color smoothing circuit 89c in the control device, passes through the peripheral illumination circuit 89d in the device main body,
The ambient lighting, that is, the LED 84 is turned on with the brightness and color suitable for the image.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, as shown in the vertical cross-sectional view including the optical axis of FIG. 8I and the horizontal cross-sectional view of FIG. 8II, the eyepiece 56 side of the LCD 51 is shown. In the LCD 5, the diffusion plate 85 having the opening 85s is formed.
The backlight 52 that is arranged so as to cover the periphery of the first image display area 51a and illuminates the LCD 51 on the diffusion plate 85.
The brightness difference between the displayed image and the surrounding area is eliminated by letting the light from.

More specifically, the backlight 52 for illuminating the LCD 51 is arranged on the side opposite to the eyepiece lens 56 with respect to the LCD 51, has a larger width than the LCD 51, and has left and right end portions 52a as shown in FIG. 8 (II). Is protruding from the LCD 51. The diffusion plate 85 has a surface 85b facing the left and right ends 52a of the backlight 52. The diffusion plate 85 is
The light which functions as a light guide and is incident on the surface 85b of the diffusion plate 85 facing the left and right end portions 52a of the backlight 52 is opposed to the eyepiece lens (not shown).
Emit from 5a. Since the emitted light is diffused, LC
The periphery of the image display area 51a of D51 becomes substantially uniformly bright. Of course, the backlight 52, which is larger than the LCD 51 in the vertical direction, may be used for the same configuration.

In this embodiment, the opening 85s of the diffusion plate 85 determines the image display range. If nothing is processed on the edges 85x and 85y of the opening 85s of the diffusion plate 85,
The light emitted from the edge portions 85x and 85y illuminates the image display portion 51a of the LCD 51, and the contrast of the image is reduced. Therefore, the opening 85 of the diffusion plate 85
The edge portion 85 facing the image display area 51a of the LCD 51 of s
x and 85y are processed black.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

This embodiment is constructed in substantially the same manner as the fourth embodiment, but instead of the backlight 52, light from the outside of the device (hereinafter referred to as "external light") is incident on the diffusion plate 86. , The difference is that the periphery of the displayed image is brightened. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 9 (I) and (II) which are vertical and horizontal sectional views of the main part including the optical axis, the diffuser plate 86 has an opening 86 s with the LCD 51.
Of the LCD 51 by overlapping the image display area 51a of
Is disposed on the eyepiece lens 56 side. An incident surface 86b is provided on the diffusion plate 86. This incident surface 86b
Is opposed to the daylighting window 19 of the observing section 10 of the apparatus body 1, outside light is incident through the daylighting window 19, and is emitted from the surface 86a of the diffuser plate 86 facing the eyepiece lens (not shown). It is like this. Also in the case of the present embodiment, as in the fourth embodiment, the edges 86x and 86y of the opening 86s of the diffusion plate 56 facing the image display area 51a of the LCD 51 are blackened.

Next, a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 which is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part including the optical axis, a half mirror 89 facing the diffusion plate 87 is provided between the LCD 51 and the eyepiece lens 56.
Is placed, and the observer can see the LCD 5 through the half mirror 89.
At the same time as observing the image displayed at No. 1, the reflection image of the diffuser plate 87 reflected by the half mirror 89 is observed. The diffuser plate 87 is illuminated by external light from the daylighting window 19 provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 1 so that it can be seen brightly by an observer.
It is configured to be larger than the image display area 51a of D51, and the peripheral portion of the displayed image is made bright by the diffusion plate 87.

By the way, the image display area 51 of the LCD 51
If the central portion 87a of the diffuser plate 87, which appears to overlap with a, remains plain, external light is added to the displayed image, and the image contrast decreases. Therefore, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 11, the diffuser plate 87 is preferably blackened so as not to allow light to pass through the central portion 87a that will be seen to overlap the image display area 51a of the LCD 51. Also, the image display surface 5 of the LCD 51
It is preferable that 1a and the diffusing plate 87 are arranged at positions substantially optically equivalent to the eyepiece lens 56. Otherwise, even if the central portion 87a of the diffuser plate 87 is processed to be black, it will be out of focus, the boundary of the central portion 87a will be blurred, and the contrast of the peripheral portion of the image will be reduced. . Furthermore, the peripheral portion 8 of the diffusion plate 87
As shown in FIGS. 11 (I) and (II), it is more preferable to draw concentric or radial patterns 87s, 87t which easily cause the far point induction described above on 7b.

Finally, the seventh embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 12, the main body 1 of the apparatus can observe an image even when the eyepiece windows 12 and 13 are left with glasses on. Since it is located a little away from the windows 12 and 13,
The observer views the observation windows 12 and 13 on the vertical surface 10a of the apparatus body 1.
You can see the surrounding area. Therefore, in order to reduce or eliminate the brightness difference between the displayed image and the vertical surface 10a seen in the peripheral portion of the image, the vertical surface 10a is formed of a white member in the present embodiment. Instead of forming the vertical surface 10a with a white member, the eyepiece window 12,
A light emitting means such as an LED may be arranged in the peripheral portion of 13 to illuminate.

As described above, according to each of the above-described embodiments, the displayed image can be observed with the luminance difference between the displayed image and the peripheral portion of the image being reduced or eliminated. .

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be implemented in various other modes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of a device body of an image observation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an effect of the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of a device body of an image observation device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an effect of the configuration of FIG.

5 is an explanatory diagram of how a video is viewed in the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a device body of an image observation device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a circuit block diagram of an image observation device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a main part of a device body of an image observation device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a device body of an image observation device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a device body of an image observation device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a plan view of the diffusion plate of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an external view of a device body of the image observation device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Device main body 10 Observation part 10a Vertical surface (peripheral illumination means, reflection surface) 10b Upper surface 10s, 10t Observation part 12 Left eyepiece window 13 Right eyepiece window 14 Left audio part 15 Right audio part 16 Eyepiece detection window 18 Daylighting window (light supply) Means) 19 Slit 20 Gripping portion 22 Recessed portion 23 Observation direction interlocking on / off switch 24 Zoom up button 25 Zoom down button 26 Video direction operation button 27 Focus button 28 Auto focus / manual focus switching button 29 Memory call button 51 LCD (video display) 51a Image display area 52 Backlight (light supply means) 52a End portion 53 Lens barrel (peripheral illumination means) 53a, 53b Inner peripheral surface 53c Step 53s Step surface 53t Partial tapered surface 53x Lens barrel (peripheral illumination means) 56 Eyepiece Lens (eyepiece optical means) 82,82a Ray 82s Display image 83,83a Ray 83s Shadow part (bright and dark pattern) 83t Bright Visible part (bright and dark pattern) 84 LED (peripheral illumination means, light emitting member) 85 Diffusing plate 85a Incident surface 85b Emitting surface 85s Opening 85x, 85y Edge 86 Diffusing plate 86a Emitting surface 86b Incident surface 86s Opening 86x, 86y Edge 87 Diffusion plate 87a Central part 87b Peripheral part 87s, 87t Design 88 Eye 89 Half mirror 89a Video signal processing circuit 89b Liquid crystal drive circuit 89c Peripheral illumination circuit

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasushi Yasushiri, 2-3-3 Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideki Nagata Azuchi-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka 2-chome 3-13 Osaka International Building Minolta Co., Ltd. (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 27/02 H04N 5/64 G03B 13/02

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image observation apparatus having image display means for displaying an image inside the apparatus body, and eyepiece optical means for enlarging the image displayed by the image display means and guiding it to an observer outside the apparatus body. An image observing apparatus comprising peripheral illumination means for brightening a peripheral portion of an image displayed by the image display means. 2. The peripheral illumination means includes a lens barrel arranged between the image display means and the eyepiece optical means, and the lens barrel has at least a part formed of a diffusion member having a low absorptivity. The image observation device according to claim 1, wherein the image observation device has an inner peripheral surface. 3. The peripheral illumination means includes a lens barrel arranged between the image display means and the eyepiece optical means, and the effective diameter of the image display means is smaller than the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means. The lens barrel has a tapered inner surface that substantially matches a straight line connecting the effective diameter of the image display means and the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means, and has an inner peripheral surface that reflects light. 1. The video display device according to 1. 4. The inner peripheral surface of the lens barrel has a taper shape that substantially coincides with a straight line connecting the effective diameter of the image display means and the effective diameter of the eyepiece optical means and reflects light. And a step surface adjacent to the partial taper surface and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical axis are alternately and concentrically arranged with respect to the optical axis, and are arranged around the image displayed by the image display means. The image observation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a similar bright and dark pattern surrounding the same is observed. 5. The image observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the illumination of the peripheral illumination means uses scattered light of an image of the image display means. 6. The image according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral illumination means is constituted by a light emitting member arranged around the image display means so as to face the eyepiece optical means side. Observation device. 7. The peripheral illumination means includes a diffuser plate surrounding the periphery of the image displayed by the image display means and facing the eyepiece optical means, and a light supply means for supplying light to the diffuser plate. 5. The image observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the diffuser plate emits the light supplied from the light supply means toward the eyepiece optical means. 8. The observer-side periphery of the eyepiece optical means is constituted by a reflecting surface, and the reflecting surface is used as the peripheral illumination means, or a light emitting member is provided around the observer side of the eyepiece optical means. The image observation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting member is provided as the peripheral illumination means.