JP7463723B2 - Lighting Control Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a lighting control device.

Traditionally, lighting effects in studios and on stages are created using multiple lighting fixtures. A lighting control system has been introduced in which a lighting control device remotely controls the illuminance and color of the light emitted by each lighting fixture using a dimmer console, using a control address set on each lighting fixture.

JP 2014-99289 A

However, the conventional technology leaves room for improvement in terms of preventing erroneous operation of the lighting control device. Specifically, in the conventional technology, icons corresponding to all lighting fixtures are displayed on the lighting control device. For this reason, in the conventional technology, it is not easy for an operator to select an icon corresponding to a desired lighting fixture from among multiple icons, and there is a risk of operating the illuminance or color of the wrong lighting fixture.

The problem that this invention aims to solve is to provide a lighting control device that can prevent erroneous operation of lighting fixtures.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the lighting control device according to the present invention includes a storage unit and a display control unit. The storage unit stores, for each lighting fixture, an installation position and group information related to the group to which the lighting fixture belongs, in association with each other, based on the installation layout of the lighting fixtures in the lighting space. When the group to which the lighting fixture belongs is selected, the display control unit displays, on the operation screen of the lighting fixtures, icons of the lighting fixtures that belong to the group and icons of the lighting fixtures that do not belong to any of the groups to which the lighting fixture belongs, based on the group information stored in the storage unit.

The present invention makes it possible to prevent erroneous operation of lighting fixtures.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a lighting system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a lighting control device according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of lighting fixture information according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of layout information according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a reception screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the lighting control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the lighting control device according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the lighting control device according to the embodiment.

The lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment described below includes a memory unit 34 and a display control unit 35c. The memory unit 34 stores, for each lighting fixture 10, an installation position associated with group information related to the group to which the lighting fixture belongs, based on the installation layout of the lighting fixtures 10 in the lighting space. When a group is selected, the display control unit 35c displays icons of lighting fixtures 10 that belong to the group and lighting fixtures 10 that do not belong to any group on the operation screen of the lighting fixture 10, based on the group information stored in the memory unit 34.

The lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment described below also includes a reception unit 35b that receives registration of a group to which each icon belongs, and the display control unit 35c changes the display mode of the icon for which registration of a group to which the reception unit 35b has received the registration.

In addition, in the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment described below, the display control unit 35c displays icons on the operation screen in different display formats for each group to which the icons belong.

The lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment will be described in detail below. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.

<Embodiment>

First, an example of the configuration of a lighting system 1 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a lighting system according to an embodiment. Below, a lighting system including lighting fixtures 10 installed in a studio in a television station or the like will be illustrated.

The following describes an example in which the lighting system 1 is a system capable of two-way communication in accordance with the RDM standard, an extension of DMX, but this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the lighting system 1 may be a system capable of two-way communication using ACN (Architecture for Control Networks) or sACN (streaming ACN), which are defined by ESTA as standards for Ethernet (registered trademark) that replace DMX.

As shown in Fig. 1, lighting system 1 includes multiple lighting fixtures 10, multiple DMX nodes ₂₀ , and multiple lighting control devices 30. Lighting fixtures _10-10-9 , DMX nodes _20-1-20-3 , and lighting control device 30 are each installed in a studio. Note that the configuration of lighting system 1 is an example, and the lighting system may have any number of lighting fixtures 10 and any number of DMX nodes ₂₀ different from the number shown in Fig. 1.

In the lighting system 1 shown in FIG. 1, the DMX node 20 and the lighting control device 30 are connected to each other so that they can communicate with each other via a specific network, such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or a LAN (Local Area Network). The lighting fixtures 10 and the DMX node 20 are also connected to each other via a standard that enables two-way communication, such as RDM, an extension of DMX.

The lighting fixture 10 is a lighting fixture that uses semiconductor light-emitting elements such as LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) as a light source, and is, for example, a spotlight, a horizon light, a flood light, etc. The lighting fixture 10 performs dimming processing to change the illuminance, color, lighting range, etc. of the illuminating light according to the control of the lighting control device 30, thereby performing lighting effects for studios, stages, etc. When the lighting fixture 10 receives a control signal according to the RDM standard from the DMX node 20, it determines whether the control address indicated by the received control signal is the control address of its own device, and if it is the control address of its own device, it performs dimming processing according to the received control signal. The lighting fixture 10 is supplied with power from various system power sources, and the supplied power is used to turn on the semiconductor light-emitting elements, etc.

Lighting device 10 may be assigned multiple control addresses. For example, if the colors red, blue, and green and the illuminance can be set individually, lighting device 10 is assigned a total of four control addresses, one for each color and illuminance, and each color and illuminance can be controlled individually via each control address.

Lighting fixture 10 is installed on a baton or the like that is provided in advance as ancillary equipment in the studio. A baton is a suspended device that is provided in any space such as a studio or stage, and lighting fixture 10 can be suspended from the ceiling of the studio or stage. Lighting fixture 10 can also be installed in any position other than a baton, such as the floor of the studio.

The DMX node 20 is a relay device that relays communication between the lighting fixture 10 and the lighting control device 30. For example, the DMX node 20 has a communication control unit (not shown) and multiple ports. The communication control unit is a communication device that transmits and receives information with the lighting control device 30, and is realized by a communication device such as a NIC (Network Interface Card). Furthermore, the multiple ports are ports that are assigned port numbers to identify each port, and are, for example, connectors for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the lighting fixture 10 according to the RDM standard.

The DMX node 20 collects various information about the lighting fixtures 10 connected to the ports in response to instructions from the lighting control device 30. The DMX node 20 generates information that associates the identifier of its own device with the identifier of the port for each collected information, and returns the generated information to the lighting control device 30.

The lighting control device 30 is a control device that controls each lighting fixture 10 according to operations by an operator. The lighting control device 30 is also called an operation console. For example, the lighting control device 30 has multiple faders, and transmits control information to the DMX node 20 to control the illuminance and color of the corresponding lighting fixture 10 according to the operation of the faders.

At this time, the lighting control device 30 displays an icon corresponding to each lighting fixture 10 on an operation screen for operating the lighting fixtures 10, and transmits control information according to the operation of the fader to the lighting fixture 10 corresponding to the icon selected by the operator's operation.

In such a lighting system 1, for example, in addition to the case where the lighting fixtures 10 are re-installed for each program, all of the lighting fixtures 10 to be used for multiple programs may be installed in advance.

When all lighting fixtures 10 to be used for multiple programs are installed in advance, the installation of the lighting fixtures 10 only needs to be done once, which reduces the installation work for the lighting fixtures 10 compared to when the lighting fixtures 10 are reinstalled for each program.

In this case, however, lighting fixtures 10 that are not to be used in the program being recorded are installed. For this reason, if an icon that is not to be used in the program being recorded is displayed on the above-mentioned operation screen, there is a risk that the operator will select that icon. This could lead to an erroneous operation by the operator, such as turning on an unintended lighting fixture 10.

For this reason, the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment manages each lighting device 10 by grouping them according to the program in which they are used, and does not display lighting devices 10 that are not used in the program currently being recorded.

In other words, in a situation where all lighting fixtures 10 used for multiple programs are installed, the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment switches the icon displayed according to the current program, thereby preventing erroneous operation by the operator.

It is also possible that multiple programs are recorded simultaneously in the same studio. In this case, it is desirable to display icons of the lighting fixtures 10 used for each program being recorded simultaneously.

For this reason, the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment is configured to always display the icons of lighting devices 10 that do not belong to any group. The lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment will be further described below.

Next, an example of the configuration of the lighting control device 30 according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the lighting control device according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the lighting control device 30 includes a communication unit 31, a display unit 32, an operation unit 33, a storage unit 34, and a control unit 35.

The communication unit 31 is implemented, for example, by a specific communication circuit such as a NIC (Network Interface Card), and performs data communication with the DMX node 20 via a communication network such as Ethernet (registered trademark) or LAN.

The display unit 32 is implemented, for example, by an LCD monitor or a touch panel, and displays an operation screen that accepts operations for each lighting fixture 10.

The operation unit 33 is implemented by an input device such as a fader or a button, and accepts operations from an operator. The operation unit 33 may be implemented by an input device for performing a specific operation on one or more lighting fixtures 10, such as a submaster fader, a scene button, or an effect button.

The storage unit 34 is implemented, for example, by a semiconductor memory element such as a random access memory (RAM) or a flash memory, or a storage device such as a hard disk or an optical disk. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the storage unit 34 stores lighting fixture information 34a and layout information 34b.

The lighting fixture information 34a is information related to the lighting fixtures 10 installed in a lighting space (e.g., a studio). FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the lighting fixture information 34a according to an embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the lighting fixture information 34a is information in which the "ID", "port number", "UID", "DMX address", "model number", etc. are associated with each other.

"ID" is a unique identifier assigned to each lighting fixture 10 in the studio. "Port number" is a unique number assigned to the port of the DMX node 20 to which the lighting fixture 10 is connected.

The "UID" is a number unique to each lighting fixture 10 used in the DMX standard that is assigned to each lighting fixture 10. The "DMX address" is an address on the DMX data link, i.e., a control address used by the lighting control device 30 when controlling each lighting fixture 10. The "model number" is the model number of the lighting fixture 10 determined by the manufacturer of the lighting fixture 10.

Note that the lighting fixture information 34a shown in FIG. 3 is an example, and may include other information such as the lighting time of each lighting fixture 10, the manufacturer of the lighting fixture 10, etc.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2, the layout information 34b will be described. The layout information 34b is information about the layout of the lighting fixtures 10, such as the installation positions of each lighting fixture 10 in the studio (lighting space). FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the layout information 34b according to the embodiment.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, layout information 34b is information that associates "ID," "icon type," "installation position," "installation direction," "group," and the like. "ID" is a unique identifier that is individually assigned to each lighting fixture 10 in the studio, similar to the "ID" in FIG. 3.

"Installation location" indicates the installation location of the corresponding lighting fixture 10 within the studio. "Icon type" indicates the type of icon to be displayed on the operation screen described below. For example, the icon type is changed as appropriate depending on the type of lighting fixture 10 (e.g., model number, etc.).

"Installation orientation" refers to the orientation of the corresponding lighting device 10, i.e., the direction in which the lighting device 10 emits light. Furthermore, "Belonging group" refers to the group to which the corresponding lighting device 10 belongs. In this embodiment, the "Belonging group" is set, for example, for each program.

In the example of FIG. 4, the lighting fixture 10 with ID "NX2" does not belong to any group. In the following, a lighting fixture 10 that does not belong to any group may be referred to as an "unaffiliated lighting fixture 10."

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2, the control unit 35 will be described. The control unit 35 is a controller that controls the entire lighting control device 30. For example, the control unit 35 can be implemented by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit). Alternatively, the control unit 35 may be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit).

In the example of FIG. 2, the control unit 35 includes an acquisition unit 35a, a reception unit 35b, and a display control unit 35c. The acquisition unit 35a acquires location information regarding the installation location of the lighting fixture 10 through data communication with the lighting fixture 10 that supports a predetermined communication standard.

Specifically, for example, after the installation of the lighting fixtures 10 is completed, the acquisition unit 35a acquires the location information of each lighting fixture 10 by data communication with each lighting fixture 10 connected to the DMX node 20 (see FIG. 1) using RDM communication.

Here, it is possible to identify the installation location of the lighting fixture 10 from the installation location of the DMX node 20 and the port number. Therefore, the acquisition unit 35a acquires the port number of each lighting fixture 10 as location information from each lighting fixture 10.

At this time, the acquisition unit 35a also acquires information on the "DMX address," "model number," and the like from each lighting fixture 10, and updates the lighting fixture information 34a, while updating the layout information 34b based on the port number, etc.

However, if the lighting fixture 10 does not comply with the RDM communication standard, the location information cannot be acquired by the above process. Therefore, the acquisition unit 35a can also acquire the location information of the lighting fixture 10 based on a user operation (operation by an operator).

Specifically, the operator can register position information in the lighting control device 30 by selecting a desired icon from among the multiple icons displayed on the display unit 32 and arranging the selected icon on the studio layout screen displayed on the display unit 32. That is, in this case, the acquisition unit 35a acquires position information through a drag-and-drop operation by the operator. At this time, the operator can also input information regarding the installation orientation as position information in addition to the installation position.

The reception unit 35b receives various operations on the operation screen and the reception screen. For example, the reception unit 35b receives the registration of a group for each icon displayed on the operation screen. The reception unit 35b can receive the registration of a group in accordance with the operation of the operator. A specific example of this will be described later with reference to FIG. 7.

When a group is selected by the operator, the display control unit 35c displays icons of lighting fixtures 10 that belong to the group and lighting fixtures 10 that do not belong to any group on the lighting fixture operation screen based on the group information stored in the memory unit 34.

Here, an example of the display control process performed by the display control unit 35c will be described with reference to Figures 5 to 7. Figures 5 and 6 are diagrams showing an example of an operation screen. Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of a reception screen.

The dashed lines in Figures 5 to 7 indicate the batons that suspend the lighting fixtures 10. As shown in Figure 5, the operation screen for the lighting fixtures 10 displays an icon A at a position corresponding to the installation position of each lighting fixture 10, along with a floor plan of the studio.

For example, the display control unit 35c refers to the layout information 34b to select an icon type for each lighting device 10, and determines the display position of the selected icon A based on the position information.

At this time, the display control unit 35c refers to the layout information 34b, determines the orientation of icon A based on the installation orientation, and displays icon A on the operation screen. For example, the operator can select a desired icon A and then operate the operation unit 33 (see FIG. 2) to operate the lighting device 10 corresponding to the selected icon A. Note that although one type of icon A is shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, two or more types of icon A may be used.

As described above, the display control unit 35c switches the icon A displayed on the operation screen depending on the group to which the operator belongs, as selected by the operator. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, multiple buttons are displayed on the operation screen.

In the example of FIG. 5, the operation screen displays selection buttons B1 to B3 for switching between the icon A to be displayed, as well as a display button Bd and a set button Bs for switching between the display mode and the reception mode.

Selection button B1 is a button for selecting the full display mode that displays all icons A, and selection button B2 is a button for selecting display mode A that mainly displays icons A that belong to group "A." Selection button B3 is a button for selecting display mode B that mainly displays icons A that belong to group "B." In other words, the operator can select a group by selecting one of selection buttons B1 to B3.

The display button Bd shown in FIG. 5 is a button for selecting a display mode, and the set button Bs is a button for selecting a reception mode. Here, the display mode is a mode for displaying an icon A corresponding to the selected group, and for accepting operations on the lighting device 10. The reception mode is a mode for accepting registration of a group to which each icon A belongs.

The example in FIG. 5 shows a case where the display button Bd and the selection button B1 are selected. Therefore, the display control unit 35c displays all icons A registered in the layout information 34b.

Also, as shown in FIG. 6, when the display button Bd and the selection button B2 are selected, the icon A of the lighting fixture 10 that does not belong to any group is displayed together with the icon A of the lighting fixture 10 that belongs to the group "A". In other words, in this case, all icons A except for the icon A of the lighting fixture 10 that belongs to the group "B" are displayed.

When the display button Bd and the selection button B3 are selected, icons A of lighting fixtures 10 that do not belong to group "B" are displayed along with icons A of lighting fixtures 10 that belong to group "B."

That is, the display control unit 35c switches between displaying and hiding the icons of lighting fixtures 10 that belong to either group "A" or group "B" by operating either selection button B2 or selection button B3. On the other hand, the display control unit 35c displays icons A of unaffiliated lighting fixtures 10 in both of the above patterns.

Therefore, for belonging group "A" and belonging group "B", the lighting fixtures 10 are classified according to the programs that are recorded at different times, and the programs that are recorded in parallel with these programs are classified as "unaffiliated", so that the programs can be recorded in parallel.

The operator can also register the group to which each lighting fixture 10 belongs by selecting the set button Bs. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, assume that the operator selects the set button Bs and the selection button B2. Note that the screen shown in FIG. 7 is an example of a reception screen.

In this case, the reception unit 35b receives the registration of icon A for the group "A". Specifically, the operator selects the icon A to be registered in the group "A" from among the icons A displayed on the reception screen. The reception unit 35b sequentially adds the selected icons A to the group "A" (i.e., updates the "group" in FIG. 4).

At this time, the display control unit 35c also changes the display mode of the icon for which registration of the group to which it belongs has been accepted. In the example of FIG. 7, the icon A registered to the group "A" is shown in white, and the other icons A are shown in black. In the example of FIG. 7, the color of the icon A is changed for each group to which it belongs, allowing the operator to visually understand the group to which each icon A belongs.

This allows the operator to easily know which icon A has been registered as a group, preventing the operator from missing an icon A for each group. Note that, although the display mode has been described here as changing the color, other appropriate changes may be made, for example, by making the icon A have a different shape for each group.

Although the case where the display mode of icon A is changed for each group on the reception screen has been shown here, for example, the display mode of icon A may be changed for each group on the operation screen shown in FIG. 5, etc. In other words, by displaying icon A in a different display mode for each group on the operation screen, as on the reception screen, the operator can intuitively understand the group to which each lighting fixture 10 belongs.

In this way, by changing the display mode of icon A when registration of the group to which it belongs is accepted, the operator can easily understand the group to which each icon A belongs.

Next, the process steps executed by the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 10. Figs. 8 to 10 are flowcharts showing the process steps executed by the lighting control device 30 according to the embodiment.

First, a series of processing steps for registering layout information 34b will be described with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the lighting control device 30 determines whether installation of lighting fixtures 10 in the lighting space is complete (step S101), and if it determines that installation is complete (step S101, Yes), it detects the installed lighting fixtures 10 via RDM communication (step S102).

Next, the lighting control device 30 acquires position information from the lighting fixtures 10 detected in step S102 (step S103) and updates the layout information 34b based on the acquired information (step S104).

Then, the lighting control device 30 determines whether there are any undetected lighting fixtures 10 in step S102 (step S105), and if there are any undetected lighting fixtures 10 (step S105), updates the layout information 34b by the operator (step S106, No), and ends the process.

The lighting control device 30 also ends the process if the determination in step S101 is that installation of the lighting fixtures 10 is not complete (step S101, No), or if the determination in step S105 is that there are no undetected lighting fixtures 10 (step S105, No). Note that in step S105, for example, the presence or absence of undetected lighting fixtures 10 can be determined by an operator's operation.

Next, the procedure for registering a group to which the user belongs will be described with reference to FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 9, the lighting control device 30 determines whether or not a group registration request has been received (step S201). In the above example, it is determined in step S201 whether or not the set button Bs has been selected.

If the lighting control device 30 determines in step S201 that a group registration request has been received (step S201, Yes), it displays a reception screen (step S202) and accepts group registration by the operator (step S203).

Then, the lighting control device 30 updates the layout information 34b based on the result of the group registration received in step S203 (step S204), and ends the process. Also, if the lighting control device 30 determines in step S201 that a group registration request has not been received (step S201, No), it ends the process.

Next, the process procedure for switching the display of icon A will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the lighting control device 30 determines whether the full display mode is selected by selecting button B1 (see FIG. 5) (step S301), and if it is determined that the full display mode is selected (step S301, Yes), it displays all icons A (step S302) and ends the process.

In addition, if the lighting control device 30 determines in step S301 that the display mode is not the full display mode (step S301, No), it determines whether the display mode A selected by the selection button B2 (see Figure 5) is selected (step S303).

If the lighting control device 30 determines in step S303 that the display mode is A (step S303, Yes), it displays the group "A" to which the lighting control device 30 belongs and the unaffiliated icon A (step S304), and ends the process.

In addition, if the lighting control device 30 determines in step S303 that the display mode is not A (step S303), the selection button B3 (see FIG. 5) is selected, and the display mode B is displayed, so the group "B" and the unaffiliated icon A are displayed (step S3-5), and the process ends.

In the above embodiment, the unaffiliated icon A is always displayed, and the icon A to be displayed is switched between display mode A and display mode B, but this is not limited to this. That is, for example, the icon A to be always displayed may be registered in both the affiliated group "A" and the affiliated group "B". In this case, a separate affiliated group for always-display may be created.

In the above embodiment, the case where the number of groups is two is described, but this is not limited to this. In other words, the number of groups may be three or more.

Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This embodiment can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. This embodiment and its variations are within the scope of the invention and its equivalents as described in the claims, as well as the scope and gist of the invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Lighting system 10 Lighting fixture 20 DMX node 30 Lighting control device 31 Communication unit 32 Display unit 33 Operation unit 34 Memory unit 34a Lighting fixture information 34b Layout information 35 Control unit 35a Acquisition unit 35b Reception unit 35c Display control unit

Claims (3)

a storage unit that stores, for each of the lighting fixtures, an installation position and group information related to a group to which the lighting fixture belongs, in association with each other based on an installation layout of the lighting fixtures in the lighting space;
a display control unit that, when the belonging group is selected, displays, on an operation screen of the lighting devices, icons of the lighting devices that belong to the selected belonging group and icons of the lighting devices that do not belong to any of the belonging groups, while hiding icons of the lighting devices that belong to a belonging group different from the belonging group based on the group information stored in the storage unit;
A lighting control device comprising: a reception unit that receives registration of the group to which each of the icons belongs;
Equipped with
The display control unit is
changing a display mode of the icon for which registration of the group to which the icon belongs has been accepted by the accepting unit;
The lighting control device according to claim 1 . The display control unit is
On the operation screen, the icon is displayed in a different display mode for each of the groups to which the icon belongs.
The lighting control device according to claim 2 .

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