JPH01177795A - Iris adjusting device for stereoscopic camera - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make the iris adjustment of two cameras accurate and simple and to obtain the best stereoscopic effect by providing an iris adjusting signal supplying means, a level signal generation means, and a level difference generation arithmetic means. CONSTITUTION:The cameras 11, 12 installed at a specific distance from each other are supplied with iris adjusting signals outputted from amplifier circuits 13, 14 to their respective camera lens parts 11a, 12a, and the iris adjustment is conducted corresponding to the level of said signals. Then, the amplitude levels of video signals outputted from image pickup parts 11b, 12b is varied corresponding to said iris adjustment, and a stereoscopic video signal is outputted to an output terminal 18 via a time division switching circuit 16 and a video signal processing circuit 17. In the meantime, video signals from the cameras 11, 12 are supplied to integrating circuits 19, 20, and converted to a signal that has the average level of their amplitude levels, then subjected to subtraction in a subtraction circuit 21, thus a level difference component signal is outputted therefrom. And this output from the circuit 21 is supplied to the lens part 11a via the circuit 13, so that the iris adjustment of the camera 11 is automatically conducted, thus the best stereoscopic effect can be obtained.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Objective of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a method for easily and accurately adjusting the iris (aperture) of a stereoscopic camera in a well-balanced manner to obtain stereoscopic images. The present invention relates to an iris adjustment device for a stereoscopic camera.

(Prior art) As is well known, two independent cameras are installed at a predetermined distance apart, and the same subject is photographed, and the video signals obtained from both cameras are time-divisionally processed. Techniques for obtaining visual images have been developed. Note that this three-dimensional camera includes a camera lens section having an iris adjustment function, and an imaging section that converts an image photographed by the camera lens section into an electrical video signal.

By the way, conventionally, the iris adjustment of two cameras is performed independently for each camera. in this case,
If the iris adjustment of the two cameras is out of balance, the amplitude levels of the video signals obtained from both cameras will be out of balance, causing a deterioration of the stereoscopic effect.

Therefore, the iris adjustment of each camera must be done in a well-balanced and accurate manner so as to obtain the best stereoscopic effect, which is extremely time-consuming and inconvenient to handle. Additionally, since the camera is not equipped with a function to detect an imbalance in the iris adjustment between the two cameras, the iris adjustment relies solely on human vision, which makes accurate adjustment difficult. It was happening.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) ``As described above, in the conventional system that attempts to obtain stereoscopic images using two cameras, the iris adjustment of the camera is performed independently and manually for each camera. Therefore, there are problems in that the adjustment work is complicated and it is difficult to perform accurate adjustment to obtain the best stereoscopic effect.

Therefore, this invention was made in consideration of the above circumstances, and is an extremely good stereoscopic camera that can accurately and easily adjust the iris of two cameras to obtain the best stereoscopic effect. An object of the present invention is to provide an iris adjustment device.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) That is, the iris adjustment device for a stereoscopic camera according to the present invention includes first and second iris adjustment devices that are independent of each other and each have an electrically controllable iris adjustment function. An iris adjustment signal is supplied from the outside to one of the cameras. Then, a signal having a level corresponding to each video signal obtained from the first and second cameras is generated, and based on the level difference component of each of these signals, the other of the first and second cameras is It is configured to generate an iris adjustment signal for the camera.

(Function) According to the above configuration, by supplying an iris adjustment signal from the outside to one of the two cameras that make up the stereoscopic camera, the iris adjustment for the other camera is automatically performed. The iris adjustment of the two cameras can be accurately and conveniently performed to obtain the best stereoscopic effect.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, 11 and 12 are cameras, which are installed at a predetermined distance apart. These cameras 11 and 12 include camera lens sections 11a and 12a having an electrically controlled iris adjustment function, and a camera for converting images taken by the camera lens sections 11a and 12a into electrical video signals, for example. Each of the image pickup units 11b and 12b has a built-in CCD (charge-coupled device) and the like.

The camera 11.12 has an amplifier circuit 13.14.
The iris adjustment signal output from the camera lens section 1
1a and 12a, the iris is adjusted according to the signal level. In addition, the camera 11.12 also controls the imaging unit 11b according to the iris adjustment.
, 12b, the amplitude level of the video signal output from them is changed.

22, the camera 12 performs iris adjustment by having the iris adjustment signal set at the input terminal 15 amplified by the amplifier circuit 14 and supplied to the camera lens section 12a. That is, the iris of the camera 12 can be arbitrarily set from the outside.

The video signals obtained from both cameras IT, 12 are both supplied to the time-division switching circuit 1B, where they are alternately selected and then demodulated into stereoscopic video signals by the video signal processing circuit 17. As a result, a stereoscopic video signal is generated here and can be taken out via the output terminal 18.

Further, the video signal shown in FIG. 2(a) obtained from the camera 11 is supplied to the integrating circuit 19 and converted into the signal shown in FIG. 2(b) having an average level of its amplitude level. be done. Furthermore, obtained from the camera 12,
The video signal shown in FIG. 2(c) is supplied to the integrating circuit 20 and is converted into the signal shown in FIG. 2(d) having an average level of its amplitude level.

In 22, the respective video signals obtained from two independent cameras 11 and 12 are shown in Fig. 3(a) and (b).
As shown in , although there is a shift (phase difference) and distortion on the time axis, the waveforms are quite similar. Therefore, the video signals outputted from both cameras 11 and 12 are individually integrated by integrating circuits 19 and 20 having the same characteristics, and the outputs are outputted from the camera lens section 11a.

When the amount of light incident on 12a is equal, that is, when the irises are equal, the voltage level is approximately the same regardless of the subject.

Each output signal of the integration circuit 19.20 is subtracted by a subtraction circuit 21, and a level difference component thereof, that is, a signal of a level corresponding to the unbalance of the iris adjustment of both cameras 11.12 is output. Note that this subtraction circuit 2
1 is composed of, for example, an operational amplifier with differential power.

Thereafter, the output of the subtraction circuit 21 is amplified by the amplifier circuit 13 as an iris adjustment signal for the camera 11, and then supplied to the camera lens section 11a, where it is sent to the camera 11.
The iris adjustment in step 1 is automatically performed.

In this case, the iris adjustment for the camera 11 is to match the output level of the integrating circuit 19 with the output level of the integrating circuit 20 and set the output level of the subtracting circuit 21 to "0", that is, to adjust the iris of the camera 11 to the iris of the camera 12. It is set to act in the direction of correcting the unbalance of the iris adjustment of both cameras 11 and 12 so as to match the iris adjustment.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the above embodiment, by supplying the iris adjustment signal to the camera 12 from the outside, the iris adjustment signal to the camera 11 that automatically balances the iris of the camera 12 can be provided. As a result, the iris adjustment of the two cameras 11 and 12 can be performed accurately and easily to obtain the best stereoscopic effect.

Note that the subtraction circuit 21 is configured such that its output level can be adjusted by supplying a correction signal to an input terminal 22.

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively show other embodiments of the present invention, in which the same parts as in FIG. 17
is omitted for simplicity.

First, in the system shown in FIG. 4, the output of the integrating circuit 2G is guided to the amplifier circuit 14 via the conversion circuit 23, so that the iris adjustment of the camera 12 is performed using its own video signal. Furthermore, in the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the output of the integrating circuit 19 is guided to the amplifier circuit 13 to
The iris adjustment of step 1 is performed using its own video signal, and the gain of the amplifier circuit 13 is adjusted using the output of the subtraction circuit 21 to generate an iris adjustment signal for the camera 11.

The embodiments shown in both FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 not only provide the same effects as the above embodiments, but also realize a so-called auto-iris function that automatically adjusts the iris according to the amount of incident light. can do.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, an extremely good stereoscopic camera is provided in which the iris adjustment of two cameras can be performed accurately and easily to obtain the best stereoscopic effect. The iris adjustment device can be adjusted to 1ttt-.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the iris adjustment device for a stereoscopic camera according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of the same embodiment, and FIG. A waveform diagram showing the obtained video signal, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are block configuration diagrams showing other embodiments of the present invention, respectively. 11, 12...Camera, ta, 14...Amplification circuit, 15...Input terminal, 1B...Time division switching circuit, 1
7...Video signal processing circuit! Death...output terminal, 19.
20... Integration circuit, 21... Subtraction circuit, 22...
Input terminal, 23...conversion circuit. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue■0 (a) (C) Tomihe 2 diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] First and second cameras that are independent from each other and each have an electrically controllable iris adjustment function, and an iris adjustment signal is supplied from the outside to one of the first and second cameras. first and second generation means for generating signals having levels corresponding to the respective video signals obtained from the first and second cameras, and from the first and second generation means; a calculation means for calculating a level difference component of each signal obtained; and a third generation means for generating an iris adjustment signal for the other of the first and second cameras based on the output of the calculation means. An iris adjustment device for a stereoscopic camera, comprising: