JPH02158436A - Monitor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable right and left reversible display with the use of a conventional display unit by providing cameras for taking pictures in front and rear of a vehicle, a display control device incorporating frame memory which stores and reproduces image data from the cameras, and a display device. CONSTITUTION:In a monitor device in which image signals from front and rear monitor cameras 17, 18 are transmitted to a selector 23, and a picture image is inputted to a CPT in accordance with a selected image signal, the rear monitor camera 18 is mounted upside down. Further, there is provided frame memory 10 in which image signals are stored in order in a specific direction which is either a first direction from an upper address to a lower address thereof or a second direction reverse to the former for every unit line having a period of one horizontal scan. Further, the frame memory 10 processes data so that a display image which is vertically reversed is obtained from image data that has been digitalized through an AD converter 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION FIELD 2 HAGE The present invention relates to a monitoring device used for confirming rear safety of a vehicle such as an automobile.

Background of the Invention ``Rearward confirmation camera systems'' have already been commercialized and are being installed in vehicles for confirming the safety of the rear of vehicles, including automobiles.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a display control section of a conventional rear confirmation camera system. In Figure 3, 21.22
is a video signal input section, and forward monitoring camera 32. Video signals representing front and rear images are input from the rear monitoring camera 33, respectively. 23 is a video signal input section 21.
The input video signal is output to an amplifier 24 for amplification to a level capable of driving the cathode of the CRT 25, and is also used for the deflection operation of the deflection circuit. To create a synchronization signal, synchronization separation/MUFC (mut) is performed.

Frequency-Control (automatic frequency control) circuit 26. Synchronous separation/mu FC circuit 26
The horizontal synchronization output of is amplified by the horizontal output section 27, and
/ It is supplied as a deflection current to the horizontal deflection coil 29 via the relay switch section 28. Note that the relay switch section 28 is for switching the direction of the deflection current, and is interlocked with the video input selection section 3o. 31 is relay switch section 2
This is the drive section of B.

The operation of the conventional rear confirmation camera system configured as described above will be described below. In the description, the case of front video input will be omitted.

When the rear video input is selected in the video input selection section 30,
The relay driving section 31 switches the relay switch section 28 so that the current flowing through the horizontal deflection coil flows in the opposite direction to that when inputting the front image. In other words, assuming that there is no problem since the vertical deflection is the same as when inputting front images from top to bottom, the image with the horizontal direction reversed (so-called mirror effect when viewed through a mirror) is transferred to the CRT 25. display and achieve the objective.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above configuration, a dedicated relay switch section for switching the horizontal deflection direction is added to the display device, which makes it more expensive than a general display, and it is difficult to install it in a car etc. K is for equipment, especially CRT
The problem was that the 25 part was large, making it impractical for use in automobiles where the number of parts is limited.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a monitoring device that uses a frame memory and a general display with a fixed deflection direction to create a mirror effect.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the monitoring device of the present invention includes at least one camera that captures an image of the rear of a vehicle, and a frame memory that stores and reproduces video information from this camera. A monitoring device comprising: a display control device that displays a video image reproduced from the display control device;
The video information that is inputted to the camera in large numbers is transferred in the first direction from the upper address of the frame memory to the lower address, or from the upper address to the upper address, for each unit line, with one horizontal scanning period as a unit line. control means for sequentially writing data into the frame memory in one of the second directions, and sequentially reading data from the frame memory in a direction opposite to the specific direction for each unit line. It is.

Effect: By switching the writing/reading direction of the frame memory with the above-described configuration, horizontally inverted display can be performed using a general television camera and display.

Embodiment Hereinafter, a vehicle monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a monitoring device in one embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 1, 2
The means indicated by reference numerals 1 to 27 and 29 are the same as those in the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted here. The difference between this embodiment and the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 is as follows.
Firstly, the horizontal output section 27 is directly coupled to the horizontal deflection coil 29 without going through the relay switch section 28, and secondly, the frame memory 10 is built-in.

In conjunction with the built-in frame memory 10, an analog-to-digital (AD) converter 8 for converting an input image signal from analog to digital. A digital-ray analog (D
Memory control unit 15 for controlling access timing to the converter 9° frame memory 10. Horizontal and vertical address registers 13, 11 . Counters 14 and 12 instruct the data writing order in the horizontal or vertical direction.
has been established. In this embodiment, the frame memory 10 uses a dual port RAM that can input and output data independently. Also, when reading from the frame memory 10, horizontal
Although a counter is required for specifying the read address in both the vertical direction, an up counter (not shown) is used.

In FIG. 1, 16 is a video input selection switch, which is connected to the switch 23 and the counter 12 for the vertical direction.

7/\-7 The operation of the monitoring device configured as described above will be explained below in the case of front video input and the case of rear video input.

In the case of front video input, the switch 23 is connected to the contact 23 & side based on a control signal from the video input selection switch 16, and the vertical counter 12 is controlled to function as an up counter. Therefore, the video signal photographed by the front monitoring camera 18 and supplied to the front video input 21 is inputted from the switch 3 to the AD converter 8, digitized, and specified by the counters 12 and 14 in the frame memory 10. The data is stored for each horizontal line in each adreno. Since the counters 12 and 14 are both up counters, the image data from the AD converter 8 is written in order from the lower adreno to the higher adreno. The written image data is read out after a one-field delay and becomes an analog signal again at the DA converter 9.
Displayed on RT25. Since up counters are used in both the horizontal and vertical directions as read counters (not shown), the order of readout at reading and operation is the same as that of writing, and the order of image data remains unchanged between input and output.

That is, the input image is displayed as is, and there is no vertical or horizontal reversal of the image.

Next, in the case of rear video input, there are some differences from the case of front video input. The rear monitoring camera 18 is a television camera installed upside down and photographed. When the rear monitoring camera 18 captures the image "ABC" shown in FIG. is output. Since it is difficult for the driver to recognize the situation in such a displayed image, the following adreno control is performed when writing image data to the frame memory 1o.

That is, in the case of rear video input, a control signal is sent to the video input selection switch to switch the switch 23 to the contact 23b side according to the selection of the video input selection switch 16, and to control the counter 12 to function as a down counter. It is output from 16 and goes to 9.

Ru. The video data digitized through the MCU converter 8 is written in order from a high address to a low address in the vertical direction, and is read out in order from a low address to a high address. Note that the horizontal direction is the amplifier direction for both writing and reading.

Therefore, the image data written to the frame memory 10 has been processed so as to obtain a display image that is vertically inverted, that is, upside down, with respect to the display image shown in FIG. This is shown in Figure 2C, and the only difference from the display image shown in Figure 2B is that it is upside down, and Image C, which is the CRT output image, is the image A of the object to be photographed. This is a horizontally reversed image.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by vertically inverting the video signal from the rear monitoring camera 18 installed upside down in the frame memory 10, the display deflection circuit is provided with a signal that is not shown in the conventional example. A horizontally inverted display image can be obtained without adding a relatively large electrical component such as a Reinwich part. As a result, the arrangement was ohe.

A small display device can be efficiently placed on the driver's seat side of a car, where space is extremely limited, and a highly practical monitoring device can be realized.

Note that it is clear that the same actions and effects can be achieved even if the directions of writing and reading image data to and from the memory are completely reversed from those of this embodiment.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, a frame memory for storing and reproducing image data from a vehicle rear monitoring camera is built into the display device, and the image data is displayed in the upper line for each unit line with the horizontal scanning period as a unit line. By sequentially writing to the frame memory from the atrea to the lower address (or from the lower address to the upper address), and reading from the frame memory in order from the lower address to the upper address (or from the upper address to the lower address) for each unit line, The displayed image can be reversed horizontally without switching the deflection circuit of the display for each front video input and rear video input. As a result, the space available for the display device is extremely large. −; It is possible to realize a compact display device that can be applied to the driver's seat of a car, which is severely limited, and to provide a highly practical monitoring device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2(a), (b), and (C) are diagrams for explaining the rear monitoring operation of the same embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a conventional monitoring device. 8... Muro converter, 9... DA converter, 10... Frame memory, 11...
...Vertical address register, 12.14...
・Counter, 13...Horizontal address register,
15...Memory control unit, 16...Video input selection switch, 17...Front monitoring camera, 18...Rear monitoring camera. Name of agent: Patent attorney Shigetaka Awano and one other person

Claims (1)

[Claims] A display control device including at least one camera that captures an image of the rear of the vehicle, a frame memory that stores and reproduces video information from the camera, and a display device that displays the reproduced video from the display control device. A monitoring device comprising: a first direction from an upper address to a lower address of a frame memory, or from a lower address to an upper address, for each unit line, with one horizontal scanning period as a unit line, for video information input from the camera; write to the frame memory sequentially in one of the second directions of
The monitoring device further comprises a control means for controlling readout from the frame memory in order in a direction opposite to the specific direction for each unit line.