JPH02170193A - Video projecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a pointer mark easy to see through easy operation with simple constitution by projecting an infrared beam on a screen and detecting the position of a projection point, and superposing a corresponding pointer mark signal on an input image signal. CONSTITUTION:For example, an explainer indicates an optional point P in an image on the screen 1. At this time, the explainer projects the infrared laser beam on the optional point P on the screen 1 by a laser pointer 4. An image of the screen is picked up by an infrared camera 5, and a position detector 6 detects the position of the bright point P of the infrared rays on the screen 1 from the output signal of the camera. The detection signal is sent to a mark generation image processing circuit 7, which outputs a pointer mark signal; and a superposing means 8 superimposes the signal upon an input video signal and the image is projected on the screen 1 by a TV projector 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image projection device that can indicate an arbitrary position of an image projected on a screen using a pointer mark.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention projects an infrared beam onto a screen on which an image is projected, detects the projection position, generates a pointer mark signal corresponding to the detected infrared beam projection position, and displays the image on the screen. By projecting a pointer mark as part of the screen, it is possible to reliably point to any position of the image on the screen.

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, at briefing sessions and conference presentations, videos related to the explanations and presentations have been shown on slides or on television (
(TV) The information is projected onto a screen using a projector or the like to assist in explanations. In this case, it was common for the explainer to point out an arbitrary point on the screen using a pointer stick, but in the case of a large-area screen,
It was difficult to give instructions using a pointing stick, and the pointing stick had poor operability.

For this reason, a device for indicating an arbitrary position on the screen using a device that superimposes and displays a pointer mark on an image on the screen has been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-5532.
This was proposed and put into practice in Publication No. 4.

The device for superimposing the pointer mark described above projects an image onto the screen using an image projection device, superimposes the pointer mark from the pointer mark projection device on the image, and passes the pointer mark onto the image through a lens system. It was projecting a mark. However, since this device is installed at a fixed location, there is a drawback that an explainer cannot leave the device when giving an explanation using this device. Furthermore, since the pointer mark is moved by manually operating a joystick or the like of the pointer mark projection device, it is difficult to quickly indicate a desired position unless one is accustomed to the operation.

Therefore, instead of the pointer mark projection device whose installation position is fixed as described above, a laser beam pointer device is used as a device that can be held and moved by an explainer or the like. The laser beam pointer device points to an arbitrary position on the screen using a bright spot of a laser beam.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The above-mentioned laser beam pointer device has a simple structure, is small, and is inexpensive. indicates the location. Therefore, due to the influence of hand movements of the explainer, etc., the bright spot does not stay completely still and moves around on the screen, making it very difficult to see and identifying the designated point. In addition, in this laser beam pointer device, for example, a 1 mW He-Ne laser is used, and the laser beam of the He-Ne laser is generally red in color.
Since the bright spot at the beam projection position is used as a pointer pointing to an arbitrary position on the screen, the bright spot itself is a very small red dot and has the disadvantage that it is very difficult to see on the screen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention was proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of video projection devices, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a video projection device that is simple in configuration and operation and that generates easy-to-see pointer marks. That is.

[Means for Solving the Problem] The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above-mentioned object, and is a video projection device that projects a human-powered video signal as a video onto a screen. A beam projection means for projecting a beam of light, an infrared light detection means for detecting a projection position of the infrared beam light on the screen, and a pointer corresponding to the detected projection position of the infrared beam light on the screen. It is characterized by having a signal generating means for generating a mark signal, and a superimposing means for superimposing the generated pointer mark signal on the input video signal, and projecting an image on which the pointer mark is superimposed on the screen. It is something to do.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, since the infrared beam light is projected onto the screen and the position of the projection point is detected, it can be detected separately from the visible light on the screen, and it can also be detected as a video input signal. Since the pointer mark signal is superimposed, it is easy to form, hold, and erase the pointer mark through simple image processing, and the shape and color of the pointer mark can be freely set.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the overall configuration of an image projection apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, an image is projected onto a screen 1 by a TV projector 2. As shown in FIG. This image is obtained by converting a signal input as an input image signal (for example, a video signal) from the input terminal 3 into an image.

Here, it is assumed that, for example, an explainer at a briefing session points to an arbitrary point P on the image on the screen 1.

At this time, the presenter uses the laser pointer 4 to project a laser beam onto an arbitrary point P on the screen 1.

The laser pointer 4 has a laser beam with a wavelength of, for example, 1.
It incorporates, for example, a semiconductor laser that emits near-infrared light of about 1 to 1.2 μm, and converts the laser light into parallel light using a lens system or the like. In this way, the screen 1 on which the laser beam is projected is connected to the infrared camera 5 (
For example, the position of the infrared bright spot P on the screen 1, which is the projection position of the laser beam, is detected by the position detecting means 6 from the image pickup output signal of the infrared camera 5.

The position detection means 6 detects the infrared light signal component of the image pickup output signal. This is to extract only the infrared light portion from the image on the screen 1, for example, by combining the characteristics of the imaging section of the infrared camera 5 and the filter characteristics of the infrared transmission filter. In other words, since the image of the bright spot P formed on the imaging section of the infrared camera 5 is infrared light, it is converted into a signal on the most "white" side in the imaging section, and the screen 1 in the visible range For example, the image above is converted into a signal that is more "black" than the infrared light part mentioned above.

That is, the position detecting means 6 detects only the whitest signal, that is, the image of the bright spot P from these imaging output signals.

For example, when using an infrared camera having an imaging wavelength range that includes at least part of the visible light range as well as the near-infrared light range, the above-mentioned laser beam with high energy density may be The infrared light signal component may be detected from the imaging output signal by distinguishing the bright spot P from a visible light image with low energy density (for example, by using a predetermined threshold level).

Note that the laser pointer 4 does not necessarily have to have a built-in semiconductor laser, and may be any other laser generating device such as a He-Ne laser device. In addition, other devices may be used that can emit external light and focus it into a substantially parallel thin beam using a lens system or the like. However, considering that the laser pointer 4 is held and operated by hand, it is most preferable to use a semiconductor laser, which allows the device to be made smaller and lighter. Further, the wavelength of the laser beam is 1 as described above.
, 1-1.2 μm, and other wavelengths can also be used. In the above embodiment, since the image on the screen is composed of visible light, in order to prevent the visible light and laser light from being confused, the laser light is selected outside the visible light wavelength range, Furthermore, since it is necessary for the laser beam to be within a wavelength range that can be imaged by the infrared camera 5, the wavelength of the laser beam is finally determined to be approximately 380 degrees below the standard luminous efficiency curve shown in FIG.
1 which is near-infrared light outside the visible range with a wavelength of nm to 7BOnm
, the wavelength was 1 to 1.2 μm.

Next, a position detection signal obtained by detecting a bright spot P on the screen 1 by the position detection means 6 is sent to a mark generation image processing circuit 7, which is a signal generation means.

The mark generation image processing circuit 7 has a function of generating a pointer mark signal for displaying, for example, an arrow-shaped pointer mark 9 in the figure at least at the position of the bright spot P on the screen.

The pointer mark signal generated as described above is superimposed on the input video signal by the superimposing means 8, and the video signal on which the pointer mark signal is superimposed is projected onto the screen 1 by the TV projector 2.

By the way, at briefing sessions, academic conferences, etc., for the convenience of explanation, it is possible to hold the pointer mark at an arbitrary point (point P), move it to another point, or erase it from the screen 1. Various operations are required. Therefore, in order to perform the various operations described above, in this embodiment, the laser pointer 4 is provided with a switch 4a, and the operation signal of the switch 4a is transmitted to the mark generation image processing circuit 7, thereby performing the various operations described above. It makes it possible.

That is, the mark generation image processing circuit 7 performs the various operations (eg, generation) based on the operation signal.

Performs various types of image processing (holding (still), erasing, etc.).

Here, the above-mentioned switch 4a can be provided with a selection switch for each mode of operation such as generation, erase/hold, etc., or can take various forms such as a slide type or dial type changeover selector switch. However, in this embodiment, considering the operability of the presenter and the like, a single switch is used, and each of the above-mentioned modes is sequentially switched each time the switch is turned on (pressing operation).

That is, for example, in the initial state, the screen 1
Assume that a mode is selected in which the pointer mark 9 projected above is displayed continuously, for example, and in order to hold the pointer mark 9 (stay still), press the switch 4a, and then press the switch 4a again. , the pointer mark 9 is erased, and pressing the switch 4a again returns to the original continuous display mode, making it possible to cyclically switch and select each mode with one switch 4a. can.

Further, when moving the pointer mark 9 from one point to another on the screen 1 while continuously projecting the pointer mark 9, the pointer mark 9 may move minutely due to hand movements or the like, making it unsightly. Therefore, the mark generation image processing circuit 7 may have the following functions in addition to those described above.

That is, the pointer mark 9 may not be displayed while the bright spot P is being moved. Specifically, after projecting a visible and inconspicuous bright spot P onto the screen 1 and moving it to an arbitrary point, for example, by pressing the switch 4a, the pointer mark 9 is projected. You can also do this. Furthermore, although the pointer mark 9 is continuously projected to some extent in accordance with the movement of the bright spot P, all minute movements (such as hand shake) of the bright spot P are tracked and the movement of the pointer mark 9 is reflected. It is also possible to facilitate the process. Therefore, the position detection signal when the bright spot P moves is low.
It is also possible to process the signal using a pass filter or an integral circuit to smooth the trajectory of the projected pointer mark 9.

Further, the pointer mark 9 is not limited to the shape of an arrow, and the color can be freely set. That is, in order to change the shape and color of the pointer mark 9, for example, the screen 1 must be changed using a computer device or the like.
A menu area for selecting the shape and color of the pointer mark is set and projected on the image above. Next, by projecting the laser beam onto the position of the menu area to be selected and pressing the switch 4a, a selection signal for selecting an arbitrary shape and color from the menu area is obtained. Thereafter, the selection signal can be transmitted to the mark generation image processing circuit 7, and the selected pointer mark can be generated from the mark generation image processing circuit 7.

Note that the device of this embodiment can be applied not only to a front projector but also to a rear projector.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the laser pointer is extremely lightweight and compact, reducing the burden on the explainer (operator), and the pointer mark can be placed on the screen in any shape and five colors that are easy to visually recognize. It can be formed in the desired position.

It is also possible to hold the pointer mark at an arbitrary position on the screen (stand still) to eliminate the movement of the pointer mark due to unsteady hands of the presenter, etc., and to make the pointer mark easier to see. Furthermore, it is also possible to freely generate and erase pointer marks.

Therefore, it is possible to obtain an image projection device having various functions as described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the basic configuration of an image projection apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a characteristic diagram showing a relative luminous efficiency curve. Laser pointer infrared camera position detection means Mark generation image processing circuit Pointer mark superimposition means

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A video projection device that projects an input video signal as a video onto a screen, comprising: a beam projection unit that projects an infrared beam onto the screen; and a projection position of the infrared beam on the screen. an infrared light detection means for detecting the infrared light beam; a signal generation means for generating a pointer mark signal corresponding to the detected projection position of the infrared beam light on the screen; and a superimposing means for superimposing a pointer mark on the screen, the image projection device comprising: a superimposing means for superimposing a pointer mark on the screen;