JPH029282A - Video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain thin profile by making the optical axis of an image forming optical system in parallel with a display plane of a display device and arranging the set so as to be in close contact onto the display device. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup system 30 consists of an optical filter 31 fitted to a light incidence inlet 24, a reflecting mirror 32 leading the light made incident in a case 22 in a direction nearly perpendicular to the display plane 23 via the optical filter 31 in a direction in parallel with the display plane 23 and a television camera 33 picking up the image reflected in the reflection mirror 32. Thus, while the pickup system requiring a large depth is arranged in the vicinity of the display plane of the display device, the profile of the display device is made thin.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Objective of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a video telephone device, and in particular to a television equipped with a thin display device as a display device for displaying an image of the other party. Relating to telephone devices.

(Prior Art) A videophone device includes a display device for displaying the person with whom the person is speaking, and a television camera that photographs the user in order to send an image of the person to the person with whom the person is speaking. In order to have a natural conversation with the person on the other end of the conversation displayed on the display device, it is necessary for the parties to be able to make eye contact with each other.

For this reason, display devices and television cameras are
It is desirable that they be placed as close together as possible.

Incidentally, recently, the performance of thin display devices such as liquid crystal displays has been improved, and video telephone devices of this type using thin displays have also been developed. When a display device is made thinner, a television camera placed nearby must also be made thinner. However, unlike a display device, an imaging system such as a television camera generally requires an imaging optical system, and therefore requires a certain length in the depth direction. For this reason, even if the display device can be made thinner to about 1 to 2 cm, the image carrier must be at least 4 to 5 cm thick.
In the end, the display device also requires a depth of 4
There was a problem that the thickness had to be 5 cm.

(Problem to be solved by the invention' There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a videophone device that solves the above-mentioned problems and allows the display device to be made significantly thinner.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) Akira Motoyaku has proposed a system for capturing an image to be sent to the other party during a call, in which the optical axis is parallel to the display surface of the display device. An imaging optical system disposed in close contact with the apparatus and light from a subject located on the side facing the display surface are changed to a direction different from the display surface by changing the traveling direction of the light from the object to be photographed. It is characterized by comprising an optical means for guiding the image to an imaging optical system.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the optical means is a reflective optical system.

(Function) In the present invention, at least the imaging optical system that requires the longest distance as an imaging system is arranged on the optical axis or in Table 1 of the display device.
By arranging the imaging system so that it closely resembles the display surface and f', the display device can be made thinner while the imaging system with depth is placed near the display surface of the display device. can.

Further, if a reflective optical system is used as an optical means for guiding light to the imaging optical system, it is possible to cause the imaging device to image an inverted image of itself. Therefore, when monitoring one's own image on a display device, the electronic circuit of the imaging system is not changed in the same way as a mirror image of the self. I can do it.

(Embodiments) 1. Below, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a video telephone device η according to an embodiment of the present invention. This videophone device is a telephone (number 4\body 1).
0, a thin display device 20 provided on the telephone main body 10, and an imaging system 30 built into the display device 20.

71S handset body 1 (] means handset 1], dial key 1
2. It is equipped with a function key 13, a data display device] 4, and a speaker 15, and also has a built-in telephone circuit as shown in Figure J (1).

The display device 20 includes a liquid crystal display element 21, a case 422 that covers the outer periphery and back surface of the liquid crystal display element 2, and an electronic circuit (not shown) that is housed in the case 22 and drives the liquid crystal display element 2. It is composed of ()iii ゛C. This display device 20 includes the RB phone body 1
0 and ↑ are rotatably connected by the side of the hinge machine, making it possible to set the table, j, and 23 to any elevation angle, as shown by arrow A in the figure. An opening 24 is provided at a predetermined corner of the case 22 to guide light from a subject into the inside of the case 22.

As shown in more detail in FIG. 2, the imaging system 3 () includes an optical filter 31 fitted to the above-mentioned entrance port 24, and a case that extends through the optical filter 31 in a direction substantially orthogonal to the display surface 23. It is composed of a reflecting mirror 32 that guides the light η·j that has entered into the display surface 22 in a direction parallel to the display surface 23, and a television camera 33 that captures the image reflected by this reflecting mirror 32. 33 is composed of an imaging device 34 such as a CCD (charge coupled device), and an imaging optical system 35 that forms an image of a subject on the imaging surface of the imaging probe 34, and the optical axis of these elements is aligned with the display surface 23. It is arranged along the upper edge of the mouth case 22 so as to be parallel to the upper edge of the mouth case 22.

Next, the operation of the video telephone device configured as shown below will be explained.

The operating modes of this device include a self-monitoring mode and a call mode.

In the self-monitoring mode, the user's own image is monitored on the display device 20 prior to the call.

That is, the image of the user, who is the subject, enters the entrance port 24 in the direction indicated by the dotted chain arrow in the figure, passes through the filter 31, is reversed left and right by the reflector 32, and then is sent to the television camera 3.
An image is formed on the first imaged element 34 by the imaging optical system 35 of No. 3. FIG. 3 shows the electrical configuration of the video telephone device. The image signal obtained by the television camera 33 is A/D converted by a pre-processing circuit 41 as required, and then provided to a post-processing circuit 42.\\. The post-processing circuit 42 converts the video signal given from the pre-processing circuit 41 into the display device 2.
The signal is converted into a video signal for displaying 0, and the liquid crystal display element 21 is driven. Since the image captured by the television camera 33 is a mirror image with the left and right sides reversed, the image of the user displayed on the display device 20 is also a mirror image. Therefore,
Users can monitor their own images as if looking in a mirror.

In this self-monitoring mode, the image incident on the television camera 33 itself is optically inverted, so a special processing circuit (1≦) is not required to make the image displayed on the display device 20 a mirror image. First, the circuit can be simplified.

In the call mode, the (.) signal from the television camera 33 is converted into a video signal by the preprocessing circuit 41 and then inputted to the transmission signal processing circuit 42.
The video signal is compressed and encoded in the encoding circuit 44, and converted into a predetermined transmission signal in the transmission interface 45. The transmission signal is then transmitted via the transmission line 46 to the other party's terminal. In addition, when converting the image to the frame memory or line memory (not shown), if the writing or reading to the frame memory or line memory is reversed so that the left and right images are inverted, the image signal transmitted to the other party will be will form a normal image. The video signal sent from the first side via the transmission line 46 is manually input to the decoding processing circuit 47 via the transmission interface 45, and after being decoded, it is sent to the display device 20 by the post-processing circuit 42. is converted into a video signal.

As a result, the image of the other party is displayed on the display device 20. Note that the above-described horizontal inversion processing may not be performed in the encoding processing circuit 44, and the similar inversion processing may be performed in the decoding circuit 47.

According to the video telephone device of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. Even if the depth of the television camera 33 (1) is, for example, 4 to 5 cm and the thickness of the display device 20 (2) is approximately 1 to 2 cm, the width of the television camera 33 is I! Since the thickness of the display device 50 itself is within 2, the thickness of the display device 50 itself can be maintained at 2. Moreover, according to this device, since the television camera 33 captures an inverted image, there is no need for a special circuit for mirroring during self-monitoring. Also, with this device, when transmitting the video signal to the other party or when receiving it, does it require processing to invert the video (source signal)?
This inversion process only requires changing the order of reading or writing in the encoding or decoding circuit, and is much easier to perform than the inversion process at the time of self-monitoring described above. Therefore, the circuit does not become complicated.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the television camera 33 is housed vertically within the display device 50.

In this embodiment, a television camera 33 is
The image incident on the TV camera 3 is flipped upside down.
3 also needs to be placed 4 upside down or upside down. When arranged like this, the left and right sides are reversed (the elephant is i′ child).

In FIG. 5, the television camera 33 is placed above the display device 60, and the entrance port 2 of the subject image is placed at the top of the display device 60.
4 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the display screen 23 is arranged at the center near the top of the display image 23. FIG. By arranging the entrance port 24 in this position, the line of sight with the other party can be more closely aligned, allowing a more natural conversation.

Figure 6 shows the optical means for guiding incident light to the imaging optical system (
Actual h(
There is a diagram C showing an example of ρ. Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the imaging light system 72 and the image sensor 73 are directly attached to the display device's base 4, this part can be further downsized, and the display device can be made even thinner 113. It has a very strong effect.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the mirror 81 is rotatably provided. That is, in the device shown in FIG. If the elevation angle shown in the J direction is -), it is possible to adjust X!I, but since the left and right positions cannot be adjusted, the user must
Does it need to be positioned in front of the display screen 523? However, 5-7, the reflector 81 can be rotated like this IHF
, +, 2 Then, even if there is no old or used +Ltfj position iiJ Ly for the display device 8 (-), the 2, B up, TV in the direction of the arrow B of the reflector 81 The camera 33 can accurately capture and monitor the user.

In addition to (7), the present invention is also applicable to, for example, a device in which a display device and a story main body are provided separately. Further, the optical means for changing the i-direction in which the light travels may be not only an anti-q/J optical system, but also an optical fiber that bends the optical path without reversing it.

[Efficacy of invention lA! As described above, according to the present invention, the optical axis of the imaging optical system, which requires the longest distance as an imaging system, is parallel to the display surface of the display device, and (one is closely attached to the display device). Since the depth of the imaging system is absorbed in the width direction of the display device, it is possible to make the device thinner and thinner.

In addition, if a reflective optical system is used as the optical means for guiding light to the imaging optical system, the imaging device can take an inverted image of itself, so the electric circuit of the imaging system can be 1
A mirror image of yourself can be obtained without any clutter, and self-monitoring can be done in a natural way.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the external appearance of a TV/TV device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the main parts of the device, and Fig. 3 is an electrical diagram of the device. Block diagram showing the configuration, 'i', 4
t21 +'>Main cylinder Figure 7 shows each other embodiment of the present invention. ]0 Ma 11 talker body, 2 D 50 60, 80/display device,
3()・Imaging light system, 328]・Reflector, 33・TV camera, 1] Prism. No. 30 Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue, representative of the Indian applicant No. 4f? ] Figure 5

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A videophone device comprising a telephone main body, a thin display device for displaying an image of the other party, and an imaging system for capturing an image to be sent to the other party, wherein the imaging system is , an imaging optical system arranged such that its optical axis is parallel to the display surface of the display device and in close contact with the display device; 1. A video telephone device comprising: an optical means for guiding the image to the imaging optical system in a direction parallel to a display surface. (2) The videophone device according to claim 1, wherein the optical means is a reflective optical system.