JPH04318771A - Television conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To implement a television conference more smoothly by operating a relevant switch of an operation panel according to the focus state displayed in a pictograph on a television monitor to easily attain troublesome focus adjustment to the operator thereby sending a sharp picture to an opposite station. CONSTITUTION:A remote television camera 5 picks up an object 1 and measures an object distance (b) automatically to output distance information (g). A superimposing device 6 converts the received distance information (g) into a prescribed pictograph and the converted picture onto a picture output signal (f) picked up by the remote television camera 5 to generate a synthesis picture signal (d). The synthesis picture signal (d) is displayed on a transmission television monitor 4. The operator 2 operates a relevant switch of the operation panel 3 of the same constitution as the pictograph according to current focus information displayed in the pictograph on the transmission television monitor 4 so as to adjust remotely the focus of a motor-driven lens of the remote television camera via a system controller 7.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a television conference system using a remote television camera, and more particularly to a method for adjusting the lens focus of a remote television camera.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are two types of methods for adjusting the focus of a motorized lens of a remote television camera in a television conference system. The first adjustment method is a remote adjustment method in which the operator remotely adjusts the focus from the control panel at any time while looking at the TV monitor screen.
This adjustment method is an automatic adjustment method in which the television camera measures the distance to the subject and automatically adjusts the focus.

0003

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The first aspect of the remote TV camera motorized lens in the conventional video conference system
The focus adjustment method relies on the operator's vision, so it is difficult to finely adjust the focus and it takes time to find the perfect focus position, which deteriorates the clarity of the output image of the TV camera in the video conference system. This was one of the factors. In addition, in the second focus adjustment method, if the subject is deep, for example, if there are multiple conference attendees lined up in front and behind, the focus will be on the conference attendees in the front and the conference attendees in the back, and the desired position will be adjusted. This method has disadvantages in that it is not possible to completely adjust the focus because the participants in the conference often move slightly but continuously during the conference.

An object of the present invention is to provide a television system that allows an operator to adjust focus more quickly and clearly by simultaneously displaying the focus status of a remote television camera on an imaging screen. It is in.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The video conference system of the present invention is a video conference system that has a remote TV camera that is remotely controlled by an operator from an operation panel, and that automatically measures the distance from the TV camera to a subject. the remote television camera that outputs measurement results as distance information; a superimposition device that converts the distance information into a predetermined pictogram and superimposes it on an output image signal of the remote television camera to generate a composite image signal; and a superimposition device The image display device includes an image display device that displays a composite image signal generated by the user, and the operation panel that includes operation switches that have the same configuration as the pictographs.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video conference system showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a transmission television monitor 4.
FIG.

In FIG. 1, there is a remote television camera 5 that automatically measures the distance to the object and transmits distance information g;
A superimposition device 6 superimposes the distance information g on the image signal f output by the remote television camera and outputs it to the transmission television monitor 4, and an operation for focus adjustment is performed while viewing the display image on the transmission television monitor 4. It consists of an operation panel 3, a system controller 7 that receives a control signal j sent by the operation panel 3 and generates an electric lens control signal h, and an image transmission device 8 that transmits and receives image signals.

[0008] At the same time as the remote television camera 5 images the subject 1, it automatically measures the distance b from the remote television camera 5 to the subject 1, and outputs a control signal g for adjusting the lens focus to the superimposing device 6. do. The superimposing device 6 generates graphical information that allows the operator 2 to recognize the amount of focus deviation from the focus switch to be operated on the operation panel 3 based on the received control signal g, and superimposes the graphic information on the transmitted image signal f. , and is transmitted and displayed on the transmission television monitor 4. On the transmission television monitor 4, the current focus adjustment state is graphically displayed at the bottom of the screen, as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

When controlling the focus of the remote television camera 5, the operator 2 operates the operation panel 3 while looking at the figure at the bottom of the screen of the transmitting television monitor 4, and the system controller 7 then controls the remote television camera 5. By controlling and performing focus adjustment, a clear image can be sent to the image transmission device 8. In addition, in FIG. 2, among the figures displayed at the bottom of the screen of the transmission television monitor 4, the circle k indicates the just focus state, the triangle m indicates the rear focus state, and the triangle n indicates the front focus state, and these are displayed in black. The shape shown indicates the current focus state. If the circle k is displayed in black, it means that the focus is just right, and if the triangle m or n is displayed in black, it means that the focus is off. This is done by operating the focus switch on the control panel, which is arranged and displayed in the same way as the figure displayed on the side.
, n are used as a guideline for the amount of out-of-focus. In this embodiment, an example was explained in which the distance information superimposed on the image signal is displayed using circles and triangles. However, the circle is a vertical line, the triangle is a horizontal line with an arrow, and the amount of focus shift is determined by the thickness of the line with an arrow. It is also possible to display.

0010

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention superimposes distance information indicating the focus status on the imaging signal of a television camera using pictographs and displays it on the television monitor, and the operator operates the operation panel according to the pictograph display. By operating it, it is possible to easily perform focus adjustment, which is troublesome for the operator, and to transmit a clear image to the other party's station, making it possible to conduct a video conference more smoothly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a composite image displayed on the transmission television monitor of this embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Subject 2 Operator 3 Control panel 4 Transmission TV monitor 5 Remote TV camera 6 Superimposition device 7 System controller 8 Image transmission device b Distance d between subject and remote TV camera
Image signals e, f with distance information superimposed on the transmitted image
Transmission image signal g Distance information h for adjusting focus
Electric lens control signal for remote TV camera
Control signal of operation panel

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A video conference system having a remote television camera that is remotely controlled by an operator from an operation panel, wherein the remote television camera automatically measures the distance from the television camera to a subject and outputs the measurement result as distance information. a camera, a superimposition device that converts the distance information into a predetermined pictogram and superimposes it on the output image signal of the remote television camera to generate a composite image signal, and an image display device that displays the composite image signal generated by the superimposition device. and the operation panel including operation switches having the same configuration as the pictographs, and the operator can operate the switch on the operation panel corresponding to the pictograph displayed on the image display device to A video conferencing system characterized by remotely controlling the focus of a motorized lens of a remote television camera.