JPH054798B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field The present invention relates to a light control device used for, for example, a stage or a studio.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY In general, a light control device is used to realize the lighting levels of multiple lighting loads set using an operation unit consisting of a keyboard, slide volume, etc. This is a device that realizes a transition (hereinafter abbreviated as fade). By operating the operation unit, scenes set in advance according to the progress of the stage program and fades between scenes can be realized faithfully and smoothly.

Recent dimming devices use a large amount of inexpensive memory elements to store all the dimming levels and fade times of the lighting load used for each scene to be produced, and then press the fade start button etc. during actual playback operation. As a result, there is an increasing number of methods in which the stored scenes and fade times are sequentially recalled and the fade is automatically progressed.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a typical prior art light control device 1. As shown in FIG. The configuration of the light control device 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. The light control device 1 includes an operation section 2 into which light control data is input, a control section 3 into which light control data from the operation section 2 is input, and an operation section 2.
a storage unit 4 in which is stored the dimming level Ai after completion of one fade operation with respect to dimming data such as the dimming level and fade time inputted by;
and a storage section 5 in which the dimming level Bi before the start of fading is stored.

Data regarding the fade time inputted from the operation unit 2 is inputted to the automatic fade calculation unit 6, and a fade progress value F is calculated as time progresses.
The output of the automatic fade calculation section 6 is connected to the terminal 7 of the switch 7.
a, and the terminal 7c is electrically connected to a common terminal 7c connected to a fade calculation unit 8 that calculates the output level to the actual lighting load based on the fade progress value F and the dimming levels Ai and Bi. . Therefore, the output from the automatic fade calculation section 6 is given to the fade calculation section 8, where the output level of the lighting load is calculated and outputted to the lighting load (not shown) via the output section 9. Here, the storage units 4 and 5
The input/output of data from the output unit 9 to the output unit 9 via the fade calculation unit 8 is synchronized by a synchronization signal CK from a control unit 10 implemented by a counter or the like.

On the other hand, for example, in stage lighting, it may become difficult to continue the automatic fade while the stage is progressing due to, for example, an operator's erroneous operation to start the fade or a delay in the progress of the stage. In such a case, stop the advance of automatic favo and
A manual fade calculation section 11 is used which receives an output from a slide volume or the like. The output of the manual fade calculation section 11 is applied to the terminal 7b of the switch 7. That is, terminals 7b, 7c
When conductive, the fade calculation unit 8 performs the following steps based on the fade progress value F from the manual fade calculation unit 11 and the dimming levels Ai and Bi from the storage units 4 and 5.
The output level is calculated.

In this way, even in the conventional light control device 1, the operation can be switched from automatic fade to manual fade, but the position of the manual fader realized by the slide volume etc. in the operating section 2 Since the fade progress value F remains unchanged, when terminals 7b and 7c of the switch 7 are connected to switch to manual fade, the position of the manual fader matches the fade progress value F calculated by the automatic fade calculation section 6. If not, the dimming level output from the output section 9 will change rapidly, causing undesirable conditions in stage lighting and the like.

In order to solve these problems, the configuration of the manual fade calculation section 11 is realized as shown in FIG. In other words, the manual fader 12 of the operation section 2
The analog output from the switch 7 is converted into a digital signal by an analog/digital (hereinafter abbreviated as A/D) converter 13, and this is output to the terminal 7b of the switch 7.

On the other hand, the output of the A/D converter 13 is output to a comparator 14 that detects a digital output corresponding to the case where the manual fader 12 has the lowest output "0".
The output of the comparator 14 is input to one terminal of an AND gate 15, and the other terminal is connected to a line 16 from which a manual switching signal for switching from the automatic fade control state to the manual fade control state is derived. That is, only when the manual switching signal is at a high level and the comparator 14 detects that the manual fader 12 is at the lowest position "0", the AND gate 15 derives, for example, a high level signal. , the terminals 7b and 7c of the switching device 7 are made conductive.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the operation of such a conventional technique. The fade starts at time F0,
At time Ft, the manual switching signal is set to a high level, for example. At this time, if the manual switching signal remains at a low level, the fade that progressed as shown by the solid line of line l1 between times F0 and Ft will continue to fade as shown by the broken line of line l2, and at time F1. The fade ends when the final output level lA is reached.

On the other hand, when the manual switching signal becomes high level at the time Ft, the terminals 7b and 7c of the switching device 7 are made conductive, and the output from the manual fade calculating section 11 is given to the fade calculating section 8 shown in FIG. On the other hand, since the output of the fade progress value F from the manual fade calculation unit 11 depends on the amount of operation from the lowest position "0" of the manual fader 12 shown in FIG. 8, such manual operation causes a delay in the fade time. , Therefore, the progress of the manual fade at time Ft becomes as shown by the dashed-dotted line l3 in FIG.

In other words, in order to reach the final output level lA of the fade, it takes a time W1 from the fade end time F1.
The fade time up to time F2, which is the time that has elapsed, is required. Therefore, there was a problem that a smooth progression of the fade could not be obtained, for example, on stage. Furthermore, as described above, in the conventional example shown in FIG. 8, the manual fader 12 proceeds with the manual fade operation from the lowest level "0", so
When switching from automatic fade to manual fade at Ft, there was a problem in that the final level lA could not be lower than the level lC at the switching time Ft.

Purpose An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even when switching from automatic fade to manual fade, the progress of the fade by the manual fader can be controlled without depending on the position of the manual fader at the time of switching. The object of the present invention is to provide a dimming device that can perform smooth dimming control.

Configuration The present invention includes a manual fader, an operation section for inputting dimming data, a storage section for storing the dimming data, and a first part for calculating fade progress control data F in response to the output from the manual fader. A calculation section,
Analog output from manual fader to digital signal
A converter that converts to Fe, a storage unit that stores the digital signal Fe, and the newly converted digital signal
A manual fade calculation unit that calculates fade progress control data F from Fe and the digital signal Fet stored in the storage unit as F=Fe−Fet/1−Fet (3) a second calculation unit that calculates fade progress control data F in automatic fade as F=Tt/T0 (4) using fade time T0 and elapsed time Tt in the dimming data; , a fade calculation unit that calculates a dimming level based on the fade progress control data F from the first calculation unit or the second calculation unit; and a fade calculation by selectively switching the outputs of the first and second calculation units. This is a light control device characterized in that it includes a switching means for controlling the light control section, and a control section that controls these operations.

Embodiment FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control device 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The light control device 21 is
For example, an operation section 22 is realized by a fader such as a keyboard or a slide volume, and inputs dimming data, and a RAM, for example, stores the dimming data inputted by the operating section 22.
(random access memory) or the like; a calculation unit 25 that calculates an output level for driving the lighting load 24 based on dimming data from the storage unit 23; and calculation results of the calculation unit 25. The dimmer main body 29 includes a dimmer signal output section 27 that outputs a dimmer signal to a dimmer 26 that drives the lighting load 24 based on the above, and a control section 28 that controls these operations. Generally, a plurality of dimmers 26 and lighting loads 24 are connected to the dimmer main body 29.

FIG. 1 shows the light control device 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control device 21. FIG. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 3, the light control device 2
The configuration of the main body 29 of No. 1 will be explained. Operation unit 2
2 includes a manual fader 30 realized by a slide volume or the like as shown in the third figure, and controls the fade time T0 required for fading, the dimming level Ai after fading is completed, the current dimming level Bi, etc. Enter the dimming data.

Light control data regarding automatic fade inputted from the operating section 22 is provided to a storage section 32 and storage sections 33 and 34, respectively, via a control section 31 implemented by a microprocessor or the like. In response to a fade start instruction from the operation unit 22, the automatic fade calculation unit 35 connected to the control unit 31 calculates a fade progress value FF, which is fade progress control data, in relation to a preset fade time T0. T0...(1) Tt: The elapsed time is calculated and outputted via the switch 36 to the fade calculation unit 37 which calculates the output level for driving the lighting load 24 shown in the second diagram.

The fade calculation unit 37 is connected to the memory unit 32,
One of 33 values is input. Further, the pre-fade dimming level Bi in the storage section 34 is output to the fade calculation section 37 as is.

At the start of the fade, the common terminal 36c of the switch 36 is electrically connected to the terminal 36a connected to the automatic fade calculating section 35. Also, the switch 39
A common terminal 39 connected to the fade calculation unit 37 of
c is electrically connected to a terminal 39b connected to the storage section 32. The fade calculation unit 37 receives the fade progress value F of the first equation from the automatic fade calculation unit 35, the dimming level Ai after completion of fading from the storage unit 32, and the current dimming level Bi from the storage unit 34. Accordingly, the output level Oi to the output 27 Oi=Bi+F(Ai-Bi) (2) is sequentially calculated as the fade progresses.

The output level Oi from the fade calculation section 37 is
Based on the synchronization signal from the control unit 40, the storage unit 34
Feedback will be provided to

Further, in the manual fade converter 38, the analog signal from the manual fader 30 is converted into a digital signal by an analog/digital (hereinafter abbreviated as A/D) converter 41, and this digital output is sent to the manual fade calculation unit. 42, a storage section 43 realized by RAM or the like, and one terminal of a comparator 44, respectively, are inputted in parallel. The other input terminal of the comparator 44 is given data from the storage section 43 . The output of this comparator 44 controls the switching state of the switching device 39. Further, the output of the manual fade calculation section 42 is applied to a terminal 36b of the switch 36, and the switching state of the switch 36 is controlled by a manual fade switching signal S1 from the control section 31 via lines 45 and 46. This manual fade switching signal S1 is also input to the storage section 43.

FIG. 4 shows a light control device main body 29 having the configuration shown in FIG. 3.
It is a graph which shows the operation|movement of the light control device 21 of the 2nd illustration which has. The operation of the light control device 21 of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. When a fade start is instructed by the operation unit 22 at time F0 in FIG. 4, the light control device 21 performs the fade in the fade mode shown by the solid line l4 in FIG. 4, for example.

Here, when a switching operation from automatic fade to manual fade is performed in the operation section 22 at time Ft, the control section 31 outputs a manual fade switching signal S1, which is given to the storage section 43 of the manual fade switching section 38, and It is also applied to the switch 36, and switches the switch 36, which had been electrically connected between the terminals 36a and 36c, to electrically conductive between the terminals 36b and 36c. Therefore, after the time Ft, the fade progress value F to the fade calculating section 37 is given from the manual fade converting section 38.

In the manual fade converter 38, the analog level signal input from the manual fader 30 is
It is converted into a digital signal Fe by the A/D converter 41, and this data is stored in the storage section 43.
The analog/digital conversion operation of the A/D converter 41 and the writing operation of its output into the storage section 43 are generally synchronized with a synchronization signal of the same phase, and therefore, some of the synchronization signals are synchronized. The A/D converter output Fe is stored in the storage unit 43 at the timing when
is stored, the manual fade calculation unit 42 outputs the A/D converter at the next timing, for example.
In addition to taking in Fe, the digital output Fet stored in the storage unit 43 one timing before is also taken in.

In the manual fade calculation unit 42, these values Fe,
The fade progress value FF=(Fe−Fet)/(1−Fet) (3) is calculated using Fet.

Further, the digital values Fe and Fet are compared in the comparator 44 at, for example, the same timing as the timing at which this calculation is performed. Here, if the comparison result is Fet≦Fe (4), the switching signal which is the output of the comparator 44
S2 is the terminal 39b, 39c in the switch 39.
When the comparison result is Fet>Fe (5), the switching signal S2 causes the terminals 39a and 39c in the switch 39 to become conductive.

Therefore, when automatic fade is switched to manual fade at time Ft in FIG.
has a different value depending on the operating position of the manual fader 30 of the operating section 22. Changes in the dimming level after switching from automatic fader to manual fader are expressed at time Ft in Figure 4.
Shown below.

In other words, if the automatic fade is not switched to the manual fade at time Ft, the fade after time Ft continues the automatic fade indicated by the solid line l4 described above, performs the fade indicated by the broken line l5, and then performs the final fade. The fade ends at time F1 when the dimming level lA is reached. on the other hand,
When automatic fade is switched to manual fade at time Ft, manual fade is performed in the manner shown by the dashed line l6 in Fig. 4, and the manual fade ends at time F2 when the final dimming level lA is reached. .

In the above embodiment, as described in the prior art section, switching from automatic fade to manual fade was possible only when the operating position of manual fader 30 was "0"; 30
A changeover from automatic fade to manual fade can be made in any operating position of . Furthermore, after the time Ft when the switch is made to manual fade, the fade can proceed in either the direction of increasing or decreasing the dimming level. In other words, if the fourth equation holds true, manual fade can be performed in any direction between the final dimming level lA and the dimming level lC at the time of switching, and if the fifth equation holds, a good faith fade can be started. A manual fade can be performed between the dimming level lB at time F0 and the dimming level lC at switching time Ft.

Therefore, switching from automatic fade to manual fade can be performed regardless of the operating position of the manual fade 30, and after switching to manual fade, the progress of the fade can be changed in the increasing and decreasing directions of the dimming level. This can be done in any direction, and the operability of such a dimming device 21 is greatly improved.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the structure of a light control device main body 29a according to another embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 5, the configuration of the light control device main body 29a of this embodiment will be described. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment, and corresponding parts are given the same reference numerals. What should be noted about this embodiment is that the switching signal S1 is output from the control section 31 in the manual fade conversion section 38 of the light control device body 29a, and the line 46 input to the storage section 43 is input to one side of the OR gate 47. terminal, and the other input terminal of the OR gate 47 receives the switching signal S2, which is the output of the comparator 44, through the line 48.
The digital signal Fe from the A/D converter 41 is input to one input terminal of the comparator 44, and the digital signal Fe from the A/D converter 41 is input to the other input terminal by the clock signal from the clock signal generator 49. As will be described later, the output of a latch circuit 50 that latches the digital signal from the A/D converter 41 is provided.

That is, the writing operation of the digital signal output Fe of the A/D converter 41 to the storage section 43 is performed by the control section 31.
Manual fade switching signal S1 from and comparator 4
This is done regardless of the switching signal S2 from 4 to 4.

Further, the comparator 44 compares the digital signal output Fet from the A/D converter 41, which is latched in the latch circuit 50, with the digital signal output Fet from the A/D converter 41 at one timing according to the clock signal from the clock signal generator 49, for example, one clock after the timing. A comparison is made with the digital signal output Fe input to the device 44.

When the above-mentioned formula 4 holds regarding these digital signal outputs Fet and Fe, the switching signal S2 outputted by the switching device 44 is transmitted to the terminals 39b and 39 of the switching device 39.
If the fifth equation is established, the terminals 39a and 39c of the switching device 39 are made conductive. That is, this comparator 44 detects the direction of movement of the manual fade by the manual fader 30. That is, even with the configuration of this embodiment, the basic operation according to the embodiment described above can be realized.

FIG. 6 is a graph explaining the dimming control operation by the dimming device main body 29 of this embodiment. The operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The automatic fade from the fade start time F0 to the switching time Ft and the virtual automatic fade indicated by the broken line l5 are the same as in the previous embodiment. On the other hand, if the progression of manual fade by the manual fader 30 satisfies the above-mentioned formula 4 after switching from automatic fade to manual fade at switching time Ft, in the case of manual fade in which the dimming level increases, at the time of switching dimming level of
1 in Figure 6 1 from lC to final dimming level A
It fades in the manner shown by the dotted chain line l6.

If the operating direction of the manual fade is reversed in the direction in which the dimming level decreases during the manual fade from the switching time Ft to the above-mentioned time F2, as described in the above embodiment, during the manual fade period, the manual fade is Since the fade progress value F is determined only by the operating position of the fader 30, the fade progress value F is linearly faded toward the fade start dimming level lB, as shown by the two-dot chain line l7 in FIG. That is, in this embodiment as well, effects similar to those described in the above-mentioned embodiments can be obtained.

Effects As described above, the light control device according to the present invention can switch to manual fade while performing automatic fade based on the light control data stored in the storage section. After this switching time, fade advancement control data for controlling the progression of the fader is calculated corresponding to an arbitrary operating position of the manual fader at the switching time. Therefore, such switching from automatic fade to manual fade can be realized regardless of the operating position of the manual fader, and the mode of light control by the light control device can be greatly diversified. In addition, it is possible to switch to the manual fade regardless of the operating position of the manual fader, so it is possible to proceed with the manual fade, which lowers the dimming level immediately after switching to the manual fade, and to operate the dimming device. performance is greatly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a light control device main body 29 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic structure of a light control device 21, and FIG.
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the dimmer main body 29, FIG. 4 is a graph showing the dimming control mode of this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is the structure of the dimmer main body 29a of another embodiment of the present invention. A block diagram showing an example, FIG. 6 is a graph showing a dimming control mode of the present embodiment, FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional dimming device 1, and FIG.
The figure is a block diagram showing the configuration related to the manual fade calculation section 11 of the light control device 1, and FIG.
3 is a graph showing a dimming control mode. 21... Light control device, 22... Operation unit, 23, 3
2 to 34, 43...Storage unit, 24...Lighting load,
25... calculation unit, 28, 31, 40... control unit,
29, 29a...Dimmer body, 30...Manual fader, 35...Auto fade calculation section, 36, 39
...Switcher, 37...Fade calculation section, 38, 4
2...Manual fade calculation section, 50...Latch circuit, S1...Manual fade switching signal, S2...Switching signal.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An operation unit including a manual fader and inputting dimming data; a storage unit storing the dimming data; and a controller configured to calculate fade progress control data F in response to the output from the manual fader. One calculation unit,
Analog output from manual fader to digital signal
A converter that converts to Fe, a storage unit that stores the digital signal Fe, and the newly converted digital signal
Such a fade calculation unit manually calculates fade progress control data F from Fe and the digital signal Fet stored in the storage unit as F=Fe−Fet/1−Fet (1). 1 calculation unit, and a second calculation that calculates the fade progress control data F in automatic fade as F=Tt/ _T0 ...(2) using the fade time _T0 and elapsed time Tt in the dimming data. a fade calculation unit that calculates a dimming level based on the fade progress control data F from the first calculation unit or the second calculation unit; and a fade calculation unit that selectively switches outputs of the first and second calculation units. What is claimed is: 1. A light control device comprising: switching means for applying to a calculation section; and a control section for controlling these operations.