JPH0566855A - Lap top type computer provided with image input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the adjusting operation of a position and a direction of an object to be photographed, and to improve the convenience of the device by providing the lap top type computer main body with the image input device. CONSTITUTION:A miniature camera 9 is attached as an image input device in front of a flat panel 3. A control part 11 for controlling the miniature camera 9 is connected to a substrate 13 in which a microprocessor is contained. In the case of inputting image data by the miniature camera 9, an angle is adjusted by setting the flat panel 3 to an open state, and thereafter, an object to be photographed is photographed. The photographed image is converted to a digital signal by an A/D converter, and subjected to compression processing, and thereafter, stored in a main memory. In such a way, the convenience of the device can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is equipped with an image input means (small camera) for inputting image data of a subject in a laptop computer to simplify the operation and improve the convenience of the apparatus. A laptop computer with a device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a personal computer such as a laptop type or a notebook type equipped with a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma has been widely used in offices and the like.

When an image is input to the laptop computer, a camera is prepared separately from the laptop computer and the camera is connected to the computer. After the connection, for example, when the operator who is the subject is projected, by changing the position and the direction of the operator to the front direction of the lens of the camera, by finely adjusting the arrangement and the direction of the camera in the direction of the operator, The image data of the operator is loaded into the laptop computer. When the image data of the operator is fetched from the camera into the laptop computer, it is not easy to prevent the troublesome operation of adjusting the arrangement and orientation of the camera and the operator.

[0004]

However, since the camera is conventionally installed separately from the laptop computer, for example, when the operator is imaged, the positions and orientations of the operator and the camera must be adjusted. That is, the operation is troublesome due to the adjustment. Furthermore, if the orientation of the operator changes during shooting, the position and orientation of the camera must be adjusted in response to the changed orientation of the operator, which is extremely uncomfortable.

The present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and its object is to adjust the position and direction of an object by installing an image input device in a laptop computer main body. It is an object of the present invention to provide a laptop computer with an image input device that simplifies the operation associated with the above and improves the convenience of the device.

[0006]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a laptop computer body, image input means for inputting image data of an object, and the image input means for the laptop computer body. The main point is that the configuration is installed in.

[0007]

With the above arrangement, when the image input means, for example, a small camera is installed in the laptop computer main body and the image data of the subject is obtained by the small camera, the laptop computer main body is Since it is simply adjusted to the position of the subject, the operation associated with the adjustment of the position of the subject can be simplified and the convenience of the apparatus can be improved.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an embodiment of a laptop computer with an image input device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a laptop computer main body (hereinafter referred to as a main body) 1 includes a flat panel 5 having a flat display 3 composed of a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma, and the flat panel 5. The keyboard part 7 is attached to one end on the rear side in the figure and has various keys.

The flat panel 5 includes a flat panel display 3 for displaying a text keyed in on the front of the figure and image data captured by a small camera 9 to be described later, and a small panel on the upper center of the flat panel display 3 in the figure. A camera 9 is provided. A control unit 11 for controlling the small camera 9 is disposed adjacent to the right side of the small camera 9 in the figure. The keyboard portion 7 is provided with a alphanumeric keypad for inputting letters, numbers and the like on a plane, and a substrate 13 provided with a microprocessor 19 and the like which will be described later and is connected to the control portion 11 of the small camera 9. Built in.

FIG. 2A is a plan view of the flat panel 3.

The small camera 9 described above is, for example, a CCD.
It is a camera, and is a front surface of the flat panel 3, a lens 15 that collects an image of a subject that is incident in a range of an angle α from the direction A in the figure, and an image that converts the image collected by the lens 15 into an electric signal. This is a configuration including the element 17.
The control unit 11 disposed adjacent to the right side of the small camera 9 in the figure transmits the electric signal converted by the image element 17 to the interface 23 described later.

FIG. 2B is a sectional view of the flat panel 3.

The lens 15 which constitutes the small camera 9 installed at the upper end of the flat panel 3 in the figure makes the image of the face of the operator, which is the subject, enter within the range of the angle θ. The incident image is converted into an electric signal by the image element 17 and transmitted to the substrate 13.

Here, the operator, for example, adjusts the flat panel 3 to the position a in the figure when displaying his / her face as a subject. In this way, the operator can take in the image data of the subject into the main body 1 by adjusting the angle of the flat panel 3 in the manner of A, B, and C in response to the position of the subject.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the control of the laptop computer with the image input device of the present invention on the substrate 13 described above.

The microprocessor 19 controls the entire laptop computer and is connected to the interface 23 and the like via the system bus 21.

The interface 23 is the A / D converter 2
5 and a compression circuit 27, and compresses an electric signal representing an image input from the small camera 9 and outputs the compressed signal to the system bus 21. The A / D converter 25 converts an analog signal indicating an image input from the small camera 9 into a digital signal. The compression circuit 27 compresses the digital signal converted by the A / D converter 25 and outputs it to the main memory 29.

The main memory 29 stores the image data 31 of one screen of the subject of the digital signal compressed by the compression circuit 27 at a predetermined address. Further, the main memory 29 stores various data at predetermined addresses.

The controller 33 has a decompression circuit 35 and controls the display of the flat display 3. The expansion circuit 35 expands the image data 31 stored at a predetermined address in the main memory 29, converts the expanded image data into an analog signal, and displays it on the flat display 3.

The communication interface 37 has a network function capable of communicating with another laptop computer.

When inputting image data with the laptop computer having the above-mentioned configuration, the operator sets the flat panel 3 to the open state after turning on the power, and, for example, photographs his or her face. In this case, the angle of the flat panel 3 in the open state is adjusted. After adjusting the angle of the open state of the flat panel 3, the operator adjusts the position and the direction in which the operator's face is projected on the small camera 9 with both hands of both ends of the keyboard section 7 of the main body section 1. After the adjustment, the image photographed by the small camera 9 is converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 25, compressed by the compression circuit 27, and stored in a predetermined address of the main memory 29. Then, when displaying the stored image data 31 on the flat display 3, the microprocessor 19 causes the main memory 2 to
The image data 31 stored at the predetermined address 9 is expanded by the expansion circuit 35 to be converted into an analog signal and then displayed on the flat display 13.

As a result, the angle of the open state of the flat panel 3 and both ends of the main body portion 1 can be adjusted with respect to the subject such as the face of the operator by moving both hands of the operator, so that both the subject and the camera can be adjusted respectively. The convenience of the device can be improved as compared with the conventional case.

In this embodiment, the case where one small camera 9 is installed on the upper surface of the flat display 3 and substantially in the center of the drawing has been described. However, two small cameras 9 should be installed on both ends of the upper surface of the flat display 3. Thus, the small camera 9 can obtain images of a wide range of subjects.

Further, in this embodiment, a driving circuit for the small camera 9 is installed so that the small camera 9 can be driven in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in the drawing in response to the adjustment by the operator. Thus, image data of a wide range of subjects can be obtained. It should be noted that the apparatus can be easily transported and stored as compared with the conventional case in which the main body 1 and the camera are separately provided.

Further, although the present embodiment has been described for a laptop computer, the position and orientation of the computer main body can be controlled by both hands of an operator like a lightweight and small personal computer such as a notebook computer and a portable computer. It is effective for those that can be easily moved.

The present embodiment also enables transfer of image data obtained by connecting to another laptop computer via the communication interface 7.

[0029]

As described above, as described above. In the present invention, since the small camera is installed in the laptop computer main body, the image input device is installed in the laptop computer main body, thereby simplifying the operation associated with the adjustment of the position and direction of the subject, It is possible to improve convenience.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a laptop computer with an image input device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and a cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing control of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body 5 Flat Panel 9 Small Camera 15 Lens 17 Image Element 19 Microprocessor 25 A / D Converter 27 Compression Circuit 29 Main Memory 35 Expansion Circuit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A laptop computer main body, image input means for inputting image data of an object, and an image input device characterized in that the image input means is installed in the laptop computer main body. Laptop computer.