JPH07107373A - Camera unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a camera unit eliminating the unnaturalness of picture change with pan tilt operation in the state of zooming in or out. CONSTITUTION:The camera unit is provided with a lens control means 42 controlling the zooming state of a zoom lens 41, a pan driving means 51 changing the photographing direction of a camera 4 to a horizontal direction and a tilt driving means 43 changing the photographing direction of the camera to the vertical direction. The camera unit is provided with a control means 53 varying operation speed at the pan driving means 51 and the tilt driving means 43 corresponding to the zooming state of the zoom lens. The speed of pan tilt operation can properly be set corresponding to the zooming state of a picture so as to make rotation speed of pan tilt late at the time of projecting an object on a screen by magnifying and to make it fast at the time of projecting the object by reducing.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera unit used in a video conference system or the like, and more particularly to a camera unit configured to switch the pan / tilt rotation speed according to the size of a zoom ratio.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a camera unit with a pan / tilt, a camera unit of an image pickup means is mounted on a pan / tilt unit of an electric rotating table, and the direction of the camera can be electrically changed to left and right or up and down by a pan operation or a tilt operation. The camera unit can also electrically switch the zoom of the camera lens, but this zoom operation and pan / tilt operation are controlled independently by receiving separate instructions from the controller inside or outside the camera. To be done.

As shown in FIG. 3, a conventional camera unit with a pan-tilt having a zoom lens includes an inverted L-shaped tilt base 2 and a camera mounting portion 22 having a tilt mechanism integrally formed with the tilt base 2. The tilt base 2 includes a horizontal rotation shaft 21 provided at the bottom and a rotation support base 3 having a pan mechanism.

In this camera unit, when a zoom key of an internal or external controller (not shown) is operated, the zoom lens moves to enlarge or reduce an image of a subject (not shown). When the pan or tilt key of the controller is operated, the camera turns to the left or right or up and down, and the screen moves accordingly.

The pan / tilt operation and the zoom operation are independently controlled. Further, the rotation speeds of the camera in the tilt operation and the pan operation are set to be constant.

In this camera unit, for example, in order to see the details of the subject, if the lens is zoomed in (enlarged) and the subject is displayed large on the screen, panning or tilting operation causes the screen to be displayed. The motion is felt relatively fast compared to the rotational speed of the camera.

On the contrary, when pan / tilt is performed in the zoom-out (reduction) state, the moving speed of the screen is felt to be relatively slower than the rotational speed of the camera by pan / tilt.

[0008]

In the conventional camera unit, the in / out operation of the zoom lens and the pan / tilt operation by the electric rotary base are independent of each other, and the rotation speed of the camera in the pan / tilt operation is constant. Since the setting is made, when the pan-tilt operation is performed in the zoom-in mode, the pan-tilt rotation speed is constant, but the screen is developed as if moving in the high-speed mode. Therefore, there is a drawback in that even if the enlarged screen of the subject is gradually moved and viewed, it cannot be performed, and even if the camera angle is stopped at a desired position, it is significantly shifted.

Further, when a wide range of an object is tracked with a camera in a zoomed-out state, the pan / tilt rotation speed is felt to be slow, though the screen needs to be moved quickly, which frustrates the viewer. Make me remember.

The present invention solves these conventional problems, and provides a camera unit capable of eliminating the unintentional movement of the screen when performing a pan-tilt operation in a zoom-in or zoom-out state. Has an aim.

[0011]

Therefore, in the present invention, lens control means for controlling the zoom state of the zoom lens,
In a camera unit including a pan driving unit that moves a camera direction in a horizontal direction and a tilt driving unit that moves a camera direction in a vertical direction, operation speeds of the pan driving unit and the tilt driving unit are changed according to a zoom state of a zoom lens. A variable control means is provided.

[0012]

Therefore, when the subject is enlarged and displayed on the screen, the pan / tilt rotation speed is slow, and when the subject is reduced and displayed on the screen, the pan / tilt rotation speed is high. It is possible to set an appropriate pan / tilt operation speed that matches the zoom state of the screen.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A camera unit according to an embodiment of the present invention is
As shown in FIG. 1, a zoom lens is provided inside the camera unit 4.
41, a lens control unit 42 that controls the zoom lens 41, a tilt drive unit 43 that tilts the zoom lens 41, and a video signal processing unit 44 that processes a captured video signal, and the electric pan head 5 The pan drive unit 51 for rotating the camera unit 4 horizontally and the external controller (remote controller, etc.)
A sensor unit 52 for receiving a signal from 6 and a main control unit 53 for integrally controlling the circuit units of the camera unit 4 and the electric pan head 5, the pan drive unit 51, and the tilt drive unit 43 are housed. .

The external controller 6 is a remote controller using infrared rays and can control the zoom-in / zoom-out operation and the pan / tilt operation of the zoom lens of the camera unit 4 by a remote control signal.

In this camera unit, when the operator pushes down the zoom-in (subject enlargement) button 61 in the external controller 6, a remote control signal corresponding to the zoom-in button 61 is emitted from the external controller 6, and the sensor section that senses this is issued. 52 notifies the main control unit 53 of the detection result. The main controller 53 sends a signal to the lens controller 42 via the video signal processing circuit 44 to cause the zoom lens 41 to perform a zoom-in operation. Further, when the operator presses the zoom-out (subject reduction) button 62, the main control unit 53 similarly causes the lens control unit 42 to perform the zoom-out operation of the zoom lens 41. At this time, the main control unit 53 stores information on the zoom ratio of the zoom lens 41.

When a command to perform the pan / tilt operation of the camera section 4 is output from the external controller 6 when the zoom lens 41 is zoomed in or out, the main control section 53 causes the pan drive section 51 or the tilt drive section. 43
The motor rotation speed of the motor is of a size corresponding to the stored zoom ratio, that is, when the zoom amount (zoom ratio) is large, the pan operation speed and the tilt operation speed are small, and when the zoom amount is small, Set to increase the pan operation speed and tilt operation speed.

As a result, when the pan / tilt operation is performed in a zoomed-in state in which the subject 7 is magnified and displayed on the screen, the camera slowly rotates, and the viewer of the screen feels that the screen changes normally. . On the other hand, when the pan / tilt operation is performed in a zoomed-out state in which the subject is displayed in a reduced size, the camera rotates rapidly, and the viewer of the screen sees a normal screen expansion.

FIG. 2 shows a usage state of the camera unit 4 of the embodiment. When the zoom lens 41 is zoomed in and the detail on the desk is magnified and displayed on the screen, the pan-tilt rotation speed is slow, while the zoom lens 41 is zoomed out and the screen When the entire conference room is displayed in, the pan / tilt rotation speed becomes faster.

In addition, in the internal or external controller 6,
Regardless of the zoom ratio information stored in the main control unit 53,
It is also possible to additionally provide another selecting unit that can arbitrarily change the pan-tilt rotation speed.

[0020]

As is apparent from the above description of the embodiments, in the camera unit of the present invention, the pan / tilt operation speed is variable in accordance with the zoom amount of the zoom lens, and therefore, when the zoom amount is large, enlargement is achieved. It is possible to slowly move the subject on the screen to see the necessary part, and when the zoom amount is small, it is possible to quickly expand the screen and move to the screen for another subject. In addition, it is possible to add a configuration in which the pan / tilt rotation speed is arbitrarily changed regardless of the zoom ratio, and the usability of the camera unit is greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a camera unit according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a usage example of the camera unit,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a conventional camera unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Camera unit with pan / tilt 2 Tilt base 21 Horizontal rotation axis 22 Camera mounting part 3 Rotating support base 4 Camera part 41 Zoom lens 42 Lens control part 43 Tilt drive part 44 Video signal processing part 5 Electric pan head 51 Pan drive part 52 Sensor part 53 Main control unit 6 External controller 61 Zoom in button 62 Zoom out button 7 Subject

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A camera unit comprising lens control means for controlling a zoom state of a zoom lens, pan drive means for moving a camera direction in a horizontal direction, and tilt drive means for moving a camera direction in a vertical direction, wherein: A camera unit provided with a control means for varying operation speeds of the pan driving means and the tilt driving means according to a zoom state of a zoom lens.