JPH07111976A - Information display circuit for electronic endoscope apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent character information from disturbing observation by eliminating the character information as much as possible in the observation of an image displayed on a monitor. CONSTITUTION:This information display circuit is provided to display character information of date, time, a photographing multiplication, the number of image record sheets, patient information and the like together with images obtained with a CCD13. An MPU30 closes a switching circuit 32 on the basis of freeze signal outputted from a freeze button 15 and a character generator 33 is connected to a superimposition circuit 31. Thus, the character information is displayed on a screen in the freeze and is erased from the screen in the releasing of the freeze.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to control contents of an information display circuit for displaying character information on a monitor screen of an electronic endoscope apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic endoscope apparatus,
When the image of the inside of the body to be observed captured by the solid-state imaging device (CCD) is displayed on the monitor, the character information regarding the photographing is simultaneously displayed on the monitor. For example, the textual information includes the date of shooting, information about the shooting conditions, the number of recorded pictures, and information about the patient and doctor.These textual information are displayed around the monitor screen. There is.
Therefore, these character information becomes information when recorded as a film photograph or a hard copy, and is also used as confirmation information when operating the electronic endoscope.

[0003]

However, in the above electronic endoscope apparatus, the above-mentioned character information is always displayed on the monitor during use of the electronic endoscope, and the in-vivo image on the monitor screen is observed. On the contrary, when doing, these character information might be an obstacle. That is, the character information regarding the imaging conditions and the patient is displayed around the screen, and the image of the inside of the observed body is displayed in the center part, but the character inside the observed body is the surrounding characters. In many cases, it is close to the information, and in this case, the character information becomes obtrusive. In addition, if the character information is displayed so as to be completely separated from the image inside the observed body, the image area inside the observed body is conversely limited to a small problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to eliminate text information as much as possible when observing an image displayed on a monitor, and to save text information only when necessary. An object of the present invention is to provide an information display circuit of an electronic endoscope device that does not interfere with observation.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, an information display circuit of an electronic endoscope apparatus according to the present invention displays various character information on a screen together with an image obtained by a solid-state image sensor. An information display circuit for displaying the character information on the screen based on a freeze signal and controlling the character information to be erased from the screen when the freeze is released.

[0006]

According to the above construction, during normal image display,
When the process of displaying the character information on the monitor screen is not performed and the freeze button of the operation unit is pressed, the screen is frozen by the freeze signal and at the same time, the character information is superimposed on the screen by superimposing. Then, when the freeze is released, the superposition of the character information is stopped, and the original state is restored. In other words, because film photography and recording such as hard copy are performed during freeze,
The display process of the character information is performed at the time of this freeze so that the character information is displayed on the screen only when necessary such as when taking a picture or recording a copy.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus having an information display circuit according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the display state of a monitor screen. In FIG. 1, an electronic endoscope (scope) 10 is connected to a processor device 12 via a connector 11, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) 13 is arranged at the tip of the electronic endoscope 10. A freeze button 15 is provided on the operation unit 14 of the electronic endoscope 10, and a signal processing circuit 17 and a CCD driver 18 are provided on the connector unit 16. In the embodiment, the signal processing circuit 17 performs processing such as amplification and gamma correction on the video signal obtained by the CCD 13 to form a luminance (Y) signal and a color difference (C) signal as digital signals, and a CCD driver Reference numeral 18 supplies a control signal for driving the CCD 13.

On the other hand, in the processor unit 12, a memory 20 for storing the luminance (Y) signal, a memory 21 for storing the color difference (C) signal, D / A converters 22 and 23, and a memory for controlling these circuits. A control circuit 24 is provided, and signal processing circuits 26 and 27 that perform output processing are provided at the subsequent stages of the D / A converters 22 and 23. Further, a timing generator 28 for supplying a timing signal to the signal processing circuits 26, 27 and the like, and M for controlling the overall control of the apparatus.
PU30 is provided.

A superimposing circuit 31 for mixing a character information signal into an image signal is provided at the subsequent stage of the signal processing circuits 26 and 27. The superimposing circuit 31 receives character information via a switching circuit 32. The generated character generator 33 is connected. Then, the switching circuit 32 is turned on by the MPU 30 when the freeze signal is output, and at this time, character information preset by the character generator 33 is mixed with the image signal. Further, in the subsequent stage of the superimposing circuit 31, the buffers 34 and 35 are provided.
Is connected, and the luminance (Y) signal and color difference (C) signal output from the buffers 34 and 35 are supplied to the monitor.
The MPU 30 supplies control signals such as a photo-taking signal and a hard copy signal related to the freeze signal to the outside.

The embodiment has the above construction, and its operation will be described below. First, the character generator 3
3, the character string A of the date and time, the photographing magnification, the character string B indicating whether or not the VTR is in use, the image such as a photograph or a hard copy, as shown on the monitor 36 of FIG. A character string C of the number of records, a character string D of identifying a patient and a doctor, and a character string E of patient information such as age, sex, date of birth, and name are set and stored. Then, the character information is displayed on the monitor when the operation switch of the electronic endoscope apparatus is turned on, and the electronic endoscope 10
When is introduced into the body to be observed and the operation is started, the superimposing of the character information is canceled by detecting the start of the operation or by some switch.

On the other hand, the video signal obtained by the CCD 13 in FIG. 1 is subjected to gamma correction processing and the like in the signal processing circuit 17 in the electronic endoscope 10, and then the luminance (Y) signal and the color difference (C). The video signal temporarily stored as a signal in the memories 20 and 21 and subjected to output processing for monitor display by the signal processing circuits 26 and 27 in the processor device 12 is supplied to the superimposing circuit 31. At this time, as shown in the figure, since the switching circuit 32 is in the open state, the character information is not mixed and the character strings A to E are not displayed on the screen of the monitor 36. Therefore, when observing the image F in the observed body, the character information does not obstruct the eyes.

When the freeze button 15 of the operation unit 14 is pressed, this freeze signal is input to the MPU 30,
Image information at the time of freezing is stored in the memories 20 and 21, and this image signal is transferred to the D / A converters 22 and 2.
3. The signal is supplied to the superimposing circuit 31 via the signal processing circuits 26 and 27. At the same time, since the MPU 30 closes the switching circuit 32, the character information signal is supplied from the character generator 33 to the superimposing circuit 31, and the character information signal is sent to the signal processing circuit 26,
The image signal supplied from 27 is mixed. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the character strings A to E are displayed on the screen of the monitor 36. At this time, a recording control signal is supplied from the MPU 30 to an external device such as a photo-taking device or a hard copy based on the freeze signal, whereby the image F and the character strings A to E at the time of freeze are shot on a film. , Or a hard copy.

In the above embodiment, all of the character strings A to E are displayed at the time of freezing.
For example, the date and time character string A, the shooting condition character string B,
Alternatively, only the necessary information selected from the character string C of the number of recorded sheets or the like may be constantly displayed, and other character information may be displayed at the time of freezing.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, various character information is displayed on the screen based on the freeze signal and the character information is controlled to be erased from the screen when the freeze is released. Information is excluded as much as possible, and the textual information does not get in the way when observing the image.
Moreover, the character information is displayed at the time of image recording and the necessary information is provided as in the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic endoscope apparatus having an information display circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display state of a monitor according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Electronic endoscope, 12 ... Processor device, 15 ... Freeze button, 30 ... MPU, 31 ... Superimpose circuit, 32 ... Switching circuit, 33 ... Character generator, 36 ... Monitor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information display circuit for displaying various character information on a screen together with an image obtained by a solid-state imaging device, wherein the character information is displayed on the screen based on a freeze signal, and when the freeze is released. An information display circuit of an electronic endoscope device controlled to erase character information from the screen.