JPH07131689A - Adaptor for camcorder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a compact and light-weight camcorder which can improve the quality of reproduced images and can attain the multiple functions with the use of an adaptor of the camcorder. CONSTITUTION:The camcorder 200 is housed in a camera storing part of an adaptor used for the camcorder 300, and a connector 301 of the adaptor is connected to a connector 201 of the camera. A battery 210 is charged by a battery charge circuit 303, and the camcorder 200 is operated by a command of a control panel 304. The video signals transmitted from the camcorder 200 are supplied to the adaptor of the camcorder 300 and sent to an external equipment (TV set, etc.) via a video output terminal 307. The adaptor 300 can slowly reproduce the recorded images by transmitting repetitively the video signals stored in a field memory 309.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera-integrated VTR adapter and a camera-integrated VTR for connecting the camera-integrated VTR to an external device such as a television system or video.
The TR adapter is provided with additional functions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video cameras have become smaller and lighter, and a camera-integrated VTR in which a camera section and a VTR deck section are integrated has become mainstream, and such a camera-integrated VTR has only a recording function. It also has a playback function.

[0003] Therefore, many users also use one camera-integrated VTR for reproduction and the like without using a stationary reproduction apparatus (including recording). in this case,
The video / audio input / output terminal of the camera-integrated VTR and the television system are connected by an AV input / output cable, and generally, an AC power adapter is also connected to input DC power from indoor AC power.

In recent years, for the purpose of simplifying the connection operation,
It has been proposed that an adapter, which is previously connected to an external device such as a television system, is connected to the camera-integrated VTR so that other devices can be easily connected to the camera-integrated VTR.

Here, a camera-integrated VTR developed by the applicant of the present application, and a camera in which the camera-integrated VTR is housed to electrically connect the camera-integrated VTR and an external device (such as a television system) easily The body type VTR adapter will be described.

As shown in FIG. 9, a camera-integrated VTR0
The outer case 02 of No. 1 has a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped external shape in the front-rear direction of the camera (direction of arrow AB in FIG. 9). The taking lens 03 and the optical viewfinder 04 are installed on the top of the outer case 02, and the stereo microphone 05
Is disposed on the top of the outer case 02. Reference numeral 06 is a VTR deck portion, 07 is a side grip portion, 08 is a photographing button, and 09 is a tele / wide switching button.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the camera-integrated VTR 01 and the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50, and FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which the camera-integrated VTR 01 is housed in the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50. .

As shown in both figures, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50 is composed of an adapter body 52 and an upper lid 54. The adapter body 52 has a VTR deck 06 (tape cassette) of the above-mentioned camera-integrated VTR01.
Camera housing 56 for accommodating so that the
An adapter storage portion 58 for storing the power adapter 100 is formed.

The camera housing 56 is a camera-integrated VTR0.
The positioning ribs 60 and 62 are formed in the center of the bottom surface, and the positioning ribs 64 are formed on the left side portion, and the front side. Ribs 66 and 68 are formed on the portion, and a rib 70 for opening and closing the connector cover is further formed.

The camera-integrated VTR01 is attached to the camera housing 5
6 in a predetermined direction, the camera-integrated VTR01 is positioned by the ribs 60, 62, 64, and the recesses 010, 011 formed in the camera-integrated VTR01 are positioned.
The ribs 66 and 68 are fitted to the. Thus, a camera-integrated VT
R01 is positioned and stored in the camera storage unit 56.

Further, as shown in FIG. 12, the camera-integrated VTR 01 has a connector 012 for connection with an external device.
And a connector cover 01 for opening and closing this connector 012
3 and an opening / closing button 014 for opening and closing the connector cover 013 by pressing and releasing the pressing. During the storage, the open / close button 014 contacts the rib 70 for opening / closing the connector cover, and the open / close button 014 is pressed by the own weight of the camera-integrated VTR 01, whereby the connector cover 013 is opened and the connector 012 is exposed. It In FIG. 12, 015A and 015B are tripod fixing screws and positioning holes.

Next, a camera-integrated VTR01 positioned and stored in the camera storage portion 56 of the adapter body 52 is provided.
And an electrical connection structure with the adapter body 52 will be described.

In FIG. 10, 72 is an adapter main body 52.
Reference numeral 74 denotes a connector provided on the side, and 74 denotes a lever knob for connecting the connector. The lever knob 74 is moved in the direction of arrow C when the connector is connected, and the connector 72 is also moved in the same direction. This allows the connector 72 to be fitted to the connector 012 on the camera-integrated VTR 01 side.

Next, the AC power adapter 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 10, the AC power adapter 10
0 can be stored in the adapter storage portion 58, and is placed side by side in the horizontal direction with respect to the camera-integrated VTR 01.

This AC power adapter 100 has guide rails 58A, 58 formed on the side of the adapter housing 58.
A power input terminal (not shown) provided on the side of the guide groove 102A, 102B inserted in B and the adapter housing portion 58
An output terminal 104 connected to is provided.

The AC power adapter 1 having the above structure
As shown in FIG. 10, 00 is accommodated in the adapter accommodating portion 58 by inserting the guide grooves 58A and 102B of the AC power adapter 100 into the guide rails 58A and 58B of the adapter accommodating portion 58 and sliding the guide rails, and the output thereof. The terminal 104 is connected to the power input terminal provided on the adapter housing portion 58 side.

The AC power adapter 100 accommodated in the adapter accommodating portion 58 in this way is the camera accommodating portion 56.
The power can be supplied to the camera-integrated VTR01 housed in the camera and the battery 016 mounted in the camera-integrated VTR01 can be charged.

As shown in FIG. 11, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50 includes the above-mentioned adapter body 52 and the upper lid 5.
The upper lid 54 is openable and closable with respect to the adapter body 52 by hinges 76 and 76. still,
The upper lid 54 can also be removed.

A notch 54A is formed in the upper lid 54. That is, the notch 54A is formed in the adapter body 5
The cassette lid 017 of the camera-integrated VTR01 housed in the 2 is formed in such a size that it can be opened and closed.
With the camera closed, the cassette lid 0 of the camera-integrated VTR01
17 can be opened and closed.

An operation panel 78 is provided on the front surface of the adapter main body 52, and the buttons on the operation panel 78 are used to operate the connectors 72 and 012 without operating the buttons on the camera-integrated VTR01 side. Control signal can be sent to the camera-integrated VTR01. In addition, input / output terminals (not shown) for inputting / outputting video signals and audio signals are provided on the back surface of the adapter body 52, and these terminals are used for a television system, a VTR deck, a video printer, etc. Connected to AV equipment.

This camera-integrated VTR adapter 50 enables electrical connection between the camera-integrated VTR 01 and external equipment. Further, according to the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50, the external shape and operability of a stationary VTR deck can be obtained with the camera-integrated VTR 01 stored. Furthermore, it is possible to easily set it at a predetermined position simply by mounting the camera-integrated VTR01,
Particularly, connector connection can be performed satisfactorily and surely.

[0022]

The VTR with a built-in camera is becoming more sophisticated and multifunctional, and tends to be equipped with a camera shake correction function, an image quality improving function during slow playback, a title inserting function and the like. However, incorporating various functions increases the size of the camera-integrated VTR and increases the power consumption, which violates the demand for smaller size and lighter weight.

On the other hand, in the above-described camera-integrated VTR adapter 50, the camera-integrated VTR01 is used in the camera housing section 5.
By simply storing it in 6, you can easily connect the camera-integrated VTR01 and external equipment such as a television system,
The camera-integrated VTR01 can be operated by operating the operation panel 78, and the battery-integrated VTR01 battery 0
Can be charged 16 times. That is, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50 has a storage / connection function, an operation function, and a charging function. However, it does not have the function of processing and processing video signals.

The inventor of the present application has come to consider adding a function of processing and processing a video signal by the camera-integrated VTR adapter by utilizing the space available in the camera-integrated VTR adapter. It was Even if this is done, the shape of the camera-integrated VTR adapter does not become large, and the functions equipped in the camera-integrated VTR are only basic recording / playback functions, and the camera is compact.
It is lighter weight, and it is possible to improve the quality of reproduced images and perform various image quality processing.

[0025]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The structure of the present invention for realizing the above-mentioned idea is such that a recording section for recording a video signal on a video tape and a camera side connector for reproducing the video signal recorded on the video tape are provided. A camera storage unit for positioning and storing a camera-integrated VTR, which has a reproduction unit for output via the camera and a power supply unit for receiving electric power through the camera-side connector and having a charging function, and the camera-integrated VT.
An adapter-side connector that connects to the camera-side connector with R stored therein, and an output for outputting a video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR via the camera-side connector and the adapter-side connector to an external device. A connection mechanism including a connection portion; a power supply mechanism that sends power to the power supply portion through the adapter-side connector and the camera-side connector in a state where the camera-integrated VTR is housed; and the adapter-side connector and the camera-side connector. In the camera-integrated VTR adapter equipped with an operation mechanism that sends an operation signal to the camera-integrated VTR via the camera, the video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR is processed / processed and output to an external device to be reproduced. High-quality and diversified processing
It is characterized by having a processing mechanism.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the camera-integrated VTR adapter processes and processes the video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR and sends it to an external device (TV system or the like). As a result, the reproduced image becomes processed and processed with high quality and variety, and the VTR with a built-in camera does not have many functions and is small and lightweight.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the camera-integrated VTR 200 has the same external shape and mechanical configuration as the camera-integrated VTR 01 shown in FIGS.
Has the same external shape and mechanical configuration as the camera-integrated VTR adapter 50 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, and the camera-integrated VTR 200 can be housed in the camera housing of the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300. Then, in this stored state, the connector 201 on the camera side and the connector 301 on the adapter side are connected.

The camera-integrated VTR 200 has a connector 2
01, camera mode microcomputer 202, mechanical control microcomputer 203, motor drivers 204A, 204B,
Drum motor 205, capstan motor 206, reproduction signal processing circuit 207, recording signal processing circuit 208, CCD
209, battery 210, DC-DC converter 21
1, etc., and the video cassette 400 is loaded. The video tape 402 pulled out from the reel 401 of the video cassette 400 is wound around the drum and recording / reproducing is performed.

The camera-integrated VTR adapter 300 of this embodiment has a function of improving the image quality during slow playback, and includes a connector 301, an adapter microcomputer 302, a battery charging circuit 303, an operation panel 304, and a video input terminal. 305, power input terminal 306, video output terminal 30
7, memory controller 308, field memory 30
9, an A / D converter 310 and a D / A converter 311 are provided.

When the AC voltage is input from the power supply input terminal 306 while the connectors 201 and 301 are connected, the battery charging circuit 303 converts the AC voltage into the DC voltage. This DC voltage supplies power to each electrical component of the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300, and
This DC voltage is sent to the battery 210 of the camera-integrated VTR 200 via the connectors 301 and 201, and the battery is charged and the DC-DC converter 211 supplies power to each electric component of the camera-integrated VTR 200.

When the operation panel 304 is operated to output a camera operation signal (recording / playback command, tape feed command, etc.) while the connectors 201 and 301 are connected, the camera operation command is output from the adapter microcomputer 302 and the connector 301. , 201 via camera mode microcomputer 20
Sent to 2. The camera mode microcomputer 202 sends the received camera operation command to the mechanical control microcomputer 203.
Then, the operation control of the motor drivers 204A, 204B and the like is performed so as to drive the drum motor 205 and the capstan motor 206 according to the camera operation command.

When a recording command is output, the video input terminal 30 of the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300 is used.
The video signal input from the connector 5
1 is sent to the recording signal processing circuit 208 of the camera-integrated VTR 200, and the video signal is recorded on the video tape 402. When the reproduction command is output, the video signal reproduced by the reproduction signal processing circuit 207 is sent to the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300 via the connectors 201 and 301.

When the camera-integrated VTR 200 is detached from the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300 and the video camera is operated as a single unit, the CCD 209 is used.
The image signal obtained in step 2 is converted into a video signal by the recording signal processing circuit 208, and this video signal is recorded on the video tape 402.

When the slow reproduction command is output from the operation panel 304 with the connectors 301 and 201 connected, the camera-integrated VTR 200 performs a reproduction operation for a short time and then temporarily stops. On the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300 side, a reproduction video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR 200 is converted into a digital video signal by the A / D converter 310, and then a digital video signal for one field is stored in the field memory 309. Remember. The memory controller 308 is the field memory 3
The digital video signal stored in 09 is repeatedly read, and the read digital video signal is the D / A converter 3
It is converted into an analog video signal by 11 and sent to an external television system or the like via the video output terminal 307.

A camera-integrated VTR after a predetermined period has elapsed
The 200 is again reproduced for a short time to store a new video signal for one field in the field memory 309, and the stored new video signal is repeatedly read and output. By repeating such operations, a slow playback screen can be obtained on the external monitor. Moreover, since the video signal is a signal for one field read from the field memory 309, the reproduced screen has a good image quality without seams.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Camera integrated VTR adapter 300 of this embodiment
A has the same external shape and mechanical structure as the conventional camera-integrated VTR adapter 50, and further has a title insertion function. The camera-integrated VTR 200 is shown in FIG.
Same as shown in.

Camera integrated VTR adapter 300A
Is a connector 301, an adapter microcomputer 302, a battery charging circuit 303, an operation panel 304, a video input terminal 305, a power input terminal 306, a video output terminal 307.
Read memory 320, character generator 3
21 and a mix circuit 322.

When a title insertion command is output from the operation panel 304 with the connectors 301 and 201 connected, the video signal reproduced by the camera-integrated VTR 200 is sent to the mix circuit 322, and the read memory 320 and the character generator 321 are used. The obtained insertion image signal is also sent to the mix circuit 322. The mix circuit 322 inserts the inserted image signal into the video signal, and the image-inserted video signal is output from the video output terminal 307. Therefore, a so-called title insertion image in which the insertion image is inserted in the video image is displayed on the external monitor.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Camera integrated VTR adapter 300 of this embodiment
B has the same external shape and mechanical configuration as the conventional camera-integrated VTR adapter 50, and further has a camera shake correction function. The camera-integrated VTR 200 is the same as that shown in FIG.

Camera integrated VTR adapter 300B
Is a connector 301, an adapter microcomputer 302, a battery charging circuit 303, an operation panel 304, a video input terminal 305, a power input terminal 306, a video output terminal 307.
Besides, the motion detection circuit 330, the field memory control circuit 331, the field memory 332, the A / D converter 33.
3, an enlarged interpolation processing circuit 334, and a D / A converter 335.

When a reproduction command is issued from the operation panel 304 with the connectors 301 and 201 connected, the video signal reproduced by the camera-integrated VTR 200 is sent to the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300B and the A / D converter 3
33 provides a digital video signal. The motion detection circuit 330 compares the brightness of the video signal of the current field with the brightness of the representative point of the video signal of the previous field, and applies the representative point matching method to calculate the motion vector (proportional to the amount of camera shake). Value) and the reliability of correlation value (determination value of whether or not camera shake). Digital video signals are sequentially written and read in the field memory 332 so as to hold the latest video signal for one field.

When it is determined that a motion vector has occurred and the correlation reliability is high and hand shake has occurred, the field memory control circuit 331 causes the field memory control circuit 331 to cut out the screen read out from the field memory 332 (cutout frame 332a in FIG. 4).
The position) is moved by an amount corresponding to the motion vector in the opposite direction to the motion vector, whereby the current image is moved in accordance with the previous image so as to match (still). The enlargement interpolation circuit 334 enlarges and interpolates the video signal cut out from the field memory 332. That is, the screen of the cutout frame 332a shown in FIG. 4 is enlarged to the size of the photographing area 332b and the pixel shortage is interpolated. The video signal after the image stabilization is D
The signal is converted into an analog video signal by the / A converter 335 and output from the video output terminal 307. Therefore, a screen with good image quality without shaking is displayed on the external monitor.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5 which is a perspective view and FIG. 6 which is a block diagram. As shown in FIG. 5, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 3 of this embodiment
00C is equipped with a monitor 340 and a projector 341, and can accommodate a camera-integrated VTR 200. As shown in FIG. 6, the camera integrated VTR adapter 3
00C is a connector 301, an adapter microcomputer 302,
A battery charging circuit 303, an operation panel 304, a video input terminal 305, a power input terminal 306, a video output terminal 307, a monitor 340, a projector 341, a monitor control circuit 342, and a projector control circuit 343 are provided. The camera-integrated VTR 200 is the same as that shown in FIG.

When a monitor command is issued from the operation panel 304 with the connectors 301 and 201 connected, the video signal reproduced by the camera-integrated VTR 200 is sent to the monitor control circuit 342, and an image corresponding to the video signal is displayed on the monitor ( It is displayed on a liquid crystal monitor) 340. When a projector command is issued from the operation panel 304, a video signal reproduced by the camera-integrated VTR 200 is sent to the projector control circuit 343, and an image corresponding to the video signal is output from the projector 341 and displayed on a screen (not shown). Be done.

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 7 which is a perspective view and FIG. 8 which is a block diagram. As shown in FIG. 5, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 30 of the present embodiment.
The 0D is equipped with a printer 350 and has a camera-integrated V
TR200 can be stored. As shown in FIG. 8, the camera-integrated VTR adapter 300D has a connector 3
01, adapter microcomputer 302, battery charging circuit 3
03, an operation panel 304, a video camera terminal 305, a power input terminal 306, a video output terminal 307, a printer 350, and a printer control circuit 351.

When a printer command is issued from the operation panel 304 with the connectors 301 and 201 connected, the video signal reproduced by the camera-integrated VTR 200 is sent to the printer control circuit 351, where a still image for one screen is displayed. The corresponding video signal is stored in the memory, and the printer (thermal printer or the like) 350 prints out a still image corresponding to the stored video signal.

[0048]

As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, according to the present invention, the camera-integrated VTR adapter is
Since the video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR is processed and processed and sent to the external device, it is possible to improve the image quality during slow playback, insert a title, correct camera shake, and the like. Therefore, the camera-integrated VTR does not need to be equipped with the image quality improving function and the image quality diversifying function, and the camera-integrated VTR is small and lightweight.

Further, by providing a display means such as a monitor, a projector and a printer in the camera-integrated VTR adapter, the contents of the video signal can be known without using an external device (TV system or the like).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

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

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a clipping frame and a shooting area.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a camera-integrated VTR.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a conventional technique.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a connector portion of a camera-integrated VTR.

[Explanation of symbols]

01 Camera-integrated VTR 02 Exterior case 03 Photographic lens 04 Optical viewfinder 05 Stereo microphone 06 VTR deck 07 Side grip 08 Shooting button 09 Tele / wide switching button 010, 011 Recess 012 Connector 013 Connector cover 014 Open / close button 016 Battery 017 Cassette lid 50 Camera integrated VTR adapter 52 Adapter body 54 Upper lid 56 Camera housing 58 Camera housing 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70 Rib 72 Connector 74 Lever knob 76 Hinge 78 Operation panel 100 AC power adapter 102A, 102B Guide groove 104 Output terminal 200 Camera integrated VTR 201 Connector 202 Camera mode microcomputer 203 Mechanical control microcomputer 204A, 204B Motor driver 205 Drum motor 206 Capstan motor 207 Playback signal processing circuit 208 Recording signal processing circuit 209 CCD 210 Battery 211 DC-DC converter 300, 300A, 300B, 300C, 300D Camera integrated VTR adapter 301 Connector 302 Adapter microcomputer 303 Battery Charging circuit 304 Operation panel 305 Video input terminal 306 Power input terminal 307 Video output terminal 308 Memory controller 309 Field memory 310 A / D converter 311 D / A converter 320 Read memory 321 Character generator 322 Mix circuit 330 Motion detection circuit 331 field Memory control circuit 332 Field memory 333 A / D converter 334 Expansion interpolation processing circuit 335 D / Converter 340 monitor 341 projector 342 monitors control circuit 343 projector control circuit 350 Printer 351 printer control circuit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A recording unit for recording a video signal on a video tape, a reproducing unit for reproducing the video signal recorded on the video tape and outputting it via a camera side connector, and an electric power via a camera side connector. A camera housing part for positioning and housing a camera-integrated VTR having a power supply part for receiving and charging, and an adapter-side connector for connecting to the camera-side connector while housing the camera-integrated VTR. A connection mechanism having an output connector for outputting a video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR to the external device via the camera-side connector and the adapter-side connector, and a state in which the camera-integrated VTR is housed. And a power supply mechanism that sends power to the power supply unit via the adapter side connector and the camera side connector, and the adapter side connector and And an operation mechanism for transmitting an operation signal to the camera-integrated VTR via the camera-side connector, and a camera-integrated VTR adapter, which processes and processes the video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR to external equipment. A camera-integrated VTR adapter, which is equipped with a processing / processing mechanism that outputs the image to and reproduces a high-quality / diversified image. 2. The memory device according to claim 1, wherein the processing / processing mechanism digitizes a video signal output from the camera-integrated VTR and a command mechanism for instructing the camera-integrated VTR to intermittently perform a reproducing operation. A camera-integrated VTR adapter, which has a slow playback mechanism that repeatedly reads a stored video signal and outputs the read video signal as an analog signal. 3. The title inserting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the processing / processing mechanism inserts an insertion image signal into a video signal output from a camera-integrated VTR and outputs a video signal in which the insertion image signal is inserted. An integrated camera type VTR adapter. 4. The processing / processing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the processing / processing mechanism digitizes a video signal output from the camera-integrated VTR and stores the digitized video signal, detects camera shake from the digitized video signal, and detects the detected camera shake. For a camera-integrated VTR, which is a camera shake correction mechanism that controls the position of a clipping frame that is an area for reading a signal from the memory so as to compensate and outputs the video signal read from the clipping frame of the memory as an analog signal. adapter. 5. A recording unit for recording a video signal on a video tape, a reproducing unit for reproducing the video signal recorded on the video tape and outputting it via a camera side connector, and an electric power via a camera side connector. A camera housing part for positioning and housing a camera-integrated VTR having a power supply part for receiving and charging, and an adapter-side connector for connecting to the camera-side connector while housing the camera-integrated VTR. A connection mechanism having an output connector for outputting a video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR to the external device via the camera-side connector and the adapter-side connector, and a state in which the camera-integrated VTR is housed. And a power supply mechanism that sends power to the power supply unit via the adapter side connector and the camera side connector, and the adapter side connector and And an operation mechanism for sending an operation signal to the camera-integrated VTR via the camera-side connector, and a camera-integrated VTR adapter, which receives a video signal sent from the camera-integrated VTR and indicates the video signal. A camera-integrated VTR adapter having a display mechanism for displaying an image so that a person can visually recognize it.