JPH08278468A - Eye glasses device with liquid crystal shutter and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To find that power source is turned on when a power source switch of glasses is turned on by interrupting a liquid crystal shutter for a fixed period and thereafter opening it. CONSTITUTION: An oscillation circuit 6 starts oscillation operation, and one chip microcomputer consisting of a system control circuit 2 becomes a regular operation mode from a stand-by mode. Further, a switch 10 is turned on by control from the system control circuit 2. Thus, a source voltage is supplied to a reception circuit 3 and a liquid crystal drive circuit 8. At this time, the instruction (e.g. control signals Sr, Sl are high level also) so that liquid crystal parts R, L of left/right of the liquid crystal shutter 5 become a closed state (the state when light transmissivity is low) also is sent to the liquid crystal drive circuit 8 from the system control circuit 2. Thus, the liquid crystal shutter 5 of an eye glasses device becomes a closed state from an opened state, and a user finds that power source is turned on.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spectacle device with a liquid crystal shutter used for a stereoscopic television device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a stereoscopic television device using an eyeglass device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-92187. This is because the left and right image information for recognizing a stereoscopic image is alternately displayed on the stereoscopic television device at a predetermined cycle, and in the eyeglass device used by the user, the shutters corresponding to the left and right eyes are provided on the stereoscopic television device. The left and right eyes of the user are configured to recognize only the corresponding image information by alternately controlling the opening and closing in synchronization with the display information (see FIG. 5). The synchronization of the left and right image information displayed on the stereoscopic television device and the opening / closing control of the shutter of the eyeglass device is performed by the stereoscopic television device side using a switching signal synchronized with the image information displayed on the screen, for example, infrared rays. It is realized by transmitting the light to the eyewear device side. With this configuration, the user wearing the eyeglass device can realize stereoscopic viewing of the image on the stereoscopic television device.

Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 63-130726 discloses one configuration of an eyeglass device used for a stereoscopic television device. This eyeglass device is provided with left and right liquid crystal shutters that are alternately set to an open state and a closed state. A drive circuit for the liquid crystal shutter and a power source, for example, a lithium battery are built in the eyeglass device. The eyeglass device is provided with a power switch for power saving, and the liquid crystal shutter can be driven for the first time when the power switch is turned on.

[0004]

However, in the eyeglass device disclosed in the above publication, there is no means for displaying whether or not the power switch is turned on, and the user does not have to turn on the power switch. There was a problem that I did not know whether or not was activated. Although it is possible to display that the power is on by a display means such as a light emitting diode like a general electronic device, the power consumption of the light emitting diode is relatively large, and the power source of the eyeglass device is a battery. In some cases there is a problem with battery life.

The present invention solves this problem, and provides a novel structure in an eyeglass device used for a stereoscopic television device, which can inform the user of the turning-on of a power switch.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an eyeglass device for a stereoscopic television in which left and right liquid crystal shutters of the eyeglasses are alternately switched in synchronization with left and right eye images of the stereoscopic television. It is an eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter in which when the power switch is turned on, the liquid crystal shutter is shut off for a certain period of time and then opened so that the power is turned on.

Further, the present invention controls a liquid crystal shutter-equipped eyeglass device including a liquid crystal shutter, a control circuit for controlling the state of the liquid crystal shutter according to an instruction from the outside, a power source, and a switch for instructing to turn on the power source. In the method, the liquid crystal shutter is set to a first state, for example, an open state in a power-off state, and the liquid crystal shutter is set to a second state, for example, a closed state according to an operation of the switch, and then the eyeglass device is A method of controlling an eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter, characterized in that a state of responding to an instruction from the outside is set.

Further, according to the present invention, a liquid crystal shutter, means for setting the liquid crystal shutter in a first state, for example, a state in which both the left and right liquid crystal parts are in an open state, and the liquid crystal shutter according to turning on of a switch are provided. Is a second state, for example, a state in which both the left and right liquid crystal parts are in the closed state, and a spectacle device with a liquid crystal shutter including means for setting at least a certain period.

Further, according to the present invention, in an eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter, the operation of which is controlled based on a switching signal sent from a television receiver in which two types of video information are alternately displayed for a predetermined period of time. A liquid crystal shutter having left and right controllable liquid crystal parts, a liquid crystal drive circuit for controlling opening and closing of the liquid crystal shutter, a circuit for receiving the switching signal, a power switch, a power supply, a system control circuit, and a timer. , The system control circuit detects the turning on of the power switch,
Based on the output from the system control circuit, the liquid crystal portion of the liquid crystal shutter is set to a state different from the state in which power is not supplied for a predetermined period T1 designated by the timer, and then the television image reception is performed. The system control circuit controls opening and closing of the liquid crystal part of the liquid crystal shutter through the liquid crystal drive circuit according to the output of the receiving circuit that receives a switching signal sent from a machine based on the switching signal. It is a spectacle device with a liquid crystal shutter.

[0010]

According to the operation of the liquid crystal shutter, the user is
You can know that the power switch has been turned on. Further, since the operation of the liquid crystal shutter included in the eyeglass device is used as a means for indicating that the power switch has been turned on, an element such as a light emitting diode is not required, so that the number of parts is small and the power consumption is increased. Since it can be realized without any, the operating time of the eyeglass device is not reduced.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the embodiment. In the embodiment, the television receiver and the eyeglass device are synchronized with each other by a remote control signal by infrared rays, but the present invention can be applied to a configuration in which the synchronization is achieved by radio waves or wires. In FIG. 1, the power supply 1 is a primary battery such as a lithium battery. System control circuit 2
Is composed of a one-chip microcomputer and controls the operation of the eyeglass device.

The receiving circuit 3 is supplied with the output of the photodiode 4. The switching signal of infrared light transmitted from the television receiver is received by the photodiode 4 and converted into an electric signal. The receiving circuit 3 demodulates the output signal of the photodiode 4 and outputs it to the system control circuit 2. When infrared light from the television receiver is not received, or when the level of received light is low, the output of the receiving circuit remains low level and constant. The system control circuit 2 uses a signal demodulated by the reception circuit 3 and output, and a two-phase control signal (two-phase 120 Hz) for controlling opening and closing of the liquid crystal shutter 5.
Square wave) Sr, Sl created, liquid crystal drive circuit 8
Is output to

An oscillation circuit 6 and a timer 7 are provided as peripheral circuits of the system control circuit 2. The oscillation circuit 6 includes a crystal oscillator, performs a predetermined oscillation operation together with an inverter incorporated in the system control circuit 2, creates an operation clock, and supplies it to the system control circuit 2. The timer 7 supplies time information for time-based control by the system control circuit 2 to the system control circuit. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the timer 7 is provided outside the system control circuit 2.
However, this function / configuration may be realized by the program operation of the one-chip microcomputer.

The liquid crystal drive circuit 8 controls the open / closed state of the liquid crystal shutter 9 based on the control signals Sr and Sl from the system control circuit 2. The liquid crystal shutter 5
When the power is not supplied, it is in an open state (state in which the light transmittance is high). Therefore, in order to bring the liquid crystal display device into the closed state, it is necessary to supply power and a control signal instructing the closed state from the liquid crystal drive circuit 8.

The power supply voltage from the power supply 1 is always supplied to the system control circuit 2. On the contrary,
A power supply voltage is supplied to the reception circuit 3 and the liquid crystal drive circuit 8 via the switch 10. The system control circuit 2 controls on / off of the switch 10. Power to the liquid crystal shutter 5 is supplied through the liquid crystal drive circuit 8.

The push switch 11 is of a type that is turned on only when it is pressed. Push switch 11
One contact is connected to the power supply 1, and the other contact is connected to the input terminal of the system control circuit 2.
The one-chip microcomputer constituting the system control circuit 2 has a standby mode and a normal operation mode. In the standby mode, power consumption can be suppressed by stopping the oscillation of the oscillation circuit 6. When power is first applied, the system control circuit first goes into standby mode. The mode is changed from the standby mode to the normal operation mode by supplying a high level signal to the input terminal 12 for a predetermined period or longer. On the contrary, the change from the normal operation mode to the standby mode can be performed by the built-in program.

Next, the eyeglass device based on the control of the system control circuit 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 and 3 and the waveform diagram of FIG. In FIG. 4, (a) schematically shows the waveform of the input terminal 12, (b) schematically shows the output waveform of the oscillator circuit 6, and (c) and (d) show
3 schematically illustrates the states of the left and right liquid crystal parts.

The eyeglass device of the embodiment is controlled according to the program stored in the built-in ROM of the one-chip microcomputer constituting the system control circuit 2.
When a battery such as a lithium battery is attached to the battery holder of the eyeglass device, power is supplied to the system control circuit 2 and the system control circuit enters the standby mode. At this time, the switch 10 is in the off state, and the power supply voltage is not supplied to the receiving circuit 3 and the liquid crystal drive circuit 8.

Further, the oscillation circuit 6 is controlled so as not to perform the oscillation operation, and the system control circuit 2 is in a state where the power consumption is suppressed. Then, the system control circuit 2 is changed from the standby mode to the normal operation mode by the input to the input terminal 12 to which the push switch 11 is connected. (Step 21).

The push switch 11 is a power-on switch of the eyeglass device. When the push switch 11 is pressed, a high level signal is supplied to the input terminal of the system control circuit 2 (FIG. 4A). As a result, the system control circuit 2 determines that the push switch 11 is turned on, and proceeds to the next step 22.

In step 22, the oscillating operation of the oscillating circuit 6 is started (FIG. 4 (b)), and the one-chip microcomputer 2 constituting the system control circuit 2 is changed from the standby mode to the normal operating mode. Further, the switch 10 is turned on by the control of the system control circuit 2. As a result, the power supply voltage is supplied to the receiving circuit 3 and the liquid crystal drive circuit 8.

In the next step 23, an instruction is given to the liquid crystal drive circuit 8 so that the liquid crystal portions R and L on the right and left sides of the liquid crystal shutter 5 are both in the closed state (the state where the light transmittance is low) (for example,
The control signals Sr and Sl are both high level) from the system control circuit 2. Therefore, the liquid crystal shutter of the eyeglass device changes from the open state to the closed state (FIGS. 4C and 4D), and the user can know that the power is turned on.

In step 24, the timer 7 is started. This is because the left and right liquid crystal parts R and L of the liquid crystal shutter 5 are both closed for a certain time (T1,
This is because it is limited to, for example, 1 second. And T1
It is checked whether the time has passed (step 2
5).

After the lapse of T1 time, both liquid crystal parts of the liquid crystal shutter 5 are opened as in the state before the power is turned on (step 26). From the system control circuit 2 to the liquid crystal drive circuit 8, both liquid crystal units R,
This is performed by outputting an instruction to open L, for example, a low level control signal. After that, the system control circuit 2 can accept the output from the receiving circuit 3 (step 27). Then, a timer for controlling the power supply is started (step 30, hereinafter, refer to FIG. 3).

Next, the system control circuit 2 checks whether or not the switching signal from the receiving circuit 3 is supplied (step 31). When it is determined that the switching signal is supplied, the opening / closing control of the liquid crystal shutter 5 is performed (step 32). This opening / closing control is performed by the control signal Sr from the system control circuit 2,
This is done by changing the state of Sl.

At the next step 33, the timer 7 is reset. That is, the timer 7 is always reset when the input of the switching signal is determined. Here, resetting the timer means resetting the elapsed time from the timer start to zero. If it is determined that the switching signal is not supplied, step 31
Immediately proceeds to step 34. In step 34, it is checked whether or not the elapsed time by the timer 7 exceeds a predetermined time T2 (a sufficiently long time as compared with the cycle of the switching signal, for example, 10 minutes). If it does not exceed the predetermined time T2, the process returns to step 31. If it exceeds the predetermined time T2, the process proceeds to step 35.

When the switching signal is output from the receiving circuit 3, the timer is reset each time it is judged, so that the time T2 has not elapsed at the time of the judgment at step 34. . On the contrary, if the switching signal is not output (the control signal is not transmitted from the television receiver), the timer 7 is not reset, and it is finally determined in step 34 that the predetermined time T2 has elapsed. It will be.

At step 35, power OFF processing is performed. That is, the switch 10 is turned off, the oscillation of the oscillation circuit 6 is stopped, and the system control circuit 2
Enters the standby mode (return to step 21 in FIG. 2). As a result, the power of the eyeglass device is turned off.

Timer 7 in system control circuit 2
The time control by is realized as a counting process in the program on the one-chip microcomputer. As a timer start process (step 24, for example), a predetermined numerical value is set in a register (or working memory) in the one-chip microcomputer. Then, in the step of checking the elapsed time (for example, step 25),
First, the content value of this register is reduced by a predetermined number (for example, 1), and then it is checked whether it is 0 or less. If 0 or less, it is determined that the predetermined time has elapsed. If it is greater than 0, it is determined that the predetermined time has not yet elapsed. When the set time is different, it can be dealt with by changing the numerical value at the time of starting the timer in proportion to the time. Further, the timer reset corresponds to setting the same numerical value as that at the time of timer start in the register.

As described above, in the above embodiment, in response to the operation of the push switch 11 for turning on the power,
The liquid crystal shutter is set to a closed state for a short time (for example, 1 second), and then the control signal from the television receiver is made responsive so that the user is informed of power-on. As another mode for notifying the user of power-on, it is possible to repeatedly open and close the left and right liquid crystal units L and R alternately or simultaneously for a predetermined period. Alternatively, only one liquid crystal unit (for example, the left liquid crystal unit L) may be closed for a predetermined period, or may be repeatedly opened and closed. In these cases, the control signals Sr and Sl from the system control circuit 2 may be created in accordance with the opening / closing of the liquid crystal portion to be realized.

In each of the above embodiments, the display (predetermined operation of the liquid crystal shutter) for informing the user of power-on is performed for a predetermined relatively short predetermined period (for example, 1 second). I have to. On the other hand, it is conceivable that the display for informing the user of power-on may be continued until the user performs some operation such as pressing the push switch 11 again. In this case, the display period may not be limited, or the limited period may be set to a relatively long period (for example, 10 minutes), and the second push switch 11 may be detected to stop the display.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the eyeglass device used for the stereoscopic television device, the fact that the power of the eyeglass device is turned on is added without adding a new element or configuration. Also, without fear of increasing power consumption,
It is effective because it can inform the user.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of an example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a spectacle device of a stereoscopic television device and a display image.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Power Supply 2 System Control Circuit 3 Receiver Circuit 4 Photodiode 5 Liquid Crystal Shutter 6 Oscillation Circuit 7 Timer 8 Liquid Crystal Drive Circuit 10 Switch 11 Push Switch

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A spectacle device of a stereoscopic television in which left and right liquid crystal shutters of the spectacles are alternately switched in synchronization with left and right eye images of the stereoscopic television, and a liquid crystal is displayed when a power switch of the spectacles is turned on. An eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter in which the power is turned on by shutting off the shutter for a certain period and then opening the shutter. 2. A method of controlling an eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter, comprising a liquid crystal shutter, a control circuit for controlling a state of the liquid crystal shutter according to an instruction from the outside, a power source, and a switch for instructing to turn on the power source. In the OFF state, the liquid crystal shutter is set to the first state, the liquid crystal shutter is set to the second state according to the operation of the switch, and then the eyeglass device is set to the state of responding to the instruction from the outside. A method for controlling an eyeglass device for stereoscopic television, comprising: 3. A liquid crystal shutter, a means for setting the liquid crystal shutter to a first state, and a switch being turned on,
A spectacle device with a liquid crystal shutter comprising means for setting the liquid crystal shutter in the second state for at least a certain period. 4. A spectacle device with a liquid crystal shutter, the operation of which is controlled based on a switching signal sent from a television receiver in which two types of image information are alternately displayed for a predetermined period of time. And a liquid crystal drive circuit for controlling opening and closing of the liquid crystal shutter, a receiving circuit for the switching signal, a power switch, a power supply, a system control circuit, and a timer. Is turned on by the system control circuit, and based on the output from the system control circuit, the liquid crystal part of the liquid crystal shutter is not supplied with power for a predetermined period T1 designated by the timer. State, and then receives the switching signal sent from the television receiver. Wherein by the system control circuit in accordance with the output of the receiving circuit, the liquid crystal drive circuit and the liquid crystal shutter liquid crystal shutter with glasses and wherein the opening and closing control based on the switching signal of the liquid crystal portion of the via. 5. The system control circuit comprises a microcomputer having a standby mode and a normal operation mode, is arranged at least between the receiving circuit, the liquid crystal drive and the power supply, and is controlled by the system control circuit. In the power-off state of the eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter, the microcomputer is turned on when the switch means is turned off and the power switch is turned on. The eyeglass device with a liquid crystal shutter according to claim 4, wherein the switch means is set to an ON state when a normal operation mode is set.