JPH08289179A - Ominidirectional television system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain the ominidirectional television system in which the video in the direction that a viewer wants to watch can be viewed by freely selecting the video from the plural of video photographed by an ominidirectional television camera, by actively working an ominidirectional television receiver by the viewer. CONSTITUTION: An ominidirectional television camera 1 is provided with a video fatching means 3 simultaneously fetching plural of video and an angular data imparting means 5 imparting angular data to the video signal of each video that the video fetching means 3 fatches. An ominidirectional television receiver 2 is provided with a video selecting means 10 selecting the video signal to which arbitrary angular data is imprted from the video signal to which angular data is added.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an omnidirectional television system capable of selecting and viewing an image in any direction from a plurality of images taken by an omnidirectional television camera.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional television cameras have a limited field of view, and the field of view is determined by the subjectivity of the cameraman who shoots the image. Further, even if the images are shot by a plurality of TV cameras, the studio director selects the most suitable image from the plurality of images, and only the selected image is transmitted to the viewer. Therefore, the image displayed on the TV screen is always limited to the image selected by the cameraman or the director. Therefore, for the viewer, for example, in situations other than the usual spots in sports broadcasts (games in front of goals in soccer games, pitchers and batters in baseball games) (movements of defenders and goalkeepers on the other side, outfield players). I couldn't see it even though I wanted to see the defensive system), the face and movements of the audience.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made under the above background, and a viewer actively works on an omnidirectional television receiver so that a plurality of omnidirectional television cameras capture images. It is an object of the present invention to provide an omnidirectional television system in which a viewer can freely select and view an image in a desired direction.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the omnidirectional television system of the present invention is an omnidirectional television system including a combination of an omnidirectional television camera and an omnidirectional television receiver. It is characterized by having. (A) The omnidirectional television camera has an image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images at the same time, and an angle data assigning means for imparting angle data to the video signal of each image captured by the image capturing means (b) The omnidirectional television receiver is provided with an image selection means for selecting a video signal with arbitrary angle data from a video signal with additional angle data.

[0005]

According to the above construction, the omnidirectional television camera captures a plurality of scenes in all directions around the television camera by the image capturing means. Angle data indicating the azimuth of each image is added to the video signals of a plurality of captured image data by the angle data addition means and transmitted.

When the viewer operates the image selection means of the omnidirectional television receiver to select the angle data added to the received video signal, the omnidirectional television receiver displays the image of the video signal added to the angle data. Is output on the screen.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an omnidirectional television system, which is composed of a combination of an omnidirectional television camera 1 and an omnidirectional television receiver 2. The omnidirectional television camera is a compound eye lens or a plurality of television camera lenses. With the configured image capturing means 3, 360 degrees around the omnidirectional television camera 1 (see FIG. 2A),
It has a field of view of 180 degrees above (see FIG. 2B), and is provided so as to photograph all scenes in the field of view at the same time.

The photographed image data is displayed in the image space shown in FIG. 3 by using 13 lenses 4, 4, ... As shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4A, it is divided into 8 parts in the horizontal direction, and as shown in FIG. 3B, it is divided into 3 parts in the vertical direction, corresponding to the visual field 13 of the lens as shown in the plan view of the image space of FIG. The images in the image spaces A1 to A13 are captured. Video signals V1 to V1 for the image spaces A1 to A13 captured by the respective lenses 4
V13 is output, and the angle data av1 to av1 are respectively added to the video signals V1 to V13 by the angle data adding means 5.
3 is added and output. The output video signal is amplified by the video amplifier 6 and transmitted by the video transmitter 7.

The omnidirectional television receiver 2 has a video selecting means 10 as shown in FIG.
By operating 0, the video signal in the desired direction can be selected.

The image selecting means 10 may use, for example, a joystick. This joystick 10
Divides the direction in which the operation lever 11 is tilted at the same ratio as the division of the video data captured by the omnidirectional television camera 1 (see FIGS. 6A and 6B), and operates the joystick 10 in FIG. 4B. As shown in the plan view showing the range, the selection signals J1 to J13 are respectively output in the divided directions. Omnidirectional TV camera 1
Since the angle data av1 to av13 are added to the video signals V1 to V13 captured in, respectively, and transmitted.
From the received video signals, the angle data a corresponding to the selection signals J1 to J13 output from the image selection means 10
v1 to av13 are selected, and the video signal corresponding to the selected angle data is displayed on the screen 12 as an image.

The number of lenses 4 is not limited to 13, and the range of the field of view varies depending on the focal length of the lens used. Therefore, the number of lenses 4 can be reduced by using a wide-angle lens having a short focal length. Can be reduced.

Since the omnidirectional television system is configured as described above, the omnidirectional television camera 1 simultaneously captures a scene around the camera 1 with 13 lenses 4, 4, ... Since the angle data av1 to av13 are added to the video signals V1 to V13, respectively, and transmitted, the viewer selects the image selection means 10 of the omnidirectional television receiver 2.
Is operated to tilt the operation lever 11 in the direction of the desired visual field, the image of the designated direction is selected and displayed on the screen 12 by the selection signals J1 to J13 output corresponding to the operation angle of the image selection means 10. Since the viewer does not only watch the given video, he / she can freely select the video in the direction he / she wants to watch, just as if he / she selects a channel and selects a TV station. You can freely select the viewpoint from the viewpoint of the audience such as the scene, and enjoy a highly realistic broadcast.

It is preferable to attach the mark 10a indicating the installation position to the image selecting means 10. As a result, if the viewer sets the selection means 10 so that the mark 10a is located on the near side, the selection signals J1 to J13 are obtained.
And angle data av1 to av13 can be easily matched.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the omnidirectional television receiver 2 may be composed of a head mounted display 20 which is put on a human head. The head mounted display 20 is provided with a sensor 21 for detecting the rotation angle of the head as an image selection means. As the sensor 21, for example, a gyro sensor 21a and an acceleration sensor 21b may be used. As a result, the horizontal rotation angle of the head is detected by the gyro sensor 21a, the vertical rotation angle is detected by the acceleration sensor 21b, the detected rotation angle is converted into a selection signal, and the omnidirectional television camera 1 shoots. By automatically selecting the video data corresponding to the selection signal from the video data and displaying it on the head mounted display 20, for example, a home run ball of a baseball relay can be tracked by itself or the state of the audience can be seen. You can do it, or you can experience what you want to see in a simulated room with virtual reality.

Although the omnidirectional television camera 1 described above is provided so as to photograph a range of 360 degrees in the horizontal direction and 180 degrees in the vertical direction, the photographing range is not limited to the above range, but the horizontal direction. The range may be 180 degrees and 90 degrees in the vertical direction, or 180 degrees in the horizontal direction and 360 degrees in the vertical direction.

Further, the omnidirectional television camera 1 may be composed of a plurality of television cameras, and the angle data may be added to the video image captured by each television camera.

[0017]

[Effect] According to the omnidirectional television system of the present invention, the viewer operates the image selecting means of the omnidirectional television receiver to select the image in the desired direction from the plurality of images shot by the omnidirectional television camera. Since you can freely select and watch the images with your own will, you can enjoy a highly realistic image and provide an omnidirectional television system with a wide range of applications in the amusement industry, the construction industry, and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configurations of an omnidirectional television camera and an omnidirectional television receiver.

2A and 2B are a plan view and a front view of an omnidirectional television camera.

3A and 3B are a plan view and a side view showing a shooting range of an omnidirectional television camera.

4A and 4B are plan views showing a video space captured by each lens of an omnidirectional television camera and an operation range of a joystick.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an omnidirectional television receiver.

6A and 6B are a side view and a plan view showing an operation range of a joystick.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another example of an omnidirectional television receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Omnidirectional TV camera 2 Omnidirectional TV receiver 3 Image capturing means 5 Angle data providing means 10 Image selecting means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An omnidirectional television system comprising a combination of an omnidirectional television camera and an omnidirectional television receiver, characterized by having the following requirements. (A) The omnidirectional television camera has an image capturing means for capturing a plurality of images at the same time, and an angle data assigning means for imparting angle data to the video signal of each image captured by the image capturing means (b) The omnidirectional television receiver is provided with an image selection means for selecting a video signal with arbitrary angle data from a video signal with additional angle data.