JPH0829532A - Fishfinder - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the resolution of a displayed image from deteriorating by increasing the memory capacity in the direction of water depth and providing a fishfinding image memory having capacity corresponding to the number of pixels in the lateral direction of display screen. CONSTITUTION:A fishfinding image memory 5 includes memories in the direction of water depth larger in number than the pixels in the longitudinal direction and the memory capacity thereof in the distance direction corresponds to the number of pixels (n) in the lateral direction of the display screen. Reflection echoes are recorded sequentially for (n) times and when a subsequently reflection echo is inputted, the oldest one is removed thus updating the content of record sequentially. A display control section 6 then calculates an enlarging/contracting rate and an image display start position based on a display magnification altering information of shift information set at an operating section 7. Subsequently, an image data is read out from the memory and delivered to a display section 8 where the image to be displayed can be switched entirely at one without sacrifice of the resolution.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fish finder that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to determine the existence of fish in the sea and detects the condition of the seabed. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known in fish finder,
Ultrasonic pulses are repeatedly emitted into the water from a transducer that consists of a single oscillator or multiple oscillating elements arranged in an appropriate shape, and echo signals that are reflected by the underwater object, the seabed, etc. are received. Then, the state of the object or the seabed is displayed on the display screen of the CRT or the like as fish finder image data. In the image display of the display screen in such a fish finder, for example, in the case of a seabed that changes abruptly, the size of the display screen is limited, so that it cannot be displayed accurately on the display screen.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the problems of the conventional fish finder, FIG. 3 (A) is a diagram showing the actual detection range, 11 is the sea surface, 12 is the steep sea bottom, 13 shows a school of fish. When the underwater condition as shown in FIG. 3 (A) is searched by the fish finder and displayed on the display screen, if the entire seabed 12 is to be displayed on the display screen, it must be displayed at a considerable reduction ratio. However, if the device is set to such a reduction ratio from the beginning, the image display of the school of fish 13 may be displayed in such a small size as to be indistinguishable or may disappear even if it is attempted to identify the school of fish 13 this time. To do.

Therefore, when the condition of the seabed 12 cannot be displayed on the display screen, it is necessary to change the display magnification and shift the water depth level for display. However, the conventional fish finder makes such a change. Or the shift, the fish finder video memory has a storage capacity for one reflection echo, so that the display magnification changes from that point on the video display as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3C, the water depth level is shifted and displayed from that point on.
In FIGS. 3B and 3C, 100 is a display screen, and 1
01 is a portion where a normal image is displayed, 102 is a portion where the display magnification is changed and displayed, 103 is a portion where the water depth level is shifted and displayed, 14 is an oscillation line, and 15 is A seabed image, 16 is a fish school image, 17 is a seabed image displayed by reducing the display magnification in the water depth direction, and 18 is a seabed image displayed by shifting the water depth level.

[0005]

As described above, in the image display of the conventional fish finder, for example, when the seabed cannot be displayed on the display screen because the seabed changes sharply, the display magnification in the depth direction is changed, Alternatively, if the display is performed by changing the water depth level, the seabed is discontinuously displayed on the display screen as shown in FIGS. 3 (B) and 3 (C), and it becomes difficult to grasp the undulating condition of the seabed. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and normal image display can be performed without unduly reducing the reduction rate, and the display magnification is provided when a rapidly changing seabed or the like appears. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fish finder that does not display discontinuity even when the water level is changed or the water depth level is changed.

[0007]

In a fish finder according to the present invention, a display screen for displaying a fish finder image is set to display the depth direction in the vertical direction and the distance direction in the horizontal direction. When the depth of water is greater than the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display screen, and the horizontal direction of the display screen in the distance direction, When the display magnification is changed in the water depth direction or the water depth level is changed, a capacity sufficient to store the reflected echoes of n ultrasonic pulses, which is the number of pixels in the direction n, is provided. The feature is that the entire video display on the display screen is changed without deterioration of the display resolution.

In addition, when the seabed image cannot be displayed on the display screen due to a sudden change in the normal fish finder image display, the device itself detects this and changes the display magnification in the water depth direction or (and) the water depth. It is characterized in that a means for changing the level and displaying it on the display screen is provided.

[0009]

In the conventional fish finder, since the fish finder memory only has a storage capacity for one reflection echo, when the display magnification in the depth direction is changed or (and) the depth level is changed, the indication is displayed. The image display changes from that point on the screen. In the present invention, the fish finder memory has a number of memories that can be stored in a wider range than the actual display range in the water depth direction, and a memory that stores n reflection echoes, which is the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the display screen, in the distance direction. When the display magnification in the depth direction is changed or (and) the depth level is changed by having a capacity, it can be changed on the entire display screen, and the display in the depth direction can be performed without degrading the display resolution. You can shift the magnification.

[0010]

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 fish finder of the present invention, the basic configuration of which is the same as that of the conventional fish finder except for the capacity of the fish video memory and the operation of the display controller. In the figure, 1 is a transmitter, 2 is a wave transmitter / receiver, 3 is a reception amplifier, 4 is an A / D converter, 5 is a fish finder video memory, 6 is a display control unit, 7 is an operation unit, 8 is a display unit, 9
Indicates a display screen.

Next, the operation will be described. The transmitter 1 generates a transmission signal, which is a high-frequency electric signal with a constant pulse width, and sends it to the transceiver 2. The wave transmitter / receiver 2 is generally installed on the bottom of a ship and is composed of an ultrasonic transducer such as an electrostrictive element, and vibrates based on a transmission signal to emit ultrasonic waves into the water. The ultrasonic waves emitted hit the underwater fish school or the seabed and are reflected, and the reflected echo returns to the transducer 2, is converted into an electric signal by the transducer 2, is amplified by the reception amplification unit 3, and is A / D converted. The data is sent to the unit 4, converted by the A / D conversion unit 4 into a digital value according to the strength of the reflection echo, and sequentially stored in the fish finder video memory 5.

In the conventional fish finder, the fish finder image memory 5 has the same capacity as the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display screen 9 in the depth direction, and stores one row in the distance direction, that is, one reflection echo. Since it has a capacity only, the contents of the memory are rewritten each time an ultrasonic pulse is transmitted and received, but the fish school image memory 5 in the fish finder of the present invention displays the number of memories in the depth direction on the display screen. 9 more pixels in the vertical direction (for example, the number of pixels in the water depth direction is set to four times the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display screen to record twice the resolution and twice the image range in the water depth direction). At the same time, the distance direction has a memory capacity equal to the number of pixels n in the horizontal direction of the display screen, and the reflected echoes of n times are sequentially recorded, and when the reflected echoes of n times or more are input, Old reflection echo Remove the 憶 is configured to sequentially the storage contents are updated.

In the next display control unit 6, the operator operates the operation unit 7.
Based on the display magnification change information and shift information set in
The enlargement / reduction ratio and the image display start position are calculated, and the image data is read from the fish finder image memory 5 based on the calculation result and sent to the display unit 8. In this case, if such control is performed by the conventional fish finder, the display is switched from that point as described above, and as a result, the image display is partially switched and the display resolution is deteriorated. Since the fish finder of the present invention includes the fish finder video memory 5 as described above, the entire video display can be switched at once without degrading the display resolution.

The display unit 8 has a refresh memory for storing display screen information. The sent video data is written in this refresh memory and read out from the refresh memory in synchronization with the scanning speed of the display screen 9. The fish finder image data is converted into a video signal for displaying in a plurality of colors or shades according to the intensity of the echo, and the image is displayed on the display screen 9. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display example of a display screen in the fish finder of this embodiment, FIG. 2 (A) is a diagram showing the same actual detection range as FIG. 3 (A), and FIG. 2 (B).
2C shows a display example in which the reduction ratio is changed to change the display range, and FIG. 2C shows a display example in which the water depth is shifted. 20 is an oscillation line, 21 is a seabed image, 22 is a fish school image, and 23 is a water depth. The undersea image displayed by shifting the level is shown.

In the above-described embodiment, for example, when it is desired to grasp the undulation condition of the seabed, the operation screen is operated to switch the display screen at that time. Since it is possible to determine whether or not it will not enter into the display itself, for example, only when the seabed image does not enter the display range, it is possible to automatically change the reduction ratio and display it. It is also possible to provide a device that shifts and displays the water depth level only when it does not fall within the range. Further, it may be a device that automatically changes and displays both the reduction ratio and the water depth level. In these cases, even if the change is repeated many times, the fish finder of the present invention changes the entire image display on the display screen 9, so that the display can be grasped without a feeling of strangeness.

[0016]

As described above, in the fish finder of the present invention, the capacity of the fish finder video memory is made larger than the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display screen in the water depth direction, and the pixels in the horizontal direction of the display screen are also displayed in the distance direction. By having several memory capacities, it is possible to easily reduce / enlarge the display range and change the water depth of the display range as needed without deteriorating the display resolution of the entire image display. For example, when displaying the entire seabed that changes rapidly without impairing the function of,
There is an effect that the video display that can be intuitively grasped can be performed only by looking at the display screen.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a fish finder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining image display in the fish finder of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining image display of a conventional fish finder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transmitter 2 Transmitter / Receiver 3 Reception Amplifier 4 A / D Converter 5 Fish Finder Video Memory 6 Display Controller 7 Operation Unit 8 Display 9 Display Screen

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. When the display screen for displaying the fish finder image is set to display the depth direction in the vertical direction and the distance direction in the horizontal direction, the reflection echo of the ultrasonic pulse is represented by a digital value. The capacity of the memory to be stored has a larger number of pixels in the depth direction than the number of pixels in the vertical direction of the display screen, and the ultrasonic pulse for n times is the number of pixels in the horizontal direction of the display screen in the distance direction. When the display magnification is changed in the water depth direction or the water depth level is changed for display, the entire display image on the display screen is displayed without deterioration of the display resolution. A fish finder characterized in that 2. In the normal fish finder image display, when the seabed image cannot be displayed on the display screen due to a sudden change, the device itself detects this and changes the display magnification in the water depth direction or (and) the water depth. The fish finder according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit for changing the level and displaying the level on a display screen.