JPH10322575A - Video camera with liquid crystal monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an image easy to watch even when external light such as sunlight is made incident into a picture in the case of using a liquid crystal monitor as an electronic view finder. SOLUTION: An optical view finder hood 13 is provided for shielding strong light such as sunlight in order to make a display picture on a liquid crystal panel easy to watch when using a liquid crystal monitor 4 as a view finder. The optical view finder hood 13 is formed into dimensions tightly fitted around the outer periphery of the liquid crystal monitor 4. Besides, an eyepiece hood 13a is provided at the rear part of the optical view finder hood 13 and through this eyepiece hood 13a, the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel can be watched. Therefore, even when picking up images outdoors while being irradiated with sunlight, the image on the liquid crystal panel can be sharply watched from the eyepiece hood 13a.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor on which a liquid crystal monitor is mounted so as to be usable as an electronic viewfinder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an 8-mm video camera or a digital video camera is provided with a liquid crystal monitor for displaying an image taken separately from a viewfinder for visually recognizing a subject taken through an eyepiece. The liquid crystal monitor is rotatably attached to a side surface of the video camera main body. When not in use, the liquid crystal panel is turned to a position where the liquid crystal panel side faces the video camera main body to house the liquid crystal panel. .

Normally, when an image is taken with a video camera equipped with a liquid crystal monitor, the subject to be imaged is checked while looking through the eyepiece of the viewfinder. However, when the user wants to see the image taken at a low angle or a high angle, Alternatively, when the user wants to reproduce and view an image that has already been captured, the user rotates the liquid crystal monitor to check the image of the subject displayed on the liquid crystal panel.

Some video cameras with a liquid crystal monitor confirm a subject to be imaged only by the liquid crystal monitor. Since the video camera has no built-in viewfinder, the size of the video camera is reduced accordingly. Have been. An example of a conventional video camera with a liquid crystal monitor is shown in FIGS. The video camera 1 with a liquid crystal monitor includes a tape cassette mounting device on which a tape cassette is mounted, a magnetic head for magnetically recording an image signal and an audio signal on a magnetic tape wound in the tape cassette, and a magnetic tape sliding on the magnetic head. Various mechanisms such as a tape loading mechanism to be brought into contact with each other, a control circuit for controlling them, a signal processing circuit for signal processing, and the like are provided.

A microphone 2 for voice recording is provided on the upper front side of the video camera main body 1a, and a zoom lens 3 for imaging a subject is built in the front of the video camera main body 1a. Further, on the left side surface of the video camera body 1a, a shaft portion 4a of the liquid crystal monitor 4 is supported by a universal joint 5 so as to be rotatable around X and Y axes.
The rotation angle of the liquid crystal monitor 4 around the X axis is 270 degrees, and
The rotation angle around the axis is set to 90 degrees.

Below the LCD monitor 4, a rechargeable battery 6 is detachably mounted on the left side of the video camera body 1a. A video camera with a liquid crystal monitor can be driven by an external power supply, but in general, a battery 6 is often used as a power supply for outdoor imaging. As shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal monitor 4 when not capturing an image is accommodated in a direction parallel to the left side of the video camera main body 1a and in a direction in which the display screen does not interfere with the left side of the video camera main body 1a. .

However, when the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a view finder when taking an image, the liquid crystal monitor 4
As shown in FIG. 7, the universal joint 5 is displaced in a state of being rotated 90 degrees forward (direction A) around the Y axis of the universal joint 5 so that the display screen faces the operator. with this,
The operator can visually recognize an image captured by the zoom lens 3 on a display screen of a liquid crystal panel 7 built in the liquid crystal monitor 4. Therefore, it is possible to determine an image frame and an angle of view to be captured while viewing the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7.

Further, since the liquid crystal monitor 4 can be rotated around the X axis of the universal joint 5 in accordance with the direction in which the image is to be taken, the liquid crystal monitor 4 can be displaced to an angle which is easy to see at that time. For example, when imaging at a low angle, as shown in FIG. 8, the liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotated 90 degrees forward (A direction) around the Y axis of the universal joint 5 and then the X axis of the universal joint 5 is The upper part of the liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotated forward (direction C) as an axis.
Thus, the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7 faces upward, so that an image can be captured at a low angle.

When an image is taken at a high angle, the upper part of the liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotated backward (in the direction D) about the X axis of the universal joint 5 from the state shown in FIG. Thereby, the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 4 faces downward, so that an image can be taken at a high angle. To perform face-to-face imaging to capture one's own self, the user moves forward (A direction) 90 degrees around the Y axis of the universal joint 5 as an axis.
After the rotation, the upper part of the liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotated 180 degrees forward (in the direction C) about the X axis of the universal joint 5. In this case, the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7 includes
Since the image is displayed upside down, left and right, the signal processing circuit of the image signal inverts only the up and down direction of the image. Therefore, the operator can see the same image on the display screen of the liquid crystal monitor 4 as he / she sees in the mirror.

When the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a monitor for checking a captured image, a reproduced image is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7. In that case,
The liquid crystal monitor 4 can display a reproduced image at any angle. However, as shown in FIG. 8, when the rear surface of the liquid crystal monitor 4 is turned out of the way to face the left side surface of the video camera body 1a, Since the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7 is formed on the left side of the video camera main body 1a, the liquid crystal monitor 4 is in a stable state, and the reproduced image is easy to see.

[0011]

However, as shown in FIG. 7, when the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a viewfinder, particularly when an image is taken outdoors, strong light such as sunlight is directly or indirectly applied to the liquid crystal monitor. There is a problem that an image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 is difficult to see because the light may be irradiated on the panel 7. For this reason, improvement measures for reducing the reflection of external light from the liquid crystal panel 7 have been studied, but a sufficient effect has not been obtained.

Conventionally, in order to shield sunlight, a cylindrical light-shielding hood is mounted on the liquid crystal panel 7 to cover the periphery of the liquid crystal panel 7, but the effect is insufficient depending on the imaging position. In addition, there is a problem that it hinders the imaging operation. Furthermore, when using the liquid crystal monitor 4, the liquid crystal monitor 7 is projected from the left side of the video camera. Therefore, depending on the imaging position of the subject, the viewfinder may be easier to use than the liquid crystal monitor.

When an image to be taken is taken while being displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 4, the brightness of the liquid crystal panel 7 is increased by the backlight, so that the larger the size of the liquid crystal panel 7, the larger the power consumption and the larger the size of the battery 6. And the imaging time is shortened. As a conventional video camera that solves the above problem, an image on an optical or small CRT or a 0.5 to 0.7 inch TFT liquid crystal panel separate from the liquid crystal monitor 4 is magnified by an eyepiece. There is a case where both a viewfinder and a liquid crystal monitor are provided, but there is a problem that not only the manufacturing cost is increased but also the video camera main body 1a becomes large due to the built-in viewfinder. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above points,
Equipped with a viewfinder hood that has a reflecting mirror that reflects the image on the LCD monitor provided in the video camera body and an optical system that corrects the size of the image reflected by the reflecting mirror, with an LCD monitor that makes it easy to see the LCD monitor It is intended to provide a video camera.

[0015]

The present invention has the following features to solve the above-mentioned problems. The invention according to claim 1 is a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor in which the liquid crystal monitor is mounted so as to be usable as an electronic viewfinder, wherein the optical viewfinder hood for converting an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor into a viewfinder screen is provided with the liquid crystal monitor. The monitor is detachably mounted so as to cover the periphery of the monitor.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the optical viewfinder hood for converting the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor to the viewfinder screen is detachably mounted so as to cover the periphery of the liquid crystal monitor. Even if strong light is applied, the light can be shielded, so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor becomes easy to see. The invention according to claim 2 is the video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to claim 1, wherein the optical viewfinder hood is mounted on a video camera having a liquid crystal monitor to cover a periphery of the liquid crystal monitor; A reflecting mirror that is provided in the hood case at a predetermined angle with respect to the liquid crystal monitor and reflects an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor, and an image that is provided in the hood case and reflected by the reflecting mirror. And an optical system for converting the image into a viewfinder screen.

Therefore, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to cover the periphery of the liquid crystal monitor with the hood case and to convert the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor into a viewfinder screen. Can be shielded from light, so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is easy to see. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to the first aspect, a detection switch for detecting that the optical viewfinder hood is mounted, and mounting of the optical viewfinder hood by the detection switch. And an image inverting means for inverting the horizontal scanning of the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor when the image is detected.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the mounting of the optical viewfinder hood is detected, the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor in order to invert the horizontal scanning. It is possible to prevent the image from being reversed left and right. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to the first aspect, a detection switch for detecting that the optical viewfinder hood is mounted, and mounting of the optical viewfinder hood by the detection switch. And a backlight illuminance adjusting means for lowering the illuminance level of the backlight of the liquid crystal monitor when is detected.

Therefore, according to the present invention, when the mounting of the optical viewfinder hood is detected, the illuminance level of the backlight of the liquid crystal monitor is reduced, so that the consumption of the battery is reduced and the imaging time is extended. can do.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to the present invention as viewed from the front, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor as viewed from the back. The same parts as those of the conventional video camera 1 with a liquid crystal monitor described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

In the video camera 11 with a liquid crystal monitor, the liquid crystal monitor 4 is supported on the left side of the video camera body 11a by the universal joint 5 so as to be rotatable around the X and Y axes as described above. As shown in FIG. 7 described above, the liquid crystal monitor 4 displaces the image captured by the zoom lens 3 by rotating the universal joint 5 forward (in the direction A) by 90 degrees about the Y axis as an axis. It can be confirmed on the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7.

Further, by rotating the liquid crystal monitor 4 in the vertical direction about the X axis of the universal joint 5, it becomes possible to capture an image at a low angle or a high angle. Further, when the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a monitor for checking a captured image, the rear surface of the liquid crystal monitor 4 faces the left side of the video camera main body 11a as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotated so that 7 is located on the left side of the video camera body 11a.

On the rear surface of the video camera main body 11a, there is provided an operation section 18 provided with a number of various operation switches. Here, the optical viewfinder hood 13 constituting a main part of the present invention will be described. The optical viewfinder hood 13 is for shielding strong light such as sunlight in order to make the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7 easy to see when the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a viewfinder. When the optical viewfinder hood 13 is mounted on the liquid crystal monitor 4, the liquid crystal monitor 4 is connected to the video camera body 1 as shown in FIG.
It is rotated so as to be located on the left side surface of 1a.

The optical viewfinder hood 13 is formed in such a size as to fit into the outer periphery of the liquid crystal monitor 4 without any gap. Further, an eyepiece hood 13a is provided at the rear of the optical viewfinder hood 13, and an image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 can be viewed through the eyepiece hood 13a. Accordingly, the liquid crystal panel 7 is covered with the optical viewfinder hood 13 and is prevented from irradiating external light to the display screen. The image on the liquid crystal panel 7 can be clearly seen.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the inside of the video camera body 11a and the inside of the optical viewfinder hood 13. FIG. 4 is a viewfinder image showing an image of the liquid crystal panel 7 reflected by the reflecting mirror 9. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an optical system that converts the size into a size. An image sensor (C) that converts a received image into an electric signal is provided inside the video camera body 11a.
CD) 14 and a lens group 15 that forms an image of light incident from the zoom lens 3 on a light receiving surface of the image sensor 14. Then, an image formed on the image sensor 14 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7.

The optical viewfinder hood 13 is a hood case 13 molded of a synthetic resin for shielding external light.
b, a reflecting mirror 9 inclined at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the screen of the liquid crystal panel 7, and an eyepiece 10 for converting an image reflected by the reflecting surface 9a of the reflecting mirror 9 into a screen of a predetermined size.
And a diopter adjustment mechanism 17. Since the material of the hood case 13b has elasticity,
It is detachably fitted and fixed to the outer periphery of the liquid crystal monitor 4.

The reflecting mirror 9 is positioned at 45 degrees with respect to the screen of the liquid crystal panel 7.
Since it is inclined at an angle of degrees, it is formed in a trapezoidal shape such that the dimension on the side close to the liquid crystal panel 7 is large and the dimension on the side away from the liquid crystal panel 7 is small. The projected area when the reflecting mirror 9 is viewed from the front is as shown in FIG. 4A, and the projected area when the reflecting mirror 9 is viewed from the eyepiece hood 13a is as shown in FIG. 4B.

On the upper surface of the liquid crystal monitor 4, a hood mounting detection switch 12 for detecting that the hood case 13b is mounted is provided. When the hood mounting detection switch 12 is pressed by the hood case 13b, the hood mounting detection switch 12 is turned on to output a detection signal. The optical viewfinder hood 13 reflects the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 on the reflecting surface 9 a of the reflecting mirror 9 built in the hood case 13 b and passes through the eyepiece 10 to the eyepiece hood 1.
3a. Since the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 is horizontally inverted on the reflection surface 9a of the reflection mirror 9, the scanning direction is inverted so that the vertical, horizontal, and horizontal directions become a normal scanning screen.

As described above, the optical viewfinder hood 1
3 is attached to the liquid crystal panel 7 so that the liquid crystal panel 7
Not only can solve the problem that the image is difficult to see because the liquid crystal panel 7 is illuminated with external light such as sunlight by shading the surrounding area, and the area around the liquid crystal panel 7 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 as a dark room. The image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 converted into the viewfinder screen through the eyepiece 10 can be seen through the eyepiece 10 so that the subject can be seen more clearly than the liquid crystal panel 7 directly. Movements and facial expressions are easy to see.

By mounting the optical viewfinder hood 13 on the liquid crystal panel 7, it is not necessary to incorporate the optical viewfinder into the video camera 11 with a liquid crystal monitor, and the entire video camera 11 with a liquid crystal monitor can be made compact. it can. Further, since the optical viewfinder hood 13 can be easily attached and detached, the liquid crystal panel 7 can be used as a normal monitor when the operator wants to directly view the liquid crystal panel 7 or use the liquid crystal panel 7 as a monitor for checking a reproduced image. Can switch.

The brightness of the display screen of the liquid crystal panel 7 is different between the case where the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used for monitoring a reproduced image and the case where the liquid crystal monitor 4 is used as a view finder by the control circuit 19 described later. Illumination level) is changed. That is, when used as a monitor, the optical viewfinder hood 13 is removed, so that the brightness of the liquid crystal panel 7 is increased. When used as a viewfinder, the optical viewfinder hood 13 is attached and external light is removed. Because it is shielded from light, the liquid crystal panel 7
Is adjusted so that the brightness of the image becomes dark.

Therefore, the optical viewfinder hood 1
When the mounting of the hood 3 is detected by the hood mounting detection switch 12, the illuminance level of the backlight of the liquid crystal panel 7 is reduced, so that the consumption of the battery 6 can be reduced and the imaging time can be extended. Therefore, the control circuit 19 of the video camera 11 with the liquid crystal monitor is
Is turned on and a detection signal is output, it is recognized that the optical viewfinder hood 13 is attached to the liquid crystal monitor 4, the brightness of the liquid crystal panel 7 is reduced, and the left and right scanning directions of the liquid crystal panel 7 are changed. Is inverted.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the control circuit 19. In FIG. 5, 21 is a backlight, 2
3 is a step-up transformer, 24 is an inverter drive circuit, 25 is a current / voltage converter, 26 is a backlight level controller, 27 is a timing generator,
Reference numeral 28 denotes a hood mounting detection circuit, 29 denotes an RGB decoder, 30 denotes a DC / DC converter, and 32 denotes an output transistor.

The supply of the voltage to the backlight 21 is performed by boosting the AC signal transmitted by the inverter drive circuit 24 by the step-up transformer 23 and applying the same. DC /
The voltage controlled by the DC converter 30 and the output transistor 32 is supplied to the inverter drive circuit 24 through the step-up transformer 23 to control the voltage applied to the backlight 21.

The current / voltage converter 25 is connected to the backlight 2
The current flowing through the circuit 1 is detected and converted into a voltage. This voltage is applied to D through the backlight level controller 26.
The C / DC converter 30 is controlled. With this feedback circuit configuration, the brightness of the backlight 21 can be kept constant. Optical viewfinder hood 13
Is mounted on the LCD monitor 4, the hood mounting detection switch 12 is pressed by the hood case 13b and turned on,
The detection signal is output. Hood attachment detection switch 12
Is converted into a control signal by a hood attachment detection circuit 28 and applied to the backlight level controller 26.

The DC / DC converter 30 controls so as to reduce the voltage supplied to the inverter drive circuit 24. Thereby, the voltage supplied to the backlight 21 is reduced, and the brightness of the liquid crystal panel 7 can be reduced. The image signal is converted by the RGB decoder 29 into RGB signals.
The signal is converted into a B signal and input to the liquid crystal panel 7. The timing generator 27 generates a control signal required to operate the liquid crystal panel 7, and also has an input terminal capable of inverting horizontal and vertical scanning.

If the camera does not have the face-to-face image pickup function (the function of inverting the image display on the liquid crystal panel 7 in the vertical and horizontal directions)
When the liquid crystal panel 7 is set to a position where the reproduced image can be monitored on the left side of the video camera body 11a as shown in FIG. 8, the screen is normally scanned on the liquid crystal panel 7, so that the optical viewfinder hood 13 is attached. Then, the left-right direction of the image is reversed on the reflection surface 9 a of the reflection mirror 9. Therefore, it is necessary to invert the reproduced image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 7 from side to side.

Therefore, the output of the hood attachment detection circuit 28 is input to the input terminal of the timing generator 27 for inverting the horizontal scanning, and the reproduced image on the liquid crystal panel 7 is horizontally inverted so that the image viewed from the eyepiece hood 13a is normally scanned. Screen. Thus, even when the optical viewfinder hood 13 is attached, the eyepiece hood 13
A normal image display can be seen from a.

In the above embodiment, the video camera body 1
Although the configuration in which the liquid crystal monitor 4 is rotatably attached to the left side surface of the liquid crystal display 1a has been described as an example, the invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention is also applicable to a video camera in which the liquid crystal monitor 4 is provided in another place of the video camera body 11a. Of course you can.

[0040]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
The optical viewfinder hood, which converts the image displayed on the LCD monitor to the viewfinder screen, is detachably mounted so as to cover the periphery of the LCD monitor, so that it can be shielded from strong light such as sunlight. This makes it easier to see the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the periphery of the liquid crystal monitor is covered with the hood case, and the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor can be converted into a viewfinder screen, the strong light such as sunlight can be obtained. Can be shielded from light, so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is easy to see. According to the third aspect of the invention, when the mounting of the optical viewfinder hood is detected, the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is horizontally inverted because the horizontal scanning of the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor is reversed. It can be prevented from turning in the opposite direction.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the mounting of the optical viewfinder hood is detected, the illuminance level of the backlight of the liquid crystal monitor is reduced, so that the consumption of the battery is reduced and the imaging time is extended. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor as viewed from the rear.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an internal configuration of a video camera body and an internal configuration of an optical viewfinder hood.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an optical system that converts an image of a liquid crystal panel reflected by a reflecting mirror into a viewfinder screen size.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a control circuit.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which a liquid crystal monitor of a video camera with a conventional liquid crystal monitor is housed.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which a liquid crystal monitor of a conventional video camera with a liquid crystal monitor is used as a viewfinder.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a conventional liquid crystal monitor of a video camera with a liquid crystal monitor is used for monitoring.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 3 zoom lens 4 liquid crystal monitor 5 universal joint 6 battery 7 liquid crystal panel 9 reflector 10 eyepiece 11 video camera with liquid crystal monitor 11a video camera body 12 hood attachment detection switch 13 optical viewfinder hood 13a eyepiece hood 13b hood case 19 control circuit 21 Backlight 23 step-up transformer 24 inverter drive circuit 25 current / voltage converter 26 backlight level controller 27 timing generator 28 hood attachment detection circuit 29 RGB decoder 30 DC / DC converter 32 output transistor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A video camera with a liquid crystal monitor in which a liquid crystal monitor is mounted so as to be usable as an electronic viewfinder. An optical viewfinder hood for converting an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor into a viewfinder screen is provided around the liquid crystal monitor. A video camera with an LCD monitor, which is detachably mounted so as to cover the camera. 2. The video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to claim 1, wherein the optical viewfinder hood is mounted on a video camera having a liquid crystal monitor and covers a periphery of the liquid crystal monitor; A reflecting mirror provided in the hood case at a predetermined angle to reflect an image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor; and an image provided in the hood case and reflected by the reflecting mirror on a viewfinder screen. A video camera with a liquid crystal monitor, comprising: an optical system for conversion; 3. The video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to claim 1, wherein a detection switch for detecting that the optical viewfinder hood is mounted, and the mounting of the optical viewfinder hood is detected by the detection switch. A video reversing means for reversing the horizontal scanning of the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor from side to side. 4. The video camera with a liquid crystal monitor according to claim 1, wherein a detection switch for detecting that the optical viewfinder hood is mounted, and the detection switch detects that the optical viewfinder hood is mounted. A backlight illuminance adjusting means for lowering the illuminance level of the backlight of the liquid crystal monitor.