JPH10336637A - Color video intercom slave set and color video intercom set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a sharp color image even at night by employing a small sized light source that is placed in a slave set main body and emits a white light to light up an object to prevent the size of the color video intercom slave set from being larger. SOLUTION: The video intercom set is made up of a slave set 1 installed outdoor and a master set 2 installed indoor and the both are electrically connected by a cable 3. The slave set 1 has a color CCD 1b being a solid-state image pickup element, a call ring button switch 1c, a microphone 1d that picks up the voice of a visitor, a speaker 1e that sounds a voice of a reception person, and a white LED 1f being a small sized light source that emits a visual light (white color light) the visitor when it gets dark in its slave set main body 1a. A light diffusion means 1g is placed in front of the emission direction of the LED 1f to diffuse the light emitted from the light source. Thus, the object is lighted uniformly in the case of an LED or the like especially having a directivity to allow the visitor to hardly feel dazzling.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color television door phone subunit having a small light source for emitting white light and a color television door phone apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a TV door phone apparatus is disclosed in
It is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-343889 (conventional example 1). This television doorphone apparatus has adopted a light emitting diode (LED) that emits infrared light as illumination for a subject when the image is black and white and the natural light has low illuminance such as at night or in the evening. This is based on the fact that the CCD, which is an image sensor, has sensitivity in the near-infrared region, so that a subject illuminated with near-infrared light can be imaged. A visitor who is a subject illuminated by near-infrared rays does not notice that the subject is illuminated, so that it is possible to take an image without giving a discomfort to the visitor, and furthermore, LEDs are inexpensive and have a long life. is there. In this type of TV door phone device, the illuminance of the infrared light from the LED is always kept constant. Therefore, when the illuminance of the subject changes due to the surrounding environment, adjustment is made by the shutter control function of the video camera. As a result, an image with an appropriate exposure was obtained.

[0003] A television door phone apparatus in which an image is colored is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 1-243794 (prior art 2). In this color television doorphone device, in an environment such as nighttime where it is difficult to obtain the subject illumination, when illuminating the subject with infrared illumination and taking an image, the color camera outputs an unnatural color video signal. In order to solve the problem that the nighttime color video signal has a lower S / N ratio and lower color reproducibility when the illuminance of the subject is lower than that of the white video signal, an environment in which the illuminance of the subject is low is used. Below, it automatically cuts the unsightly color of the subject and switches to black and white video.

A color television door phone apparatus which can always obtain a color image even at night without switching the color to a black and white image in an environment where the illuminance of the subject is low as in the above-mentioned prior art 2 is disclosed in -269090
(Prior Art 3). The color television doorphone device includes a master unit disposed indoors, a slave unit electrically connected to the master unit via a signal line and arranged at an entrance or the like, and a slave unit disposed near the slave unit. And a lighting device provided.

As described above, the signal line connecting the master unit and the slave unit is, for example, a pair-parallel line (pair line) disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-257287 (conventional example 4). It is used. A color video signal and an audio signal composed of a color signal and a luminance signal are transmitted on the pair of parallel lines.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-167292 (conventional example 5), although it is not clear whether a color or black-and-white image is distinguished, the image is provided in the slave unit when the illuminance of the subject is low at night. A television door phone device configured to turn on the illumination of the illumination unit is disclosed.

[0007]

However, as in the prior art 2, the TV door phone device is, for example, a color CC.
When the image is to be colored by using D, when the object is illuminated by near-infrared light emitted from the light emitting diode when the illuminance of the object is low, such as at night, the image is, for example, blue-only. It becomes an unnatural color. In addition, when the subject is illuminated with external light such as natural light in addition to near-infrared light, the image displayed on the color monitor described above is
Further, there is a problem that an image is unnatural and hard to see.

Further, in a color television door phone apparatus in which a lighting device is arranged near a slave unit so that a color image can be obtained even at night, as in Conventional Example 3, the lighting device is separate from the slave unit. However, there are problems in workability such as the necessity of carrying out both of these when installing on the entrance and the like, and the necessity of further wiring the power supply of the lighting device.

Further, as disclosed in the conventional example 5, since the power supply is separately supplied even if the lighting unit is provided integrally with the slave unit, similar to the conventional example 3, Since the power supply wiring of the lighting unit must be further performed, workability becomes a problem.

The present invention uses a small light source that emits white light, which can be disposed in the main unit of the slave unit so as to illuminate the subject, and suppresses the size of the slave unit, and allows the small unit to be sharp even at night. It is an object of the present invention to provide a color TV door phone slave unit and a color TV door phone device capable of obtaining a color image.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a slave unit main body; a solid-state imaging device disposed in the slave unit main body and photoelectrically converting to output a color video signal; Video signal processing means for performing signal processing on the color video signal obtained and outputting a video signal; audio signal processing means arranged in the slave unit main body and outputting audio as an audio signal; And a small light source for illuminating the subject with white light. The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that: a slave unit main body;
A solid-state imaging device for photoelectrically converting and outputting a color video signal; having an automatic gain control circuit, and setting the automatic gain adjustment circuit to increase the gain when the manual exposure operation is operated on the sensitivity improvement side; Manual exposure control means configured to set the automatic gain adjustment circuit to a gain reduction when operated on the sensitivity reduction side; and perform video processing by performing signal processing on a color video signal output from the solid-state imaging device. Video signal processing means for outputting; audio signal processing means provided in the slave unit main body and outputting audio as an audio signal; and a small light source provided in the slave unit main body and illuminating a subject with white light; It is characterized by having.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the color television door phone handset according to the first or second aspect, light diffusing means is provided in front of the irradiation direction of the small light source.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the color television door phone handset according to the first or second aspect, the small light source is a white LED.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color television intercom slave unit according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, and a color monitor for displaying a video signal output from the video signal processing means and an output from the audio signal processing means. And a cable for electrically connecting the color television door phone slave unit and the parent device.
As the cable, for example, a pair of parallel wires (pair wires) as disclosed in Conventional Example 4 can be used.

[0015]

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 a color television door phone apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention. The TV intercom apparatus includes a slave unit 1 installed outside the room and a master unit 2 installed inside the room, both of which are electrically connected by a cable 3.

The handset 1 has a color CCD 1b, which is a solid-state image pickup device, a button switch 1
c, a microphone 1d that picks up the voice of the visitor, a speaker 1e that outputs the voice of the attendant, and a white LED 1f that is a small light source that emits visible light (white) that illuminates the visitor when the surrounding environment is dark. doing. A light diffusing unit 1g is disposed in front of the LED 1f in the irradiation direction, and the light radiated from the light source is diffused. Therefore, in the case of a directional LED or the like, the subject can be uniformly illuminated. In addition to this, it is possible to make the subject, for example, a visitor difficult to feel glare.

The outline of the white LED manufactured by Nichia Corporation used in the present embodiment will be described below. This white LED has the same basic structure as an ordinary InGaN blue LED, but a phosphor is thinly coated on the chip surface of the light emitting source.
The blue light emitted from the chip enters the phosphor, is repeatedly absorbed and scattered in the phosphor, and is emitted outside. At this time, the blue light absorbed by the phosphor acts as an excitation source and emits yellow fluorescence. Then, the yellow light and the blue light are mixed and appear white. The characteristics of this white LED are as follows:
mA, ambient temperature 25 ° C., luminous intensity 3 cd, efficiency 5.0
It has a color temperature of 8000K at lm / W.

FIG. 5 is a spectral distribution diagram of the white LED.
According to this, light is emitted in the visible light wavelength range of about 380 nm to 800 nm, and particularly has a spectral characteristic having a gentle emission peak near 450 nm indicating blue light and 550 nm indicating yellow light.

FIG. 6 shows an incandescent lamp (Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp.)
FIG. 3 is a spectral distribution diagram of a white lamp (made by the company). According to this, light is emitted in the visible light wavelength range and the infrared wavelength range of about 400 nm to 2000 nm, and most of the energy is emitted in the infrared wavelength range.

FIG. 7 is a spectral distribution diagram of a fluorescent lamp (Mellow 5N manufactured by Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp.). According to this, light is emitted in the visible light wavelength range of about 400 nm to 720 nm, and in particular, it has a spectral characteristic with emission peaks in red light, green light, blue light, and the like.

As described above, an incandescent light bulb, which is mostly in the infrared wavelength range and has low energy in the visible wavelength range, makes it difficult to illuminate the subject sufficiently and obtains a color with a sufficient color. is not. Further, in a fluorescent lamp having a spectral characteristic having a plurality of emission peaks, the hue of a color image is easily affected by any one of the emission peaks. In this case, it is necessary to adjust with a fluorescent lamp or a video signal processing circuit. Further, the fluorescent lamp requires a special lighting circuit, and may be large and expensive.

Therefore, in order to obtain a clear color image, a continuous spectrum such as natural light is the most preferable, and emits light in a visible light wavelength range of about 380 nm to 800 nm. A white LED having a certain spectral characteristic is easily adopted in such a case.

A CdS sensor for detecting the illuminance of visible light is also provided, and as described later, the LED 1f is turned on or off according to the output of the sensor.

The base unit 2 also includes a handset 2b in which a color monitor 2a for displaying an image of the visitor, a speaker for outputting the voice of the visitor, and a microphone for collecting the voice of the visitor are integrally mounted. It has a speaker that outputs sound.

When the natural light has low illuminance such as at night, the LED 1
f lights up to illuminate the visitor. The color CCD 1b is
The visitor illuminated with the visible light emitted from the LED 1f is imaged. The call with the visitor can be performed without any trouble by the speaker 1e and the microphone 1d of the slave 1 and the handset 2b of the master 2. When the visitor presses the button switch 1c, a ringing tone is generated from the speaker of the base unit 2.

According to the present embodiment, when the illuminance is low, such as at night, the visitor is illuminated with visible light from the LED 1f and an image is taken. Can be checked. In addition, LE
Since a cheap and long-life light source such as D1f can be used,
Maintenance of the device can be facilitated, and running costs can be kept low.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a TV door phone apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, reference numeral B denotes an imaging unit that captures a visitor A, which is a subject, and obtains a color video signal B1, and a lens B2 that collects reflected light of the visitor A, and a light that is collected and incident by the lens B2. And a CCD 1b that photoelectrically converts the light into a color video signal B1.

Reference numeral C denotes a video signal processing means for driving the CCD 1b and performing various processes on the color video signal B1 obtained from the CCD 1b to generate and output a video signal C1 comprising a luminance signal and a color signal. The code D is
CdS sensor that detects the illuminance of visible light. The code E is C
a determining unit that determines whether the illuminance level of the surrounding environment detected by the dS sensor D is lower than a set value. Sign 1
f is an LE that emits visible light for illuminating the visitor A
D, and the LED lighting control means F controls the lighting of the LED 1f based on the lighting signal from the determination unit E. In the audio signal processing means G, the audio collected by the microphone 1d disposed in the child device main body 1a is output as an audio signal G1.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the spectral characteristics of the CdS sensor. According to this graph, the CdS sensor has sensitivity in the visible light region in the range of 400 nm to 700 nm, but has no sensitivity to infrared light having a wavelength of 700 nm or more.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the resistance value of the CdS sensor and the illuminance. The CdS sensor D has a characteristic that its resistance value decreases as the illuminance increases. The numbers in the figure indicate the type of the CdS sensor D.

Further, in this embodiment, the exposure control means is improved so that the following problem can be solved. In other words, in order to ensure the necessary color monitor gradation reproducibility from low illuminance to high illuminance in the surrounding environment, conventionally, only automatic exposure and manual exposure were controlled. However, if there is a highlight portion in the color monitor screen, the automatic gain control circuit lowers the gain, resulting in a dark screen setting as a whole.

On the other hand, if the entire screen is dark even after the sensitivity lowering operation, the automatic gain control circuit improves the sensitivity,
There is a problem that highlight portions are crushed by white.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, in the manual exposure control means H, when the manual exposure operation is operated on the sensitivity improving side, the automatic gain adjustment circuit is set to increase the gain, and the manual exposure operation is operated on the sensitivity decreasing side. In this case, the automatic gain adjustment circuit is set to decrease the gain.

That is, an automatic exposure control circuit, a manual exposure control circuit, and an electronic shutter speed are variably controlled by these control circuits to set an exposure.
When the CCD starts up, it starts with automatic exposure, and then switches to the exposure setting by manual exposure in the manual exposure operation, and has an automatic gain adjustment circuit for the video signal obtained by these exposure controls, and performs operations that do not suit the automatic gain control circuit. It is possible to regulate, and it is possible to generate a video signal having a brightness desired by the operator.

Furthermore, in order to obtain gradation reproducibility under low illuminance, conventionally, the gamma value is set low, so that under high illuminance, the white gradation tends to be clogged, and the highlight portion is reduced. There was an inconvenience of flying.

Therefore, a CCD camera provided with an automatic exposure function and a gamma value variable function is provided, and when a sufficient video signal level cannot be obtained under low illuminance, the gamma value is set to the minimum value and the same as before. The gradation reproducibility on the black side can be secured. On the other hand, when the amount of light is sufficiently higher than the maximum exposure state, the gamma value is set to a value relatively larger than that under low illuminance, so that the linearity of the high-level portion of the video signal is improved. By preventing the occurrence of crushing, it is possible to obtain a good video signal without blackening and white crushing from low illuminance to high illuminance.

[0038]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since a small light source that emits white light and can be disposed in the main unit of the handset so as to illuminate the subject is used, the color TV door phone handset can be used. In addition to suppressing enlargement, a clear color image can be obtained even at night.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the exposure can be controlled by manual exposure.
It is possible to regulate an operation not suitable for the automatic gain control circuit, and to generate a video signal having a brightness desired by the operator.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the light emitted from the light source is diffused, so that the object can be illuminated uniformly.
For example, it is possible to make it difficult for a subject, for example, a visitor to feel glare.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the small light source is a white LED, the small light source can be easily disposed inside the slave without increasing the size of the slave.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, a clear image can be obtained on a color monitor even at night or the like by the effect of the first aspect of the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a color television door phone apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a color television door phone apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing spectral characteristics of a CdS sensor.

FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between a resistance value of a CdS sensor and illuminance.

FIG. 5 is a spectral distribution diagram of a white LED.

FIG. 6 is a spectral distribution diagram of an incandescent lamp (white lamp manufactured by Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp.).

FIG. 7: Fluorescent lamp (Mellow 5 manufactured by Toshiba Lighting & Technology Corp.)
N) A spectral distribution diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Color television door phone handset 1a ... Handset main body 1b ... Solid-state image sensor 1g ... Small light source 1f ... Light diffusion means 2 ... Color TV door phone main phone 3 ... Cable C ... Video signal processing means G ... Audio signal processing means

Claims (5)

[Claims] A main unit; a solid-state imaging device disposed in the main unit and configured to perform photoelectric conversion to output a color video signal; and performing signal processing on the color video signal output from the solid-state imaging device. Video signal processing means for outputting a video signal; audio signal processing means arranged in the slave unit main body for outputting audio as an audio signal; illuminating the subject with white light provided in the slave unit main body; A color television door phone handset, comprising: a small light source; 2. A slave unit main body; a solid-state image pickup device disposed in the slave unit main body and performing photoelectric conversion to output a color video signal; and having an automatic gain control circuit and performing manual exposure operation on the sensitivity improving side. Manual exposure control means configured to set the automatic gain adjustment circuit to gain increase when operated, and to set the automatic gain adjustment circuit to gain decrease when the manual exposure operation is operated to lower sensitivity; Video signal processing means for performing signal processing on a color video signal output from the image sensor to output a video signal; audio signal processing means disposed in the slave unit main body and outputting audio as an audio signal; A small light source that is provided in the main body of the device and illuminates the subject with white light. 3. A color television door phone handset according to claim 1, wherein a light diffusing means is provided in front of the irradiation direction of the small light source. 4. The color television door phone handset according to claim 1, wherein the small light source is a white LED. 5. A color television door phone handset according to claim 1, further comprising: a color monitor for displaying a video signal output from the video signal processing means; and an audio signal output from the audio signal processing means. A color TV door phone device comprising: a color TV door phone master device having a speaker for outputting; and a cable for electrically connecting the color TV door phone slave device and the master device.