JPH11234583A - Luminance suppression system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realized the luminance suppression system with a comparatively simple method where a signal with high luminance is converted into a signal harmless to a sensitive viewer before the high luminance signal is displayed for the viewer in the case that blinking of the high luminance signal is repeated. SOLUTION: A signal processing unit 2 detects a frequency of blinking luminance and its maximum luminance as for video signals expressing a remarkable luminance change repetitively of the video signals displayed on a video display device 1. In the case that a controller 3 discriminates that the repetitive frequency of the blinking luminance is within a prescribed frequency range and the maximum luminance exceeds a prescribed luminance level, the controller 3 drives the signal processing unit 2 to suppress the luminance of the video signal and displays the resulting video signal on the video display device 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a luminance suppressing device, and more particularly to a luminance suppressing device for protecting a light-sensitive viewer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In December 1997, a viewer who watched an animated program with a TV broadcast suddenly fell down,
Convulsions and many others occurred throughout the country. Most of the patients were about 5 to 20 years old who were sensitive to light and were diagnosed as having light-sensitive seizures. This program has the following features: 1) The flashing of red and blue light is repeated 15 to 20 times per second. 2) A particularly turbid red color with strong irritation is used. 3) The brightness of the light was very strong. 4) Rapid color change and blinking were repeated. And so on.

[0003] The conventional home TV video display apparatus only focuses on reproducing the power of the video as faithfully as possible. Has the potential to pose some danger. In addition, the soft sources played by the video display device are extremely diverse, such as TV terrestrial broadcasting, TV satellite broadcasting, video, optical discs, and game consoles. There is no way to know. Even if you try to restrict the original video itself, there is a very high possibility that something will be omitted from the restriction.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional home video display apparatus faithfully reproduces a given video, so that the content of the video may affect a viewer who is sensitive to light. Even programs with sexual characteristics were reproduced as they were.

The present invention solves this problem in a relatively simple manner, and in the case where a high-luminance signal is repeatedly blinked, the luminance is reduced in advance before touching the viewer's eyes. It is an object of the present invention to realize a luminance suppressing device for a video display device capable of converting a harmless signal to a harmless signal and outputting the converted signal.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a video signal input to a video display device, and a flashing portion of the video signal in which a large change in brightness appears repeatedly. A luminance flicker monitoring means for monitoring the presence or absence, a luminance flicker frequency detecting means for detecting a luminance flicker repetition frequency when the luminance flicker monitoring means detects a luminance flicker portion in the video signal, When a luminance blinking part is detected in the signal, the maximum luminance detecting means for detecting the maximum luminance of the luminance blinking part, and whether the luminance blinking repetition frequency detected by the luminance blinking frequency detecting means is within a predetermined frequency range. Frequency range determining means for determining whether the maximum luminance detected by the maximum luminance detecting means is higher than a predetermined luminance level Determining means, the frequency range determining means has determined that the repetition frequency of the luminance blinking is within a predetermined frequency range, and the luminance level determining means has determined that the maximum luminance exceeds a predetermined luminance level. In this case, the image display apparatus further comprises a luminance suppressing unit that suppresses the luminance of the video signal and displays the video signal on the video display device.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a brightness suppressing device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a luminance suppressing device according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a video display device, 2 denotes a signal processing device, and 3 denotes a control device including a microcomputer and the like. The signal processing device 2 detects, for example, the repetition frequency of the blinking of the luminance of the image signal and the luminance level at the blinking portion, and sends them to the control device 3.

The control device 3 compares the repetition frequency and the luminance level of the blinking portion sent from the signal processing device 2 with their reference values. As a result of this determination, the repetition frequency is within a predetermined range, for example, 3 to 15 Hz.
And the luminance level of the repeated blinking portion exceeds a predetermined level (reference level), the video signal is determined to be a video signal that may affect the human body.

The detection may be performed by the control device 3 instead of by the signal processing device 2. For example, the signal processing device 2 detects that the luminance of the image signal is flickering regularly at a repetition of several Hz to several tens of Hz, and the signal of the repetition of the flicker is constituted by a microcomputer or the like. The control device 3 detects the repetition frequency of the blinking and the level of the luminance of the blinking portion from the signal sent from the signal processing device 2 and performs comparison judgment with the reference value. You may do it.

When the control device 3 determines that the current video signal is a video signal that may affect the human body in these determinations, the control device 3 sends a luminance suppression signal to the signal processing device 2 and Is performed. To suppress the luminance, the luminance may be reduced generally to make the screen darker, or the maximum luminance may be reduced.

[0011] With this, for a video signal which may affect a viewer who is sensitive to light before touching the viewer's eyes, the luminance is reduced in advance and converted into a harmless signal. Can be output to the screen.

As a comparison criterion in the control device 3, in addition to the repetition frequency and the luminance level of the blinking portion, the frequency of blinking luminance (the number of times within a predetermined time) is further added.
If the frequency of the blinking of the luminance exceeds a predetermined value, the repetition frequency is within a predetermined range, and the level of the luminance of the repeatedly blinking part exceeds a predetermined level, there is a possibility that this video signal may affect the human body. It may be determined that there is a certain video signal.

Further, the control device 3 determines the color tone of the video signal which is repeatedly blinking, and sets the reference level of the luminance to a low level for a specific red color or the like which is apt to react particularly sensitively. In the case where there is a signal determined to be a video signal that may affect the human body within a predetermined time, the reference level of luminance can be further reduced.

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of still another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, 1 is a video display device, 2 is a signal processing device, 3 is a control device including a microcomputer or the like, and 4 is a video signal synthesizing device. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 described above, when the apparatus determines that the video signal has a possibility of affecting the human body and the brightness is suppressed by the brightness suppression function, the viewer suddenly enters the screen. May become dark and uneasy. In order to prevent this, the control device 3 combines and accumulates telop signals in advance, and displays when such a luminance suppression function is activated. For example, a telop such as "A strong stimulating light signal is appearing now, so the screen will be darkened for a while." Thereby, for a video signal having a blinking luminance that may affect the viewer, the luminance can be reduced and output to the screen in advance, and at the same time, the roughness can be explained.
It is possible to alleviate the viewer's anxiety due to the suppression of the luminance. Furthermore, it is also possible to generate a chime sound simultaneously with the telop to give attention to the screen, or to notify the user of the irregularities whose luminance is being reduced by voice.

[0015]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a video signal to be displayed on a video display device is input,
A luminance blinking monitor for monitoring the presence or absence of a luminance blinking portion in which a significant luminance change repeatedly appears in the video signal; and a luminance blinking repetition frequency when the luminance blinking monitoring unit detects the luminance blinking portion in the video signal. When the luminance blinking monitoring means detects a luminance blinking part in a video signal, the maximum luminance detecting means detects the maximum luminance of the luminance blinking part, and the luminance blinking frequency detecting means detects the luminance blinking frequency. Frequency range determining means for determining whether the repetition frequency of the detected brightness blinking falls within a predetermined frequency range, and brightness level determination for determining whether the maximum brightness detected by the maximum brightness detecting means exceeds a predetermined brightness level Means and a frequency range determining means determine that the repetition frequency of the luminance blinking is within a predetermined frequency range, and determine the luminance level. Stage maximum brightness is characterized by comprising a brightness suppression means for displaying on the image display device by suppressing the luminance of the video signal when it is determined to exceed the predetermined brightness level. Thus, in the case where a high-luminance signal blinks repeatedly, the luminance is reduced in advance before touching the viewer's eyes, and the signal is converted into a signal harmless to a viewer sensitive to the blinking light and output. It is possible to eliminate the danger of showing unprotected images especially to infants.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the luminance flicker monitoring means detects a luminance flicker portion in a video signal, a luminance flicker frequency detecting means detects the number of repetitions of the luminance flicker within a predetermined time, A number-of-blinks determining means for determining whether or not the number of repetitions of blinking within a predetermined time detected by the number-of-brightness blinking detecting means exceeds a predetermined number. The frequency is determined to be within a predetermined frequency range, and the luminance level determining means determines that the maximum luminance exceeds the predetermined luminance level. When it is determined that the number of times exceeds a predetermined number, the brightness of the video signal is suppressed and displayed on the video display device. Thereby, even if the blinking of a high-luminance signal is repeated, the luminance is not suppressed when the number is small, and the luminance is suppressed when the number of blinks within a predetermined time exceeds a certain value. Brightness of the video signal can be suppressed finely.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the luminance suppressing means suppresses the luminance of the video signal, the video display is performed by superimposing the character display of the ridge in which the luminance suppression is performed on the video signal whose luminance has been suppressed. It is characterized by comprising a video signal synthesizing means for displaying on a display device. Accordingly, when the luminance of the video signal is being suppressed, the telop can be used to display the ribs, thereby reducing the anxiety of the viewer due to the luminance suppression.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the luminance suppression by the luminance suppressing means suppresses the luminance of a signal exceeding a predetermined luminance level to a predetermined luminance level. Thus, it is possible to reduce the stimulus accompanying the blinking of the luminance.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention is characterized in that the luminance suppression by the luminance suppressing means suppresses the dynamic range of the luminance level to a predetermined range. As a result, even when the luminance is suppressed, the entire screen is darkened, but the user can enjoy the image with a natural feeling.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a luminance suppressing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of another embodiment of the luminance suppressing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Video display device, 2 ... Signal processing device, 3 ... Control device,
4: Video signal synthesizing device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A luminance flicker monitoring means for inputting a video signal to be displayed on a video display device and monitoring the presence or absence of a luminance flicker portion in which a significant luminance change appears repeatedly in the video signal; When a luminance blinking part is detected in a video signal, a luminance blinking frequency detecting means for detecting a luminance blinking repetition frequency; and when the luminance blinking monitoring means detects a luminance blinking part in the video signal, the luminance blinking part Maximum luminance detecting means for detecting the maximum luminance of the frequency range determining means for determining whether the repetition frequency of the luminance blinking detected by the luminance blinking frequency detecting means falls within a predetermined frequency range, and the maximum luminance detecting means A brightness level determining means for determining whether the detected maximum brightness exceeds a predetermined brightness level; and It is determined that the repetition frequency is within a predetermined frequency range, and, when the luminance level determination unit determines that the maximum luminance exceeds a predetermined luminance level, the luminance of the video signal is suppressed to suppress the luminance. A luminance suppressing device, comprising: a luminance suppressing unit for displaying on a video display device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the luminance blinking monitoring unit detects a luminance blinking portion in the video signal, the luminance blinking number detecting unit detects the number of repetitions of the luminance blinking within a predetermined time. A number-of-flashes determining unit that determines whether the number of times of repetition of blinking within the detected predetermined time exceeds a predetermined number, wherein the luminance suppression unit determines that the repetition frequency of the luminance blinking is a predetermined value. Frequency range, and the brightness level determination means determines that the maximum brightness exceeds a predetermined brightness level. The brightness suppression device according to claim 1, wherein when it is determined that the number exceeds a predetermined number, the brightness of the video signal is suppressed and the video signal is displayed on the video display device. 3. When the luminance suppressing unit suppresses the luminance of the video signal, the video signal of which luminance has been suppressed is superimposed on the video signal of which luminance has been suppressed and displayed on the video display device. 3. The luminance suppressing device according to claim 1, further comprising a video signal synthesizing unit. 4. The brightness suppression device according to claim 1, wherein the brightness suppression by said brightness suppression means suppresses the brightness of a signal exceeding a predetermined brightness level to a predetermined brightness level. 5. The brightness suppression device according to claim 1, wherein the brightness suppression by the brightness suppression means suppresses a dynamic range of a brightness level to a predetermined range.