JPS61242176A - Camera device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To permit simple and easy operations of various functions without performing wrong scanning through a limited operation measures by displaying characters expressing camera functions determined in advance on the display surface of an electronic finder and setting an index to either location of indicating positions. CONSTITUTION:Videos photographed practically by a camera part 101 or reproduced images and displayed at the tube surface 201 of a display tube in an electronic finder part 104 and various characters 202 displayed by character data signals 109 are shown. The index 203 is movable to a position showing a desirable operation by a switch located in an operation part 105. Functions of right moving 301, left moving 302 and input 303 are carried out by push button switches. If an operator desires to actuate a reproducing operation, the switch 301 or 302 is pushed several times and it is necessary for the index 203 located on the tube surface 201 to be set to the location of 'PLAY'. After then, once the switch 303 is pushed, an operation 110 showing such a function as indicated in the position of the index is inputted into a control part 103 and the reproducing operation is performed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention is applicable to a camera device, etc., which is composed only of an imaging device without a recording/reproducing function, or which is composed of a magnetic recording/reproducing device and an imaging device. The present invention relates to a camera device having an electronic viewfinder.

[Summary of the Disclosure] This specification and drawings describe a camera device equipped with an electronic viewfinder, in which characters representing predetermined camera functions are displayed on one display surface of the electronic viewfinder, and characters are displayed at any of the display positions. By aligning the marks and controlling the camera function indicated at the position where the marks match,
This invention discloses a technique that allows many functions of a camera device to be simply and easily controlled using a small number of operating means without causing any erroneous operations.

[Background Art] Camera devices, such as television camera devices, are becoming smaller, lighter, and more sophisticated due to rapid advances in electronic technology. At the same time, many automatic control functions and additional functions have been incorporated, making them multifunctional.For example, imaging devices have automatic control functions such as automatic white balance and automatic focus, automatic zoom faders,
It is equipped with additional functions such as negative/positive inversion, 1 character, 9 date, 1 hour display, and recording/playback control functions.

On the other hand, in an integrated television camera device that integrates a magnetic recording and reproducing device (hereinafter referred to as a VTR) and a television camera, it is possible to record and reproduce the VTR.

In addition to controlling fast forward, pause, etc., you can also control the memory counter,
There are also additional functions such as special playback, and modern integrated television cameras have most of these functions.

For this reason, in miniaturized single continuous image devices or integrated television camera devices, the number of scanning switches etc. that operate these functions is extremely large, so it is necessary to reduce the size of these switches. However, this had the disadvantage that it became difficult to operate the switch.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional example, and to easily and easily operate many functions without erroneous scanning using a small number of operating means. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a camera device that enables the following.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a camera device equipped with an electronic viewfinder, characters representing predetermined camera functions are displayed on the display surface of the electronic viewfinder, and characters representing predetermined camera functions are displayed. Align the indicator with one of the display positions and control the camera function shown at the position where the indicator matches.

[Function] According to the present invention, many functions of the camera device can be easily and easily controlled by a small number of operation means without any erroneous operation. Moreover, the number of connection lines between the operating section and the control section can be reduced, which is effective for reducing the size and weight of the camera device.

[Example 1 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the camera device of the present invention, in which 101 is a television camera section (imaging device) including a lens, a tM image element, a signal processing circuit, an image sensor, and a drive circuit; A VTR unit including a cylinder having an IV processing circuit, a tape drive mechanism, and a rotating head; 103 a control unit having a microcomputer and the like and controlling the camera unit 101 and the VTR unit 102; 104 a display tube such as a small cathode ray tube; , an electronic viewfinder (EVF) including a drive circuit and a signal processing circuit; 105 is an operation unit including a switch, a variable resistor, etc.; 106 is a video signal obtained from the camera unit 101;
krBI control 81031: A control signal passed between the camera section 101 and the VTR section 102, 1
09 is a character data signal supplied from the control section 103 to the electronic finder section 104;

Reference numeral 110 indicates an operation input from the operation unit 105.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the display contents displayed on the display tube of the electronic finder section 1G4. Here, 201 indicates the tube surface of the display tube, and on this tube surface, there are images that are actually photographed by the camera section 101. 202 indicates various characters displayed by the character data signal 109.
203 is an indicator whose position can be moved by a switch on the operation unit 105 to the position of a letter indicating a desired operation.

Of the above-mentioned operation section 105, the section for operating the indicator can be configured as shown in FIG. 3, for example. Here, 30! 302 is a right feed, 302 is a left feed, and 303 is an input means having the function of input instruction, such as a push button switch.

For example, when the operator wants to perform a playback operation, he or she presses the switch 301 or 302 several times.

By aligning the indicator 203 with the r PLAYJ position on the screen surface 201 and pressing the switch 303, an operation input 110 indicating the function of that indicator position is input to the control unit 103, and a playback operation is performed.

FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B) show the electronic finder section 104.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view and a front view, respectively, showing an example in which the operation unit 105 is integrated. Here, 401 is the main body of the electronic viewfinder, 402 is its eyepiece (eye car 2 pin), 403 is the attachment part to the camera body, 404
is a recording switch, 405 and 408 are zoom switches, and 407 is a connector for connection to the camera body.

A signal processing circuit, a drive circuit, a small cathode ray tube, an eyepiece, etc. are housed inside the electronic finder main body 401, and the various switches 404 to 404 described above are mounted on the outer surface of the electronic finder main body 401.
In addition to 40B, switches 301 to 303 are arranged.

The electronic viewfinder body 401 can be attached to and detached from the camera body (not shown) using a mounting portion 403, and by connecting the other end of the connection connector 407 to the camera body, connections for power, video signals, and control signals can be established. conduct.

The camera body also supports an electronic viewfinder body 401 at a position near the camera body, and switches 404 to 40.
It has a structure that allows fingers to easily reach B.

Therefore, when controlling the camera section 101 or the VTR section 102 from a remote location, the connection connector 407 main body 4
01, remove the electronic viewfinder main body 401 from the camera body, and set the various switches 404, 405, while looking through the electronic viewfinder.
By operating 408, 301, 302, and 303, functions within the camera body can be controlled.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the invention.

In FIG. 5, 501 is an operation section, where 50
2 and 503 are zoom switches, and 504 is a recording switch. Zoom switches 502 and 503 are used for zooming to the tele (telephoto) and wide (wide angle) sides, respectively. 505 is a connection cable with the control unit IQ3 in the camera body. In control fi103, 508
is a logic section, 507 is a microcomputer, 508
508 is a camera control unit, and 510 is a character generation unit.

The zoom switches 502 and 503 function as switches for controlling the zoom motor and moving the position of the indicator 202 at the same time. The switch 504 functions not only as a recording switch but also as a switch for inputting the function at the position shown at 202.

The logic section 50B can be configured as shown in FIG. 5, for example. Here, Gl, G2. G3 and G4 are AND gates, G5 is a Noah gate, and gate Gl,
G2 and G3 are obtained by ANDing the NOR output from the NOR gate G5, the zoom trigger stop signal ZTD from the microcomputer 507, and the signals ST, SW, and STR from the switches 502, 503, and 504, respectively.
A tele side zoom signal ZT, a wide side zoom signal ZW, and an a picture instruction signal TR are obtained. AND gate G4 is switch 5
Signal 8 obtained when pressing both 02 and 503
An AND operation is performed between D and S-, and an indicator interrupt signal SS is generated. This signal SS and the zoom trigger stop signal 27
The gate is supplied to the gate G5, and its output is supplied to the gate G1 and G2 as described above.

The microcomputer 507 sends signals ST, SW, STR and SS from the operation unit 501 to the logic unit 50.
8, and outputs a camera control signal CC, a VTR control signal Cv, a character data signal CD, and a zoom trigger stop F signal ZTD.

The VTR control unit 508 outputs VTR control signals Cv and V.
Various signals are supplied from the TR section 102, and the VTRfi
generates control signals necessary to control 102; The camera control unit 50B is also supplied with the camera control signal CG and various signals from the camera unit 101, and
Generates control signals necessary to control 1.

The character generating section 510 generates a character signal synchronized with the television signal in accordance with the character data CD, and displays the corresponding character on the electronic finder section 104.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of a control procedure in the microcomputer 507. First, by pressing both zoom switches 502 and 503, the signal SS
occurs, and an interrupt to the indicator routine occurs (step 5Ot). In the next step 802, if the previous mode is normal code (NORMAL), step 6 is executed.
In step 804, which is the first step to switch to the control mode (C0NTR0L) after moving to 03, characters representing the various control functions shown in FIG.
Output.

Stops the zoom and recording switch functions.

After that, in step 80B, the switch 2ch 502
It is determined which one of ~504 has been pressed, and when the zoom switch 5G2 is pressed and 8 signals are input, step 110? , the indicator is moved to the right, and the indicator is redisplayed in the next step 808.

In step 806, when the zoom switch 503 is pressed and the signal S- is input, the process proceeds to step 809, where the indicator is moved to the left, and the process proceeds to step 808, where the indicator is displayed again.

In step 60B, when the recording switch 504 is pressed and the signal STR is input, the process proceeds to step 81G, where the function of the indicated position is output as the control signal CC or Cv.

If it is determined in step 808 that there is no input from any switch, the process continues until there is an input and continues the determination in step 80B.

On the other hand, when an interrupt by the signal SS occurs in step 801, if the previous operation mode is the control mode, the process proceeds from step 802 to step 611, where the operation mode is switched to normal mode, and in step 812, the electronic viewfinder Switch to normal display. Then, in step 813, the switch 50
2 to 504 are operated as a zoom switch and a recording switch.

In step 814, normal operation is performed.

Although the present invention has been described above mainly in the case of a television camera device, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned example.1. Of course, the present invention can be effectively applied to any camera device that handles moving images or still images as long as it has an electronic viewfinder.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, many functions of a camera device can be simply and easily controlled by a small number of operating means without any erroneous operation. Moreover, the number of connection lines between the operating section and the control section can be reduced, which is effective for reducing the size and weight of the camera device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the display in the electronic viewfinder, FIG. 3 is an example of the arrangement of switches in the operation section, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the control procedure of the microcomputer. 101--Camera section, 102-VTR section. 103...control unit. 104...Electronic finder section, 105...Operation section. 10B...Video signal, 107.108...Control signal, 109...Character data signal. 11G...Operation input, 201...Display screen, 202...Character indicating function. 203... Indicator, 301... Right feed switch, 302... Left feed switch, 303... Input instruction switch. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) In a camera device equipped with an electronic viewfinder, characters representing a predetermined camera function are displayed on the display surface of the electronic viewfinder, and an indicator is aligned with one of the display positions, A camera device characterized in that a camera function indicated at a position where the indicators match is controlled. 2) In the camera device according to claim 1,
A camera device characterized in that means for aligning the indicators is arranged on an outer surface of the electronic finder. 3) A camera device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic viewfinder is detachably attached to the camera body.