JPS6330968Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention relates to a signal level display device used in electrical equipment such as a tape recorder.

In recent years, LEDs have been used instead of regular indicators to display the signal level of electrical equipment such as tape recorders and radios.
The peak value or
Some display VU values as dots or bars.

However, in such conventional signal level display devices, each display section of the dot display and bar display displays all display segments below the display segment corresponding to the level of the input signal at a constant luminance (brightness). Because it is configured as
The brightness of the display portion becomes uniform, making it difficult to recognize the signal level, especially the peak value, and is also unfavorable from a design standpoint.

This idea was made in view of the above points,
The purpose is to create a signal level display device for electrical equipment that makes it easier to recognize peak values by displaying the peak value corresponding to the level of the input signal at its brightest and gradually becoming darker as the display level decreases. This is what we provide.

This invention will be explained in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the signal level display device according to the invention, which is applied to a two-channel system output display. In the figure, 1a and 1b are input terminals to which input signals L and R are respectively supplied, 2a and 2b are logarithmic conversion circuits that convert the level values of input signals L and R into logarithms, and 3a and 3b are logarithmic conversion circuits 2a. , 2b is an absolute value detection circuit that rectifies each signal L, R and extracts its absolute value, and these constitute a level conversion circuit (level conversion means) that converts an input signal amount into a level value corresponding to it. are doing. 4a,
4b is a comparator (selection means) that compares each level value supplied from the absolute value detection circuits 3a, 3b with each preset reference value and discriminates the input level; 5a, 5b indicates discrimination from the comparators 4a, 4b. A driving circuit (driving means) controlled to turn on and off each of the dot-shaped display segments 8a ₀ to 8a ₂₂ and 8b ₀ to 8b ₂₂ of the display section 8 according to the output, 6a and 6b are the comparators 4a,
a peak value detection circuit that detects (memorizes) the peak value currently being input with respect to the signal input to 4b, 7a;
Reference numeral 7b denotes a brightness modulation circuit (control means) that gradually dims and controls the brightness of each of the dot-shaped display segments 8a ₀ to 8a ₂₂ and 8b ₀ to 8b ₂₂ based on the peak value signal detected by the peak value detection circuits 6a and 6b. ), and these brightness modulation circuits 7a and 7b control the driving circuit so that the display segment with the peak value corresponding to the level of the input signal is the brightest, and the brightness is gradually lowered as the display segments become lower. The on-time drive power level provided for each display segment 5a and 5b is controlled. In addition, in the display section 8, dot-shaped display segments 8a ₀ to 8a ₂₂ for left (L) output and dot-shaped display segments 8b ₀ to 8b ₂₂ for right (R) output are arranged facing each other on the same straight line. This display section 8
As such, LEDs, liquid crystals, fluorescent display tubes, etc. can be used.

In the signal level display device configured in this way, for example, when an input signal L is supplied to the input terminal 1a, this input signal L is logarithmically compressed by the logarithmic conversion circuit 2a, and its output is rectified by the absolute value detection circuit 3a. and is supplied to the comparator 4a. The comparator 4a determines the input signal level and sends the output for controlling which of the display segments is turned on and which is turned off to the on/off input of the drive circuit 5a (the part to which the output of the comparator 4a is connected in FIG. 1). ). Thereby, the drive circuit 5a selectively turns on all display segments below the display segment corresponding to the level value based on the discrimination output from the comparator 4a. At this time, the peak value detection circuit 6a detects the currently input peak value of the signal input to the comparator 4a, and the peak value output is sent to the brightness modulation circuit 7a. Thereby, the brightness modulation circuit 7a adjusts the brightness of all the selected display segments to each display segment in order to gradually reduce the brightness of all the selected display segments from the top to the bottom based on the peak value signal from the peak value detection circuit 6a. The drive level input of the drive circuit 5a (the part to which the output of the brightness modulation circuit 7a in FIG. 1 is connected) is controlled so that the applied current or voltage level (drive power level) of the drive circuit 5a is successively reduced. As a result, the display unit 8 displays the dot-shaped display segment of the peak value corresponding to the level of the input signal at maximum brightness, and displays all lower display segments with gradually dimming.
It becomes possible to display the level in the form of a bar. For example, when the input signal L of the maximum value I _nax is supplied to the display value of the display section 8, the display section 8 displays the rightmost dot-shaped display segment _8a22 as the brightest and the lower dot-shaped display segment 8a22. Display segment 8
From a ₂₁ to 8a ₀ , the light gradually decreases and is displayed in a bar shape. Further, when an input signal L having an intermediate value I _nid is supplied, the display section 8 displays the intermediate dot-shaped display segment 8a ₁₁ as the brightest and gradually decreases the brightness as the lower dot-shaped display segments 8a ₁₀ to _{8a 0} are displayed. It will light up and be displayed in a bar shape. Therefore, the level can be displayed in the above display mode in accordance with the level of the input signal.

Note that when the brightness of each of the display segments 8a ₀ to 8a ₂₂ is to be reduced in accordance with the level value of the input signal, the dimming mode is, for example, based on the characteristics A and B (input signals I _nax , I _nid ), there are ways to change the brightness relative to the display segment with the peak value and the lowest display segment, or to change the brightness at a fixed ratio based on the highest brightness of the display segment with the peak value. There are ways to do this.
That is, in the former case, for example, if the applied current to the peak value display segment is A milliampere and the applied current to the lowest segment is 0 milliamperes, and there are N segments between them, then A/N+1 milliamp to the next segment up, two segments up from the bottom
All you have to do is divide it like 2A/N+1 milliampere... The current value can be increased or decreased using various known circuits, such as a configuration in which resistors inserted in series in the path are selectively switched. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis represents the total length of each dot-shaped display segment 8a ₀ to 8a ₂₂ of the display section 8, and the vertical axis represents the brightness. In addition,
Regarding the input signal R, the operation is exactly the same as described above.

In the above embodiment, the case of a bar-shaped display has been described, but this invention can also be applied to a dot-shaped display other than a bar-shaped display.

As explained above, according to the signal level display device according to the present invention, the display area of the peak value corresponding to the level of the input signal is the brightest, and the brightness gradually decreases as the display area becomes lower. Therefore, it is possible to easily recognize the signal level, especially the peak value, and to provide a signal level display device having an innovative display form.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the signal level display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of changes in brightness of each dot-shaped display segment constituting the display section. 2a, 2b...Logarithmic conversion circuit, 3a, 3b...Absolute value detection circuit, 4a, 4b...Comparator, 5a,
5b...Drive circuit, 6a, 6b...Peak value detection circuit, 7a, 7b...Brightness modulation circuit, 8...Display section, 8
_a0 to _8a22 , _8b0 to _8b22 ...Dot-shaped display segments.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A display means in which a large number of dot-shaped or bar-shaped display segments are arranged in a line, an on-off input for setting on/off for each display segment to drive this display means, and a drive power level for each on-state setting. a drive means having a drive level input for converting the amount of signal inputted from the electrical equipment into a level value corresponding to the amount of signal inputted from the electrical equipment; a selection means for selecting a display segment to be turned on by comparing the reference level values obtained and controlling the on/off input of the driving means; and a selection means for controlling the on/off input of the driving means; The drive level of the driving means is set such that the on-time drive power level of the display segment corresponding to the peak value is set to a predetermined value, and the on-time drive power level of the lower display segments is set to gradually decrease from the predetermined value. 1. A signal level display device for electrical equipment, comprising: control means for controlling input.