KR19980047384A - Self-diagnosis method and apparatus of camcorder - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a self-diagnosis method of a camcorder and a device thereof, which perform self-diagnosis before or during imaging to visually guide a photographer visually about a failure of a corresponding function without resuming imaging when an abnormality occurs. It is.

The present invention is a video camera that photographs a subject and records and reproduces the subject on an image recording medium while controlling exposure, zooming, and focus by at least one battery. A diagnostic process for detecting whether or not there is; A first message guiding process of guiding a message corresponding to a diagnosis result of the unit when an abnormal diagnosis of the camera unit is performed; And a second message guiding process for searching for a power state of the battery and guiding a result thereof.

Accordingly, no signal processing and instantaneous image capture that occur when imaging is performed while the camera unit is inoperable are prevented.

Description

Self-diagnosis method and apparatus of a camcorder.

The present invention relates to the self-diagnosis of the camera integrated V-Cal (hereinafter referred to as camcorder), and more particularly, to perform the self-diagnosis for each function of the camcorder during or before performing the imaging function, if the diagnosis is abnormal A self-diagnosis method and apparatus for a camcorder for guiding and displaying a message about a failure of a corresponding function to a photographer without resuming the function.

In general, in a video camera, proper exposure, focusing, zooming, and device stability are required in order to most accurately reproduce an image of a subject and to capture a momentary image.

At this time, in order to adjust the focus and zooming, the focus lens and the zoom lens should be properly adjusted in the optical axis direction by the focus motor and the zoom motor, and in addition, the opening amount of the aperture should be adjusted by the aperture motor in order to control the appropriate exposure.

As such, the focus motor, zoom motor, and iris motor that control the focus, zooming, and exposure necessary to reproduce an image for a subject and to capture a momentary image without missing must be detailed and free of defects.

Also, most of the video cameras are portable and have a built-in battery.

Therefore, when photographing an object, it is necessary to check the consumption of the battery frequently and replace the battery.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a system of a general video camera.

Referring to FIG. 1, a lens group 100 including a focus lens and a zoom lens that expand and contract a subject while receiving the image of the subject while moving forward and backward in the optical axis direction;

A lens control unit (110) having a zoom motor, a focus motor, etc. for controlling the lens group 100 to perform auto focus and auto exposure; An aperture 101 for controlling exposure; The solid signal converting the optical signal of the subject, which is enlarged and reduced through the lens group 100, according to the horizontal and vertical imaging driving pulses generated by the timing generator 103 and converts the optical signal into a captured image signal for one field. An imaging tube (102) having an imaging device (CCD); A sampling and gain control unit (104) for sampling, gain-controlling and outputting an image signal picked up from the imaging tube (102); An analog / digital converter 105 for converting the gain-adjusted captured image signal into a digital signal; A digital signal processor (106) for encoding the digitized video signal for one field to process color and luminance signals in an NTSC or PAL format; A microprocessor (107) for controlling the overall operation of the video camera including the digital signal processor (106) and the lens controller (110) when photographing a subject; A memory (108) for storing one field of a digital video signal processed by the digital signal processing unit (106) in a corresponding address under the control of the microprocessor (107); The digital / analog converter 109 converts one field of the digital video signal stored in the memory 108 into a screen video signal and outputs the same through the output terminal 111.

In the conventional video camera, the microprocessor 107 controls the lens control unit 110 to adjust the zoom lens and the focus lens of the aperture 101 and the lens group 100 when the camcorder enters the operating state.

In this state, when the optical signal of the subject is focused by the zoom lens and the focus lens and input to the image pickup tube 102 having the solid state image pickup device (CCD) through the aperture 101, the image pickup tube 102 is moved by the timing generator 103. The optical signals of the input subjects are converted into captured image signals for one field and inputted to the sampling and gain control unit 104 by the horizontal and vertical image pickup driving pulses.

The sampling and gain control unit 104 samples the input captured image signal for one field and adjusts the gain appropriately to provide the analog / digital converter 105.

The analog-to-digital converter 105 digitizes the image signal of the subject to be gain-controlled and inputs the digital signal to the digital signal processor 106.

The digital signal processing unit 106 encodes the digitized video signal under the control of the microprocessor 107 to process the color and luminance signals in the NTSC or PAL format, and stores the processed image data in field units. In addition to the information stored in the storage unit 108, the stored image data of one field is provided to the digital / analog converter 109.

The digital / analog converter 109 converts the input image data of one field into a screen image signal and outputs it through the output terminal 111.

However, as described above, the conventional video camera can accurately photograph the subject by accurately adjusting the exposure, focus, and zooming, but there is no self-diagnosis function, and thus it is impossible to check battery consumption and device defects.

Therefore, in the end, when the imaging is performed while the battery is exhausted or when the operation of each of the above functions such as the zoom motor, the focus motor, and the iris is disabled, the video signal is processed or any momentary image is processed. There was a problem that can not be missed.

Therefore, in view of the problems with the conventional video camera as described above, the present invention performs a self-diagnosis before performing the imaging function, and if there is an error in diagnosis, a message to the photographer of the failure of the corresponding function is voiced without restarting the imaging function. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for self-diagnosis of a camcorder to inform the user.

Another object of the present invention is to visually inform a message about a failure of a corresponding function when an abnormality occurs as a result of self-diagnosis.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an audio and visual alert message for a failure of a corresponding function when an abnormality occurs as a result of self-diagnosis.

Another object of the present invention is to diagnose the main battery (Battery) and the auxiliary battery when the camcorder enters the operating state to visually notify the exhausted state and the available time.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a system of a general video camera.

Figure 2 is an embodiment block diagram showing a self-diagnostic apparatus of the video camera of the present invention.

3 is a signal flow diagram showing an example of a self-diagnosis method of a video camera of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawing

200: lens group 201: aperture

202: imaging tube 203: sampling and gain control unit

204: analog / digital conversion unit 205: digital signal processing unit

206: camera microprocessor 207: memory

213: zoom motor control unit 214: zoom motor

215: focus motor control unit 216: focus motor

219: liquid crystal display 221: speaker

Self-diagnosis method of a camcorder according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a video camera for recording a subject recorded on the video recording medium and playback by controlling the exposure, zooming and focus by at least one battery A method of diagnosing an abnormality of a camera unit including a lens during imaging of a subject; A first message guiding process of guiding a message corresponding to a diagnosis result of the unit when an abnormal diagnosis of the camera unit is performed; And a second message guiding process for searching for a power state of the battery and guiding a result thereof.

In the self-diagnosis method of the camcorder according to the present invention, it is preferable to diagnose the abnormality of the camera unit by diagnosing the zoom motor, the focus motor, and the iris in any order.

In the self-diagnosis method of the camcorder according to the present invention, the first message guide preferably visually guides the unit name and fault message among the zoom motor, the focus motor, and the iris.

In the self-diagnosis method of the camcorder according to the present invention, it is preferable that the second message guide visually and visually guide one of the available time of the battery and the replacement message of the battery.

In the self-diagnosis method of the camcorder according to the present invention, it is preferable to further include a step of guiding a message by diagnosing the existence of a captured image signal after diagnosing an abnormality of the camera unit.

Self-diagnosis apparatus of a camcorder according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is to operate by at least one battery to control the exposure, zooming and focus to shoot the subject to record and play back on the image recording medium A video camera comprising a microprocessor for a camera, the camera microprocessor comprising: unit detecting means for diagnosing an abnormality of a camera unit including a lens during imaging of a subject; First message generating means for generating a message corresponding to a diagnosis result of the unit when an error occurs in the camera unit; And a second message generating means for diagnosing a power state of the battery and generating a message regarding the result, and visually guiding different messages obtained from the first and second message generating means of the camera microprocessor. Characterized in that it comprises a message guide means to.

In the self-diagnosis apparatus for a camcorder according to the present invention, the camera unit preferably includes a zoom motor, a focus motor, and an aperture, and diagnoses any abnormalities thereof in any order.

In the self-diagnosis apparatus for a camcorder according to the present invention, the message guide means includes: liquid crystal display means for displaying a message on a diagnosis result of a camera unit and a battery obtained by the first and second message generating means by text; It is preferable that the first and second message generating means comprises a speaker for outputting the voice message.

As a result, if the diagnosis is abnormal by performing self-diagnosis before the camcorder starts and performs the imaging function, it can be seen that the warning message is visually informed to the photographer in advance without restarting the imaging of the subject. .

Therefore, there is an advantage in that no signal processing and instantaneous image capturing that occur when imaging is performed while the operation of the camera unit is disabled are prevented.

And, there may be a plurality of embodiments of the present invention, hereinafter will be described in detail for the preferred embodiment. Through this preferred embodiment, it is possible to better understand the objects, features and advantages of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a self-diagnosis apparatus and method for a camcorder according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is an embodiment block diagram showing a self-diagnostic apparatus of the video camera of the present invention.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the camera unit is divided into a camera unit and a VR unit, and the camera unit includes: a focus ring 200b for supporting the focus lens included in the lens group 200 to move forward and backward in the optical axis direction; A focus motor 216 that is engaged with the focus ring 200b and rotates left and right; A zoom ring 200a for supporting a zoom lens included in the lens group 200 to enlarge and reduce the magnification of the subject; A zoom motor 214 engaged with the zoom ring 200a and rotating left and right; An aperture 201 for controlling exposure; An aperture motor 218 for controlling the opening amount of the aperture 201; An imaging tube (202) having a solid state image pickup device (CCD) for converting an optical signal of a subject through the lens group 200 into a captured image signal; A sampling and gain control unit 203 for sampling, gain-controlling and outputting the video signal picked up from the imaging tube 202; An analog / digital converting unit (205) for digitizing the gain-adjusted captured image signal for one field; A digital signal processor (205) for encoding the digitized video signal for one field to process color and luminance signals in NTSC or PAL format; A memory 207 for temporarily storing one field of the digital video signal processed by the digital signal processor 205; A first digital / analog converter 208 for converting and outputting one field of digital video signal stored in the memory 207 into a screen video signal; Camera microprocessor (206) for controlling the overall operation of the system of the camcorder, such as interfacing the data with the VRAL unit, checking whether the camera unit has failed, and generating a message about the result before the camcorder starts up to take a subject. )Wow; The zoom motor controller 213, the focus motor controller 215, and the aperture motor for controlling the driving of the zoom motor 214, the focus motor 216, and the aperture motor 218 according to the control signal of the camera microprocessor 206. A controller 217; And a message guide unit for visually guiding a message obtained by the camera microprocessor 206, and the VRC unit is a screen image obtained by being converted by the first digital / analog converter 208 of the camera unit. A VLC 210 for processing a signal and recording the signal on a magnetic recording medium, and a VLC microprocessor 209 for controlling the operation of the VLC 210; The main battery 211 and the auxiliary battery 212 supplying the operating power required for the V-al unit and the camera unit is configured to include.

In the above, the camera microprocessor (206) includes: unit detecting means for diagnosing an abnormality of the camera unit; First message generating means for generating a message corresponding to a diagnosis result of the unit when an error occurs in the camera unit; And a second message generating means for diagnosing a power state of the main battery 211 and the auxiliary battery 212 and generating a message for the result.

In addition, the message guide means is a text message for the diagnosis results of the camera unit and the main battery 211, the auxiliary battery 212 obtained by the first and second message generating means of the camera microprocessor 206, A liquid crystal display 219 for displaying; A second digital / analog converter 220 for converting a message obtained by the first and second message generating means into an analog signal and performing low pass amplification; And a speaker 221 for outputting the low amplified signal as voice.

Figure 3 is a signal flow diagram showing a temporary example of the self-diagnosis method of the video camera of the present invention to detect the abnormal state of the camera unit, the power state of the main battery 211, the auxiliary battery 212 and guide the result audio visually to be.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying Figures 2 and 3 will be described a preferred embodiment according to the present invention through the following.

First, prior to the description of the present invention will be described the general operation of the camcorder first and then the self-diagnosis process according to the present invention will be described.

First, when the camcorder enters the operating state, the camera microprocessor 206 and the VR microprocessor 209 maintain a standby state to perform self-diagnosis for a predetermined time (step S100).

After the standby state is completed, the unit detecting means of the camera microprocessor 206 determines whether driving of the focus motor 216 is normal while driving the focus motor 216 through the camera unit, for example, the focus motor controller 215. (Step S101).

If the driving of the focus motor 216 is normal, it is determined whether the driving of the zoom motor 214 is normal through the zoom motor controller 213 in the same manner as described above (S102).

As a result of the determination, if the zoom motor 214 is normal, the aperture motor controller 217 determines whether the aperture 210 is normally opened and closed (step S103).

If any of the units of the focus motor 216, the zoom motor 214, and the aperture motor 218 do not operate normally as a result of the determination in the above steps S101-S103, the camera microprocessor 206 generates a liquid crystal of the message guide means. The message is transmitted to the photographer through the display unit 219 and the speaker 221 (step S106).

That is, as an example, if the zoom motor 214 or the focus motor 216 did not operate normally, it is related to the function of the lens group 200, so that the camera microprocessor 206 has a lens through its first message generating means. Generate and display information on the failure of the group 200 on the liquid crystal display 219 of the message guide means, and provide the failure information of the range group 200 to the second digital / analog converter 220. do.

The second digital-to-analog converter 220 converts the fault information of the lens group 200 obtained by the camera microprocessor 206 into an analog signal and low-pass amplifies the lens group 200 through the speaker 220. It generates a voice signal of failure and delivers it to the photographer. In addition, if the aperture motor 218 does not operate normally, the opening / closing failure of the aperture is displayed on the liquid crystal display 219 of the message guiding means in the same manner as described above, and it is spoken through the speaker 221. You will be informed.

When the focus motor 216, the zoom motor 214, and the aperture 201 operate normally as a result of the determination in the steps S101-S103, the zoom motor controller 213 and the focus motor controller 215 described above are operated from this time. And the zoom motor 214, the focus motor 216, and the aperture motor 218 are appropriately controlled by the aperture motor controller 217 to photograph the subject through the lens group 200.

The image of the subject through the lens group 200 is converted into a captured image signal for one field in an image pickup tube 202 having a solid state image pickup device (CCD) through an aperture 201, and the captured image signal is In the sampling and gain control unit 203, the gain is adjusted through a sampling process and a gain process and provided to the camera microprocessor 206, and digitized through the analog / digital converter 204 and provided to the digital signal processor 205.

The digital signal processor 205 encodes the digitized video signal to process color and luminance signals in NTSC or PAL format to the camera microprocessor 206 and provides one field of video to the memory 207. The data will be saved temporarily.

One field of image data stored in the memory 207 is converted into a screen image signal by the first digital / analog converter 208, and then is controlled by the VLC microprocessor 209 of the VLC unit. The signal is processed at 210 to be recorded on the magnetic recording medium.

In this way, the camera microprocessor 206 of the camera unit scans the sampling and gain control unit 203 and the digital signal processing unit 205 through its unit detection means to perform the correlation sampling (CDS) signal and It is determined whether the digital image data is normally output (S104) (S105).

As a result of the determination, if the correlation sampling (CDS) signal or the digital image data is not normally output, the signal is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 219 of the message guiding means through the first message generating means as described above. In addition, the second digital-to-analog converter 220 and the speaker 221 output a voice signal indicating that there is no signal (step S106).

The VR microprocessor 209 of the VR unit provides the camera microprocessor 206 with power of the main battery 211 and the auxiliary battery 212 to supply power required for the operation of the camera unit. Will be given.

The camera microprocessor 206 determines the consumption amount of the main battery 211 and the auxiliary battery 212 input from the VR microprocessor 209 (step S107). If this is sufficient, imaging is continued (step S110). If the consumption is large, the currently available time and the need for replacement are generated through the second message generating means and displayed on the liquid crystal display 219 of the above-mentioned message guiding means. Alternatively, the voice signal is notified through the speaker 221 (step S109).

In the above-mentioned diagnosis of the abnormality of the camera unit, the procedure of FIG. 3 has been described. However, the diagnosis is not limited to the procedure of steps S101-S108, but can be diagnosed in any order. It is possible to diagnose the abnormality even while performing photography.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the camcorder detects an abnormality in diagnosis by performing a self-diagnosis before the imaging function is started or during the imaging operation, the image capture of the subject is performed beforehand. By notifying the user visually and warningly about the warning message, it is possible to prevent failure of signal-free processing and instantaneous image capturing that occur when imaging is performed while the operation of the conventional camera unit is disabled. Able to know.

In addition, while specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated above, it is obvious that the present invention may be variously modified and implemented by those skilled in the art.

Such modified embodiments should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention, and such modified embodiments should fall within the appended claims of the present invention.

The present invention does not resume image capturing of the subject only when the camcorder performs self-diagnosis before or during the imaging function, and not only resumes the imaging of the subject, but also visually informs the warning message of the defect of the unit to the photographer. By doing so, no signal processing and instantaneous image capturing that occur when imaging is performed while the operation of the camera unit is disabled can be prevented, and the available time of the main battery and the auxiliary battery can be prevented. By letting you know through letters and letters, it is possible to recognize the replacement time in advance.

Claims (9)

A video camera that photographs a subject and records and reproduces the subject on an image recording medium while controlling exposure, zooming, and focus by at least one battery. A diagnostic process of detecting an abnormality of a camera unit including a lens group during imaging of a subject; A first message guiding process of guiding a message corresponding to a diagnosis result of the unit when an abnormal diagnosis of the camera unit is performed; And And a second message guiding process for searching for a power state of the battery and guiding a result thereof. The method of claim 1, The diagnosis of abnormality of the camera unit, the self-diagnosis method of the camcorder, characterized in that for diagnosing the zoom motor, the focus motor and the iris in an arbitrary order. The method of claim 1, The first message guiding process is a self-diagnosis method of a camcorder, characterized in that the unit name and fault message of the zoom motor, the focus motor and the iris are visually guided. The method of claim 1, The second message guiding process is a self-diagnosis method of a camcorder, characterized in that the audio-visual guidance of any one of the battery available time and the battery replacement message. The method of claim 1, And diagnosing the presence or absence of the captured image signal after detecting the abnormality of the camera unit to guide the message. A video camera comprising a microprocessor for a camera that operates by at least one battery to control exposure, zooming, and focus while photographing a subject and recording and playing back the image recording medium. The camera microprocessor includes: unit detecting means for detecting an abnormality of a camera unit including a lens group during imaging of a subject; First message generating means for generating a message corresponding to a detection result of the unit when an error occurs in the camera unit; And And a second message generating means for detecting a power state of the battery and generating a message for the result, wherein the message is visually guided to different messages obtained from the first and second message generating means of the camera microprocessor. Self-diagnosis apparatus for a camcorder, characterized in that it comprises a message guide means. The method of claim 6, The camera unit includes a zoom motor, a focus motor, and an aperture, and detects abnormalities in any order thereof. The method of claim 6, The message guiding means is a self-diagnosis apparatus for a camcorder, characterized in that it comprises liquid crystal display means by displaying a message on a diagnosis result of a camera unit and a battery obtained by said first and second message generating means in text. The method of claim 6, The message guiding means includes: digital / analog conversion means for low-pass amplifying a message obtained by the first and second message generating means into an analog signal; And And a speaker for outputting the low-amplified signal as a voice.