JP4075723B2 - Video camera - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multifunction video camera.

  A conventional video camera incorporates a single imaging device as an image input device. Therefore, the angle of view is determined by the mounted lens, and it is not possible to perform wide-angle or telephoto shooting beyond the mounted lens. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-110930 (Patent Document 1) discloses a camera device having a configuration in which a camera having a different imaging field angle is switched to expand the field angle.

In addition, since the conventional apparatus includes only one system of image pickup device as an image input device, a plurality of subject images cannot be recorded. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-242399 (Patent Document 2) discloses a camera device configured to use a plurality of cameras and switch between them.
JP-A-5-110930 JP-A-8-242399

  However, when a user of a home video camera is photographing a family, for example, there is a problem that the photographer himself / herself cannot participate in the video. Also, when shooting a wide angle and shooting up to the surrounding scene, it is impossible to shoot a person's facial expression. Conversely, when shooting up a person's face, the surrounding scene cannot be shot. There was a problem. These problems cannot be solved even by using the techniques disclosed in the above-mentioned publications, and in a conventional video camera, a simultaneous photographed image of a subject and a photographer, and a simultaneous photographed image at a different angle of view of the subject, The only way to do this was to shoot each image using multiple video cameras and edit it after shooting.

  Furthermore, in recent years, image communication using a mobile phone and image data exchange using a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) have been performed. However, there is a problem that an image from a mobile phone can only be transmitted to a mobile phone of the same type for viewing, and there is no method for recording on a recording medium. In order to supply image data from the video camera to the PC, it must be performed once via a recording medium, or image transfer software must be prepared on the PC side, which is not always easy to use.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. A plurality of image sensors corresponding to lens systems having different optical axes are mounted on one video camera, and each captured image is switched or synthesized to form one image. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a video camera capable of recording in real time a simultaneous photographed image of a subject and a photographer and a simultaneous photographed image at a different angle of view of the subject.

  In addition, in a video camera with a built-in memory card, the above-described composite of a video camera capable of switching between a subject and a photographer or whether to record a shot image at a different angle of view on a tape or a memory card It is an object of the present invention to provide a video camera capable of switching whether to record simultaneously shot images on a tape or on a memory card.

  Further, the communication device includes a transmission / reception unit of a mobile phone and an interface to a PC so that an image supplied from a mobile phone or a built-in camera of the PC can be recorded in addition to the image of the image pickup device. Video cameras that can be used to send video to a mobile phone or video that has been played from a tape or a memory card, or video that has been synthesized from them, or to the PC via an interface to the PC To do.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises the following means.

That is,
A plurality of lens systems including a lens system whose imaging direction is movable;
A plurality of solid-state imaging devices respectively provided corresponding to these,
Signal processing means for obtaining a video signal by the solid-state imaging device;
A recording / reproducing unit for recording and reproducing the obtained video signal;
In a video camera having at least
A transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving a video signal to / from an external portable terminal;
An interface for enabling communication of a video signal with an external device of a different system from the portable terminal;
A format converter for converting a video signal input / output from / to the portable terminal and an external device into a predetermined format;
Synthesizing means for synthesizing the video signal obtained from the signal processing means and the format conversion unit into a predetermined display form;
Display means for displaying the synthesized video;
Selecting means for selecting the displayed image and selectively supplying the selected image to the portable terminal and / or an external device;
A plurality of recording media for recording video signals obtained from the combining means;
Have
A video camera, wherein video signals reproduced from the plurality of recording media are selected by the selection means and selectively supplied to the portable terminal and / or an external device.

  As described above, according to the video camera of the present invention, a plurality of image sensors having different optical axes are mounted on one video camera, and an image of an external mobile phone is received, and each captured image is switched. By combining and recording as one image, it is possible to provide a video camera capable of recording in real time a simultaneous photographed image of the subject and the photographer and a simultaneous photographed image at different angles of view of the subject.

  In addition, in a video camera with a built-in memory card, a video camera that can switch whether a subject and a photographer are recorded on a tape or a memory card at a different angle of view is recorded. It is possible to provide a video camera that can switch whether a captured image is recorded on a tape or a memory card.

  Furthermore, by providing a PC interface to the video camera, it is possible to connect directly to the PC for communication, and by providing a mobile phone transmission unit, video captured by the video camera and video from the mobile phone can be viewed in real time. This makes it possible to provide a multi-function and convenient video camera.

  In the following, preferred embodiments of the video camera according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a video camera applied to the embodiment. This figure shows an example in which two image pickup devices CCD10b and CCD11b are mounted on a video camera, and three video signals are obtained by combining one external mobile phone camera. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the FM control circuit unit 12 shown in FIG. 1 in more detail.

  First, an exterior example in which two image sensors are mounted on the video camera 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1A shows the entire video camera 20, on which a first camera unit 10 for normal shooting used for the video camera 20 is mounted. The second camera unit 11 is provided at the upper end of the monitor unit 13, and only the monitor unit 13 is shown enlarged in FIG. As shown in (c) of the side configuration of the monitor unit 13, the second camera unit 11 is rotatably provided by a known configuration. (D) has shown the state of the monitor part 13 which rotated the 2nd camera part 11 and orient | assigned the optical axis to the photographer direction. By adopting such a structure, images with different optical axes or images with different angles of view on the same optical axis can be obtained.

  Next, the processing for incoming video will be described sequentially. As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the first camera unit 10 is that the imaging light coming from the lens 10a is converted into an imaging signal by the imaging element CCD 10b, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D conversion unit 10c. After being shaped into a video signal by a well-known signal processing circuit 10d, it is supplied to a frame memory control circuit section (hereinafter referred to as FM control circuit section) 12.

  Similarly, an image picked up from the lens 11a of the second camera unit 11 is converted into an image pickup signal by the image pickup device CCD 11b, and then digitally converted by the A / D conversion unit 11c and then converted by a known signal processing circuit 11d. After shaping into a video signal, it is supplied to the FM control circuit unit 12.

Usually, in a so-called camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus in which a video camera and a recording / reproducing unit for recording / reproducing an obtained video signal obtained from the video camera are integrated, the video is adapted to the signal system handled by the recording / reproducing unit. A camera or monitor is set. Therefore, when an external device is connected to such a camera-integrated recording / reproducing device or when a semiconductor recording medium or the like having a different storage method is provided, in order to share a video signal processing circuit, each external device Therefore, it is necessary to convert the video signal system obtained from the semiconductor recording medium into the video signal system of the camera-integrated recording / reproducing apparatus. Conversely, when the video signal generated by the video signal processing circuit of the camera-integrated recording / playback device is supplied to each external device or semiconductor recording medium, the video signal system of the camera-integrated recording / playback device is set to each external device. It is necessary to convert to the video signal system of the apparatus and semiconductor recording medium. These video signal system conversions are shown in format conversion units (hereinafter referred to as F conversion units) 12k, 12l, 12m, 12n, 12o, and 12p in FIG.

  The video of the third camera unit 30a mounted on the mobile phone 30 which is an external communication device is transmitted from the mobile phone 30 and supplied to the mobile phone receiver 18. After the video signal is taken out by the mobile phone receiver 18, the video signal and the method obtained by the built-in image pickup device supplied to the F converter 12k of the FM control circuit 12 are combined and supplied to the memory 12a.

  Furthermore, from a PC (not shown) connected to the PC interface (PCI / F) 19, an image of a camera mounted on the PC or an image stored on a recording medium in the PC is converted by the FM control circuit unit 12. The video signal and method obtained by the above-described built-in image sensor supplied to the unit 12m are combined and supplied to the memory 12h.

  When the VTR unit 14 is in the reproduction mode, the reproduced video signal is supplied to the FM control circuit unit 12. Similarly, when the memory card unit 15 in which the memory card is mounted is in the reproduction mode, the reproduced video signal is supplied to the F conversion unit 12l of the FM control circuit unit 12 and obtained by the above-described built-in image sensor. The video signal and method are combined and supplied to the memory 12e.

  The operation of the FM control circuit unit 12 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The video signals supplied from the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, the third camera unit 30a, the PCI / F 19, the VTR unit 14, and the memory card unit 15 are temporarily stored in the memories 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e and 12f, and is supplied to the monitor screen creation unit 12i and the matrix switch 12j. As in the previous operation, the video signals supplied from the PCI / F 19, the VTR unit 14, and the memory card unit 15 are supplied to each F conversion unit and combined with the video signal obtained by the above-described built-in image sensor to each memory. To be supplied.

  In the monitor screen creation unit 12i, the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, the third camera unit 30a, the PCI / F 19, the VTR unit 14, and the memory card unit are used to confirm the incoming video signal. The video signal supplied from 15 and the video synthesized by the synthesizing circuit unit 12g are thinned out, temporarily stored in a memory, and read out in accordance with the divided display, thereby being divided and displayed as a one-screen video signal via the matrix switch 12j. It is displayed on the monitor viewer 13. At this time, as will be described later, the identification of each input screen and the medium to which the video signal is supplied are displayed on the monitor viewer 13 screen.

  Although it is a composite video signal, the video signal supplied from the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, the third camera unit 30a, the PCI / F 19, the VTR unit 14, and the memory card unit 15 is temporarily stored in the memory 12a. , 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, and 12f, the video signal to be the parent image and the video signal to be the child screen are determined from the operation button 17 on the monitor viewer 13 screen, and the child image is inserted. To decide. When these are determined, when the synthesizing circuit unit 12g reads out the memory of the parent image, it reads out the memory on the child screen while thinning out at the position to be synthesized, and after obtaining the synthesized image, supplies it to the matrix switch 12j.

  In the present embodiment, the description has been made with the above-described synthesis of the two screens of the parent and child. However, multiple screens of the number of screens supplied by the image sensor may be synthesized. do it.

  In addition, the memory unit 12h has been described as having a configuration including the memories 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, and 12f, and the combining circuit unit 12g. An address may be allocated and stored, and a composite video may be obtained by controlling reading.

  In the matrix switch 12j, when a user's selection is input from the operation button 17, the microcomputer 16 sends a video signal to be recorded in the VTR unit 14 and the memory card unit 15 according to the input operation signal to the PCI / F 19 and the mobile phone transmission unit. 18 is controlled to supply a video signal to be communicated. At this time, the video signal supplied to the memory card unit 15 is supplied via the F conversion unit 12o in order to convert the video signal into the recording method of the memory card. Similarly, video signals supplied to the PCI / F 19 and the mobile phone transmission unit 18 are supplied via the F conversion unit 12p and the F conversion unit 12n in order to match the respective methods.

  The configuration for switching and controlling the composite image will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. Here, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, it is assumed that the incoming image is an image taken by the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, and the third camera unit 30a. As described above, the PCI / F is capable of bi-directional video communication. When the PC is equipped with a built-in camera, the video of the camera mounted on the PC or the video stored in the recording medium of the PC When the VTR unit 14 or the memory card unit 15 is in the reproduction mode, the recorded video signal can also be an incoming video signal.

  A configuration for selecting an image to be recorded and communicated will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are images taken by the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, and the third camera unit 30a, respectively. If the first camera unit 10 and the second camera unit 11 have the same optical axis in the state of FIG. 3B, (a) and (b) are images having the same composition and different angles of view. Become. In order to facilitate the explanation, the third camera unit 30a obtains a flower image as shown in (c). These (a), (b), (c) and the signal synthesized by the FM control circuit unit 12 are added to obtain (d), (e), (f), (g) as images to be recorded and communicated. These are supplied to the switching VTR unit 14, the memory card unit 15, the PCI / F 19, and the mobile phone transmission unit 18 according to the user's selection by the matrix switch 12f. At this time, the video signal supplied to the memory card unit 15 is supplied via the F conversion unit 12o in order to convert the video signal into the recording method of the memory card. Similarly, video signals supplied to the PCI / F 19 and the mobile phone transmission unit 18 are supplied via the F conversion unit 12p and the F conversion unit 12n in order to match the respective methods.

  In order to grasp these states, the monitor viewer 13 is supplied with a divided display screen such as (h) generated in the FM memory control circuit unit 12. At this time, if each screen is configured such that the input camera number and the supply destination device are displayed on the screen, the operability can be improved.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 3 (c), the position of the second camera unit 11 is changed at the upper end of the monitor unit 13, and the optical axis is directed to the monitor screen side, that is, the person side who operates and shoots the video camera. It is the same figure (d). At this time, the optical axis of the second camera unit 11 has a different orientation from that of the first camera unit 10, and is different by obtaining different images between the first camera unit 10 and the second camera unit 11. Images can be recorded simultaneously.

  A configuration for simultaneously recording and communicating images with different angles of view will be described with reference to FIG. FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are images taken by the first camera unit 10, the second camera unit 11, and the third camera unit 30a, respectively. If the first camera unit 10 and the second camera unit 11 have different optical axes in the state of FIG. 3D, (a) and (b) are images having different optical axes. In order to facilitate the explanation, the third camera unit 30a obtains a flower image as shown in (c). These (a), (b), (c) and the signal synthesized by the FM control circuit unit 12 are added to obtain (d), (e), (f), (g) as images to be recorded and communicated. These are supplied to the switching VTR unit 14, the memory card unit 15, the PCI / F 19, and the mobile phone transmission unit 18 according to the user's selection by the matrix switch 12f. At this time, the video signal supplied to the memory card unit 15 is supplied via the F conversion unit 12o in order to convert the video signal into the recording method of the memory card. Similarly, video signals supplied to the PCI / F 19 and the mobile phone transmission unit 18 are supplied via the F conversion unit 12p and the F conversion unit 12n in order to match the respective methods.

  In this embodiment, there are two image sensors mounted on the video camera, but a larger number of image sensors may be mounted.

  Further, although the frame memory is used as the memory, a field memory may be used, and in the case of only switching selection, the memory may not be provided.

  When obtaining a composite image, it is not necessary to have memory for the entire screen for the sub-screen. If the relationship between the main screen and the sub-screen is determined in advance, only the memory of the number of pixels necessary for the sub-screen to be combined is installed. What is necessary is just to be such a structure and the capacity | capacitance of the memory to be used can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, the recording medium mounted on the video camera is a magnetic recording / reproducing tape and a memory card of a semiconductor recording medium. However, a disk-shaped magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, or the like may be used. It is good also as a structure used together.

  By using a low-pixel element or a CMOS as the imaging device of the second camera unit and setting a mode for operating only the second camera unit and the viewer, it can be configured as a low-power consumption video camera. .

  Further, the second camera unit includes a fixed-focus lens, does not have an iris (optical aperture mechanism), and is configured to electrically adjust the light amount, thereby reducing the size of the second camera unit. Can do.

It is a schematic block diagram of the video camera applied to the Example of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of a frame memory control circuit unit applied to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the external appearance of the video camera applied to the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the imaging | video image | video of the video camera applied to the Example of this invention, and the video signal recorded and communicated. It is a figure which shows an example of the imaging | video image | video of the video camera applied to the Example of this invention, and the video signal recorded and communicated.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... 1st camera part 11 ... 2nd camera part 10a, 11a ... Lens 10b, 11b ... CCD
10c, 11c ... A / D conversion units 10d, 11d ... signal processing circuit unit 12 ... FM control circuit unit 13 ... monitor 14 ... VTR unit 15 ... memory card unit 16 ... microcomputer 17 ... operation button 30 ... mobile phone 30a ... third Camera unit 19 ... PC interface 20 ... video cameras 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e, 12f ... memory 12g ... synthesis circuit unit 12h ... memory unit 12j ... matrix switch 12i ... monitor screen synthesis unit

Claims (1)

A plurality of lens systems including a lens system whose imaging direction is movable;
A plurality of solid-state imaging devices respectively provided corresponding to these,
Signal processing means for obtaining a video signal by the solid-state imaging device;
A recording / reproducing unit for recording and reproducing the obtained video signal;
In a video camera having at least
A transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving a video signal to / from an external portable terminal;
An interface for enabling communication of a video signal with an external device of a different system from the portable terminal;
A format converter for converting a video signal input / output from / to the portable terminal and an external device into a predetermined format;
Synthesizing means for synthesizing the video signal obtained from the signal processing means and the format conversion unit into a predetermined display form;
Display means for displaying the synthesized video;
Selecting means for selecting the displayed image and selectively supplying the selected image to the portable terminal and / or an external device;
A plurality of recording media for recording video signals obtained from the combining means;
Have
A video camera, wherein video signals reproduced from the plurality of recording media are selected by the selection means and selectively supplied to the portable terminal and / or an external device.

Images