JP3311448B2 - Video camera selection system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera selection system for use in, for example, outdoor broadcasting of television program production.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional broadcasting of program production involves laying a cable from each camera to a switching center, selecting a video signal or the like transmitted from each camera at the switching center, and obtaining an output ( See FIG. 12).

[0003] As shown in FIG.
The obtained video signals are separately sent to a switching center (switch section 7) where a producer and a technical director are provided via camera cables in the composite cables 4 to 6, respectively.

In the switch section 7, video signals from the cameras 1 to 3 are monitored by the monitors 8 to 10, and a necessary video signal is selected from the monitors in a matrix of the switch section 7, and the VTR 11 is output as a main line output. For example, a method of saving as a program has been adopted.

[0005] The cameraman and the producer or technical director arranged in each of the cameras 1 to 3 communicate with the meeting line (composite cable 4 to 4 together with the camera cable and the like).
6)).

[0006] In order to inform the cameraman of the contents of the selected video signal (main line output), video signals 12 to 14 which are said to be sent back are sent. This signal is transmitted via the composite cables 4 to 6 in the same manner as the meeting line.

[0007]

In the conventional broadcasting of program production, prior work (time and labor is required) for laying a composite cable must be performed, and furthermore, maintenance of cables and the like at the time of actual production must be performed. There was a problem that security had to be secured.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a video camera selection system which solves the above-mentioned problems.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of video cameras, a selection means for selecting at least one of the plurality of video cameras, and the plurality of video cameras. Wireless transmission / reception means for transmitting and receiving information in a time-division manner via radio waves between each of the plurality of video cameras provided on each side of the selection means and the selection means. It is characterized by having.

[0010]

According to the present invention, for example, by using a high frequency for the radio wave, the outdoor relay can be made compact, and the camera position can be changed at any time, so that mobility can be secured. become.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Description of Overall System FIGS. 1 and 2 show another embodiment. Each embodiment includes a camera part 15, an antenna part 16, a switching part 17
Are roughly divided into The difference between FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is only the connection form between the antenna portion 16 and the switching portion 17 as will be described later, and the other portions are common. Therefore, both embodiments will be described below in parallel.

The camera section 15 includes video cameras A to C
And radio transceivers 18 to 20 including a main line and a next system transmitter and a return monitor system receiver, and antennas 21 to 23. 1 and 2, the number of cameras in the camera portion 15 is three,
In the present invention, the number of cameras is not limited. In both FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the cable is connected between the camera and the transceiver, and between the transceiver and the antenna. However, since these facilities are put together and the cable length is extremely short, this cable is used. There is little pre-work (time and effort) for wiring. These equipment (camera, transceiver, antenna) can be integrated in the future.

The antenna section 16 has one transmitting antenna 24 in all directions and two receiving antennas 25 and 26,
Each is connected to one transmitter and two receivers in the wireless transceiver 27. The transmitter in this transceiver 27,
The connection between the receiver and the switching part 17 is as follows.

(A) In the case of FIG. 1 (where the installation location of the antenna section 16 and the installation location of the switching section 17 are close to each other), they are connected to the switching section 17 by a cable 28.

(A) In the case of FIG. 2 (where the installation location of the antenna section 16 and the installation location of the switching section 17 are long distances), the signal is transmitted to the switching section 17 again by a wireless method. That is, on the antenna portion 16 side, the transceiver 2
7, a transmitting antenna 29, a transmitting antenna 29 and a receiving antenna 30. On the switching part 17 side, a receiving antenna 31 corresponding to the antennas 29 and 30 is provided.
, A transmission antenna 32, and a transceiver 33, which transmit and receive signals between the transceiver 27 and the switching portion 17 in the antenna portion 16 wirelessly.

The switching section 17 includes a camera section 15.
A remote control camera switch switch console 34 for selecting the switching of transmission of the main line system signal and the monitor system signal in the TDM,
A (Time Division Multiple)
Access: time-division multiple access device 35
, VTR 36 and monitor 37 for the next video signal
And

The video signal for sending back is input to the input side of the transmitter of the transceiver 27 in FIG. 1 and to the input side of the transmitter of the transceiver 33 in FIG.

Description of Configuration and Signal Format (Part 1) (a) Principle Configuration Example FIG. 3 shows a principle configuration example.

(A) Signal format The transmitter (frequency F) of the transceiver 27 of the antenna part 16
₃ ) transmitted from the transmission antenna 24 in the camera portion 15
FIG. 4 shows a format of a signal transmitted to each of the cameras A to C via the antennas 21 to 23 and the receivers of the transceivers 18 to 20. Since the transmission system can be the FM system or the digital system, the signal format in each case is shown in FIG.
(A) and (B). Radio waves are constantly emitted from the antenna section 16 and are received by the antennas 21 to 23 of each camera, so that each camera can monitor and arrange a return video signal and receive a control signal. Transmission is possible using either method, but considering the effective use of existing wireless equipment and cost, FM
The method is better. The contents of the signals are as follows. I) In the case of the FM system (FIG. 4 (A)) Video signal: Return video signal Audio signal: Monitor audio signal for a program accompanying the video signal Meeting signal: Used for meeting, communication, etc. Audio signal Control signal: Signal for synchronizing system in wireless system and control signal required for camera selection switching ii) Digital system (Fig. 4 (B)) Synchronous signal: Synchronization signal for system synchronization in wireless system Signal Control signal: Control signal required at the time of camera selection switching Video signal: Transmitted as a return video signal for each video frame or field.

Others are the same as the FM system.

T of the transceivers 18 to 20 of the camera part 15
Figure 5 shows the signal format of the main signal system to be transmitted to the antenna portion 16 using radio waves of the frequencies F ₁ from the DMA transmitter 1A-1C.

I) The format of the signal is a TDMA frame structure, and a transmission synchronizing signal, a meeting signal, and a synchronizing signal of each camera synchronized with a synchronizing signal for establishing synchronization of the entire system.
It consists of a preamble signal consisting of a status signal, a video signal for program relay and an accompanying audio signal.

Ii) In FIG. 5, a time slot is assigned to each camera in the preamble signal.
The transmission timing is adjusted by a control signal synchronized with a system synchronization signal sent from the TDMA device in the switching unit 17 at all times.

Iii) Only the camera specified by the control signal of the TDMA device in the switching section 17 is time-multiplexed with respect to the video signal and the audio signal. Other cameras transmit only the preamble signal.

Iv) The status signals A, B, and C from the cameras in FIG. 5 include status information such as the response to the control signal of the TDMA device in the switching portion and the presence / absence of time axis multiplexing of the video signal and the audio signal. Contains.

T of the transceivers 18 to 20 of the camera part 15
The signal format Nekkusuto video signal system to be transmitted to the antenna portion 16 with a frequency F ₂ from the DMA transmitter 2A~2C shown in FIG.

I) As shown in FIG. 6A, this format is greatly characterized in that it is a TDMA system capable of transmitting video signals of all cameras of the NEXT video system.

Ii) Video output (including audio) from each camera
Can be compressed and transmitted to the switching section 17,
As shown in FIG. 6B, the next screen can be monitored on the monitor 37 and the next screen can be selected.

(C) Description of establishment of synchronization of the entire system Initial synchronization of the system is established as follows (see FIG. 7).

I) The synchronization signal of the system is generated from the system clock oscillator of the TDMA device in the switching section 17, and the control signal synchronized with the synchronization signal is generated by the TDMA.
Made in the device and transmitted from the transmitter (F ₃ ) of the antenna part 16 to the camera part 15.

Ii) In the camera section 15, the control signal causes the TDMA transmitter / receiver 18 to 20 in each TDMA transmitter.
The system clock oscillator of the DMA device is synchronized with the system synchronization signal, and the transmission synchronization signal and the meeting signal of each camera are transmitted to each of the transceivers 18 to in accordance with a predetermined time slot.
20 TDMA transmitters.

Iii) Each TD of the transceiver of the antenna part 16
Initial system synchronization is established by confirming with the TDMA device 35 of the switching part 17 that the synchronization signal of each camera obtained from the MA receiver falls within a predetermined time slot synchronized with the system synchronization signal.

A control signal for system synchronization is transmitted to each camera in the camera section 15 for each frame period shown in FIG. 7, and an interlock between the TDMA apparatus in the TDMA transmitter of each camera and the TDMA apparatus in the switching section 17 is provided. To maintain.

(D) Description of main line system signal switching control operation (see FIGS. 3 and 8) When camera A is selected at switch console 34 of switching section 17, a control signal for camera A selection is transmitted from TDMA apparatus 35 to antenna section. The signal is input to the TDMA transmitter 1A on the camera A side via the transmitter (frequency F ₃ ) of the 16 transceivers 27, the antennas 24 and 21, and the receiver of the transceiver on the camera A side. the video signal and audio signal of the signal format of FIG. 5 in the transmitter 1A and the time-axis-multiplex, TDMA transmission devices 1A, the antenna 21 and 25 at a frequency F _1, via the TDMA receiver R1 of the transceiver 27 mains Transmission of system signals. At this time, the transmitters (F ₃ ) and the antennas 24 and 2 are also provided to the TDMA transmitters 1B and 1C on the cameras B and C sides.
2, 23, the control signal for selecting the camera A is transmitted via the receiver of the transceiver on the side of the cameras B and C.
Since the control signal is for multiplexing the video and audio signals of the cameras B and C, the video and audio signals of the cameras B and C are not multiplexed, and only the preamble signal is transmitted in the same manner as above. Antenna part 1
6, the transmitted radio wave is transmitted to the TDMA
The video and audio output signals received by the receiver R 1 are supplied to the VTR 36 of the switching unit 17.

Next, the switch console 3 of the switching unit 17
Selecting the camera B in 4, similarly controlled signal of the camera B selection is multiplexed video signal and audio signal of the signal format of FIG. 5 from the TDMA transmitter 1B, and transmits a main-line signal at the frequency F _1. At the same time, the multiplexing of the video and audio signals of the TDMA transmitter 1A on the camera A side is stopped. At this time, the TDMA transmitter 1C on the camera C side transmits only the preamble signal without multiplexing the video signal and the audio signal. In the antenna section 16, the transmitted radio wave is received by the TDMA receiver R1, and an output signal of video and audio can be obtained.

Next, when the camera C is selected at the switch console 34 of the switching section 17, similarly, a control signal for selecting the camera C is transmitted from the TDMA device to the camera C side, and the TDMA transmitter 1C on the camera C side transmits the control signal of FIG. performs transmission of the main line system signals at frequencies F ₁ by multiplexing video and audio signals of the signal format. At the same time, the multiplexing of the video and audio signals of the TDMA transmitter 1B on the camera B side is stopped. At this time, camera A
In the TDMA transmitter 1A on the side, the video signal and the audio signal are not multiplexed. In the antenna section 16, the transmitted radio wave is
The video and audio output signals can be received by the DMA receiver R1.

The switching of the video main line is performed by the above method.

(E) Description of the NEXT system signal transmission system (see FIG. 9) This system is capable of transmitting NEXT video signals for all cameras by one radio wave, and has the current TV / microwave band bandwidth. In order to transmit the video signal, the video signal from each camera is compressed and transmitted. Since only one radio wave is used and the bandwidth is the same as the current one, we are trying to make effective use of the frequency, and since the video signal of each camera is compressed,
Monitor resolution is a trade-off.

The video and audio signals of each camera are shown in FIG.
The TDMA signal shown in FIG.
Each TDMA transmitter 2A of 8 to 20, 2B, are always transmitted at the frequency F ₂ from 2C, the transceiver 2 antenna portion 16
7 is received and output by the TDMA receiver R2.

Description of Configuration and Signal Format (No. 2) (A) Configuration Example Another configuration example is shown in FIG. 10, but this is to reduce the number of TDMA transmitters for each camera in FIG. It is intended to be simplified by consolidating.

(A) Signal format The antenna part 1 of the transmitter (frequency F ₃ ) of the transceiver 27
The format of the signal transmitted from 6 to the camera section 15 is the same as the previous section (see FIG. 4).

The signal format of the main signal system to be transmitted to the antenna portion 16 with the frequencies F ₁ from the TDMA transmitter A~C of the cameras of the camera section 15 is the same as the previous section (see Figure 5).

Each of the TDMA transmitters A to C of the camera section 15
Neck strike monitor signal system signal format to be transmitted to the antenna portion 16 with a frequency F ₂ from is the same as the main signal system signal format (see FIG. 5).

(C) Description of establishment of synchronization of the entire system Same as the previous section.

(D) Description of main line signal switching control operation (see FIGS. 10 and 8) In the initial state, the frequencies of all TDMA transmitters in the camera portion are (F ₂ ), and only the preamble signal Transmitted from each transmitter.

When the camera A is selected at the switch console of the switching section 17, a control signal for selecting the camera A is transmitted from the TDMA device 35 to the camera A via the transmitter (F ₃ ) of the transceiver 27 of the antenna section 27. The frequency of the TDMA transmitter A on the camera A side is switched to (F ₁ ), and FIG.
The video and audio signals are time-division multiplexed and transmitted in the signal format described above. In the antenna part 16, the transmitted radio wave is
Received by the receiver R1 (F ₁₎ can be obtained an output signal. At this time, the frequency of the camera B, C side of the TDMA transmitter remains F _2, are not transmitted as the main line system signal.

Next, when the camera B is selected at the switch console 34, the control signal for selecting the camera B is similarly transmitted to the TDMA device 35.
Is transmitted to the camera B side via the transmitter (F ₃ ) on the antenna portion 27 side, the frequency of the TDMA transmitter on the camera B side is switched from (F ₂ ) to (F ₁ ), and transmission is performed simultaneously. , The frequency of the TDMA transmitter on the camera A side is (F ₁ ) →
Switch to (F ₂ ) and stop transmitting (multiplexing) the video signal. The frequency of the transmitter on the camera C side remains (F ₂ )
It is not transmitted as a mains signal.

Next, when the camera C is selected at the switch console 34, the control signal for selecting the camera C is similarly transmitted to the TDMA device 35.
Is transmitted to the camera C side via the transmitter (F ₃ ) on the antenna portion 27 side, the frequency of the TDMA transmitter on the camera C side is switched from (F ₂ ) to (F ₁ ), and transmission is performed. , Change the frequency of the TDMA transmitter on the camera B side to (F ₁ ) →
Switch to (F ₂ ) and stop transmitting (multiplexing) the video signal. The frequency of the transmitter on camera A remains (F ₂ )
It is not transmitted as a mains signal.

The switching of the video main line is performed by the above method.

(D) Description of Nest Related Signal Switching Control Operation (Refer to FIGS. 10 and 11) For the next video signal, a method in which the next selected camera can be selected in advance is used. Method for simultaneously transmitting video signals).

For the camera selected for the main line system, the selection for the next system is prohibited in advance.

When the next video signal of the switch console 34 is selected for the camera A (not selected for the main line system), the control signal for selecting the next system of the camera A is transmitted to the TDMA device 35.
Are transmitted to the camera A via the transmitter (F ₃ ) on the antenna part 16 side, and the video and audio signals are time-division multiplexed from the TDMA transmitter on the camera A side in the signal format of FIG. ₂ ) Send in. In the antenna portion 16, it is possible to obtain the received output signal radio waves transmitted by the TDMA receiver R2 (F _2).

Next, when the next video signal of the switch console 34 is selected for the camera B (not selected for the main line system), similarly, a control signal for selecting the next system of the camera B is transmitted from the TDMA device 35 to the antenna section 27 side. Transmitter (F
₃ ) is transmitted to the camera B side via the
The video and audio signals are time-division multiplexed and transmitted from the DMA transmitter (frequency (F ₂ )) in the signal format of FIG. 5, and at the same time, the time-division multiplexing of the video signal of the TDMA transmitter on the camera A side is stopped.

Next, when the next video signal from the switch console 34 is selected for the camera C (not selected for the main line system), similarly, the control signal for selecting the next system for the camera C is transmitted from the TDMA device 35 to the antenna section 27 side. Transmitter (F
₃ ) is transmitted to the camera C side via
Video / audio signals are time-division multiplexed from the DMA transmitter (frequency (F ₂ )) in the signal format shown in FIG. 5 and transmitted, and at the same time, the time-division multiplexing of the video signal of the TDMA transmitter on the camera B side is stopped.

As described above, the switching can be performed for the next video signal in the same manner as in the main line system.

[0057]

As described above, according to the present invention, since there is no need to lay cables from each camera to the selection means, it is not necessary to consider the operation and maintenance of cables, and radio equipment is uniformly provided. By doing so, the system can be set up easily and quickly.

Further, since each camera is of a wireless system and can be moved, it is possible to quickly respond to a change in the subject, and it is possible to take a picture at a camera angle which has never been seen before.

[0059]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an entire system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an entire system of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a format of a signal transmitted from an antenna portion to a camera portion.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a format of a main line signal transmitted from a camera portion to an antenna portion.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a format of a next video signal transmitted from a camera portion to an antenna portion.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the concept of synchronization of the entire system.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the concept of mains signal transmission (example: camera A selection).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the concept of next-system signal transmission (in the case of simultaneous transmission of all camera video signals).

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another configuration example.

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of a next-system signal transmission (example: camera A);
FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a case of selection).

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 15 Camera part 16 Antenna part 17 Switch part 18-20,27 Transceiver 21-26 Antenna 34 Camera changeover switch console 35 TDMA device

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-4-348674 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04N 5/222

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of video cameras, selection means for selecting at least one of the plurality of video cameras, and a plurality of video cameras on each side and the selection means side. A video camera selection system, comprising: a wireless transmission / reception unit for transmitting / receiving information in a time-division manner between each of the plurality of video cameras and the selection unit via a radio wave.