JPH0632706B2 - Light gun game device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a light gun game device using a video display device and a ray gun.

A light gun game device is known in which a video signal stored in an appropriate medium is reproduced, a desired image including a target is projected on a large screen, and a target in the image is shot using a ray gun. Widely used.

In this type of light gun game device, it is necessary to determine whether the laser beam emitted from the ray gun hits the target and switch the displayed image according to the result.

Therefore, conventionally, in a medium in which video information is recorded, information indicating the position of the target appearing on the screen together with the video signal is recorded and placed, and the position information of the corresponding target is taken out in synchronization with the reproduction of the video signal. At the same time, for example, the light gun itself or the direction of the laser beam emitted from the light gun is detected, and appropriate arithmetic processing is performed to determine whether or not a hit has occurred.

Not only is this hit detection device complicated and expensive,
There is a problem that the device is unpopular because it requires a high level of technology for installation and the detection accuracy and reliability are not sufficient.

The present invention has been made from the above point of view, and an object of the present invention is to provide a light gun game device that is easy to manufacture, install, and maintain, and has high accuracy in hit determination and reliability. To do.

Thus, the gist of the present invention is to provide a video camera capable of capturing a screen on which an image is projected, and the output of this video camera does not include a signal derived from the image projected by the video projector. , The configuration is such that only signals relating to the spot produced on the screen by the laser beam emitted from the light gun are included.

Thus, for example, many methods have been devised as a method of separating an image projected on a screen by a projector or the like and a spot by a light gun and capturing only the image of the latter by a video camera. Several examples will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a first embodiment of a light gun game device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the screen, and FIGS. 3 to 7 show the operation of the light gun game device. Time chart for explaining, FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram showing details of the hit detection circuit, FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a second embodiment, and FIGS. 10 to 21 are explanations showing a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing the optical state of the screen,
11 to 13 are explanatory views showing an electronic image appearing on a target of an ordinary video camera, FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing an example of a video signal output from a laser disc player, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory view showing an example of the output signal of the video camera, 16th
FIG. 17 and FIG. 17 are explanatory diagrams showing an electronic image appearing on the target of the video camera in the third embodiment, and FIG. 18 is an output waveform diagram of the video camera used in the third embodiment.
FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the apparatus of the above embodiment, and FIGS. 20 and 21 are time charts for explaining the operation of the apparatus of the above embodiment.

Hereinafter, description will be sequentially given from FIG.

In the figure, 1 is a control circuit, 2 is a laser disc player, 3
Is a projector, 4 is a video camera, 5 is a hit detection circuit, 6 is a filter for blocking external light, 7 is a cabinet, 8
Is a screen, 9 is its supporting device, 10 is a light gun, 11 is a spot projected on the screen 8 from the projector 3
A light beam for image display for producing a, 12 is a laser beam emitted from the ray gun 10 for producing a spot 12a on the screen 8, 12 'is reflected from the spot 12a and transmitted through the filter 6 to the video camera 4. An incident light ray 13 is a light ray reflected from a point 13 a on the screen 8 and incident on the video camera 4.

The hit detection circuit 5 includes a ROM 51 in which target position information is recorded as shown in FIG. 8 and a parallel-serial converter.
52, Schmitt trigger 53 and AND gate 54.

Further, it is desirable that the filter 6 should preferably transmit only the laser light emitted by the light gun 10.

The control circuit 1 stores the programs and video information necessary for the game.
And recorded on a laser disc built in the laser disc player 2.

The video signal necessary for projecting the image including the target on the screen 8 is recorded on the laser disk, the program for the game is recorded on the control circuit 1, and the target position information for each frame is recorded on the ROM 51. Has been done.

The laser disc player 2 is controlled by the control circuit 1 and, in response to the control signal, converts the recording of the laser disc contained therein into a video signal, sends it to the CRT incorporated in the projector 3, and displays it on the screen of the CRT. Cause This image is projected on the screen 8 by the optical system of the projector 3.

More specifically, on the screen of the CRT, a spot appears due to the electron beam deflected by the deflection magnetic field, and the spot moves along the scanning line to cause CR.
Create an image on the T-screen.

The image appears to fill the screen to the human eye, but there is actually only one spot moving on the screen.

Incidentally, this spot is accompanied by a so-called afterimage, but since this afterimage is not an essential problem for the present invention, this afterimage will not be considered here for the sake of simplicity of explanation.

The spot on the screen of this CRT is projector 3
It is projected on the screen 8 by the optical system of
a occurs. The projector 3 always emits one light beam 11, and a spot 11a generated at the tip of the light beam 11
Since the brightness and color tone are changed while moving on the screen 8 according to the movement of the spot on the CRT screen and the change in the brightness and color tone, an image is generated on the screen 8.

That is, although the player can see the image on the entire screen of the screen 8, what is actually on the screen 8 is only one spot 11a moving on the screen.

The state of the screen 8 is illustrated in FIG. 2, the current of the deflection coil of the CRT is illustrated in FIG. 3, and the grid control voltage is illustrated in FIG.

In FIG. 2, 14 is a moving line of the spots 11a and 11a ', 15 is an area where the target is displayed, 16 and 16' are electron beams for scanning an electronic image developed on the target inside the video camera 4, etc. Points on the screen 8 corresponding to the scanning points of
17 is the moving line of point 16.

Although various types of video cameras 4 have been developed according to their uses, a typical one is to form an optical image on a photocathode by an optical system and target the optical image by electronic means. The above-mentioned electronic image is converted and the electronic image is scanned by an electron beam or the like to obtain a video signal.

Thus, it is extremely convenient if the point 16 can always be placed so as to coincide with the spot 11a, but it is extremely difficult to make the two coincide completely over the entire surface of the screen 8, and the cost allowed as a game machine is particularly high. It is almost impossible to realize such a thing in.

The reason is that there is no choice but to allow a large error in the deflection angle of the CRT of the projector 3, and it is difficult to eliminate image distortion owing to the mutual positional relationship between the projector 3, the video camera 4 and the screen 8. This is because.

On the other hand, since the player can see the image projected on the entire surface of the screen 8, the player points the barrel 10a of the light gun 10 at the target in the image, pulls the trigger 10c, and from 10b the laser beam.
You can fire the target by firing 12. When the laser beam 12 hits the screen 8, spots 12a, 12
a'is generated.

Thus, if the spots 12a and 12 'are within the area 15, the light gun 10 has hit the target, and if the spots 12a and 12' are wrong, it means that the light gun 10 has fallen off.

If the point 16 can always be placed so as to coincide with the spot 11a, the output of the video camera 4 should have a strong correlation with the grid control signal output by the laser disc player 2. Although the spot 12a generated by the beam 12 can be easily detected, it is not possible, and the spot 12a needs to be detected by another method.

Therefore, in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the video camera 4 is provided with a filter 6 which allows only the laser light used in the light gun 10 to pass therethrough.

In that case, except when the point 16 passes through the spot 12a,
The incident light of the video camera 4 becomes extremely low, and its output becomes as shown in FIG. However, the peak p ₁ shown by the solid line in the figure corresponds to the spot 12a in FIG. 2, and the peak p ₂ shown by the broken line is the spot.
It corresponds to 12a '. These peaks p ₁ and p ₂ are converted into rectangular wave pulses P ₁ and P ₂ shown in FIG. 7 by the Schmitt trigger 53 and supplied to one input terminal of the AND gate 54.

On the other hand, the position data of the area 15, that is, the position data of the target, is recorded in the ROM 51, is read in synchronization with the output of the laser disc player 2, and is read via the parallel-serial converter 52 into another part of the AND gate 54. It is transmitted to one of the input terminals.

The output of the parallel-to-serial converter 52 is in the state 1 during the period in which the spot 11a is displaying the target, that is, while the spot 11a is in the area 15, as shown in FIG. It is configured to be in state 0 when there is no such situation.

Therefore, the pulse P ₁ generated when the spot 12 a by the laser beam 12 enters the area 15 shown in FIG. 2 passes through the AND gate 54, but the pulse P ₁ generated when it deviates outside the area 15. _{Since 2} is blocked, the output of the AND gate 54 detects whether or not the laser beam 12 has hit the target.

In this method, the point 16 on the screen 8 and the spot 11a may be roughly aligned with each other, and it is not necessary to strictly synchronize them. It is only recommended that the electronic image scanning of the video camera 4 be substantially synchronized with the video signal output of the laser disc player 2 in order to simplify the circuit.

Next, a second embodiment shown in FIG. 9 will be described.

Here, the linear polarizers 61 and 62 are replaced by the above-mentioned filter 6.
Is used. The linear polarization plates 61 and 62 are attached to the front surfaces of the projector 3 and the video camera 4, respectively. By setting the absorption axes of the linear polarizing plates 61 and 62 so as to be orthogonal to each other, and by constructing in this way, as in the case of the first embodiment described above, among the images displayed on the screen 8. Therefore, it will no longer be necessary to explain that only the spot 12a by the laser beam 12 is imaged.

That is, the absorption axis of the linear polarizing plate 61 is perpendicular to the paper surface,
If it is parallel to the paper surface, both the light beam 11 and the light beam 11 'reflected by the screen 8 become linearly polarized light having a polarization plane parallel to the paper surface, and the linearly polarizing plate
It is prevented from entering the video camera 4 by 62. On the other hand, since the laser beam 12 and the light beam 12 'reflected by the screen 8 are usually very little polarized, a part of them passes through the linear polarizing plate 62 and enters the video camera 4, and the photocathode thereof is optically reflected. Since the images are formed, thereafter, it is detected whether or not the laser beam 12 hits the target in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

Next, a third embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 21.

FIG. 10 shows a screen state of the screen 8. In the figure, 11a and 12a are spots projected by the projector 3 and spots by the laser beam 12 emitted from the light gun 10, and are shown by broken lines. 18 and 18 are images projected from the projector 3, and 15 is a target contained therein.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing an electronic image of the target 4a of the video camera 4, and 16 is a spot of an electron beam scanning the electronic image.

There are various video cameras 4 that apply various principles. For example, in an image orthicon or the like, an electron image as shown in FIG. 11 appears when the spot 16 is slightly delayed from the spot 11a and the target 4a. Only when scanning
An actual electronic image is as shown in FIG. 12 or FIG. 13 due to the mutual relationship between the spot 16 and the spot 11a.

That is, when the spot 16 scans the target 4a, the charge forming the electron image is neutralized, so that the electron image also disappears once and is then updated to a new electron image. The new electronic image is the part of the screen 8 where there is no image
It is formed by the natural light 13 from 13a and is nothing but an image of the surface of the screen 8 on which nothing is projected.

That is, after the target 4a is once scanned with the spot 16, the electronic image is in a blank state without the image projected from the projector 3 until the image is written by the spot 11a, and the blank portion is spotted. When the electronic image corresponding to 11a moves, a new image is recorded on the target 4a as an electronic image.

The new electronic image is what appears except for the portion where the potential level of the electronic image rises due to the change even after the optical image of the video camera 4 becomes the optical image of the screen 8 itself after the spot 11a has moved. However, when the optical image of the spot 12a by the laser beam 12 appears, the potential rises at the corresponding portion, so the previous electron image is destroyed and the electron image of the spot 12a is destroyed. Is replaced with.

In other words, the image corresponding to the spot 12a always exists in the electronic image, but the image corresponding to the image projected from the projector 3 is erased by the spot 16 after being formed by the spot 11a. It only exists until then.

Therefore, the spot 11a is spotted on the target 4a.
When 16 is preceded, an electronic image as shown in FIG. 12 is obtained, and in the opposite case, an electronic image as shown in FIG. 13 is obtained.

Then, even in the case of a surplus, a strong correlation appears between the video signal given to the projector 3 and the output signal of the video camera 4. Examples of these signals are shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, respectively.

Therefore, it is not impossible to detect the presence or absence and the position of the spot 12a from the correlation of both signals, but a circuit that can perform such calculation at high speed is expensive.

However, if the spot 11a and the spot 16 are alternated for each frame, and the spot 16 is preceded by the odd-numbered frame and the spot 11a is preceded by the even-numbered frame, for example, the target 4a is provided with each frame. Electronic images as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17 are obtained, respectively.

In the even-numbered frame shown in FIG. 17, the preceding spot 11a forms an electronic image corresponding to the image on the screen 8, and the spot 16 proceeding thereafter scans the electronic image image,
Since the erasing process proceeds, a blank surface without an electronic image corresponding to the image projected from the projector 3 is formed thereafter.

And in the next frame, spot 16 is spot 11
Prior to "a", the image is projected from the projector 3 through a blank area where the image is not yet recorded. The electronic image existing in this blank portion is only the background color of the screen 8 and the spot 12a by the laser beam 12.

Therefore, in the state of FIG. 17, the output of the video camera 4 is
It will be something like that shown in Fig. 15, but in the state of Fig. 16,
As shown in FIG. 18, the spot 12a by the laser beam 12
An output including a steep peak p ₃ indicating

Therefore, for example, if the hit detection device 55 as shown in FIG. 19 is adopted, the object of the present invention can be achieved as in the above-mentioned embodiments.

Here, 51, 52 and 53 are the ROM, the parallel-serial converter and the Schmitt trigger, and 56 is between the input and output thereof, between the spots 16 and 11a in FIG. A delay circuit 57 for giving a delay time Δt corresponding to the time difference between the three input terminals 57a, 57b and 57.
is an AND gate with c.

The control circuit 1 controls the laser disk player 2 and the ROM 51 in the same manner as in the other embodiments described above, and at the same time, scan timing of the video camera 4 and the AND gate 57 as described above.
Control the operation of.

Thus, the output from the parallel-serial converter 52 is input to the input terminal 57a of the AND gate 57 as in the above-described embodiment. This output is in state 1 only while the target 15 is being projected.

The input of the input terminal 57b is given from the control circuit 1, and is in state 1 in odd-numbered frames and state 0 in even-numbered frames.
Becomes

The output of the video camera 4 is converted into a rectangular wave by the Schmitt trigger 53, is supplied to the input terminal 57b of the AND gate 57 via the delay circuit 56.

The output of the delay circuit 56 is the rectangular wave pulse P shown in FIG.
₃ , which shows the detection signal of the spot 12a of the laser beam 12 delayed by the delay time Δt and synchronized with the output of the parallel-serial converter 52 and the image of the projector 3, and the output of the parallel-serial converter 52. Is the square wave pulse P ₀ shown in FIG. 21, which indicates whether or not the target is currently being projected.

Therefore, in the odd-numbered frame, when the logical product of the outputs of the parallel-serial converter 52 and the delay circuit 56 becomes 1, it means that the laser beam 12 has hit the target,
The AND gate 57 will generate an output pulse indicating it.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, according to the present invention,
It is very easy and reliable to detect the ray gun hit.

Incidentally, the constitution of the present invention is not limited to the above examples, for example, the filter and the linear polarizing plate can be used in combination,
Also in the third embodiment, the electronic image of the image projected from the projector can be erased during the blanking period of the CRT of the projector 3 or the like, and the electronic image is not saved. If a video camera of a type that always matches the optical image is used, the spot 11a and the
Since only an electron image corresponding to 12a appears, the object can be achieved by configuring the scanning beam so as not to coincide with the spot 12a, and in these cases, a filter or the like can be used in combination. The present invention includes all of them.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an embodiment of a light gun game device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the screen thereof,
3 to 7 are time charts for explaining the operation of the light gun game device, FIG. 8 is a partial circuit diagram showing the details of the hit detection device, and FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the second embodiment. 10 to 21 are explanatory views showing a third embodiment, and FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing an optical state of a screen,
11 to 13 are explanatory views showing an electronic image of the video camera, FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing an example of a video signal output from the laser disc player, and FIG. 15 is an example of an output signal of the video camera. Explanatory diagrams, FIGS. 16 and 17 are explanatory views showing an example of an actual electronic image in a video camera used in the third embodiment device, and FIG. 18 is used in the third embodiment device. FIG. 19 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the output device of the video camera according to the present invention, and FIGS. 20 and 21 are time charts for explaining the operation of the device of the embodiment. 1 ... Control circuit 2 ... Laser disk player 3 ... Projector 4 ... Video camera 5, 55 ... Hit detection circuit 51 ... ROM 52 ... Parallel-serial converter 53 ... Schmidt trigger 54, 57 ... AND Gate 56 …… Delay circuit 6 …… Filter 61, 62 …… Linear polarization plate 7 …… Cabinet 8 …… Screen 9 …… Supporting device 10 …… Ray gun 11 …… Light beam 11 a …… Spot generated by light beam 11 12 …… Laser beam 12a …… Spot generated by laser beam 12 …… Light ray 13a …… No image part 14 …… Movement line of spot 11a 15 …… Area where target is present 16 …… Electron beam for scanning target Spot 17 …… Movement line of Spot 16

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-50-72515 (JP, A) JP-A-52-36900 (JP, A)

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A display device for displaying an image including a target, a light gun (10), and a laser beam (12) emitted from the light gun (10) irradiating a target in the displayed image. Hit detection device capable of detecting a fire, and a control device for controlling the operation of the display device and the hit detection device
In a light gun game device including (1), a display device (3, 8) is a medium on which video information including a screen (8) on which an image is projected and a video signal and target position information is recorded. And a device for reproducing a video signal from the medium and a screen for displaying an image in response to the video signal.
The hit detection device consists of a video camera (4) directed to the screen (8) and an output signal of the video camera (4) and a recording medium for video information. The output signal of the video camera (4) and the displayed target position corresponding to the spot position where the laser beam (12) from the light gun (10) is generated on the screen (8) in contrast with the position information of the target being displayed. The light gun game device as described above, which comprises a hit detection circuit (5, 55) that generates an output signal when a match between the two is detected. 2. The light gun game device according to claim 1, wherein the medium for recording the video information is a laser disc, and the device for reproducing the video signal from the medium is a laser disc player (2). 3. A medium for recording video information comprises a laser disc on which a video signal is recorded and a memory on which target position information is recorded, and a device for reproducing the video signal from the medium is a laser disc player (2). The light gun game device according to claim 1. 4. The display device has a first linear polarizing plate (61) provided on the front surface of the projector (3), and the video camera (4) of the hit detection device has a first linear film on its front surface. A second linear polarizing plate (62) having an absorption axis in a direction substantially parallel to the vibrating surface when the linearly polarized light transmitted through the polarizing plate (61) is reflected by the screen (8) and then enters the video camera (4). )
4. The hit detection circuit (5, 55) according to claim 1, wherein the hit detection circuit (5, 55) compares the output signal of the video camera (4) with the target position information obtained from the medium on which the video information is recorded. The light gun game device described in any one of 1. 5. The display device is a projector thereof.
On the front of (3), mainly from the incident light, a light gun (10)
It has a filter (6) that passes only the light wave of the same wavelength as the laser beam emitted by, and the hit detection circuit (5, 55) can be obtained from the output signal of the video camera (4) and the recording medium of the video information. The light gun game device according to claim 1, wherein the light gun game device compares target position information. 6. The display device has a first linear polarizing plate (61) provided on the front surface of the projector (3), and the video camera (4) has the first linear polarizing plate on its front surface.
A second linear polarizing plate (62) having an absorption axis in a method substantially parallel to the vibrating surface when the linearly polarized light transmitted through (61) is reflected by the screen (8) and then enters the video camera (4). , And a filter (6) that mainly passes only the light wave of the same wavelength as the laser light emitted from the light gun (10) from the incident light, and the hit detection circuit (5, 55) is equipped with a video camera (4). 4. The light gun game device according to claim 1, wherein the output signal of) is compared with the target position information obtained from the recording medium of the video information to determine the hit or miss. 7. The projection of an image by the projector (3) and the scanning of an electronic image of the video camera (4) are performed with an appropriate phase difference, and the projector (3) is included in the output signal of the video camera (4). ) The light gun game device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the light gun game device is configured not to include an image signal projected. 8. The light gun game device according to claim 1, wherein the recording medium has, in addition to the video signal, a record of encoded target position information.