JPH0728383B2 - Zoom image display device for video camera - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video camera having a zooming function, and particularly to a zoom image of a video camera suitable for improving user operability during zoom-in shooting. Regarding display device.

[Conventional technology]

The zooming function is a function that can change the shooting range (zoom field of view) of a subject, and is one of the functions currently installed in most video cameras.

The subject image obtained through the zoom lens is displayed on the viewfinder, and the photographer can shoot while looking at this image.

In shooting with such a zoom lens, if it is possible to know how far the field of view currently being photographed is with respect to the field of view of the video camera,
Operability is greatly improved.

Conventionally, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-66275, a band-shaped frame indicating the maximum zoom time is displayed in the viewfinder of a video camera, and the current zoom position is displayed on this band-shaped frame. According to the zoom condition (zoom lens magnification), and JP-A-60-1401079.
As described in Japanese Patent Publication, by displaying the image range (field of view) at zoom-in (at the telephoto end: at maximum zoom magnification) in the viewfinder during zoom shooting, the current zoom magnification becomes maximum. There is one that makes it possible to know how far the zoom magnification is.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-mentioned conventional technology, the purpose is to display zoom information in the viewfinder, and since only the image in the current zoom visual field range is displayed in the viewfinder, for example, during zoom-in shooting, the subject is outside the zoom visual field range. When moving, a sophisticated shooting technique may be required to follow the subject in a zoomed-in state. In particular, when the subject moves quickly, the subject may be lost, and in order to search for this, it may be necessary to perform an operation such as canceling the zoom state or looking directly at the subject by taking a look away from the viewfinder. Therefore, there is a problem in that the operability of the photographer during zoom photography is poor.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and even in a zoomed-in state, an image with a wider visual field range than the zoomed visual field range is switched to the finder to be displayed, thereby improving the operability during zoom shooting of a video camera. An object is to provide an image display device.

[Means for solving problems]

The above object is to provide a zoom image display device for a video camera, which comprises display means for converting the subject light that has passed through the zoom lens into a video signal by an image pickup means and displaying a zoom image of the subject converted into the video signal. An optical system wide-angle monitor means for obtaining a wide-angle image having a wider field of view than the image; and a shutter means provided in the optical-system wide-angle monitor means so as to be able to block the subject light incident on the optical system wide-angle monitor means. A half mirror means for reflecting a zoom image from the display means or transmitting a wide-angle image from the optical system wide-angle monitor means, and a display control means for controlling the display state of the zoom image, and interlocking with opening and closing of the shutter means. The display control means controls at least on / off of display of the zoom image or display brightness of the zoom image. By, it is achieved.

[Action]

In conjunction with opening and closing the shutter, when the shutter is opened,
The display control unit turns off the display of the zoom image on the display unit to visually recognize only the wide-angle image transmitted through the half mirror (or, in some cases, the display unit displays the zoom frame to display the wide-angle image transmitted through the half mirror. When the shutter is closed, the display control means turns on the display of the zoom image by the display means so that only the zoom image reflected by the half mirror is visible. . Alternatively, in conjunction with opening and closing of the shutter, when the shutter is opened, the display control unit lowers the display brightness of the zoom image by the display unit, and the wide-angle image transmitted through the half mirror and the zoom image reflected by the half mirror are optically adjusted. When the shutter is closed, the display control means raises the display brightness of the zoom image by the display means, and only the zoom image reflected by the half mirror is visually recognized. As a result, the photographer can switch between the photographed image (zoomed image) and the wide-angle image with a wide viewing angle, even during zoom photographing, so that the operability during zoom photographing is improved. Alternatively, when switching to the wide-angle image during zoom shooting, it is possible to visually recognize the zoom image superimposed on the wide-angle image, which greatly improves usability.

〔Example〕

 The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a zoom lens, 2 is an image pickup circuit for converting an optical image obtained by the zoom lens 1 into a video signal, and 3 is a display unit 4 as a zoom image by appropriately processing the video signal obtained by the image pickup circuit 2. Display circuit for outputting (displaying) to 4
Is a display device, 7 is a wide-angle lens, 8 is a viewfinder (viewfinder) for the photographer to monitor a captured image, 9 is a switch for the photographer to control the operation of the switching device 10, and 10
Is a switching device that controls the opening / closing operation of the shutter 11 and the operation of the display stop circuit 13, and 11 selects a state in which the subject light c is blocked (closed state) and a state in which it is transmitted (open state) according to an instruction from the switching device 10. The shutter 12 is a half mirror that transmits the subject light c and reflects the display light d, and 13 is a display stop circuit for turning on or off the display of the display 4 according to an instruction from the switching device 10.

The image pickup circuit 2 is composed of an optical signal-electric signal conversion circuit such as an image pickup tube or a solid-state image pickup device and a video signal generation circuit, and the display 4 is a display device such as a cathode ray tube, LCD or plasma display. The display circuit 3 is a circuit for converting a video signal into a signal required for various display devices, and since these circuits are well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of this embodiment. Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG.

In FIG. 1, a and c are both light from a subject being photographed (subject light), and the subject light a passes through the zoom lens 1 and forms a zoom image on the image pickup circuit 2. The imaging circuit 2 converts the formed zoom image into a video signal 101 and outputs it. The video signal 101 is supplied to the display circuit 3 and a video recording circuit (not shown) for recording the video signal. The video signal 101 input to the display circuit 3 is converted into a zoom image again by the function of the display circuit 3 when the display stop circuit 13 is selected in the display-on state, and is displayed on the display unit 4.

When the switch 9 is pressed, the switching device 10 operates so as to open the shutter 11 and cause the display stop circuit 13 to stop (turn off) the display on the display unit 4. In this state, the subject light c that has passed through the wide-angle lens 7 reaches the half mirror 12 without being blocked by the shutter 11, passes through the half mirror 12, and reaches the photographer as a wide-angle image. Also,
In this state, the display of the display unit 4 is turned off by the function of the display stop circuit 13, so that the display light d is not output from the display unit 4. Therefore, when the switch 9 is pressed,
As shown in FIG. 2 (A), the photographer views the wide-angle image obtained through the wide-angle lens 7.

On the other hand, when the switch 9 is released (when the switch 9 is not pressed), the switching device 10 closes the shutter 11 and operates the display stop circuit 13 to turn on the display of the display unit 4. In this state, the subject light c that has passed through the wide-angle lens 7 is blocked by the shutter 11 and is a half mirror.
12 is not reached. In this state, the display stop circuit
Since the display of the display unit 4 is turned on by the action of 13, the zoom image being photographed is output as the display light d by the display unit 4, and this display light d is reflected by the half mirror 12 and reaches the photographer. Therefore, when the switch 9 is not pressed, the photographer sees the zoom image output from the display 4, as shown in FIG.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the photographer operates the switch 9 to generate a wide-angle image as shown in FIG. 2 (A) and a zoom image during recording as shown in FIG. 2 (B). You can switch to see. Therefore, for example, even if the subject moves out of the zoom field of view during zoom shooting,
By pressing the switch 9, a wide-angle image can be immediately obtained, so that a subject can be immediately captured, so that operability during zoom shooting can be improved.

The shutter 11 in this embodiment is either a mechanical shutter or an electric shutter using an LCD or the like as long as it can selectively take a state of blocking the subject light c and a state of transmitting the subject light c. However, when an electric shutter is used, the number of mechanical moving parts can be reduced, and the structure can be simplified. Further, in FIG. 1, the shutter 11 includes the wide-angle lens 7 and a half mirror.
Although it is provided between the wide-angle lens 7 and 12, it may be provided before the wide-angle lens 7 as long as it can block the subject light c.

Although the wide-angle lens 7 is provided in order to obtain a wide-angle image in the present embodiment, the wide-angle lens 7 may be omitted if the direct view from the finder 8 has a sufficient area.

Here, the display stop circuit 13 is a circuit that prohibits the display by the display device 4 when the shutter 11 is opened, but it is also applied to this embodiment as a brightness adjustment circuit that darkens the display of the display device 4. it can. In this case, since it is possible to change the display brightness of the display 4, it is possible to view the wide-angle image and the zoom image in an overlapping manner. That is, when the shutter 11 is opened, the brightness adjustment circuit lowers the display brightness of the zoom image by the display 4, and the half mirror
The wide-angle image transmitted through 12 and the zoom image reflected by the half mirror 12 are optically superimposed and visually recognized. Also,
By using the shutter 11 as a diaphragm mechanism or by adding a diaphragm mechanism, the same effect can be obtained even if the light amount of a wide-angle image is variable. Furthermore, by using the brightness adjusting circuit and the diaphragm mechanism together, both the light amount of the wide-angle image and the light amount of the zoom image can be changed, so that the degree of overlapping of the images can be arbitrarily adjusted.

In the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the optical image is obtained from the optical system different from the zoom lens, but it is configured to obtain the wide-angle image from the position before zooming in the zoom lens. You can also Next, an example of such a configuration will be described.

FIG. 3 is a main part configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1'is a zoom lens,
It has 50,53,54,55 lens groups. The lens 50 is a focus adjustment lens, and the focus is adjusted by moving the lens 50 back and forth. The lens 53 is a zoom lens, and the zoom magnification at the time of shooting is changed by moving the lens 53 back and forth. The lenses 54 and 55 are the imaging circuit 2
It is a lens for forming a zoom image on top. A half mirror 52 takes out a part of the subject light a that has passed through the focus adjustment lens 50 (incident on the zoom lens 1 ') and sends it to the finder 8'as subject light c. 56
Is a mirror, which reflects the subject light c from the half mirror 52 and guides it into the finder 8 '. Here, the configuration shown in FIG. 3 shows only the portions corresponding to the finder 8 and the zoom lens 1 in FIG. 1 described above, and all other configurations are the same as in FIG.

The operation of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 will be described below with reference to FIG.

Due to the operation of the switching device 10 in FIG.
In the closed state (when the switch 9 is not pressed), the photographer can see the zoom image displayed on the display 4 by the half mirror 12 as in the first embodiment.

On the other hand, when the shutter 11 is opened (when the switch 9 is pressed), the photographer sees the subject light c reflected by the half mirror 52 and the mirror 56 through the focus adjustment lens 50 through the half mirror 12. You can In this case, since the image viewed by the photographer is the subject image before passing through the zoom lens 53, the image is a wide-angle image having a wider field of view than the zoom image.

Therefore, also in the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the zoom image and the wide-angle image can be switched by the control of the shutter 11 and the display stop circuit 13 (by the selection operation of the switch 9). The operability of can be improved. Further, in this embodiment, since the wide-angle image is obtained through the focus adjustment lens 50, there is an effect that the focus adjustment can be performed from either the wide-angle image or the zoom image.

In the embodiment described above, the wide-angle image and the zoom image are switched, or the zoom image reflected by the half mirror is superimposed on the wide-angle image transmitted through the half mirror. By combining and displaying, it is possible to further improve operability. Next, an example of such a configuration will be described.

FIG. 4 is a constitutional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, what is equivalent to the first embodiment of FIG.
The same reference numerals are attached. Further, FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 14 is a zoom position detection circuit for detecting the zoom position of the zoom lens 1, reference numeral 15 is an arithmetic circuit for calculating the visual field range of the zoom image for a wide-angle image from the zoom position information output from the zoom position detection circuit 14, and 15 '. Is a visual field range display circuit for outputting a video signal indicating a portion corresponding to this visual field range, and 16 is a video signal switching circuit for selecting the video signal output by the visual field range display circuit 15 'when the switch 9 is pressed. If the switch 9 is not pressed, the video signal 101 output by the image pickup circuit 2 is selected. In addition, the switching device 10 'is
The shutter 11 and the video signal switching circuit 16 are controlled.
The zoom position detection circuit 14 and the visual field range display circuit 15 'are well known, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 4, when the switch 9 is not pressed, the shutter 11 is closed and the subject light c from the wide-angle lens 7
Is cut off, the video signal switching circuit 16 selects the video signal 101 from the image pickup circuit 2, and a zoom image is displayed on the display 4. Therefore, when the switch 9 is not pressed, the photographer can see the zoom image displayed on the display 4, as shown in FIG. 5 (B).

On the other hand, when the switch 9 is pressed, the shutter 11 is opened so that the subject light c from the wide-angle lens 7 passes through the half mirror 12 and the photographer can see it as a wide-angle image. Furthermore, in this state, since the video signal switching circuit 16 selects the output of the visual field range display circuit 15 ',
A display range of a zoom image with respect to a wide-angle image is displayed on the display unit 4, and this view-range image is reflected by the half mirror 12 and can be viewed by a photographer like a wide-angle image.
Therefore, from the photographer, the wide-angle image and the field-of-view range image 31 are combined by the half mirror 12 and appear as shown in FIG. 5 (A).

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in addition to the effect that the wide-angle image and the zoom image of the subject can be switched and viewed by operating the switch 9, the field of view range of the zoom image being captured on the wide-angle image is also increased. There is an effect that can be combined and projected.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily switch between a zoom image and a wide-angle image having a fixed field of view during shooting, and view the image with a viewfinder regardless of the zoom position of the zoom lens. It is possible to provide a zoom image display device of a video camera having an excellent function, in which the problem of the above is solved and the operability at the time of zoom shooting is significantly improved.

Further, in the present invention, when the shutter is opened (when switching to the wide-angle image during zoom shooting), the display on the display is stopped and only the wide-angle image from the optical system wide-angle monitor means (for example, wide-angle lens) is half-shot. It is possible to see only the wide-angle image by transmitting through the mirror, or reduce the display brightness on the display to see the wide-angle image through the half mirror and the zoom image reflected by the half mirror. Therefore, the usability is greatly improved. Further, since the wide-angle image and the zoom image are superposed optically on the half mirror portion (since they are performed by simple optical elements), the cost can be significantly reduced as compared with the case where the video signals are combined. It is possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a main configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1,1 '... Zoom lens, 2 ... Imaging circuit, 3 ... Display circuit, 4 ... Display unit, 7 ... Wide-angle lens, 8,8' ... Viewfinder, 9 ... Switch, 10,10 ′ …… Switching device, 11 …… Shutter, 12,52 …… Half mirror, 13
...... Display stop circuit, 14 …… Zoom position detection circuit, 15 ……
Arithmetic circuit, 15 '... View range display circuit, 16 ... Video signal switching circuit, 56 ... Mirror.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A zoom image display apparatus for a video camera, comprising display means for converting a subject light passing through a zoom lens into a video signal by an image pickup means and displaying a zoom image of the subject converted into the video signal, Optical system wide-angle monitor means for obtaining a wide-angle image having a wider field of view than the zoom image, and a shutter provided in the optical-system wide-angle monitor means for blocking the subject light incident on the optical system wide-angle monitor means. Means, and half mirror means for reflecting a zoom image from the display means or transmitting a wide-angle image from the optical system wide-angle monitor means.
A display control unit for controlling a display state of the zoom image, and the display control unit interlocks with opening and closing of the shutter unit to turn on / off display of the zoom image or display brightness of the zoom image. A zoom image display device for a video camera characterized by being controlled.