Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6518956?dq=5,778,372
Timestamp: 2014-11-26 05:50:42
Document Index: 573782581

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'arts 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19', 'art 19']

Patent US6518956 - Image pick-up apparatus - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsA display unit is provided with a touch panel (contact-position detecting device) on the image display screen of the display unit and is used by inverting (0 and 180 degrees) or rotating (opening/closing state) the image display screen. An orientation detecting device is provided for detecting the orientation...http://www.google.com/patents/US6518956?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6518956 - Image pick-up apparatusAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6518956 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 09/580,226Publication dateFeb 11, 2003Filing dateMay 26, 2000Priority dateMay 28, 1999Fee statusPaidAlso published asDE60026455D1, DE60026455T2, DE60042857D1, EP1063843A2, EP1063843A3, EP1063843B1, EP1628471A2, EP1628471A3, EP1628471B1, EP2107796A2, EP2107796A3, EP2285093A2, EP2285093A3Publication number09580226, 580226, US 6518956 B1, US 6518956B1, US-B1-6518956, US6518956 B1, US6518956B1InventorsHirokazu SatoOriginal AssigneeSony CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (3), Referenced by (71), Classifications (10), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetImage pick-up apparatusUS 6518956 B1Abstract A display unit is provided with a touch panel (contact-position detecting device) on the image display screen of the display unit and is used by inverting (0 and 180 degrees) or rotating (opening/closing state) the image display screen. An orientation detecting device is provided for detecting the orientation of the display unit. A table is provided for storing relationships between the coordinate positions of the touch panel and predetermined processing. When a predetermined operating part of the touch panel is touched, it is transformed into a coordinate position of the touch panel, and the predetermined processing corresponding to this coordinate position is performed.
Some conventional display units, such as external display monitors mounted on, for example, a video camera or a still camera, are used by changing their orientations relative to a camera main unit. This enables the external display monitors to be used for various situations, for example, when the external display monitor is used as an electronic viewfinder (hereinafter referred to as an �EVF�) for performing a recording operation (normal recording mode), when the video camera is used as a recording/playback device to play back recorded data (video cassette recorder (VCR) mode), and when the operator is a subject and takes an image of himself/herself while standing in front of the camera and observing the external display monitor (mirror mode).
Some conventional display units are loaded with a switch mounted on an image display screen of the display units, which is transparent so as to allow an image on the display screen to show through. Such a switch is a so-called touch panel. According to this touch panel, by directly touching an operation display image as a two-dimensional image on the display screen, a predetermined signal is output. The touch panel is known art and a detailed explanation thereof, such as the operation principle, will thus be omitted. By operating the touch panel for use in, for example, a video camera, commands concerning a tape running system, such as �stop�, �rewind�, �playback�, and �forward�, and commands concerning a recording mode, such as �focus�, �shutter speed�, �backlight correction�, and �white balance�, can be performed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, in view of the above background, it is an object of the present invention to maintain the operability of a contact-position detecting device, such as a touch panel, mounted on a display unit even if the orientation of the display unit is changed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view illustrating a display unit in a reference orientation according to an embodiment of the present invention;
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the drawings through illustration of a preferred embodiment.
In the touch panel 2, a voltage is applied between the upper side and the lower side in a predetermined direction, and a voltage is also applied between the left side and the right side. When touching a certain part (hereinafter referred to as an �operating part�) 3 mn of the touch panel 2, output voltages (X_A/D_value and Y_A/D_value) in the horizontal direction (X axis) and in the vertical direction (Y axis) are obtained. Based on the output voltages, it is possible to determine which operating part 3 mn on the touch panel 2 is touched (input). The subscripts �mn� attached to numeral �3� of the operating part designate the magnitudes of the output voltages of the touch panel 2, and for example, the subscripts of the upper left part in the reference orientation (discussed below) are indicated by �44� (see FIG. 1).
More specifically, it is now assumed that the display unit 1 positioned in the orientation illustrated in FIG. 1 is set as a reference (this orientation is referred to as the �reference orientation�), and that the upper left part 3 44 is set as a reference point Q on the coordinates of the operation part 3 mn of the touch panel 2. When the reference point Q is touched, maximum voltages (X_A/D_value_max, Y_A/D value_max) are output in the horizontal (X) direction and in the vertical (Y) direction. The maximum output voltages (X_A/D_value_max, Y_A/D_value_max) and the minimum output voltages (X_A/D_value_min, Y_A/D_value_min) in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction have been prepared as data.
Px (coordinate in the X-axis direction)=|X � A/D_value−X � A/D_value_max|/A/D_value� X Py (coordinate in the Y-axis direction)=|Y � A/D_value−Y � A/D_value max|/A/D_value� Y The amounts of change in the A/D value for one memory can be determined by dividing voltage differences between the above-described maximum output voltages (X_A/D_value_max, Y_A/D_value_max) and the minimum output voltages (X_A/D_value_min, Y_A/D_value_min) by the number of memories.
The display unit 1 is provided with a memory device (table) 4 which stores relationships between predetermined processing (operation) and coordinate positions Px, Py determined relative to the orientation in which the display unit 1 has been displaced. The subscripts �xy� attached to the symbol �P� at the coordinate position are designated relative to the two-dimensional absolute coordinates of the display unit 1 as viewed from the front. For example, the lower left part is indicated by �11�.
More specifically, in the table 4, the coordinate position Px and Py on the two-dimensional coordinates when the touch panel 2 is viewed from the front is related to the content of predetermined processing. When the lower left part P11 of the touch panel 2 viewed from the front is touched, processing �A� is performed. Upon touching the part P21, which is placed to the right of the part P11, processing �B� is executed, and upon touching the part P31, which is placed to the right of the part P21, processing �C� is performed. When the lower right part P41 is touched, processing �D� is executed. Such relationships are shown in FIG. 2.
The above-described coordinate position Px,Py is a position located on two-dimensional absolute coordinates when the touch panel 2 is viewed from the front. Accordingly, even if the orientation of the touch panel 2 is changed, the operating parts of the touch panel 2 remain the same, namely, the lower left part is �P11�, the adjacent part to the right is P21, and the next adjacent part to the right is P31, and the lower right part is P41.
The display unit 1 is rotated from the reference orientation by 180 degrees with respect to the horizontal axis X. When the display unit 1 is viewed from the opposite side of the plane of FIG. 3, it can be seen as shown in FIG. 4 (this orientation is referred to as �vertically and horizontally inverted orientation�). The state of the display unit 1 shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by rotating the display unit 1 shown in FIG. 3 by 180 degrees with respect to the vertical axis Y. In FIG. 4, the solid lines Sx and Sy are located at the lower side and the right side, respectively, and the reference point Q is displaced to the lower right part. The state of the display unit 1 shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by rotating the display unit shown in FIG. 1 by 180 degrees in the direction Z orthogonal to the plane of FIG. 1.
P x (coordinate in the X-axis direction)=|X � A/D_value−X� A/D_value min|/A/D_value� X P y (coordinate in the Y-axis direction)=|Y � A/D_value−Y� A/D_value_min|/A/D_value� Y Accordingly, even if the display unit 1 is located in the vertically and horizontally inverted orientation, the coordinate position Pxy of a certain operating part 3 mn on the touch panel 2 can be determined based on the new reference point R. For example, when the operating part 3 mn input on the vertically and horizontally inverted display unit 1 is the lower left part P11, the corresponding processing (operation) is performed in accordance with the table 4, which is the same processing as that when the lower left part P11 on the display unit 1 placed in the reference orientation, as shown in FIG. 1, is touched.
The monitor-orientation detecting switch 18, which is built in a hinge unit formed between the video camera main unit 6 a and the external display monitor 7, detects the orientation of the external display monitor 7 with respect to the video camera main unit 6 a and outputs the detected orientation to the microcomputer 17. More specifically, the monitor-orientation detecting switch 18 detects the pivoting state (opening/closing state) of the external display monitor 7 with respect to the video camera main unit 6 a and the rotation state with respect to the horizontal axis. The state in which the external display monitor 7 is opened and is not rotated is referred to as the �normal recording mode�; the state in which the external display monitor 7 is closed and is rotated by 180 degrees is referred to as the �VCR mode�; and the state in which the external display monitor 7 is opened and is rotated by 180 degrees is referred to as the �mirror mode�. In the normal recording mode, the external display monitor 7 is mainly used as the EVF 8 for performing a recording operation (see FIG. 8). In the �VCR mode�, the video camera 6 is mainly used as a recording/playback unit for playing back recorded data (see FIG. 9). In the �mirror mode�, primarily, the operator is a subject and takes an image of himself/herself while standing in front of the camera 6 and observing the external display monitor 7 (FIG. 10). The microcomputer 17 determines which mode is used based on the output of the above-described monitor-orientation detecting switch 18 according to the orientation of the external display monitor 7 with respect to the video camera main unit 6 a (see FIG. 5). The monitor-orientation detecting switch 18 is discussed in detail below.
In the normal recording mode determined in step S2, the external display monitor 7 is used as the EVF 8 of the video camera 6 for performing a recording operation. More specifically, by opening the external display monitor 7 with respect to the video camera main unit 6 a from the state shown in FIG. 7 to the state shown in FIG. 8 (in other words, by rotating the external display monitor 7 by 90 degrees with respect to the vertical axis Y), the operator performs a recording operation while viewing an image of a subject on the external display monitor 7. The orientation of the external display monitor 7 viewed from the front in the normal recording mode is determined to be the �reference orientation�, which is discussed below (see FIG. 8).
On the external display monitor 7 in the normal recording mode, the images obtained by mixing a video signal output from the video signal processor 13 and an operation display signal generated by the OSD controller 16 are displayed in the orientation in which the video image has been recorded and in the orientation in which the display image has been created. The operation display images 15 are sequentially indicated, as illustrated in FIG. 11, by display images 15 a, 15 b, 15 c, and 15 d (symbols ◯, ∇, Δ, and □, respectively) from the left. By touching the operating parts 19 mn (19 41, 19 31, 19 21, and 19 11) on the touch panel 11 corresponding to the operation display images 15 a, 15 b, 15 c, and 15 d, respectively, operations associated with such display images 15 a, 15 b, 15 c, and 15 d are performed. The subscripts �mn� attached to the numeral �19� of the operating part indicate the magnitudes of the output voltages of the touch panel 11, and for example, the subscripts of the upper left part of the external display monitor 7 in the reference orientation are represented by �44� (see FIG. 11). That is, in step S3 of FIG. 6, the operating part 19 44 at which the maximum voltages X_A/D_value_max and Y_A/D_value_max are obtained is determined to be a reference point.
More specifically, upon touching (inputting) the operating part 19 mn on the touch panel 11 corresponding to a predetermined operation display image 15, the two-dimensional coordinate position Pxy on the touch panel 11 corresponding to the touched operating part 19 mn is detected in the manner described above, and the processing (operation) associated with the operating part 19 m is operated in accordance with the table 4 which stores the relationship between the coordinate position Pxy and the corresponding operation. The subscripts �xy� attached to the symbol �P� of the coordinate position is a position according to the two-dimensional absolute coordinates of the display unit viewed from the front, and for example, the subscripts of the lower left part are indicated by �11�.
Px (coordinate in the X-axis direction)=|the voltage difference in the X direction|/A/D_value_X Px (coordinate in the Y-axis direction)=|the voltage difference in the Y direction|/ A/D_value_Y Then, in step S10, the corresponding processing (operation) is read from the table 4, and the process is completed.
Py (coordinate in the Y-axis direction)=|the voltage difference in the Y direction|/ A/D_value_Y Then, in step S10, the corresponding processing (operation) is read from the table 4, and the process is completed.
Px (coordinate in the X-axis direction)=|the voltage difference in the X direction|/A/D_value_X Py (coordinate in the Y-axis direction)=|the voltage difference in the Y direction|/A/D_value_Y With this arrangement, by inputting the display image 15 a (symbol ◯) displayed on the lower right of the screen, the operating part 19 14 is touched, and the processing (operation) A corresponding to the input image 15 a (symbol ◯) is performed (see FIG. 13).
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HIROKAZU;REEL/FRAME:011079/0900Effective date: 20000822Owner name: SONY CORPORATION 7-35 KITASHINAGAWA 6-CHOME SHINAGRotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google