JP2013041172A - Prompter device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a prompter device that controls the size of image information depending on distance between a subject and the prompter device to allow the subject to easily see the image information.SOLUTION: A prompter device has a lens, and includes: an imaging optical unit that takes an image of a subject; a display unit that has a display screen for displaying an image; distance measuring means for measuring distance to the subject; and control means for controlling the display unit in such a way that the image is displayed larger on the display screen as the distance to the subject obtained by the distance measuring means becomes longer.

Description

  The present invention relates to a prompter device, and more particularly to a prompter device that displays image information such as a document in front of a subject.

  Conventionally, in television broadcasting, for example, an announcer shows characters or figures that the announcer needs to shoot while directing his gaze toward the TV camera, as if the subject was speaking and memorizing the manuscript. There is known a prompter device that displays a document on a display unit arranged in the vicinity of the television camera. The prompter device and the subject are often several meters apart. An announcer or the like who is a subject can speak while reading the original without gazing away from the TV camera by viewing the original on the display unit arranged in the vicinity of the TV camera through the distance.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a prompter device that calculates a document reading speed of a subject based on a predetermined document reading time, the number of words and the number of characters of the document, and displays the document on a display unit.

Japanese Patent No. 3298254 JP 05-041830 A JP 09-251534 A

  However, in the conventional technology disclosed in the above-mentioned patent document, when the distance between the subject and the prompter device is far away, the announcer or the like as the subject is small and difficult to read on the manuscript displayed on the display unit. There was a problem. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a prompter device that controls the size of image information according to the distance between the subject and the prompter device so that the subject can easily see the image information.

  In order to achieve the above object, a prompter device according to the present invention has a lens, an imaging optical unit for photographing a subject, a display unit having a display screen for displaying an image, and a distance to the subject. A distance measuring unit; and a control unit configured to control the display unit such that the larger the distance to the subject obtained by the distance measuring unit is, the larger the image is displayed on the display screen.

  According to the present invention, since the size of the image information is controlled according to the distance between the subject and the prompter device, it is possible to provide a prompter device that makes it easier for the subject to view the image information.

Schematic of the prompter device of the present invention. The block diagram of the system of the prompter apparatus in Example 1 of this invention. The image figure when the image information in Example 1 of this invention is output to the display part. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a correlation between subject distance information and image information in the prompter device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram of the prompter device which has the half mirror of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow of a control unit when setting information and document information are superimposed in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The flowchart which shows the processing flow of the control part when the setting information and video information in Example 1 of this invention are superimposed. The block diagram of the system of the prompter apparatus in Example 2 of this invention. The database of the priority setting means in Example 2 of this invention. The block diagram of the system of the prompter apparatus in Example 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the face detection frame and ranging frame in Example 3 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the processing flow of the control part in Example 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the face detection frame of several persons in Example 3 of this invention. The block diagram of the system of the prompter apparatus in Example 4 of this invention. The figure which shows the face registration data in Example 4 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the processing flow of the control part in Example 4 of this invention. Schematic diagram of the digital video of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a prompter device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the prompter device of the present invention includes an imaging optical unit that captures a subject, and a display unit that displays information such as characters to be shown to an announcer that is the subject. Here, photographing a subject may refer to an operation of forming an image of a subject on an image sensor via an optical system and photoelectrically converting and storing the subject image formed on the image sensor, Moreover, you may point to the operation | movement which connects only the image of a to-be-photographed object.
First, a schematic configuration of a photographing system including a prompter device and its peripheral devices will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  The imaging optical unit 1 includes a lens group such as a zoom group for changing the zoom magnification and a focus group for focus adjustment, an iris mechanism, a filter mechanism, a microphone for acquiring sound, and the imaging optical unit 1. For storing and outputting setting information such as a focus value. The imaging optical unit 1 outputs a video signal of a subject image taken through an optical system and an imaging device. Further, the imaging optical unit 1 outputs setting information of the imaging optical unit 1 to an image input unit 6 described later. The setting information referred to here is information on date and time display required for the subject 2 described later, information on the subject distance, information on sound, information indicating that shooting is being performed, or information indicating that shooting is stopped. Hereinafter, information output from the imaging optical unit 1 to the image input unit 6a is defined as setting information. Here, the imaging optical unit includes an imaging apparatus body (camera body) including an imaging element and a lens device that guides light from a subject to the imaging element. You may be only a lens apparatus.

  The subject 2 photographed by the imaging optical unit 1 is an announcer, newscaster, presenter, performer, etc. of a broadcasting station, while looking at image information on a display unit 9 described later disposed in the vicinity of the imaging optical unit 1, The line of sight can be spoken without taking the line of sight from the imaging optical unit 1.

  The distance measuring means 3 is a distance measuring sensor built in the imaging optical unit 1 or provided in the vicinity of the imaging optical unit 1 and measures the distance to the subject 2, and the distance L to the subject is at least a pair or more. The distance measurement value measured by the phase difference detection method having the line sensor is output to the control unit 7 described later. Alternatively, the focal length value may be output to the control unit 7 from the position of the focus group of the imaging optical unit 1. Hereinafter, it is defined as distance information including the value output from the distance measuring means 3 to the control unit 7 and the focal length value obtained from the position of the focus group. The distance L to the subject here is the distance between the main subject (the subject that is in focus) and the image sensor, the distance between the main subject and the focus detection element that detects the in-focus state, the main subject The distance between the main subject and the imaging optical unit may be used. In addition, the distance L to the subject here is not necessarily an actual distance, and distance information including data corresponding to the distance to the subject is sufficient.

  The document input device 4 inputs text information necessary for the subject 2 in a character data format with a keyboard of a personal computer or the like, and outputs the information to the image input unit 6. Hereinafter, information output from the document input device 4 to the image input unit 6 is defined as document information.

  The document camera 5 is disposed above the subject in order to photograph a paper document or the like placed on the desk by the subject. The video imaged by the document camera 5 is output to the image input unit 6 as image data. Hereinafter, video output from the document camera 5 to the image input unit 6 is defined as video information. Here, the document to be photographed is not limited to the document on the desk of the subject, but is an image when photographing information prepared in a place different from the subject and providing it to the announcer who is the subject. Information shall also be included.

  Hereinafter, information that is the source of information to be displayed on the display unit 9 and includes setting information, document information, and video information is referred to as image source information.

  When the photographer or the subject 2 operates the operation unit 8 connected to the control unit 7, at least one piece of information to be displayed on the display unit is selected from setting information, document information, and video information. Hereinafter, information indicating which information is selected is referred to as selection information. The control unit 7 acquires the selected information from the image input unit 6. When two or more pieces of information are selected by the operation unit 8, the control unit 7 creates image information to be displayed on the display unit 9 by superimposing the selected information, and outputs the image information to the display unit 9. For example, in the example of FIG. 3A, the control unit 7 outputs image information obtained by superimposing setting information and document information to the display unit 9. In the example of FIG. 3B, the control unit 7 outputs image information obtained by superimposing (combining) the setting information and the video information to the display unit 9.

  In addition, the control unit 7 includes display control means 7 a that controls how large the image information is displayed on the display unit 9 based on the distance information. The display control unit 7a calculates the size of the image information displayed on the display unit 9 based on the relationship between the distance information and the image information as shown in FIG. 4 stored in the nonvolatile memory of the control unit 7. . Here, the size of the image information is an amount indicating how large the image information is displayed on the display unit 9. For example, in the case of having image information in a character data format, the amount represents the size of a character to be displayed (the size of one character), and therefore corresponds to a character size such as a font size. Accordingly, as the image information is larger (enlarged and displayed), the amount of information that can be displayed on the screen of the display unit 9 is smaller, and as the image information is smaller (reduced and displayed), The amount of information that can be displayed at one time is large. A straight line s in FIG. 4A indicates that as the distance information becomes larger (the subject distance becomes longer), the image information becomes larger (the image information is enlarged and displayed). For example, FIG. 3A shows when the distance between the subject 2 and the distance measuring means 3 is long, and FIG. 3C shows when the distance is short. In contrast to FIG. 3A, in FIG. 3C, the font size of characters displayed on the display unit 9 is reduced and the amount of information displayed is increased as the distance becomes shorter.

  Further, as indicated by the intersection h in FIG. 4A, a certain size h of image information may be secured even when the value of the distance information approaches zero. Further, as shown by a non-linear straight line connecting the straight line s, the intersection point n, and the straight line t, an upper limit may be set in the size of the image information. The upper limit t of the value of the intersection h and the size of the image information may be given by the photographer inputting from the operation unit 8 or by calculating based on the monitor size of the display unit 9. . The reason why the upper limit is necessary is that, on the straight line s, the longer the distance between the subject 2 and the distance measuring means 3, the larger the size of the image information and the smaller the amount of information such as characters shown on the display unit 9. This is because if the image information is enlarged and displayed more than necessary, the image information becomes meaningless for the subject 2 rather. The magnitude of the image information is not limited to the relationship between the distance information illustrated in FIG. 4A and the image information, but based on the nonlinear correlation as shown by the curves u, v, and w in FIG. It is also possible to control (magnification for displaying image information). In the present invention, as described above, the size of image information (characters) to be displayed is increased when the distance to the main subject (announcer or the like) to be focused is increased, and is displayed when the distance is decreased. The size of the image information is reduced. That is, when the main subject moves away from the imaging optical unit, the image information to be displayed is changed to be enlarged, and when the main subject moves in the direction closer to the imaging optical unit, the image information to be displayed is displayed. Change to reduce. Here, the size of the input image information is not described, but the enlargement operation and the reduction operation for converting the input image information into characters of the above-described size should be appropriately performed using a known technique. And In addition, although the case where the information to be displayed is mainly described here is not limited to this, it may be a picture such as a photograph or a moving image.

  The photographer or the subject 2 operates the operation unit 8 to select image source information from the image input unit 6 for superimposing by the control unit 7 to create image information, and display control means of the control unit 7 It is possible to perform operations such as enabling / disabling 7a, starting or stopping shooting, changing the zoom magnification of the imaging optical unit 1, and inputting the monitor size of the display unit 9.

  There are two positional relationships between the display unit 9 that displays the image information output from the control unit 7 to the display unit 9 and the imaging optical unit 1. One of them is a case where the display unit is arranged in the vicinity of the imaging optical unit 1 as shown in the schematic diagram of the prompter device in FIG. In the example of FIG. 1, the case where the display unit 9 is disposed above the imaging optical unit 1 is shown. The other is, as shown in the schematic diagram of the prompter device in FIG. 5, the display unit 9 is arranged on the lower front side of the imaging optical unit 1 with the display screen direction of the display unit 9 facing upward, This is a case where the half mirror 10 inclined by 45 ° with respect to the display screen 9 is arranged in front of the imaging optical unit 1.

  Next, a processing flow of the control unit 7 when the setting information and the document information in Embodiment 1 are superimposed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart when the image input unit 6 superimposes the setting information of the imaging optical unit 1 and the document information of the document input device 4 and outputs the image information to the control unit 7.

  In step S <b> 101, the control unit 7 receives image information from the image input unit 6 (document information from the document input device 4 and setting information from the imaging optical unit 1) based on the selection information selected by the operation unit 8. Read and proceed to step S102.

  In step S102, the distance information is read from the distance measuring means or the imaging optical unit, and the process proceeds to step S103.

  In step S103, the size of the image information (such as a magnification for displaying the image information) is calculated based on the correlation between the distance information of the display control means 7a stored in the control unit 7 shown in FIG. 4 and the image information.

  In step S104, based on the result calculated in step S103, image information is created by superimposing the document information and the setting information with or without enlarging or reducing them, and outputting them to the display unit 9.

  Next, a processing flow of the control unit 7 when the setting information and the video information in Embodiment 1 are superimposed will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart when the image input unit 6 superimposes the setting information of the imaging optical unit 1 and the video information of the document camera 5 and outputs image information.

  In step S <b> 111, the control unit 7 reads information from the image input unit 6 (video information from the document camera 5 and setting information from the imaging optical unit 1) based on the selection information selected by the operation unit 8. The process proceeds to step S112.

  In step S112, the distance information is read from the distance measuring means or the imaging optical unit, and the process proceeds to step S113.

  In step S113, the size of the image information (such as a magnification for displaying the image information) is calculated based on the correlation between the distance information of the display control means 7a stored in the control unit 7 shown in FIG. 4 and the image information.

  In step S114, the video information and setting information displayed at a predetermined position are superimposed on the display unit 9 so that the display frame of the display unit 9 displayed when the size of the image information is changed is displayed as a preview. The image information obtained by superimposing the display frame on the image information is output to the display unit 9. For example, the broken line frame shown in FIG. 3B is the display of the display unit 9 when the preview is displayed.

  In step S115, first, a request for determining the reference position of the broken line frame is displayed on the display unit 9 in order to change the position of the broken line frame of the preview display displayed on the display unit 9. Next, when the subject 2 or the photographer operates the operation unit 8, a signal for selecting the reference position is input to the control unit 7.

  In step S116, the image information in the display frame is displayed on the full screen of the display unit 9 based on the reference position selected in step S115 and the size (display frame) of the image information that is the result calculated in step S113. The control unit 7 generates image information and outputs it to the display unit 9 so that the setting information is displayed at a predetermined position in the changed image information. For example, image information displayed on the display unit 9 based on the reference position selected in step S115 and the result calculated in step S113 is shown in FIG.

  When the control unit 7 superimposes setting information, document information, and video information, the display color displayed on the display unit 9 may be changed according to each information. For example, image information may be created by superimposing setting information to be displayed in red and document information in blue, and displayed on the display unit 9.

  When the size of the image information is changed by the display control means 7a, the scroll speed of the image information displayed on the display unit 9 may be changed by the control unit 7. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, when the size of image information to be displayed is small and the number of characters is large, the scroll speed is slowed down. When the size of image information to be displayed is large and the number of characters is small, the scroll speed is set to be low. You can do it quickly.

  In this embodiment, the document information in the character data format input from the document input device 4 and the video information in the image data format input from the document shooting camera 5 have been described as an example. Document information in character data format includes text information, and by specifying the page layout to be displayed (top / bottom / left / right margin positions, etc.), font, font size, etc., without affecting the content of the information This is taken up as an example where the appearance of line breaks and page breaks can be changed freely. In addition, the video information in the image data format is taken as an example of information that cannot change the content including the arrangement in the video information. Therefore, even in the case of electronic information edited by a device such as a personal computer that is cited as an example of the document input device 4, information of a data type that cannot change the page layout, font, etc. The effect of the present invention can be enjoyed by applying the method for changing the size of image information performed on video information in the image data format. In addition, in electronic information edited by a device such as a personal computer, information that includes data in character data format and data other than character data, such as image data format, is used for page layouts and fonts for the mixed data. It should be noted that by using software that can change the above, it is possible to appropriately change the size of the image information in the control unit and enjoy the effects of the present invention.

  An effect of the first embodiment is to provide a prompter device that can maintain a state in which a subject such as an announcer can easily view image information because the size of the displayed image information is controlled according to the distance between the subject and the prompter device. Can do.

  The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are omitted. A configuration of an imaging system having a prompter device will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 20 includes a priority order setting unit 20b, and the priority order setting unit 20b sets the priority order to be displayed on the display unit 9 for each character group such as characters and graphics in the setting information and the document information. Save it on the database. The database is stored in a non-volatile memory, or is stored in a memory in which priority can be set and written by operating the operation unit 21. An example of the database of the priority order setting means 20b is shown in FIG. In FIG. 9, the item with the highest priority is the document information, and the item with the next highest priority is during shooting of the setting information or shooting stop. In addition to the function of the control unit 7 of the first embodiment, the control unit 20 has a high priority based on the size of the image information determined based on the distance information and the priority set by the priority setting unit 20b. It has a display control means 20a for displaying items preferentially. Based on the determined size of the image information and the screen size of the display unit, the display control unit 20a determines not to display an item set with a low priority as necessary.

  The control of the display control means 20a will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 3 (a), and 3 (c). In FIG. 9, the order of priority is set as follows: document information> setting information “ON AIR or stop”> setting information “time”> setting information “date”>. Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the image information displayed on the display unit 9 corresponding to the distance information includes the document information having a high priority and the setting information “ON AIR”. Suppose that the “time” of the setting information and the “date” of the setting information. When the distance information value changes so as to increase, the display control means 20a controls the document information and the setting information “under shooting” as shown in FIG. 3A corresponding to the changed distance information. "And the" time "of the setting information are displayed in large size, and the" date "of the setting information is deleted from the display.

  The display control means 20a preferentially superimposes image source information with a high priority so that the amount of information in the image information that is created by superimposing the image source information and output to the display unit 9 does not exceed a predetermined threshold. Used as image source information. As an effect of the second embodiment, since image information with high priority is preferentially displayed and the size of the image information is controlled, the image information necessary for the subject 2 can be obtained even if the subject and the prompter device are far apart. A prompter device that is easy to see can be provided. In addition, when the distance between the subject and the prompter device is far and the image information is displayed in a large size, the information is displayed on the display unit 9 in order of priority, so that the image information necessary for the subject can be displayed within a limited screen. , Can be provided in a way that is easy to see depending on the situation.

  Hereinafter, a prompter apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Description of the same parts as those in the first and second embodiments is omitted. The configuration of an imaging system having the prompter device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 30 includes display control means 30a and face detection means 30b. The face detection unit 30b recognizes the face of a person in the video data obtained by the imaging optical unit 1 and detects a region in the captured video. For example, as a method for detecting a person's face area, a method for determining from the shape of a skin color area of a captured image (see Patent Document 2) or a method for determining by a pattern matching method between a captured image and a plurality of standard patterns (Patent Document) 3) is applicable.

  When the face detection unit 30b detects a person's face in the image obtained by the imaging optical unit 1, for example, the detected person's face is indicated by a broken line frame as shown in FIG. On the other hand, FIG. 11B shows 35 positions where the distance measuring unit 3 can measure the distance of the image captured by the imaging optical unit 1 by 35 broken circles. The distance measuring means 3 can measure the distance in each range obtained by dividing the photographing screen into a plurality of parts.

  Next, a processing flow of the display control unit 30a immediately after the face detection unit 30b of the control unit 7 according to the third embodiment detects a human face will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S301, the position on the imaging screen where the face detection means 30b detected the face is calculated.

  In step S302, the distance measurement value of the distance measuring unit 3 is read with respect to the position on the imaging screen where the face is detected calculated in step S301. For example, in FIG. 11B, the distance measurement value is for the broken line frame No. 9. At this time, when the face image extends over a plurality of ranging positions, a plurality of ranging values may be averaged.

  In step S303, the size of the image information is calculated according to the distance measurement value.

  In step S304, based on the distance measurement value calculated in step S303, image information is generated by superimposing the information input from the image input unit 6 without enlarging, reducing, or changing the size of the information. Output to the display unit 9.

  When the face detection unit 30b detects at least one face, a face detection frame is displayed on the finder 32 that displays the image of the imaging optical unit 1, and the photographer operates the operation unit 8. By selecting a specific person, the size of the image information may be controlled based on the distance information of the selected person. For example, FIG. 13 shows a display when a face detection frame is displayed on the finder 32 and the photographer selects the face detection frame A as a target subject by operating the operation unit 8 as a person selection unit.

In this embodiment, the distance detection unit 3 measures the position on the imaging screen where the face detection unit 30b detects the face. However, even if the face detection unit 30b does not detect the face, the operation unit 8 performs imaging. The position on the screen may be specified, the specified position may be measured, and the size of the image information may be controlled.
By having the configuration of the third embodiment, when the subject 2 is projected on the imaging optical unit 1, the photographer automatically detects the face of the subject 2 in the captured image, so that the photographer sets the position of the subject 2 with the operation unit 9. You can enjoy the effect that the work to identify is reduced. Furthermore, when the relative positional relationship between the imaging optical unit 1 and the subject 2 changes during shooting, for example, when the imaging optical unit 1 turns or when the subject 2 moves back and forth and right and left, the captured video is automatically captured. Since the face of the subject 2 is detected in the camera and the size of the image information is controlled according to the distance information of the detected position, the photographer can reduce the work of specifying the position of the subject 2 by the operation unit 9. You can enjoy the effect of becoming.

  Hereinafter, a prompter apparatus according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. A description of the same parts as those in the first to third embodiments will be omitted. The configuration of an imaging system having a prompter device will be described with reference to FIG.

  The control unit 40 includes display control means 40a, priority order setting means 40b, and face detection means 40c.

  The priority setting means 40b generates face registration data (face information) based on the feature points of the person's face photographed by the imaging optical unit 1. For example, the face registration data of the person is generated from the position of the detected feature point of the face, the size of the face part from the feature point, the relative distance of each feature point, and the like. The generated face registration data is stored in the control unit 40. As shown in FIG. 15, the stored face registration data can be set and input with priority by the operation unit 8. Further, personal information such as name and visual acuity may be additionally input to the stored face registration data by the operation unit 8 or other input means.

  Next, a processing flow of the display control unit 40a immediately after the face detection unit 40c of the control unit 40 according to the fourth embodiment detects a plurality of persons will be described with reference to FIG.

  In step S401, the number N of persons detected by the face detection means 40c is stored. A number (1 to N) is assigned to each detected person and stored. For example, in FIG. 13, numbers are assigned as face detection frame A = 1, face detection frame B = 2, and face detection frame C = 3. In addition, the face recognition processing number i in step S405 described later is initialized to i = 0.

  Next, in step S402, the positions on the imaging screen of all persons whose faces are detected by the face detection unit 40c are calculated, and the process proceeds to step S403.

  In step S403, the distance measurement value of the distance measuring means 3 for the position on the imaging screen calculated in step S402 is read, and the process proceeds to step S404.

  In step S404, the face recognition processing number i is incremented, and the process proceeds to step S405.

  In step S405, face recognition processing for extracting facial feature points is performed on the face area with the assigned number that matches the stored face recognition processing number i, and new face registration data is generated. Remember. In the face recognition process in step S405, the focus group, the iris mechanism, and the like of the imaging optical unit 1 may be driven in order to execute the face recognition process from a clear image without blur.

  In step S406, it is determined whether i ≧ N. If i ≧ N, the process proceeds to step S407. If i <N, the process returns to step S404 to perform face recognition processing for the next person.

  In step S407, it is determined whether or not the feature points of the new face registration data generated in step S405 coincide with the feature points of the face registration data to which past priorities have been assigned. If a face with matching feature points is included, the process proceeds to step S408, and if not, the process proceeds to step S410.

  In step S408, the face area with the highest priority is determined from the face registration data determined to match the feature points in step S407, and the process proceeds to step S409. In step S409, in accordance with the distance information of the face with high priority determined in step S408, the display unit 9 is further made to correspond to auxiliary data such as visual acuity corresponding to the person recognized as the face with high priority. The size of the image information to be displayed is calculated, and the process proceeds to step S411.

  In step S410, the size of the image information is calculated according to the average value of the distance information for a plurality of faces. Or you may calculate the magnitude | size of image information according to the distance information corresponding to the face in the center of an imaging screen among several faces. Alternatively, the size of the image information may be calculated according to distance information having the smallest value among the distance information corresponding to a plurality of faces. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S411.

  In step S411, based on the result calculated in step S409 or step S410, image information is created by superimposing the information input from the image input unit without enlarging, reducing, or changing, and displaying the information. To the unit 9.

  In the fourth embodiment, the photographer operates the user to automatically determine a high priority person who should provide image information in an easy-to-see manner among the plurality of face-recognized subjects 2 and adjust the size of the image information. The operation of specifying the position of the subject 2 by the unit 9 can be reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the image information displayed on the display unit 9 is shown as the image information for one person, but the image information may be displayed for a plurality of persons. For example, the size of the image information can be changed according to each person on the display unit 9, or the image information can be displayed according to each person by dividing the display on the display unit 9 into a plurality of parts. Alternatively, by assigning a display unit to each of a plurality of persons by a system including a plurality of display units, necessary information for each person can be provided as optimum image information for each person.

  In the above-described embodiment, the display of the display unit 9 is made easier to see by changing the size of the character. However, the character of the display unit 9 is changed depending on the aperture value of the imaging optical unit 1 or the measured illuminance value. The display may be made easier to see by changing the color or background color.

  The present invention can be used in various electronic devices having a display function, such as a digital camera, a digital video camera, and a display device that display a document. For example, FIG. 17 shows a schematic diagram of a digital video camera. In this case, the document information for the digital video can be read by being incorporated in a storage element such as a memory card, or input from a key operation unit provided for the digital video, or read using a network function. is there. Further, the display unit 9 can read a document by the subject 2 by using a face-to-face monitor.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging optical part 3 Distance measurement means 6 Image input part 7 Control part 7a Display control means 9 Display part

Claims (12)

An imaging optical unit that has a lens and images a subject;
A display unit having a display screen for displaying an image;
A distance measuring means for measuring the distance to the subject;
Control means for controlling the display unit such that the longer the distance to the subject obtained by the distance measuring means, the larger the image is displayed on the display screen;
A prompter device comprising:   The prompter apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image input unit configured to input image source information.   The control unit changes a display magnification for the image source information in the image data format according to the distance to the subject obtained by the distance measurement unit, and changes the image source information in the character data format. 3. The prompter device according to claim 2, wherein the size of the image source information is changed by changing a character size. The image source information input to the image input unit includes at least one or more of document information in character data format, setting information of the imaging optical unit, and video information that is image data,
The control means changes the size of the image source information according to the distance to the subject obtained by the distance measurement means, superimposes to create image information, and outputs the image information to the display unit.
The prompter device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein   The operation unit that determines a reference position of image source information in an image data format, and the control unit creates the image information based on the reference position and outputs the image information to the display unit. 3. A prompter device according to 3. Priority order setting means for setting priority order to be displayed on the display unit of image source information;
The control means preferentially superimposes the high-priority image source information so that the amount of information in the image information created by superimposing the image original information does not exceed a threshold value. The prompter device according to any one of 2 to 5. Face detection means for detecting a human face area in an image obtained from the imaging optical unit;
The control means changes the size of the original image information based on the distance information to the person detected by the face detection means.
The prompter device according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the prompter device is provided. When the face detecting means detects a plurality of persons, the photographer has a person selecting means for specifying one person,
The control means changes the size of the image source information based on the distance information of the specified one person.
The prompter device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the prompter device is provided. The priority order setting means sets a priority order for each of a plurality of face information,
The control means, when the face detection means detects a plurality of face areas, changes the size of the image source information based on the distance of the subject with respect to the face information having a high priority.
The prompter device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the prompter device is provided.   The distance measuring unit is a distance measuring sensor provided in the imaging optical unit, and a distance to a subject obtained by the distance measuring unit is based on a distance measuring value of the distance measuring sensor. The prompter device according to any one of 1 to 9.   The distance measuring means is a distance measuring sensor provided in the vicinity of the display unit, and a distance to a subject obtained by the distance measuring means is based on a distance measured value of the distance measuring sensor. The prompter device according to any one of 1 to 9.   12. The prompter device according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting validity / invalidity of the display control means.

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