JP3081377B2 - 3D video phone - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a three-dimensional video telephone apparatus using a three-dimensional image photographing and displaying apparatus which does not require the use of glasses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a stereoscopic image photographing and displaying apparatus which does not require the use of eyeglasses, the present applicant has already filed Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 2-29.
No. 1025 and "1991 Television Society Annual Meeting".

The principle of this device will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the photographing apparatus includes n video cameras C1 to Cn arranged in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 4, and is configured to photograph a subject. At this time, the imaging surfaces S1 to Sn of the respective video cameras are arranged on the same plane, and the optical axis of each imaging lens L1 is orthogonal to the imaging surfaces S1 to Sn. Further, the imaging ranges of the respective video cameras coincide in the subject area. Each image obtained by capturing the same subject from different angles with parallax by the n cameras is called a parallax image.

On the other hand, the display device is provided with n display elements D1 to Dn composed of a CRT or a liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. 5, and supplied with video signals photographed by the video cameras C1 to Cn. The display elements are arranged horizontally and in the same plane. In front of this, n projection lenses L2 are arranged in a relationship similar to the relationship between each imaging surface and each imaging lens in FIG.

Further, a large-diameter convex lens L3 for separating a plurality of parallax images on the observation surface is disposed in front of the projection lens, and the n parallax images are enlarged on the convex lens L3. Projected.

If the focal length of the convex lens L3 is f, the distance from the optically effective position of the projection lens group to the optically effective position of the convex lens L3 and the distance from the convex lens L3 to the observation surface are both set to 2f. .

The convex lens L3 may be a Fresnel convex lens.

When a video signal photographed by the above photographing device is supplied to a display device, n parallax images are projected on the same position on the convex lens L3 so as to overlap each other, but each parallax image is refracted by the convex lens L3. The images are radiated as lights having different directivities, and are radiated to different horizontal positions on the observation surface at a distance of 2f from the optically effective position of the convex lens L3. Therefore, when the observer looks into the convex lens L3, the observer can recognize two parallax images as n-dimensional images by viewing them with left and right eyes, respectively.

[0009] On the other hand, in recent years, videophones capable of talking while confirming the faces of speakers have become widespread. However, there has been no videophone to which the above-described stereoscopic image photographing and displaying apparatus has been applied.

[0010] In the case of a videophone, it is necessary to match the eyes of the speakers.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and is capable of making the eyes of the speakers coincide with each other and displaying stereoscopic images without special glasses. It is intended to provide a three-dimensional videophone device using a photographing display device.

[0012]

According to the present invention, an image pickup means for photographing a first subject as a plurality of parallax images viewed from different angles, and a plurality of video signals representing a plurality of parallax images of the second subject are provided. Display means respectively provided, disposed between the imaging means and the display means and the first subject, function as a part of the imaging lens at the time of shooting,
A stereoscopic videophone device comprising: a convex lens on which a plurality of parallax images displayed by the display means are formed during display.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a three-dimensional image of the first object is photographed by the imaging means via the convex lens, and a three-dimensional image of the second object displayed on the display means is formed on the convex lens.

[0014]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a video telephone device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an optical path when the video telephone device is viewed from a side, and FIG. In the figure, reference numerals 1 and 2 denote first and second three-dimensional videophone devices arranged in front of speakers A and B, respectively. C1-C
“n” denotes n video cameras, which are arranged in each of the three-dimensional videophone devices 1 and 2 so as to satisfy the principle of the photographing device in FIG. D1 to Dn denote n display means, which are arranged in the first three-dimensional videophone device 1 and satisfy the principle of the display device of FIG.

A large-diameter convex lens L3 is arranged at a position 4f away from the imaging lens L1 and 2f away from the projection lens L2 on the front of each stereoscopic videophone device. Here, the optical constant of the convex lens L3 is set so as to constitute the optical system of the video camera C1 together with the imaging lens L1.

In the optical path between the convex lens L3 and the display means, a half mirror M is disposed at an angle of about 45 degrees. The half mirror M reflects light from the outside and makes it incident on the video camera, and also transmits light from the display means and irradiates it to the outside.

Further, the three-dimensional videophone devices 1 and 2 are connected by a telephone line 3. In addition, 11 and 21 are receivers, respectively.

Next, the operation of the three-dimensional video telephone will be described.

First, in the first three-dimensional video telephone 1, an image of the speaker A located at a position 2f away from the convex lens L3 is reflected by the half mirror M, and then is reflected by the convex lens L3.
An image is formed at a position X distant from f. Then, this image is formed again on the imaging surface S1 of each video camera via each imaging lens L1. Accordingly, a plurality of parallax images of speaker A are captured on each of the imaging surfaces. The stereoscopic image photographed in this manner is transmitted to the second stereoscopic videophone device 2 through the telephone line 3 together with the sound from the receiver 11.

In the second three-dimensional video telephone 2, a received three-dimensional image of the speaker A, that is, a plurality of parallax images is displayed on the display means D1 to Dn, respectively. Each parallax image displayed here passes through the projection lens L2, the half mirror M, and the convex lens L3 to form an image at the position of the speaker B. Therefore, the speaker B recognizes the stereoscopic image together with the voice of the speaker A. it can.

Similarly, the image and voice of speaker B are
Conveyed to.

In the above-described apparatus, since the optical axes of the image pickup system and the display system are the same, the eyes of the speakers when looking into the convex lens L3 are the same.

Incidentally, the convex lens L3 may be a Fresnel convex lens.

In this embodiment, a plurality of video cameras are used as the image pickup means, but US Pat. No. 4,943,8
As shown in No. 60, if a method of capturing a subject image viewed from different directions in a time-division manner is adopted, only one imaging means may be used.

Although a plurality of display devices are used in this embodiment, a sensor for detecting the position of a speaker may be provided on the display device so that the display device is moved in conjunction with the movement of the speaker. The number of display devices may be two.

Further, as shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-74088, the convex lens L3 is constituted by a lens group having a variable focal length, and the photographing distance data is added to the video signal from the camera and transmitted to the display side. If a stereoscopic image is obtained by changing the focal length of the lens group and changing the convergence angle based on the photographing distance data, the video camera and the display device can be realized by one each.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a three-dimensional videophone device that displays three-dimensional images without special glasses.

Also, since the speakers can talk with each other while looking through the convex lens, their eyes can be almost matched.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a three-dimensional videophone device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an optical path viewed from the side of the three-dimensional videophone device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an optical path of the stereoscopic videophone device of the present embodiment when shooting.

FIG. 4 is a principle diagram of the three-dimensional image capturing and displaying apparatus when capturing an image.

FIG. 5 is a principle diagram of the stereoscopic image photographing and displaying apparatus when photographing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, first and second three-dimensional videophone devices C1 to Cn video cameras D1 to Dn display means L1 imaging lens L2 projection lens L3 convex lens M half mirror

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hideyuki Kanayama 2--18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-78694 (JP, A) JP-A-63-228890 (JP, A) JP-A-5-252539 (JP, A) JP-B-47-30569 (JP, B1) US Patent 3,525,807 (US, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) ) H04N 13/00-15/00 H04N 7/14-7/15

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An imaging unit that captures a plurality of parallax images of a first subject from different angles; a display unit to which a plurality of video signals representing a plurality of parallax images of a second subject are supplied; A convex lens that is arranged between the imaging unit and the display unit and the first subject, functions as a part of an imaging lens during shooting, and forms a plurality of parallax images displayed by the display unit during display; A stereoscopic videophone device comprising: 2. The three-dimensional videophone device according to claim 1, wherein said convex lens is a Fresnel convex lens. 3. The three-dimensional videophone device according to claim 1, wherein a half mirror is arranged between said convex lens and said imaging means.