Remote image-pickup system, camera device, and card substrate

• US 7,821,550 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2005
• Issued: 10/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamashina, Tomokuni
• Primary Examiner(s): Villecco, John M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Kent
• Application Number:
  US11/032,062
• Publication Number:
  US 20050174445A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,114 Days
• Field of Search: 348/231.7, 348/375, 348/233, 348/211.1, 348/231.9, 348/143, 358/1.15, 375/316, 375/347
• US Class Current: 348/231.7
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/66 Remote control of cameras or camera parts, e.g. by remote control devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources

Abstract

A remote image-pickup system includes a camera device including an image-pickup unit for capturing an image of a subject and generating picture signals and a card slot; and a plurality of types of card substrates which are selectively inserted into the card slot and which convert the format of the picture signals so as to output the converted signals to an external device. By inserting different card substrates into the card slot, a plurality of formats of picture signals can be output from the camera device. Accordingly, the format of the picture signals output from the camera device can be flexibly expanded. Further, since many circuits for converting the picture signals need not be incorporated into the camera device, an increase in the size and price of the camera device can be prevented.

Claims

1. A remote image-pickup system, comprising:

a camera device including

an image-pickup unit configured to capture an image of a subject and to generate video signals;

a generation unit configured to generate a luminance signal and a chrominance signal from said video signals; and

a card slot including a backboard connector, the backboard connector configured to receive the luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and a camera operation control signal separately from each other;

a plurality of card substrates configured to be individually inserted into the card slot and to connect with the backboard connector, each card substrate including a converting unit configured to convert the luminance signal and the chrominance signal to output converted signals having a format compatible with an external device; and

a relay device connected to the camera device, said relay device including another card slot including another backboard connector, the another backboard connector configured to receive the luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and the camera operation control signal separately from each other, said relay device is configured to communicate said converted signals having a format compatible with an external device to a plurality of external devices remote from the image-pickup unit which perform different functions.

2. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of types of card substrates comprise at least one selected from the group consisting of:

an analog card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an analog signal format;

a serial digital interface card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a serial digital interface signal format;

a digital video card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a digital video signal format; and

a network-transmission card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an Internet-protocol signal format.

3. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of card substrates comprise an optical-transmission card substrate for converting the format of the video signals to a format capable of being transmitted through an optical-fiber cable and for transmitting the converted signals.

4. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 3, further comprising a relay device connected to the optical-transmission card substrate through the optical-fiber cable and configured to relay the video signals between the camera device and the external device.

5. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 4, wherein the optical-transmission card substrate is configured to multiplex the video signals and to transmit a multiplexed video signal, and

the relay device is configured to receive the multiplexed video signal from the optical-transmission card substrate and to demultiplex the multiplexed video signal.

6. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 5, wherein the optical-transmission card substrate is configured to multiplex the video signals and a synchronizing signal and to transmit a multiplexed signal.

7. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 4, wherein the relay device comprises a card slot to which the plurality of card substrates can be selectively inserted.

8. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 4, further comprising:

a control device configured to remotely control the camera device,

wherein the control device is connected to the relay device, and the camera-operation control signal generated by the control device is transmitted to the camera device via the relay device, the optical-fiber cable, and the optical-transmission card substrate.

9. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 8, wherein the camera-operation control signal comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

an image-pickup-condition control signal configured to control the image-pickup condition of the image-pickup unit;

a lens control signal configured to control the operation of a lens included in the image-pickup unit;

a pan control signal configured to control the drive of the image-pickup unit in pan directions; and

a tilt control signal configured to control the drive of the image-pickup unit in tilt directions.

10. A remote image-pickup system according to claim 4, wherein an external synchronizing signal is input to the relay device, and the external synchronizing signal is transmitted to the camera device via the optical-fiber cable and the optical-transmission card substrate.

11. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the camera device comprises a card identifying unit for identifying the card substrate inserted into the card slot.

12. A remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the image-pickup unit comprises a 3-plate CCD.

13. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the image-pickup unit is integrated with a driving unit configured to drive the image-pickup unit in pan and/or tilt directions.

14. A remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein a connector unit including a plurality of input/output terminals and the card slot are disposed in substantially parallel with each other on one side of the camera device.

15. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating comprises:

a pixel converter configured to convert a digital RGB signal into a video signal of a size compatible with an NTSC or a PAL signal and to input said video signal to a video encoder; and

the video encoder configured to output an analog RGB signal, a luminance signal, a chrominance signal, a digital picture signal, a horizontal synchronizing signal, and a vertical synchronizing signal.

16. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the card slot conforms to a compact PCI standard.

17. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the backboard connector is further configured to receive the luminance signal on a first 8-bit bus and the chrominance signal on a second 8-bit bus.

18. The remote image-pickup system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of card substrates are interchangeable between the card slot included in the camera device and the card slot included in the relay device.

19. A camera device, comprising:

an image-pickup unit configured to capture an image of a subject and to generate video signals;

a generation unit configured to generate a luminance signal and a chrominance signal from said video signals; and

a card slot including a backboard connector, the backboard connector configured to receive the luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and a camera operation control signal separately from each other said card slot configured to accommodate insertion of a plurality of card substrates configured to be individually inserted into said card slot and to connect with the backboard connector, each card substrate including a converting unit configured to convert the luminance signal and the chrominance signal to output converted signals having a format compatible with an external device,

wherein said camera device is connected to a relay device including another card slot including another backboard connector, the another backboard connector configured to receive the luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and the camera operation control signal separately from each other, said relay device is configured to communicate said converted signals having a format compatible with an external device to a plurality of external devices remote from the image-pickup unit which perform different functions.

20. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the plurality of card substrates comprise at least one selected from the group consisting of:

an analog card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an analog signal format;

a serial digital interface card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a serial digital interface signal format;

a digital video card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a digital video signal format; and

a network-transmission card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an Internet-protocol signal format.

21. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the plurality of card substrates comprise an optical-transmission card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a format capable of being transmitted through an optical-fiber cable and to transmit the converted signals.

22. A camera device according to claim 21, wherein, when the optical-transmission card substrate is inserted into the card slot, a camera-operation control signal transmitted from a control device which controls the camera device can be received through the optical-fiber cable.

23. The camera device according to claim 22, wherein the camera-operation control signal comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

an image-pickup-condition control signal configured to control the image-pickup condition of the image-pickup unit;

a lens control signal configured to control the operation of a lens included in the image-pickup unit;

a pan control signal configured to control the drive of the image-pickup unit in pan directions; and

a tilt control signal configured to control the drive of the image-pickup unit in tilt directions.

24. The camera device according to claim 21, wherein an external synchronizing signal is received through the optical-fiber cable, when the optical-transmission card substrate is inserted into the card slot.

25. The camera device according to claim 19, further comprising a card identifying unit configured to identify the card substrate inserted into the card slot.

26. A camera device according to claim 19, wherein the image-pickup unit comprises a 3-plate CCD.

27. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the image-pickup unit is integrated with a driving unit configured to drive the image-pickup unit in pan and/or tilt directions.

28. A camera device according to claim 19, wherein a connector unit including a plurality of input/output terminals and the card slot are disposed in substantially parallel with each other on one side of the camera device.

29. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the means for generating comprises:

a pixel converter configured to convert a digital RGB signal into a video signal of a size compatible with an NTSC or a PAL signal and to input said video signal to a video encoder; and

the video encoder configured to output an analog RGB signal, a luminance signal, a chrominance signal, a digital picture signal, a horizontal synchronizing signal, and a vertical synchronizing signal.

30. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the card slot conforms to a compact PCI standard.

31. The camera device according to claim 19, wherein the backboard connector is further configured to receive the luminance signal on a first 8-bit bus and the chrominance signal on a second 8-bit bus.

32. A card substrate configured to be inserted into a card slot provided in a camera device for capturing an image of a subject and generating video signals including a luminance signal and a chrominance signal provided separately from each other to a backboard connector of the camera device,

said card substrate further configured to receive the separately provided luminance signal and the separately provided chrominance signal from the backboard connector of the camera device and to convert the format of the separately provided luminance signal and the separately provided chrominance signal generated by the camera device to output converted signals to an external device,

wherein said camera device is connected to a relay device including another card slot including another backboard connector, the another backboard connector configured to receive the luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and the camera operation control signal separately from each other, and

said relay device is configured to communicate said converted signals having a format compatible with an external device to a plurality of external devices remote from the camera device which perform different functions.

33. The card substrate according to claim 32, comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of:

an analog card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an analog signal format;

a serial digital interface card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a serial digital interface signal format;

a digital video card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a digital video signal format; and

a network-transmission card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to an Internet-protocol signal format.

34. The card substrate according to claim 33, wherein the optical-transmission card substrate is configured to multiplex the video signals and to transmit a multiplexed video signal.

35. The card substrate according to claim 34, wherein the optical-transmission card substrate is configured to multiplex the video signals and a synchronizing signal and to transmit a multiplexed signal.

36. The card substrate according to claim 32, comprising an optical-transmission card substrate configured to convert the format of the video signals to a format capable of being transmitted through an optical-fiber cable and to output the converted signals.

37. The card substrate according to claim 32, wherein the optical-transmission card substrate is further configured to receive an 8-bit luminance signal and an 8-bit chrominance signal.