JP2013085203A - Digital signal transmission device storing connection cable to video display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact digital signal transmission device with which a user does not need selection of a connection cable to a video display unit.SOLUTION: A connection cable to a video display unit is stored in a digital signal transmission device. A device which selects a transmission specification (categories 1 and 2 in HDMI standard, for example) corresponding to an output signal characteristic of the digital signal transmission device, selects a cable for adopting a wire of AWG (American wire gauge) 38 or that thinner than it and compensates the cable when characteristic deterioration which occurs in the thin wire is large is incorporated in the digital signal transmission device.

Description

The present invention relates to a compact digital signal transmission device such as a digital camera, a mobile phone, or a tablet PC that accommodates a cable connected to a video display device such as a large screen television or projector.

The HDMI standard developed in 2002 was aimed at connecting HDTV sources to HDTV sources such as Blu-ray devices and STBs. HDMI output terminals are also being installed in PCs and other devices.
However, although the HDMI input terminal is almost the same as the A type, in addition to the A type, the C and D types for compact devices have appeared in addition to the A type, and dealers and consumers can select and obtain connection cables. Not easy.

Furthermore, RedMere has announced an active HDMI cable, and the types of HDMI cables are increasing.
Furthermore, the appearance of the DiiVA standard and the MHL standard will be considered in the future, and it becomes increasingly difficult for dealers and consumers to select and obtain connection cables.

There are two types of HDMI cables, Category 1 and Category 2 (High Speed), but even if the signal source is Category 1, only the thick and heavy Category 2 (High Speed) HDM1 cable is available. It is a fact.

HDMI standard (http://ja.wikipedia.org)

RedMere MEA1691 (http://www.redmere.com/business/mea1691.php)

When the digital connection standard installed in a compact digital signal transmission device such as a digital camera, mobile phone, tablet PC, etc. is HDMI standard, there are three types of output terminals A, C, D, and long cables are expensive. Cable manufacturers have a lineup of more than 10 types from 0.5m to more than 10m, so that users can choose the shortest necessary cable, but there are 3 types of output terminals and more than 10 types of cables. In order to cover all of the above, it is necessary to have 3X10 or more = 30 or more types of cables, and the business risk of HDMI cable manufacturers will increase further.

It is not easy for users and dealers to select an appropriate cable from the current 10 or more types of HDMI cables, and it is a heavy burden for dealers to select a cable lineup that supports HDMI standard A, C, and D3 output terminals. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for the user to select and obtain an appropriate cable.

Most HDMI cables for digital cameras are in Category 1 in time, but most cables sold in the market are Category 2, and thin and light HDMI cables cannot be obtained.

As a result, the majority of HDTVs have HDMI input terminals, and many digital cameras have HDMI output terminals, but it is not widespread to enjoy pictures taken with digital cameras on large-screen HDTVs.
Furthermore, the digital camera is not equipped with a shooting mode or a playback mode with an optimum pixel specification or aspect ratio for playback on a new HDTV that will appear in the future.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact digital signal transmission device that does not require the user to select a connection cable to the video display device.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a connection cable to the video display device is accommodated in the digital signal transmission device. In order to make it easy to store the connection cable in a compact device, select a specification suitable for the output signal characteristics of the digital signal transmission device (category 1 and 2 in the case of the HDMI standard), AWG (American wire gauge) 38 or the like A cable employing a thinner wire is selected, and if the characteristic deterioration caused by the thinner wire is large, a device for compensating for this is built in the digital signal transmission device.

Alternatively, the output signal specifications and the cable length are limited to a range where it is not necessary to compensate for the characteristic deterioration, and the connection cable is accommodated in the apparatus.

According to the present invention, there is no need for a user to select / purchase a connection cable, and there is no need for a dealer to stock a large number of cables. However, the demand for replacement by digital camera manufacturers can be expected.

Users can also project photos on a large-screen HDTV by simply pulling out the cable from the device and connecting it to the TV.

Embodiment in which the digital signal transmission device of the present invention is a digital camera and the digital connection standard is the HDMI standard Specific example of the HDMI cable unit 5 housed in the digital camera of the present invention Partial view of an embodiment when the compensation device 10 is not mounted on the cable unit 5 of the present invention. Embodiment of first compensator 10 of the present invention Embodiment of the second compensator 12 of the present invention

Examples of the present invention will be described below.
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the digital signal transmission apparatus of the present invention is a digital camera and the digital connection standard is the HDMI standard.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a digital camera, a camera optical system including an image sensor 2, a signal processing device 3 having a function of transmitting HDMI standard signals, 4 memory devices, 5 HDMI cable units with HDMI output terminals, Consists of a cable storage pocket.

Next, an operation in which the HDMI cable unit 5 is pulled out from the cable storage pocket 6 of the digital camera, the HDMI output terminal is connected to the large screen TV 7, and the video recorded in the memory device is reproduced on the TV screen will be described.

The video information read from the memory device 4 is converted into a signal group in the HDMI standard format by the signal processing device 3 and then transmitted to the HDMI cable unit 5, and the HDMI cable unit 5 sends a signal compliant with the HDMI standard to the TV. . The TV 7 detects an HDMI standard signal including a CEC signal, automatically selects an input signal, and displays a reproduction signal of the digital camera 1.

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment of the HDMI cable unit 5 accommodated in a pocket with a lid provided in the digital camera. The cable unit 5 includes a connector 8, a cable 9, a first compensation device 10, and an HDMI output terminal 11. At present, the HDMI input terminals of TV are all A type (female), so it is reasonable to set the HDMI output terminal 11 to A type (male). However, in the future, the video display device such as TV is not limited to the HDMI A type. Since it is expected that a C or D type is mounted, it is desirable that the HDMI output terminal 11 be a C or D type plug (male) at that time.

In addition, since the output terminal of the signal transmission device is assumed to be a receptacle (female) in the current HDMI standard, the HDMI output terminal 11 can also be a receptacle.

The connection between the signal processing device 3 and the HDMI cable unit 5 may be a low-cost general-purpose terminal connection or an HDMI standard C or D terminal connection.

When selecting a general-purpose terminal, the interface of the signal processing device 3 is a female general-purpose terminal, the connector 8 is a male general-purpose terminal, and the cable 9 is an AWG 38 having a length of about 1 to 2 m or a thin wire material for HDMI. The first compensator 10 mainly compensates for characteristic deterioration that occurs in the cable 9, and amplifies and compensates the high frequency region by 1 to 4 dB / m in the case of conforming to the HDMI 1.2a standard. In the case of conformity, the high frequency region is amplified and compensated by about 3 to 8 dB / m.

In this case, the output signal of the cable unit 5 needs to comply with the HDMI source standard. In this case, neither the output signal of the signal processing device 3 nor the cable unit 5 is tied to the HDMI standard conformity, so there is an advantage that the cost can be easily reduced.

In the case of an independent active HDMI cable announced by RedMere, the compensation device built in the cable needs to correspond to various wire materials and cable lengths, and has a large compensation amount and a wide compensation amount adjustment range. At the same time, the power consumption must be suppressed to 5 V × 5 mA or less in order to comply with the HDMI cable standard.

On the other hand, the signal generator accommodated in the HDMI cable according to the present invention only conforms to the HDMI source standard and has no power consumption limitation. Further, since a predetermined wire is used with a predetermined length, the compensation amount can be fixed, and the first compensation device 10 can be realized at a minimum cost.

When the interface of the signal processing device 3 is an HDMI standard C or D output terminal (female), the connector 8 is composed of an HDMI C or D output terminal (male), and the HDMI standard C or D output terminal (female). ) Output signal needs to conform to the HDMI standard, and the first compensation device 10 is set so that the cable unit 5 also conforms to the HDMI cable standard. In this case, the cost increases, but there is an advantage that consumers can use a long-sold HDMI cable instead of the built-in cable.

When the digital signal sending device of the present invention is a digital camera, it is possible to increase the value of the digital camera by adding new functions to the signal processing device 3 so that still images and moving images can be enjoyed on a large screen TV. It is.

For example, currently, a camera is connected to a PC, and a 4912X 1920 still image is displayed on the display of the PC in various formats by a function on the PC side. In addition to the mode for converting to a still image, a mode for cutting out a high-quality zoom image of 1920 × 1080 or 2520 × 1080 from the vicinity of the center of the still image can be provided.

When the video display device is an HDTV, the digital camera can know the aspect ratio (16: 9 or 21: 9) and the pixel specifications (1920X1080, 2520X1080, 3840X2160, 4096X2160, etc.) of the HDTV via the CEC. By automatically matching the output signal from the HDTV to the aspect ratio and pixel specifications of HDTV, high image quality can be realized.
Further, by adding the new HDTV pixel specifications 2520X1080, 3840X2160, and 4096X2160 to the pixel specifications of the digital camera, when connecting to a new HDTV, it is possible to reproduce a higher quality video.

In order to enjoy still images from digital cameras on HDTV, the value of digital cameras is enhanced by installing a color reproduction switching function in consideration of the differences in HDTV color filters used by each company in the digital camera signal processing device 3. You can also

As a specific example of the color reproduction switching function, each weighting table for the R, G, B signals is set to about 3 types for plasma, liquid crystal 3 color filter, liquid crystal 4 color filter, etc., and is manually switched on the camera side during playback Alternatively, the color filter information is transmitted from the TV side to the camera via the CEC, and the color reproduction characteristics are automatically switched on the camera side.

When the signal output from the signal processing device 3 is less than the 1920 × 1080 60 Hz interlace as in Japanese digital broadcasting, the cable unit 5 only needs to satisfy the HDMI standard category 1, and the cable 9 can select a thinner wire rod.

FIG. 3 is a partial view of an embodiment in which the first compensation device 10 is not mounted on the cable unit 5. The cable unit 5 includes a connector 8 (general-purpose male), a cable 9, and an HDMI output terminal 11, and a second compensation device 12 is installed between the signal processing device 3 and the cable unit 5.

The interface of the second compensator 12 with the cable unit 5 is a general-purpose terminal (female), and the second compensator 12 has a characteristic degradation amount in the cable 9 so that the output signal of the HDMI output terminal 11 conforms to the HDMI standard. To compensate. Although this embodiment can be made lower in cost than the embodiment of FIG. 2, the range that can be compensated by the second compensator 12 is limited to 6 dB / m or less, so the length of the storage cable is limited.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the first compensation device 10. The first compensator 10 includes a first compensator 13, a second compensator 14, a third compensator 15, and a ROM 16. The three types of RGB TMDS signals of the cable 9 are respectively input to the compensators 13, 14, and 15, compensated for amplification and frequency characteristics, and then output from the HDMI output terminal 11.
The compensation characteristics of the compensators 13, 14, and 15 are selected so that the output signal of the HDMI output terminal 11 conforms to the HDMI standard, and each compensation characteristic setting value is recorded in the ROM 16.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the second compensator 12. The second compensation device 12 includes a simple first compensation circuit 17, second compensation circuit 18, and third compensation circuit 19.
The R, G, and B TMDS signals output from the signal processing device 3 are separately input to the compensation circuits 17, 18, and 19, and the high frequency characteristic degradation assumed in the cable unit 5 is compensated to some extent.

If the output signal from the digital signal transmission device is limited to a frequency band of 1920 × 1080, 60 Hz interlace or less, neither the first compensator 10 nor the second compensator 12 is mounted, and the cable is about 1 m. Can be stored.
When the storage cable is relatively short, the compensation circuits 17, 18, and 19 can be configured with simple passive circuits.

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can enjoy the video simply by pulling out the cable stored in the digital signal transmission device and connecting the output terminal to the video display device. A delivery device can be provided at a reasonable price.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Digital camera, 2 ... Camera optical system including an image sensor, 3 ... Signal processing apparatus including the function to transmit the signal of HDMI standard, 4 ... Memory device, 5 ... HDMI cable unit with HDMI output terminal, 6 ... Cable accommodation Pocket, 7 ... TV with HDMI input terminal, 8 ... Connector, 9 ... Cable, 10 ... First compensator, 11 ... HDMI output terminal, 12 ... Second compensator, 13 ... First compensator, 14 ... 2nd compensator, 15 ... 3rd compensator, 16 ... ROM, 17 ... 1st compensation circuit, 18 ... 2nd compensation circuit, 19 ... 3rd compensation circuit

Claims (2)

  A cable unit composed of a digital connection standard cable and an output terminal conforming to the standard, and a pocket for storing the cable. The cable is composed of AWG38 or a thinner wire, and characteristic deterioration caused by the cable is reduced. A connection to a video display device characterized in that a device that compensates to the extent conforming to the standard is incorporated, or the length of the storage cable unit is limited to a range in which the characteristic deterioration caused by the cable conforms to the standard Digital signal transmission device that stores cables. 2. The connection to a video display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the digital connection standard is an HDMI standard, and the apparatus for compensating for the characteristic deterioration caused by the cable is a compensating apparatus for separately amplifying three TMDS signals. Digital signal transmission device that stores cables.

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