JP2000032462A - Image information encoding processor and image information encoding method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image information encoding processor and an image information encoding method, capable of outputting the outline of image information at a high speed and efficiently preparing the image of the outline of the image information. SOLUTION: At encoding, input image information 4 is divided into blocks composed of N×N pixels in a blocking means 1, and encoding is performed in an encoding means 2. At this time, an encoding parameter 7 used in the encoding means 2 is estimated and calculated in a code amount control means 3, and encoding is repeated for plural times until a target code amount is reached. Then, the encoding parameter 7 for achieving the target code amount is set to the encoding means 2, final encoding is performed and encoded information 6 is outputted. During the encoding processing, a block average value 8 obtained from the encoding part 2 can be obtained at a time other than a final time. By using the block average value 8, the image for indicating the outline of the image information is generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image information encoding apparatus and an image information encoding method for performing variable length encoding of digital image information while controlling the code amount, and transmits the encoded image information. The present invention relates to an image information communication device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a large amount of digital image information has been collectively stored and used as a database. In this case, highly efficient encoding is performed on the stored image information to reduce the amount of data to be stored.

[0003] As a coding method of image information, there are fixed-length coding in which the code amount is always constant and variable-length coding in which the code amount varies depending on the image. In general, fixed-length coding is
Encoding efficiency is often inferior to variable length encoding.
Therefore, variable-length coding is often applied to the above-mentioned database and the like.

[0004] The variable length coding system is, for example, JPEG (Joint Ph) which is an international standard of still image coding system.
autographic coding Experts
Group) system. Current,
Since a JPEG encoder / decoder can be easily obtained, encoded information in a format conforming to JPEG is used everywhere via a network.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a JPEG encoder. In the figure, 51 is an input image, 52 is a blocking unit, 53 is blocked image information, and 54 is DC
A T (discrete cosine transform) unit, 55 is a transform coefficient, 56 is a quantizer, 57 is a quantized transform coefficient, 58 is an entropy coder, and 59 is coded information. The input image 51 is divided into blocked image information 53 composed of N × N pixels by a blocking unit 52 and input to a DCT unit 54.
In the DCT unit 54, the D
CT is performed, and the transform coefficient 55 is input to the quantization unit 56. The transform coefficient 55 is quantized by the quantization unit 56. The quantized transform coefficient 57 quantized by the quantization unit 56
Is encoded by an entropy encoding unit 58, and encoded information 59 is output.

The problem with variable-length coding is that, because the characteristics of the input image are reflected in the coding efficiency, not only the code amount is not constant, but also a high compression rate depends on the input image and coding parameters. Not achieved. In the case of a database, it may be used via a transmission path from a terminal at a remote place, and it is desirable that the data be encoded at a constant compression rate regardless of the image in view of transmission time and charges. Therefore, a control method called code amount control for controlling a compression ratio is used for variable length coding.

The code amount control method includes, for example, “Code amount control method of DCT coding method”, Proceedings of IEICE Autumn National Convention 1989, D-45, p. 6-45 and the like. The method described in this document is a code amount control method for an encoder having an algorithm similar to the JPEG method.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an example of an encoder using a conventional code amount control method. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. Reference numeral 60 denotes a memory unit, 61 denotes a code amount, and 62 denotes a quantization step measurement.
The estimator 63 is a quantization step value. Input image 51
Is divided into blocked image information 53 composed of N × N pixels in a blocking unit 52, transformed in a DCT unit 54, and a transform coefficient 55 is stored in a memory 60. Then, in the quantization unit 56, the transform coefficient 5
5 is read and quantized, and the quantized transform coefficient 58 is encoded by an entropy encoding unit 59. The code amount 61 at this time is input to the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 62. This encoding operation is performed using a plurality of different quantization step values. Here, the quantization step is one of the encoding parameters in this encoding method, and is used when the quantization unit 56 performs the quantization.

On the basis of the code amount 61 obtained by a plurality of encoding operations, a quantization step measurement / estimation unit 62 estimates a quantization step value for achieving a target code amount. Then, the estimated quantization step value 63 is set in the quantization unit 56, and encoding is performed again. Further, by repeating the above operation, highly accurate estimation becomes possible.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another example of an encoder using a conventional code amount control method. The reference numerals in the figure are the same as those in FIG. When a storage device for storing image information is used outside the encoder, a configuration without the memory unit 60 in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. 7 can be adopted. In the configuration shown in FIG. 7, the encoding is performed a plurality of times by reading the image information from the storage device a required number of times and inputting it to the encoder, thereby performing the quantization step measurement /
The estimating unit 62 estimates the quantization step. Then, by setting the estimated quantization step value 63 in the quantization unit 56 and performing coding, coding with a target code amount or less is performed.

However, in an encoder using such a code amount control method, since encoding processing is performed several times before estimating a quantization step, it takes a long time to complete encoding. There is a disadvantage that.

When decoding image information stored in a database, the decoding processing time is important because it affects the user's use time. However, the encoding processing time when encoding the image information stored in the database is generally irrelevant to the user performing the search, and thus is not noticed by the user. Therefore, when storing image information in the database, a control method in which encoding is performed a plurality of times using a code amount control method as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can be applied. Conversely, it is desired to reduce the data amount as much as possible using the code amount control method as described above.

Next, consider the functions required when using the database. In the database, it is necessary that the contents of the coded image information be immediately extracted and checked, and the desired image information be obtained in a short time. With current decoding technology, decoding takes time, and a great deal of time is consumed to decode all image information and check the contents. In addition, when a database is used from a remote terminal, all the encoded information is once transferred to each terminal, so that there is a problem in terms of cost and time required for the transfer. For this reason, it is desirable that a function of the database be that it can be confirmed before decoding an encoded image, that is, that it has a preview function.

In order to solve this problem, for example, from the encoded information encoded by the JPEG method described above,
There is a method of detecting, decoding, and displaying only the DC component of the DCT transform coefficient. Now, the size of the block is 8 × 8
Then, the transform expression of DCT is as follows.

(Equation 1) In the above equation, f (x, y) represents each element of the block image information 53, and x, y represents the position of the element. F (u, v) represents each element of the DCT transform coefficient 55, and u, v represents the position of the element.

The DC component of the transform coefficient is given by
It can be obtained by substituting 0, v = 0.
At this time, the obtained DC component is 8 of the average value of the block.
It can be seen that the value is doubled. Therefore, by decoding only the DC component and reducing it to 1/8, the average density of each block of the image information is obtained, and by imaging this, the outline of the encoded image can be known. .

The preview can be performed by using such a method, but in performing the preview, it is necessary to read all the encoded information once. Therefore, the speed of reading the encoded information from the storage device and decoding it to obtain the image information becomes slow, and the speed required for the preview cannot be met. In addition, when it is assumed that the terminal is used from a remote terminal, all the encoded information is transferred. Therefore, the problem is not solved in terms of cost and time, and this method cannot be applied.

Another method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-268480.
There is a technique described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional encoder for realizing a preview function. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 71 is a decomposition unit, 72 is a high-frequency transform coefficient, 72 ′ is a low-frequency transform coefficient, 73 is a quantization unit, 74
Is a high-frequency quantized transform coefficient, 74 ′ is a low-frequency quantized transform coefficient,
75 is an entropy coding unit, 76 is high band coding information,
Reference numeral 76 ′ is low-frequency coded information. In this example, the J
When performing encoding by the PEG method, the DCT transform coefficient is encoded by separating it into a high-frequency component and a low-frequency component (for example, only a DC component).

The input image 51 is divided into block image information 53 composed of N × N pixels by a block section 52, and converted into transform coefficients 55 by a DCT section 54.
The transform coefficient 55 is input to the decomposing unit 71, and is decomposed into a high-frequency component coefficient 72 and a low-frequency component 72 ′.
The quantization unit 73 separately quantizes the high-frequency component coefficient 72 and the low-frequency component 72 ′, and generates a high-frequency quantization conversion coefficient 74 and a low-frequency quantization conversion coefficient 74 ′. The high-band quantized transform coefficient 74 and the low-band quantized transform coefficient 74 ′ are
5, and the high-frequency coded information 76 and the low-frequency coded information 76 'are output.

Encoding is performed using the configuration shown in FIG. 8 and stored in, for example, a database. When searching,
A preview can be realized by decoding and displaying only the low-frequency encoded information 76 '. Since the coding information used at this time is only the low-band coding information 76 ', the amount of data to be transferred is small, and image information can be configured in a short time. When a desired image is found, the remaining high-frequency component coding information may be read and decoded. However, in such a configuration, J
The PEG encoder / decoder cannot be used as it is, and the format of the encoded information becomes different from the standard. Therefore, a dedicated device is required, and compatibility is impaired.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables an outline of image information to be output at high speed in order to confirm the contents of the encoded image information. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image information encoding processing device and an image information encoding processing method capable of efficiently creating an image for showing the outline of the image information. It is another object of the present invention to provide an image information communication device including such an image information encoding processing device and having an image receiving device capable of outputting an overview of image information at high speed.

[0021]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image information encoding / processing apparatus, comprising: a block dividing means for dividing image information into blocks each having a predetermined number of pixels; Discrete cosine transform is performed on the image information divided into blocks by the blocking means to obtain a discrete cosine transform coefficient, and a DC component of the discrete cosine transform coefficient is output. Encoding means for encoding the obtained discrete cosine transform coefficient, and storage means for storing encoding information encoded by the encoding means and the DC component output from the discrete cosine transform means. It is characterized by the following. Further, in the invention according to claim 6, in the image information processing method, the image information is divided into blocks each having a predetermined number of pixels, and the image information divided into blocks is subjected to discrete cosine transform. Encoding the obtained discrete cosine transform coefficient, and storing the coded information obtained by the encoding and the DC component of the discrete cosine transform coefficient obtained by the discrete cosine transform. .

As described above, the DC component (DC component) of the discrete cosine transform coefficients is a value according to the average value of the image information of the block. Can be used. For example, a preview can be performed by using a presentation unit that presents a DC component to a user as in the invention described in claim 2 or 7. The DC component (the average value of the image information divided into blocks) has a small data amount, and can be transferred and configured at high speed. Therefore, the preview can be performed at a high speed, and the amount of data to be transferred for the preview can be reduced even in a remote terminal.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3,
In the image information encoding processing device, the image information is N × N
(N is an integer of 1 or more) block means for dividing the image information into blocks, and processing for encoding the image information divided into blocks by the JPEG method at least once and performing the JPEG encoding. An encoding means for outputting a DC component obtained in the process as a reduced image is provided. Further, in the invention according to claim 8, in the image information encoding processing method, the image information is divided into N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more) blocks, and the image information divided into blocks is processed by the JPEG method. The encoding process is performed one or more times, and a DC component obtained in the process of encoding by the JPEG method is output as a reduced image.

As described above, when encoding by the JPEG method, the DCT transform coefficient is separated into an AC component and a DC component and encoded. The DC component obtained in this process is output as a reduced image. This reduced image can be used for preview of image information. Also in this case, since the DC component has a small data amount and can be transferred and configured with an image at high speed, a high-speed preview can be performed and the data amount to be transferred can be reduced.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image information encoding processing device, the image information is N × N (where N is 1).
Blocking means for dividing into blocks of the above (integer),
Coding means for performing at least one processing of coding the image information divided into blocks by the blocking means by the JPEG method, and outputting a DC component obtained in the process of coding by the JPEG method; A shift operation means for calculating the block average value by performing a shift operation on the DC component output from the CPU, and a storage means for storing the block average value calculated by the shift operation means. . In the ninth aspect of the present invention, in the image information encoding processing method, the image information is divided into N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more) blocks,
A process of encoding the image information divided into blocks by the JPEG method is performed at least once, and a DC component obtained in the process of the encoding by the JPEG method is shifted to calculate a block average value, and the calculated block average value is calculated. It is characterized by storing a value.

Since the DC component obtained in the process of encoding according to the JPEG method is N times the block average value, if the block average value is calculated and stored by the shift operation, it can be used as it is as a preview image. It is possible to Also in this case, since the block average value has a small data amount and can be transferred and configured at a high speed, a high-speed preview can be performed and the amount of transferred data can be reduced.

It is to be noted that, in the third, fourth or eighth or ninth aspect of the present invention, the encoding processing by the JPEG method is configured to be repeated a plurality of times as in the invention of the fifth or tenth aspect. May be. In this case, control can be performed so that the code amount is equal to or less than the specified value.

[0028]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of an image information coding processing device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a blocking unit, 2 is a coding unit, 3 is a code amount control unit, 4 is input image information, 5 is blocked image information, 6 is coding information, 7 is a coding parameter, and 8 is a block. It is an average value.

The blocking section 1 converts the input image information 4 into N ×
The image is divided into blocks each including N pixels (N is an integer of 1 or more). The encoding unit 2 encodes the blocked image information 5 blocked by the blocking unit 1 to generate encoded information 6. Further, an average value (block average value 8) for each block is calculated and output together with the encoded information 6. The code amount control unit 3 obtains the encoded information 6 output from the encoding unit 2, measures the amount of the encoded information, and sets the encoding parameter so that the amount of the encoded information becomes the set target code amount. Estimation
The calculation is performed, the calculated coding parameter 7 is provided to the coding unit 2, and the operation of the coding unit 2 is controlled.

In the above configuration, at the time of encoding, the input image information 4 is divided into blocks of N × N pixels by the blocking means 1, and encoding is performed by the encoding means 2. At this time, the coding parameter 7 used in the coding unit 2 is estimated and calculated by the code amount control unit 3, and the coding is repeated a plurality of times until the target code amount is achieved. And
An encoding parameter 7 for achieving the target code amount is set in the encoding means 2, and final encoding is performed to output encoded information 6.

During the encoding process, the encoding information 6 is output to the outside only at the last time when encoding is performed by setting the encoding parameter 7 for achieving the target code amount.
During the encoding process, the block average value 8 obtained from the encoding unit 2 can be obtained at times other than the last time. The output to the outside may be performed prior to the encoded information 6 or may be performed together with the encoded information 6.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the image information coding processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is input image information, 12 is an input buffer unit, 13 is a blocking unit, 14 is blocked image information, 15 is a DCT unit, 1
6 is a transform coefficient, 17 is a quantizer, 18 is a quantized transform coefficient, 19 is an entropy coder, 20 is coded information,
21 is a quantization step measurement / estimation unit, 22 is a quantization step value, 23 is a DC component conversion coefficient, 24 is a shift operation unit, 25 is a block average value, 26 is an output buffer unit, 2
7 is output information. In this embodiment, the encoding unit 2 has J
The configuration when the PEG method is adopted is shown. Also,
As shown in FIG. 7, a configuration is employed in which a memory section is not arranged in front of the quantization section 17 and the input image 11 is read a plurality of times from an external storage device.

The input buffer unit 12 is provided to absorb a difference in processing speed between the image information encoding processing device of the present invention and an external storage device, and temporarily stores the input image information 11. The blocking unit 13 corresponds to the blocking unit 1 of FIG. 1 and divides the input image information 11 into blocks each including N × N pixels (N is an integer of 1 or more). DCT unit 15
Performs DCT on the blocked image information 14 divided into blocks by the blocking unit 13 to obtain a transform coefficient 1
Get 6. For the DC component of the transform coefficients,
It is output to the shift operation unit 24 as the DC component conversion coefficient 23. The quantization unit 17 quantizes the transform coefficient 16. When performing final encoding in the quantization unit 17, quantization is performed according to the quantization step value 22 set from the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21. The entropy encoding unit 19 performs an encoding process on the quantized transform coefficient 18 quantized by the quantization unit 17, and generates encoded information 20. The encoded information 20 is passed to the quantization step measuring / estimating unit 21 and the final encoded information 20
Is output to the output buffer unit 26. The quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21 corresponds to the code amount control unit 3 in FIG.
The code amount is measured based on the encoded information 20 from the entropy encoding unit 19. Encoded information 2 with different quantization steps
From the information of a plurality of code amounts obtained from 0, a quantization step for achieving a preset target code amount is estimated, and a quantization step value 2
Set 2.

The shift operation section 24 receives the D from the DCT section 15
The C component conversion coefficient 23 is received. As described above, since the DC component conversion coefficient 23 is several times the average value depending on the size of the block, the shift operation unit 24 calculates the block average value 25. The output buffer unit 26 includes the encoded information 20 output from the entropy encoding unit 19 and the block average value 2 output from the shift operation unit 24.
5 is temporarily stored and output as output information 27.

In the above configuration, the input buffer unit 12
It is also possible to use a configuration without using the output buffer unit 26, for example, a configuration in which a memory is arranged before the quantization unit 17. The information to be passed from the entropy coding unit 19 to the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21 may be configured to pass not the coded information 20 but the information of the code amount.

Next, an example of the operation of the first embodiment will be described. The input image information 11 is temporarily input to the input buffer unit 12 and is blocked by the blocking unit 13 to become blocked image information 14. The DCT is performed on the block image information 14 in the DCT unit 15, and the transform coefficient 16 obtained by the DCT is
7, and the quantized DCT coefficient 18 is encoded by an entropy encoding unit 19. The encoded information 20 is input to a quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21.
In the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21, the code amount is measured based on the encoded information 20, and a quantization step value 22 to be set next is calculated and set in the quantization unit 17.

The above processing is repeated while updating the quantization step value 22. When the code amount of the coded information 20 reaches the target code amount, the coded information 20 is output to the output buffer unit 26 and further output. The information is output from the buffer unit 26 to the outside as output information 27.

At the time of the first encoding, the DC component transform coefficient 23 output from the DCT unit 15 is input to the shift operation unit 24. Then, the block average value 25 obtained by performing a shift operation on the DC component conversion coefficient 23 is input to the output buffer unit 26, and output to the outside as output information 27.

In this way, JPEG encoded information whose code amount achieves the target code amount is obtained,
Information on the block average value is obtained. The obtained coded information and the information of the block average value are stored in pairs, for example, in a database. And when searching the database,
Using the information of the block average value, a preview image can be formed and presented to the user. If the searched image is a desired image, the corresponding encoded information may be extracted and decoded.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the image information coding processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those in FIG. 31
Is a block average value calculation unit, 32 is a block average value, 33
Is a block average value separation unit, 34 is average value separation block image information, and 35 is quantization average value separation block information. In the second embodiment, an example is shown in which the encoding unit 2 uses another block encoding method. This embodiment also employs a method of reading the input image 11 from an external storage device a plurality of times.

The block average value calculating section 31 calculates an average value of each block divided by the blocking section 13. The average value of this block is output to the outside as an output signal 27 via the output buffer unit 26 as it is as the block average value 32. In addition, the calculated block average value 32
Is input to the block average value separation unit 33. The block average value separating unit 33 separates a block average value from each block separated by the blocking unit 13. By this processing, the image information of each block becomes only relative error information from the average value, and the amount of encoded information can be reduced. In the quantization unit 17, the block average value separation unit 33
Value-separated blocked image information 3 whose average value is separated by
4 is quantized according to a quantization step value 22 set by the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21. The entropy encoding unit 19 encodes the quantized average separated block information 35 quantized by the quantization unit 17 and outputs the encoded information as the encoded information 20 to the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21 or the output buffer unit 26. . The input buffer unit 1
2. Blocking unit 13, quantization step measurement / estimation unit 2
1. The output buffer unit 26 is the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, an example of the operation of the second embodiment will be described. The input image information 11 is input to the input buffer unit 12 once, and is blocked by the blocking unit 13. The block image information 14 is input to the block average value calculation unit 31, and the block average value calculation unit 31 calculates the average value of each block. The block image information 14 is also input to the block average value separation unit 33, and the block average value separation unit 33 separates the average value based on the block average value 32 obtained from the block average value calculation unit 31. , Create information on the relative value from the average value. The average-value-separated blocked image information 34 from which the average value has been separated is quantized by the quantization unit 17, and the quantized average-value-separated blocked information 35 is transmitted to the entropy encoding unit 1.
9 is encoded. The encoded information 20 is passed to the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21, and the quantization step measurement / estimation unit 21 calculates the next quantization step value 22 based on the encoded information 20, and performs quantization. Set in the section 17.

The above processing is repeated while updating the quantization step value 22. When the amount of the coded information 20 reaches the target code amount, the coded information 20 is output to the output buffer unit 26, and the output It is output as output information 27 from the buffer unit 26 to the outside.

At the time of the first encoding, the block average value 32 output from the block average value calculation unit 31 is output to the output buffer unit 26 as it is, and the output buffer unit 26 outputs it as output information 27 to the outside.

In such an encoding method, since the encoded information does not include the information of the average value of each block, for example, in a database, the encoded information is associated with the information of the average value of the block. Need to be accumulated. When searching the database, it is possible to create a preview image based on the information on the average value of the blocks and present it to the user. In order to obtain a desired image, it is sufficient to read out and decode the encoded information and combine the average value of the blocks to create the image information.

In addition to the above-described two embodiments, various encoding methods can be applied to the encoding unit 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image information communication apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 41 denotes an image information encoding processing unit, 42 denotes an image receiving unit, 43 denotes a communication system, and 44 and
45 is a communication interface, 46 is an encoded information receiving unit,
47 is a block image generation unit, 48 is a decoding unit, and 49 is a display unit. The image information encoding processing section 41 has the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and performs, for example, encoding corresponding to the JPEG scheme as shown in FIG. 2 or block encoding as shown in FIG. The encoded information and the information on the average value of the blocks generated by the image information encoding processing unit 41 are sent to the communication system 43 via the communication interface 44. The communication system 43 is a commonly used communication system such as a dedicated line, a public line, or a LAN.

The image receiving section 42 receives the coded information or the information of the average value of the blocks sent from the communication system 43 and reconstructs the image. The image receiving unit 42 includes a communication interface 45, an encoded information receiving unit 46, a block image generating unit 47, a decoding unit 48, a display unit 49, and the like. The communication interface 45 exchanges information with the communication system 43. The encoded information receiving unit 46 receives the encoded information and the information of the average value of the block via the communication interface 45. The block image generation unit 47 generates, for example, a preview image or the like based on the information on the average value of the blocks received by the encoded information reception unit 46. Since the image generated at this time is created based on the information of the average value of the block having a small amount of information, for example, a reduced image, a rough dot,
For example, a mosaic image or the like is generated. Alternatively, when the resolution of the display unit 49 is low, an image generated based on the information of the average value of the block may be a display image. The decoding unit 48 includes an encoded information receiving unit 46
Decoding the coded information received in step (1) to generate image information. At this time, decoding corresponding to the encoding method performed by the image information encoding processing unit 41 is performed. The display unit 49 displays, for example, a preview image generated by the block image generation unit 47 or image information generated by the decoding unit 48. Further, another output device such as a printer may be connected to the display unit 49 so as to be able to print out.

The operation of the embodiment of the image information communication apparatus according to the present invention will be described. In the image information encoding processing unit 41,
By the operation as described above, the coding information and the information of the average value of the block are created. The information on the average value of the block is generated before the encoded information is generated. Therefore, first, information on the average value of the block is transmitted from the image information encoding processing unit 41 to the communication system 43 via the communication interface 44. The image receiving section 42 receives the encoded information at the encoded information receiving section 46 via the communication interface 45. The encoded information receiving unit 46 passes the information on the average value of the received blocks to the block image generating unit 47. The block image generation unit 47 generates, for example, a low-resolution image and causes the display unit 49 to display the image.

Next, the encoding process is completed, and the encoded information is transferred to the communication system 43 via the communication interface 44. The image receiving section 42 receives the encoded information at the encoded information receiving section 46 via the communication interface 45. The encoded information receiving unit 46 passes the received encoded information to the decoding unit 48. The decoding unit 48 decodes the encoded information and replaces the low-resolution image generated by the block image generation unit 47 with
The display unit 49 displays the original image information.

In this way, it is possible to quickly inform the user of the outline of the image information and display the image information based on the coded information. According to such a configuration, the user can quickly know the outline of the image information without waiting for the decoding of the low-speed encoded information, and the response to the user can be improved. .

Consider a case where image information itself is stored as a database or a file. When the user wants to know the outline of the image information, or wants to know the outline of the search result of the database, the image receiving unit 4
2 to the host including the image information coding processing unit 41 to request the transfer of the information of the average value of the block. In response to this request, the image information stored as a database or a file is input to the image information encoding processing unit 41, the information of the average value of the block is transferred to the image receiving unit 42, and the image is displayed on the display unit 49. An overview of the information will be displayed. Further, the user refers to the outline of the image information displayed on the display unit 49 based on the information of the average value of the block, and when the image information is the desired information, the terminal including the image receiving unit 42 transmits the image to the user. The host including the information encoding processing unit 41 is requested to transfer encoded information. In response to this request, the image information encoding processing unit 41 transfers the encoded information to the image receiving unit 42, and displays the image information on the display unit 49.

As described above, when the user wants to refer to the outline of the image information, by transferring only the information of the average value of the block, it is possible to refer to the image at high speed and at low cost. Then, when the image information is the desired image information, high-quality image information can be obtained by transferring the encoded information.

In a database or the like, it is common to store encoded information. In that case, the image information encoding processing unit 41 is used when encoding the image information stored in the database. Then, when searching the database, the image information encoding processing unit 41 is not used,
The encoded information or the average value information of the blocks extracted from the database is directly transferred to the image receiving unit 42 via the communication system 43.

[0055]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the contents of the image information can be obtained by, for example, creating the average value of the block of the image information together with the encoded image information. It is possible to create a preview image for confirmation at high speed. For example, discrete cosine transform is used at the time of encoding, and JPE is used as the encoding method.
When the G method is used, a DC component is obtained together with the encoded image information, so that the DC component or a block average value obtained by performing a shift operation on the DC component can be used as a preview image. In addition, since the information of the average value of the block can be created during the normal encoding process, there is an effect that the efficiency of the process can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an image information encoding processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of an image information encoding processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the image information encoding processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image information communication device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a JPEG encoder.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an encoder using a conventional code amount control method.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another example of an encoder using a conventional code amount control method.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional encoder for realizing a preview function.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Blocking part, 2 ... Encoding part, 3 ... Code amount control part,
4 ... input image information, 5 ... blocked image information, 6 ... coding information, 7 ... coding parameters, 8 ... block average value.

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. Blocking means for dividing image information into blocks each having a predetermined number of pixels, and discrete cosine transform of the image information divided into blocks by the blocking means to obtain discrete cosine transform coefficients and Discrete cosine transform means for outputting a DC component of the cosine transform coefficient, encoding means for encoding the discrete cosine transform coefficient obtained by the discrete cosine transform means, and a code encoded by the encoding means An image information encoding processing device comprising: storage means for storing conversion information and the DC component output from the discrete cosine transform means. 2. The image information encoding processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a presentation unit that presents the DC component stored in the storage unit to a user. 3. Image information is represented by N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more).
Means for dividing the image information divided into blocks by the blocking means by the JPEG method at least once,
An image information encoding processing apparatus comprising: an encoding unit that outputs a DC component obtained in a process of encoding by the G method as a reduced image. 4. Image information is represented by N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more).
Means for dividing the image information divided into blocks by the blocking means by the JPEG method at least once,
Encoding means for outputting a DC component obtained in the course of encoding by the G method; shift operation means for performing a shift operation on the DC component output from the encoding means to calculate a block average value; An image information coding processing device comprising a storage unit for storing a block average value calculated by the unit. 5. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said encoding means repeats the encoding process by the JPEG method a plurality of times.
Alternatively, the image information encoding processing device according to claim 4. 6. The image information is divided into blocks each having a predetermined number of pixels, the image information divided into blocks is subjected to discrete cosine transform, and a discrete cosine transform coefficient obtained by the discrete cosine transform is encoded. An image information encoding processing method, comprising: storing encoded information obtained by conversion and a DC component of discrete cosine transform coefficients obtained by the discrete cosine transform. 7. The image information encoding processing method according to claim 6, wherein the stored DC component is presented to a user. 8. N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more) image information
And performing a process of encoding the image information divided into blocks by the JPEG method at least once, and outputting a DC component obtained in the process of encoding by the JPEG method as a reduced image. Image information encoding processing method. 9. Image information is represented by N × N (N is an integer of 1 or more).
, And encodes the image information divided into blocks by the JPEG method at least once, and calculates a block average value by performing a shift operation on a DC component obtained in the process of encoding by the JPEG method. And storing the calculated block average value. 10. The image information encoding method according to claim 8, wherein the encoding process according to the JPEG method is repeated a plurality of times.