JP2009111677A - Video imaging control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire information about an imaging target (photographing place) to be imaged by a video imaging apparatus that a failure occurs therein even when the video imaging apparatus fails such that video cannot be displayed and recorded without using cost for preparing a useless reserve device, or the like in addition to a system that normally operates. <P>SOLUTION: In this video imaging control system, whether monitor cameras 11 to 13 connected to a network normally perform imaging is monitored through the network, and when it is detected, for example, that the monitor camera 12 cannot perform imaging, a sound collection function of a neighboring monitor camera 11 is used to acquire sound information of a photographing area of the monitor camera 12 that cannot perform imaging any more, thereby information in the photographing area of the monitor camera 12 that cannot perform imaging can be complemented and acquired. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a video recording technique for receiving, recording, and displaying video transmitted over a network, and more particularly to a video imaging control system that performs operation control such as reception, recording, and display of video transmitted over a network.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a video imaging control system that uses a video recording device that records video with a surveillance camera for the purpose of maintenance and security. A video imaging device and a video recording device used in this video imaging control system are required to always operate and record a video. Therefore, it is important to prepare countermeasures when the video imaging device cannot capture video due to a failure or the like, or when the video recording device cannot record video. .

  On the other hand, there are technologies disclosed in the following Patent Documents 1 to 3 as countermeasures against such troubles such as failures. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a monitoring area is shared by two cameras during normal times, and when one camera fails, the entire monitoring area is continuously imaged by another camera. Has been. In Patent Document 2 below, in a system in which a plurality of cameras (imaging devices) are installed, when one camera fails, the imaging direction of another camera and other imaging functions are changed and controlled. Thus, a technique for continuously capturing an image area of a malfunctioning camera is disclosed.

Furthermore, in recent years, in order to reproduce a more realistic feeling, an increasing number of systems that collect and record not only imaging information but also audio information at the same time. In the case of a monitoring system that displays and reproduces a plurality of images and sounds at the same time, the monitoring staff listens to sounds in a plurality of different monitoring areas while simultaneously viewing a plurality of display screens. There was a problem that it became difficult to hear. In order to deal with such a problem, for example, Patent Document 3 below discloses a technique for visualizing and displaying a sound on a display screen, and detecting an abnormal sound and preferentially outputting the abnormal sound. Yes.
JP 2007-050862 A JP 2007-235655 A JP 2002-300569 A

  However, according to the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, when an installed camera fails, the image capturing area of the failed camera is complemented by a camera that originally captured another image capturing area. Therefore, if the number of installed cameras is small, the image may be inevitably small or difficult to see.

  For example, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that, for example, the entire captured image becomes small because the focal length of the camera is adjusted. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, since pan / tilt / zoom (PTZ) control of the camera is performed, for example, it is possible to prevent a captured image from being reduced by performing zooming. However, the installation of a high-performance, high-magnification PTZ camera may increase the cost.

  Further, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a problem that it is difficult to confirm an event because it is not possible to select a sound to be reproduced when it is desired to confirm an event later instead of monitoring in real time.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a case where the video imaging device cannot capture a video or record a video (that is, when a failure occurs in the video imaging device). Or an imaging target to be imaged by the video imaging device in which this failure has occurred (for example, when the transmission or recording function of the video captured by the video imaging device fails and video recording becomes impossible). It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost and efficient video imaging control system capable of acquiring information related to (imaging location).

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a video imaging control system in which a plurality of video imaging devices, a plurality of video recording devices, and a control device are connected by a network,
Each of the plurality of video imaging devices is
Video imaging means for imaging a predetermined location;
Video transmission means for transmitting video captured by the video imaging means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Sound collecting means for collecting sound of the predetermined place;
Audio transmission means for transmitting the audio collected by the sound collection means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Based on a control signal received from the control device, the sound collecting unit performs change control of any of the sound collecting direction in the sound collecting unit, the directivity of the sound collecting by the sound collecting unit, and the sound collecting sensitivity of the sound collecting unit. Control means,
Each of the plurality of video recording devices is
Video receiving means for receiving the video transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Video recording means for recording the video received by the video receiving means on a recording medium;
Audio receiving means for receiving the audio transmitted by the predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Sound recording means for recording the sound received by the sound receiving means on a recording medium;
Video imaging device monitoring means for monitoring video reception status and audio reception status from the predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
When the video imaging device monitoring unit detects that the video or audio cannot be received from the predetermined video imaging device among the plurality of video imaging devices, the predetermined video imaging device Operation management means for sending notification information to the control device for notifying that the video or audio cannot be received;
The control device is
Video management information including correspondence information between each of the plurality of video imaging devices and each of the plurality of video recording devices set as recording destinations of the video captured by each of the plurality of video imaging devices Video management information storage means for storing
When a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of video imaging devices, in order to collect the sound of the imaging area of the video imaging device in which the failure has occurred by another video imaging device, Any of the sound collection direction in the sound collection means of another video imaging apparatus, the directivity of the sound collection by the sound collection means of the other video imaging apparatus, and the sound collection sensitivity of the sound collection means of the other video imaging apparatus Fault response setting information storage means for storing fault response setting information related to any change control;
The sound collection of the other video imaging apparatus with reference to the failure handling setting information regarding the video imaging apparatus in which the fault has occurred, identified by the notification information received from the operation management unit of the video recording apparatus The sound collection direction in the means, the directivity of the sound collection by the sound collection means of the other video imaging device, and the sound collection sensitivity of the sound collection means of the other video imaging device are changed. Video imaging device control means for transmitting a control signal to the other video imaging device;
Information management means for updating the video management information based on the failure handling setting information relating to the video imaging apparatus in which the failure has occurred, specified by the notification information received from the operation management means of the video recording apparatus; The
A video imaging control system is provided.

  Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is provided a video imaging control system in which the function of the control device is incorporated in any one of the video recording devices in addition to the above configuration.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, in addition to the above-described configuration, each of the plurality of video recording devices includes:
Video display means for displaying the video received by the video receiving means;
Audio output means for informing the outside of the audio received by the audio receiving means;
With respect to the voice received by the voice receiving means, a voice feature detecting means for detecting a feature of the voice based on either the volume of the voice or a change thereof, the frequency of the voice or a change thereof,
It is determined that the voice feature detected by the voice feature detection means indicates the occurrence of an event different from normal at the predetermined location, and the voice output means has an outside of the voice having the feature. Output control means for instructing to notify the video, or for controlling the video display means to highlight the video corresponding to the voice having the characteristics,
A video imaging control system is provided.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a video imaging control system in which a plurality of video imaging devices and a plurality of video display devices are connected by a network,
Each of the plurality of video imaging devices is
Video imaging means for imaging a predetermined location;
Video transmission means for transmitting video captured by the video imaging means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Sound collecting means for collecting sound of the predetermined place;
Audio transmission means for transmitting the audio collected by the sound collection means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Each of the plurality of video display devices
Video receiving means for receiving the video transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Video display means for displaying the video received by the video receiving means;
Audio receiving means for receiving the audio transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Audio output means for informing the outside of the audio received by the audio receiving means;
With respect to the voice received by the voice receiving means, a voice feature detecting means for detecting a feature of the voice based on either the volume of the voice or a change thereof, the frequency of the voice or a change thereof,
It is determined that the voice feature detected by the voice feature detection means indicates the occurrence of an event different from normal at the predetermined location, and the voice output means has an outside of the voice having the feature. Output control means for instructing to notify the video, or for controlling the video display means to highlight the video corresponding to the voice having the characteristics,
A video imaging control system is provided.

  The video imaging control system according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, and the video imaging device fails and the video is recorded without incurring the cost of preparing a useless spare machine in addition to the system that normally operates. Even in a situation where display / recording cannot be performed, it is possible to acquire information related to an imaging target (imaging location) to be imaged by the video imaging apparatus in which the failure has occurred.

  Hereinafter, first to fourth embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a video imaging control system provided in a three-story building. In this video imaging control system, eight surveillance cameras (video imaging devices) 10 to 17 on the first floor of the building (however, only three surveillance cameras 10, 11, and 17 are shown in FIG. 1), the second floor of the building. 5 monitoring cameras 20 to 24 (however, only three monitoring cameras 20, 21, and 24 are shown in FIG. 1), and three monitoring cameras 30 to 32 on the third floor of the building, It is installed so as to image the place. Hereinafter, when all surveillance cameras are represented, they are represented as surveillance cameras 10 to 32.

  A LAN (Local Area Network) 60 for connecting all the first to third floors is provided, and each monitoring camera 10 to 32 is connected to the LAN 60. Further, one video recording device 41 to 43 is installed on each floor of the building, and these video recording devices 41 to 43 are also connected to the LAN 60. The video recording devices 41 to 43 installed on each floor have a function of receiving and recording video captured by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. Here, in a normal state, the video recording device 41 installed on the first floor receives and records video from the eight surveillance cameras 10 to 17, and the video recording device 42 installed on the second floor The video recording device 43 installed on the third floor receives and records video from the three surveillance cameras 20 to 24, and records video received from the three surveillance cameras 30 to 32. . The LAN 60 may be a wired LAN or a wireless LAN.

  In the following description, the video format captured by each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is a JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) system, and each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 adjusts the compression rate at the time of image compression. It is assumed that a JPEG image of three levels (high, medium, and low) can be generated, but the above assumption is only an example, and the video format does not necessarily need to be in JPEG format, and is not necessarily an image. There is no need to use a video format that can change the quality of the video.

  In the following description, it is assumed that each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 has a function of collecting (sound collecting) and recording or transmitting sound simultaneously with the video. In addition, although the above monitoring cameras 10-32 have the functions of both an imaging device and a sound collection device, the imaging device and the sound collection device may be realized by separate devices, respectively. In other words, the present invention collects detailed information at an imaging location where imaging of images cannot be performed by voice, and in order to realize this purpose, the functions of both the imaging device and the sound collector are provided. They may be mounted on the same device or may be realized as separate devices. In the following description, the encoding method of the sound recorded by each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is G. Although 711 μ-Law (bit rate: 64 kbps) is used, other audio encoding methods may be used. Further, when changing the sound quality, the parameters may be changed in the same speech encoding method, or a plurality of different speech encoding methods may be selectively used.

  In addition, the display devices 71 to 73 provided on the first floor are configured to display images recorded by the respective video recording devices 41 to 43. That is, here, the images captured by the eight monitoring cameras 10 to 17 installed on the first floor by the display device 71 are displayed, and the five monitoring cameras 20 installed on the second floor by the display device 72 are displayed. To 24 are displayed, and the display device 73 displays the images captured by the three monitoring cameras 30 to 32 installed on the third floor. Further, the control device 50 provided on the first floor has the function of a controller that integrally controls the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the video recording devices 41 to 43, and the display devices 71 to 73. Is also connected to the LAN 60.

  In FIG. 1, the control device 50 and the display devices 71 to 73 are installed on the first floor, but may be installed on any floor and may be installed outside the building. The control device 50 may perform integrated control of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the video recording devices 41 to 43, and the display devices 71 to 73 connected to the LAN 60 via a global network such as the Internet, for example. Good. Similarly, the display devices 71 to 73 may receive and display images via a global network such as the Internet. In addition, here, the display devices 71 to 73 are configured to display the images of the first floor to the third floor on each of the display devices 71 to 73, but how to display the number of display devices and the image captured by which monitoring camera. (For example, split the screen and display the video from each surveillance camera in the split screen, or switch and display the video from each surveillance camera at regular intervals) It is possible to determine.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the arrangement of surveillance cameras in the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows three surveillance cameras 11 to 13 installed on the first floor. As shown in FIG. 2, each of the monitoring cameras 11 to 13 is installed in front of the doors of the rooms 1001 to 1003, and the imaging direction is set so as to image the vicinity of the doors of the rooms. Although not shown, the monitoring cameras 10, 14 to 17, 20 to 24, and 30 to 32 similarly set the imaging direction so as to capture images of the determined imaging locations. That is, for example, the monitoring cameras 14 to 17 are installed in front of the doors of the rooms 1004 to 1007, and the monitoring cameras 21 to 24 are the doors of the rooms of the rooms 2001 to 2004 on the second floor. Surveillance cameras 31 and 32 are installed in front of the doors of rooms 3001 and 3002 on the third floor, and surveillance cameras 10, 20, and 30 are emergency exit doors on the respective floors. It is installed to take pictures.

  Next, functions of the control device 50, the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and the video recording devices 41 to 43, which are components of the video imaging control system illustrated in FIG. 1, will be described.

  First, the function of the control device 50 will be described. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control device 50 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The control apparatus 50 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a system control unit 500, a camera information management unit 501, an operation management unit 502, a communication processing unit 503, a video management information storage unit 504, and a failure handling setting information storage unit 505. is doing.

  The system control unit 500 has a function of performing main processing and control performed in the control device 50. In addition, the camera information management unit 501 refers to the video management information stored in the video management information storage unit 504, and associates the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 with the video recording devices 41 to 43 (that is, the monitoring camera 10). To which video recording devices 41 to 43 are transmitting the video), the status of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, or the correspondence or the status of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 has changed. Has a function of updating the video management information.

  For example, the system control unit 500 grasps the video management information stored in the video management information storage unit 504 via the camera information management unit 501, and performs predetermined video recording devices 41 to 43 on the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. The video recording devices 41 to 43 are instructed to record video and audio by the predetermined monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and the display devices 71 to 73 are further instructed. For example, it has a function of instructing display of a video received or recorded by a predetermined video recording device 41 to 43 and output (reproduction) of audio. Further, the system control unit 500 refers to the failure handling setting information stored in the failure handling setting information storage unit 505 when a failure occurs in a specific monitoring camera 10 to 32, and the monitoring camera in which the failure has occurred In order to supplement the imaging locations of 10 to 32 with the other monitoring cameras 10 to 32, it also has a function of performing pan / tilt / zoom control and the like of the other monitoring cameras 10 to 32. Furthermore, the system control unit 500 refers to the failure handling setting information stored in the failure handling setting information storage unit 505 when a failure occurs in a specific monitoring camera 10 to 32, and the monitoring camera in which the failure has occurred In order to collect information on 10 to 32 imaging locations by sound, the sound collection direction, sensitivity, directivity, and sound quality of recorded sound (for example, bit) are collected (for example, provided in the monitoring cameras 10 to 32). It also has a function of controlling the rate and the number of channels).

  In addition, the operation management unit 502 receives the information (operation state notification information) indicating the operation state of each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 transmitted from each of the video recording devices 41 to 43. A video management information storage unit that grasps whether or not it is impossible to capture a video (or whether or not a failure has occurred in a transmission path for transmitting the video of each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32) 504 has a function of updating the video management information stored in 504. The operating state notification information is information indicating the operating state of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and is directed from the monitoring camera operation management unit 414 (see FIG. 6 described later) of the video recording devices 41 to 43 to the control device 50. Information to be transmitted. The operation management unit 502 can also receive information indicating the operation state of each of the video recording devices 41 to 43 from the display devices 71 to 73. The operation management unit 502 can also determine that there is an abnormality when there is no response from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32.

  The communication processing unit 503 has a communication interface connected to the LAN 60, and has a function that enables information exchange with the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 and the video recording devices 41 to 43.

  The video management information storage unit 504 stores video management information having various information related to the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. Here, an example of various information included in the video management information will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing an example of video management information held by the control device 50 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The video management information includes various information regarding each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. The video management information illustrated in FIG. 4 includes the quality of each monitoring camera 10 to 32 (the quality of the captured video), the number of recorded images in the video recording devices 41 to 43 (for example, video recording per unit time (for example, 1 second)). The number of images recorded by the devices 41 to 43), the number of displayed images (the number of images displayed by the display devices 71 to 73 per unit time (for example, 1 second)), and the video recording devices 41 to 41 that record images from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. In addition to 43 items of identification information, identification information of the display devices 71 to 73 that display captured images by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and items related to images of the display mode (referred to as frames in FIG. 4), The audio encoding method of the sound collected by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the identification information of the video recording devices 41 to 43 for recording the sounds from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and the sound collected by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 It has the identification information of the display device 71 to 73 to output the voice.

  The control device 50 instructs the video recording devices 41 to 43 of the number of recordings per unit time based on the value described in the number of recordings in the video management information, and also monitors the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. For the number of transmissions per unit time. In addition, the control device 50 instructs the video recording devices 41 to 43 to record audio based on the information of the video recording devices 41 to 43 that record audio in the video management information, and the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. For the number of transmissions per unit time. Further, the control device 50 instructs the display devices 71 to 73 to receive and output audio based on the information of the display devices 71 to 73 that reproduce the audio in the video management information. Also, n / m of the frame item in FIG. 4 means that the display screen is divided into m and video is displayed in the frame n. In the video management information shown in FIG. 4, for example, the video captured by the monitoring camera 14 is set not to be recorded in the video recording device, and the video captured by the monitoring camera 15 is displayed on the display device. It is set not to be.

  The control device 50 refers to the video management information illustrated in FIG. 4, for example, refers to the row of the monitoring camera 10, and sends a high-quality video to the monitoring camera 10 at 30 frames per second. Instructs the video recording device 41 to transmit. Further, the video recording device 41 is instructed to receive the video from the monitoring camera 10 and record 30 images per second and to transfer the video to the display device 71 per 30 seconds. Further, the display device 71 is instructed to receive the image captured by the monitoring camera 10 from the image recording device 41 and display the received image on the frame 1 in the 8-divided screen. Further, audio (G.711 μ-Law format) is received and recorded from the monitoring camera 10 to the video recording device 41 and the audio is recorded on the display device 71. Instruct to transfer using 711 μ-Law format. Note that the control device 50 refers to all rows (rows of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32) and similarly instructs the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the video recording devices 41 to 43, and the display devices 71 to 73. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, audio transmission / recording is performed even in normal times, but audio recording is started only when a failure occurs in a certain monitoring camera 10-32. You may do it.

  Further, in the failure handling setting information storage unit 505 of the control device 50, when any trouble occurs in the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 (for example, the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 have failed and the imaging becomes impossible). In the case where a failure occurs in the transmission path and the video captured by the monitoring cameras 10-32 is not transmitted correctly), the setting change information of the monitoring cameras 10-32 to cope with the occurrence of the failure Contains failure handling setting information. The failure handling setting information is set in advance assuming that a failure has occurred in each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. Specifically, in the failure handling setting information, as described later (for example, as illustrated in FIG. 9), one or a plurality of monitoring existing in the vicinity of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 in which the failure has occurred. Setting information such as pan / tilt / zoom control of the cameras 10 to 32 and settings such as sound collection control in the microphones of one or a plurality of monitoring cameras 10 to 32 existing in the vicinity of the troubled monitoring camera 10 to 32 Information is included, and the system control unit 500 can change the settings of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 with reference to the failure handling setting information.

  Next, functions of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 will be described. In addition, all the monitoring cameras 10-32 should just be provided with the same function, and it is not necessary to provide a special function especially in a specific monitoring camera. Here, the internal configuration of the monitoring camera 10 will be described on behalf of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the monitoring camera 10 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The surveillance camera 10 illustrated in FIG. 5 includes a video imaging unit 100, an encoder 101, a video transmission unit 102, an imaging control unit 103, an audio collection unit 104, an audio encoder 105, an audio transmission unit 106, and a sound collection control unit 107. Have.

  The video imaging unit 100 has a function of imaging video, and includes a camera for imaging a predetermined place, a converter that converts an optical signal captured by the camera into an electrical signal, and the like. The encoder 101 has a function of encoding the video imaged by the video imaging unit 100 into a predetermined video format (for example, JPEG format).

  In addition, the video transmission unit 102 converts a video encoded by the encoder 101 into a format that can be transmitted through the LAN 60 (for example, a packetizing function), and converts the packetized video into a predetermined format via the LAN 60. It has a function to send to the destination. For example, information instructed by the control device 50 is set in the transmission destination of the video, the quality of the video to be transmitted, and the number of video transmissions per unit time.

  The imaging control unit 103 also performs pan / tilt control (direction control control) for performing control for changing the imaging direction of the monitoring camera 10, zoom control (view angle control) for changing the angle of view of the monitoring camera 10, and the like. It has a function to perform. The surveillance camera 10 has a so-called network camera function, and the imaging control unit 103 can perform pan / tilt / zoom control in accordance with a control signal received via the LAN 60. Note that the surveillance camera 10 does not have to have pan, tilt, and zoom controls. The surveillance camera 10 may be a CCTV (Closed Circuit Television) camera having a network function.

  The sound collection unit 104 has a microphone function for collecting (sound collection) sound of the external environment. The audio encoder 105 also has a function of encoding the audio collected by the audio collection unit 104 into a predetermined audio format (for example, G.711 μ-Law method). Note that the audio encoder 105 is a G.G. It is possible to use not only the 711 μ-Law system but also any voice coding system, and it is also possible to adjust the sound quality based on the bit rate, the number of channels, and the like.

  In addition, the voice transmission unit 106 converts a voice encoded by the voice encoder 105 into a format that can be transmitted through the LAN 60 (for example, a packetization function), and converts the packetized voice into a predetermined format via the LAN 60. Has a function of transmitting to the destination. For example, for example, information instructed by the control device 50 is set as the audio transmission destination.

  The sound collection control unit 107 performs sound collection control by the sound collection unit 104 (microphone), such as control for changing the sound collection direction of the microphone, control for changing the sensitivity of the microphone, and control for changing the directivity of the microphone. Has a function for. The surveillance camera 10 has a so-called network camera function, and the sound collection control unit 107 can perform pan / tilt / zoom control in accordance with a control signal received via the LAN 60. Note that each of the above-described controls is merely an example of control for changing the sound collection condition of the microphone, and the monitoring camera 10 does not have to include all the above-described controls.

  Here, the video imaging unit 100, the encoder 101, the video transmission unit 102, and the imaging control unit 103 have functions related to video imaging and transmission (functions as an imaging device), while the audio collecting unit 104 and the audio encoder 105. The voice transmission unit 106 and the sound collection control unit 107 have functions related to voice collection and transmission (functions as a sound collection device). In this specification, one surveillance camera has the functions of both an imaging device and a sound collection device. However, the surveillance camera realizes only a function as an imaging device, and a sound collection function different from the surveillance camera. You may install the apparatus which has. Further, for example, the encoder 101 and the audio encoder 105, the video transmission unit 102 and the audio transmission unit 106, the imaging control unit 103, and the sound collection control unit 107 have the same or similar functions, and common hardware or software It may be realized by.

  Next, functions of the video recording devices 41 to 43 will be described. Similar to the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the video recording devices 41 to 43 only have to have the same function, and it is not particularly necessary to provide a special function for a specific video recording device. Here, the internal configuration of the video recording device 41 will be described on behalf of the video recording devices 41 to 43.

  FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the video recording device 41 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 includes a video receiving unit 411, a video recording unit 412, a video transmitting unit 413, a monitoring camera operation management unit 414, a monitoring camera information storage unit 415, an audio receiving unit 416, and an audio recording unit. 417 and an audio transmission unit 418.

  The video reception unit 411 has a function of receiving video transmitted from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. The video received by the video receiving unit 411 is transferred to the video recording unit 412. The video recording unit 412 has a function of recording the video of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 received by the video receiving unit 411 on a predetermined recording medium (for example, a magnetic recording tape, an optical recording medium, a hard disk, etc.). . The video transmission unit 413 has a function of transmitting video to a predetermined display device 71 to 73 with a predetermined number of transmissions.

  In addition, the monitoring camera operation management unit 414 has a function of monitoring whether or not the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 are operating normally, and information (operation state notification information) indicating the operation state of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. It has the function to transmit to the control apparatus 50. The operating state notification information includes identification information of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 whose operation has become abnormal. Further, the monitoring camera operation management unit 414 may always notify the control device 50 whether or not the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 are operating normally, or the operation of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is abnormal. You may notify only when it becomes.

  The voice receiving unit 416 has a function of receiving voice transmitted from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 (voice recorded by the sound collection function of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32). The sound received by the sound receiving unit 416 is passed to the sound recording unit 417. The audio recording unit 417 has a function of recording audio around the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 received by the audio receiving unit 416 on a predetermined recording medium (for example, a magnetic recording tape, an optical recording medium, or a hard disk). ing. The audio transmission unit 418 has a function of transmitting audio to the predetermined display devices 71 to 73 when audio transmission is specified in the monitoring camera information.

  The monitoring camera information storage unit 415 stores monitoring camera information having various information regarding each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. Here, examples of various information included in the monitoring camera information will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the monitoring camera information held by the video recording devices 41 to 43 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The monitoring camera information has various information regarding each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. The monitoring camera information illustrated in FIG. 7 includes identification information of each monitoring camera 10 to 32, an operating state of each monitoring camera 10 to 32, and the number of recorded images (unit time (for example, unit time (for example, Number of images recorded by the video recording devices 41 to 43 per second), identification information of the display devices 71 to 73 that display the captured images by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and the number of video transmissions to each display device (display) Number) and each item of identification information of the display devices 71 to 73 for outputting (reproducing) the sound recorded by each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32. As described above, the recording device, display device (video), display device number, and display device (sound) items were performed by the control device 50 on the video recording devices 41 to 43 based on the video management information. Instructions are stored.

  Information indicating whether or not each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is operating normally is stored in the operation state column illustrated in FIG. 7. For example, the operation management unit 414 increments the value in the operation state column of the monitoring camera information by 1 every second, and also the video and audio from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 in the video reception unit 411 The reception of audio from each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is monitored, and when the video and audio are correctly received from each of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the operation status column of the monitoring camera information is cleared to 0. As a result, when video or audio cannot be correctly received from a certain monitoring camera 10-32, the value in the column of the operation state corresponding to the monitoring camera 10-32 is a value that is larger by the number of seconds during which video cannot be correctly received. (For example, in FIG. 7, it is found that the value of the operating state of the monitoring camera 12 is “3” and the video or audio from the monitoring camera 12 is not correctly received), and this operating state value is a predetermined value. When (predetermined time) is exceeded, it is determined that a failure has occurred in the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 (or the transmission path between the monitoring cameras 10 to 32), and that fact is used as the operating state notification information. Notify The control device 50 receives from the video recording devices 41 to 43 operating state notification information indicating that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, whereby any of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 cannot be imaged (or transmitted). It becomes possible to grasp whether or not recording was possible due to a road fault.

  Next, functions of the display devices 71 to 73 will be described. Similar to the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 and the video recording devices 41 to 43, the display devices 71 to 73 only have to have the same function, and it is not particularly necessary to provide a special function for a specific display device. Here, the internal configuration of the display device 71 will be described on behalf of the display devices 71 to 73.

  FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the display device 71 of the video imaging control system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 8 includes at least a video reception unit 711, a video display unit 712, an audio reception unit 715, and an audio output unit 716, and further includes a video recording device operation management unit 713, a video recording unit, and the like. A device information storage unit 714 may be included.

  The video receiving unit 711 has a function of receiving video transmitted from the video recording devices 41 to 43. The video received by the video receiving unit 711 is supplied to the video display unit 712. The video display unit 712 is a monitor that displays the video of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 received by the video reception unit 711.

  The audio receiving unit 715 has a function of receiving audio transmitted from the video recording devices 41 to 43. The sound received by the sound receiving unit 715 is supplied to the sound output unit 716. The audio output unit 716 represents functions of a decoder, an amplifier, a speaker, and the like that externally output (reproduce) audio around the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 received by the video reception unit 711.

  In addition, the video recording device operation management unit 713 has a function of monitoring whether or not the video recording devices 41 to 43 are operating normally, and information indicating the operating state of the video recording devices 41 to 43 is provided in the control device 50. It has the function to transmit to. Furthermore, the video recording device information storage unit 714 stores various information regarding the video recording devices 41 to 43 that are the transmission sources of the video to be received and displayed.

  In the video recording device operation management unit 713 and the video recording device information storage unit 714, the operation for monitoring whether the video recording devices 41 to 43 are operating normally is the monitoring camera operation management unit of the video recording device 41 described above. 414 and monitoring of the operation of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 in the monitoring camera information storage unit 415 are almost the same. That is, the video recording device operation management unit 713 monitors the operation of the video recording devices 41 to 43 based on information indicating the operating state of the video recording device information stored in the video recording device information storage unit 714, for example. When the video or audio from 41 to 43 cannot be received for a predetermined time or more, the controller 50 is notified that some trouble has occurred in the video recording devices 41 to 43. The control device 50 can grasp the abnormal operation of the video recording devices 41 to 43 by receiving notification of information indicating that an abnormality has occurred in the operation of the video recording devices 41 to 43 from the display devices 71 to 73. It becomes possible.

  Next, the operation in the first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the above-described configurations. For example, it is assumed that some trouble occurs in the monitoring camera 12 that captures the vicinity of the door of the room 1002 illustrated in FIG. 2, and the captured image of the monitoring camera 12 cannot be normally recorded / displayed.

  The monitoring camera operation management unit 414 of the video recording device 41 constantly monitors the operating state of the monitoring camera 12 based on, for example, the value of the operating state column of the monitoring camera information. The operating state value of the camera 12 increases. Then, the monitoring camera operation management unit 414 determines that the monitoring camera 12 is abnormal when the operating state of the monitoring camera 12 exceeds a predetermined value (for example, “5”), and indicates that the monitoring camera 12 is abnormal. To the control device 50.

  When the operation management unit 502 of the control device 50 receives the operation state notification information indicating the abnormality of the monitoring camera 12 from the video recording device 41 via the communication processing unit 503, the camera information management unit 501 can recover the monitoring camera (that is, Inquiries about information regarding the monitoring camera that can supplement the imaging of the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 in which the failure has occurred are made. The camera information management unit 501 refers to the failure setting information, and identifies identification information (camera number) of the monitoring camera that can recover the monitoring camera 12, a pan position for performing the recovery of the monitoring camera 12, Various audio settings for collecting information such as microphone directivity change value and microphone sensitivity change value in addition to various video setting information for video recovery such as tilt position and zoom magnification Reply information.

  For example, as the failure handling setting information when the monitoring camera 12 fails in the installation example shown in FIG. 2, the monitoring camera 11 widens the angle of view (draws an image) and the monitoring camera 13 swings (pans at a constant cycle). It is assumed that it is determined in advance that the imaging location of the surveillance camera 12 is to be captured by performing (Operation). In this case, the operation management unit 502 performs camera information management on the identification information of the monitoring camera 11 and the zoom magnification (a value for ensuring a wide angle of view) of the monitoring camera 11, the identification information of the monitoring camera 13, and the swing instruction. Received from part 501. Here, it is set to recover the imaging of the imaging location of the surveillance camera 12 where the fault has occurred (near the door of the room of the room 1002) by changing the zoom magnification of the surveillance camera 11 and swinging the surveillance camera 13. However, recovery can be performed by arbitrarily combining pan, tilt, zoom, and the like. Here, the recovery is performed by the two monitoring cameras 11 and 13, but the recovery can be performed by only one or three or more monitoring cameras.

  Further, for example, as the failure handling setting information when the monitoring camera 12 fails in the installation example shown in FIG. 2, regarding the sound collection by the sound collection unit 104 of the monitoring camera 11, the imaging location of the own (monitoring camera 11) The time zone in which sound is collected near the door of the room) and the time zone in which sound is picked up at the imaging location of the surveillance camera 12 where the failure occurred (near the door of the room of the room 1002) are in a constant cycle (for example, 10 seconds). It is assumed that it is determined in advance that it is repeated alternately. Specifically, for example, the monitoring camera 11 is “microphone directivity: non-directional, sensitivity: normal” in a time zone in which the imaging location of the self (monitoring camera 11) (near the door of the room 1001) is imaged. In the time zone in which sound collection is performed and the imaging location of the surveillance camera 12 where the failure occurred (in the vicinity of the door of the room of the room 1002) is imaged, “microphone directivity: unidirectional, sensitivity: high” Collect sound in settings. Furthermore, when the monitoring camera 11 has a microphone that can adjust the sound collection direction, the direction of the microphone is changed to match the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 (near the door of the room of the room 1002). In this way, in order to compensate for the loss of the captured image of the failed monitoring camera 12, it is possible to recover information collection by collecting the sound near the imaging location of the failed monitoring camera 12. It is. Note that here, the recovery is performed by collecting sound by one monitoring camera 11, but it is also possible to perform the recovery by collecting sound by using two or more monitoring cameras.

  Then, the operation management unit 502 notifies the system control unit 500 of the identification information of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 received from the camera information management unit 501 and the setting change information thereof, and the system control unit 500 causes the communication processing unit 503 to be notified. To change the setting corresponding to the setting change information to the monitoring cameras 11 and 13. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the angle of view of the surveillance camera 11 is widened, and the surveillance camera 11 can image the vicinity of the doors of both the rooms 1001 and 1002 and the surveillance camera 13. By swinging the head and periodically repeating panning, it is possible to alternately image the vicinity of the doors of the rooms of the rooms 1002 and 1003. Further, as described above, the microphones of the surveillance camera 11 collect sound near the door of the room 1002 at regular intervals. Note that the control device 50 may control the imaging direction of the monitoring camera 13 by setting the priority to the imaging location by the monitoring camera 13 based on the importance of the imaging location, the arrangement location of the monitoring camera 13, and the like. . That is, not only the surveillance camera 13 is simply swung, but also, for example, the vicinity of the door of the room of the room 1002 can be imaged for 10 seconds and the operation of the area of the door of the room of the room 1003 can be imaged for 20 seconds. Is possible. In addition to the control that the surveillance camera 13 periodically performs the pan operation, the control device 50 can also control the surveillance camera 13 to perform the pan operation irregularly. Regarding the sound collection by the microphone of the monitoring camera 11, the period of sound collection near the door of the room of the room 1002 and the sound collection time can be arbitrarily set.

  In addition, the system control unit 500 of the control device 50 instructs the video recording device 41 to record the video and audio from the monitoring camera 11 as the video and audio of both the monitoring cameras 11 and 12, and monitors them. An instruction is given to record the video from the camera 13 as the video of both the monitoring cameras 12 and 13. In this case, the video recording device 41 records the original surveillance camera number as additional information of the recorded video. Thereby, at the time of reproduction, it becomes possible to recognize the imaging location even with the recorded video from the same surveillance camera by this number. The recording location information may be added to the header portion of the video data from the surveillance camera.

  Further, when the control device 50 gives an instruction to the video recording device 41, it may be instructed to record the video of one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 as the video of the monitoring camera 12. In addition, when the video of either one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 is recorded as the video of the monitoring camera 12, the video of either one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 is recorded and monitored as the video of the monitoring camera 12. Since the same video as the video of either one of the cameras 11 and 13 is recorded, when the recording of the monitoring camera 12 is stopped and the video of the monitoring camera 12 is referred to later, Any one of the 13 images may be referred to. The same applies when recovery is performed by collecting audio by two or more surveillance cameras.

  Furthermore, the system control unit 500 of the control device 50 instructs the video recording device 41 to transmit the video of one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 as the video of the monitoring camera 12 to the display device 71. Note that in this case as well, the video of either one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 and the video of the monitoring camera 12 are the same, so only one of the videos may be transmitted to the display device 71. Further, the system control unit 500 of the control device 50 instructs the video recording device 41 to transmit the sound collected by the monitoring camera 11 to the display device 71 as the sound of the monitoring camera 12. Further, the control device 50 updates the video management information stored in the video management information storage unit 504 so that the setting changed due to the failure of the monitoring camera 12 is reflected in the video management information.

  With the above operation, the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 where the failure has occurred is complemented and recorded by imaging by both the monitoring cameras 11 and 13. Further, in the display device 71, although the same image as the image of either one of the monitoring cameras 11 and 13 is displayed in the frame where the image captured by the monitoring camera 12 where the failure has occurred is originally displayed, the imaging by the monitoring camera 12 is performed. The location will be displayed. In addition, the sound near the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 where the failure has occurred is recorded by the sound collection function of the monitoring camera 11. Further, in the display device 71, the sound of the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 collected by the microphone of the monitoring camera 11 is output as the audio of the imaging location of the monitoring camera 12 in which the failure has occurred.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, even when a failure occurs in one of the plurality of monitoring cameras, the imaging location of the monitoring camera in which the failure has occurred is monitored. In addition to recovering by imaging with a camera, and recording the audio of the imaging location of the surveillance camera where the failure occurred, it is possible to complement information that may be lost due to the lack of the captured image of the important imaging location It becomes possible.

  In the above-described first embodiment of the present invention, after the video / audio captured and collected by the monitoring cameras 10-32 is transmitted to the video recording devices 41-43, the video recording devices 41-43 further Although it is configured to be transmitted to the display devices 71 to 73, after the video / audio captured and collected by the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 is transmitted to the display devices 71 to 73, the display devices 71 to 73 further transmit the video / audio. You may comprise so that it may transmit to the video recording apparatuses 41-43. In this case, the display devices 71 to 73 that directly receive images from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 have the monitoring camera operation management unit, and monitor whether or not the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 are operating normally.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the above-described first embodiment of the present invention, the case where the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 can change the transmission destination of the video has been described. However, the type in which the video is transmitted only to the other party to whom the video is requested. There are also surveillance cameras 10-32. Hereinafter, a case where this type of surveillance camera is used will be described.

  The video transmission unit 102 of the surveillance cameras 10 to 32 according to the second embodiment of the present invention transmits the video recording devices 41 to 43 that have requested video based on the video requests from the video recording devices 41 to 43. It is configured to transmit video as the destination. In addition, the audio transmission unit 106 of the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, based on the audio request from the video recording devices 41 to 43, the video recording devices 41 to 43 that have requested audio. Is configured to transmit a voice as a transmission destination. In addition, the video reception unit 411 of the video recording devices 41 to 43 in the second embodiment of the present invention requests video from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 in order to acquire video for reception and recording. Is configured to do. In addition, the audio reception unit 416 of the video recording devices 41 to 43 according to the second embodiment of the present invention requests audio from the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 in order to acquire audio for reception and recording. Is configured to do. In addition, since the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 are configured to transmit video and audio to the other party (video recording devices 41 to 43) for which video and audio are requested, the second embodiment of the present invention. The system control unit 500 of the control device 50 does not need to instruct the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 to transmit video or audio to the predetermined video recording devices 41 to 43. The other components in the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, the video recording devices 41 to 43, the control device 50, and the display devices 71 to 73 are the same as those in the first embodiment of the present invention described above.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, no instruction is given from the control device 50 to the monitoring cameras 10 to 32, and the control device 50 instructs the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 to receive a captured image and collects audio. Are received to the video recording devices 41 to 43. Each of the video recording devices 41 to 43 grasps the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 to be received, recorded, and displayed by the own video recording devices 41 to 43 based on an instruction from the control device 50. A request for video and audio is made to 32. Note that the video recording devices 41 to 43 instruct the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 to set the video quality and the number of video transmissions, together with the video request. The video recording schedule established based on the above is realized.

  As described above, except that the control device 50 instructs the video recording devices 41 to 43 and further instructs the monitoring cameras 10 to 32 from the video recording devices 41 to 43. The basic operation in the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the operation described in the first embodiment of the present invention, and the description is omitted here.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of surveillance cameras of a type that transmits video and audio only to the other party who requested the video are installed, and a plurality of surveillance cameras are installed. Even if a failure occurs in one of them, the imaging location of the surveillance camera where the failure occurred is recovered by imaging with another surveillance camera, and the sound of the imaging location of the surveillance camera where the failure occurred is recorded Thus, it is possible to prevent supplementation of information that may be lost due to lack of captured images at important imaging locations.

  It should be noted that the surveillance camera capable of changing the video / audio transmission destination described in the first embodiment of the present invention and the video / audio described in the second embodiment of the present invention. Even when surveillance cameras of the type that transmit video / audio only to the other party requested to be installed are mixed, the object of the present invention can be achieved by combining the first and second embodiments of the present invention. It is possible to realize.

<Third Embodiment>
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment of the present invention, a method of changing the output sound in the display device or changing the display screen (display pattern) according to the sound detection status (speech characteristics) will be described. In the following description, an example in which the configuration and operation of the first embodiment of the present invention are basically described will be described. However, the technical idea according to the third embodiment of the present invention is described above. It is also possible to apply to the configuration and operation in the second embodiment of the invention.

  In the third embodiment of the present invention, the video recording devices 41 to 43 in the first embodiment of the present invention described above are replaced with the video recording device 91 shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the video recording device 91 of the video imaging control system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. 10 includes a video receiving unit 411, a video recording unit 412, a video transmitting unit 413, a monitoring camera operation management unit 414, a monitoring camera information storage unit 415, an audio receiving unit 416, and an audio recording unit. 417, an audio transmission unit 418, and an audio feature determination unit 901. Note that the video recording apparatus 91 illustrated in FIG. 10 has a configuration in which a function realized by the audio feature determination unit 901 is further added to the video recording apparatus 41 illustrated in FIG.

  The voice feature determination unit 901 has a function of detecting the feature of voice received from any monitoring camera 10 to 32. The audio feature determination unit 901 can detect various features related to audio. For example, it detects volume and sound density (sound pressure) or its fluctuation, voice frequency or its fluctuation, change from silent state to voiced state (sound generation), and sudden sound (detection of rising sound) Is possible. Further, an intelligent function may be provided by the voice feature determination unit 901 so that, for example, the type of a sound or the content analysis of a conversation voice can be performed.

  In addition, the audio feature determination unit 901 outputs, in the display device, audio that has a particularly prominent feature (a feature that exceeds a predetermined level) based on the features of each audio received from the plurality of monitoring cameras 10 to 32. A split screen display pattern for switching sounds or simultaneously displaying images picked up by a plurality of monitoring cameras 10 to 32 on one screen of a display device (for example, display patterns shown in FIGS. 12 to 14 described later). It has a function to determine.

  Next, on the premise of the above-described configuration, the operation in the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Here, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 11, an example of output switching according to temporal variation of sound collected by the five monitoring cameras 20 to 24 will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating temporal changes in sound detected by the five monitoring cameras of the video imaging control system according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, detection results (amplitudes) of sounds collected by the monitoring cameras 20 to 24 are shown in time series from left to right in the drawing.

  The video recording device 42 (having the configuration of the video recording device 91 shown in FIG. 10) receives the video and audio of the surveillance cameras 20 to 24, and displays and reproduces these video and audio on the display device 72. To do. In normal times, as described in the video management information shown in FIG. 4, the video captured by each of the surveillance cameras 20 to 23 is displayed on an equally divided quadrant screen (FIG. 12). As for the sound, the sound collected by the monitoring camera 20 is reproduced.

  Here, when the operation of the video recording device 42 is changed to the audio automatic switching mode in which switching is performed according to the characteristics of the audio, the video recording device 42 is changed according to the characteristics of the audio from the monitoring cameras 20 to 24. The sound to be transmitted to the display device 72 is switched. Thereby, for example, the video recording is performed so that characteristic sounds such as a sound in which sound is generated (sound to sound) or a sound including noisy sound (sound with high sound density) is output on the display device 72. The sound transmitted from the device 42 to the display device 72 can be switched.

  For example, in FIG. 11, when the sound of the monitoring camera 21 reaches the highest volume as at a certain time A, the sound characteristic determination unit 901 is more interested in the sound of the monitoring camera 21 (some abnormality may have occurred). And the audio output display device column (indicated as “72”) of the monitoring camera 20 of the video management information shown in FIG. The display section of the audio output is updated to “72”. Then, the audio feature determination unit 901 of the video recording device 42 instructs the audio transmission unit 418 to switch the audio transmitted to the display device 72 from the audio of the monitoring camera 20 to the audio of the monitoring camera 21, and the audio transmission unit 418 displays the audio. The voice to be transmitted to the device 72 is switched to the voice of the designated monitoring camera 21.

  Next, at time B, since the sound is generated in the monitoring camera 24 that has been silent until then, the sound feature determination unit 901 determines that there is a possibility that an abnormality has occurred in the monitoring area of the monitoring camera 24, and the sound The transmission unit 418 instructs the surveillance camera 24 to switch the sound to be transmitted. The voice transmission unit 418 switches the voice to be transmitted to the display device 72 to the voice of the designated monitoring camera 24. When the sound of the monitoring camera 24 becomes silent again, the sound feature determination unit 901 instructs the sound transmission unit 418 to switch to the sound of the monitoring camera 21 having the loudest volume again, and the sound transmission unit 418 The voice of the surveillance camera 21 is switched to.

  Further, since the sound of the monitoring camera 21 is silent at time D, the sound feature determination unit 901 determines that the sound of the monitoring camera 23 having the highest volume is important, and transmits the sound to be transmitted to the display device 72 to the monitoring camera. The voice transmission unit 418 is instructed to switch from the voice of 21 to the voice of the monitoring camera 23. The voice transmission unit 418 switches the voice to be transmitted to the voice of the designated monitoring camera 23.

  At time E, since the sound of the monitoring camera 22 has changed from the previous silence to the sound, the sound feature determination unit 901 has the sound volume of the monitoring camera 22 smaller than that of the monitoring camera 23, but the It is determined that the sound generation is important, and the sound transmission unit 418 is instructed to switch the sound transmitted to the display device 72 from the sound of the monitoring camera 23 to the sound of the monitoring camera 22. The voice transmission unit 418 switches the voice to be transmitted to the voice of the designated monitoring camera 22.

  In the above example, since there are only 4 channels (for 4 monitoring cameras 20 to 23), the user who is viewing the display device 72 will see what happens in which monitoring area if he / she is viewing the display screen. As the number of images increases (the number of frames increases) such as 16ch or 32ch, it becomes difficult to instantly understand what is happening in which channel. Therefore, in the third embodiment of the present invention, it is also possible to switch the display pattern in the display device based on the detection result of the voice feature in the voice feature determination unit 901.

  For example, in the display device 72, as described in the video management information illustrated in FIG. 4, the video captured by each of the monitoring cameras 20 to 23 is divided into four divided screens during normal times. Is displayed (see FIG. 12). At this time, since the sound of the monitoring camera 24 has changed from silence to sound at the time B, the sound of the monitoring camera 24 is important (reinforcement of monitoring of the monitoring area of the monitoring camera 24 is important). A display pattern in which the video of the surveillance camera 24 that has not been displayed is displayed large, and the video of the surveillance cameras 20, 21, and 23 that are sound at time B is assigned to the remaining three screens. (See FIG. 13) is selected and the information is notified to the display device 72.

  The display device 72 configures and displays the display pattern shown in FIG. 12 based on the information notified from the video recording device 42. Further, for example, the window frame of the monitoring camera 24 may be made conspicuous by bordering the window of the monitoring camera 24 with a red frame. Further, when the sound from the monitoring camera 24 becomes silent, the video recording device 42 immediately switches the sound transmitted to the display device 72 to the sound of the monitoring camera 21, but the display pattern shown in FIG. Even if the pattern (highlighted video of the surveillance camera 24 is highlighted) is maintained and the display pattern shown in FIG. 12 is restored at the time C when a certain time has elapsed after the sound from the surveillance camera 24 becomes silent. Good. In this way, by switching the display pattern on the display device 72 according to the characteristics of the detected audio, the user browsing the display device may have an important captured video (the occurrence of an abnormality may be reflected). It becomes possible to monitor without overlooking the captured image. Note that the highlighting in this specification is to use a visual effect such as blinking of color or light by enlarging the range of video display on the display screen by enlarging the frame of the video and making it larger than other video. To make the video stand out.

  Further, in the above example, at time B, the display pattern shown in FIG. 12 is switched to the display pattern shown in FIG. 13. In this case, video recording is performed using a quadrant screen. Since the video of one of the five monitoring cameras managed by the device 42 (for example, the monitoring camera 22) is not displayed on the display screen, for example, like the display pattern shown in FIG. The video of the surveillance camera 24 may be highlighted and displayed on a 6-screen. Also, if the number of surveillance cameras increases, video from all surveillance cameras will be displayed on the display screen at the same time, so the video display outside the important surveillance area will be reduced. Alternatively, the video to be displayed may be switched while maintaining the same divided screen.

  Also, when the voice feature determination unit 901 determines that it is an important monitoring area by voice feature detection, imaging control and sound collection control of the monitoring camera that images and collects the monitoring area are performed. It is also possible to obtain detailed video and audio with higher accuracy regarding the monitoring area.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the characteristics of sound collected by a plurality of surveillance cameras are detected, and output from the display device based on the characteristics of the sound. The sound is switched, the display pattern of the divided screen for simultaneously displaying the images captured by the plurality of monitoring cameras on one screen of the display device is determined, or the images captured by the specific monitoring camera are highlighted and displayed. It becomes possible.

<Fourth embodiment>
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a case where video and audio recorded in the video recording devices 41 to 43 are displayed and reproduced will be described. Here, it is assumed that the video recording devices 41 to 43 have a function as a video recording / playback device for playing back recorded video and audio.

  In response to an instruction from the control device 50, the video recording device 42 reads the video recorded by the video recording unit 412 and reads the audio corresponding to the video (the audio recorded by the audio recording unit 417). The data is transmitted to the display device 72 via the audio transmission unit 418. At this time, the voice feature determination unit 901 detects a feature related to the voice to be reproduced, and determines the importance of the voice. Then, according to the importance determination result, as in the third embodiment of the present invention described above, an instruction such as displaying a highly important image with high emphasis is given and recorded once. Even when video and audio are played back, the audio output from the display device is switched based on the characteristics of the audio that is played back simultaneously with the video, or video images taken by a plurality of surveillance cameras are simultaneously displayed on one screen of the display device. It is possible to determine the display pattern of the divided screen for display, and to display the image captured by a specific surveillance camera with emphasis.

  In the above-described first to fourth embodiments of the present invention, the video recording devices 41 to 43, the control device 50, and the display devices 71 to 73 are provided independently. You may combine the function of an apparatus. For example, one of the video recording devices 41 to 43 may implement the function of the control device 50. Further, for example, one of the display devices 71 to 73 may implement the function of the control device 50.

  The control device in the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention described above can be realized by a general-purpose computer such as a PC (Personal Computer), and processing in the control device is performed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit). This can be realized by causing an arithmetic processing unit) to execute a program describing the operation according to the present invention. Moreover, the surveillance camera in the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention described above can be realized by a general-purpose network camera. The video recording apparatuses in the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention described above are general-purpose network video recorders (DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) recorders and HDD (Hard Disk Drive) recorders connected to a network), It can be realized by a general-purpose computer such as a PC.

  The first to fourth embodiments of the present invention have been described on the assumption that the video format is the JPEG system. However, the video format is not particularly limited. For example, MPEG (Moving Picture) Experts Group) method and H.264. It is also possible to use the H.264 system or the like. In particular, the MPEG system and the H.264 standard. In the case of the H.264 system, it is desirable to perform the above-described video recording apparatus assignment operation based on the transmission rate (the number of transmission bits per second) rather than the number of transmissions per second.

  In addition, in the present specification, as described above, the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention are described independently, but according to the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention. It is also possible to combine technologies.

  The present invention provides an imaging target (capturing location) to be imaged by a video imaging apparatus in which this failure has occurred even when the video imaging apparatus cannot capture a video or record a video. ) Has the effect of being able to efficiently construct a video imaging control system that can acquire information related to, such as receiving, recording, and displaying video transmitted over a network. The present invention can be applied to a video recording technique for performing operation control and a network control technique.

It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically the example of arrangement | positioning of the monitoring cameras 11-13 in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the control apparatus 50 of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the video management information hold | maintained by the control apparatus 50 of the video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the monitoring camera 10 of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the video recording apparatus 41 of the video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows typically an example of the monitoring camera information currently hold | maintained by the video recording apparatuses 41-43 of the video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the display apparatus 71 of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. In the 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is a figure which shows typically an example of the recovery method when a failure generate | occur | produces in the specific monitoring camera. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the video recording apparatus 91 of the video imaging control system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the mode of the time fluctuation | variation of the audio | voice detected with the monitoring cameras 20-24 of the video imaging control system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 1st example of the display pattern of the display apparatus of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of the display pattern of the display apparatus of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the 3rd example of the display pattern of the display apparatus of the imaging | video imaging control system in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10-17, 20-24, 30-32 Surveillance camera (video imaging device)
41-43, 91 Video recording device 50 Control device 60 LAN
71-73 Display device 100 Video imaging unit 101 Encoder 102, 413 Video transmission unit 103 Imaging control unit 104 Audio collection unit 105 Audio encoder 106, 418 Audio transmission unit 107 Sound collection control unit 411, 711 Video reception unit 412 Video recording unit 414 Surveillance camera operation management unit 415 Surveillance camera information storage unit 416, 715 Audio reception unit 417 Audio recording unit 500 System control unit 501 Camera information management unit 502 Operation management unit 503 Communication processing unit 504 Video management information storage unit 505 Fault response setting information storage Unit 712 Video display unit 713 Video recording device operation management unit 714 Video recording device information storage unit 716 Audio output unit 901 Audio feature determination unit

Claims (4)

A video imaging control system in which a plurality of video imaging devices, a plurality of video recording devices, and a control device are connected via a network,
Each of the plurality of video imaging devices is
Video imaging means for imaging a predetermined location;
Video transmission means for transmitting video captured by the video imaging means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Sound collecting means for collecting sound of the predetermined place;
Audio transmission means for transmitting the audio collected by the sound collection means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Based on a control signal received from the control device, the sound collecting unit performs change control of any of the sound collecting direction in the sound collecting unit, the directivity of the sound collecting by the sound collecting unit, and the sound collecting sensitivity of the sound collecting unit. Control means,
Each of the plurality of video recording devices is
Video receiving means for receiving the video transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Video recording means for recording the video received by the video receiving means on a recording medium;
Audio receiving means for receiving the audio transmitted by the predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Sound recording means for recording the sound received by the sound receiving means on a recording medium;
Video imaging device monitoring means for monitoring video reception status and audio reception status from the predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
When the video imaging device monitoring unit detects that the video or audio cannot be received from the predetermined video imaging device among the plurality of video imaging devices, the predetermined video imaging device Operation management means for sending notification information to the control device for notifying the state in which the video or the audio cannot be received;
The control device is
Video management information including correspondence information between each of the plurality of video imaging devices and each of the plurality of video recording devices set as recording destinations of the video captured by each of the plurality of video imaging devices Video management information storage means for storing
When a failure occurs in any one of the plurality of video imaging devices, in order to collect the sound of the imaging area of the video imaging device in which the failure has occurred by another video imaging device, Any of the sound collection direction in the sound collection means of another video imaging apparatus, the directivity of the sound collection by the sound collection means of the other video imaging apparatus, and the sound collection sensitivity of the sound collection means of the other video imaging apparatus Fault response setting information storage means for storing fault response setting information related to any change control;
The sound collection of the other video imaging apparatus with reference to the failure handling setting information regarding the video imaging apparatus in which the fault has occurred, identified by the notification information received from the operation management unit of the video recording apparatus The sound collection direction in the means, the directivity of the sound collection by the sound collection means of the other video imaging device, and the sound collection sensitivity of the sound collection means of the other video imaging device are changed. Video imaging device control means for transmitting a control signal to the other video imaging device;
Information management means for updating the video management information based on the failure handling setting information relating to the video imaging apparatus in which the failure has occurred, specified by the notification information received from the operation management means of the video recording apparatus; The
A video imaging control system.   The video imaging control system according to claim 1, wherein the function of the control device is incorporated in any one of the plurality of video recording devices. Each of the plurality of video recording devices is
Video display means for displaying the video received by the video receiving means;
Audio output means for informing the outside of the audio received by the audio receiving means;
With respect to the voice received by the voice receiving means, a voice feature detecting means for detecting a feature of the voice based on either the volume of the voice or a change thereof, the frequency of the voice or a change thereof,
It is determined that the voice feature detected by the voice feature detection means indicates the occurrence of an event different from normal at the predetermined location, and the voice output means has an outside of the voice having the feature. Output control means for instructing to notify the video, or for controlling the video display means to highlight the video corresponding to the voice having the characteristics,
The video imaging control system according to claim 1 or 2. A video imaging control system in which a plurality of video imaging devices and a plurality of video display devices are connected by a network,
Each of the plurality of video imaging devices is
Video imaging means for imaging a predetermined location;
Video transmission means for transmitting video captured by the video imaging means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Sound collecting means for collecting sound of the predetermined place;
Audio transmission means for transmitting the audio collected by the sound collection means to a predetermined video recording device of the plurality of video recording devices;
Each of the plurality of video display devices
Video receiving means for receiving the video transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Video display means for displaying the video received by the video receiving means;
Audio receiving means for receiving the audio transmitted by a predetermined video imaging device of the plurality of video imaging devices;
Audio output means for informing the outside of the audio received by the audio receiving means;
With respect to the voice received by the voice receiving means, a voice feature detecting means for detecting a feature of the voice based on either the volume of the voice or a change thereof, the frequency of the voice or a change thereof,
It is determined that the voice feature detected by the voice feature detection means indicates the occurrence of an event different from normal at the predetermined location, and the voice output means has an outside of the voice having the feature. Output control means for instructing to notify the video, or for controlling the video display means to highlight the video corresponding to the voice having the characteristics,
A video imaging control system.

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