JP7434942B2 - video recording device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a video recording device that records video data.

2. Description of the Related Art Some conventional video recording devices determine a storage destination for video data based on an analysis result of the video data (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP2014-157488A

The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 changes the storage destination recording device according to the analysis result of video data, and does not suppress the size of video data, so it is difficult to record video for a long period of time. This poses a problem in that the recording capacity of the video recording device may be insufficient for the size of the video data.

The present invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a video recording device that can efficiently record video data.

The video recording device according to this invention includes:
a first recording unit that records video data input from an external device;
a video processing unit that determines the importance of the video data and compresses the video data according to the importance;
a second recording unit that records compressed video data that is the video data compressed by the video processing unit;
a control unit that deletes the video data corresponding to the compressed video data from the first recording unit ,
The second recording unit is characterized in that the compressed video data and the degree of importance corresponding to the compressed video data are recorded in association with each other .

According to the present invention, since it is configured as described above, there is an effect that video data can be efficiently recorded in the video recording device.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a surveillance camera system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video recording device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video recording device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating importance definition information of the video recording device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video recording device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure showing an example of composition of a surveillance camera system concerning Embodiment 2 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video recording device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video recording device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a surveillance camera system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the surveillance camera system 1 includes cameras 2-1 to 2-n (n is an integer of 1 or more) that capture images of a target range, a video recording device 3, and video output from the video recording device 3. It includes a monitor 4 for displaying data, an input device 5 for accepting user (not shown) operations on the video recording device 3, and a network 6.

The cameras 2-1 to 2-n capture images of people, vehicles, and the like (not shown), and output the captured video data to the video recording device 3 via the network 6. Note that the cameras 2-1 to 2-n and the video recording device 3 may be directly connected.

The video recording device 3 records video data output from the cameras 2-1 to 2-n.

The monitor 4 displays video data output from the video recording device 3.

The input device 5 receives an operation from a user (not shown) and outputs it to the video recording device 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the video recording device 3 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the video recording device 3 includes a receiving section 10, a control section 11, an operation input section 12, a video output section 13, a video processing section 14, a normal recording section 15 (first recording section), and an importance level A classification recording section 16 (second recording section) is provided.

The receiving unit 10 receives video data output from the cameras 2-1 to 2-n.

The control section 11 controls the video processing section 14, the normal recording section 15, and the importance classification recording section 16.

The operation input unit 12 is a port connected to the input device 5.

The video output unit 13 outputs video data to the monitor 4.

The video processing unit 14 performs a process of determining the importance of video data and a process of compressing the video data. Note that the importance of video data will be described later.

The normal recording section 15 records video data output from the cameras 2-1 to 2-n.

The importance classification recording section 16 records the video data processed by the video processing section 14.

The receiving unit 10 is realized by, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) and a network interface IC.

Each function of the control section 11, the video output section 13, and the video processing section 14 is realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) stored in a nonvolatile memory or by dedicated hardware.

When each function of the control unit 11, video output unit 13, and video processing unit 14 is realized by a CPU, each function of the control unit 11, video output unit 13, and video processing unit 14 is implemented by software, firmware, or software. This is realized in combination with firmware. That is, each function of the control section 11, video output section 13, and video processing section 14 is realized by a CPU that reads a program recorded in a nonvolatile memory, allocates it to the memory, and executes it. Here, the memory includes, for example, RAM (Random Access Memory), and the nonvolatile memory includes, for example, flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Memory). Programmable Read-Only Memory), etc. do.

When each function of the control unit 11, video output unit 13, and video processing unit 14 is realized by dedicated hardware, the dedicated hardware is, for example, a system LSI (Large-Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific), etc. This applies to FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination of these.

The operation input unit 12 is, for example, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) terminal.

The normal recording section 15 and the importance classification recording section 16 are, for example, HDDs (Hard Disk Drives). Further, the normal recording section 15 and the importance classification recording section 16 store SD (registered trademark) memory cards, CF (CompactFlash (registered trademark)), NAND flash, optical discs, compact discs, Blu-ray (registered trademark) discs, DVD (Digital It may also be a portable recording medium such as a Versatile Disk. Furthermore, the normal recording section 15 and the importance classification recording section 16 may be external recording media.
Note that the normal recording section 15 and the importance classification recording section 16 may be different folders or different partitions of the same recording medium.

Next, the operation of the video recording device 3 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

After starting up the video recording device 3, the control unit 11 determines whether importance definition information is set in the video recording device 3 (step ST1). If the control unit 11 determines that the importance definition information is not set in the video recording device 3 (step ST2-No), the importance definition information is input from the input device 5 by a user (not shown) operation. The input importance definition information is set in the video recording device 3 via the operation input section 12 (step ST2).

Here, the importance definition information will be explained based on FIG. 4. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the importance definition information defines a video in which two or more people are shown as having high importance, a video in which one person is shown as medium in importance, and a video in which two or more people are shown as medium in importance. Images that are not shown are defined as having low importance.
Here, the degree of importance is defined by the presence or absence of a person in the video, but the degree of importance may be defined by the presence or absence of movement in the video or the speed of movement. Further, the number of importance levels is not limited to three, but may be two or more.
Further, the importance definition information may be set in the video recording device 3 when the video recording device 3 is installed. In this case, the control unit 11 does not need to determine whether importance definition information is set in the video recording device 3 (step ST1).

If the control unit 11 determines that the importance definition information is set in the video recording device 3 (step ST1, Yes), the control unit 11 determines whether recording of video data is necessary (step ST3). Whether or not video data needs to be recorded is determined in accordance with a method specified by the user in advance (for example, whether the current time is included in a recording time period specified by the user).

If the control unit 11 determines that it is necessary to record the video data (step ST3, Yes), the reception unit 10 receives the video data from the cameras 2-1 to 2-n (step ST4), and performs control. 11. The control unit 11 records the video data transmitted from the receiving unit 10 in the normal recording unit 15 (step ST5).

Next, the control unit 11 transmits the video data transmitted from the receiving unit 10 to the video processing unit 14. The video processing unit 14 determines the importance of the video data transmitted from the control unit 11 based on the importance definition information (step ST6), and transmits the importance of the video to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 records the importance of the video transmitted from the video processing unit 14 in the normal recording unit 15 in association with the video data recorded in the normal recording unit 15 (step ST7).

Next, the control unit 11 determines whether the video processing unit 14 has resources necessary for compression processing of video data (step ST8). If the control unit 11 determines that the resource of the video processing unit 14 does not exist (No in step ST8), the process moves to step ST3.

When the control unit 11 determines that the relevant resource of the video processing unit 14 exists (step ST8, Yes), the control unit 11 determines that the video data recorded in the normal recording unit 15 and the video data associated with the video data are linked. The importance level of the video is transmitted to the video processing unit 14 (step ST9).
Here, the control unit 11 transmits the oldest video data to which compression processing completion information is not attached among the video data recorded in the normal recording unit 15. Note that the compression process completion information will be described later.

Next, the video processing section 14 performs a compression process on the video data according to the importance of the video transmitted from the control section 11 (step ST10). Note that details of the compression process will be described later.

The video processing unit 14 transmits the compressed video data to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 receives the compressed video transmitted from the video processing unit 14. The control unit 11 records the compressed video data transmitted from the video processing unit 14 and the importance of the video of the video data in the importance classification recording unit 16 (step ST11). Note that, if the compressed video data transmitted from the video processing unit 14 is empty data, the control unit 11 does not record the empty data in the importance classification recording unit 16.

The control unit 11 adds compression processing completion information to the video data corresponding to the compressed video data recorded in the normal recording unit 15 (step ST12).

When the control unit 11 determines that recording of video data is not necessary (step ST3, No), the control unit 11 determines whether there is video data in the normal recording unit 15 to which compression processing completion information is not attached. Determination is made (step ST13). When the control unit 11 determines that there is video data in the normal recording unit 15 to which compression processing completion information is not attached (step ST13, Yes), the process moves to step ST8.

If the control unit 11 determines that there is no video data to which compression processing completion information has been added in the normal recording unit 15 (step ST13, No), the control unit 11 determines whether the free capacity of the normal recording unit 15 is small. (Step ST14). When the control unit 11 determines that the free space in the normal recording unit 15 is not small (step ST14, No), the process moves to step ST3.

If the control unit 11 determines that the free space in the normal recording unit 15 is small (step ST14, Yes), the control unit 11 deletes the video data to which the compression processing completion information of the normal recording unit 15 is attached (step ST14). ST15).

Note that the control unit 11 may delete the oldest video data among the video data to which the compression processing completion information of the normal recording unit 15 is attached, or delete video data with low video importance. You may also do so.
Further, the control unit 11 determines the free space of the normal recording unit 15 (step ST14) when it is determined that there is no video data in the normal recording unit 15 to which compression processing completion information is not attached (step ST13, No. ), and may be performed, for example, after the control unit 11 adds compression processing completion information to the video data (step ST12).
Further, the control unit 11 may delete the video data to which the compression processing completion information of the normal recording unit 15 is attached regardless of the free capacity of the normal recording unit 15.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video data compression process of the video processing unit 14 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and shows an example of the detailed operation of the compression process of step ST10 in FIG. It is.

The video processing unit 14 determines whether the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is high (step ST10-1). If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is high (step ST10-1, Yes), the video processing unit 14 The data is compressed video data (step ST10-2).

If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is not high (step ST10-2, No), the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is not high. It is determined whether the degree of importance is medium (step ST10-3). If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is medium (step ST10-3, Yes), the video processing unit 14 The frame rate of the data is compressed to 1/2, and the compressed video data is used as compressed video data (step ST10-4).

If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is not among the importance levels (step ST10-3, No), the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is It is determined whether the importance level is low (step ST10-5). If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is low (step ST10-5, No), the video processing unit 14 The frame rate of the data is compressed to 1/5, and the compressed video data is used as compressed video data (step ST10-6).

If the video processing unit 14 determines that the importance level of the video transmitted from the control unit 11 is not low (step ST10-5, No), the video processing unit 14 selects an empty image because the importance level is "none". The data is compressed video data.

Although FIG. 5 shows compression processing by changing the frame rate, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, compression processing may be performed by changing the resolution or bit rate, or a combination thereof.

In the present embodiment, the video processing unit 14 is configured to compress video data according to the importance of the video data, but the camera has a multi-stream function (compression rate (frame rate, resolution, bit rate, etc.) If the camera has a function of transmitting a plurality of different video data, the video processing unit 14 may be configured to use this function to reduce the compression processing of the video processing unit 14. For example, when a camera uses a multi-stream function to transmit video as two types of video data with different compression rates, if the importance of the video is determined to be high, the video processing unit 14 performs compression processing on the video data. Of the two types of video data, the video data with the lowest compression rate is selected and recorded in the importance classification recording section 16 without performing any other operations. When the importance of the video is determined to be medium, the video processing unit 14 selects the video data with the higher compression rate from the two types of video data without performing compression processing on the video data, and It is recorded in the degree classification recording section 16. When the importance of the video is determined to be low, the video processing unit 14 compresses either of the two types of video data and records it in the importance classification recording unit 16. With this configuration, the load related to compression processing on the video processing section 14 can be reduced.

In this way, the video recording device according to the present embodiment is configured to record compressed video data that is compressed according to the importance of the video data, so the video recording device can efficiently record video data. It has the effect of being able to record.

Furthermore, since the video data compression process is configured to be performed according to the resources of the video processing section 14, it is possible to efficiently use the resources of the video recording device.

Furthermore, since the video data is recorded in association with the importance of the video data, it is possible to efficiently search for video data with high importance.

In the present embodiment, when the free space of the normal recording section 15 becomes low, the video data to which the compression processing completion information of the normal recording section 15 is attached is deleted. When the free space becomes small, the oldest video data or video data with low video importance among the video data in the importance classification recording section 16 may be deleted. As a result, even with limited recording capacity, it is possible to prioritize new videos or videos with high importance and record them for a long period of time.

Embodiment 2.
In Embodiment 2, a video recording device that receives video importance from a camera will be described.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a surveillance camera system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 6, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are the same or equivalent, so the explanation will be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 6, the surveillance camera system 6 includes cameras 7-1 to 7-n (n is an integer greater than or equal to 1) that capture images of an imaging target range, a video recording device 8, and video output from the video recording device 8. It includes a monitor 4 for displaying data, an input device 5 for receiving user (not shown) operations on a video recording device 8, and a network 6.

The cameras 7-1 to 7-n take images of people, vehicles, etc. (not shown) to be imaged, determine the importance of the imaged video data based on importance definition information, and determine the importance of the video data and The importance of the video is output to the video recording device 8 via the network 6. Note that the cameras 7-1 to 7-n and the video recording device 8 may be directly connected.

The video recording device 8 records the video data and the importance of the video output from the cameras 7-1 to 7-n.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a video recording device 8 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 2 are the same or equivalent, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.
As shown in FIG. 7, the video recording device 8 includes a receiving section 10, a control section 11, an operation input section 12, a video output section 13, a video processing section 14, a normal recording section 15 (first recording section), an importance level It includes a classification recording section 16 (second recording section) and a transmitting section 17.

The transmitter 17 transmits importance definition information to the cameras 7-1 to 7-n.

Next, the operation of the video recording device 8 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the video recording apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 are the same or correspond to those in FIG. 3, so the explanation will be omitted.

If the control unit 11 determines that the importance level definition information is set in the video recording device 8 (step ST1, Yes), the control unit 11 transmits the importance level definition information to the transmitting unit 17. transmits the importance definition information to the cameras 7-1 to 7-n via the network 6 (step ST20).
Note that the importance definition information may be set to the cameras 7-1 to 7-n when the cameras 7-1 to 7-n are installed. In this case, there is no need to transmit importance definition information from the video recording device 8 to the cameras 7-1 to 7-n.

If the control unit 11 determines that it is necessary to record the video data (step ST3, Yes), the receiving unit 10 receives the video data and the importance of the video from the cameras 7-1 to 7-n ( Step ST21), transmitting to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 records the video data and the importance of the video transmitted from the receiving unit 10 in the normal recording unit 15 (step ST22).

In the present embodiment, the video processing unit 14 is configured to compress video data according to the importance of the video data, but the camera has a multi-stream function (compression rate (frame rate, resolution, bit rate, etc.) If the camera has a function of transmitting a plurality of different video data, the video processing unit 14 may be configured to use this function to reduce the compression processing of the video processing unit 14. For example, when a camera uses a multi-stream function to transmit video as two types of video data with different compression rates, if the importance of the video is determined to be high, the video processing unit 14 performs compression processing on the video data. Of the two types of video data, the video data with the lowest compression rate is selected and recorded in the importance classification recording section 16 without performing any other operations. When the importance of the video is determined to be medium, the video processing unit 14 selects the video data with the higher compression rate from the two types of video data without performing compression processing on the video data, and It is recorded in the degree classification recording section 16. When the importance of the video is determined to be low, the video processing unit 14 compresses either of the two types of video data and records it in the importance classification recording unit 16. With this configuration, the load related to compression processing on the video processing section 14 can be reduced.

In this way, the video recording device according to the present embodiment is configured to receive the importance of video data from the camera, thereby reducing the processing load required for determining the importance of video data in the video recording device. It has the effect of being able to

In addition, since the video recording device is configured to send importance definition information to each camera, it is possible for each camera to use the same importance definition information to determine the importance of the video. be effective.

In the present embodiment, when the free space of the normal recording section 15 becomes low, the video data to which the compression processing completion information of the normal recording section 15 is attached is deleted. When the free space becomes small, the oldest video data or video data with low video importance among the video data in the importance classification recording section 16 may be deleted. As a result, even with limited recording capacity, it is possible to prioritize new videos or videos with high importance and record them for a long period of time.

3 video recording device,
8 video recording device,
11 control unit,
14 video processing section,
15 Normal recording section (first recording section),
16 Importance classification record section (second record section)
17 Transmitter

Claims (10)

a first recording unit that records video data input from an external device;
a video processing unit that determines the importance of the video data and compresses the video data according to the importance;
a second recording unit that records compressed video data that is the video data compressed by the video processing unit;
a control unit that deletes the video data corresponding to the compressed video data from the first recording unit ,
The video recording device is characterized in that the second recording unit records the compressed video data and the importance level corresponding to the compressed video data in association with each other . a first recording unit that records video data input from an external device and the importance of the video data in association with each other;
a video processing unit that compresses the related video data according to the degree of importance;
a second recording unit that records compressed video data that is the video data compressed by the video processing unit;
a control unit that deletes the video data corresponding to the compressed video data from the first recording unit ,
The video recording device is characterized in that the second recording unit records the compressed video data and the importance level corresponding to the compressed video data in association with each other . 3. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit deletes the compressed video data from the second recording unit depending on the free space of the second recording unit. The video recording device described. further comprising a transmitter that transmits importance definition information defining the importance to the external device,
3. The video recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the degree of importance recorded by the first recording section is determined based on the degree of importance definition information transmitted by the transmitting section. The control unit determines whether the video processing unit has resources necessary for compression processing of video data,
3. The video processing section compresses the video data according to the degree of importance when the control section determines that the resource is available. The video recording device described in . a first recording unit that records a plurality of video data input from an external device and having different compression ratios;
a video processing unit that determines the importance of the plurality of video data having different compression ratios, and selects one of the plurality of video data having different compression ratios according to the importance;
a second recording unit that records selected video data that is any of the plurality of video data having different compression ratios selected by the video processing unit;
A video recording device comprising: a control unit that deletes a plurality of video data having different compression ratios corresponding to the selected video data from the first recording unit. a first recording unit that records a plurality of video data input from an external device with different compression ratios and the importance of the video data in association with each other;
a video processing unit that selects one of the plurality of video data having different compression ratios according to the degree of importance;
a second recording unit that records selected video data that is any of the plurality of video data having different compression ratios selected by the video processing unit;
A video recording device comprising: a control unit that deletes a plurality of video data having different compression ratios corresponding to the selected video data from the first recording unit. 8. The video recording unit according to claim 6 , wherein the second recording unit records the selected video data and the importance level corresponding to the selected video data in association with each other. Device. According to any one of claims 6 and 7 , wherein the control unit deletes the selected video data from the second recording unit depending on the free space of the second recording unit. The video recording device described. further comprising a transmitter that transmits importance definition information defining the importance to an external device,
8. The video recording apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the degree of importance recorded by the first recording section is determined based on the degree of importance definition information transmitted by the transmitting section.

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