JPH0258485A - Remote control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To quickly execute composing, focusing, etc., by executing efficient compressing electrical transmission corresponding to an operating mode. CONSTITUTION:Picture are among a reading picture necessary for the composition of the whole are thinned, that is, the data are read in a thinning method from a memory 3 to a D/A converter 4 with a memory control interface 5, are converted into an analog signal by the D/A converter 4 and are electrical- transmitted to a center 200 through an electrical transmitting channel 300. Besides, on focusing, the whole picture elements are read in a part of the whole scope and are electrical-transmitted with the electrical transmitting channel 300. Thus, by using the thinning of the picture element data and the electrical transmission of the whole picture data in a part in the whole read picture properly corresponding to the kind of operation and executing the efficient electrical transmission of the data, the composition and the focusing can be executed quickly and respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a remote control system for controlling an imaging device connected to a center via a telephone line, for example.

[Background Art] In recent years, videophones that perform one-to-one communication and video conferences that perform group-to-group communication are about to be put into practical use.

In the case of videophone calls, the two-way communication function of the phone itself is used, and the handset is equipped with a camera, which is placed on the base unit so that it can be operated from a remote location. In this way, a remote control system is constructed by giving remote instructions and sending video information back from the slave device to the parent device.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention 1] However, in the remote control system described above, it takes time to transmit the video signal from the handset to the base because the capacity of the communication path of the telephone line is small. There are challenges.

Therefore, for example, when the composition is determined or focusing is performed using the pan head or lens attached to the above-mentioned camera, if the user does this while watching the video signal from the slave device, the video signal ``The longer it takes to transmit the image, the more time it takes to decide on the composition and focus.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional example described above, and its purpose is to focus on the individual characteristics (image quality) required for composition determination and focusing, and to The object of the present invention is to provide a remote control system that quickly performs focusing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, a remote control system according to the present invention includes a line having a predetermined electric transmission line capacity between an imaging device and a center, and In a remote control system that controls an imaging device from a remote location via a line,
The present invention is characterized in that pixel data in a read image required for determining the overall composition is thinned out and electronically transmitted, and all pixel data in a part of the read image required for focusing is electronically transmitted.

Preferably, the thinning-out transmission of pixel data corresponds to zoom, pan, and tilt operations, and the transmission of all pixel data of a portion of the entire screen corresponds to a focus operation.

[Operation] According to the above configuration, thinning of pixel data and transmission of all pixel data in a part of the entire read image are selectively used depending on the type of operation, thereby enabling efficient data transmission.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, this embodiment will be schematically explained.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of reading out pixels necessary for composition according to this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a method of reading out pixels necessary for focusing according to this embodiment.

For example, if the number of pixels of the sensor (image sensor) is 200 x 20
If 0 = 40,000 pixels and the communication channel capacity of the electrical transmission path is 2 KHz, the sampling frequency can be increased to 4 or H2 according to the sampling theorem. Therefore, the time required to send one picture (read image) is approximately 4000 (Hz), and in this case, a picture can only be sent once every 10 seconds, which hinders composition and focusing. will appear.

For example, according to FIG. 2, the pixels necessary for determining the composition are read out so that only one out of every three pixels is read out in both the horizontal and vertical directions. On the other hand, according to Figure 3, the pixel readout required for focusing is both horizontal and vertical.
This is done by reading out all the pixels in one-third of the total area, which is approximately at the center of all the pixels.

In this way, as is clear from Figures 2 and 3, whether it is determining the composition or adjusting the focus, one-ninth of the total number of pixels is read out, and the readout time is approximately 90%. This is reduced to about 1/2 of a second, or about 1 second.

Next, the remote control system of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of the remote control system according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 4 shows diagrams showing various operating methods of the remote control system according to the present embodiment. Furthermore, FIG. 5(a).

(b) and (c) are timing charts respectively illustrating the data transmission method for composition determination, focusing, etc. of this embodiment.

In FIG. 1, lOO is the imaging device of this embodiment, 200
3 represents the center of this embodiment, and 300 represents an electric transmission path that has a finite communication path capacity and connects the imaging device 100 and the center 200. Furthermore, on the imaging bag al 00 side, 1 is an image sensor such as a CCD, and 2 is an analog/
Digital (hereinafter referred to as "A/D") converter, 3 is A/D
The memories that store the digital signals converted by the D converter 2 in correspondence with each pixel of the above-mentioned image sensor in pixel units are shown. 4 is the video information stored in the memory 3,
A D/A converter that converts a digital signal into an analog signal and outputs it to the power transmission line 300 is shown, and 5 is an A/D converter 2, memo IJ3. Also shown is a memory control interface that controls the operations of the D/A converter 4.

Further, 6 indicates a clock generator that generates timing pulses for controlling timing relationships within the imaging device 100, and 7 indicates a driver that drives the imaging element 1 according to the timing pulses of the clock generator 6. Reference numeral 8 indicates a header detector that detects a preparation pulse (hereinafter referred to as "header j") for synchronizing with a signal transmitted from the center 200 side, which will be described later, and 9 indicates a header equivalent to the header generated by the clock generator 6. It shows a phase comparator that detects the phase-time relationship between the signal and the header detection signal detected by the header detector 8. 10 shows a voltage controlled oscillator (hereinafter referred to as "VCO"), and this VCO 10 inputs the signal output from the phase comparator 9.

The imaging device 100 also includes the above-mentioned phase comparator 9°VOC1.
0 and the clock generator 6 form a phase locked loop (hereinafter referred to as rPLLJ), which operates in synchronization with the center 200 based on this configuration.

Furthermore, 11 converts the serial analog signal output from the D/A converter 4 into parallel, as shown in Fig. 11.
One signal is connected to the memory control interface 5.
A clock generator 6 and a lens 12, which will be described later.
This figure shows a serial/parallel (hereinafter referred to as "S/P") converter that outputs one signal to a memory control interface 5, a clock generator 6, and a pan/tilter to be described later.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a lens for forming a subject image, and the zoom focus operation of this lens 12 is driven by an external electric signal. 13 indicates the horizontal and vertical rotational movements (panning, panning, etc.) of the entire imaging device 100
This shows the pan/tilter that allows you to tilt the camera.

In addition, in the configuration on the center 200 side, 21 is the electrical transmission line 3
00 is an A/D converter that A/D converts the video signal from the imaging device 100 obtained through the A/D converter 22;
23 represents a D/A converter that converts the digital signal read from the memory 22 into an analog signal. 2
4 is an A/D converter 21. Memory 22. D/A converter 23
It shows the memory control interface that controls each. 25 is a clock generator that generates signals for controlling all timings on the center 200 side;
6 is a video signal processor, 27 is a monitor (or recorder)
are shown respectively. Here, the memory control interface 24 reads out the digital signal (or image data) from the memory 22 at television rate, converts it into a standard video signal such as NTSC in the video signal processing circuit 26, and monitors it on the monitor 27. (or record it on a record).

Further, 28 indicates an operating member. This operating member 28
, the lens 1 attached to the imaging device 100 side
2. Eight operating methods are included for the pan/tilter 13 as shown in FIG. That is, one bit is assigned to each of the eight types of operation methods described above. Therefore, in this embodiment, a total of 8-bit control signals are output in parallel. 29 is a parallel/serial (hereinafter referred to as rP/
A transducer (referred to as SJ) is shown. A header amplifier 30 amplifies a reference synchronization signal (header) for synchronizing the imaging device 100 with the center 200.

Next, regarding the remote control system of this embodiment, the center 10
This will be explained using the operation on the 0 side.

First, in Fig. 4, the first and second operations indicate how to pan the camera, and the third and fourth operations indicate how to pan the camera.
The second operation shows how to tilt the camera. Further, the fifth and sixth operations indicate how to operate the zoom function of the camera, and the seventh and eighth operations indicate how to operate the focus function of the camera.

Here, among the operating methods shown in Figure 4, pan, tilt,
Each zoom operation is a method of determining the composition. This composition determination method enables thinning processing as shown in FIG.

First, depending on the type of operating method obtained by the clock generator 6.25, the clock generator 6.25 determines the mode of operation of the memory control interface 5.24. When the operation mode is determined in this manner, the memory control interface 5 causes the D/A converter 4 to read data from the memory 3 by a thinning method corresponding to FIG. 2. This read data is D
/A converter 4 converts it into an analog signal, and sends it to the electrical transmission line 300.
The signal is transmitted to the center 200 via the . At the center 200, the analog signal obtained from the imaging device 100 is converted into an A/D converter under the control of the memory control interface 24.
The converter 21 performs A/D conversion. Then, the corresponding address portion of the memory 22 is updated with the digitally converted data.

Here, regarding the transmission timing on the transmission path 300, the fifth
This will be explained using Figures (a), (b), and (c).

First, when thinning data for composition determination is transmitted electronically from the imaging device 100 side to the center 200 side, the data of the black bit portion shown in FIG. 1 is electronically transmitted. That is, from the data (3, 3) on the third line, the data (3, 6), (3
, 9)...(3, m-2), and blanking b is transmitted at the end of the l line. In this way, the nth
-Continue to the second line, data (6, 3), (6, 6
)...(6,m-2),b, ・"(n-2,m-
2) are transmitted in the order shown in FIG. 5(a). Note that m and n are arbitrary positive numbers.

While operating in this mode, the D/A converter 23 also performs D/A conversion of only the thinned out data, as shown in FIG.

Furthermore, among the operations shown in FIG. 4, in the case of focusing, it is sufficient to read all pixels in a part of the entire screen as shown in FIG. For example, data is transmitted electronically as shown in FIG. 5(b).

In this case, as shown in Figure 3, the data of the vertical and horizontal lines are (n / 3, m / 3), (n /
3, m/31)..., (n/3
, 2 m/3). Then, in order to move the line in the vertical direction, blanking b is transmitted electronically, and the data of the next line is transmitted as (n / 3 + l,
m/3), (n/3+1m/3+
1>・” (n/3+1,2m/3), b−・(2n
/3.2m/3) [Figure 5(b)
].

Furthermore, if neither the above-described composition determination nor focusing operations are performed, the imaging device 100 and the center 20
0 (A/D converter 2. Memory 3. D/A converter 4, memory control interface 5 and A/D converter 21. Memory 22. D/A converter 23, memory control Interface 24)
reads all pixels of the image sensor 1, transmits pictures (image data) for all pixels, and outputs them to a monitor or the like.

The timing in this case is as shown in FIG. 5(C).

In this case, as can be roughly seen from the comparison of timings in Figures 5(a), (b), and (c), the transmission time when data is transmitted using the method in Figure 5(c) is Figure 5(a)
And, it takes about nine times as long as the transmission time when transmitting by the method (b) [Fig. 5(C)].

Next, the timing relationship between the header for synchronization and the operation signal will be explained using FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b).

FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) respectively show timing charts for synchronization in this embodiment.

According to FIG. 6, as shown in FIGS. 5(a), 5(b), and 5(c), for the electrical transmission line 300, data is transmitted every horizontal line, and one line of electrical transmission is performed. A blanking period is provided between the transmission line and the next line [Fig. 6(a)].

Therefore, a header and an operation signal (serial pulse train) are sequentially provided during this blanking period [FIG. 6(b)].

For example, if the amplitude of the header is set larger than the maximum value of the video signal, the header detector 8 can detect the header using a simple comparator. If serial-Q-parallel conversion is performed using timing pulses from the clock signal for a certain period of time after this header is detected, the P/S converter 29 converts the parallel 8 bits assigned to each operation from the operating member 28 into a serial signal. can do. The serial signal thus converted is again converted into a parallel signal by the S/P converter 11, and the parallel signal is further transmitted to the imaging device 100, the lens 12, and the pan/tilter 13, where each operation is performed. Ru.

Further, the clock generator 6.25 generates timing signals necessary for the timings shown above in accordance with each operation mode.

From the above explanation, according to this embodiment, when various operations are performed based on video signals transmitted from the imaging device to the center via the transmission line with limited communication capacity, efficient operation according to the operation mode is possible. The time required for operation can be significantly shortened by electrically transmitting a portion of the thinning metal body.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a remote control system with excellent operability that quickly performs composition determination, focusing, and the like.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a remote control system with excellent operability that quickly performs composition determination, focusing, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the circuit configuration of the remote control system according to this embodiment, Fig. 2 is a diagram explaining a method for reading out pixels necessary for composition according to this embodiment, and Fig. 3 is this embodiment. Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating various methods of operating the remote control system according to this embodiment. Figures 5 (a), (b), and (c) are How to transmit data in composition determination, focusing, etc. in the embodiment. Fig. 6 (a) is a timing chart explaining each method.
) and (b) are timing charts of synchronization in this embodiment. In the figure, l...ccn, 2, 21... A/D conversion section,
3.22...Memory, 4.23...D/A conversion unit,
5.24...Memory control interface,
6.25... Clock generator, 7... Driver, 8... Header detection unit, 9... Phase comparator, 10
・V C0111-3/P converter, 12... Lens, 13... Pan/tilter, 26... Video signal processor, 27... Motor, 28... Operating member, 29...
P/S converter, 30... Header amplifier, 100...
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Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In a remote control system that has a line with a predetermined electrical transmission line capacity between the imaging device and the center and controls the imaging device from a remote location via the line, pixels in the read image required to determine the overall composition A remote control system characterized in that data is thinned out and electronically transmitted, and all pixel data in a part of a read image required for focusing is transmitted electronically. (2) The pixel data thinning transmission corresponds to zoom, pan, and tilt operations, and the transmission of all pixel data of a portion of the entire screen corresponds to a focus operation. remote control system.