JPH03283789A - Picture monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain efficient check by converting various text information into voice synthesis information in the case of recording a picture subjected to change, recording the information to other area than a picture recording area corresponding to the picture information, reproducing various text information for voice synthesis at reproduction and sounding the audio signal. CONSTITUTION:A picture subjected to change and various text information relevant thereto are recorded separately when the picture subjected to change through the movement of a travelling object is recorded. In this case, various text information such as pickup camera number, pickup date and pickup time managed by an environment information management section 5 is converted into information for sound synthesis output and recorded in, e.g. an audio recording area and the picture subjected to change is displayed on a monitor at reproduction. Then the recorded text information as the information relating to the picture is outputted by a voice synthesis function in a sound output section 11. The operator listens to essential information relating to the picture by ears while observing the picture and the picture subjected to change is efficiently checked.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to an image monitoring device that detects illegal intruders using, for example, a TV left camera.

(Prior Art) In recent years, image monitoring devices that detect illegal intruders and the like by using images captured by a television camera have become widely used, for example, in security systems. This is because recent remarkable developments in semiconductor technology and widespread use of digital image processing technology have made it possible to produce low-cost devices.

In this way, in an image monitoring device, in order to detect an illegal intruder, for example, a V
It is necessary to record on a recording device such as a TR. At this time, the monitored area is usually recorded on a VTR, etc. throughout the day, and later checked to see if there is an abnormality, and the changed image is used as evidence, and along with this image information, the VTR number where the photo was taken, Processing was performed such as superimposing information such as the date and time of photographing on the image and recording it.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional image monitoring devices, for example, when various text information is overwritten and recorded in an image that changes due to the movement of a moving object, it is difficult to reproduce it. When displayed on a monitor, the screen becomes very difficult to see. In particular, when the types of text information increases, there is a risk that important parts of the image that serve as evidence may be hidden. In such a state, the effect of overwriting various text information accompanying the changed image is lost. In addition, if two different types of information are displayed simultaneously on the same monitor screen, it will place a heavy burden on the operator checking the monitoring monitor, and there are concerns that there is a high possibility of misidentification. Ta.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to eliminate such conventional drawbacks, and allows the operator to check the image in which an abnormality has been detected on the screen, and output various accompanying text information as audio information. The purpose of this invention is to reduce the burden on the operator and to enable efficient checking of changed images.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The image monitoring device of the present invention that achieves the above conventional object has T.
An image input means for inputting an image from the V camera, a means for storing the input image, a means for detecting a change from the stored image, a means for recording the image in which the change has been detected, and various types of information at the time the image changes. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for recording information and means for outputting the various kinds of information by voice.

Furthermore, the apparatus is characterized in that the means for recording various information at the time when the image changes includes means for converting the various information into information for speech synthesis output and recording it separately from the image information.

Moreover, the means for recording various information at the time when the image changes includes means for the observer to record the surrounding situation by voice in correspondence with the changed image.

(Function) In the image monitoring device of the present invention, when recording an image changed due to movement of a moving object, the changed image and various text information accompanying it are recorded separately.

At this time, various text information such as the shooting camera number, shooting date, shooting time, etc. is converted into information for speech synthesis output and recorded in the audio recording area, for example, and the changed image is displayed on the monitor during playback. At the same time, text information that has been recorded as information related to this image is output using a speech synthesis function.

In addition, in case information deemed important other than the environmental information managed at the monitoring stage suddenly occurs, the monitoring operator directly inputs the current situation as voice information through a microphone and records it. The system also outputs audio during playback.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 (a) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a part that detects an abnormality in an image recognition device according to an embodiment of the present invention and records the image and accompanying environmental information, and Figure N1 (b) shows the recorded information. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a portion that reproduces the .

In the figure, 1 is an image input section, 2 is an image storage section, 3 is a changed image detection section, 4 is an image recording/playback section, 5 is an environmental information management section, 6 is an audio information input section, 7 is a microphone, and 8 is a An image reproduction section, 9 an audio information reproduction section, 10 an image display section, and 11 an audio output section.

A surveillance photographed image is taken in from an image input section 1 and stored in an image storage section 2. The changed image detection unit 3 calculates the total number of pixels exceeding a specified threshold by subtracting a plurality of temporally consecutive images stored in the image storage unit 2, and detects when the total exceeds a specified value. The image is determined to be a changed image,
This is recorded in the image recording/playback section 4, and information such as the camera number, shooting date, shooting time, weather condition, etc. managed by the environmental information management section 5 is synchronized with the changed image to record/play back the image. The information is converted into information for speech synthesis and recorded in section 4. At this time, the changed image and voice synthesis information are recorded separately.

Here, the information for speech synthesis is the strength of the output speech,
This is information that incorporates parameter codes such as height and spacing into text information, and is format data that is output by a speech synthesis function. In addition, in order to deal with information that is not managed by the environmental information management unit 5, for example, when an unexpected situation occurs in a changing image, the monitoring operator uses a microphone 7.
The audio information input section 6 can record the changed image and environmental information together with the image recording/reproducing section 4 via the audio information input section 6. Here, as a means for the image recording/reproducing section 4, for example, a VTR or the like can be considered. It is expected that large-capacity storage devices that can randomly access digital information will appear in the future, and it is highly conceivable that these storage devices will be used.

A configuration for reproducing information recorded in the image recording/reproducing section 4 is shown in FIG. 1(b).

Of the two types of information, the changed image can be reproduced by the image reproduction section 8 and monitored by the image display section 10. The other information, audio information corresponding to the image, is obtained by reading format data for audio synthesis by the audio information reproducing section 9 and outputting it from the audio output section 11 to the speaker.

At this time, if the displayed changed image is a still image, environmental information related to the image is repeatedly output as audio. Also,
When the state of a moving image is displayed, audio is output while updating environmental information in accordance with the image display.

The monitoring operator's direct voice from the microphone 7 is information that comes in arbitrarily, and during reproduction, the voice is output in priority to the output of the environmental information.

FIG. 2(a) shows an example of a conventional method. That is, it shows a state in which various environmental information is superimposed on the changed image. As can be seen from the above, the more text information is written, the more difficult it becomes to see the contents of the changed images that should be checked, increasing the burden on the monitoring operator, and thus increasing the risk of misidentification. Become.

FIG. 2(b) shows a state in which a monitoring target area A is set for the same photographed image. In this case, image display section 1
Since only the changed image information is displayed at 0, it becomes clear where in the image the change occurred. Then, the environmental information related to this changed image is separately outputted by the audio output section 11. Examples of audio information include:
Text information for speech synthesis such as "Camera No. 2 detected a person at 3:30 p.m. on January 10, 1990" is output as a voice.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the monitoring operator directly outputs the voice input from the microphone 7. That is, when important information other than the environmental information being managed suddenly occurs, the monitoring operator directly outputs the situation that he or she considers important in audio along with the recorded video. now,
Assuming that a red car starts at a good time in area B, which is an area other than area A to be monitored, a stronger impression can be given by notifying the situation change outside area A through audio information. Therefore, a continuous changing image is displayed when the image is reproduced, and although it is possible that the operator may miss it if only the image is used, the voice synthesis output can make a strong impression on the operator. An example of the audio content in this case is audio information such as "The red car has started moving."

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in this embodiment, the abnormality detection image is treated as a still image, but when it is played back as a moving image, the audio information to be output will be repeated.

Further, in the continuous image display stage, when the amount of change gradually increases, that is, as the abnormal state becomes higher, the output volume of the audio information to be output may be increased in stages. can.

Furthermore, although the present embodiment has been described assuming a VTR as the recording device, in the future, large-capacity recording devices that can randomly record and reproduce data may be used, and it is also possible to correspond to such devices.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the image monitoring device of the present invention, when recording an image that has changed, various text information explaining the image can be recorded without overwriting the same image.
It converts various text information into information for speech synthesis and records it in an area separate from the image recording area in correspondence with the image information, and when playing back, the recorded image is played back and displayed on the image display section, and the image is synchronized with the image. By playing back various text information for speech synthesis and outputting audio, the operator can listen to essential information about the image while viewing the image. Therefore, the monitoring operator is not burdened with checking for abnormal images, and the checking efficiency can be greatly improved compared to the conventional method.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a block diagram showing the configuration of a portion for recording environmental information of an image monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure (b) is a block diagram showing the configuration of the part that reproduces the information recorded in Figure 1 (a), and Figure 2 (a) is a display in which various environments and information are overwritten on the image by the conventional method. FIG. 2(b) is a diagram showing a state in which environmental information is output by voice while displaying image information by the method of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which information is directly output as voice using a microphone. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Image input part, 2... Image storage part, 3... Change image detection part, 4... Image recording/playback part, 5... Environmental information management part, 6... Audio information Input unit, 7...Microphone, 8...Image playback unit, 9...Audio information playback unit, 1
0... Image display section, 11... Audio output section.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An image input means for inputting an image from a TV camera, a means for storing the input image, a means for detecting a change from the stored image, a means for recording the image in which the change is detected, and a means for recording the image in which the image has changed. An image monitoring device comprising: means for recording various information at a time; and means for outputting the various information by voice. (2) The means for recording various information at the time when the image changes includes means for converting the various information into information for speech synthesis output and recording it separately from the image information. The image monitoring device according to item 1. (3) Claim 1, characterized in that the means for recording various information at the time when the image changes includes means for the observer to record the surrounding situation by voice in correspondence with the changed image.
The image monitoring device described in Section.