JPH04120890A - Video telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively utilize a system even for an aural handicapped person by simultaneously transmitting character information and image information together with voice information. CONSTITUTION:When transmitting the character information and the picture information, first of all, a character/picture switching means 13 is changed over to the side of a memory 9 exclusive for transmitting picture, and the self-portrait of a transmitting person is displayed on a display 15. Next, by inputting characters to be transmitted from a character input means 5, this character information is stored in a memory 17 exclusive for transmitting character, the character/picture switching means 13 is changed over to the side of the memory 17 exclusive for transmitting character, the character information is displayed while being interposed to a part of the self portrait, and these picture information and character information is transmitted to the side of a communicating party. When the character information and the picture information is received, received characters and received pictures are simultaneously displayed on the display 15. Thus, even an aural handicapped person can effectively utilize the system as well.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a video telephone device used by being connected to a digital line having a plurality of information channels and a signal channel for control, and particularly relates to a video telephone device that is used by being connected to a digital line having a plurality of information channels and a signal channel for control. The present invention relates to a video telephone device that is capable of transmitting and receiving text information.

[Prior Art] Conventionally known videophone devices often use analog lines as communication lines.

In this case, communication of still images is generally the main communication due to transmission band problems, and audio signals cannot be transmitted while image signals are being transmitted.

On the other hand, when a digital line having a plurality of information channels and control signal channels is used as a communication line, the transmission band is wide, so image signals and audio signals can be transmitted and received simultaneously.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, since the videophone device described above mainly transmits and receives audio and images, its use is limited to conversation with the other party, and it is also suitable for hearing-impaired people. cannot be used effectively.

Therefore, the present invention provides a videophone device that can send and receive text information in addition to image information, can be used for purposes other than conversation, and can be effectively used by people with hearing impairments. The purpose is to provide

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the present invention, in a videophone device used connected to a digital line having a plurality of information channels and a control signal channel, A character input means for inputting character data to be sent, a memory dedicated to sending characters to store the character data input from the character input means, a memory dedicated to receiving characters to store character data received from the other party, and an image to be sent. It has a dedicated memory for sending images that stores the images received from the other party, a memory dedicated for receiving images that stores the images received from the other party, and a character/image switching means that switches the output from each of the four types of memories and supplies it to the display side. This system is characterized by being able to display transmitted and received characters and transmitted and received images on a display, and also to be able to transmit transmitted character information together with transmitted image information.

[Operation] When sending text information and image information, first send the text/image information.
The image switching means 13 is switched to the transmission image dedicated memory 9 side, and the sender's self-portrait is displayed on the display 15.

Next, by inputting the characters to be transmitted from the character input means 5, this character information is stored in the transmission character dedicated memory 1.
At the same time, the text/image switching means 13 is switched to the transmission text memory 17 side, and the text information is displayed superimposed on a part of the self-portrait.

The image information and character information displayed on the display 15 are transmitted to the other party.

Furthermore, when character information and image information are received, the image information is stored in the memory 10 dedicated to the received image, the character information is stored in the memory 18 dedicated to the received character, and they are switched appropriately so that the received image and the received character are They are displayed simultaneously on the display 15.

``Example'' Next, an example of the videophone device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video telephone device according to the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a system control section, and this system control section 1 is connected to a digital line 22 via a line interface circuit 2.

In the line interface circuit 2, two information channels B1 and B2 and one control signal channel D are demultiplexed. In other words, when going from the digital line 22 to the system control unit 1 (at the time of reception), signal separation is performed, and conversely, when going from the system control unit 1 to the digital@+1!22 (at the time of transmission), the signals are multiplexed. be exposed.

Further, 3 is an audio processing unit to which a receiver 23 and a transmitter 24 are connected, and this audio processing unit 3 is connected to the system control unit 1.
Managed by.

That is, during a call, a digital audio information signal from the other party is supplied from the system control unit 1 to the audio processing unit 3, where it is processed such as D/A conversion and converted into an analog audio signal, and this audio information signal is sent to the receiver. 23.

During this call, an analog voice signal is supplied from the transmitter 24 to the voice processing section 3, which is converted into a digital voice signal through processing such as A/D conversion, and this voice information signal is sent to the system control section. 1.

Then, the digital audio signal is supplied from the system control unit 1 to the line interface circuit 2 as an information channel signal, multiplexed, and transmitted to the other party through the digital line 22.

4 is a call control section, and this call control section 4 is connected to the system control section 1.

The call control unit 4 uses the control signal channel D to
Call origination and call reception processing for line connection is performed.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an operation section, which is used when inputting a dial number when making a call or when inputting characters to be sent as described later.

The input signal from the operation section 5 is supplied to the system control section 1 via the operation interface 6 and processed.

A kanji ROM 7 stores character codes of character data received from the other party and character fonts corresponding to character codes input from the operation unit 5.

8 is a memory 9 dedicated to sending images and a memory 1 dedicated to receiving images.
0 is the connected image processing section. This image processing section 8 is connected to the system control section 1.

An internal camera 12 is connected to the transmission image dedicated memory 9 via an A/D converter 11.

Further, the memory dedicated to the transmitted image and the memory dedicated to the received image 10 are connected to a character/image switching circuit 13 which performs connection switching with the display 15 side, as will be described later.

The character/image switching circuit 13 is connected via a D/A converter 14 to a display (monitor) 15 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display element.

During a call, the image signal from the internal camera 12 is converted from analog to digital by the A/D converter 11 and stored in the memory 9 dedicated to transmission images.

This digital image information signal is compressed by the image processing section 8 and supplied to the system control section 1. The signals are then supplied from the system control unit 1 to the line interface circuit 2 as signals of information channels B1 and B2, multiplexed, and transmitted to the other party.

In addition, when text information is transmitted simultaneously with image information as described later, the digital image signal stored in the transmission image dedicated memory 9 is transferred to the text/image switching circuit 13 and the D/A.
It is converted into an analog signal via converter 14 and supplied to display 15 .

Furthermore, during this call, the digital image information signal received from the other party is supplied from the system control section 1 to the image processing section 8 and decoded. Then, this decoded digital image information signal is stored in the received image dedicated memory 10, from there it is converted to an analog signal via the character image switching circuit 13 and the D/A converter 14, and the signal is displayed on the display 15.
is supplied to

Reference numeral 16 denotes a character processing section to which a memory 17 exclusively for sending characters and a memory 18 exclusively for receiving characters are connected.

This character processing section 16 is connected to the system control section 1.

In addition, there is a memory 17 dedicated to sending characters and a memory 1 dedicated to receiving characters.
8 is connected to the character/image switching circuit 13.

When transmitting text information during a phone call, a character code input from the operation unit 5 is supplied to the character processing unit 16 via the operation interface 6 and the system control unit 1. The character processing unit 16 reads out the character font corresponding to the character code from the Kanji R, OM 7, and also performs processing such as storing the character font in the transmission character dedicated memory 17. The character font stored in the transmission character dedicated memory 17 is converted into an analog signal via the character/image switching circuit 13 and the D/A converter 14, and is supplied to the display 15 and displayed together with the image.

The character information edited while looking at the display 15 in this multiplexed state is stored in the transmission character dedicated memory 17, and then supplied as an information channel signal to the line interface circuit 2 via the system control unit 1, where it is multiplexed. , is sent to the other party.

Further, when a character code is received from the other party during this call, the character code is supplied from the system control unit 1 to the character processing unit 16. Then, the character font corresponding to this character code is read out from the kanji ROM 7, and the character font is stored in the received character dedicated memory 18,
If the character font is a character, the image switching circuit 13 and D/
It is converted into an analog signal via the A converter 14 and supplied to the display 15. As a result, text information is simultaneously displayed on the display 15 along with the received image of the other party.

The above-mentioned sent image dedicated memory 9 and received image dedicated memory 1
0, memory for sending characters only 17, memory for receiving characters only 18
FIG. 2 shows details of the character/image switching circuit 13 which switches the output from the display device 5s and supplies it to the display device 5s.

This character/image switching circuit 13 includes one image switching switch that switches the output of the transmission image dedicated memory 10 and the reception image dedicated memory 10, and a character switching switch 20 that switches the output of the transmission character dedicated memory 17 and the received character dedicated memory 18.
and a character/image changeover switch 21 for changing the output of an image changeover switch 19 and a character changeover switch 20.

Each memory9. 10. 17. The output from 18 is supplied to the display 15 by the switching operation as described above.

FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the video telephone device constructed in this manner. 25 is the main body of the videophone, including the operation section 5 and the internal camera 1.
4, a display 15 and a handset 26 in which a receiver 23 and a transmitter 24 are integrated.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a transmission screen. As shown in the figure, upper and lower operation guide areas are provided on the screen, and can be used for character color, kana-kanji conversion, etc.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a reception screen.

The above-described switching of the character/image switching circuit 13 can be performed using a communication data format as shown in FIG.

This communication data format is used when transmitting images and characters to the other party. An image flag and a character flag are provided at the beginning of each line to distinguish between image data and character data, followed by respective data lengths. In the case of images, by adding a line number to each line, it is possible to check the continuity of the lines and the possibility of missing lines due to communication errors.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the videophone device according to the present invention, text information and image information can be simultaneously transmitted and received along with audio information, so that even people with hearing impairments can use it effectively. can be used.

In addition, by using photos of products, scenery, etc. as images to be sent, and at the same time sending explanations of the photos in text,
It has characteristics such as being able to be used as a new form of communication such as PR means in companies.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an illustration showing an embodiment of the videophone device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a character/image switching circuit, and FIG. 3 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 shows a display example of the images and characters to be sent to the other party, and Figure 5 shows the operation interface for inputting the received image and character data, etc. Kanji ROM Memory dedicated to sending images Memory dedicated to receiving images Characters Images Switching circuit display Memory dedicated to sending characters Memory dedicated to receiving characters

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a videophone device used by being connected to a digital line having multiple information channels and control signal channels, a character input means for inputting character data to be transmitted, and a character input means for inputting character data to be transmitted; A memory dedicated to sending characters that stores character data received from the other party, a memory dedicated to receiving characters that stores character data received from the other party, a memory dedicated to sending images that stores the image to be sent, and a memory dedicated to sending images that stores the image received from the other party. It has a dedicated image memory and a character/image switching means that switches the output from each of the above four types of memory and supplies it to the display, and can display transmitted and received characters and transmitted and received images on the display. A video telephone device characterized in that transmission character information can be transmitted together with the transmission image information.