JPH0530507A - Video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily operate a camera in a video conference system. CONSTITUTION:The video conference system is provided with the camera 2 an image storage device 8 to be a means for correspondingly storing the presence positions of all conference attendants and the reference images of the attendants by the camera 2, a comparator 7 to be a means for detecting an error of the current image of each attendant by the camera 2 from its corresponding reference image, a position storage device 6 to be a means for correspondingly storing the pan/tilt position of the camera 2 and the presence position of the attendants when the detected error becomes zero and the presence position of the attendant, and a control means 5 to be a means for controlling the pan/tilt position stored in the storage device 6 in response to a conference attendant presence position selecting command and the pan/tilt position of the camera 2 in accordance with the error detected by the comparator 7.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a video conference system, and more particularly to a video conference system having a video camera (including a video camera).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a video conference system, an image of any one of a plurality of attendees is taken by a TV camera, sent to a destination through a line, and displayed on a video monitor received at the destination. It is a system that holds a two-way conference by doing.

Conventionally, in this type of video conference system,
When the speaker is photographed by the TV camera, the camera is controlled so that the speaker is displayed in the center of the monitor screen. The drive control has the following two methods.

In the first method, while the operator is watching the television monitor, he / she continues to press the corresponding key on the operation panel until the video camera reaches the optimum position, and shakes the video camera up / down / left / right to adjust the pan / tilt position. It is a continuously variable method. Second
In this method, the pan / tilt position information of the camera is stored in advance, and by pressing the key on the operation panel that corresponds to that position, the preset automatically swings the video camera to the fixedly set position. It is a method.

However, the above-mentioned conventional methods have the following drawbacks. First of all, in the continuously variable method, since it is necessary for a person to adjust the position each time the position of the video camera is moved, it often takes time to operate the video camera rather than the conference itself. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that a dedicated operator or a person equivalent thereto is required.
On the other hand, even the preset method has a drawback in that if there is a person to be photographed at a position deviated from a preset location, the readjustment must be manually performed.

That is, both of the above-mentioned methods have a drawback that the operation of the camera is troublesome.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and an object thereof is to provide a video conference system capable of reducing troublesome camera operations.

[0008]

The video conference system according to the present invention includes a video camera, an image storage means for storing the positions of all the attendees of the conference and the reference images of the attendees by the television camera in association with each other, and the reference storage means. Error detecting means for detecting an error of the current image of the conference attendee by the television camera with respect to the image, pan / tilt position of the television camera and the location of the conference attendee when the detected error becomes zero. Position storage means for storing the position in correspondence with each other, and the television according to the pan / tilt position in the position storage means and an error detected by the error detection means in response to a position selection command of a conference attendee. Camera pan /
And a position control means for controlling the tilt position.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a video conference system according to the present invention. In the figure,
A video conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a television camera 2 for photographing a speaker among attendees of a conference, and a drive device 3 for moving a photographing position of the pan / tilt of the television camera 2. , And a position detector 4 for detecting the shooting position of the television camera 2.

Further, the system of this embodiment stores the position storage 6 for storing the pan / tilt shooting position of the television camera 2 and the image of the conference attendee as a reference image before the start of shooting. An image storage device 8 to be set, a comparator 7 for detecting a deviation (error) between the stored reference image and the image of the present attendee, the detected deviation amount, and the stored amount. The control device 5 controls the drive device 3 according to the photographing position.

Furthermore, the system of this embodiment includes a transmission device 11 for exchanging images with the destination device, an image monitor 1 for displaying the image of the destination, a transmission monitor 10, and an operation panel 9. It is configured to include.

The number of attendees may be arbitrary, but in this example, there are three persons S1 to S3. Seat positions P1 to P3 are assigned to each attendee.

In the video conference system configured as described above, the video of the attendee is captured by the video camera 2,
It is sent to the other party by the transmission device 11. On the other hand, the video from the other party is displayed on the video monitor 1 via the transmission device 11.

At the start of the video conference, it is necessary to store the seat position (location) of the attendee and its image in the position memory 6 and the image memory 8 as initial settings. For example, a switch for instructing the seat position on the operation panel 9 is selected, and while monitoring the transmission monitor 10, the camera 2 is simultaneously moved up, down, left, and right to set to the optimum pan / tilt position. Then, the output of the position detection device 4 at that time is stored in the position storage device 6. At the same time, the image of the video camera 2 at that position is stored in the image storage 8 as a reference image. If this operation is performed together with the introduction of attendees, it is natural for the conference to proceed, and it is considered to be effective for saving time. A well-known potentiometer may be used as the position detection device 4, and the resistance value may be converted into a voltage value and stored.

Now, as an operation example, consider the case where the attendee S1 moves a little to the left while the attendee S1 is being photographed. The image stored in the video storage 8 and the image captured by the video camera 2 are always sent to the comparator 7, and these two images are constantly compared by a known pattern matching method or the like. When there is an error of a certain amount or more between the two images, the comparator 7 sends information (left in this example) about which of the vertical, horizontal, and lateral directions is offset to the control device 5. The control device 5 issues a moving direction and zooming instruction to the drive device 3 based on the information sent from the comparator 7.

The drive device 3 drives the video camera 2 in accordance with the received moving direction and zooming instruction. This operation is performed until the image from the video camera 2 matches the image stored in advance.

When the image from the video camera 2 matches the image stored in advance (the error is zero), the output of the position detector 4 at that time is made to correspond to the position P1 of the attendant S1 and the position memory is stored. Store in 6.

When switching the image from the attendee S1 currently shooting with the video camera 2 to another attendee S2 or S3, the seat position P2 of the attendee who is going to shoot with the operation panel 9
Alternatively, select and press the switch indicating P3. Then, the information for instructing the seat position is sent from the operation panel 9 to the position storage device 6. The position memory 6 sends the position information such as pan / tilt of the corresponding attendee to the control device 5 based on the information sent from the operation panel 9. The control device 5 issues a moving direction and zooming instruction to the drive device 3 based on the received position information. The drive device 3 drives the video camera 2 according to the received moving direction and zooming instruction, and points the video camera to a corresponding position. Then, similarly to the above, the images are compared with each other.

That is, the location of the attendee and the image of the attendee are stored in association with each other, and the location of the attendee and the pan / tilt position of the camera are stored in association with each other. By simply pressing the switch on the board, the speaker can be always displayed in the center of the screen of the other party, and troublesome camera operation becomes unnecessary.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, if the shooting place is set at the start of the conference, the optimum shooting is always performed only by selecting the switch indicating the position of the attendee in the conference. Since the camera is automatically controlled to the position, there is no need to manually operate the video camera to chase the attendees. Therefore, there is an effect that the operation of the video camera in the video conference is not bothersome and a dedicated operator is unnecessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 TV camera 3 Driving device 4 Position detector 5 Control device 6 Position memory 7 Comparator 8 Video memory S1 to S3 Attendees

Claims (1)

Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A television camera, an image storage means for storing the positions of all the attendees of the conference and a reference image of the attendee of the conference by the television camera, and an image storage means for the reference image. Error detecting means for detecting an error in the current image of the conference attendee by the television camera, and the pan / tilt position of the television camera and the location of the conference attendee when the detected error becomes zero. In correspondence with the pan / tilt position in the position storage means and the error detected by the error detection means in response to the position selection command of the meeting attendees. A video conference system comprising: a position control unit that controls a pan / tilt position.