JPH06205404A - Video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce data quantity of picture data to be transferred while utilizing a merit of a picture signal appealing to the visual sense by applying abstract processing to an object picture comprising the picture data prepared in advance and transferring the picture data while suppressing the total amount of the picture data. CONSTITUTION:When picture voice data sent from a destination video telephone set through multiplexing are received and demodulated by a MODEM 18, a CPU 12 applies demultiplexing processing to the demodulated picture voice data and outputs compressed picture data to a picture compression/expansion circuit 16 via a bus B. Furthermore, the CPU 12 multiplexes the compressed picture data inputted from the picture compression/expansion circuit 16 via the bus B and the compressed voice data received via the bus B from a voice compression/-expansion circuit 19 and outputs the compressed data to the MO DEM 18 via the bus B. The picture data are data prepared in advance, the object picture is subject to abstract processing and then the picture data are transferred while suppressing the total amount of the picture data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone device, and more particularly to a videophone device for reducing the amount of image data to be transferred.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, with the development of an advanced information society, demand for a communication medium for transmitting / receiving a large amount of information at high speed has increased, and as a communication system corresponding to this communication demand, for example, ISDN ( Integrated Services Digital
A digital communication network such as a network (comprehensive service digital network) has been put into practical use, and a facsimile device, a videophone device, and the like have been developed and put into practical use as communication terminals connected to this digital communication network.

In addition, a communication terminal such as a telephone device connected to an existing analog communication network such as an existing telephone line is highly functionalized, and a videophone device connectable to the analog communication network has been developed.

In particular, the videophone device has the merit that the user can talk while watching the facial expression of the other party, and also has the merit that it is possible to visually convey information that is difficult to convey to the other party only by the explanation. By applying the above, for example, a company can realize a video conference with a branch office or a sales office in a remote place, and it is expected to be popular because it has the potential to be a video conference system.

Video telephone devices are roughly classified according to the type of communication network to be connected or the type of image and voice transmission function, and an image picked up by an image pickup device (for example, a camera) provided in the device is, for example, an analog image. Some are connected to a telephone line to have a monochrome still image transmission function, some are connected to an analog telephone line to have a color still image transmission function, and some are connected to a digital telephone line to have a color moving image transmission function.

A video telephone device connected to such a digital communication network and an analog communication network has a communication function of transmitting and receiving by multiplexing image information and audio information,
Regarding the communication procedure corresponding to the connected communication network and the encoding method of image information and audio information transmitted / received in addition to the communication signal based on the communication procedure, CCITT (International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee) It is stipulated for each type of communication network by the recommendation.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional videophone device, since the video signal picked up by the image pickup device (camera) is normally transferred as image data, There was a problem as described in.

That is, the video signal picked up by the image pickup device of the videophone is a so-called natural image, and the data amount of the video signal is enormous.

That is, in the past, since a video signal of this enormous amount of data was transmitted as image data through a communication line, even if a moving image is displayed, for example, 24 to 30 per second due to the signal transmission speed. Since it is difficult to display a complete moving image of about a frame, and in reality it is close to the frame advance state, the videophone device handles a large amount of image data. The software was also a heavy burden.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the data amount of image data to be transferred while making the most of the merit of a visual image signal.

[0011]

The means of the present invention are as follows.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, the image data and the audio data are encoded / decoded based on a predetermined algorithm, and the image data and the audio data encoded based on a predetermined protocol are communicated. In a videophone device that transmits and receives via image data to display or output image data and audio data, the image data is image data prepared in advance, and an image in which the target image is abstracted and the total data amount of the image is suppressed It is characterized by transferring data.

Further, in this case, it is effective that the image data prepared in advance is a montage image composed of a plurality of part images, as in the invention of claim 2. As in the invention, as the image data prepared in advance, a background image for a main image may be provided, and the image data of the background image may be transferred together with the main image.

Further, as in the invention described in claim 4, as the image data prepared in advance, an image having a plurality of facial expressions representing the emotions of a person is handled. In this case, as in the invention described in claim 5, , As the previously prepared image data,
When transferring images with multiple facial expressions that express the emotions of a person,
Audio data corresponding to the image may be transferred.

Further, as in the invention described in claim 6, the image data prepared in advance has a predetermined number of parts data forming a predetermined object, and is displayed based on the audio data. The parts data may be switched, in which case the object is an image showing the face of a person and the parts data to be switched is an image showing the mouth. Is effective.

Furthermore, when the communication line is put on hold as in the eighth aspect of the invention, it is effective to transfer the image data and the audio data indicating a preset hold state.

[0017]

The operation of the means of the present invention is as follows.

According to the first aspect of the invention, as the image data to be transferred, as the image data prepared in advance, the one in which the target image is abstracted and the total data amount of the image is suppressed is used. According to the invention described in claim 2, a montage image composed of a plurality of part images is used as the image data prepared in advance, and further, the image prepared in advance as in the invention described in claim 3. As, as the background image for the main image is treated and the image data of the background image is transferred together with the main image, the merit of the video signal appealing to the eyes is utilized,
The amount of data transferred via the communication line is reduced.

Further, as in the invention described in claim 4, as the image data prepared in advance, an image having a plurality of facial expressions representing the emotions of a person is treated. In this case, as in the invention described in claim 5, , In the case of transferring an image of a plurality of facial expressions representing a person's emotions as prepared image data, audio data corresponding to the image to be transferred is transferred, so that a visually appealing video signal and an audio appealing sound are transferred. Fusion with the signal is achieved, and the merits of visually appealing video signals are enhanced.

In this case, as in the invention described in claim 6, a predetermined number of parts data forming a predetermined object is used as the image data prepared in advance, and the display is performed based on the voice data. The part data to be changed is switched, specifically, as in the invention of claim 7,
By switching the image showing the person's face to the image showing the person's face, the data amount of the image data transferred via the communication line is reduced, but, for example, an expression close to the image taken by the image pickup device or the like is displayed. Is possible.

Further, when the communication line is put on hold as in the eighth aspect of the invention, image data and voice data indicating a preset hold state are transferred, so that the communication line is kept on hold. It is easily recognized if there is.

[0022]

EXAMPLES Examples will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 to 8 are diagrams showing an embodiment of a video telephone device according to the present invention.

First, the structure will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a videophone device 1 of this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, a videophone device 1 is connected to a communication line and has a device body 2 that detects image data and audio data, and a display unit that is connected to the device body 2 and that displays image data output from the device body 2. LCD (Liquid Cr-ys) having 3a
tal Display: liquid crystal display device) 3 and an emotion input pad 4 having keys 4a, 4b, 4c for selectively switching image data to be transferred.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the videophone device 1 shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, the videophone device 1 includes an emotion input pad 4, a CPU (Central
Pro-cessing Unit) 12, ROM (Read Only Memory)
13, facial expression RAM (Random Access Memory) 14, portrait RAM 15, video compression / expansion circuit 16, hold RAM 1
7, LCD3, modem (MODEM, MOdulation and DEModul
ation) 18, an audio compression / expansion circuit 19, and a terminal 20, and each unit 4 to 20 is connected to the bus B.

The emotion input pad 4 is a key pad for the operator to instruct the selection of the image data to be transferred from the transfer source. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The "laugh" key 4a, the "cry" key 4b, and the "anger" key 4c are provided, and the image data to be transferred is selected based on the emotion of the operator.

The CPU 12 outputs various control signals for controlling the respective parts in the videophone device 1 to the respective parts via the bus B and executes the communication control program according to the type of communication line to be connected. Also, the CPU 12
Images sent from the other party's videophone device in a multiplexed format
When the audio data is received, demodulated by the modem 18 and input, the demodulated image / audio data is separated and the compressed image data is output to the image compression / expansion circuit 16 via the bus B and compressed. The audio data is output to the audio compression / expansion circuit 19 via the bus B.
Further, the CPU 12 multiplexes the compressed image data input from the image compression / expansion circuit 16 via the bus B and the compressed audio data input from the audio compression / expansion circuit 19 via the bus B to generate the image / audio. The data is output to the modem 18 via the bus B.

The ROM 13 is a memory for storing programs and data used in the videophone device 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the facial expression RAM 14.

Here, FIG. 3 (a) is normal facial expression data, FIG. 3 (b) is facial expression data corresponding to the "smile" key, and FIG. 3 (c) is facial expression data corresponding to the "cry" key. Figure 3
(D) shows the facial expression data corresponding to the "angry" key.

The facial expression RAM 14 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (d), it is a memory for storing a plurality of facial expressions corresponding to the portrait of the operator himself, and the "laugh" key 4a, "crying" key 4b, which is input from the emotion input pad 4,
The facial expression data corresponding to each key of the "angry" key 4c is selected, and is combined with the portrait of the operator stored in the portrait RAM 15 and output.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the portrait RAM.

Here, FIG. 4 (a) is the portrait data of friend A, FIG. 4 (b) is the portrait data of friend B, FIG. 4 (c) is the portrait data of friend C, and FIG. 4 (d) is an automobile dealer. The picture data of is shown.

The portrait RAM 15 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (d), it is a memory that stores personal portrait data of the operator himself and the communication partner and personal information corresponding to the personal portrait, such as a telephone number, and is stored in the personal portrait RAM 15 when making a call. By selecting the portrait data, a dial call is automatically made based on the telephone number in the personal information corresponding to the selected portrait data. Note that the portrait data is not only the portrait data that abstracts the face of a friend, but can also be easily recognized by the communication partner as shown in FIG. It is possible to use picture data.

The video compression / expansion circuit 16 has a facial expression RAM 1
4 and the portrait image RAM 15 are subjected to a predetermined encoding method, that is, a block encoding method, a predictive encoding method, an orthogonal transform encoding method, for example, according to the type of image to be handled (still image, moving image). Etc. to perform compression processing (encoding), or to perform decompression (decoding) processing of the received compressed image data received via the communication line and demodulated by the modem 18, and the decompressed image data Is output to the LCD 3.

The hold RAM 17 is a memory for storing image data and audio data which is transferred to notify the other party of communication that the communication line is on hold when the communication line is put on hold.

The LCD 3 displays a video signal based on the image data expanded by the video compression / expansion circuit 16, and the modem 18 has a "modulation" function for converting a signal of a computer or a terminal device into a transmission signal. And a demodulation device having a "demodulation" function of again decoding a transmission signal sent via a communication line into a signal of a computer or a terminal device.

The audio compression / expansion circuit 19 converts the digital audio data input from the terminal 20 into, for example, CELP.
(Code-Excited Linear Predivtion) method and VSELP
The compression (encoding) process is executed by a predetermined encoding system such as (Vector Sum Excited Linear Prediction) system, or the expansion (decoding) process of the compressed voice data input from the modem 18 is executed. The expanded voice data is output to the terminal 20.

The terminal 20 converts an analog audio signal input by a microphone or the like into digital audio data by A / D conversion and outputs it to the audio compression / expansion circuit 19 or expanded by the audio compression / expansion circuit 19. The digital audio data is converted into an analog signal by D / A conversion, and the audio signal is output from a speaker or the like.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

First, the operation of the CPU 12 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. The program corresponding to the operation of the CPU 12 is R
It is stored in the OM 13.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the main process. This process is executed at predetermined time intervals.

First, it is detected whether or not the handset of the videophone device 1 is lifted, that is, whether or not it is in an off-hook state (step S1). A search process is executed (step S2). On the other hand, if it is not in the off-hook state, that is, if it is in the on-hook state, the process of step S1 is repeatedly executed.

Now, the search process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the search processing, first, the portrait data as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the screen of the LCD 3, and the portrait data of the communication partner is selected from the displayed portrait data (step S21).

Then, the telephone number of the communication partner corresponding to the selected portrait data is automatically dialed and auto dialed (step S22).

Then, it is determined whether or not the communication line is connected (step S23). If the communication line is not connected, it is determined whether or not to redial (step S24). If the redial is not performed by repeating the processing from step (in this case, auto dialing), the procedure returns to the main processing (see FIG. 5) described above, and the processing ends.

On the other hand, when the communication line is connected, the process returns to step S2 in the above-mentioned main process to execute the subsequent processes.

When the search process is completed, the image data of the portrait of the operator himself is transmitted as a video signal (step S3).

Then, a transmission process described later is executed (step S4).

In the videophone device 1, because of its characteristics, in the transmission process, the image transmission process and the voice transmission process are executed in parallel at the same time. Therefore, the transmission process is divided into the image transmission process and the voice transmission process. Image transmission processing will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 7A, and audio transmission processing will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

(Image Transmission Processing) In the image transmission processing, it is judged whether or not there is a put input from the emotion input pad 4 (step S411), and if there is no put input, the flow directly returns to step S4 in the main processing described above, and the put is input. If there is an input, the facial expression data corresponding to the input key is selected from the facial expression RAM 14, and the facial expression data is combined with the facial portrait data of the operator himself to create facial expression image data (step S412).

After the created facial expression image data is compressed as a video signal by the video compression / expansion circuit 16, the video is transmitted via the modem 18 (step S413),
The process returns to step S4 in the main process described above.

(Voice Transmission Processing) In the voice transmission processing, it is determined whether or not there is a voice input from a microphone or the like (step S42).
1) If there is no voice input, the process directly returns to step S4 in the main processing described above, and if there is a voice input,
By selecting the image data showing the "mouth" from the facial expression data so as to correspond to the input voice and combining the image data showing the "mouth" with the portrait data of the operator himself, the so-called "mouth" The image of "Paku" is combined, the combined image data is compressed as a video signal by the video compression / expansion circuit 16, and the "lips" image is transmitted through the modem 18 (step S422).

Then, the input voice data is compressed by the voice compression / decompression circuit 19 and the voice is transmitted through the modem (step S423), and then the process returns to step S4 in the main process.

Then, a receiving process described later is executed (step S5).

In the videophone device 1, since the image receiving process and the voice receiving process are simultaneously executed in parallel in the receiving process as well as the transmitting process due to its characteristic, the receiving process includes the image receiving process and the voice receiving process. Figure 8
The image receiving process will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 8A, and the audio receiving process will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

(Image Receiving Process) In the image receiving process, the presence or absence of the image receiving signal is determined (step S511). If there is no image receiving signal, the process directly returns to step S5 in the main process and the image receiving signal is present. In this case, the received image data is used as a video signal in the video compression / expansion circuit 1
After being expanded by 6, and displayed on the LCD 3 (step S5
12) and returns to step S5 in the main processing described above.

(Voice Reception Processing) In the voice reception processing, the presence / absence of a voice reception signal is determined (step S521). If there is no voice reception signal, the process directly returns to step S5 in the main processing and the voice reception signal is present. In this case, the audio compression / expansion circuit 1 uses the received audio data as an audio signal.
9, the voice is output from the terminal 20 (step S522), and then the step S in the main processing described above.
Return to 5.

Then, it is detected whether or not the receiver is placed on the videophone device 1, that is, whether or not it is in the on-hook state. If it is in the on-hook state, it is determined that the call is ended and the process is terminated (step S6), meanwhile,
If it is not in the on-hook state, that is, if it is in the off-hook state, the processes of steps S4, S5 and S6 are repeatedly executed.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the data amount of the video signal (image data) to be transferred is utilized while making the most of the original feature of the video telephone device that the user can make a call while looking at the face (portrait) of the other party. Can be significantly reduced.

Regarding the transfer of the image data in the above embodiment, a plurality of types of facial expression data and portrait data are stored in the videophone device 1 in advance, and when the image data is transferred for the first time, The data is stored in the facial expression RAM 14 and the portrait RAM 15 in the videophone device, and thereafter, by transmitting a code indicating each facial expression data and the portrait data, the image data that can be placed in the videophone device of the communication partner is accessed by the device main body. Since the access is to the internal memory, the video can be switched at a higher speed than that in which the image data is directly transferred, and the moving image can be displayed at a practical speed.

Further, in this embodiment, the image data stored in the videophone device is the portrait data,
This data may be, for example, data obtained by combining and combining each part image by creating a montage, or may be data obtained by applying an effect to an image captured by an image scanner or the like.

Further, it is needless to say that, in addition to the portrait, the picture data may be created according to the occupation or image of the communication partner as in the present embodiment.

[0065]

According to the present invention, in the invention described in claim 1, as the image data to be transferred, the image data prepared in advance is used by abstracting the target image and suppressing the total data amount of the image. Further, in this case, as in the invention described in claim 2, as the image data prepared in advance, a montage image composed of a plurality of part images is used, and further, as in the invention described in claim 3, By handling the background image for the main image as the prepared image and transferring the image data of the background image together with the main image, the amount of data transferred via the communication line is reduced while taking advantage of the visual signal appealing to the eyes. it can.

Further, in the invention of claim 4, as the image data prepared in advance, an image having a plurality of facial expressions representing the emotions of a person is treated. In this case, as in the invention of claim 5, the image is prepared in advance. When an image with multiple facial expressions that express the emotions of a person is transferred as the captured image data, the audio data corresponding to the image to be transferred is also transferred, so that the visual signal and the audio signal that appeal to the hearing are fused. It is possible to improve the merits of the video signal appealing to the eyes.

In this case, as in the invention described in claim 6, as the image data prepared in advance, a predetermined number of parts data forming a predetermined object is used and displayed based on the audio data. Part data to be switched, specifically, as in the invention according to claim 7, by switching the image showing the face to the image showing the person's face, the image data transferred via the communication line While reducing the amount of data, for example, it is possible to make a representation close to an image captured by an imaging device or the like.

Further, when the communication line is put on hold as in the eighth aspect of the invention, the communication line is put on hold by transferring image data and audio data indicating a preset hold state. You can easily recognize whether or not.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a videophone device of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a videophone device of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a facial expression RAM.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of contents of a portrait RAM.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of main processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of search processing.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an image and audio transmission process.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of image and sound reception processing.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Videophone device 2 Device body 3 LCD 4 Emotion input pad 12 CPU 13 ROM 14 Facial expression RAM 15 Portrait RAM 16 Video compression / expansion circuit 17 Hold RAM 18 Modem 19 Audio compression / expansion circuit 20 Terminal

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Image data and audio data are encoded and decoded based on a predetermined algorithm, and image data and audio data encoded based on a predetermined protocol are transmitted and received via a communication line. In a videophone device that displays or outputs image data and audio data, the image data is image data prepared in advance,
A videophone device that abstracts a target image and transfers image data with a reduced total image data amount. 2. The videophone device according to claim 1, wherein the image data prepared in advance is a montage image composed of a plurality of part images. 3. The videophone apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a background image for the main image is provided as the image data prepared in advance, and the image data of the background image is transferred together with the main image. . 4. The videophone device according to claim 1, wherein the image data prepared in advance has an image of a plurality of facial expressions representing the emotions of a person. 5. When transferring an image of a plurality of facial expressions representing a person's emotions as the previously prepared image data, voice data corresponding to the image is transferred. Videophone device. 6. The image data prepared in advance has a predetermined number of parts data forming a predetermined object, and the parts data to be displayed is switched based on the audio data. The videophone device according to claim 5. 7. The object is an image showing a human face,
7. The videophone device according to claim 6, wherein the part data to be switched is an image showing a mouth. 8. The videophone apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the communication line is put on hold, image data and audio data indicating a preset hold state are transferred.