JPH08181958A - Communication conference system, communication terminal equipment and camera operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simply use the image pickup condition registered by another party by displaying a still image attended with a corresponding image pickup condition onto a screen in response to the selection of the registered image pickup condition so as to eliminate the need for memorizing contents of each registration. CONSTITUTION: A data storage device 32 stores various data such as plural sets of image pickup condition information of a camera 10 and still image information attended with each image pickup condition. An input image under the registered image pickup condition is registered as a still image according to the registration by the image pickup condition and linked with the registered image pickup condition. When the camera 10 is controlled based on any of the registered image pickup conditions, a still image corresponding to the designated image pickup condition is displayed on a screen. Thus, the still image is confirmed on the screen by the registered image pickup condition and even when plural image pickup conditions are registered, the contents of each registration are not required to memorize, resulting that the image pickup condition registered by another party is simply utilized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication conference system, a communication conference terminal device and a camera operating device, and more specifically to a communication conference system such as a video conference or a video conference, and a terminal device suitable for the communication conference system. , And a camera operating device that can be used therein.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional video conference system or video conference system, terminals are connected to each other via a communication line so that images and sounds can be transmitted and received to and from each other. Each terminal can remotely control not only the camera attached to the own terminal but also the camera attached to the partner terminal, and can photograph any target on the partner side. Regarding the operation of the cameras of the own terminal and the partner terminal, there is known a configuration in which one or more frequently used photographing conditions (pan angle and tilt angle direction information and zoom value magnification information) can be preset. Regarding the pre-registered shooting conditions, the camera of the own terminal or the partner terminal can be controlled to the corresponding shooting conditions only by inputting the identification number or the like.

[0003]

However, in the conventional example,
When registering the shooting condition information, the camera to be controlled and its shooting conditions are set as a set and individually assigned to a shooting condition button on the monitor screen or a pull-down menu. Or, the user had to memorize what kind of shooting condition of which camera the menu indicates.

Therefore, the number of cases that can be registered is limited by the memory capacity, and practically too many photographing conditions cannot be registered.

In addition, persons other than those who have set the photographing conditions are
The button or menu for the shooting condition cannot be used, and the same shooting condition is registered redundantly for each user.
This is a double waste both in terms of registration effort and double registration. In a video conference, since one terminal is often used by a plurality of users, such a situation is likely to occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide a communication conference system and a communication terminal device which solve these problems.

In addition to the video conference, it is convenient to register a plurality of photographing conditions in advance in a surveillance system for remotely operating a surveillance camera. A camera operating device that can show the contents of each registered photographing condition to the operator in an easy-to-understand manner is highly useful in such a monitoring system.

[0008] Therefore, another object of the present invention is to provide a camera operating device capable of changing the photographing conditions in a manner that makes the contents easy to understand.

[0009]

In a communication conference system according to the present invention, two or more communication terminal devices each having at least an image input means capable of controlling photographing conditions are connected to each other via a communication line. A communication conference system capable of communicating various information with each other and operating the image input means of its own terminal and the image input means of a communication partner, and a designated image input means and its shooting condition according to a shooting condition registration operation. , And
A storage unit that stores a still image of the input image under the shooting condition; and a display unit that displays a still image associated with the shooting condition on the screen according to the selection operation of the registered shooting condition. Characterize.

A communication terminal device according to the present invention is a terminal device in a communication conference system in which at least images and voices are mutually communicated, and an image inputting means capable of selecting a photographing direction and a magnification (zoom level), and the image. First storage means for storing the shooting condition information of the input means, second storage means for extracting and storing a still image from the moving image, and display means for displaying the moving image and the stored still image on a monitor. It is characterized by including.

A camera operating device according to the present invention is a camera operating device for operating at least one camera,
An operation instruction input means for inputting an operation instruction of the at least one camera, and one of the at least one camera
Registration operation means for registering the above-mentioned shooting conditions, shooting condition storage means for storing the specified shooting conditions of the specified camera according to the registration operation of the registration operation means, and registration operation for the registration operation means In accordance with a still image storage unit that stores a captured image of the specified camera under the specified shooting condition as a still image, and an operation of selecting the registered shooting condition,
It is characterized by comprising a display unit for reading out a still image associated with the selected shooting condition from the still image storage unit and displaying the image.

[0012]

With the above means, according to the registration operation of the photographing condition,
The input image under the registered shooting conditions is registered as a still image and linked with the registered shooting conditions. Then, when trying to control the image input means to any of the registered shooting conditions, a still image according to the specified shooting conditions is displayed on the screen. As a result, the screen under each registered shooting condition can be confirmed as a still image, and it is not necessary to store the contents of each registration even when a plurality of shooting conditions are registered. As a result, the photographing conditions registered by another person can be easily used, and even if the number of images that can be registered is limited, it can be effectively utilized.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention applied to a video conference system. 10 is
A video camera 12 capable of panning and tilting, having a zoom lens, and photographing the inside of a conference room controls panning, tilting, and zooming of the camera 10,
The camera control circuit 14 for detecting the azimuth (pan angle and tilt angle) and the zoom level (magnification) displays an operation menu in addition to the image by the camera 10 of the own terminal and the image by the camera of the other terminal. It is a monitor. As will be described in detail later, the monitor 14 also displays a still image corresponding to the designated shooting condition among the registered shooting conditions.

Reference numeral 16 is a document camera for photographing materials such as manuscripts on the material table 18, 20 is a digitizer tablet which can be used for inputting handwritten figures and selection of a display menu, 22 is a keyboard, 24 is a microphone, 26 is a speaker.

Reference numeral 28 is a communication control circuit for controlling communication of voice, image and control command, and reference numeral 30 is for encoding the input voice of the microphone 24 for transmission, decoding the received encoded voice signal and supplying it to the speaker 26. The voice processing circuit, 32,
A data storage device 34 stores various data such as a plurality of shooting condition information of the camera 10 and still image information attached to each shooting condition, and 34 encodes an image signal input from the camera 10 and the document camera 16, An image processing circuit that decodes the encoded image information from the system, and a system control circuit 36 that controls the entire system.

A plurality of terminals A having the configuration shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, B and C are connected to each other via an ISDN network and / or a public telephone network to construct a video conference system.

The operation of registering and changing the photographing conditions of this embodiment will be described by taking the case where a video conference is held between the video conference terminals A and B as an example. Note that FIG.
The internal blocks of the video conference terminals A and B shown in FIG. 2 are distinguished by adding the symbols A and B to the symbols shown in FIG.

On the monitors 14A and 14B, the images of the cameras 10A and 10B of the own terminal and the cameras 10B and 1 of the communication partner are displayed.
Both 0A images can be displayed. FIG. 3 shows an example of a screen displaying a camera operation panel 40 and a self-terminal video window 42 for displaying the video of the camera of the self-terminal, and FIG.
Shows an example of a screen displaying a camera operation panel 40 and a window 44 for a video image of a partner terminal for displaying a video image of the camera of the partner terminal. Of course, the own terminal image window 42 and the partner terminal image window 44 may be set at the same time.

The camera operation panel 40 comprises various buttons as shown in FIG. 5, for example. That is, it is provided with a photographing condition number button 50, a registration button 52, a cancel button 54, a confirm button 56, a camera direction instruction button 58, a wide button 60 and a zoom button 62. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that 10 shooting conditions can be registered.

FIG. 6, FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show operation flowcharts of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart when registering a shooting condition, FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart for a shooting condition request command from a partner terminal, and FIG. 8 is a camera of the own terminal or the partner terminal as one of the registered shooting conditions. The operation | movement flowchart which sets 10 is each shown. FIG. 9 shows the structure of the shooting condition information management table stored in the data storage device 32.

With reference to FIG. 6, the operation of the video conference terminal A for registering the shooting conditions of the camera 10A attached to the terminal itself or the camera 10B of the partner terminal B will be described.
When registering the shooting conditions of the camera 10A attached to the terminal itself, the window 42 for the terminal image as shown in FIG. 3 is set on the monitor 14A so that the input image from the camera 10A is displayed on the monitor 14A. When registering the shooting conditions of the camera 10B of the partner terminal B, the partner terminal video window 44 is set on the monitor 14A as shown in FIG. 4 so that the input video from the camera 10A is displayed on the monitor 14A. Keep it. When the window 42 for own terminal image and the window 44 for partner terminal image are set together on the screen of the monitor 14A, the window 42 or 44 for which the photographing condition is to be registered is selected (being active). .

Needless to say, prior to registration, the azimuth and zoom level of the camera for which shooting conditions are to be registered are controlled to the azimuth and values for which they are to be registered.

At the video conference terminal A, when the user or the operator selects one of the photographing condition number buttons 50 on the camera operation panel 40 by using the input device such as the tablet 20A and then presses the registration button 52, The system control circuit 36A understands that the registration of the shooting condition of the camera in which the image is currently displayed is selected. That is, the system control circuit 36A identifies the shooting condition number selected on the camera operation panel 40 (S1), and the moving image currently displayed on the monitor 14A is the image input from the camera of which terminal. It is determined (S2), and the camera identification information of the camera is stored in the camera identification column of the corresponding shooting condition number in the shooting condition information management table stored in the data storage device 32A (S3).

When the moving image displayed on the monitor 14A is the image from the camera 10A of the video conference terminal A (S3
4), the system control circuit 36A is the camera control circuit 12
A is requested to the current shooting conditions (azimuth and zoom level) of the camera 10A, and the camera control circuit 12A detects the azimuth and zoom level of the camera 10A according to this request and notifies the system control circuit 36A (S13). ). The system control circuit 36A displays the notified camera azimuth and zoom
The level is registered in the camera shooting condition column and the zoom level column of the corresponding shooting condition number in the shooting condition information management table (S10).

Further, when the moving image displayed on the monitor 14A is the image from the camera 10B of the video conference terminal B (S34), the system control circuit 36A causes the system control circuit 36A to take the photographing conditions (direction and zoom (S35), the communication control circuit 28A transmits the request command to the video conference terminal B through the communication line (S36), and waits for a response from the video conference terminal B (S37, 38). .

The system control circuit 36 of the video conference terminal B
B analyzes the data received by the communication control circuit 28B (S21). If the command is a request command for shooting conditions (S2
2), the system control circuit 36B is the camera control circuit 12
B is requested to detect the current azimuth and zoom level of the camera 10B (S23). The system control circuit 36B is
Response communication data is created based on the detected value (S2
4), transmission from the communication control circuit 28B to the video conference terminal A (S25).

In the video conference terminal A, the communication control circuit 28
When A receives the response from the partner terminal B (S8), the system control circuit 36A analyzes the response data (S9),
The received shooting condition is registered in the camera shooting condition column and zoom level column of the corresponding shooting condition number in the shooting condition information management table of the data storage device 32A (S10).

Next, the system control circuit 36A instructs the image processing circuit 34A to create a still image file. In response to this instruction, the image processing circuit 34A causes the camera 10A to
Alternatively, one frame (normally, the first one frame at the time of receiving the instruction) of the input moving image from the same 10B is converted into a still image file and stored in the data storage device 32A (S11). The file name of this still image file is registered in the registered still image file name column of the corresponding shooting condition number in the shooting condition information management table (S12). This completes the registration of the shooting condition information.

In this way, up to 10 shooting conditions of the cameras 10A and 10B can be registered in the shooting condition information management table of the data storage device 32A. In addition, the input image at the time of registration of each shooting condition is registered as a still image in association with each shooting condition. Since these still images are images that have been input with the azimuth and zoom level at the time of registration of each shooting condition, by displaying them on the monitor 14A, the azimuth and zoom level under each shooting condition can be visually displayed. Can be recognized and understood.

Next, referring to FIG. 8, the video conference terminal A
In the following, the operation of controlling the camera 10A of the own terminal or the camera 10B of the partner terminal B as one of the registered shooting conditions will be described.

When the user or operator of the terminal A selects the shooting condition number button 50 on the camera operation panel 40 with a pointing device such as a tablet, the system control circuit 36A stores data based on the selected shooting condition number. The shooting condition information of the corresponding shooting condition number is searched from the shooting condition information management table stored in the device 32A (S31). If the attached still image file is registered to the selected shooting condition number (S32), the system control circuit 36A displays the still image file stored in the data storage device 32A on the monitor 14A as an image. Instruct the processing circuit 34A, and in response to this instruction,
The image processing circuit 34A reads the still image file stored in the data storage device 32A and displays it on the monitor 14A (S33).

In this state, if another photographing condition number is selected (S34), the still image file currently displayed is closed (S35) and S31 to 33 are repeated.

Confirm button 56 on camera operation panel 40
When is pressed (S34), the system control circuit 36A
The camera identification column on the shooting condition information management table is searched from the shooting condition number to determine the camera to be controlled (S3).
6).

When the control target is the camera of the own terminal (S3
7), the camera shooting direction and zoom level of the shooting condition information management table stored in the data storage device 32A is acquired (S43), and the camera control circuit 12A stores the camera 10
The control of A is instructed to change the camera shooting direction and zoom level (S44). When the change of the photographing condition of the camera 10A is completed, the image processing circuit 34A causes the monitor 14A to operate.
The display image above is switched to the moving image input from the camera 10A (S41), the still image file attached to the shooting condition information being displayed is closed (S42), and the series of processes is ended.

When the control target is the camera of the other terminal (S3
7), the system control circuit 36A creates a shooting condition request command for the video conference terminal B based on the camera direction information and the zoom level registered in the shooting condition information management table (S38), and the communication control circuit 28A The shooting condition request command is transmitted to the terminal B via the (S4
0). In the terminal B, the system control circuit 36B
According to the shooting condition request command from the camera control circuit 1
2B is instructed to control the azimuth and zoom level of the camera 10B to the required values. After the transmission of the shooting condition command, the image processing circuit 34A switches the display image on the monitor 14A to the moving image input from the camera 10B (the moving image from the terminal B) (S41), and the shooting condition information being displayed is changed. The attached still image file is closed (S42).

[0037]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, the screen under each registered shooting condition can be confirmed with a still image, so that even when a plurality of shooting conditions are registered. , It will be better not to memorize the contents of each registration. As a result, the photographing conditions registered by another person can be easily used. Even if the number of registrations is limited, it can be effectively used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a connection form of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a screen example of a monitor 14.

FIG. 4 is another screen example of the monitor 14.

FIG. 5 is an example of a camera operation panel 40.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart when registering shooting conditions.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart for a shooting condition request command from a partner terminal.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart for setting the camera 10 of the own terminal or the partner terminal to one of the registered shooting conditions.

9 is a diagram showing the structure of a shooting condition information management table stored in the data storage device 32. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: video camera 12: camera control circuit 14: monitor 16: document camera 18: document stand 20: digitizer / tablet 22: keyboard 24: microphone 26: speaker 28: communication control circuit 30: voice processing circuit 32: data storage device 34: image processing circuit 36: system control circuit 40: camera operation panel 42: window for own terminal image 44: window for partner terminal image 50: shooting condition number button 52: registration button 54: cancel button 56: confirm button 58: camera Direction buttons 60: Wide button 62: Zoom button

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An image of an own terminal, in which two or more communication terminal devices each having at least an image inputting device capable of controlling photographing conditions are connected to each other via a communication line to communicate various information with each other. A communication conference system capable of operating an input means and an image input means of a communication partner, wherein a designated image input means and its shooting condition, and a still image of an input image in the shooting condition are displayed according to a shooting operation registration operation. Depending on the storage means to be stored and the selection operation of the registered shooting conditions,
A communication conference system, comprising: a display unit for displaying a still image associated with a corresponding shooting condition on a screen. 2. The communication conference system according to claim 1, wherein the photographing condition includes any one or more of pan, tilt, and zoom of the image input unit. 3. A terminal device in a communication conference system for mutual communication of at least images and sounds, comprising image input means capable of selecting a shooting direction and magnification (zoom level), and shooting condition information of the image input means. A first storage unit for storing the image; a second storage unit for extracting and storing a still image from the moving image; and a display unit for displaying the moving image and the stored still image on a monitor. Communication terminal device. 4. The communication terminal device according to claim 3, wherein a still image is automatically registered when the shooting condition is registered as the additional information of the shooting condition. 5. The communication terminal device according to claim 3, wherein when the registered shooting condition is selected, still image information associated with the selected shooting condition information is displayed. 6. A camera operating device for operating at least one camera, comprising operation instruction input means for inputting an operation instruction of the at least one camera, and one or more photographing conditions of the at least one camera. Registration operation means for performing a registration operation, a shooting condition storage means for storing the specified shooting condition of the specified camera in response to the registration operation of the registration operation means, and a registration operation of the specified camera in response to the registration operation of the registration operation means. A still image storage unit that stores a captured image under the specified shooting condition as a still image, and a still image associated with the selected shooting condition is read from the still image storage unit according to an operation of selecting a registered shooting condition. And a display means for displaying an image, the camera operating device. 7. The camera operating device according to claim 6, wherein one or more of the at least one camera are operated via a communication line. 8. The camera operating device according to claim 5, wherein the shooting condition includes any one or more of pan, tilt, and zoom.