JPH1098707A - Multipoint image monitor device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multipoint image monitor device which can monitor images of more than one monitor point by making it possible to increase a monitor point without extending the center facilities. SOLUTION: Video data converters 20-1 to 20-n at nodes 2-1 to 2-n convert video data from cameras 1-1 to 1-n into digital data. Video data transmission control parts 21-1 to 21-n packet and send the said digital data to a center device 3. An image data restoration part 41 of the monitor device 4 restores image data on the basis of data received by a reception control part 31 of the center device 3. A scan information generation part 42 specifies image data that should be received by the center device 3 to a reception control part 31. An image data expansion part 43 expands the restored data in an image memory 44. An image signal generation part 45 converts the contents expanded in the image memory 44 into an image signal, which is sent out to a monitor 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint image monitoring apparatus, and more particularly to an image data transfer system in a multipoint monitoring system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a multipoint monitoring system,
As shown in FIG. 9, cameras 1-
The images taken at 1-1 to 1-m are processed by the nodes 6-1 to 6-m by FM (Frequency Modulatio).
n) It is modulated and sent to the center device 7.

A TV (Television) tuner 8 having a channel corresponding to each monitoring point is installed on the center device 7 side. Each node 6-1 is controlled by controlling the channel of the TV tuner 8 by the monitoring device 9.
The images from .about.6-m are displayed on the monitor 5 for monitoring.

[0004] The monitoring device 9 has a function of processing video signals from a plurality of channels of the TV tuner 8 to perform display on a plurality of screens and an enlarged display of a specific screen, and a channel control function of the TV tuner 8. Nodes 6-1 to 6-m
Are sequentially displayed on a plurality of divided screens, and an enlarged display of a specific screen is realized.

[0005] Regarding the screen division display as described above, 4
The video input from one surveillance camera is converted to one CRT
(Cathode Ray Tube) includes a method of displaying a four-split screen. This screen division display is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-137886.

[0006] As for the screen division display, there is a method of switching and displaying the image from the camera at a predetermined interval when the image from the camera is divided and displayed on the screen. In this method, the number of cameras can be set to be equal to or larger than the number of divisions on the screen. This screen division display is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-266986.

Further, regarding display control, there is a method of performing display control by giving attributes such as page, color, and luminance to display characters. This display control is disclosed in JP-A-59-140486.

Further, regarding remote monitoring, N-
ISDN [Narrowband ISDN (Integrated S
services Digital Network)]
There is a method in which a line is used and monitoring is performed with a data amount of 64 Kbps during normal times, and in case of abnormality, the data amount is switched to 1.5 Mbps to monitor in detail using one CRT screen, and only one point is monitored. . For this remote monitoring,
It is disclosed in JP-A-3-214996.

[0009]

In the conventional multipoint monitoring system described above, since the image of the monitoring point is FM-modulated and sent to the monitoring device, the more monitoring points that can be used, the more monitoring points are available. Can be provided.

However, since the number of screens that can be displayed on one screen of the monitor connected to the monitoring device is limited,
To display all monitoring points, it is necessary to install TV tuners for the number of divided screens. Therefore, if the number of divided display screens is increased by expanding the scale of the system after introducing the system, it is necessary to add a TV tuner according to the monitoring method.

In the case of a system in which images input from four surveillance cameras are displayed on one CRT in four-split screens, one screen is limited to four-split screens. Monitoring cannot be performed at the same time, and increasing the number of monitoring points involves additional equipment such as additional monitoring devices.

On the other hand, in the case of a system in which images from cameras are switched and displayed at predetermined intervals, the number of cameras can be set to be equal to or greater than the number of divisions on the screen, but the number of cameras is increased. It is necessary to add a TV tuner, a switch for screen switching, and the like by the increased amount.

Further, in the case of a display control method in which display characters are provided with attributes such as page, color, and brightness, display data is transmitted with attributes. Since the information is for character data, it cannot be used for a moving image such as a monitoring screen.

Further, in the case of a system in which monitoring is performed at a data amount of 64 Kbps in a normal state and the data amount is switched to 1.5 Mbps in an abnormal state and only one point is monitored, NI is used.
Since the use of the SDN line is assumed, there is a cost such as a line usage fee, and it is not possible to monitor other points while checking one point in detail.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, to increase the number of monitoring points without increasing the number of center facilities, and to enable image monitoring of a plurality of monitoring points. It is to provide a multipoint image monitoring device.

[0016]

According to the present invention, there is provided a multipoint image monitoring apparatus, comprising: a center device for collecting video data from monitoring cameras disposed at a plurality of monitoring points; A monitoring device that displays video data from each of the plurality of monitoring points, and a conversion unit that converts video data captured by the monitoring camera into digital data; and Division transmission means for dividing the video data converted into the digital data into packet data and transmitting the packet data to the center device; reception means for receiving the packet data transmitted from the division transmission means; Restoring means for restoring the video data based on the packet data received at step (a), and monitoring the video data restored by the restoring means. And a display means for displaying device.

As described above, the multipoint image monitoring apparatus according to the present invention includes a monitoring camera, a video data conversion unit that converts a video signal captured by the monitoring camera into digital data, and a video generated by the video data conversion unit. An image data division transmission unit that divides data into packets and transmits the data to the center device at each of a plurality of monitoring points, and a reception control unit that receives video data transmitted from each monitoring point and sends the video data to the monitoring device Is provided in the center device.

The monitoring device has an image data restoring unit for restoring screen display data from video data sent from the center device, and an image data expanding unit for expanding data from the image data restoring unit to an image memory. An image signal generation unit that converts the contents developed in the image memory into an image signal; a scan information generation unit that specifies image data to be received; and a display monitor that displays video. This makes it possible to sequentially scan and monitor the video from each of the plurality of monitoring points, and to monitor and monitor the monitoring image of the designated node in an enlarged manner.

Since the reception control section only receives the video data of the designated monitoring point from the scan information generating section and sends it to the monitoring device, it is not necessary to install a device for selecting the video of the monitoring point. In addition, since the scan information generation unit generates the address of the monitoring point to receive and display the video data based on the registered scan information, it can be set arbitrarily by setting the scan information.

[0020]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a multipoint image monitoring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes cameras 1-1 to 1-n and nodes 2-1 to 2 disposed at a plurality of monitoring points, respectively.
-N, a center device 3, a monitoring device 4, and a monitor 5.

Each of the nodes 2-1 to 2-n includes a video data converter 20-1 to 20-n and a video data transmission control unit 21.
-1 to 21-n. The video data converters 20-1 to 20-n convert the video data from the cameras 1-1 to 1-n into digital data and send the digital data to the video data transmission control units 21-1 to 21-n. .

Video data transmission control units 21-1 to 21-n
Transmits packetized video data converted into digital data by the video data converters 20-1 to 20-n to the center device 3.

The center device 3 has a node 2 at each monitoring point.
Video data transmission control units 21-1 to 21-1-2
A reception control unit 31 that receives the video data transmitted from −n and sends the video data to the monitoring device 4 is provided.

The monitoring device 4 includes an image data restoring unit 41, a scan information generating unit 42, an image data expanding unit 43, an image memory 44, and an image signal generating unit 45. The image data restoration unit 41 restores the image data from the data sent from the reception control unit 31 of the center device 3 and sends the image data to the image data development unit 43.

The scan information generation unit 42 specifies the image data to be received by the center device 3 to the reception control unit 31. The image data expanding unit 43 expands the data from the image data restoring unit 41 in the image memory 44. The image signal generation unit 45 converts the contents developed in the image memory 44 into image signals,
The image signal is sent to the monitor 5.

FIG. 2 shows the video data transmission control section 21- of FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of FIG. In the figure, a video data transmission control unit 21-1 includes a video data storage unit 22-1.
, A data readout unit 23-1, and a packet generation unit 24-
1 and a transmission control unit 25-1.

The video data storage unit 22-1 stores the video data for one screen converted into digital data by the video data converter 20-1. The data reading unit 23-1 receives the video data from the video data storage unit 22-1 in response to the data storage notification notified from the video data converter 20-1 at the timing when the video data is stored in the video data storage unit 22-1. Is read, the block information and the data size are added to the read video data, and the resultant data is transmitted to the packet generation unit 24-1. Here, the video data converter 20-1 notifies the data size together with the data storage notification.

The packet generator 24-1 divides the video data read from the video data storage 22-1 by the data reader 23-1 to generate packet data. that time,
The packet generation unit 24-1 adds a start code and an address to the video data (including the block information and the data size) from the data reading unit 23-1 to generate packet data. The transmission control unit 25-1 includes a packet generation unit 24-1.
Is transmitted to the center device 3.

The video data transmission control units 21-1 to 21-n of the nodes 2-2 to 2-n have the same configuration as that of the video data transmission control unit 21-1. The operation is the same as the operation of the video data transmission control unit 21-1.

FIG. 3A shows the data read section 23- of FIG.
3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an output of FIG. 3, and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a configuration of an output of the packet generation unit 24-1 in FIG. In the figure, the output of the data reading unit 23-1 is composed of block information, data length (data size), and digitized image data.

The output of the packet generator 24-1 is composed of a start code, an address, block information, a data length (data size), and digitized image data.

In these figures, the packet generator 24
The start code at the beginning of the output of -1 indicates the start of an image packet. Therefore, when the center device 3 detects this start code, the center device 3 is in a state of receiving an image packet.

The address following the start code is the node 2-
1 to 2-n are shown. Therefore, the center device 3 sees this address and determines which node 2
It is determined whether the image packet is sent from -1 to 2-n.

The block information next to this address means the continuity of the image packet. That is, the image information for the screen is divided into a plurality of image packets, and each of the nodes 2-1 to 2-1
2-n is sent to the center device 3.

For example, when one screen of image data is divided into five image packets, the book information corresponds to "head", "middle", "middle", "middle", and "end", respectively. Information to be entered. Therefore, after receiving the image packet whose block information is “finished”, the center device 3 displays an image when the development of the image data is completed. The data length next to the above block information indicates the length of the image packet.

The data readout unit 23 of the video data transmission control units 21-2 to 21-n of each of the nodes 2-2 to 2-n.
-2 to 23-n and packet generation units 24-2 to 24-n
Each of them outputs data having the same configuration as the output of each of the above-described data reading unit 23-1 and packet generating unit 24-1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the monitor 5 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a scan table used for generating scan information in the scan information generating section 42 of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the timing of generation of scan information in the scan information generation unit 42 of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the display screen of the monitor 5 is divided into four divided screens, the scan table of the scan information generator 42 is assigned in advance to the scan table of the monitor 5 in correspondence with each of the divided screens. Each node 2-
Addresses 1 to 2-n are held.

That is, the address “1” is displayed on the divided screen of the monitor 5 when “scan 1” is performed, the address “2” is displayed on “scan 2”, and the address “3” is displayed on the divided screen when “scan 1” is performed. However, the address “4” is displayed in “scan 2”, the address “5” is displayed in “split 1” on the divided screen, the address “6” is displayed in “scan 2”,
The address "7" is displayed on the split screen at the time of "Scan 1"
However, at the time of “scan 2”, the address “8” is associated with each.

In this case, the scan information generation unit 42 determines that the addresses “1”, “3”, “5”,
"7" is output, and addresses "2", "4", "6", and "8" are output at the time of "scan 2". The timing of switching between “scan 1” and “scan 2” is as shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the scan information generator 42 of FIG. The operation of the multipoint image monitoring apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

Cameras 1-1 to 1-1 installed at each monitoring point
-N is a video data converter 20-1 or 20-2.
It is converted to digital data by 0-n. In this case, in order to reduce the amount of data transmitted from each of the nodes 2-1 to 2-n, a method of converting a video into digital data and then compressing the video may be adopted.

The video data digitized by the video data converters 20-1 to 20-n is transmitted to the video data transmission control unit 2.
After being sent to 1-1 to 21-n and converted into an image packet, it is sent to the center device 3.

The reception controller 31 of the center device 3 receives and monitors the video data transmitted from the video data transmission controllers 21-1 to 21-n of the nodes 2-1 to 2-n at the respective monitoring points. Send it to device 4.

The scan information generation section 42 of the monitoring apparatus 4 notifies the reception control section 31 of the center apparatus 3 of the address of the monitoring point (image packet address) to be received and displayed.

The reception control unit 31 includes a scan information generation unit 42
When the image packet of the address notified from is detected, the image packet to which the information indicating the head is added as the block information is sequentially received and sent to the image data restoring unit 41 from the point of detection. The reception control unit 31 discards the image packet other than the address notified from the scan information generation unit 42.

The image data restoring unit 41 sequentially restores the image data in accordance with the block information of the image packet sent from the reception control unit 31, and notifies the image data expanding unit 43 of the restored image data and address.

The image data developing section 43 stores the image memory 4 based on the address notified from the image data restoring section 41.
The image data is developed at a position corresponding to the display position of No. 4.
When the development of the image data for one screen is completed, the image data development unit 43 notifies the scan information generation unit 42 that the development of the image data is completed.

The scan information generator 42 counts the time (display time of one screen) determined by the system constant, and changes the addresses of the nodes 2-1 to 2-n displayed on the monitor 5.

That is, in FIG. 4, if the scan is set to be performed every 10 frames, the scan information generation unit 42 reads out the contents of “scan 1” and “scan 2” of the scan table every 10 frames. (FIG. 7
Step S1), the content (scan address) is notified to the reception control unit 31 of the center device 3 (step S1 in FIG. 7).
2).

At this time, if the contents of “scan 1” in the scan table have been read, the scan information generating section 42 outputs the addresses “1”, “3”, “5”, and “7”. If the content of “scan 2” in the scan table has been read, the scan information generating unit 42 outputs addresses “2”, “4”, “6”, and “8”.

The scan information generating unit 42 is notified by the image data expanding unit 43 that the expansion of the image data for one screen is completed (step S3 in FIG. 7), and when the display time (in this case, 10 frames) is completed. (Step S in FIG. 7)
4), the scan address is updated (step S in FIG. 7).
5) Return to step S1. Therefore, the scan information generating unit 42 alternately reads and outputs the contents of “scan 1” and “scan 2” of the scan table every 10 frames, and outputs “scan 1” and “scan 2” to the monitor 5.
Images from the corresponding nodes 2-1 to 2-n are displayed (see FIG. 6).

The image data expanded in the image memory 44 is converted into a video signal by the image signal generation section 45 and displayed on the monitor 5. At this time, since the image data is already spread on the image memory 44 in a state where the screen is divided, a plurality of nodes 2-
The images from 1 to 2-n are displayed on the same screen 5a in a divided form (see FIG. 4).

When the image data restored by the image data restoring unit 41 is expanded in the image memory 44, the image data expanding unit 43 thins out and expands the image data in accordance with the resolution of the monitor 5 in the case of a small screen display. In the case of performing a large-screen display, it has a control function of transferring image data restored by the image data restoring unit 41 without thinning the image data.

Since the screen size and resolution of the monitor 5 connected to the monitoring device 4 are limited, a plurality of nodes 2
There is also a limit on the number of screens on which the monitor images from -1 to 2-n can be divided and displayed on the monitor 5. At present, the maximum is 16 split screens.

However, if one monitor 5 is used to monitor 16 or more points, each of the nodes 2-1 to 2-
It is necessary to sequentially switch the images from n and display them on the monitor 5. At this time, the scan information generating unit 42 generates information for specifying a monitoring point to be displayed on the monitor 5.

The scan information generation unit 42 notifies the reception control unit 31 of the center device 3 of the address (image packet address) of the monitoring point to be received and displayed. When detecting the image packet of the notified address, the reception control unit 31 sequentially receives the image packet whose block information is detected as “head”, and sends the received image packet to the image data restoration unit 41. Image packets other than the notified address are discarded by the reception control unit 31.

In the image data restoring section 41, the reception control section 31
The image data is sequentially restored to the image data in accordance with the block information of the image packet sent from the server, and the image data expanding unit 43 is notified of the restored image data and the address.

The image data expanding section 43 uses the address notified from the image data restoring section 41 to store the image data in the image memory 44.
The image data is developed at a position corresponding to the display position of. When the development of the image data for one screen is completed, the image data development unit 43 notifies the scan information generation unit 42 that the development of the image data is completed.

The scan information generator 42 counts the time (display time of one screen) determined by the system constant,
The addresses of the nodes 2-1 to 2-n displayed on the monitor 5 are updated based on the scan table (for example,
“Scan 1” is switched to “Scan 2”).

The image data expanded in the image memory 44 is converted into a video signal by the image signal generating section 45, and the converted video signal is displayed on the monitor 5. At this time, since the image data is already developed on the image memory 44 in a state where the screen is divided, the images from the plurality of nodes 2-1 to 2-n are displayed on the monitor 5 on the divided screen. You.

When the image data restored by the image data restoring unit 41 is expanded in the image memory 44, the image data expanding unit 43 thins out the image data in accordance with the resolution of the monitor 5 and expands the image data in the case of a small screen display. In addition, in the case of performing a large-screen display, a reduced screen and an enlarged screen can be mixedly displayed by having a control function such as transfer without thinning.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the monitor 5 of FIG. In the figure, display screen 5a of monitor 5
Shows eight divided screens to 8 and two enlarged divided screens.

As a result, the screen of the monitoring point for checking the details is enlarged and displayed, and the screens of the other monitoring points are displayed as divided small screens. The display of the surveillance image from -n is realized.

As described above, by sending the images captured by the cameras 1-1 to 1-n arranged at the respective monitoring points to the center device 3 in the form of image packets, the monitoring which has become a problem in the prior art is performed. There is no need to add center equipment such as an additional TV tuner due to an increase in the number of monitoring screens as the number of points increases.

When transmitting image data, in particular,
Since there is no restriction such as the use of SDN line, not only the operation cost of the system is reduced, but also the enlarged display of the monitoring image of the specified monitoring point without switching the transmission amount is enabled. It is also possible to display while monitoring a monitoring image of a monitoring point other than the enlarged display.

[0067]

As described above, according to the present invention, a center device for collecting video data from monitoring cameras disposed at a plurality of monitoring points, and a plurality of monitoring points collected by the center device. In a multi-point image monitoring device including a monitoring device that displays video data from each device, video data captured by a monitoring camera is converted into digital data, then divided into packet data, and transmitted to a center device. By restoring the video data based on the above and displaying the data on the monitoring device, it is possible to increase the number of monitoring points without adding center facilities and to enable image monitoring of a plurality of monitoring points. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a video data transmission control unit in FIG. 1;

3A is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an output of a data reading unit in FIG. 2; FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an output of a packet generation unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the monitor of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a scan table used for generating scan information in a scan information generation unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a timing of generating scan information in a scan information generating unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a scan information generation unit in FIG. 1;

8 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the monitor of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-1 to 1-n Camera 2-1 to 2-n Node 3 Center device 4 Monitoring device 5 Monitor 20-1 to 20-n Video data converter 21-1 to 21-n Video data transmission control unit 22-1 Video data storage unit 23-1 Data readout unit 24-1 Packet generation unit 25-1 Transmission control unit 31-1 Reception control unit 41-1 Image data restoration unit 42-1 Scan information generation unit 43-1 Image data development unit 44 -1 Image memory 45-1 Image signal generator

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A center device for collecting video data from monitoring cameras disposed at each of a plurality of monitoring points, and a monitor for displaying video data from each of the plurality of monitoring points collected by the center device. A multi-point image monitoring apparatus comprising: a conversion unit for converting video data captured by the monitoring camera into digital data; and converting the video data converted into the digital data by the conversion unit into packet data. Divided transmitting means for dividing and transmitting to the center device, receiving means for receiving the packet data transmitted from the divided transmitting means, and restoring the video data based on the packet data received by the receiving means And a display means for displaying the video data restored by the restoration means on the monitoring device. Multipoint image monitoring device. 2. The multi-point image monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an instruction unit for indicating a monitoring point to be received by said reception unit. 3. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the display means is configured to sequentially display the video data from a preset combination of monitoring points among the plurality of monitoring points on the monitoring device for each combination. Claim 1 or Claim 2
The multipoint image monitoring apparatus according to the above. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit generates image display data from the video data restored by the restoration unit, and displays the screen display data generated by the image data generation unit. An image memory for storing,
Expanding means for expanding the data for screen display generated by the image data generating means in the image memory,
4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the data for screen display is expanded in an image memory by the expansion unit, an image displayed on the same screen of the monitoring device is enlarged and reduced. The multipoint image monitoring device according to any one of the above. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said division transmission means is configured to convert the video data into the digital data and then at least compress the image before dividing the video data into the packet data. The multipoint image monitoring device according to any one of the above. 6. A method according to claim 6, wherein said converting means and said divided transmitting means are provided at each of said plurality of monitoring points, said receiving means is provided at said center device, and said restoring means and said display means are provided at said monitoring device. The multipoint image monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the multipoint image monitoring device is provided.