JPH11275557A - Supervisory image recording system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow the recording system to select automatically a camera that photographs a person in front or at an angle closest to the front and to photograph and record the front image of the person without using stimulus such as light or sound. SOLUTION: The supervisory image recording system is provided with pluralities of cameras 11 that photograph a person supervisory area in different directions, a camera selection section 90 that specifies a moving direction of a person based on image signals received from pluralities of the cameras 11 and selects a camera photographing the person in front or at an angle closest to the front, a camera switch section 100 that provides an output of the image signal from the selected camera, and a recording section 120 that records the image signal outputted from the camera switch section. A camera photographing the person in front or at an angle closest to the front is selected among pluralities of the cameras, its image signal is outputted and recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surveillance image recording apparatus for recording a front image of a person, and more particularly, to the movement of a person in a place where a person needs to be monitored, such as in a store, near dangerous goods, or near a cash dispenser. From multiple cameras and
The present invention relates to a surveillance image recording apparatus that records a front image of a person by selecting a camera that is or can shoot an image from the front of the person or from the closest angle to the front.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a monitoring apparatus for obtaining a front image of a person of this type, those described in JP-A-61-125695 and JP-A-7-38786 are known. . FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional monitoring device. Hereinafter, the conventional monitoring device will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, 11 is a push button switch, 12 is a control device, 13 is a camera for photographing a person, 14 is a recording device for recording the photographed person, 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes an induction signal generator that is installed near the camera and generates sound, light, and the like.

Next, the operation of the above conventional monitoring device will be described with reference to FIG. When an event or the like occurs, when any one of the switches 11 is pressed, a signal generated from the switch 11 is input to the control device 12, whereby the trigger signal generating device 15 installed near the camera 13 is output.
Generates sound, light, etc. In response to the generated sound, light, or the like, an important person involved in the incident turns to the camera 13. Then, the face of the person is photographed and recorded from the front.

As described above, in the above-described conventional monitoring apparatus, a person is stimulated with light or sound to turn the person toward the photographing means, thereby photographing a front image of the person.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional monitoring device, a stimulus is generated by generating sound or light from an evoked signal generating device installed near the camera, and the camera is responsive to the stimulus. There is a problem that it is difficult to use depending on the situation of the installation place, such as places where other sounds and lights are strong, places where sounds and lights should not be generated, etc. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems. An image processing technique is used to measure the direction in which a person moves, and the apparatus is arranged so that an image is taken from the front of the person or from the angle closest to the front. An object of the present invention is to photograph a front image of a person without using a stimulus such as light or sound, and further encode and record the photographed image by selecting a camera that is used.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of cameras for photographing a person monitoring area from different directions, and a direction in which a person moves from each image signal input from each of the plurality of cameras. A camera selection unit that selects a camera that is shooting from the front of the person or from the angle closest to the front, a camera switch unit that outputs an image signal from the selected camera, and an image signal that is output from the camera switch unit. And a recording unit for recording, from among a plurality of cameras, a camera which is photographing from the front of the person or from the angle closest to the front, and outputs and records the image signal.

According to the present invention, the direction in which a person moves is selected without using the stimulus that generates light or sound, and a camera that shoots from the front or from the angle closest to the front is selected. A surveillance image recording device capable of capturing and recording a front image is obtained.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention according to claim 1 of the present invention provides at least two or more cameras arranged to photograph an X direction and a Y direction of a monitoring area, and a person based on an image signal from the cameras. A camera selection unit that detects the movement of the person, selects a camera that is shooting from the front of the person or from the closest angle to the front, and outputs a camera selection signal, and an image from the selected camera under the control of the camera selection signal A camera switch section for outputting a signal, and selectively outputs an image signal from a camera which is photographing from the front of a person moving in the monitoring area or from an angle closest to the front. Specifying the direction in which the person moves without selecting the camera that is shooting from the front of the person or from the angle closest to the front, without using the stimulus to generate noise or sound, etc. It has the effect of outputting the image signal from the La.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there are provided at least two or more cameras arranged to capture an X-direction and a Y-direction of a region where a person may be present, and an image from the camera. A camera selection unit that detects a motion of a person from the signal, selects a camera that is photographing from the front of the person or from an angle closest to the front, and outputs a camera selection signal, and the two or more cameras selected by controlling the camera selection signal And a camera switch section for selecting and outputting an image signal from the camera of the camera, and capturing an image from the front of the person or an angle closest to the front of the person moving in the area where the person may be present. The signal is selected and output, and in any area where a person may be present, the light or sound is generated and the person's stimulus is not used. Ku identify direction to select a camera that photographed from an angle close to the front or the most front of the person's has the effect of outputting the image signal from the selected camera.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a person monitoring apparatus according to the first or second aspect, encoding means for encoding an image signal output from the person monitoring apparatus, and an encoded image. Recording means for recording a signal, and has an effect that an image signal from a camera which is photographing from the front of a moving person or from an angle closest to the front can be recorded and reproduced later. Have.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a surveillance image recording apparatus according to the third aspect, and a decoding apparatus installed at another point and connected to the surveillance image recording apparatus via a communication line. Comprising a video taken from the front or the angle closest to the front of the person output from the surveillance image recording device is displayed on the decoding device installed at the other location, at any remote location Also, there is an effect that an image signal from a camera that is photographing from the front of a moving person in the monitoring area or from an angle closest to the front can be displayed using the communication line.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a video signal is inputted from each of a plurality of cameras for photographing in the X direction or the Y direction, the motion of a person is detected from each video signal, and the motion of the person is detected. The camera that shoots from the front of the person or the angle closest to the front is selected, and among the plurality of cameras, the camera that shoots from the front of the moving person or the angle closest to the front is selected. Has the effect of being able to

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, an image signal decoding means and a display means are added to the monitoring image recording apparatus according to the third aspect, and the recorded image signal is decoded and displayed. This has the effect that the image signal once recorded can be reproduced and displayed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the camera selection device is provided with a camera selection means in a manual mode so that a camera can be selected manually. Can be arbitrarily selected.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, two or more sets of monitoring terminals each having an encoding unit, a decoding unit, and a display unit are connected by a communication line, and each monitoring terminal encodes a monitoring image. In addition to transmitting to the monitoring terminal at another point, the coded image transmitted from the monitoring terminal at another point is decoded and displayed. Has the effect that it is possible to construct a network capable of decoding and displaying the image signal output from the.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a central monitoring device having display means for displaying a monitoring image output from each monitoring terminal, and a plurality of the monitoring terminals are connected to the central monitoring device via a communication line. Connected to display the monitoring images from the respective monitoring terminals on the display means of the central monitoring device, wherein the image signals output from the plurality of monitoring terminals are collectively displayed and monitored by the central monitoring device. It has the effect of being able to.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the central monitoring device is provided with means for displaying a point at which movement of a person is detected at each of the other points and issuing an alarm. The device has an effect of displaying a point at which a movement of a person is detected, issuing an alarm, and ventilating attention.

Hereinafter, based on the attached drawings and FIGS.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the monitoring image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the detailed configuration of the camera selection unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. Form 1
And FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a camera selection method by the camera selection unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

(Embodiment 1) First, the configuration of a monitoring image recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, 10, 20, 30, and 4
Reference numeral 0 denotes a camera (A), a camera (B), a camera (C), and a camera (D) for monitoring area photographing arranged to photograph the same person monitoring area from different directions as shown in FIG. Reference numerals 50, 60, 70, and 80 denote analog video signals from the cameras (A), (B), (C), and (D) by A / D conversion, respectively. ), A first A / D converter, a second A / D converter, a third A / D converter, and a fourth A / D converter.

Reference numeral 90 denotes at least two or more A / Ds.
A camera selection signal for receiving a digital image signal from the conversion unit (in the present embodiment, the first and second A / D conversion units 50 and 60) and selecting a camera that outputs a digital image signal from the camera switch unit 100 Is a camera selection unit that outputs the first to fourth A / D conversion units 50 and 6
The digital image signals from the first to fourth A / D converters 50, 60, 70, and 80 are input with the digital image signals from the digital camera 0, 70, and 80 and the camera selection signal from the camera selector 90. And a camera switch unit for selecting and outputting one or more of the above.

Reference numeral 110 denotes an encoding unit as encoding means for encoding the digital image signal input from the camera switch unit 100, and 120 denotes recording means for recording the compression-encoded data input from the encoding unit 110. Recording section.

Next, a detailed configuration of the camera selection unit shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, 200
Inputs the digital image signal of the camera (A) 10 input from the first A / D converter 50 shown in FIG. 1 and the digital image signal of the previous frame from the first frame memory 210, and outputs the first A / D converter 50 The motion of the image is detected from the difference between the digital image signal input from the CPU and the digital image signal of the previous frame, and a motion information signal is output to the camera selection signal output unit 240. The first motion detection unit outputs a digital image signal of the current frame.

A first frame 210 outputs a digital image signal of the previous frame to the first motion detecting section 200 and stores the digital image signal input from the first motion detecting section 200 as an image signal of the previous frame. Memory. The second motion detecting section 220 and the second frame memory 230 store the first motion detecting section 200
And has the same function as the first frame memory 210,
It works similarly. Reference numeral 240 denotes a camera which inputs the motion information signals from the first motion detection unit 200 and the second motion detection unit 220, selects a camera to output a digital image signal from the motion information signals, and outputs a camera selection signal. This is a selection signal output unit.

Next, the operation of the monitoring image recording apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3, four cameras (A) 10, (B) 20, (C) 30, and (D) are located at the center of the person monitoring area.
40 are installed so as to oppose each other in the X direction and the Y direction, and the person monitoring area can be photographed from each angle. Note that the person monitoring area may be a place where no person can enter, such as a warehouse, or a room at night, but is not limited thereto, and may be any place that requires monitoring.

In FIG. 1, video signals output from the camera (A) 10, camera (B) 20, camera (C) 30, and camera (D) 40 arranged as shown in FIG. / D converter 50, second A / D converter 60, third A / D converter 70, and fourth A / D converter 80
Is input to First A / D converter 50, second A / D converter 60, third A / D converter 70, and fourth A / D converter 8
Reference numeral 0 denotes an A / D conversion of the input video signal into a digital image signal, which is output to the camera switch unit 100. The first A / D conversion unit 50 and the second A / D conversion unit 60 convert each digital image signal into a camera image. It is also output to the selector 90.

The camera selection section 90 includes a first A / D conversion section 5
A camera (A) that detects a moving direction of a person from the digital image signal input from the 0 and the second A / D conversion unit 60 and shoots the digital image signal from the front or the closest angle to the front of the person to output the digital image signal. 10 to (D) 40
Is selected, and the camera selection signal is transmitted to the camera switch unit 1.
Output to 00. The camera switch unit 100 includes a first A /
The digital image signal input from the D converter 50, the second A / D converter 60, the third A / D converter 70, and the fourth A / D converter 80 and the camera selection signal from the camera selector 90 are input. The digital image signals from one or more of the first to fourth A / D converters 50 to 80 specified by the camera selection signal are output to the encoder 110. When the camera selection unit 90 has instructed to select a plurality of images by a camera selection signal, the plurality of digital image signals divided by screen division are multiplexed and output.

The encoding unit 110 is a camera switch unit 100
Encoding the digital image signal input from the
Output to 20. If the input signal is configured to be displayed on a display unit (not shown), the image selected by the camera selection unit 90 can be monitored on the display unit as a display unit. Further, the recording unit 120 records the encoded data input from the encoding unit 110.

Further, when the encoded result is transmitted via a communication line and decoded and displayed by a decoding unit as decoding means, a remote monitoring device can be obtained. Also, if a decoding means is added to this monitoring image recording device,
It is possible to decode and display an encoded image once recorded or an encoded image of another point transmitted by a communication line. As an example of the digital image signal encoding method described above, an MPEG2 moving image encoding method (ISO / 13818-2) which is an international standard method is known.

Next, a camera selecting operation in the camera selecting section will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 2, the first motion detection unit 200 includes a first A /
The digital image signal of the current frame input from the D conversion unit 50 and the digital image signal of one frame time earlier input from the first frame memory 210 are input, and the motion direction of the person is detected by the following method. Output to selection signal output section 240.

The first motion detector 200 divides the input digital image of the current frame into blocks of a certain area, and detects a motion vector of each block. As a specific method of detecting the motion vector of each block, p61 to p of the band compression and encoding technology of an image (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun)
The block matching method shown at 62 is generally known. When detecting a motion vector of each block, a motion vector may be detected only for a portion where a person may be present.

After detecting the motion vector of each block, the first motion detection unit 200 averages the motion vectors of all the blocks, and determines whether there is any motion in the left direction, no motion, or motion in the right direction. judge. Then, a motion information signal indicating the state of the motion is output to the camera selection signal output unit 240, and further output to the first frame memory 210 as a digital image signal of the current frame. Used as a signal.

The second motion detecting section 220 is the second motion detecting section 220 shown in FIG.
From the / D conversion unit 60 and the second frame memory 230,
The digital image signals of the current frame and one frame time before are input, respectively, and in the same manner as the first motion detection unit 200, any one of three states of presence of leftward motion, no motion, and rightward motion is detected. judge. Then, a motion information signal indicating the state of the motion is output to the camera selection signal output unit 240, and further output to the first frame memory 230 as a digital image signal of the current frame. use.

In short, the first motion detecting section 200 detects the left and right motion of the video taken by the camera (A) 10 and
The motion detection unit 220 detects left and right motion of the image captured by the camera (B) 20. The camera selection signal output unit 240 receives the motion information signals input from the first motion detection unit 200 and the second motion detection unit 220, and selects the camera with respect to the camera switch unit 100 shown in FIG. Output a signal.

FIG. 4 shows the state of the output signal of the camera selection signal output unit 240 which changes according to the state of the signal from the first motion detection unit 200 and the second motion detection unit 220. For example, as shown in the third column of FIG. 4, the motion information signal output by the first motion detection unit 200 is L (a signal indicating that there is a leftward motion, hereinafter simply referred to as L), and the second motion detection When the motion information signal output from the unit 220 is R (a signal indicating that there is a rightward motion, hereinafter simply referred to as R),
As can be seen from FIG. 3, since the person is moving in the direction 1, a camera selection signal for selecting the camera (C) 30 and the camera (D) 40 is output to the camera switch unit 100.

For example, as shown in the first column of FIG. 4, the motion information signal output from the first motion detecting section 200 is L, and the motion information signal output from the second motion detecting section 220 is L.
In the case of, as can be seen from FIG. 3, since the person is moving in the direction 2, the camera (A) 10 and the camera (D)
A camera selection signal for selecting 40 is output to the camera switch unit 100.

For example, as shown in the eighth column of FIG. 4, when the motion information signal output from the first motion detection section 200 is R and the motion information signal output from the second motion detection section 220 is no motion. Is, as can be seen from FIG.
Thus, a camera selection signal for selecting only the camera (B) 20 is output to the camera switch unit 100. The camera switch unit 100 selects and outputs only digital image signals from the first to fourth A / D converters 50 to 80 specified by the camera selection signal output unit 240.

According to the first embodiment described above,
In the camera selection unit, a camera that shoots the front or near the front of the moving person is automatically selected. However, a manual selection unit may be provided so that the camera can be arbitrarily selected in the manual mode. . Also, a central monitoring device having a display means for connecting a plurality of monitoring terminals via a communication line and displaying a monitoring image output from each monitoring terminal is provided, and the location of another point where movement of a person is detected is connected to the communication line. Means for notifying the central monitoring device via the display, displaying the alarm, and issuing an alarm.

[0039]

According to the present invention, the camera is configured as described above, and in particular, a camera selection unit is provided to specify a direction in which a person moves and to select a camera photographing from the front of the moving person or from the closest angle to the front. By doing so, a desired camera can be automatically selected and its image can be recorded, so that the monitoring accuracy is improved and the labor saving of monitoring can be realized.

The present invention is constructed as described above, and in particular, it is possible to obtain an image in front of a person or an image closest to the front without generating light or sound during photographing and using the stimulus. Thus, the stimulus can be installed in a place where it is difficult to use, so that there is little restriction on the installation place and the applicable range can be enlarged.

According to the present invention, there is provided a central monitoring device having the above-mentioned structure, and particularly having a plurality of monitoring terminals connected via a communication line and having display means for displaying a monitoring image output from each monitoring terminal. By notifying the central monitoring device via the communication line and displaying the location of another point where the image closest to the front or the image closest to the front is detected, and displaying an alarm,
Since monitoring of a plurality of monitoring locations can be managed collectively at a central location, monitoring accuracy can be improved, which can contribute to labor saving in monitoring.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an entire monitoring image recording apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of a camera selection unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an area to be monitored by the monitoring image recording device and an example of camera arrangement according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a camera selection method by the camera selection unit shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 20, 30, 40 cameras (A), (B),
(C), (D) 50 1st A / D conversion section 60 2nd A / D conversion section 70 3rd A / D conversion section 80 4th A / D conversion section 90 Camera selection section 100 Camera switch section 110 Encoding section 120 Recording section Reference Signs List 200 first motion detection unit 210 first frame memory 220 second motion detection unit 230 second frame memory 240 camera selection signal output unit 11 switch 12 control device 13 camera 14 recording device 15 trigger signal generation device 16 OR gate

Claims (10)

[Claims] At least two or more cameras arranged to capture images in an X direction and a Y direction of a monitoring area, and detecting a movement of a person from an image signal from the camera, and detecting the front of the person or the closest to the front of the person. A camera selection unit that selects a camera that is shooting from an angle and outputs a camera selection signal,
A camera switch unit that outputs an image signal from the selected camera by controlling the camera selection signal,
A person monitoring apparatus characterized in that an image signal from a camera that is photographing from the front of a person moving in a monitoring area or from an angle closest to the front is selected and output. 2. At least two or more cameras arranged to capture an X direction and a Y direction of an area where a person may be present, and detecting a motion of the person from an image signal from the camera to detect the movement of the person. A camera selection unit that selects a camera that is shooting from the front or an angle closest to the front and outputs a camera selection signal, and selects image signals from the two or more cameras by controlling the camera selection signal. A camera switch unit for outputting, and an image signal from a camera which is photographing from the front of a person moving in an area where a person may be present or from an angle closest to the front is selected and output. A person monitoring device, characterized in that: 3. A person monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an encoding unit that encodes an image signal output from the person monitoring apparatus; and a recording unit that records the encoded image signal. A surveillance image recording device, characterized in that: 4. The surveillance image recording apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a decoding apparatus installed at another point and connected to the surveillance image recording apparatus via a communication line. A remote monitoring system, characterized in that an output image taken from the front of the person or from an angle closest to the front is displayed on a decoding device installed at the other point. 5. A video signal is inputted from each of a plurality of cameras for photographing in the X direction or the Y direction, the motion of a person is detected from each video signal, and the angle of the person in front or the angle closest to the front is detected from the motion of the person. A camera selection device for selecting a camera which is shooting from a camera. 6. A person monitoring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a decoding means and a display means for an image signal are added to the monitoring image recording apparatus according to claim 3, so that the recorded image signal is decoded and displayed. apparatus. 7. The camera selection device according to claim 5, wherein the camera selection device includes a camera selection unit in a manual mode, and the camera can be selected manually. 8. A monitoring terminal comprising an encoding means, a decoding means and a display means is connected by at least two sets of communication lines, and each monitoring terminal encodes a monitoring image and transmits it to a monitoring terminal at another point. 5. The remote monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the coded image transmitted from the monitoring terminal at another point is decoded and displayed. 9. A central monitoring device having display means for displaying a monitoring image output from each monitoring terminal, wherein a plurality of said monitoring terminals are connected to said central monitoring device via a communication line,
9. The remote monitoring system according to claim 8, wherein a monitoring image from each monitoring terminal is displayed on display means of the central monitoring device. 10. The remote monitoring system according to claim 9, wherein said central monitoring device includes means for displaying a point at which movement of a person is detected at each of the other points and issuing an alarm.