JPH09181952A - Camera control system and image input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To notice a person near a camera of an image taken into the camera is displayed at a remote place by changing an identification state compared with a case when the image is not displayed during the picture is displayed. SOLUTION: At least one camera 16 having at least more than one identification means which can freely and externally control the identification state, at least one camera management means 12 managing the camera 16 and at least one camera operation means 20 executing communication with the camera management means 12 and displaying the picture obtained from the camera 16 at the remote place are provided. A change means 34 changing the identification state of the identification means compared with the case when the image is not displayed during the camera operation means 20 displays the image is provided. Thus the person near the camera 16 is noticed of the image taken into the camera 16 is displayed on the camera operation means 20 at the remote place.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a camera control system, and more particularly to a camera control system for remotely controlling an arbitrary camera among one or more cameras.
The present invention also relates to an image input device used in such a system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A plurality of cameras having a pan, tilt function and a zoom function are arranged at various places, and an operation device at a center or at any place is connected to the plurality of cameras by a communication line to remotely operate any camera. In such a conventional camera control system, a control signal line for transmitting a camera control / status signal is required in addition to a cable for transmitting a video / audio signal.

Camera control / modulation of status signals to video /
Although a method of superimposing on a voice signal is also known, it is the same as providing a separate communication channel logically.

Further, a camera control system for remotely controlling an arbitrary camera by establishing a communication path for image / voice and control signals when necessary is a LAN (local area.
Network) and other video conferencing systems implemented on computer networks. In the video conferencing system, the image / audio input at each terminal,
Various control information can be mutually transmitted via the same network, and the camera of an arbitrary partner can be remotely controlled.

[0005]

A camera control system in which a dedicated cable for image / sound is provided has a small number of cameras to be remotely operated, a small change in installation location, and However, it is effective when remotely operated from a fixed place, but if any of these conditions is not satisfied, the usability becomes extremely poor. This is because disposing the image and sound cable requires a great deal of cost, and changing the installation location is very troublesome.

For example, it is very troublesome to redraw the image / audio cable due to the change of the installation location of the camera,
Sometimes it is impossible. Also, if there are N cameras and M operating devices that remotely control these cameras, N ×
M video / audio cables must be installed.

Further, in the video conferencing system, the remotely controllable cameras are a small number of cameras connected to the terminals of the conference participants, and the images (and audio) of the cameras at arbitrary locations.
It does not meet the desire to watch freely.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a camera control system capable of remotely operating a plurality of cameras from any of a plurality of operating means.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a camera control system capable of notifying a person (photographed person or the like) near the camera that an image captured by the camera is being displayed at a remote place.

Furthermore, it is possible to provide a camera control system in which a plurality of cameras and one or more operating means are mutually connected by a data network and an arbitrary camera can be remotely controlled from any one of the one or more operating means. With the goal.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a camera control system according to the present invention manages at least one camera provided with one or more identification means whose identification state can be externally controlled. At least one camera management unit, at least one camera operation unit that communicates with the camera management unit and enables display of an image obtained from the camera in a remote place, and the camera operation unit displays the image And a changing unit that changes the identification state of the identification unit when the image is not displayed during the operation.

In the above structure, the camera is
It is characterized in that it is provided with a camera head and a pedestal section that enables at least one of pan and tilt operations of the camera head, and the identifying means is provided in the pedestal section.

Further, the identifying means is an indicator lamp.

Further, the changing means blinks the indicator lamp while displaying an image.
Further, the changing means blinks the instruction lamp in a blinking pattern which is different for each camera operating means displaying an image.

Further, the changing means blinks the indicator lamp in a blinking pattern which differs depending on the camera operator who is observing the image.

From another point of view, the image input device for inputting an image recognizes that the image input by the image input device is displayed by changing the lighting state. It is characterized by having.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

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

Reference numeral 10 is an LA comprising Ethernet (trademark)
N, a plurality of camera management devices 12 and 14 are connected. Video cameras (hereinafter referred to as cameras) 16 and 18 are connected to the camera management devices 12 and 14, respectively. The cameras 16 and 18 may be equipped with voice input microphones. Further, the LAN 10 is connected with a plurality of camera operating devices 20 and 22 for remotely operating the cameras 16 and 18.

As will be described later in detail, the camera management device 12,
Reference numeral 14 denotes a shooting direction (at least one of pan and tilt directions) of the cameras 16 and 18 under their control in accordance with camera control signals from the camera operating devices 20 and 22.
Also, the zoom magnification is controlled, and the images obtained from the cameras 16 and 18 are transferred to the source of the control signal. When equipped with a microphone, it also transfers voice to the source of the control signal.

The camera management device 12 includes a communication control unit 30,
Storage unit 32, camera control unit 34, interface 36
have. The communication control unit 30 controls connection with arbitrary camera operation devices 20 and 22 via the LAN 10 and data communication. The storage unit 32 is configured by a memory such as a RAM or an HDD (hard disk drive), and stores various data including image and audio data to be transferred. The camera control unit 34 controls the shooting direction and zoom magnification of the camera 16,
The image and voice data from the above are supplied to the communication control unit 30 via the storage unit 32. The interface 36 is the camera 1
6 is connected to the camera control unit 34. The camera management device 14 also has the same configuration as the camera management device 12.

The camera operating device 20 includes a communication control unit 40,
The storage unit 42, the camera selection unit 44, the operation unit 46, the operation management unit 48, the display monitor (hereinafter, monitor) 50, and the speaker 52 are provided. The communication control unit 40 uses the LAN 10
Controls connection and data communication with any camera management device 12, 14 via. The storage unit 42 is composed of a memory such as a RAM or an HDD or the like, and stores various data including transferred image and audio data. The camera selection unit 44 selects a camera to be operated. The operation unit 46 operates pan, tilt, and zoom of one camera selected by the camera selection unit 44.
The operation management unit 48 manages selection by the camera selection unit 44 and operation by the operation unit 46, and transmits control information to and from the camera management devices 12 and 14 that manage cameras to be controlled. The monitor 50 displays the received image. The speaker 52 outputs the received voice as sound.
The camera operating device 22 also has the same configuration as the camera operating device 20.

The above-mentioned camera operating devices 20 and 22 are essentially personal computers or workstations, and the part consisting of the camera selecting section 44, the operating section 46 and the operation managing section 48 is the computer or the like. Graphical user interface (GU
I) Image software or a selection menu set on the screen, a pointing device such as a mouse for operating or selecting them, a GUI, and a program software for processing the operation or selection of the pointing device It is realized by.

In FIG. 1, two camera management devices 12, 1 are provided.
Although four and two camera operating devices 20 and 22 are shown, it is clear that three or more camera managing devices can be connected to the LAN10 and similarly three or more camera operating devices can be connected to the LAN10. . In the following description, basically, the camera operating device 20 is used as the camera management device 12.
An example of controlling the camera 16 via the will be described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the details of the cameras 16 and 18 in FIG. The cameras 16 and 18 are respectively the carriage device 5
4 and a camera head 56. The image pickup direction of the camera head 56 is controlled by the platform device 54. Further, the carriage device 54 is provided with an instruction lamp 58 as an identification means, and the instruction lamp 58 is provided.
Can be externally controlled by the camera control unit 34 via the interface 36 (FIG. 1).
Further, the instruction lamp 58 is turned off when the power is off, and is turned on when the power is on and in the control standby state. It is of course possible to provide the instruction lamp 58 on the camera head 56, but providing the instruction lamp 58 on the non-movable body of the carriage device 54 facilitates the arrangement of the connecting lines.

FIG. 3 shows a camera operation screen 60 indicated as the operation unit 46 in FIG. 1, and this camera operation screen 60 is displayed on the screen of the monitor 50. On the camera operation screen 60, the pan direction (horizontal direction) of the camera 16 is displayed.
Pan buttons 62 and 64 for instructing rotation of the camera 16, tilt buttons 66 and 68 for instructing rotation of the camera 16 in the tilt direction (vertical direction), a home button 70 for returning the camera 16 to a predetermined front position, An operation button group including a telephoto button 72 for instructing the camera 16 to zoom in the telephoto direction and a wide-angle button 74 for instructing zooming in the wide-angle direction is displayed. A rectangular frame 76 indicates a shootable range in which the angle of view of the camera 16 to be operated is set to the widest angle and pan and tilt are maximized, and a rectangular frame 78 indicates the current pan angle, tilt angle, and zoom. The current shooting range based on the value is indicated by the relative position within the shooting range 76.

FIG. 4 shows the image display screen 77,
It is displayed in juxtaposition with the camera operation screen 60 (FIG. 3) on the screen of the monitor 50. An image window 79 provided on the image display screen 77 displays an image obtained by the camera 16. The operator operates the camera 16 while confirming the movement on the image displayed in the image window 79. The image window 79 can be provided in the rectangular frame 78 (FIG. 3).

In the image display screen 77, the "entrance camera 1" displayed at the top is the camera currently capturing the image displayed in the image window 79, that is,
Shows the currently selected camera. Furthermore, “15 fps” displayed at the bottom indicates the current frame rate, which is 15 frames / second in this case. “290 kbps” indicates the current data transfer rate, which is 290 kilobits / second in this case. The operability is improved by displaying these information.

FIG. 5 is a camera selection screen 8 for selecting a camera to be operated, which is shown as the camera selection section 44 in FIG.
0 is also displayed on the screen of the monitor 50. The “connection” pull-down menu 81 includes connection and disconnection items. A camera table 8 showing a list of all selectable cameras together with the display of the pull-down menu 81 by selecting the “Connect” menu or in response to the selection of the display menu (not shown) of the camera list.
2 is displayed.

The camera table 82 holds, as a set, a name or the like for displaying each camera in an easy-to-understand manner and identification information for uniquely identifying the camera management device 12, 14 of the connection partner. In the present embodiment, the camera management device 12,
Since the 14 and the camera operating devices 20 and 22 are connected via the LAN 10, the IP address is used as this identification information. The camera name and the IP address of the camera management device are
It is stored in advance in the storage unit 42.

With one of the cameras displayed in the camera table 82 selected, the "Connect" pull-down menu
When “Connect” in the menu 81 is selected, the selected camera can be operated by the camera operating device 20 via the LAN 10, and the image of the camera is displayed on the monitor 50.
The image window 79 is displayed.

If one of the cameras displayed in the camera table 82 is already connected and the user selects "disconnect" from the "connect" pull-down menu 81, the operating authority for that camera is granted. It is released to another camera operation device, and the image of that camera is no longer displayed on the monitor 50.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 are operation flowcharts of the camera operating devices 20 and 22, and FIG.
12 to 14 show operation flowcharts of the camera management devices 12 and 14.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the operation when the camera is selected. Here, it is assumed that the camera operating device 20 is used. When the operator selects a connectable camera using the camera selection unit 44, the operation management unit 48 checks whether or not the camera operating device 20 is currently connected to another camera (S1), and the camera is currently connected. In this case, the operator is asked whether the connection may be disconnected (S
2). When the operator inputs an instruction not to disconnect (S3),
When the operation is terminated and the disconnection instruction is input (S3), the operation management unit 48 instructs the communication control unit 40 to disconnect the communication path with the camera being connected (S4). Communication control unit 40
As the disconnection process, specifically, after notifying the communication control unit 30 of the communication partner of the disconnection, the logical communication channel is opened or closed.

If the camera is not connected to a camera other than the selected camera (S1), or if it is disconnected even if it is connected to another camera (S4), a connection request to the selected camera is issued.
Send to the camera management device that manages the selected camera,
Wait for a response (S5). Here, it is assumed that a connection request is made to the camera 16 managed by the camera management device 12. The communication control unit 30 of the camera management device 12 that has received the connection request determines whether the specified camera 16 has already been operated by another camera operation device 22, and is operated by the other camera operation device 22. If it is not operated, a busy signal is returned, and if it is not operated, a connection permission signal is returned (S6).

If the reply from the camera management device 12 which has sent the connection request is a busy signal, or if there is no response within a fixed period (S6), the camera operating device 20 indicates that the connection has failed. Is displayed (S7), and the process ends.
On the other hand, when there is a response of connection permission (S6), the communication control unit 40 sets a logical communication channel (S8), and sets the state parameter of the operation target camera to the camera management device 12
Request and obtain (S9). The operation management unit 48 displays the camera operation screen 60 using the acquired state parameter (S10). This is to correctly position the shooting range frame 78 that indicates the orientation (pan / tilt) of the camera to be operated and the current zoom state within the shooting range frame 76. It should be noted that the information indicating the shootable range of the camera to be operated is collected from each camera in advance.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of camera operation. When the operator presses one of the operation buttons 62 to 74 on the camera operation screen 60 (FIG. 3), the operation management unit 48 of FIG. 1 first determines whether or not the camera has been connected to any one of them. (S11), if not connected, that effect is displayed on the monitor 50, and the process ends (S12). If connected (S11), the camera control command corresponding to the operated button is transmitted to the connected camera management apparatus 12 via the set communication channel (S13). In the camera management device 12, the camera control unit 34 acquires the post-operation state parameter of the camera to be operated (S14),
The shooting range frame 78 of the camera operation screen 60 is updated (S1
5).

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the operation at the time of disconnection. When the operator selects disconnect on the camera selection / disconnection screen (pull-down menu) 81 shown in FIG. 5, the operation management unit 48 determines whether or not the camera is connected to any camera or camera management device ( S21). If it is being connected, a disconnection request is issued to the communication control unit 30 of the camera management apparatus 12 of the other party (S22), and the set logical communication channel is opened or closed (S23). If not connected (S21), a message to that effect is displayed on the monitor 50, and the process ends.

FIG. 9 shows a camera operating device (for example, device 2).
10 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device (for example, device 12) when there is a connection request from 0). LAN1
When there is a connection request from the camera operating device 20 on 0, the camera control unit 34 of the camera management device 12 determines whether or not it is already connected (S31). When connecting (S3
1), a busy signal is returned to the camera operating device 20 to end (S32), and if connection is possible (S31), a connection permission is returned to the camera operating device 20 (S33), and the communication control units 30 and 40 are notified. Set the logical communication channel (S3
4). Then, the indicator lamp 58 that was lit in the standby state
The blinking of (FIG. 2) is started (S35). This allows
The photographed person in the vicinity of the camera 16 can know that someone has started operating the camera 16 with the camera operating device 20 in a remote place. Therefore, in the present embodiment,
The camera management device 12, more specifically, the camera control unit 34.
Functions as a changing unit that changes the identification state of the indicator lamp 58 (lights the indicator lamp).

FIG. 10 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to a camera state parameter request. When the state parameter of the camera 16 is requested from the camera operating device 20, the camera control unit 34 causes the interface 3
A status parameter request command is sent to the camera 16 via 6 to acquire the current value (S41), and the acquired current value is returned to the camera operating device 20 that requested the status parameter (S42).

At the time of the first reply, it is necessary to acquire and send back all the parameters, but it is effective to acquire and send only the changed parameters after performing the pan / tilt or zoom operation. is there. After acquiring the state parameters of the camera 16, the camera operating device 20 of the connection partner
If the parameters are replaced with each other, the previously acquired parameter is valid, so this is stored in the storage unit 32, and the state parameter is not acquired from the camera 16 and is replaced by the storage value of the storage unit 32. May be.

FIG. 11 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to the camera control command. When the camera control command is sent from the camera operating device 20, the camera control unit 34 transfers the camera control command to the camera 16 via the interface 36 (S51).
As a result, the camera 16 is driven to the designated state. If the response from the camera 16 includes the post-operation state parameter, the state parameter is stored in the storage unit 32. If not, the state parameter request command is sent to the camera 16 to be acquired and stored in the storage unit 32. Yes (S52). After the execution of the camera control command is completed, the command completion is returned to the camera operating device 20 together with the state parameter stored in the storage unit 32 (S53).

Here, the camera operating device transmits the camera control command suitable for the control command system of the camera to be operated to the camera management device, but the control command system is usually different depending on the camera product, and the network is different. Different camera products are typically connected on top. In such a case, an abstracted or normalized control command is sent from the camera operating device to the camera management device, and the camera control unit of each camera management device translates it into a control command suitable for the camera connected to it. Or convert it.

FIG. 12 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to the disconnection request. When the disconnection request is issued, the camera management device 12, more specifically, the camera control unit 34 controls the communication control unit 30 to close the communication channel (S6).
1) Then, the blinking of the indicator lamp 58 which is still blinking is terminated, and the lighting state of the standby state is returned (S62). As a result, the person to be photographed near the camera 16 can know that the image transmission request by the camera operating device 20 at the remote location has been completed.

By the above-mentioned change in the lighting state of the indicator lamp 58, the photographed person in the vicinity of the camera 16 knows when his / her own figure is being viewed (monitored) by the remote camera operating device 20. As a result, it is possible to reduce the psychological pressure of being peeped at or being monitored without realizing it.

The blinking display of the instruction lamp 58, which means that the image is being displayed, can be changed in the blinking pattern depending on which of the plurality of camera operating devices is displaying the image. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, when it is being displayed on the camera operating device 20, blinking display is performed at 1 second intervals, and when it is being displayed on the camera operating device 22,
Flashes every 0.5 seconds. In addition to the simple blinking interval difference, the blinking pattern can be used to distinguish many camera operating devices by using various patterns in combination of lighting time and extinguishing time.

Further, operator IDs that uniquely represent a plurality of operators are registered in advance in the camera operating devices 20 and 22, and the operator is allowed to enter his or her operator ID before the operation is started. When the camera operating devices 20 and 22 notify the camera managing device 12 of the current operator ID, the blinking display of the instruction lamp 58 is changed depending on which camera operator of the plurality of camera operators is watching the image. ,
The blinking pattern may be changed.

Therefore, the person to be photographed near the camera can know which camera operating device or which camera operator is looking at him, and further, the psychological pressure is reduced.

In the above embodiment, the number of the indicator lamps 58 of the camera 16 is one, but a camera having a plurality of indicator lamps is used, and more camera operating devices or operations are performed by the blinking pattern of the plurality of indicator lamps. Individuals can be displayed separately. In this case, the blinking intervals may be the same, and the instruction lamp 58 assigned to each camera operating device may be blinked.

Although not described, the video and audio signals are compressed and encoded and transmitted on the LAN 10. That is, the camera management device 12 compresses and encodes the video and audio signals to be transmitted and outputs them to the LAN 10.
The camera operating device 20 expands the compressed video and audio signals from the LAN 10 to display the monitor 50 and the speaker 5.
2

In this embodiment, the camera management device 12,
14 and the camera operating devices 20 and 22 are connected to each other via an Ethernet (registered trademark) LAN, but it is obvious that they may be connected via an ISDN or a public telephone line instead. In this case, the camera management devices 12, 14
A telephone number can be used as information that uniquely identifies the.

In the present embodiment, the camera management device 12 and the camera operating device 20 are described as separate devices, but it is obvious that they can be incorporated in one personal computer or workstation, for example. In this case, by connecting the camera to an input / output interface of a personal computer or a workstation, for example, a serial port, without opening the LAN, the input / output interface can be opened and assigned as a logical communication channel. , LA
The operation can be performed in the same manner as in the case of via N.

Many of recent personal computers are equipped with a camera (and a microphone) in preparation for a video conference. When such a computer is LAN-connected, it is obvious that its own computer can be used as a camera operation device and another computer can be used as a camera management device.

In this embodiment, when the camera management device 12 and the camera operating device 20 are logically connected, the shooting range frame 78 of the camera operating screen 60 is displayed in the current state of the camera (pan, tilt and zoom). I decided to match it,
This may be matched by a specific initialization process.

The camera management device 12 and the camera operation device 20
When once connected and then disconnected, the camera state (pan, tilt and zoom) at the time of disconnection is stored in the storage unit 32 and / or the storage unit 42, and at the next connection,
The camera 16 may be controlled so as to be in the camera state at the time of the previous disconnection, and the shooting range frame 78 of the camera operation screen 60 may be displayed. If there are multiple camera operating devices, it is possible that another camera operating device is connected and operating the camera while reconnecting to the same camera.
In this way, if the camera state at the time of the previous disconnection is stored and the same camera state is controlled when the camera is connected again, the camera operation can be continued without any discomfort.

In the above embodiment, only one camera is connected to one camera management device, but it is obvious that a plurality of cameras may be connected. It is simply a problem of the throughput of the video signal, which has the highest processing load.

FIG. 14 shows a schematic block diagram of the modified embodiment. Camera management device 112
Is connected to the LAN 10 and has two cameras 114,
Manage 116. The camera management device 112 includes a communication control unit 120 and a storage unit 122, which are similar to the communication control unit 30 and the storage unit 32, respectively, and further has a capability of controlling two or more cameras.
4 and a camera interface 12 for connecting the cameras 114 and 116 to the camera control unit 124, respectively.
6,128. Of the other constituent elements, the same elements as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In this way, when one camera management device 112 manages a plurality of cameras 114 and 116, the camera to be operated is identified by the camera management device 112 as well as the camera management device 112. It is only necessary to add information that identifies which of the plurality of cameras 114 and 116 to be created.

Of course, when the communication control unit 120 of the camera management device 112 can set the logical communication channels for the number of cameras 114 and 116 to be managed, the connection from a plurality of camera operation devices 20 and 22 to different cameras. Be able to respond to requests at the same time.

Similarly, regarding the camera operating devices 20 and 22, it is obvious that it is easy to expand the functions so that a plurality of cameras can be operated simultaneously.

In each of the above embodiments, another camera operating device cannot remotely operate the camera unless the camera operating device that has become able to operate the camera explicitly opens the camera. Such an adverse effect is shown in FIG.
5, the camera management device 212 and / or the camera operation device 220 include timeout monitoring units 130, 1
32 may be provided to limit the monopoly of the operation by any of the camera operating devices to a certain period. Timeout monitoring unit 1
30 and 132 are setting changes regarding the connected camera,
In addition, the elapsed time after a new operation such as rotation and zoom is performed, and when the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined time, the camera control unit 124 of the camera management device 212.
Alternatively, the operation management unit 48 of the camera operation device 220 is forced to disconnect the camera.

If the time-out period is set to be relatively short, automatic disconnection will occur frequently, and it is troublesome to repeat the connection operation each time. In order to avoid this, the information for identifying the previously connected camera is recorded in the storage unit 42 of the camera operating device 20, and the target camera for reconnection is displayed on the camera operation screen 260 as shown in FIG. A column 140 for displaying and a button 142 for instructing reconnection are provided. As a result, a camera that has been automatically disconnected due to a timeout can be reconnected with one touch if the camera is not currently occupied by another camera operating device.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is implemented by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus. In this case, the storage medium storing the program according to the present invention constitutes a part of the present invention. Then, by reading the program from the storage medium to the system or device, the system or device operates in a predetermined manner.

[0064]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, in a system in which at least one camera and at least one camera operation means are connected, an image captured by the camera is remote. It becomes possible to notify the photographed person near the camera that the image is being displayed by the camera operation means on the ground.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of a video camera 16.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a camera operation screen.

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

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a camera table and a connection / disconnection menu.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of camera operation of the camera operation device.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of camera operation.

FIG. 8 is an operation flowchart at the time of disconnection.

FIG. 9 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device when there is a connection request from the camera operation device.

FIG. 10 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to a camera state parameter request.

FIG. 11 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to a camera control command.

FIG. 12 is an operation flowchart of the camera management device in response to a disconnection request.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a blinking pattern of an instruction lamp.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration block diagram of a modified embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration block diagram of a modified embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of an image display screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 LAN 12 camera management device 14 camera management device 16 video camera 18 video camera 20 camera operation device 22 camera operation device 30 communication control unit 32 storage unit 34 camera control unit 36 camera interface 40 communication control unit 42 storage unit 44 camera selection unit 46 operation unit 48 operation management unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. At least one camera having one or more identification means whose identification state can be externally controlled, at least one camera management means for managing this camera, and a remote location communicating with the camera management means. In at least one camera operating means capable of displaying an image obtained from the camera, and an identification state of the identifying means with respect to a case where no image is displayed while the camera operating means is displaying the image. And a change means for changing the camera control system. 2. The camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera includes a camera head and a pedestal section that enables at least one of panning and tilting of the camera head, and the identifying means is provided on the pedestal section. A camera control system characterized by being provided. 3. The camera control system according to claim 1, wherein the identifying means is an indicator lamp. 4. The camera control system according to claim 3, wherein the changing unit blinks the instruction lamp while displaying an image. 5. The camera control system according to claim 4, wherein the changing unit blinks the instruction lamp in a blinking pattern that differs for each camera operating unit displaying an image. 6. The camera control system according to claim 3, wherein the changing unit causes the instruction lamp to blink in a blinking pattern that differs for each camera operator who is observing the image. 7. An image input device for inputting an image, comprising recognizing means for recognizing that an image input by the image input device is displayed by changing a lighting state. An image input device characterized by the above.