JP2002171484A - Image storage system and its method and storage medium storing its operation processing program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system that suppresses traffic of a network and can store a desired image at a remote place with high resolution without taking much communication time. SOLUTION: The image storage system is characterized in that it has a control means that transmits an image picked up by a video camera and having a first resolution to a client terminal and stores an image designated by the client terminal and having a second resolution higher than the first resolution to a storage device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system comprising, for example, a server for storing video captured by a video camera or the like, and a client terminal for giving an instruction to store the captured video on the server. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system for controlling a remote server via a communication network to accumulate images from a video camera has already appeared on the market of surveillance cameras. These conventional systems are mainly constructed with a LAN or a dedicated analog line, and sequentially transmit video captured by a server as it is as a still image to a client terminal.

[0003]

However, when a client terminal and a server communicate with each other via the Internet or a public telephone network, there is a problem that a high-resolution image requires a large amount of data, and thus requires a long communication time.

In recent years, PDA (Personal Digital Ass
With the advent of mobile phones with displays and the like, the number of devices that can display only low-resolution images with a small amount of data on the client terminal side is increasing.

As described above, in the case of a device in which the display on the client terminal side does not have the ability to display a high-resolution image, even if a high-resolution image is received, a process of lowering the resolution is performed on the client terminal side. It is necessary to display an image from.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a video transmitted from a storage server to a client terminal is a low-resolution still image with a small data amount, and a video stored on the storage server is a data amount. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system capable of suppressing a traffic amount of a network and storing a desired image at a remote place in a high resolution without spending communication time by using a high-resolution still image having a large size.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, an image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution. An image storage system includes a control unit that stores an image specified by a client terminal in a storage device at a second resolution higher than the first resolution.

According to the invention according to claim 15 of the present application, images continuously captured by a video camera are transmitted to a client terminal together with corresponding ID information, and the ID information specified by the client terminal is transmitted. The image storage system is characterized in that it has a control unit for storing an image corresponding to the received ID information in a storage device by receiving the received ID information.

According to the invention of claim 16 of the present application, an image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution, and an image specified by the client terminal is transmitted to the first resolution. An image storage method is characterized in that the image is stored in the storage device at a higher second resolution.

According to the invention according to claim 30 of the present application, images continuously captured by a video camera are transmitted to a client terminal together with corresponding ID information, and the ID information designated by the client terminal is transmitted. , An image corresponding to the received ID information is stored in a storage device.

According to the invention of claim 31 of the present application, an image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution, and an image specified by the client terminal is transmitted to the first resolution. A storage medium storing a program for executing an operation process to be stored in the storage device at a higher second resolution is configured.

According to the invention of claim 45 of the present application, images continuously taken by a video camera are transmitted to a client terminal together with corresponding ID information, and the ID information designated by the client terminal is transmitted. , A storage medium storing an operation processing program characterized by storing an image corresponding to the received ID information in a storage device.

[0013]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a network configuration for connecting a storage server having a video camera and a client terminal according to the present embodiment. Client terminal 14
Dials up the provider 15 via the public telephone network 12 using a modem or the like, and accesses the storage server 13 via the Internet 11. In this embodiment, when the client terminal 14 is a mobile phone with a display, it is assumed that the client terminal 14 directly accesses the storage server 13 via the public telephone network 12.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of the client terminal 14. FIG. 2A shows a configuration in which a modem 22 and a mobile phone 23 are connected to a mobile terminal shown in a PDA 21. When the PDA has a built-in modem, the PDA 21 with the built-in modem and the mobile phone 23 are combined. In addition, the client terminal 14 may have a configuration of a mobile phone 24 with a display capable of displaying an image as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the storage server 13. The storage server 13 includes a video camera 35,
A video capture device 36 for capturing video from a video camera 35; a RAM 32 for temporarily storing captured video as a still image; a modem 33 for receiving dial-up from the client terminal 14 via the public telephone network 12; A network I / F 34 for connection via a hard disk, a hard disk 37 for storing a still image captured in the RAM 32, and a RAM
32 for printing a still image taken in
8. It is composed of a CPU 31 which controls each of the processing units 32-38.

The video capture device 36 captures an image from the video camera 35, performs a compression process on the image in some cases, and stores the image in the RAM 32 as a continuous still image. In the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to a video compression format. The RAM 32 has a capacity to store a plurality of still images. At least one modem 33 is required, but if there are multiple modems, the number of client terminals that can be connected increases accordingly. Performance such as processing speed when a plurality of client terminals are connected largely depends on the performance of the CPU 31.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the operation in the storage server 13 for each process. Process is big 3
Divided into two. One is to continuously capture the video from the video camera 35 with the video capture device 36,
The temporary storage process 41 temporarily stores the video as a still image in the RAM 32. The video transmission process 42 continuously transmits a still image stored in the RAM 32 in real time when there is a request from the client terminal 14 to transmit a still image. The video storage process 43
When the client terminal 14 requests to save a still image, the still image is saved on the hard disk 37. The continuous video accumulation process 44 is executed by the client terminal 1
When there is a request from 4 to store a continuous still image in the storage server, a plurality of target still images are stored in the hard disk 38.

The above four processes are asynchronous with each other and are operated by the CPU 31. Arrows in FIG. 4 indicate a flow of processing still image data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the temporary storage process 41 in detail.

First, an image is captured from the video camera 35 and captured as a still image by the video capture device 36 (S501). Then, a unique ID is added to the captured still image (S502). This I
D is uniquely assigned to all of the captured still images. The ID includes information on the time when the image was taken. By adding such a unique ID to a still image, for example, when two IDs are extracted, the time relationship between the shot still images can be grasped.

Then, the still image to which the ID has been added is stored in the RAM.
32. At this time, it is checked whether or not the capacity for storing the still image is left in the RAM 32 (S503). If the remaining capacity is small, RAM3
Among the still images stored in No. 2, the earliest still image is deleted (S 504).

The still image taken at the oldest time is
This can be determined by comparing the added IDs. If the free space for storing the new still image still cannot be secured even after deleting the oldest still image, the still images are deleted in the order in which the images were shot until the free space for storing the still image is sufficient. When the remaining capacity is sufficiently secured, the latest still image to which the ID has been added is written to the RAM 32 (S505).

After the writing to the RAM 32 is completed, a step of capturing the video of the video camera 35 (S5)
Return to 01). That is, a still image is continuously captured every predetermined period.

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart showing the operation of transmitting an image to the client terminal 14 in real time by the image transmission process 42.

First, it is confirmed whether or not there is a request for transmitting a still image from the client terminal 14 (S601). When there is a request from the client terminal 14, of the still images written to the RAM 32 in the temporary storage process 41,
The latest still image is extracted by referring to the ID added to the still image (S602).

Next, the resolution of the still image is reduced in order to reduce the data amount to such an extent that it does not become a load even if the extracted still image is transmitted to the public telephone network 12 (S60).
3). Then, an ID is added to the still image whose resolution has been reduced and transmitted to the client terminal 14. Upon completion of the transmission, the process returns to S602 (S605). Note that the process of the video transmission process 42 is repeated until a request to end transmission of a still image is issued from the client terminal 14.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video storage process 43 in detail.

First, it is confirmed whether or not there is a command for requesting to save a still image from the client terminal 14 (S7).
01). If it is confirmed that there is a request, the client device refers to the ID included in the request transmitted from the client terminal 14 (S702). Then, a still image corresponding to the referenced ID is searched from the still image group stored in the RAM 32 (S703).

Next, the still image found by the search is stored in the hard disk 37 together with the ID (S704). Since the still image stored in the hard disk 37 has not been subjected to the data reduction process, the still image has a higher resolution than the still image transmitted to the client terminal 14 by the video transmission process 42.

When the saving to the hard disk 37 is completed, the saving location is set as a URL and the client terminal 1
4 is sent to the client terminal 14, or the saved still image file is transmitted to the client terminal 14 as an e-mail (S705). ,.. Will be described later, according to an instruction from the client terminal 14.

As a URL notation method, a method generally used in an Internet browser is used. When transmitting a still image file as mail, it is necessary to know the mail address of the client terminal in advance. As will be described later, these processes can be achieved by notifying the storage server 13 of the mail address from the client terminal 14 in advance.

Thereafter, the flow returns to S701 again, and waits for a save request from the client terminal 14. In step S704, the data may be output to the printer 38 instead of being stored in the hard disk 37 in response to a request from the client terminal 14. In this case, in steps S909 and S912 of FIG. 8 described later, the client terminal 14 further sets the storage server 13 to save the still image on the hard disk or output the still image to the printer 38. Is sent to the storage server 13 together with the information,
This can be achieved by performing processing for determining these settings by the video storage process 43 or the continuous video storage process 44 on the storage server 13 side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation processing of the continuous video accumulation process 44 in detail.

First, it is confirmed whether or not there is a request command for saving a continuous still image from the client terminal 14 (S801). If it is confirmed that the command has been received, the information related to the ID of the still image to start saving included in the command is referred to (S802).

In the present embodiment, the definition of a still image to be started to be stored is defined as the earliest still image when a desired continuously shot still image is stored.
Then, a still image in the RAM 32 corresponding to the received ID is extracted (S803). Then, the still image extracted from the RAM 32 is stored in the hard disk 37 together with the ID (S804).

When the storage is completed, the still image which is next captured and written in the RAM 32 is selected in chronological order by referring to the ID information (S807). In this way, the still images in the RAM 32 are sequentially stored as continuous still images on the hard disk 37.

At some point, the client terminal 14
When the request to stop the storage of the still image is received, the storage processing operation is stopped (S805). If there is no stop request from the client terminal 14, the storage server 13
When the predetermined period elapses, the storage device stops the storage process. This period can be freely determined by the installer of the storage server 13.

When the saving process is stopped, either the process of notifying the saving location as a URL to the client terminal 14 or the process of transmitting the saved continuous still image file as mail to the client terminal 14 is performed (S80).
6). In this process, the same process as in S705 of FIG. 7 is performed.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client terminal 14 in detail. Note that these operation processes can be achieved by a CPU (not shown) executing a program stored in a ROM or the like in advance.

First, the client terminal 14 is connected to the storage server 1
3 and requests transmission of a still image (S90).
1). When the connection with the storage server 13 is successful, the still images captured in real time by the video camera 35 from the storage server 13 are sequentially transmitted and received (S902). Then, the ID added to the received still image is referred to (S903).

Then, the received still image is displayed on the display of the client terminal 14 (S904). When the user wants to save only one displayed still image, the user performs a predetermined operation using the keyboard or buttons of the client terminal 14 to make a request to save the still image, and accumulates a command to that effect. The server 13 is notified (S905).

If it is determined in S905 that a command for requesting storage of one still image is to be issued, the client terminal 14 notifies the storage destination of the still image as a URL together with information on the ID of the still image to be stored. The user specifies whether to have the still image file transmitted as an electronic mail (S909). Then, information on the ID corresponding to the still image to be stored is transmitted to the storage server 13. Here, if an e-mail to which the still image file is attached or a URL indicating the storage location of the still image file is transmitted, the information specified in step S909 and the information regarding the ID corresponding to the still image to be stored are transmitted. At the same time, the mail address designated by the client terminal 14 is transmitted to the storage server 13 (S
908).

The ID corresponding to the still image to be stored
The notification of the information regarding the designation of whether to notify the storage destination of the still image as a URL or the transmission of the still image file itself as an e-mail is performed at the same timing. 1
When the storage device 4 accesses the storage server 13, it may be notified in advance of information about designation of whether to notify the storage destination of the still image as a URL or to send the still image file itself as an e-mail.

When it is desired to continuously save the displayed real-time still image, the user performs a predetermined operation using the keyboard or buttons of the client terminal 14 to request a continuous saving of the still image. (S9
06). When the request of S906 is made by the user,
The client terminal 14 transmits information on the ID of the first still image among the continuous still images to be stored to the server (S910). As described above, it is possible to select whether to save only one still image or to continuously save a plurality of still images by the processes of S905 and S906.

Thereafter, still images continuously transmitted from the storage server 13 are sequentially displayed on the client terminal 14 (S914). When the user wants to stop saving the still image while viewing the still images displayed in order, the user issues a command for a request to stop saving the still image by an operation such as pressing a specific key of the client terminal 14 (S913).

Then, the client terminal 14 specifies whether the storage destination of the still image file is notified as a URL or whether the file itself is transmitted as a mail (S912).

Then, information on the ID corresponding to the still image to be saved last (or information on the ID corresponding to the still image not to be saved) is transmitted to the storage server 13. Here, if an e-mail to which the still image file is attached is transmitted or the storage destination of the still image file is notified as a URL, the information specified in S912 and the last Then, the mail address of the desired transmission destination is transmitted to the storage server 13 together with the information on the ID corresponding to (S911).

The destination of the mail address may be the client terminal 14, but in this case, the mail address is transmitted after performing a process of reducing the data of the still image.

When the client terminal 14 accesses the storage server 13, notification of information regarding designation of whether to notify the storage destination of the still image as a URL or to send the still image file itself as an e-mail is provided. (That is, notification of information related to designation in S912)
May be performed in advance.

When the client terminal 14 disconnects the connection with the storage server 13, the process ends (S907). Until the end, a cycle of sequentially receiving still images shot in real time and displaying them on the display is repeated.

In the above-described embodiment, information relating to the time at which the still image was captured is added as ID information to be added to the still image. It may be.

As described above, since the image whose data amount has been reduced is transmitted to the client terminal 14 in advance,
By checking the video transmitted from the client terminal 14 while suppressing an increase in the traffic volume of the network, the specified image can be efficiently stored on a hard disk or the like at a high resolution.

According to the present invention, as an example, a storage medium storing software program codes for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the storage server 13 or the client terminal 14 and the computer (or C
(PU or MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, C
A D-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The CPU provided in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowcharts. Essential modules will be stored on the storage medium.

[0060]

As described above, according to the present invention, one or more continuous high-definition still images captured by a target video camera can be obtained without increasing the traffic volume of a communication network such as the Internet. A plurality of sheets can be efficiently saved by an operation from the client terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system between a client terminal and a storage server.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a client terminal.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage server.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an operation in a storage server for each process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of a temporary storage process in detail as a flowchart.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the video transmission process in detail.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the operation of a video accumulation process in detail as a flowchart.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the continuous video accumulation process in detail.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the client terminal in detail;

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Storage Server 14 Client Terminal 31 CPU 32 RAM 34 Network I / F 35 Video Camera 36 Video Capture Device 37 Hard Disk

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04N 7/18 H04N 5/91 K // G06F 17/30 170 J F term (Reference) 5B050 AA09 BA10 BA11 CA08 DA04 EA12 FA19 5B075 KK34 ND06 ND12 NR03 NR16 5C053 FA07 FA11 FA23 JA21 LA01 LA14 5C054 AA01 AA05 CA04 CC03 EA01 EA03 EA07 GA01 GB01 GD01 HA18

Claims (45)

[Claims] 1. An image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution, and an image specified by the client terminal is stored in a storage device at a second resolution higher than the first resolution. An image storage system comprising control means. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means includes an ID for each of the images taken by the video camera.
An image storage system characterized by adding information. 3. The image storage system according to claim 2, wherein the ID information includes information on the order in which the images were taken. 4. The image storage system according to claim 2, wherein the ID information includes information on a time at which the image was taken. 5. The image storage system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit stores an image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal in the storage device at the second resolution. 6. The image storage system according to claim 1, wherein said control means transmits an image continuously taken by said video camera to said client terminal in real time. 7. The image storage system according to claim 6, wherein said control means starts storing in said storage device at said second resolution continuously from an image designated by said client terminal. 8. The storage device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit starts storing the image at the second resolution continuously from the image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal. Image storage system. 9. The storage device according to claim 7, wherein the control unit stores the image in the storage device at the second resolution after the image is stored until the client terminal transmits a request to end the image storage. An image storage system, characterized in that: 10. The control device according to claim 9, wherein:
An image storage system, wherein an image corresponding to ID information transmitted from the client terminal is stored in the storage device at the second resolution. 11. The client terminal according to claim 6, wherein the client terminal can select whether to store one image or a plurality of continuous images in the storage device at the second resolution. Image storage system. 12. The method according to claim 6, wherein when storing a plurality of continuous images in the storage device at the second resolution, an ID of a start point and an end point of the plurality of continuous images is transmitted. Image storage system. 13. The control device according to claim 1, wherein
An image storage system storing an image in the storage device at the second resolution and transmitting the image as an e-mail to an address designated by the client terminal. 14. The control device according to claim 1, wherein
An image storage system, wherein an image is stored in the storage device at the second resolution, and a URL indicating a storage destination of a still image is notified to an address designated by the client terminal. 15. Transmitting images continuously captured by a video camera together with corresponding ID information to a client terminal, and receiving the specified ID information from the client terminal, thereby receiving the received ID information. An image storage system, comprising: control means for storing an image corresponding to the image data in a storage device. 16. An image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution, and an image specified by the client terminal is stored in a storage device at a second resolution higher than the first resolution. An image storage method comprising: 17. The image storage method according to claim 16, wherein ID information is added to each of the images captured by the video camera. 18. The image storage method according to claim 17, wherein the ID information includes information on the order in which the images were taken. 19. The image storage method according to claim 17, wherein the ID information includes information on a time at which the image was taken. 20. The method according to claim 17, wherein an image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal is stored in the storage device at the second resolution. 21. The image storage method according to claim 16, wherein images continuously captured by the video camera are transmitted to the client terminal in real time. 22. The image storage method according to claim 21, wherein storage is started in the storage device at the second resolution continuously from an image specified by the client terminal. 23. The image storage method according to claim 22, wherein storage is started in the storage device at the second resolution continuously from an image corresponding to ID information transmitted from the client terminal. 24. The storage device according to claim 22, wherein the image is stored in the storage device at the second resolution after the image is stored until the client terminal transmits an image storage end request. Image storage method. 25. The image storage method according to claim 24, wherein an image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal is stored in the storage device at the second resolution. 26. The client terminal according to claim 21, wherein the client terminal can select whether to store one image or a plurality of continuous images in the storage device at the second resolution. Image storage method. 27. The method according to claim 21, wherein, when a plurality of continuous images are stored in the storage device at the second resolution, IDs of a start point and an end point of the plurality of continuous images are transmitted. Image storage method. 28. The image storage method according to claim 16, wherein the image is stored in the storage device at the second resolution, and is transmitted as an e-mail to an address designated by the client terminal. 29. The method according to claim 16, wherein the image is stored in the storage device at the second resolution, and a URL indicating a storage destination of a still image is notified to an address designated by the client terminal. Image storage method. 30. Transmitting images continuously captured by a video camera together with corresponding ID information to a client terminal, and receiving ID information specified from the client terminal, thereby receiving the received ID information. An image storage method comprising: storing an image corresponding to (i) in a storage device. 31. An image captured by a video camera is transmitted to a client terminal at a first resolution, and an image specified by the client terminal is stored in a storage device at a second resolution higher than the first resolution. A storage medium storing a program for executing an operation process. 32. The storage medium according to claim 31, wherein an operation processing program for adding ID information to each of the images captured by said video camera is stored. 33. The storage medium according to claim 32, wherein the ID information includes information on an order in which images were shot. 34. The storage medium according to claim 32, wherein the ID information includes information on a time at which the image was taken. 35. The storage medium according to claim 32, wherein an operation processing program for storing an image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal in the storage device at the second resolution. 36. The storage medium according to claim 30, wherein an operation processing program for transmitting an image continuously captured by the video camera to the client terminal in real time is stored. 37. The storage medium according to claim 36, wherein an operation processing program for starting storage in the storage device at the second resolution continuously from an image specified by the client terminal is stored. 38. The storage medium according to claim 37, wherein an operation processing program for starting storage in the storage device at the second resolution continuously from an image corresponding to the ID information transmitted from the client terminal. 39. An operation processing program according to claim 37, wherein the operation processing program stores the image in the storage device at the second resolution after the image is stored until the client terminal transmits an image storage end request. Storage media. 40. The storage medium according to claim 39, wherein an operation processing program is stored in said storage device at said second resolution up to an image corresponding to ID information transmitted from said client terminal. 41. The method according to claim 36, wherein, based on the designation of the client terminal, whether to store one image or a plurality of continuous images in the storage device at the second resolution is selected. A storage medium storing an operation processing program. 42. The storage medium according to claim 36, wherein when storing a plurality of continuous images in the storage device at the second resolution, an operation processing program for transmitting IDs of a start point and an end point of the plurality of continuous images is stored. Storage media. 43. The storage medium according to claim 30, wherein an operation processing program for storing an image at the second resolution in the storage device and transmitting the image as an e-mail to an address designated by the client terminal is stored. 44. An operation processing program according to claim 30, wherein an image is stored in said storage device at said second resolution, and an operation processing program for notifying a URL indicating a storage destination of a still image to an address designated by said client terminal is stored. Storage media. 45. Transmitting images continuously captured by a video camera together with corresponding ID information to a client terminal, and receiving ID information specified from the client terminal, thereby receiving the received ID information. A storage medium storing an operation processing program, characterized by storing an image corresponding to (i) in a storage device.