JP2002351771A - Device and method for image communication, server device, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that when an http server is run on an image server to create an html document wherein a list of images is displayed and a client is an http client and accesses the image server and then the html document showing the list of images to display the image list and selects a desired image from it, all image data that the html document contains need to be obtained once from the image server and there is the possibility that all the image data include an image that the user does not desire. SOLUTION: Through an image communication between the server and client, the server displays a held image and holds information for discriminating the image which is being displayed. When the client sends a request 311 for image transfer while the server is displaying the image, the server discriminates the image which is being displayed according to the information for discriminating the image which is being displayed and sends the displayed image 312 to the client.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image communication method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of opening an image having a plurality of images to others, for example, an http server (WWW, World Wide
b server).

[0003] For example, an http server is operated on an image server to create an html document that displays a list of images, and a client accesses the image server with an http client such as Netscape Navigator to display the list of images.
It is also possible to access a document, display an image list, and select a desired image therefrom.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, the ht
It is necessary to acquire all the image data included in the ml document from the image server once, and there is a possibility that all the image data includes an image that is not desired by the user.

[0005] This is a problem particularly when the communication speed is relatively low.

Alternatively, a method of creating a html document by creating thumbnail images for display and providing a link from each thumbnail image to the original image to reduce the amount of communication may be considered. Need to receive images.

Although this can be expected to reduce the amount of communication as compared with the case of using the original image, there is a problem that the amount of communication is still large when the number of images is large.

[0008] Further, since the thumbnail image is not the target image, there is also a problem that an unnecessary image is eventually communicated.

This is a problem particularly when there are many images, when the communication speed is low, or when the device to be the client is, for example, an embedded device and the storage capacity is limited.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, an image communication method according to the present invention is an image communication method for a server and a client, wherein the server displays an image to be held and can identify the image being displayed. Holding the information, if the server sends an image transfer request to the server while the server is displaying an image, the server displays the image being displayed according to the identifiable information of the image being displayed. And transmitting the displayed image to the client.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an image communication apparatus capable of realizing an image communication method according to the present invention.

An input unit 101 shown in FIG. 1 receives an instruction from a user,
A device for inputting data, including a keyboard and pointing device. Note that examples of the pointing device include a mouse, a trackball, a trackpad, and a tablet. Alternatively, when this example is applied to, for example, a known digital camera device, it may be configured with a button, a mode dial, and the like.

A data storage unit 102 is a part for storing image data, and is usually a hard disk, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a CD-ROM or CD-R, a memory card, a CF card, a smart media, an SD card, a memory stick. Etc. It is also possible to store programs and other data in the data storage unit 102.

The communication unit 107 is an Ethernet (registered trademark).
It is a part that controls communications such as a telephone and a modem. The communication method is arbitrary and may be a known communication method using a known wire such as USB, IEEE1284, or IEEE1394, or an infrared,
Wireless communication methods such as IEEE802.11b and Bluetooth may be used. The communication unit 107 is a part of these communication path control devices.

The display unit 103 is a device for displaying an image such as a GUI, and generally uses a CRT or a liquid crystal display. Alternatively, a display device outside the device connected by a cable or the like may be used.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a CPU, which is involved in all of the above-described processing of each component. The ROM 105 and the RAM 106 provide programs, data, a work area, and the like necessary for the processing to the CPU 104.
Further, a control program required for a process described later is stored in the data storage unit 102 or, if stored in the ROM 105, once read into the RAM 106 and executed.

Alternatively, although not shown, a further known CC
An image input means such as D may be provided so that an image is input and stored in the data input / output unit 102.

Although there are various other components in the system configuration other than those described above, they are not the main subject of the present invention, and therefore description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an image communication system using the image communication method according to the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a state in which, for example, the image communication apparatuses 201 and 202 having the configuration shown in FIG.

The communication path 203 is a cable having a physical shape when the communication system is a known system such as Ethernet, modem, USB, IEEE1284, IEEE1394, or infrared, IEEE802.11b, Bluetooth, etc. Is a conceptual communication path. Although the present invention does not depend on the type of communication path, FIG. 2 shows the communication path 203 for convenience of explanation.

The image communication device 201 has a cross key 211,
Reference numerals 212 and 213 denote buttons, and similarly, 221 of the image communication apparatus 202.
Indicates a cross key, and 222 and 223 indicate buttons, which respectively constitute the input unit in FIG. The cross keys and buttons are merely examples, and their types and numbers do not depend on the method of the present invention and do not limit the method of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the user operates the image communication device 20.
An example will be described in which the user operates 1 to obtain an image stored in the image communication device 202. For convenience of explanation, the image communication device 201 operated by the user is also referred to as a client or a client device, and the image communication device 202 holding an image is also referred to as a server or a server device.

A display 214 is provided on the client device 201 side.
The display unit 224 is provided on the server device 202 side, and each is configured by the display unit 103 in FIG. 1. However, in the method of the present invention, the display unit 214 is not indispensable on the client device 201 side and may be omitted. In the case of FIG. 2, the image communication apparatus 201 merely serves as a server and the image communication apparatus 202 can also serve as a client.

The storage device 231 conceptually represents the data storage unit 102 of the image communication device 201 as a client, and the storage device 232 conceptually represents the data storage unit 102 of the image communication device 202 as a server.

Now, N image files 233 (N ≧ 1) are stored in the storage device 232 of the server device 202, and each of the N image files has a file identifier F.
ID ₁ ~FID _N is applied is assumed to be managed by the server device 202.

In the communication method according to the present invention, first, the server device 202 displays one of the N image files 233 held on the display unit 224. This display is displayed when the user
May be operated to select and display any one of the N image files 233, or the server apparatus may automatically display the N image files 233 at regular intervals (slide show). It may be performed in a targeted manner.

The user operating the client device 201 browses the image displayed on the display unit 224 of the server device 202, and if he wants a copy of the displayed image,
While the image is being displayed, the user operates the input unit 101 of the client device 201 to instruct to copy the image.

In response to an instruction from the user, the client device 201 transmits a request for transmitting the image currently displayed by the server device 202. The server device 202 that has received the request transmits an image corresponding to the image currently being displayed on the display unit 224. For example, if the image of the file identifier FID _n (1 ≦ n ≦ N in this example) is being displayed, the image of FID _n is returned.

The image used for display need not necessarily be the target image itself. For example, when a thumbnail image obtained by reducing an image is associated with an original image and the thumbnail image is used for display, the original image is returned.

FIG. 3 shows the client device 201 and the server device 2
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing and communication of 02. The communication is performed via the communication path 203 in FIG.

The server device 202 displays images one after another by the processing shown in FIG. 9, for example.

FIG. 9 shows processing executed by the CPU 104 of the server device 202 based on a program. The RAM 106 is a storage medium that stores this program in a readable manner by the CPU 104 as a computer. When the CPU 104 reads this program from a floppy disk or a compact disk (not shown), the floppy disk or the compact disk corresponds to a storage medium on which the program can be read by the CPU 104. Further, this program may be externally supplied to the RAM 106 via the communication unit 107. First, in step S901, an initialization process is performed. For example, in the case of the process according to the flow chart of FIG. 9, a variable X that holds the file identifier of the image being displayed; a list of images held by the server device 202; a variable numOfImages that holds the number of images; Since the description is made using the variable i representing the position, these variables are initialized.

For example, first, the variable X holding the file identifier of the image being displayed is cleared. This can be realized by substituting, for example, 0 or a negative value when the file identifier is a number, or by setting an empty character string when the variable X is a character string type.

A list of images held by the server device 202 is created on the RAM 106.

FIG. 15 shows an example of this list of images. The example of FIG. 15 shows that the server device 202 holds seven image files. At the same time, the variable numOfImages holding the number of images is set to 7, and the variable i representing the current position on the image list is initialized to 0.

In the following step S902, the end of the process is determined. In the case of this example, it is assumed that the process ends when all images have been displayed, so the value of numOfImages is compared with the value of i.
Flows at 08. Otherwise, the process flows to S903.

Next, in step S903, the file identifier of the image to be read for display is determined. This can be done by extracting the i-th row in the list of images illustrated in FIG. For example, i is 0
In the case of, an image file identifier of img0032.jpg is obtained.

In step S904, the image is read from the storage device 232 (data holding unit 102) into the RAM 106 based on the file identifier of the image obtained in step S903. For example, when the image is compressed by a known compression method such as JPEG, the decompression process is performed as necessary.

In step S905, the variable X is set in step S903.
The file identifier of the image obtained in the step is stored.

Subsequently, the image read into the RAM 106 in step S904 is displayed on the display unit 224 (step S906).

In step S907, it is determined whether or not image display switching is to be performed. For example, in the case of automatically switching images, the value of i may be automatically incremented by 1 after a certain period of time has elapsed by using a count-up using a counter, a timer interrupt, or the like. Alternatively, the user may operate the input units 211 to 213 to instruct an image change. In the latter case, for example, if the user designates the previous image, the value of i is subtracted by 1, and if the user designates the next image,
For example, the value of i may be incremented by one.

If the value of i has been changed, the result of the determination in step S907 is true, and the process returns to S902. If not, the process returns to S907 to perform the determination again.

In step S908, which is the end processing, the variable X
Is cleared again. This is for use in the determination of the processing according to FIG. 10 described later.

As described above, while the server device 202 is displaying images one after another, the client device 201 and the server device 202 perform communication.

FIG. 3 shows a communication procedure between the client device 201 and the server device 202. The client device 201 and the server device 202 execute the following processing under control performed by the CPU 104 based on a program.

First, after the client device 201 establishes a connection with the server device 202, the user
Look at the display section 224 of 02. If the user wants to copy the image displayed on the display unit 224, he operates the client device 201 to instruct an image request (step S301).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in the client device 201 at this time.

FIG. 8 shows processing executed by the CPU 104 of the client device 201 based on a program. RAM 106
This program is a storage medium in which the program is stored so as to be readable by the CPU 104 as a computer. When the CPU 104 reads this program from a floppy disk or a compact disk (not shown), the floppy disk or the compact disk corresponds to a storage medium on which the program can be read by the CPU 104. Further, this program may be externally supplied to the RAM 106 via the communication unit 107.
First, an image request 311 (FIG. 3) is transmitted to the server device 202 in response to an image request instruction from the user (step S801).

Subsequently, a response from the server device 202 is received (step S802). In step S803, the process branches depending on the response from the server device 202. If the response from the server device 202 is an error, the process proceeds to S805 to perform error processing. In the error processing, for example, the client device 201
Is displayed on the display unit 214 to notify the user of the error,
The process ends.

The response from the server device 202 is the image data 312 (FIG.
In the case of 3), the received image data is stored in the storage device 231.
(Step S804), and the process ends.

Conversely, if the user does not want to copy the image displayed on the display unit 224 of the server device 202, he simply does nothing and waits until the display on the display unit 224 changes next.

FIG. 10 shows the flow of processing on the server 202 side after receiving the image request 311 (FIG. 3). FIG.
Shows a process executed by the CPU 104 of the server device 202 based on the program in the RAM 106.

First, in step S1001, it is determined whether an image is currently being displayed. This is achieved by referring to the variable X used in the flowchart of FIG. That is, it is assumed that the image is not being displayed if X is cleared, and that the image is being displayed otherwise. If an image is being displayed, the process proceeds to step S1002; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1005, where an error is transmitted to the client and the process ends.

In S1002, the file identifier of the currently displayed image is obtained. This can be done by referring to the variable X and obtaining the file identifier.

In S1003, an image file corresponding to the image being displayed is accessed from the storage unit 232 and the image data is read based on the file identifier of the image obtained in S1002.

The read image data is converted into image data 312.
This is transmitted to the client as (FIG. 3), and the process ends (step S1004).

From the user's image request instruction described above,
The process from transmitting the image data from the server device 202 to the client device 201 until the client device 201 stores the image data is performed while the server device 202 displays the image on the display unit 224, as shown in FIG. Is repeated as many times as necessary by the user.

In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the image processing apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is used as a client apparatus. However, for example, a printer apparatus as shown in FIG. It can also be a client device.

FIG. 6 is different from the configuration of FIG.
Only the part where 2 is the printing unit 602 is different. Printing unit 60
Reference numeral 2 denotes a portion that performs a printing process on image data received by the printer device illustrated in FIG.
A configuration such as a paper feeding mechanism may be used.

In the case of a printer, the display unit 103 displays C
Instead of being an RT or a liquid crystal display, it may be constituted by a lamp or the like. In this case, the client device does not store the image but passes it to the printing unit 602 to perform printing.

In the present embodiment, the client device
Although the example of the case of one device is shown, the method according to the present invention does not limit the number of client devices, and a plurality of client devices are arranged, and each client device communicates with the server device as shown in FIG. It is possible to do.

As described above, according to the present invention, according to the image displayed on the server device, the user selects and transmits only the instruction to copy the image from the client device,
By transmitting only the image desired by the user from the server device in response to the request of the client, it is possible to reduce the amount of communication and the communication time.

In the first embodiment, the client device 201
The image was transmitted immediately in response to the image transmission request.

Next, in response to a request from the client device 201, the server device 202 returns an image identifier, and the client holds the received image identifier, and makes a request for image transmission later using the identifier. The form will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the flow of processing and communication between the client and the server in the present embodiment. The client device 201 and the server device 202 execute the following processing under control performed by the CPU 104 based on a program.

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, as in the first embodiment, the server device 202 successively displays images on the display unit 224 by the processing shown in FIG.

When the user instructs an image request (step S401), the client device 201 performs processing as shown in FIG. FIG. 11 shows that the CPU 104 of the client device 201
The processing executed based on the program of AM106 is shown.

In step S1101, in response to an instruction for an image request from the user in step S401 in FIG.
2, the image identifier request 411 (FIG. 4) is transmitted, and subsequently, the response transmitted by the server device 202 is received (step S11).
02). In the following step S1103, the process branches according to the response from the server device 202.

If the response from the server device 202 is an error, the process proceeds to S1105 to perform error processing. In the error processing, for example, a message indicating the error is displayed on the display unit 214 of the client device 201 to notify the user, and the processing ends. If the response from the server device 202 is the image identifier 412 (FIG. 4), the received image identifier is stored in the data storage unit 102 (the storage device 2).
31) Alternatively, the process is stored in the RAM 106 (step S1104), and the process ends.

The image identifier is stored in the storage device 2 of the server device 202.
Any identifier corresponding to the file identifier of the image stored in 32 may be used. For example, when a character string “img0001.jpg” is used as a file identifier of an image, the file identifier itself may be used as an image identifier. For example, "img0001" or "000
1 ".

Further, the identifier may not be easily inferred from the original file identifier. In this case, the data representing the correspondence between the image identifier and the image file identifier is stored in the storage device 232 or the RAM 106 inside the server device 202, and the client later requests the image based on the image identifier. At this time, it is sufficient that the target image in the storage device 232 can be specified by obtaining the file identifier of the image by referring to the correspondence relationship. In this case, the image identifier and the file identifier of the image do not need to have a one-to-one correspondence. That is, since a file identifier may be uniquely determined from a certain image identifier, there may be a plurality of image identifiers corresponding to one file identifier.

The image identifier may be determined in advance, or may be dynamically generated during system operation. In the former case, data representing an example of the correspondence relationship with the file identifier of FIG.
5. It only has to be stored in any of the RAM 106 and the data storage unit 102.

In the latter case, an image identifier corresponding to the file identifier is generated, and the correspondence is stored in the R
What is necessary is to have it in either the AM 106 or the data storage unit 102. The method of generating numbers and character strings representing image identifiers may be any method as long as the generated image identifier is unique.

In this embodiment, for the sake of simplicity, an image identifier is an image identifier request 41 from a client device.
It is a 7-digit numeric string representing the serial number for 1. In order to obtain this serial number, for example, a variable for counting the number of image identifier requests 411 (FIG. 4), numOfIDR
eq, numOfIDReq is set to 0 in the initialization processing step in S901 in FIG. 9, and 1 is generated each time an image identifier is generated.
In the case of the present embodiment, the addition can be realized by converting it into a seven-digit numeric character string.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of this correspondence.

In FIG. 5, only a so-called file name is used as a file identifier. For example, a method in which the storage device 232 has a directory structure like a well-known UNIX (registered trademark) or MS-DOS file system is used. In this case, the information may include information (path name) of the directory.

The method of storing the image identifier in the client device 201 is arbitrary. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the received image identifier may be simply filed in a text format and stored in the storage device 231.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of processing on the server 202 side after receiving the image identifier request 411 (FIG. 4) from the client device 201. FIG. 12 illustrates the CPU 104 of the server device 202.
Shows processing executed based on the program in the RAM 106.

First, in step S1201, it is determined whether an image is currently being displayed. This is realized by referring to the variable X used in the flow chart of FIG. 9, similarly to the processing according to FIG. 10 of the first embodiment. That is, it is assumed that the image is not being displayed if X is cleared, and that the image is being displayed otherwise. If an image is being displayed, the process proceeds to step S1202; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S1205, an error is transmitted to the client device 201, and the process ends.

In the next step S1202, the file identifier of the image being displayed is obtained. In this case as well, the file identifier may be obtained by referring to the variable X in FIG.

In step S1203, an image identifier corresponding to the file identifier of the image obtained in step S1202 is obtained. As described above, the generation method of the image identifier in the present embodiment is realized by adding 1 to the variable numOfIDReq and converting it into a 7-digit numeric character string. Further, in the case of the present embodiment, since the image identifier is dynamically generated, the correspondence between the file identifiers of the images in the RAM 106 or the storage unit 102 as illustrated in FIG. 5 is updated.

FIG. 17 shows a state in which the image identifier and the file identifier of the image shown in FIG. 5 are present in the RAM 106 or the storage unit 102, and a new image identifier request 411 (FIG. 4) is received to generate an image identifier. This is an example in which the association with the image (img0035.jpg) being displayed at that time is updated.

In the correspondence table of FIG. 17, a new correspondence, that is, a pair of the image identifier 0000008 and the file identifier img0035.jpg of the image is added after the last line in FIG.

In step S1204, the image identifier acquired in step S1203 is transmitted to client device 201 as image identifier 412 (FIG. 4), and the process ends.

After the server device 202 has finished displaying all the images, the client device 201 starts image transfer processing of images (step S402 in FIG. 4).

The image transfer process may be started by the user operating the input units 221 to 223 to give an instruction and start the image transfer process.

Also, although not shown in FIG. 4,
In a modified example, after a predetermined time has elapsed after the server device 202 has displayed the last image, the server device 202 communicates with the client device 201 to notify that the image display processing has been completed, and the client responds accordingly. The device 201 starts the image transfer process.

The client device 201 performs the processing shown in FIG. 14 according to the step S402 (FIG. 4) for starting the image transfer processing. FIG. 14 shows the CPU 104 of the client device 201.
Shows processing executed based on the program in the RAM 106.

First, in step S1401, the index variable k
Is initialized to 0.

In the following step S1402, the (k + 1) -th (in the case of FIG. 16, the (k + 1) -th line) from the list of image identifiers (exemplified in FIG. 16) acquired by the image identifier acquiring process described in FIG. The image identifier of is read. For example, if k is 0, 1
The image identifier of the row, that is, “0000001” is extracted.

In step S1403, the server device 202 is designated using the image identifier acquired in step S1402, for example, 0000001.
To the image request 413 (FIG. 4). The format of the image request may be any format including an image identifier.

Subsequently, a response transmitted from the server device 202 is received (step S1404).

In the following step S1405, the process branches according to the response from the server.

If the response from the server device 202 is an error, the process proceeds to S1407 to perform error processing. In the error processing S1407, for example, an error message is displayed on the display unit 214 of the client device 201 to notify the user, and the process proceeds to S1408.

The response from the server device 202 is the image data 414 (FIG.
In the case of 4), the process flows to S1406. Step S1
In 406, the image data 414 is stored in the storage device 231 (data storage unit 1).
02).

In the following step S1408, the index variable k
Is updated by adding 1.

In step S1409, it is determined whether the processing is completed. If the process has been completed for all image identifiers, the process ends; otherwise, the process goes to S1402.

Whether the processing has been completed for all the image identifiers is determined by comparing the index variable k with the number of image identifiers. If k is equal to or greater than the number of image identifiers, it can be determined that the processing has been completed for all the image identifiers. . For example, FIG.
In the case of the example 6, since the number of image identifiers is four, the process ends when k becomes four or more.

Upon receiving the message (image transmission request) 413, the server device 202 converts the image identifier included in the message 413 into an image file identifier, and extracts the image having the obtained file identifier from the storage device 232 (step In step S403, the image is transmitted to the client device 201 as a message (image data) 414 (step S403 in FIG. 4).

FIG. 13 shows the image transmission request 413 (FIG. 4).
(Step S40 in FIG. 4)
It is a figure explaining 3). FIG. 13 shows the CP of the server device 202.
The processing executed by U104 based on the program in RAM 106 is shown.

First, in step S1301, the message 413
The image identifier included in the file is taken out, and the image identifier is converted into the file identifier. This conversion is performed by storing data representing the correspondence as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, since it is stored in the RAM 106, it can be realized by referring to it.

If the transmitted image identifier is in the correspondence table shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 17, the file identifier of the image corresponding to the identifier is extracted. If the transmitted image identifier is not in the data representing the correspondence, acquisition of the file identifier fails.

In step S1302, the process branches depending on the result of the file identifier acquisition in step S1301. If the acquisition of the file identifier has succeeded, the process proceeds to S1303, and if the acquisition has failed, the process proceeds to S1306.

In step S1303, image data is read from the storage device 232 based on the image identifier obtained in step S1301. At this point, if reading of the file fails because the image file indicated by the file identifier does not exist in the storage device 232, the process proceeds to S1306 by branching to step S1304.

If the file has been successfully read, the process proceeds to step S1305, where the server device 202 transmits the read data (image data 414) to the client 201, and the process ends.

Step S1306 is an error process, in which a message for notifying the user of the error is transmitted, and the process ends.

The processing in the server device 202 described above is as follows.
This is performed every time the image transmission request 413 is sent from the client device 201.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which images are acquired one by one.
Send all the image identifiers of 01 to the server device 202,
The server device 202 obtains the file identifier of the image corresponding to each image identifier, extracts the image file,
A modification in which the data is transmitted to the client device 201 in 414 is also possible.

Also, as in the first embodiment, in this embodiment, it is possible to use a printer device as shown in FIG. 6 as a client.

In this embodiment, the client device is
Although the case of one device has been described, the method according to the present invention does not limit the number of client devices, but arranges a plurality of client devices, and each client device communicates with the server device as shown in FIG. It is possible to do.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the user selects only the image to be displayed on the server device, transmits only the instruction to copy the image from the client device, and responds to the request from the client by the user. Transmits an identifier representing a desired image from the server device, and after displaying all images, transmits a request for image transmission from the client device to the server device based on the image identifier received earlier, and the server device responds to the request. By transmitting images, the amount of communication and the communication time can be reduced. In this embodiment, since the server apparatus processes the request in response to the image copy instruction from the user in a light manner and the amount of response data from the server apparatus is small, the communication path 203
Is particularly effective when the speed is lower or when a plurality of client devices are provided.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of an image communication system according to the third embodiment.

The client device 701 and the server device 702
Client device of FIG. 2 in first and second embodiments
Like the server device 202 and the server device 202, the image communication device has the configuration shown in FIG. Further, the client device 701 may be a printer device having the configuration shown in FIG. 6 as in the first and second embodiments, but in this embodiment, the client device 701 is shown in FIG. The case of such an image communication device will be described.

Although the display device 703 is an image communication device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the input unit 101 may be omitted in the method according to the embodiment of the present invention, as will be apparent from the following description.
Preferably, the display unit 103 includes a large-screen CRT, a liquid crystal display, or a known projector.

A client device 701 and a server device 702 are connected by a communication path 704, and the server device 702 is connected to a display device.
703 and a communication path 705. As in the first and second embodiments, the communication paths 704 and 705 are cables having a physical shape when the communication method is a known method such as Ethernet, modem, USB, IEEE1284, and IEEE1394.
Alternatively, in the case of wireless communication such as infrared, IEEE802.11b, Bluetooth, etc., it is a conceptual communication path. Although the present invention does not depend on the communication method and the type of path, FIG. 7 shows communication paths 703 and 704 for convenience of explanation.

The communication systems on the communication paths 703 and 704 need not be the same, and may be different communication systems. Further, one may be a wired communication system and the other may be a wireless communication system.

Also, 711 of the client device 701 is a cross key, and 712 and 713 are buttons.
Reference numeral 21 denotes a cross key, and 722 and 723 denote buttons, each of which constitutes the input unit of FIG. The cross keys and buttons are merely examples, and their types and numbers do not depend on the method according to the present invention, and do not limit the method according to the present invention.

The storage devices 731, 732, and 734 conceptually represent the client device 701, the server device 702, and the data storage unit 102 of the display device 703, respectively.

Now, M (M ≧ 1) image files 733 are stored in the storage device 732 of the server device 702, and each of the M image files has a file identifier F.
It is assumed that IDs _{S1 to} FID _SM are assigned and managed by the server device 702.

The storage device 734 of the display device 703 has P sheets.
(1 ≦ P ≦ M) image file 735 is saved.
Each of the P image files has a file identification
Child FID _D1~ FID_DPAnd is managed by the display device 703.
Shall be

The P image files 735 are stored in the server
Reference numeral 702 denotes P images selected from the M images stored in the storage device 732 and transmitted through the communication path 705. Further, the image may be converted into a format that can be processed by the display device 703 by the server device 702 performing format conversion and resolution conversion of the image as needed. Therefore, the P image files 735 need not be the original image data.

The storage device 732 of the server device 702 stores a table 736 and a table 737. The table 736 is a transmission list to be described later, and the table 737 is data representing the correspondence between the image identifiers of the P image files 735 on the display device 703 and the file identifiers of the original images included in the image 733. .

The server device 702 orders at least one or more of the stored images and transmits the images to the image communication display device 703. The image communication display device 703 checks the image identifier and the image corresponding to the received image. A file identifier capable of identifying an image of the communication display device is generated. At the same time, the image communication display device 703 stores the correspondence relationship between the image identifier corresponding to the received image and the file identifier capable of identifying the image possessed by the image communication display device so that the order of image reception can be reproduced, The image identifier is returned to the server device 703.

The server device 702 receives the image identifier,
The correspondence between the transmitted image and the image identifier received from the image communication display device is stored so that the image transmission order can be reproduced.

The image communication display device 703 switches the image to be displayed according to the instruction from the server device 702.

FIG. 19 shows a case where the server device 702 stores M images 73
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a flow of a process of selecting P images from 3.
FIG. 19 shows processing executed by the CPU 104 of the server device 702 based on the program in the RAM 106.

First, the transmission list is initialized (step
S1901).

FIG. 20 shows a list (20) of M images (M = 10).
01) and the transmission list (2002).
In this case, initialization can be realized by emptying the transmission list 2002.

Next, the user operates the server device 702,
An image to be transmitted is selected (step S1902). This displays a list of images or file identifiers of the images on the display unit 724, and operates the input units 721 to 723 to instruct transmission list registration.

This is a list of M images 733, for example.
01, using the index variable m, display the m-th image in the list, if the user instructs the display of the previous image by operating the input units 721 to 723, subtract m by 1, the next image When the display of is displayed, m is incremented by 1 and a new image on the m-th line is displayed. Or 20
02 itself may be displayed to allow the user to make a selection.

At the next step S1903, at the previous step S19
The file identifier of the image selected in 02 is added to the end of the transmission list 2002.

Further, in step S1904, it is determined whether or not this processing is completed. This displays, for example, a message such as "Do you want to end?"
Is operated and the end is instructed, the result of the determination in step S1904 is true, and the process flows to step S1905.

[0133] If the user instructs not to end, the process returns to step S1902.

In the transmission list 2002, this processing allows the user to select img0006.jpg, img0008.jpg, img0003.jpg, img00
It can be seen that transmission was instructed in the order of 02.jpg, img0009.jpg, img0010.jpg.

In step S1905, the subsequent display device 703
This is a process of saving the transmission list 2002 for the image transmission process to the server. This is filed and stored in the storage device 732 (736). The format of the filed transmission list may be, for example, a format such as 2002, but may be another format.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a communication process between the server device 702 and the display device 703. Server device 702, display device 703
Executes the following processing under control performed by the CPU 104 based on a program. The input unit 101 of the server device 702
The server device 702 to which the start instruction of the process 18 can be input first transmits an image format inquiry (1801) to the display device 703. In response to the inquiry, the display device 703 responds to the server device 702 with an image format (image format, image width and height, color space, etc.) that can be processed by the server device 702 (1802). This process may be omitted when it is known that the display device 703 can process the image data held by the server device 702 in advance. Therefore, it is shown by a broken line in FIG.

If the server device 702 cannot transmit an image in a processable image format returned by the display device 703, the process fails, and an error occurs because the subsequent messages 1803 and 1804 are not performed. In this case, the display unit 724 displays that an error has occurred, and the process ends.

Alternatively, if the server device 702 has means for converting the image format, resolution, or color space, an error is generated by comparing the image format obtained by the conversion means with the image format responding to the display device. May be determined.

The server device 702 transmits the image data (18
03), the display device 703 displays an image identifier (18
04) is returned. This exchange is repeated by the number of image identifiers included in the transmission list 2002, which is the result of the processing shown in FIG. 19 described above.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flow of the image transmission processing in the server device 702. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the C of the server device 702.
The processing executed by the PU 104 based on the program in the RAM 106 is shown.

First, in step S2101, the index variable i
Initialize dx to 0. Next, a file identifier on the (idx + 1) th line of the transmission list is extracted (step S2102). further,
The image file indicated by the file identifier obtained in step S2102 is read to obtain image data (S2103).

The next step S2104 controls whether or not to perform processing for performing image format conversion as necessary.
As a result of the image format response 1802 in FIG. 18, this branch is true if the display device 703 cannot process the image in the format of the server device 702 and the format needs to be converted.
The flow proceeds to 5, and if there is no need for format conversion, the result is false, and the flow proceeds to S2106. Alternatively, when the server device 702 does not have the image format conversion means, the processing is always false and the processing is performed in S2
Flow to 106.

In step S2105, the format, resolution,
This is conversion processing of a color space or the like. These conversion means may be known ones. Further, in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, hardware (such as a chip) may be provided in the server device 702, or may be stored in the ROM 105, the RAM 106, and the data storage unit 102 in the form of a program.
May be executed. Alternatively, step S210
As mentioned in the description of 4, the resolution conversion means is not essential and may be omitted.

In the following step S2106, the display device 70 displays the image data read in step S2103 or the image data converted in the image format in step S2105 (1803 in FIG. 18).
Send to 3.

In step S2107, the display device 703 receives the image identifier (1804 in FIG. 18) returned in response to the image data transmission. Further, in step S2108, the image identifier received in step S2107 is stored together with the file identifier of the transmitted image (737 in FIG. 7). The format of this file may be any format as long as the correspondence between the image identifier and the file identifier can be expressed.

The above processing is repeated by the number of image identifiers in the transmission list 2002 which is the result of the processing shown in FIG. 19 described above. In step S2109, if the transmission of the images listed in the transmission list is completed, the process is terminated. If not, in step S2110, the index variable idx is incremented, and the process returns to step S2103.

FIG. 23 shows an example of a file format 2301 for recording the correspondence. In 2301, the correspondence is described in each line in the format of "image identifier" (returned by the display device 703), tab, and "file identifier" (at the server device 702).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the display device 703 corresponding to the image data 1803 in FIG. FIG. 22 shows processing executed by the CPU 104 of the display device 703 based on the program in the RAM 106. The RAM 106 is a storage medium that stores this program in a readable manner by the CPU 104 as a computer. In addition, this program can be downloaded from a floppy disk or compact disk (not shown)
When the CPU 104 is configured to read, this floppy disk or compact disk
It corresponds to a storage medium stored in a readable manner by U104. Further, this program may be externally supplied to the RAM 106 via the communication unit 107. Display device 703
Receives the image data 1803 (FIG. 18) (step S220).
1), an image file identifier for storing the image is generated (step S2202). The file identifier may be generated by any method as long as it generates an identifier that can be identified in the display device 703. At the same time, an image identifier is also generated. The method for generating the image identifier has been described in the second embodiment, and thus will not be described here.

Next, the image data received in step S2201 is stored as a file in the storage device 734 using the file identifier generated in step S2202 (step S22).
03). Further, the file identifier and the image identifier generated in step S2202 are stored as a pair in the storage device 734 (step S2204).

This correspondence is the same as the correspondence shown in FIG. 17, and any form may be used as long as it can represent these relations. Reference numeral 2302 in FIG. 23 is an example of a file format for recording this correspondence. In 2302, the correspondence is described in each line in the format of “image identifier” (on the display device 703), tab, and “file identifier” (on the display device 703).

In step S2204, a new file identifier and an image identifier are added to the end of the file indicated by 2301. By doing so, the order in which the images are received can be stored. Further, in step S2205, the image identifier 1804 generated in step S2202 (FIG. 18)
Is transmitted to the server device 702, and the process ends.

When 2301 and 2302 are matched, for example, the image file img0006.jpg of the server device 702 is displayed on the display device.
It corresponds to the image file p001001.jpg of 703, and both are
It can be seen that it is associated with the image identifier hnd0001. In addition, since the order in which the images are transferred is also held, it can be understood that, for example, p001002.jpg on the display device 703 corresponds to the next image after img0006.jpg on the server device 702.

Therefore, after the above-described image transfer processing, it is possible for the server device 702 to display a specific image on the display device 703 or to display the previous or next image in the transmission order. After the instruction is issued a plurality of times, the server device 702 can determine what the image in the server device 702 corresponds to the currently displayed image.

In FIG. 18, reference numeral 1805 denotes a message from the server device 702 instructing the display device 703 to display a specific image.
The message 1805 includes the image identifier (image identifier generated by the display device 703 and returned to the server device 702) exemplified in 2301 in FIG.

The display device 703 determines the image corresponding to the image identifier specified in response to the message 1805 from 2302 in FIG. 23, reads the image indicated by the corresponding image identifier, and displays it on the display unit 734. Message 1806 is message 1805
Is a response message indicating the success or failure of the display processing. Alternatively, in a modified example, it is the image identifier of the image displayed as a result of the instruction by the message 1805.

[0156] Reference numeral 1807 denotes a message for instructing the server device 702 to display the immediately preceding image in the order of the table 2302 with respect to the image currently displayed. Display device
In response to the message 1807, the image 703 reads the image immediately before the currently displayed image in the order of the table 2302 and displays the image on the display unit 734.

The message 1808 is a response message to the message 1807 and indicates whether or not the display processing is successful. Alternatively, in a modified example, it is the image identifier of the image displayed as a result of the instruction by the message 1807.

A message 1809 instructs the server 702 to display the next image in the order of the table 2302 for the image currently displayed. Display device
In response to the message 1809, the image 703 reads the next image in the order of the table 2302 with respect to the currently displayed image and displays the image on the display unit 734.

The message 1810 is a response to the message 1809, and is a response message indicating the success or failure of the display processing. Alternatively, in a modified example, it is the image identifier of the image displayed as a result of the instruction by the message 1809.

These messages from 1805, 1807, and 1809 may be repeated any number of times in any order from server device 702. The input unit of the server device 702 receives the message 180
An input specifying that any one of 5, 1807, and 1809 is transmitted is possible.

As described above, in the communication system shown in FIG. 7, an image is transmitted from the server device 702 to the display device 703 in advance, and an instruction to display a specific image and an instruction to display images before and after the specific image are made. Can be. Server device
The image 702 always knows which image is being displayed, and also knows which image 733 in the storage device 732 is the image corresponding to the currently displayed image. That is,
The server device 702 determines whether the image displayed by the image display device 703 is an image stored in any of the image files 733 stored in the storage device 732 (or the file identifier (or the image communication display device 703). Image identifier) of the RAM 106
To save.

Accordingly, the user instructs the client device 701 to transfer an image while watching the image displayed on the display unit 734 of the display device 703 in the same manner as in the first or second embodiment. When transmitted to the device 702, the server device 702 specifies the image requested by the user (the information indicating which image the image communication display device 703 is displaying is R
Since the image is stored in the AM 106, the information in the RAM 106 is referred to), and the image desired by the user is extracted from the storage device 732 and transmitted to the client device 701.

That is, as in the first embodiment, the server device 702 provides information (image identifier on the image communication display device 703 or a corresponding image identifier) for identifying the image currently displayed on the image communication display device 703. If the client device 701 transmits a request for image transfer to the server device 702 while the image communication display device 703 is displaying an image, the server device 702 transmits the current image communication display device 703. Identifies the image being displayed from the identifiable information, and transmits the image held by the server device 702 corresponding to the image displayed by the image communication display device 703 to the client device 701.

As in the second embodiment, when the client device 701 transmits a request for transmitting an image identifier to the server device 702 while the image communication display device is displaying an image, the server device 702 transmits the current image communication. The image displayed on the display device 703 can be identified from the identifiable information, and the image identifier corresponding to the image currently displayed on the image communication display device 703 and the image displayed on the image communication display device 703 can be identified. The image identifier is transmitted to the client device 701.

The client 70 receiving this image identifier
1 transmits an image transfer request to the server device 702 together with the image identifier, and the server device 702 that receives the image identifier and the image transfer request displays the received image identifier and the image communication display device. According to the correspondence between the image identifiable information and the second image identifier, the client device 701 owns the image corresponding to the image displayed by the image communication display device 703 when the client device 701 transmits the image identifier transmission request. The transmitted image is transmitted to the client device 701.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, only an instruction to copy an image from a client device selected by a user in accordance with an image displayed on a display device is transmitted from a client device to a server device, and a request from a client is transmitted. Accordingly, an identifier representing an image desired by the user can be transmitted from the server device to the client device. The processing according to the first and second embodiments can be realized, for example, by cooperating with a device having a high display capability even when the display capability of the server device is not high or not.

[0167]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the image displayed on the server device, the user selects and transmits an instruction to copy an image from the client device, and the server device transmits the image currently being displayed, or transmits an instruction to copy the image from the client device. In response, the server device transmits the image identifier of the currently displayed image, the client device requests the server device for the image based on the image identifier later, and the server device transmits the image identifier corresponding to the image identifier specified by the client. By transmitting the data, the user can obtain a desired image without transmitting an unnecessary image to the client device, and the amount of communication and the communication time can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image communication device that forms an image communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image communication system according to first and second embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing and communication between a client and a server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a flow of processing and communication between a client and a server according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of correspondence between an image identifier and a file identifier of an image.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a printer device constituting a client of the image communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image communication system according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing on the client side of the image communication system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the flow of image display processing on the server side of the image communication system according to the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of a response process on the server side of the image communication system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of an image identifier acquisition process on the client side of the image communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a flow of a response process to an image identifier request on the server side of the image communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of a response process to an image request on the server side of the image communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of an image acquisition process on the client side of the image communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of an image list held by a server of the image communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image identifier list stored by a client of the image communication system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state in which FIG. 5 of an example of correspondence between an image identifier and a file identifier of an image is updated.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a communication flow between a server and a display device of the image communication system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an image transmission list creation process in a server of the image communication system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of an image list and an image transmission list.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an image transmission process in a server of the image communication system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an image receiving process in the display device of the image communication system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship between a file identifier of an image transmitted by a server of the image communication system according to the third embodiment and an image identifier issued by a display device, and the file identifier of an image received by the display device and the display device. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a correspondence relationship of image identifiers issued by the maker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 client device 202 server device

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 7, 2002 (2002.8.7)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Patent application title: Image communication device, method, server device, program, and storage medium

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image communication device, a method, a server device, a program, and a storage medium.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an image communication apparatus according to the present invention comprises a display for displaying an image held therein, and an identifiable information storage for storing information capable of identifying the image being displayed. Means, during image display, when receiving a request for image transfer from the client, according to the information capable of identifying the image being displayed, identifies the image being displayed, the image displayed Transmitting means for transmitting to the client.

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An image communication method between a server and a client, wherein the server displays an image to be held, and holds information capable of identifying an image being displayed.
When the client sends a request for image transfer to the server, the server identifies an image being displayed according to information capable of identifying the image being displayed, and displays the displayed image on the client. An image communication method, characterized in that the image communication method is performed. 2. An image communication method between a server and a client, wherein the server displays an image to be held, and holds information capable of identifying an image being displayed.
When the client sends a request for transmitting an image identifier to the server, the server can identify the image that is being displayed according to the information that can identify the image that is being displayed, and can identify the image that is being displayed. Information and the corresponding relationship of the image identifier corresponding to the currently displayed image, and transmits the image identifier corresponding to the currently displayed image to the client, and the client having received the image identifier, together with the image identifier, An image transfer request is transmitted to the server, and the server that receives the image identifier and the image transfer request receives the image identifier and the information indicating the correspondence between the received image and the information that can identify the displayed image, The image displayed when the client transmitted the request for transmitting the image identifier is transmitted to the client. Image communication method for. 3. An image communication method in a system in which a server is connected to a client via a first communication path, and wherein the server is connected to an image communication display device via a second communication path. The server orders at least one or more of the stored images and transmits the images to the image communication display device. The image communication display device reproduces an image identifier corresponding to the received image in an image reception order. Store the image identifier as possible, return the image identifier to the server, the server receives the image identifier, and reproduces the correspondence between the transmitted image and the image identifier, the order of image transmission. The image communication display device is capable of switching an image to be displayed according to an instruction from the server, and the server is currently displaying the image communication display device. If the client transmits an image transfer request to the server while the image communication display device is displaying an image while holding information capable of identifying an image, the server is currently displaying the image communication display device. An image communication method, wherein an image held by the server corresponding to an image displayed by the image communication display device is transmitted to the client in accordance with information capable of identifying a certain image. 4. An image communication method for a system in which a server is connected to a client via a first communication path, and wherein the server is connected to an image communication display device via a second communication path, The server orders at least one or more images among the retained images and transmits the images to the image communication display device. The image communication display device transmits a first image identifier corresponding to the received image to the image reception display device. The order is reproducibly stored, and the first image identifier is returned to the server. The server receives the first image identifier, and associates the transmitted image with the first image identifier. The relationship is stored so that the order of image transmission can be reproduced, and the image communication display device can switch an image to be displayed according to an instruction from the server, and the server If the image communication display device holds the identifiable information image is being displayed, the image communication display device in the displayed image, the client sends a request for image identifier sent to the server,
The second image identifier corresponding to the image currently being displayed by the image communication display device and the image communication display device are being displayed in accordance with the information capable of identifying the image currently being displayed by the image communication display device. Holding the correspondence of information capable of identifying an image, transmitting the second image identifier to a client, the client receiving the second image identifier transmits a request for image transfer together with the second image identifier to the server The server that receives the image identifier and the request for image transfer transmits the received second image identifier, information capable of identifying the image displayed by the image communication display device, and the second According to the correspondence relationship between the image identifiers, when the client transmits the request for transmitting the image identifier, the image communication display device holds the image corresponding to the displayed image. Images are an image communication method and transmits to the client. 5. A display unit for displaying a stored image, an identifiable information storage unit for storing information capable of identifying an image being displayed, and receiving an image transfer request from a client during image display. Transmitting means for identifying a displayed image according to the information capable of identifying the image being displayed, and transmitting the displayed image to the client. apparatus. 6. A display for displaying a held image, holding information capable of identifying the image being displayed, and
When receiving a request for image transfer from the client, identifying the displayed image according to the information capable of identifying the image being displayed, and transmitting the displayed image to the client. Or a storage medium storing the program. 7. A display means for displaying a stored image, and, when a request for transmitting an image identifier is received from a client during image display, transmitting an image identifier corresponding to the image being displayed to the client. An image identifier transmitting unit, and, when receiving an image identifier and an image transfer request from the client, transmitting an image displayed when the client transmits the image identifier transmission request to the client according to the received image identifier. A server device, comprising: 8. When an image identifier transmission request is received from a client during image display, an image identifier corresponding to the displayed image is transmitted to the client.
When receiving an image identifier and a request for image transfer from the client, according to the received image identifier,
A server program or a storage medium storing the program, wherein the image displayed when the client transmitted the request for transmitting the image identifier is transmitted to the client. 9. A server device connected to a client via a first communication path and connected to the image communication display device via a second communication path, wherein: an image holding means for holding an image; Display image transmitting means for transmitting to the image communication display device in an order; switching instruction transmitting means for transmitting a switching instruction for switching an image displayed by the image communication display device to the image communication display device; An information holding unit that holds information capable of identifying an image that is being displayed by the device; and an image transfer display device that displays an image transfer request from the client while the image communication display device is displaying an image. The image held by the holding unit corresponding to the image displayed by the image communication display device is displayed in accordance with the information that can identify the image that is inside. Server apparatus characterized by having a request image transmitting means for transmitting to the client. 10. A server program connected to a client via a first communication path and connected to an image communication display device via a second communication path, or images stored in a storage medium storing the program are ordered. Transmitting to the image communication display device, transmitting a switching instruction to switch the image displayed by the image communication display device to the image communication display device, and identifying the image currently displayed by the image communication display device. Holding the information, when the image communication display device receives an image transfer request from the client while displaying the image, the image communication display device identifies the image currently being displayed from the identifiable information, and A server program for transmitting, to the client, an image corresponding to the image displayed by the communication display device, or the program The stored storage medium. 11. A server device connected to a client via a first communication path and connected to the image communication display device via a second communication path, wherein: an image holding means for holding an image; Display image transmitting means for ordering at least one image among the images and transmitting the image to the image communication display device; instruction transmitting means for transmitting an instruction to switch an image displayed by the image communication display device; When the image communication display device transmits an image identifier transmission request from the client, while the image communication display device is displaying an image,
Identifier transmitting means for transmitting, to the client, an image identifier corresponding to the image currently being displayed by the image communication display device according to the information capable of identifying the image currently being displayed by the image communication display device; When receiving the identifier and the request for image transfer, according to the received image identifier, the image holding means corresponding to the image displayed by the image communication display device when the client transmits the request for image identifier transmission And a request image transmitting unit for transmitting the image held by the client to the client. 12. A server program connected to a client via a first communication path and connected to an image communication display device via a second communication path, or a storage medium storing the program. At least one or more images are sequenced and transmitted to the image communication display device, an instruction to switch an image displayed by the image communication display device is transmitted, and an image currently displayed by the image communication display device can be identified. Holding information, when the image communication display device transmits an image identifier transmission request from the client during image display,
An image identifier corresponding to the image currently displayed by the image communication display device is transmitted to the client in accordance with the information capable of identifying the image currently displayed by the image communication display device, and the image identifier and the image are transmitted from the client. When a transfer request is received, according to the received image identifier, the image held by the server corresponding to the image displayed by the image communication display device when the client transmits the image identifier transmission request is displayed. A server program transmitted to the client, or a storage medium storing the program.