JP2003009131A - Image supervising system and method for delivering image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image supervising system which can freely use a supervising place and an image terminal unit by alleviating a user's burden required for supervision by reducing installing and maintaining costs, and to provide a method for delivering the image. SOLUTION: The image supervising system comprises an imaging means 11 of an image of a predetermined supervising ground point, a specific event determining means 12 for deciding a predetermined specific event according to the image, a storage means 22 for storing the image of the imaging means, an image terminal unit 30 for displaying the image stored in the means 22, and a transmitting means 24 for transmitting the image stored in the means 22 to the terminal unit 30 when the event specified by the means 12 is recognized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image monitoring system and an image distribution method for transmitting an image in which a predetermined specific event is recognized to reduce the burden on the user for monitoring.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional image monitoring system, "CC
TV monitoring system basic course P.76-84 (written by Masaaki Takahashi, Industrial Development Organization, Ltd.) ”is generally known.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional image monitoring system for transmitting an image captured by the camera 1 of the facility K to be monitored to the centralized monitoring facility S by an optical fiber to monitor the image.

An image signal photographed by the camera 1 is converted into an electric signal by a modulator 2 and transmitted as an optical signal through an optical fiber 4. The optical signal transmitted by the optical fiber 4 is demodulated into an electric signal by the demodulator 5 of the centralized monitoring facility S. The monitor can detect the intruder 6 and the like by monitoring the image of the demodulated image signal on the monitor 3.

[0005]

However, in the conventional image monitoring system, it is necessary to install and maintain the optical fiber 4 and the cable for exclusive use, which causes a great cost and constantly monitors the image of the camera 1. There was a problem that it was necessary for the staff to confirm on the monitor 3 and that the centralized monitoring facility S was fixed and could not be monitored at other locations.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and reduces the cost of installation and maintenance, reduces the burden on the user required for monitoring, and reduces the monitoring place and the image terminal. An image monitoring system and an image distribution method that can be used freely are provided.

[0007]

An image monitoring system according to the present invention comprises an image pickup means for picking up an image of a predetermined monitoring point, a specific event decision means for judging a predetermined specific event from the image, and an image pickup means for the image pickup means. A storage unit for storing an image, an image terminal device for displaying the image stored in the storage unit, and an image stored in the storage unit when the specific event is recognized by the specific event determination unit. And a transmitting means for transmitting to the container.

With this configuration, when a predetermined specific event is recognized, the image is transmitted to the user side, and the burden on the user for monitoring can be reduced.

Further, in the image monitoring system of the present invention, the image pickup means for the image of the predetermined monitoring point, the storage means for storing the image of the image pickup means, and the predetermined specific event are stored in the storage means. A specific event judging means for judging from an image; an image terminal for displaying the image stored in the storage means; and an image stored in the storage means when the specific event is recognized by the specific event judging means. It is configured to include a transmitting means for transmitting to the image terminal.

With this structure, when a predetermined specific event is recognized, the image is transmitted to the user side, and the burden on the user for monitoring can be reduced.

Further, the transmitting means notifies the image terminal device when the specific event is recognized by the judging means,
According to a request from the image terminal, the image is converted into a protocol usable by the image terminal and transmitted.

With this configuration, the reception according to the image terminal can be performed, and it is possible to freely use the monitoring place and the image terminal.

Further, when the specific event is judged when the absence setting is made in the image terminal, the communication device of the supervisor of the image terminal is notified.

With this configuration, it is possible to grasp a specific event at the monitoring point even in the absence of a person.

Further, it is decided to charge according to the data capacity of the image downloaded to the image terminal.

With this configuration, according to the image transmission status,
Accurate charge management can be performed.

The image is transmitted by using a wireless public line.

With this configuration, the cost of installation and maintenance can be reduced.

Further, the specific event determining means acquires the feature amount while tracking the moving object in the image, and detects the intruding object in the image by using the feature amount.

With this configuration, it is possible to reliably detect an intruding object and reliably monitor it.

Further, the specific event judging means performs a difference process with an input image sequentially input by using an image taken in a state where no object exists as a background image, and leaves a difference in the image for a predetermined period or more. It was decided that the left-over object was placed when there was an area.

With this configuration, it is possible to reliably detect an abandoned object and reliably monitor it.

Further, in the transmission, the image is compressed and the image quality and the frame rate are changed depending on whether or not an abnormality is detected in the image recognition processing.

With this configuration, the transmission cost can be reduced.

The transmission is performed by a module inserted in a general-purpose slot of the main body of the image pickup means.

With this configuration, the transmission cost can be reduced.

Further, in the image distribution method of the present invention, the image of the predetermined monitoring point is recorded by the recording means, the image is transmitted by the network, and the image is displayed by the display / display means through the network. The image displayed by the display means has the content of the contract in advance, and the image of the specific event based on the contract is extracted.

According to this method, when a predetermined specific event is recognized, the image is transmitted to the user side, and the burden on the user for monitoring can be reduced.

[0029]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an image monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

The image recognition camera device 10 captures an image of a surveillance point and detects a specific event set in advance in the image. The captured image is transmitted through the network 40 to the base station device 20 of the base station that is the monitoring service provider. The base station device 20 stores the received image signal, converts the image signal into a protocol that can be used by the image terminal device 30 on the user side and transmits the image signal through the network 40 when a specific event is detected.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of the image recognition camera device 10, the base station device 20, and the image terminal device 30.

The image recognition camera device 10 includes an image pickup section 11,
Specific event determination unit 12, image compression unit 13, camera transmission unit 1
It is composed of four.

The image pickup section 11 photoelectrically converts the image formed on the image pickup element by the optical system and then AD-converts the image to obtain, for example, an N-bit grayscale image of horizontal X pixels and vertical Y pixels.

The specific event determination unit 12 determines a specific event in the image picked up by the image pickup unit 11, and detects, for example, an intruder, an abandoned object, a visitor, a graffiti.
Determine specific events that occurred in the image, such as grasping the condition of the patient, detecting the weather, and detecting an accident.

The image compression unit 13 compresses the image signal obtained by the image pickup unit 11. As a compression method, MPEG-4, H.261, and H.263 general methods are used for moving images, and JPEG general methods are used for still images. When the specific event determination unit 12 determines a specific event in the image, the compression rate of the image signal is reduced to improve the image quality. For example, the frame rate is FA when the specific event occurs and FB when the specific event occurs. When FA
> = FB and the frame rate can be increased. Reducing the image quality and the frame rate can reduce the image data volume.

The camera transmission unit 14 transmits the compressed image signal via the network 40. The transmission can be started with the specific event determination unit 12 having determined a specific event as a trigger, or can be always transmitted.
Even when transmission is started by using a specific event as a trigger, it is possible to transmit the image signal immediately before the specific event occurs by adding a frame buffer function to the image recognition camera device 10.

As a method of transmitting an image signal, for example,
ITU-T recommendation H.324 / M is available.

The camera transmission unit 14 uses the SD (Secure Di
It may be realized by a module such as an SD card or a CF card that is inserted into a general-purpose slot compatible with a gital) card or a CF (Compact Flash) card, etc. It is possible to select a communication mode that is most cost-effective at the time of transmission.

The base station device 20 of the base station is the receiving device 2
1, image storage server 22, protocol conversion device 23,
The transmitter 24 is used.

The receiving device 21 receives the image signal from the image recognition camera device 10.

The image storage server 22 temporarily stores the image signal in a hard disk array or the like.

The protocol conversion device 23 is the image terminal device 3.
Image storage server 2 according to the protocol used by 0
Convert the image stored in 2. For example, when the image recognition camera device 10 uses a protocol conforming to H324 / M (ITU-T recommendation), no protocol conversion is necessary when the image terminal device 30 is also a multimedia terminal 31 conforming to H324 / M. However, via the video conferencing device 32 that adopts H.320, H.323, and H.324, or the network 40, TC
When transmitting to a personal computer 33 or the like using P / IP, protocol conversion is required.

The transmitting device 24 transmits the image signal to the image terminal device 30 through the network 40.

The image terminal 30 is the image recognition camera device 1.
It is a terminal that can view images stored in the image storage server 22 after being photographed at 0.
Etc. can be used.

It is also possible to remotely control the zoom and turntable of the image recognition camera device 10 from the image terminal device 30 and set parameters relating to image pickup, image recognition and compression. You can also perform operations such as data deletion and data protection.

An image distribution method according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 1, on the user side, first,
A system use contract is signed with a base station, which is a monitoring service provider in which the base station device 20 is installed, and the base station installs the image recognition camera device 10 in a place desired by the user.

The specific event determined by the specific event determination unit 12 depends on the setting, and for example, intruder detection, abandoned object detection, visitor detection, graffiti detection, patient condition grasp, weather detection, accident detection. You can make a contract by selecting from the items such as.

Image determination processing is performed to determine a specific event in the image based on the content of the contract, and when the specific event is determined in the image, the network 40 causes the base station device 20 to perform the determination.
The user is notified via the. It should be noted that there are several possible settings for the method of transmitting the image captured by the image recognition camera device 10, for example, the setting of always transmitting to the server 22, the setting of transmitting only when a specific event is determined, and the normal setting. Has a setting that the frame rate and the image quality are reduced before transmission, and when a specific event is determined, the image quality and the frame rate are increased and transmitted.

When a public line is used for image transmission, the cost varies depending on each setting, so the transmission setting can be changed depending on the contract content. In addition, the timer can determine a specific event and transmit an image only at a designated time such as at night.

The image received from the image recognition camera device 10 is stored in the image storage server 22 of the base station device 20 managed by the base station. The amount of data that can be stored in the image storage server 22 can be changed according to the content of the contract with the user. For example, a large capacity is secured when it is desired to store images up to a month ago, and a small capacity is secured when only images up to several hours ago are required.

When the image recognition camera device 10 detects an abnormality, the image is notified through the base station device 20 by e-mail or the like. At the time of notification, for example, at the moment when an abnormality occurs, a representative image of about several frames can be attached and notified. Since erroneous recognition may occur in the determination process of a specific event, the user side confirms the representative image, and if necessary, the scenes before and after the representative image may be downloaded from the image storage server 22 and viewed. it can.
In addition, the base station charges for the amount of data downloaded from the image storage server 22, and the bank terminal 50 pays for the charge from the image storage server 22.

An image monitoring system according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The image monitoring system of the third embodiment determines an intruder as a specific event in the first and second embodiments. The determination of the intruder is based on the specific event determination unit 12
The case where the determination is performed by the inter-frame difference method will be described as an example.

First, the noise contained in the image signal is reduced by the smooth filter process. Subsequently, the image input at time t (not shown) and the past image input at time t-Δt are subjected to difference processing to extract a region in which a change in luminance of a predetermined threshold value or more occurs. When the tracking processing is performed on the brightness change area generated at the time t, and the occurrence occurs continuously for a predetermined period or when the area moves a predetermined distance or more, it is determined that an intruder-like object is present in the image. recognize.

For tracking an object, a motion vector or template matching can be used.

An image monitoring system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The image monitoring system of the fourth embodiment is to judge an abandoned object as a specific event in the first and second embodiments. The determination of the abandoned object is performed by the specific event determination unit 12
The case where the determination is performed by the background subtraction method will be described as an example.

First, the noise contained in the image is reduced by the smooth filter process. An image taken in the absence of an object is used as a background image, and difference processing is performed with the input images that are sequentially input.If there is a region in the image where the difference remains for a predetermined period or more, the abandoned object Judge that it was hit. With this, it is possible to judge the case where the dust is dumped.

Further, graffiti etc. written on the wall surface or the road surface can be judged by the same method.

Further, it is possible to register the shape of the object or the monitoring area in advance and judge the unattended object by pattern recognition.

As described above, the image monitoring system and the image distribution method of the present invention reduce the installation and maintenance costs, reduce the burden on the user side required for monitoring, and further improve the monitoring location and the use of image terminals. Can be set freely.

In the case where the user of the image terminal device 30 is out and is absent from the user side, when the absence is set in advance and a predetermined specific event is determined, for example, the cell phone of the observer is displayed. You can also contact.

Further, in the above embodiment, the network 40
The image signal is transmitted by using W-CDMA.
Broadband wireless such as wireless LAN and wireless LAN, and wired public lines can also be used for transmission.

Further, although the specific event determination unit 12 is provided in the image recognition camera device 10, it may be provided in the base station device 20 to determine the specific event from the image taken by the image pickup unit 11.

[0067]

As described above, according to the image monitoring system of the present invention, the image taken by the image recognition camera device is transmitted using a wireless public line or the like, so that the cost for installing and maintaining the monitoring system can be reduced. Can be reduced.

Further, since the occurrence of a specific event such as an abnormality is automatically detected by the image recognition processing, the burden on the user required for monitoring can be reduced.

Further, since the image can be transmitted to a wide range of image terminals by the protocol conversion, it is possible to freely use the monitoring place and the image terminal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image monitoring system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an image recognition camera device, a base station device, and an image terminal device.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a conventional image monitoring system.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Image recognition camera device 11 Imaging unit 12 Specific Event Judgment Section 13 Image compression unit 14 Camera transmitter 20 base station equipment 21 Receiver 22 Image storage server 23 Protocol Converter 24 transmitter 30 image terminal 31 multimedia terminals 32 video conferencing equipment 33 PC 34 Set Top Box 40 networks 50 bank terminal

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G08B 25/10 G08B 25/10 DF term (reference) 5C054 AA01 CC02 DA07 DA09 EA01 EA03 EA05 EA07 FC11 FC13 GB01 HA18 5C084 AA02 AA07 AA13 BB02 BB25 CC17 DD11 FF02 FF04 FF27 GG07 GG09 GG43 GG52 GG78 HH10 HH12 HH13 5C087 AA02 AA03 AA24 AA25 BB12 GG70 GG67 GG17 FF17 FF17 FF17 FF17 FF17 FF17 FF17 FF01 FF01 FF02 FF01 FF01 FF01 FF01 FF02

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An image pickup device for capturing an image of a predetermined monitoring point, a specific event determination device for determining a predetermined specific event from the image, a storage device for storing an image of the image pickup device, and the storage device. An image terminal for displaying the stored image; and a transmitting means for transmitting the image stored in the storing means to the image terminal when the specific event is recognized by the specific event determining means. Characteristic image monitoring system. 2. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a predetermined monitoring point, a storage means for storing the image of the image pickup means, and a specific event determination means for judging a predetermined specific event from the image stored in the storage means. And an image terminal for displaying the image stored in the storage means, and a transmitting means for transmitting the image stored in the storage means to the image terminal when the specific event is recognized by the specific event determination means. An image monitoring system comprising: 3. The transmitting means notifies the image terminal when the specific event is recognized by the judging means, and the image can be used by the image terminal according to a request from the image terminal. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the image monitoring system converts the protocol into a different protocol and transmits the protocol. 4. The communication device of a supervisor of the image terminal is contacted when the specific event is determined while the absence setting is made in the image terminal. The image monitoring system described in 1. 5. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein a charge is made according to the data capacity of the image downloaded to the image terminal. 6. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein a wireless public line is used for transmitting the image. 7. The specific event determining means acquires a feature amount while tracking a moving object in the image, and detects an intruding object in the image using the feature amount. The described image monitoring system. 8. The specific event determining means performs, as a background image, an image captured in the absence of an object, and performs difference processing with input images that are sequentially input, and the difference remains in the image for a predetermined period or more. 3. It is judged that an abandoned object has been placed when there is an area.
The image monitoring system described in 1. 9. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission compresses the image and changes the image quality and the frame rate depending on whether or not an abnormality is detected in the image recognition processing. . 10. The image monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the transmission is performed by a module inserted in a general-purpose slot of the main body of the image pickup means. 11. An image of a predetermined monitoring point is recorded by a recording means, the image is transmitted by a network, and the image is displayed by a display / display means through the network. The image displayed by the display means. Is a content contracted in advance, and an image of a specific event based on the contract is extracted.