JP2003134486A - Multi-purpose integrated video transmitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-purpose integrated video transmitting device based on a personal computer which can transmit an image photographed with a camera in real time and has excellent convenience. SOLUTION: The multi-purpose integrated video transmitting device 1 has an image displaying part 3 arranged on the surface of a housing 2 and a transparent touch panel 4 formed on the surface of the image displaying part 3 in the form of being overlapped on the image displaying part 3, and is mounted with a camera 5 at the center of the top of the housing 2 in a freely attachable and detachable way. On a side face of the housing 2, a USB port 17, a PCMCIA interface 18, an Ethernet (registered trademark) interface 19, a serial interface 23 or the like are disposed, and various pieces of external communication equipment, an Ethernet LAN or the like can be connected. The multi-purpose integrated video transmitting device 1 can be used, for example, in an on-vehicle video telephone system, a monitored video transmitting device, a front video transmitting device, a portable video transmitting device, a monitored video transmitting device with a camera switching function, etc.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a versatile integrated video transmission device, and more particularly to an in-vehicle videophone, a surveillance video transmission device, a front video transmission device, a portable video transmission device, and a surveillance video transmission device with a camera switching function. The present invention relates to a versatile integrated video transmission device which can be used in a compact form.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, it is known that an image input device, for example, a camera is attached to a notebook type personal computer and an image taken by the camera is taken into a storage device of the notebook type personal computer as a file. In addition, a mobile phone in which a camera is fixedly attached to a part of a housing is known.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional apparatus, that is, a conventional apparatus based on a personal computer, since the image taken by the camera is stored in the storage device of the personal computer as a file, it cannot be transmitted in real time. Therefore, the personal computer cannot be used for a videophone, a surveillance video transmission device, a front video transmission device, a portable video transmission device, or the like.

In addition, it is difficult to take a picture of the talker or the like while talking on a mobile phone having a fixed camera,
There was a problem with convenience. In addition, it was used only for mobile phones and could not be used for multiple purposes.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional technique, and an object thereof is a versatile personal computer-based one which can transmit an image taken by a camera in real time and is excellent in convenience. It is to provide a body type video transmission device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an audio input / output device, an image input device, and means for compressing and encoding and transmitting an image signal taken from the image input device. And an image display device that displays an image signal captured from the image input device, and a transparent touch panel formed on the surface of the image display device so as to overlap the image display device, and manually input from the touch panel, The feature is that data and commands can be input.

According to this feature, an image taken by a camera can be displayed on an image display device, compression-encoded, and data and commands can be manually input from a touch panel, which is a multifunctional and compact personal computer. It is possible to provide a versatile integrated video transmission device based on.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an external perspective view of a multipurpose integrated video transmission device of the present invention.

The multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus 1 includes a housing (box) 2, an image display section 3 made of a liquid crystal or the like which is built in a rectangular shape in a central portion thereof, and an image display section 3 which overlaps with the image display section 3. It has a transparent touch panel 4 formed on its surface. A camera 5 is detachably installed in the center of the upper part of the camera, and its direction can be changed forward and backward. On the right side surface thereof, for example, a PCMCIA interface 18, a serial interface 23, an Ethernet interface 19, a USB port 17, etc. The terminals of are exposed. The touch panel 4 functions as a pointing device, and is touched by a human finger,
Data and commands can be input to the device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus 1. Software for image compression transmission and decoding of the received image runs on the internal CPU 11. The software is stored in the ROM memory 15, and a memory controller 12, a RAM memory 13, and an image display device 14 are provided as means necessary for displaying a result of execution of the software and an operation screen.

The I / O controller 16 reads out a software program from the ROM memory 15 and
USB port 17, PCMIA interface 18,
It is mounted for exchanging data with input / output interfaces such as the Ethernet interface 19, the audio input / output device 20, the serial controller 21, and the image input controller 22. A serial interface 23 and a pointing device 24 are connected to the serial controller 21, and data can be input and output between the serial controller 21 and the serial interface 23 and the pointing device 24.

An image input device 25 corresponding to the camera 5 is connected to the image input controller 22 so that an image can be input. A microphone or headphones can be connected to the audio input / output device 20 to input or output (reproduce) sound.

Further, the USB port 17, PCMI
A communication modem, an ISDN terminal adapter, a PHS, a mobile phone, etc. can be connected to the A interface 18 and the serial interface 23 to form a communication path. Also, Ethernet interface 1
An Ethernet cable can be connected to 9 for direct connection to a LAN.

Next, an application example or an application example of the multi-purpose integrated video transmission apparatus 1 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described below. The image compression encoding software built in the present device 1 has a function of switching the encoding parameter according to its application. The user can change the coding parameter from the touch panel 4 by using this switching function. For example, in the case of encoding an object to be photographed with a large amount of motion, the frame skip is set to be long, and a large amount of information is assigned to each frame. On the other hand, in the case of capturing an image with small motion, a process of reducing the information allocation to one frame and excluding the still part from the encoding target (background separation) is performed.

(1) In-vehicle video phone device FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the multi-purpose integrated video transmission device 1 applied to an in-vehicle video phone device. Device body 1
Is fixed to a dashboard or seat of an automobile using a stand 30, metal fittings or the like. As the communication means, the PCMIA interface 18 and the PCM
The PHS or mobile phone 32 connected via the CIA modem card 31 or the PHS or mobile phone 32 connected to the USB port 17 by a cord can be used. The device body 1 and the communication means enable mobile communication.

All operations of the apparatus 1 can be performed using the pointing device 24, that is, the touch panel 4. For example, the pointing device 24
Can be used to specify a communication partner address, perform a calling operation such as connection start, and end operation. A telephone number and a signal for making a call, which are input from the pointing device 24, are displayed on the image display device 14, interpreted by the CPU 11, and connected to the USB port 17, the PCMCIA interface 18, or the like, or a mobile phone. It is output to a network (not shown) via 32.

The image on the transmitting side is taken in by the image input device 25 (camera 5) built in the apparatus 1 and compression-encoded by the software for image compression transmission inside the apparatus 1. The compressed bit stream is input to the communication device via the communication interface and transmitted. That is, the image on the transmission side is the image input device 25 → the image input controller 22 of FIG.
→ I / O controller 16 → (memory controller 12
⇔ ROM memory ⇔ CPU 11 ⇔ RAM memory) is compression-encoded according to the route, and the I / O controller 16 → USB
It is output to the PHS and the mobile phone 32 via the port 17. Further, the video signal is output from the PHS or the antenna of the mobile phone 32 to a network (not shown).

On the other hand, the audio signal is input from the audio input / output device 20, is compression-encoded along the same path as that of the video signal, and is output to the PHS or the mobile phone 32. Further, it is output to the network via the PHS and the antenna of the mobile phone 32.

When there is an incoming call, the CPU 11 in the standby state detects the incoming call and performs a predetermined receiving process.
The received image / sound signal is also captured by the software inside the device 1 via the communication interface. Then, the received image / audio signal is sent to the CPU.
The image signal is decoded by the image display device 1
The audio signal is displayed on the audio input / output device 20.
Is output from.

(2) Surveillance Video Transmission Device FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view when the multipurpose integrated video transmission device 1 is applied to the surveillance video transmission device. When used as a surveillance video transmission apparatus, first, the apparatus is fixedly installed at a point to be monitored, and an operator uses the pointing device 24 in advance to initialize the apparatus.

The monitoring video signal and / or audio signal is
Similar to the case of the in-vehicle videophone device, the CPU 1
It is compression-encoded with 1 or the like and sent to the telephone jack via the PCMCIA modem card 31 connected to the PCMCIA interface 18. It can also be sent to an Ethernet LAN connected to the Ethernet interface 19. Further, to the PHS connected to the USB port 17, a mobile phone, or the PHS,
It can be sent to a network (not shown) via a mobile phone or the like.

In addition, an intruder detecting device or the like is separately prepared, and an alarm signal from the detecting device is input to the device 1 through the serial interface 23, and the alarm signal is used as a trigger to cause the device 1 to notify a monitor. It is possible to start transmitting the surveillance video. Of course, depending on the mode set at the time of initial setting, it is possible to carry out the operation of continuously transmitting the surveillance video.

(3) Front Video Transmission Device FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view when the multipurpose integrated video transmission device 1 is applied to the front video transmission device. As shown in the figure, if the device 1 is installed on, for example, a dashboard of a car and the camera 5 is installed in a front direction, the scene in front of the car being driven can be captured and transmitted by the camera 5. . This can be realized by temporarily pulling out the detachable camera 5 built in the device 1 from the housing 2, rotating it 180 ° and inserting it into the camera receiver of the housing 2.

In this case, if the image display section 3 and the transparent touch panel 4 formed on the surface of the image display section 3 are directed toward the room, the driver or the like can determine whether or not the camera 5 normally projects the scenery in front. Can be confirmed by the occupant or can be used in combination with other uses such as the in-vehicle videophone of the above (1) using the touch panel 4.

Incidentally, the processing such as compression coding of the image projected by the camera 5 and the transmission can be carried out by the same method as in the in-vehicle videophone of the above (1).

(4) Portable Video Transmission Device FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view when the versatile integrated video transmission device 1 is applied to a portable video transmission device. In this portable video transmission device, a PCMCIA PHS card 33 is inserted into the PCMCIA interface 18 of the present device 1, a PHS or a mobile phone is connected to the PCMCIA PHS card 33, and a video image taken while moving is compressed and transmitted.

As a communication device, a PCMCIA PH
The S card is the most suitable, but U as used in (1)
A PHS or a mobile phone may be connected via the SB port 17 or the PCMCIA interface 18.

The camera 5 can be attached to and detached from the casing 2 and can be expanded and contracted. By detaching the camera 5 from the casing 2 and pointing it freely in the direction of the subject, the subject can be captured accurately.
The portable video transmission device can be used for news video transmission, videophone, and the like.

In this case, means for measuring the degree of extension of the cable connecting the camera 5 and the present apparatus 1 is installed in the present apparatus 1, and when the cable is extended to a predetermined length or more, the CPU 1
It is possible to notify 1 to automatically switch to an appropriate compression coding parameter. As a means for measuring the degree of extension of the cable, for example, a means for measuring the number of rotations of a pulley around the cable or a means for detecting a marker attached to a predetermined length of the cable is used. The detection result can be notified to the CPU 11 via the I / O controller 16 or the like. As the compression encoding parameter, when the cable is expanded to a predetermined length or more and the camera 5 is used,
In general, the camera 5 is used while being held by hand, and therefore, an image suitable for a camera shake, in other words, an image in which the background shakes is selected. On the contrary, when the cable is used without being stretched to a predetermined length or more, the camera 5 is generally mounted on the apparatus 1 for use, and therefore the background of the image displayed by the camera 5 is still. There is. Therefore,
Appropriate compression coding parameters are selected for coding an image with a static background.

Further, by attaching a micro switch to the mounting portion of the camera 5 of the present apparatus 1 so that it is turned on when the camera 5 is attached and turned off when the camera 5 is detached, the camera 5 is attached and detached. The state can be notified to the CPU 11 via the I / O controller 16 or the like. Further, it turns on when the camera 5 is mounted frontward, and turns off when it is mounted rearward. For example, by adding one more microswitch, the CPU 11 determines whether the camera 5 is mounted frontward or rearward. Can be detected.

The CPU 11 can automatically change the compression coding parameters depending on whether or not the camera 5 is mounted and the mounting direction. As a result, the nature of the image displayed according to the state of the camera, for example, the image of the inside of the car, etc., which is imaged with the camera attached, has a small movement and the background does not move, the image outside the car taken with the camera removed, etc. It is possible to automatically switch to an appropriate compression coding parameter according to the nature of an image or the like in which the background moves rapidly and the background moves.

(5) Surveillance Video Transmission Device with Camera Switching Function FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view when the multipurpose integrated video transmission device 1 is applied to the surveillance video transmission device with camera switching function. This surveillance video transmission device with a camera switching function is
A plurality of image input devices 2 are added to the surveillance video transmission device of (2).
5, that is, cameras 51 to 54 are added.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the main body 1 of FIG. In the block diagram, a plurality of image input controllers 22a to 22n are connected in parallel to the I / O controller 16, and the plurality of image input controllers 22a to 22n are connected.
Image input devices 25a to 25n are connected to each of the above. Note that other reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts as in FIG.

The images from the plurality of cameras 51 to 54 are R
The image compression transmission software is stored in the OM memory 15 and executed by the CPU 11 or the like. Here, the plurality of videos from the cameras 51 to 54 are assigned to one split screen to form one video signal, or the video from the selected camera is used as one video signal for compression transmission.

Whether to transmit a plurality of images as a split screen image or which camera image is selectively transmitted is performed by the user at the time of initial setting, or during monitoring, the monitoring person switches the image through the network. It can be realized by sending a command for this to the device 1.

The configuration and application example of the multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus of the present invention have been described above, but it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the description and can be applied to various other applications.

[0036]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the inventions of claims 1 to 12, it is possible to transmit images taken by a camera in real time, and it is convenient, and is versatile based on a personal computer. It is possible to provide the integrated video transmission device. In addition, a versatile and compact PC-based multipurpose computer that can display images captured by the camera on the image display unit, can be compression-encoded, and can manually input data and commands from the touch panel An integrated video transmission device can be provided.

Further, according to the inventions of claims 2, 4 to 6,
It becomes possible to automatically set appropriate compression coding parameters according to the nature of the image that is likely to be transmitted depending on the state of the camera. This reduces the work of setting appropriate image compression encoding parameters according to changes in the usage environment, and improves convenience in use.

According to the third and seventh aspects of the invention, since the camera can be attached and detached and the direction thereof can be changed by, for example, 180 °, the camera can be mounted on a portable video transmission device or an automobile. It is very convenient when used in a video transmission device.

Further, according to the invention of claim 9, since it has various input / output interfaces, it can be connected to various external devices. Therefore, it becomes possible to selectively use an external device suitable for the purpose of use.

According to the eleventh and twelfth aspects of the invention,
Since a telephone number and a command for making a call can be manually input from the touch panel, it is possible to provide an in-vehicle videophone device with good operability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an embodiment of a versatile integrated video transmission device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration of the multipurpose integrated video transmission device.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a vehicle-mounted videophone device as an application example.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a surveillance video transmission device as an application example.

FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of a front video transmission device as an application example.

FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of a portable video transmission device as an application example.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view of a surveillance video transmission device with a camera switching function as an application example.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration of the surveillance video transmission device with a camera switching function.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Multipurpose integrated type video transmission device, 2 ... Housing | casing, 3 ... Image display part, 4 ... Touch panel, 5, 51-54 ... Camera, 11 ... CPU, 12 ... Memory controller, 13
... RAM memory, 14 ... Image display device, 15 ...
ROM memory, 16 ... I / O controller, 17 ... U
SB port, 18 ... PCMCIA interface,
19 ... Ethernet interface, 20 ... Audio input / output device, 21 ... Serial controller,
22, 22a to 22n ... Image input controller, 23.
..Serial interface, 24 ... Pointing device, 25, 25a to 25n ... Image input device, 32 ... Mobile phone or PHS.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shuichi Matsumoto             2-15-1 Ohara, Kamifukuoka City, Saitama Stock             Company CAD Research Institute (72) Inventor Masayuki Fujise             4-2-1 Nukiikita-cho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo             Incorporated administrative agency Communications Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Fumihide Kojima             4-2-1 Nukiikita-cho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo             Incorporated administrative agency Communications Research Laboratory (72) Inventor Katsuyoshi Sato             4-2-1 Nukiikita-cho, Koganei-shi, Tokyo             Incorporated administrative agency Communications Research Laboratory F term (reference) 5C022 AA12 AB62 AC01 AC27 AC31                       AC69                 5C054 AA01 CA04 CC02 CE01 CG08                       CH01 CH08 DA01 DA07 EA01                       EG10 HA00                 5C059 PP04 RB02 RC32 SS07 SS10                       SS26 TA17 TC47 TD13 UA02                       UA28 UA38 UA39                 5C064 AA01 AB04 AC02 AC12 AC20                       AD02 AD08 AD14

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An audio input / output device, an image input device, means for compressing and encoding and transmitting an image signal captured from the image input device, and image display for displaying the image signal captured from the image input device. A device and a transparent touch panel formed on the surface of the device so as to overlap with the image display device, and data and commands can be manually input from the touch panel. Multi-purpose integrated video transmission device. 2. The multipurpose integrated video transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the compression encoding can be changed from the touch panel. 3. The multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image input device is a camera, and the camera is detachable and can be mounted by changing its direction. 4. The image input device comprises a camera, and means for detecting whether or not the camera is in a mounted state is provided, and the parameter of the compression encoding can be changed according to the detection result. The multipurpose integrated video transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The multipurpose according to claim 4, further comprising means for detecting the orientation of the camera, wherein the compression encoding parameter can be changed depending on the orientation of the camera in the mounted state. Integrated video transmission device. 6. The image input device comprises a camera, comprising means for detecting whether or not the camera is in a mounted state, and detecting the degree of extension of the camera when the camera is not mounted. 4. The multipurpose integrated video transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the parameter of the compression encoding can be changed according to the degree of the expansion. 7. The multipurpose integrated image according to claim 1, wherein the image input device comprises a camera, and the camera can be mounted by changing the direction of the camera by 180 °. Transmission equipment. 8. The multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of the image input devices. 9. An input / output interface, further comprising a serial port, a USB port, an Ethernet interface,
9. The multipurpose integrated video transmission apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of a PCMCIA interface and a PCMCIA interface. 10. The multi-use integrated video transmission device is used as at least one of a surveillance video transmission device, a front video transmission device, a portable video transmission device, and a surveillance video transmission device with a camera switching function. The multipurpose integrated video transmission device according to any one of claims 1 to 9. 11. An image signal receiving section is further provided, and the received image signal is displayed on the image display device,
The multipurpose integrated video transmission according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it is possible to input a communication partner address from the touch panel and perform a call or end operation such as connection start and end. apparatus. 12. The multipurpose integrated video transmission device according to claim 11, wherein the multipurpose integrated video transmission device is used as an in-vehicle videophone device.