JP2004140858A - Camera control apparatus and window control method of camera control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To control a plurality of image input devices on a screen without considerably moving a visual line while watching an image obtained with the plurality of image input devices on the screen. <P>SOLUTION: In response to an operation of a mouse 6, a cursor is displayed at an arbitrary position on a display device 2, and in response to a click operation of the mouse 6, a control element 4 is displayed on the display device 2. When there is the click operation of the mouse while the cursor is positioned within an image display window 3 and when the click operation is performed over a plurality of image display windows, a plurality of control elements 4, 17 corresponding to cameras 1, 10 are displayed while being overlapped on image display windows 3, 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

The present invention relates to monitoring of a control device for controlling an image input device such as a camera, and more specifically, a camera control device and a camera control for controlling an image communication device such as a video conference or a video phone and a remote monitoring device. The present invention relates to a window control method for a device.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a conventional video conference terminal device. The camera 111 is for photographing the user 112, and is installed on the display device 114. Many windows can be opened on the screen of the display device 114 by a well-known window display system. In FIG. 8, a self-portrait window 116 for displaying a captured image of the user 112 by the camera 111 is disposed at the center, and a camera control window 118 for operating the camera 111 is disposed beside the window. Another window 120 (here, a window for displaying a clock) is arranged behind the self-portrait window 116.

# 122 is a mouse for designating or inputting an arbitrary position on the screen of the display device 114, and 123 is a cursor displayed on the screen of the display device 114 corresponding to the mouse 122. By selecting and operating the control elements displayed in the control window 118 with the mouse 122, the power of the camera 111 can be turned on / off, panning / tilting operations to the left, right, up and down, focal length, exposure, zoom, and the like can be adjusted. 24 is a keyboard, 26 is a microphone for voice input.

Usually, the user 112 is sitting in front of the display device 114. When the power of the camera 111 is turned on by the mouse 122 or the keyboard 124, the self-portrait window 116 is set at the center of the screen of the display device 114. The image captured by the camera 111 is displayed on the self-portrait window 116 after being flipped left and right. Thereby, the user 112 can confirm the operation state of the camera 111 and the degree of reflection of the user.

Patent Literatures 1 to 4 are related arts of the present application.
JP-A-04-302587 JP-A-04-373386 JP-A-04-323990 JP-A-04-240986

で は In the conventional example, the camera control window 118 is usually arranged at a position where it does not interfere with the self-portrait window 116. Therefore, when adjusting the camera 111, the user 112 must move his / her gaze between the gaze direction 128a looking at the self-portrait window 116 and the gaze direction 128b looking at the camera control window 118, and move frequently. No.

(4) Such a problem is the same when operating the camera of the partner terminal while viewing the image from the image communication partner in the received image window. Further, the same applies to the case where a surveillance camera or the like is remotely operated.

In view of the above problem, the present invention provides a camera control device and a window control method of the camera control device, which enable control of the image input device without greatly moving a line of sight while watching an image obtained by the image input device. The purpose is to provide.

Further, when at least two image windows and a control window corresponding to the image windows are displayed on a screen, a camera control device and a camera control device which can easily recognize a camera currently being controlled. It is an object of the present invention to provide a window control method for a device.

In order to achieve the above object, a camera control device of the present invention includes a plurality of cameras for displaying image information obtained from a plurality of cameras capable of changing at least one of pan, tilt, zoom, focal length, and exposure. An image window, display means for displaying a control element for operating the change operation on a screen of a display device, and performing the change operation of the plurality of cameras in response to operation of the control element displayed by the display means. First control means for controlling, and displaying an identifier at an arbitrary position on the screen in response to a first input from the operation input device, and in response to a second input from the operation input device Second control means for displaying the control element on the screen, wherein when the identifier is located in an image window, there is a second input from the operation input device, If two inputs is made on a plurality of image window, the second control means may be a plurality displayed over each of the respective image window of the control element corresponding to each camera.

Further, the window display method of the camera control device according to the present invention includes a plurality of image windows for displaying image information obtained from a plurality of cameras capable of changing at least one of pan, tilt, zoom, focal length, and exposure. And a control element for operating the change operation is displayed on a screen of a display device, and a window of a camera control device capable of controlling the change operation of the plurality of cameras in accordance with the operation of the displayed control element. A display method, comprising displaying an identifier at an arbitrary position on the screen in response to a first input from an operation input device, and controlling the control element in response to a second input from the operation input device. Is displayed on the screen, and when the identifier is located in the image window, there is a second input from the operation input device, and the second input is a plurality of images. If done on a guiding, characterized in that to display multiple overlapping to each of the respective image window of the control element corresponding to each camera.

According to the present invention, it is possible to control the image input device on the screen without greatly moving the line of sight while viewing the image obtained by the image input device on the screen.

Furthermore, by displaying at least a portion of the control window that overlaps the image window in a translucent manner, even if the control window is opened above the image window, the image displayed on the image window can be confirmed.

Furthermore, when at least two image windows and a control window corresponding to the image windows are displayed on the screen, the camera currently being controlled is recognized by changing the transparency of each control window. It becomes easier.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of the present invention. The cameras 1 and 10 as one of the image input devices are for photographing the user 7 and other subjects, and are installed on the display device 2. The cameras 1 and 10 input images to the computer 100 as described later. In this embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cameras 1 and 10 are installed on the display device 2. However, the camera 1 is installed on the display device 2 for a person, and the camera 10 is used for an electronic OHP document (not shown). It may be installed on a table and used for document reading. The display device 2 is controlled by the computer 100 to display information from a plurality of information sources. Many windows can be opened on the screen of the display device 2 by a well-known window display system. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an image display window (hereinafter, display window) 3 for displaying an image input from the camera 1 is disposed at the center of the display device 2, and a camera A display window 11 for displaying an image input from 10 and another window 5 (here, a window for displaying a clock) are arranged.

The system also includes a mouse controller (hereinafter referred to as a mouse) 6 for designating or inputting an arbitrary position on the screen of the display device 2, a keyboard 8 for inputting information to the computer 100, and transmitting audio information to the computer 100. A microphone 9 and the like are provided as means for inputting. A cursor 110 as an identifier is displayed on the screen of the display device 2 corresponding to the position indicated by the mouse 6.

使用 When using this system, the user 7 usually sits in front of the display device 2. When the power of the camera 1 is turned on by the mouse 6 or the keyboard 8, the display window 3 is set at the center of the screen of the display device 2. The image captured by the camera 1 is displayed on the display window 3 after being reversed left and right. Thereby, the user 7 can confirm the operating state of the camera 1 and the state of the image of the user. At this time, if the camera 1 faces the direction of the user 7, the image from the camera 1 can be confirmed on the display window 3 as if it were reflected in a mirror.

Here, when the object to be presented is the user 7 and the camera 1 is not facing the user 7 at all, it is necessary to point the camera 1 at the user 7. In that case, the user 7 presses a predetermined button 6a of the mouse 6. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a camera control window (hereinafter, control window) 4 for controlling panning / tilting operation, focal length, exposure, zoom, and the like for the camera 1 is displayed at the display position of the cursor 110. Is done. The user 7 can control the operations of the various cameras described above by moving the cursor 110 to a predetermined position in the control window 4 and pressing the button 6a of the mouse 6. Control of these operations is executed by a central processing unit (hereinafter, CPU) 15 (FIG. 3). As described above, since the control window 4 is displayed at the display position of the cursor 110, the direction of the line of sight 60a for the user 7 to see the display window 3 and the direction of the line of sight 60b for the user to see the control window 4 substantially match. be able to. Therefore, the movement of the line of sight is small. The control window 4 can be deleted from the screen by pressing the button 6b of the mouse 6.

(4) Although the control window 4 is displayed and erased with the mouse 6 here, the control window 4 may be controlled by key input using the keyboard 8 or voice input using the microphone 9, which is another external input device.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of the above embodiment. The same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. The computer 100 includes a server 12, a window manager 13, a graphic interface 14, and a CPU 15, which are connected to a bus 15. The display device 2, the mouse 6, and the keyboard 8 are connected to the server 12, respectively, and control communication with these. The window manager 13 controls each window described above. The graphic interface 14 is connected to the cameras 1 and 10 and captures and outputs image information from the cameras 1 and 10. The CPU 15 performs various controls. In the embodiment shown here, the cameras 1 and 10 are directly connected to the graphic interface 14, and the display device 2, the mouse 6 and the keyboard 8 are connected to the server 12, but these are connected via the bus 16. Each may be connected.

At this point, the server 12 detects which window the cursor 110 indicated by the mouse 6 indicates, and further indicates which position in the window, and based on the detected result, the cursor 110 moves to which window. You can judge where you are. Then, the operation is determined according to the determined position of the cursor 110. This operation is controlled by the CPU 15. Here, when the cursor 110 is present in the window displayed on the display window 3 corresponding to the camera 1, by pressing the button 6a of the mouse 6 as shown in FIG. Are displayed on the display window 3 on the screen of the display device 2. Further, when the cursor 6 is positioned in the display window 11 corresponding to the camera 10, by pressing the button 6a of the mouse 6, the control window 17 is displayed on the display window 11 as shown in FIG. You.

In such a system, in order to minimize the amount of movement of the line of sight, the control window 4 is displayed at the center of the display window 3 without indicating the position, rather than being displayed at the position indicated by the cursor 110. It is better to do. However, if the control window 4 hides the display window 3, the operation of the camera 1 is hindered. Therefore, as an improved example, as shown in FIG. 4, the control window 4 is made translucent and displayed in the center of the display window 3. Thus, the user can operate the control window 4 while confirming the image captured by the camera 1 and making the line-of-sight directions 60a and 60b substantially coincide with each other.

Furthermore, the priority of the display window 3 is set to be the highest, and when the control window 4 overlaps the display window 3 having a lower priority, the control window 4 having the lower priority is displayed translucently. To do.

In a normal window display system, when a plurality of windows are displayed, any one selected window is arranged at the forefront and conceals other windows. In this case, if the control window 4 is selected or operated in a state where the control window 4 overlaps the display window 3, the control window 4 is hidden by the control window 4. As described above, when another window overlaps the display window 3, the other window can be made translucent to eliminate this problem.

制 御 A control method at this time will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the window manager 13, and particularly shows a configuration block of a circuit for displaying the control windows 4 and 17 translucently. A first window pop-up control circuit (hereinafter referred to as a first pop-up control circuit) 18 controls the appearance and erasure of the first control window 4 stored in the memory 30 in the display window 3 and the second window pop-up control circuit. A control circuit (hereinafter, a second pop-up control circuit) 19 controls appearance and erasure of the second control window 17 stored in the memory 31 in the second display window 11. The first superposition amount control circuit 20 controls the amount of superposition of the first control window 4 on the first display window 3 output via the memory 32, and the second superposition amount control circuit 21 The amount by which the second control window 17 is superimposed on the second display window 11 output via the memory 33 is controlled. The controller 22 controls the first and second superposition amount control circuits 20, 21. The data of the first and second control windows 4 and 17 are provided from the CPU 15 (FIG. 3) via the bus 16, and the data of the first and second display windows 3 and 11 are provided by the graphic interface 14, These are provided from the cameras 1 and 10 (FIG. 3) via the bus 16 respectively.

Here, if the user 7 issues a request for the appearance of the first control window 4 corresponding to the selected first display window 3 by a predetermined operation of the mouse 6, the first pop-up control circuit 18 Sends the first control window 4 read from the memory 30 to the next stage. The transmitted first control window 4 is input to a first superposition amount control circuit 20, and the first superposition amount control circuit 20 performs level conversion on the first control window 4 to control the superposition amount. I do. The first control window 4 in which the superposition amount is controlled is added by the adder 23 to the first display window 3.

Here, if the user 7 issues a request for the appearance of the second control window 17 corresponding to the selected second display window 11 by a predetermined operation of the mouse 6, the second pop-up control circuit 19 sends the second control window 17 read from the memory 31 to the next stage. The transmitted second control window 17 is input to the superimposition amount control circuit 21, and the superposition amount control circuit 21 performs level conversion on the second control window 17 to control the amount of superimposition. The second control window 17 in which the superposition amount is controlled is added by the adder 24 to the second display window 11.

The data added by the adders 23 and 24 is further added to the other window 5 read from the memory 34 by the adder 25, and then input to the server 12 via the bus 16.

The controller 22 sends a signal for determining the amount of superimposition to the superimposition amount control circuit 20 for controlling the amount of superimposition of the first control window 4. When determining the superimposition amount of the first control window 4, if the second display window 11 is open and the second control window 17 appears, the controller 22 performs the first display. The superimposition amount of the first control window 4 corresponding to the window 3 is made larger than the superimposition amount of the second control window 17 corresponding to the second display window 11 so that the superimposition amount of the control window 4 can be clearly confirmed. Control. At this time, the amount of superimposition of the second control window 17 corresponding to the second display window 11 is determined so that the image from the camera 10 displayed in the second display window 11 is not obstructed. .

Here, the control of the superimposition amount is the addition to each of the display windows 3 and 11, but in order to keep the level of the image finally output at the addition ratio constant, each of the display windows 3 and 11 is controlled. In the level control of the above, if the level of the final output is set to 1 with respect to the control of the signal from the controller 22 to the first and second superposition amount control amount devices 20 and 21, the display window and the control window The levels of the display windows 3 and 11 are also controlled so that the sum of the levels becomes 1.

In addition, in the superposition amount control devices 20 and 21, when the whole is set to 1, the addition of the control windows 4 and 17 is added to the display windows 3 and 11 at a ratio of 0 to 1.

If the addition is performed at the ratio of 0 or 1, the addition may be performed by switching between the appearance of the display window and the appearance of the control window.

Also, in the present embodiment, the description has been made of an example in which the memories 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 are provided in the window manager 13, but they may be separately connected to the bus 16. In that case, it is possible to cope with the situation by reading the data into the window manager 13 via the bus 16 as necessary.

(6) Another control method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the configuration of the window manager 13, and particularly shows a configuration block of a circuit for displaying the control windows 4 and 17 translucently. The configuration example shown here is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 5 except that the connection position of the superposition amount control circuit is different. That is, here, the first display window 3 and the second display window 11 are superimposed, and the superposition amount is controlled.

Here, if the user 7 issues a request to appear the first control window 4 corresponding to the selected first display window 3 by a specific operation such as the mouse 6, the first pop-up control circuit 18 Sends the first control window 4 read from the memory 30 to the next stage (adder 23). On the other hand, the first display window 3 output via the memory 32 is input to the first superposition amount control circuit 20, and the first superposition amount control circuit 20 performs level conversion on the first display window 3. To control the amount of superimposition. The first display window 3 whose superposition amount is controlled is added by the adder 23 to the first control window 4.

Here, if the user 7 issues a request for the appearance of the second control window 17 corresponding to the selected second display window 11 by a specific operation such as the mouse 6, the second pop-up control circuit 19 sends the second control window 17 read from the memory 31 to the next stage (adder 24). On the other hand, the second display window 11 output via the memory 33 is input to the superimposition amount control circuit 21. The superimposition amount control circuit 21 performs level conversion on the second display window 11 and determines the amount of superimposition. Control. The second display window 11 whose superposition amount is controlled is added by the adder 24 to the second control window 17.

The data added by the adders 23 and 24 is further added to the other window 5 read from the memory 34 by the adder 25, and then input to the server 12.

さ ら に A more specific configuration example will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example for causing the display window 3 and the control window 4 to appear, and a configuration example for causing the display window 11 and the control window 17 to appear is omitted. It can be realized by Then, as described in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, by adding and outputting these data, a window can be simultaneously opened on the screen of the display device 2.

The first video RAM (hereinafter, VRAM) 43 stores image data input from the camera 1 as an external input device. The second VRAM 47 stores display screen data such as a control screen generated by the CPU 15 (FIG. 3). The selectors 48 and 53 switch data in the memories 50 and 51 and output the data to the integrators 44 and 49, respectively. The memories 50 and 51 store at least one “1” and smaller data. The memory controller 52 controls writing and reading to and from the VRAMs 43 and 47, and sends signals for data switching to the selectors 48 and 53.

Next, the operation will be described. The image data stored in the first VRAM 43 and the display screen (control window) data stored in the second VRAM 47 are read out by a command from the memory controller 52. The data read from the first VRAM 43 is input to the integrator 44. The integrator 44 integrates the data read from the first VRAM 43 and predetermined data “k” selected by the selector 48 from among a plurality of data stored in the memory 50 to obtain a data. Control the level of That is, the data read from the first VRAM 43 is multiplied by k and output from the integrator 44. When the data k = 1 from the memory 50 selected by the selector 48, the level of the data read from the first VRAM 43 is output from the integrator 44 without changing. In this embodiment, a configuration is adopted in which all data to be selected is obtained from the memory 50. However, when the value to be integrated is 1, the data read from the first VRAM 43 passes through the integrator 44 as it is. The data may be obtained from the memory 50 when the value to be integrated is smaller than 1.

The first VRAM 43 is read by the CPU 15 when performing compression, transmission, and the like in addition to display.

On the other hand, the control window data read by the memory controller 52 and stored in the second VRAM 47 is input to the integrator 49. At this time, the integrator 49 controls the data level by integrating the data sent from the second VRAM 47 and the data from the memory 51 input via the selector 53. The data integrated by the integrator 49 is added by the adder 45 to the data integrated by the integrator 44 to obtain data to be displayed on the display device 2 (FIG. 3). As described above, in order to set the level of this data to 1, when the data obtained from the memory 50 is set to k, the selector 53 is set so that the data obtained from the memory 51 becomes (1-k). 52. That is, the memory 51 stores data that is (1-k) with respect to the data provided in the memory 50.

The data added by the adder 45 is displayed on the display device 2 via the bus 16 and the server 12, as described above. Here, the configuration example corresponding to one image display window and control window has been described. However, the configuration of this embodiment is also applicable to a case where two image display windows and control windows are provided as in the above-described embodiment. This can be handled by providing two sets and an adder.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and schematically shows a system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a state where a control window is opened on a screen of a display device in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration block diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. It is a figure showing the state where a control window is displayed translucently. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a window manager. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of another example of the window manager. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a more specific configuration example of a window manager. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique.

Explanation of reference numerals

Reference Signs List 1 camera 2 display device 3 image display window 4 camera control window 6 mouse 7 user 8 keyboard 9 microphone 10 camera 11 image display window 12 server 13 window manager 14 graphic interface 15 CPU
16 bus

Claims (8)

Displaying a plurality of image windows for displaying image information obtained from a plurality of cameras capable of performing at least one of pan, tilt, zoom, focal length, and exposure, and a control element for operating the changing operation Display means for displaying on the screen of the device;
First control means for controlling the changing operation of the plurality of cameras according to operation of a control element displayed by the display means;
An identifier is displayed at an arbitrary position on the screen in response to a first input from the operation input device, and the control element is displayed on the screen in response to a second input from the operation input device And second control means for causing
When there is a second input from the operation input device when the identifier is located in an image window, and the second input is made on a plurality of image windows, the second control means: A camera control device, wherein a plurality of the control elements corresponding to the respective cameras are displayed so as to be superimposed on the respective image windows. If there is a second input from the operation input device when the identifier is located in the image window, the second control means causes the control element to be displayed in the center of the image window. The camera control device according to claim 1, wherein: The said 1st control means controls the said change operation | movement of the said camera according to the position of the said identifier on the said control element, and the said 2nd input, The Claims 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Camera control device. 4. The camera control device according to claim 1, wherein the second control unit makes the control element translucent and displays the control element on the image window. 5. Displaying a plurality of image windows for displaying image information obtained from a plurality of cameras capable of performing at least one of pan, tilt, zoom, focal length, and exposure, and a control element for operating the changing operation A window display method of a camera control device capable of displaying on a screen of the device and controlling the changing operation of the plurality of cameras according to an operation of the displayed control element,
An identifier is displayed at an arbitrary position on the screen in response to a first input from the operation input device, and the control element is displayed on the screen in response to a second input from the operation input device When there is a second input from the operation input device when the identifier is located in the image window, and when the second input is made on a plurality of image windows, it corresponds to each camera. A window display method for a camera control device, wherein a plurality of the control elements are displayed so as to be superimposed on the respective image windows. 6. The control element is superimposed and displayed at the center of the image window when a second input is made from the operation input device while the identifier is located in the image window. 4. The window display method of the camera control device according to 1. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the changing operation of the camera is controlled according to the position of the identifier on the control element and the second input. 8. The window display method for a camera control device according to claim 4, wherein the control element is made translucent and is displayed so as to overlap the image window.

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