JP2005086723A - Image transmitting device, image transfer method, image processing system, program, and information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize the ability of a highly functional encoding system such as JPEG2000, and to maximally show the decoding ability of an image transfer destination device. <P>SOLUTION: Decoding ability information of all image receiving devices 300 in a system are collectively managed in the structure management table 203 of a system management device 200. An image transmitting device 100 acquires decoding ability information of the image transfer destination image receiving devices 300 from a system controller 200, and sets the parameter of an encoding processing part 102 by a parameter setting part 105, in response to the decoding ability information. The decoding ability information includes information concerning a parameter selected among wavelet conversion, the number of tones, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, a tile size, an image size, bit plane encoding, sub-bit plane encoding, lossless encoding, a progressive system, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus that encodes and transfers an image to an image reception apparatus connected via a transmission path, and an image processing system that includes the image transmission apparatus and the image reception apparatus as subsystems.

  In a system including a capability exchange server that manages the capabilities of a plurality of communication devices, the transmission side communication device inquires the capability exchange server about the document size, resolution, encoding method, file format, etc. of the reception side communication device, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-151867 describes a technique for transmitting image data matched to a document size, resolution, encoding method, file format, etc. on the receiving side as an attached file to an e-mail to the receiving side communication device.

JP 2000-261597 A

  In recent years, the demand for high-definition images is increasing due to the advancement of image input / output technology. Taking a digital camera as an example of an image input device, the price of a high-performance electrified coupling element having a number of pixels of 3 million or more has been reduced, and it has been widely used in products in a popular price range. On the other hand, with regard to image output / display devices, there is a remarkable increase in definition and price in the hard copy field such as laser printers, ink jet printers, etc. This is a soft copy of CRT displays, LCD displays, etc. There is no exception in the field.

  With the progress of such high definition, research on image encoding (compression) technology capable of maintaining high image quality even at a high compression rate has been advanced. In particular, an image coding method using DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) instead of DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) is drawing attention. A representative example is JPEG2000, which became an international standard in 2001, and is considered to be a next-generation standard encoding method because it has advanced functions compared to conventional JPEG.

  When a high-performance encoding method such as JPEG2000 is used for the encoding processing of an image transferred from the image transmission device to the image reception device, the image reception device side supports so that the function of the encoding method can be used effectively It is important to appropriately control the parameters of the encoding process within a possible range.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission apparatus, an image transfer method, and an image processing system having a novel configuration for effectively using a function of an encoding method such as JPEG2000.

An invention according to claim 1 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding The image transmission apparatus includes information on parameters selected from sub bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression.

The invention of claim 2 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with the system management apparatus and the image receiver apparatus via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including information on a wavelet transform defining function in the encoding process supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention of claim 3 is an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image receiver device via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding an image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including information on a maximum number of layers of layer encoding in the encoding process supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 4 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, and is capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with the system management apparatus and the image receiver apparatus.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission apparatus including information on a color conversion method in the encoding process supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 5 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with the system management apparatus and the image receiver apparatus via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including information on whether tile division in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 6 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which are capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device characterized by including information on a maximum tile size of tile division in the encoding process supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 7 is an image transmission apparatus which constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with the system management apparatus and the image receiver apparatus via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device characterized in that it includes information on whether or not bit plane encoding in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 8 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with each other via a transmission path with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including information indicating whether or not sub-bitplane encoding in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

An invention according to claim 9 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with each other via a transmission path with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device characterized in that it includes information on the number of gradations supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention of claim 10 is an image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, which can communicate with the system management apparatus and the image receiver apparatus via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including information indicating whether or not a function of varying a compression rate depending on a region in the encoding process is supported by the image reception device of the image transfer destination. .

The invention of claim 11 is an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image receiver device via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device characterized in that it includes information on whether or not lossless decoding is supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination.

The invention of claim 12 is an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image receiver device via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information includes an image size information that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination.

The invention according to claim 13 is an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image receiver device via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission device including whether or not tile boundary distortion suppression in the encoding process is supported by the image reception device of the image transfer destination.

The invention of claim 14 is an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image receiver device via a transmission path.
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is an image transmission apparatus including progressive information in the encoding process supported by the image transfer destination image reception apparatus.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image transmission device that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management device and the image reception device, which can communicate with the system management device and the image reception device via a transmission path.
Obtaining the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device managing the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Setting the parameters of the encoding process according to the decoding capability information acquired by the step;
Performing an encoding process on an image to be transferred to the image receiving device of the image transfer destination according to the parameter set by the parameter setting step;
Transferring the image encoded by the encoding processing step to the image receiving device of the image transfer destination,
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding The image transfer method includes information on parameters selected from sub bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression.

The invention of claim 16 is an image processing system in which an image transmission device, an image receiver device, and a system management device are connected to each other via a transmission path so as to be able to communicate with each other.
The system management device has a configuration management table in which decoding capability information of image reception devices in the system is registered,
The image transmission device includes:
Encoding processing means for performing encoding processing of an image transferred to an image receiving apparatus as an image transfer destination;
Means for obtaining decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the decoding capability table in the system management device;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding An image processing system including information on parameters selected from sub bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression.

The invention of claim 17 is the image processing system of the invention of claim 16,
The system management apparatus includes means for acquiring decoding capability information from an image receiving apparatus in the system, and means for updating the contents of the configuration management table based on the decoding capability information acquired by the means. Is an image processing system.

  The invention of claim 18 is a program for realizing the image transmission apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 14 on a computer.

  A nineteenth aspect of the invention is a computer-readable information recording medium on which the program of the eighteenth aspect of the invention is recorded.

  According to the first to seventeenth aspects of the present invention, in the image transmitting apparatus, the parameters of the encoding process can be appropriately set according to the decoding capability information of the image receiving apparatus as the image transfer destination. More specifically, various parameters of encoding processing by a high-performance encoding method such as JPEG2000, for example, the basis function of wavelet transform, the number of decomposition levels (number of hierarchies) of wavelet transform, and the effectiveness / Invalidity, color conversion valid / invalid, color conversion method type, tile division valid / invalid, maximum tile size, tile boundary distortion suppression valid / invalid, number of gradations (bits per pixel), maximum image size Enable / disable bit plane encoding, enable / disable sub bit plane encoding, enable / disable lossless encoding, type of progressive method, enable / disable selective area image quality improvement (ROI described later), etc. The parameter can be appropriately set according to the decoding capability information of the image receiving apparatus as the image transfer destination. Therefore, it is possible to effectively use the function of a high-performance encoding method within the range of the decoding capability of the image receiving apparatus as the image transfer destination, and to maximize the decoding capability of the image receiving apparatus. Further, the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system is managed by the system management device, and the image transmission device acquires the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from this system management device and performs the encoding process. Even if the number of image receiving devices in the system increases / decreases or changes to set the parameters, the image transmitting device does not periodically inquire about the decoding capability of the image receiving device, and transfers images to the image receiving devices in the system. Can be done appropriately. Further, according to the inventions of claims 18 and 19, the image transmission apparatus that performs the parameter control of the encoding process as described above is realized by using a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer or a computer such as a microcomputer. Can do.

  Since the best embodiment of the present invention assumes the application of JPEG2000, an outline of JPEG2000 will be described first. However, JPEG2000 is suitable for the encoding method applied in the present invention, but is not limited to JPEG2000 only.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a typical flow of JPEG2000 encoding processing.

  For example, when a color image composed of three RGB components is encoded, each component is divided into non-overlapping tiles, and processing is performed for each tile of each component. The size of the tile can be specified by the user, and the tile size can be matched with the image size. That is, it is possible not to perform tile division.

  For each tile, DC level shift and color conversion to luminance / color difference components are performed. However, DC level shift and color conversion are not essential. JPEG2000 defines reversible conversion (RCT) and irreversible conversion (ICT) as color conversion methods.

  Next, wavelet transform (discrete wavelet transform) is performed for each tile of each component. In JPEG2000, reversible 5 × 3 wavelet transform and irreversible 9 × 7 wavelet transform are defined as wavelet transforms. The number of decomposition levels of wavelet transform (number of wavelet transform applications, number of layers) can be specified by the user.

  The wavelet coefficients are entropy-coded for each subband (after linear quantization if 9 × 7 wavelet transform is used), but the wavelet coefficients are usually decomposed into bit planes to increase compression efficiency. Then, entropy coding (bit plane coding) in units of bit planes is performed. Precisely, the bit plane is subdivided into three sub bit planes and encoded (sub bit plane encoding).

  Then, unnecessary codes are truncated (discarded) from the obtained codes, and necessary codes are collected to generate a packet. Finally, packets are arranged in a predetermined order, and necessary tags or tag information are added to form a code stream (encoded data) of a predetermined format.

  The decoding process is just the reverse of the encoding process. The code stream is decomposed into code streams for each tile of each component, and is converted back to wavelet coefficients by entropy decoding. If the wavelet coefficients are quantized at the time of encoding, they are inversely quantized and then subjected to inverse wavelet transform to return them to pixel values. When DC level shift and color conversion are applied at the time of encoding, reverse color conversion and reverse DC level shift are applied to the pixel value after the inverse wavelet transform, and the original RGB pixel value is restored.

  Entropy coding, packet generation, and code formation at the time of encoding will be further described.

  FIG. 9 shows the relationship among images, tiles, subbands, precincts, and code blocks. Here, the tile size and the image size are the same (number of tile divisions = 1). In addition, the number of decomposition levels of wavelet transform is 3, and the subbands are 1LH, 1HL, and 1HH at decomposition level 1, 2LH, 2HL, and 2HH at decomposition level 2, and the decomposition. There are level 3 3LL, 3LH, 3HL, and 3HH subbands.

  The precinct is a subband divided into rectangles (of a size that can be specified by the user) and represents a rough place in the image. With respect to the precinct obtained by dividing the HL, LH, and HH subbands, precincts (a total of three) at the corresponding positions of the subbands are handled as a group. However, one precinct obtained by dividing the LL subband is handled as one group. The precinct can be the same size as the subband. A code block is obtained by dividing a precinct into rectangles (of a size that can be specified by the user). The subband coefficients are encoded for each code block.

  A packet is obtained by extracting and collecting a part of codes from all code blocks included in the precinct (for example, collecting codes of MSBs of all code blocks to the third bit plane).

  In JPEG2000, a layer structure can be taken. Collecting packets of all precincts (= all code blocks = all subbands), a part of the code of the entire image (for example, the code of the MSB to the third bit plane of the wavelet coefficients of the entire image) This is called a layer. Since the layer is roughly a part of the code of the bit plane of the entire image, the image quality increases as the number of layers to be decoded increases. That is, the layer is a unit of image quality.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the layer structure when the number of decomposition levels (number of layers) = 2, the precinct size = subband size, and FIG. 11 shows an example of a packet included in the layer with a bold line. It is shown enclosed. In the example shown here, since the precinct size = subband size and the code block having the same size as the size of the printinct is adopted, the subband of the decomposition level 2 is divided into four code blocks. Deconstruction level 1 subbands are each divided into 9 code blocks. Since the packet is a unit of precinct, when precinct = subband, the packet straddles the HL to HH subbands.

  Here, the packet is “a collection of code blocks extracted and collected”, and unnecessary codes need not be generated as packets. For example, the code of the lower bit plane as contained in the layer 9 in FIG. 10 is usually discarded (truncated). Therefore, image quality control by truncation is possible in units of code blocks (and units of sub-bit planes). That is, the image quality control unit by truncation is a code block.

  In JPEG2000, several progressive methods can be selected. The progressive method is roughly divided into a method of gradually improving the spatial resolution and a method of gradually improving the SNR image quality. The order of packets in the code stream is called a progressive order, which is related to the progressive method. In JPEG 2000, five progression orders are defined by combinations of resolution, precinct, component, and layer.

  JPEG2000 also has a selective area image quality improvement (ROI) function that improves the image quality of a specific area of an image over other areas. In JPEG2000, as a basic method of ROI, a Max Shift method that weights a power of 2 by a bit shift to a wavelet coefficient of a region of interest is defined.

  JPEG2000 is expected to standardize a function (sample overlap processing) for suppressing tile boundary distortion (tile boundary discontinuity) in the extended method.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an image processing system and an image transmission apparatus according to the present invention. This image processing system includes an image transmission device 100, an image reception device 300, and a system management device 200 as subsystems, and the subsystems are connected to each other via a transmission line 400 so as to communicate with each other. The transmission path 400 is a line such as a LAN, an intranet, or the Internet.

  In this example, two image receiving apparatuses 300A and 300B are connected, but the number is arbitrary. The number of image transmission apparatuses 100 is also arbitrary. Note that the image transmission apparatus 100 is not necessarily an apparatus dedicated to image transmission, and may be an apparatus having a function as an image reception apparatus. The same applies to the image receiving apparatus 200.

  The system management device 200 collectively manages the decoding capability information of the image reception devices 300 in the system. When the image transmission device 100 is configured to function also as an image reception device, the image transmission device 100 is also one of the image reception devices, and the decoding capability information thereof is managed by the system management device 200.

  The image transmission device 100 includes a communication unit 101 that communicates with the system management device 200 and the image reception device 300 through the transmission path 400, an encoding processing unit 102 that performs image encoding processing, and an image acquired from the system management unit 200. A table storage unit 103 for storing a table 104 of decoding capability information of the receiving apparatus 300; a parameter setting unit 105 for setting parameters of the encoding processing unit 102 according to the contents of the table 104; an image storage unit 106 for storing image data; A control unit 107 that controls each unit and controls the operation of the entire image transmission apparatus is included. Acquisition of the decoding capability from the system management unit 200 is performed through the communication unit 101 under the control of the control unit 107. That is, the control unit 107 and the communication unit 101 implement a decoding capability information acquisition unit. When the image transmitting apparatus 100 also operates as an image receiving apparatus, a means for decoding image encoded data (code stream) is also added.

  In this embodiment, the encoding processing unit 102 performs JPEG2000-compliant encoding processing. The image is encoded by the encoding processing unit 102, and the code stream is transferred to the transfer destination image receiving apparatus 300 through the communication unit 101. The transferred image is not limited to a still image, but also includes a motion picture of Motion-JPEG2000, which is an extension method of JPEG2000. A Motion-JPEG2000 moving image is a motion still image composed of a time series of still images, and each frame is encoded according to the basic method of JPEG2000.

  The image transmission device 100 having such a configuration can be realized as a dedicated hardware device or can be realized by using a computer having a general configuration having a communication interface. When using a computer, the function of the encoding processing unit 102 can be realized by a program, but it is preferably realized as a hardware encoder in order to speed up the encoding process. The present invention also includes a program for realizing the image transmission apparatus 100 using a computer, and various information recording (storage) media such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and a semiconductor storage element on which the program is recorded. Is included.

  The image receiving apparatus 300 includes a communication unit 301 that performs communication with the system management apparatus 200 and the image receiving apparatus 300 through the transmission path 400, a decoding processing unit 302 that performs decoding processing of an image code stream (encoded data), and a decoding processing unit. A table storage unit 303 for storing a table 304 of decoding capability information 302, and a control unit 305 for controlling each unit and controlling the operation of the entire image receiving apparatus. The image receiving apparatus 300 normally includes image output means for displaying or printing the decoded image inside or outside the apparatus, but this is not shown. When the image receiving apparatus 300 also operates as an image transmitting apparatus, the image receiving apparatus 300 includes an encoding processing unit, a parameter setting unit, and the like similar to the image transmitting apparatus 100.

  The system management apparatus 200 stores a communication unit 201 that communicates with the image transmission apparatus 100 and the image reception apparatus 300 through the transmission path 400, and a configuration management table 202 in which decoding capability information of the image reception apparatus 300 in the system is registered. It comprises a table storage unit 202, a table management unit 204 for managing the configuration management table 204, and a control unit 205 for controlling the respective units and controlling the operation of the entire system management apparatus. The system management apparatus 200 can also have a function as an image reception apparatus or an image transmission apparatus. When the system management device 200 has a function as an image receiving device, the decoding capability information is also managed by the system management device 200.

  An example of the contents of the configuration management table 203 in the system management apparatus 200 is shown in FIG. In the figure, receivers A and B mean an image receiving apparatus (A) 300A and the same (B) 300B. In this example, as the decoding capability information, the maximum number of layers, the basis function of wavelet transform (R5 × 3 = reversible 5 × 3 wavelet transform, IR9 × 7 = irreversible 9 × 7 wavelet transform), color transform (RCT, ICT) The maximum tile size, the number of bits per pixel (the number of gradations), bit plane coding, and sub-bit plane coding are included, but this is just an example. Decoding capability information described in the configuration management table 203 includes further support for tile division, ROI, lossless coding, DC level shift, tile boundary distortion suppression, compatible progressive method, and maximum image size that can be supported. Such information can also be included.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart of processing related to management of the configuration management table 203 of the system management apparatus 200. If described with reference to this flowchart, the system management apparatus 200 periodically refers to the contents of the decoding capability information table 304 of all the image receiving apparatuses 300 in the system (step S1), and receives the images in the system. It is determined whether there is a change or increase / decrease in the apparatus 300 (step S2). More specifically, the control unit 205 of the system management apparatus 200 issues a decoding capability inquiry request to each image receiving device 300. In response to this, the content of the decoding capability information table 304 of the own device is received from each image receiving device 300. Returned to the system management apparatus 200. The table management unit 204 performs the determination in step S <b> 2 by collating the contents of the decoding capability information table received from the image receiving apparatus 300 with the contents of the configuration management table 203.

  When determining that the image receiving apparatus has been changed or increased or decreased, the table management unit 204 updates the contents of the configuration management table 304 based on the contents of the decoding capability information table received from the image receiving apparatus 300 (step S4). When this process ends, the control unit 205 waits for a certain time (step S4), and resumes the process from step S1 after the certain time has elapsed.

  4, 5 and 6 show examples of updating the configuration management table. FIG. 5 shows a case where the existing image receiving device (B) 303B is replaced with another image receiving device (C) (including the case where the decoding unit 302 is replaced), and FIG. 6 shows a new image receiving device (C). ) Is added, and FIG. 7 shows a case where the existing image receiving apparatus (B) is deleted (including a case where the image receiving apparatus fails and becomes inoperable).

  Next, the operation of the image transmission device 100 when an image transfer request with a certain image reception device 300 as a transfer destination is generated will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation.

  First, the image transmitting apparatus 100 refers to the configuration management table 203 in the system management apparatus 200 regarding the image receiving apparatus 300 that is the image transfer destination (step S10). More specifically, the controller 107 of the image transmission apparatus 100 issues a decoding capability inquiry request for the image receiving apparatus 300 that is the image transfer destination to the system management apparatus 200. On the other hand, the contents (decoding capability information) of the configuration management table 203 related to the image transfer destination image receiving device are returned from the system management device 200 to the image transmitting device 100, and this decoding capability information is decoded in the image receiving device 100. It is recorded in the capability information table 104.

  In the image transmitting apparatus 100, the parameter setting unit 105 sets various parameters of the encoding process to the encoding processing unit 102 according to the contents of the decoding capability information table 104, that is, the decoding capability information of the image transfer destination (steps S11 to S22). ). In this example, the parameters to be set are related to the maximum number of layers, the basis function of wavelet transform, color conversion, the number of gradations, bit plane coding, and sub bit plane coding. Needless to say, more parameters are to be set.

  First, if the designated (or default setting) number of hierarchies is less than or equal to the maximum number of hierarchies supported by the image transfer destination (step S11, YES), the parameter setting unit 105 keeps the number of hierarchies as it is (step S11). S12) If the designated number of hierarchies exceeds the maximum number of hierarchies of the image transfer destination (step S11, NO), the number of hierarchies is changed to the maximum number of hierarchies of the image transfer destination (step S13).

  Next, if the specified (or default setting) tile size is equal to or smaller than the maximum tile size supported by the image transfer destination (step S14, YES), the tile size is left as it is (step S15), but is specified. If the tile size exceeds the maximum tile size of the image transfer destination (step S14, NO), the tile size is changed to the maximum tile size of the image transfer destination (step S16).

  Next, if the image transfer destination supports irreversible 9 × 7 wavelet transformation (step S18, YES), the irreversible 9 × 7 wavelet transformation is set as the wavelet transformation method, and the non-reversible color conversion method is adopted. A reversible color conversion method is set (step S18). If the image transfer destination does not support the irreversible 9 × 7 wavelet transform (step S18, NO), the reversible 5 × 3 wavelet transform method is set as the wavelet transform method, and the reversible color transform method is used as the color conversion method. Is set (step S19).

  Next, if the image transfer destination supports sub bit plane encoding (step S21, YES), the sub bit plane encoding is enabled (step S21), and the image transfer destination supports only bit plane encoding. If not (NO in step S20), the sub bit plane encoding is invalidated and the bit plane encoding is set (step S22).

  When the parameter setting for the encoding processing unit 102 is completed, the image data to be transferred is input from the image storage unit 106 to the encoding processing unit 102 under the control of the control unit 107, and the encoding processing unit 102 performs encoding. (Step S23). The code stream generated by the encoding processing unit 102 is transferred to the image receiving apparatus 300 that is the image transfer destination (step S24).

  In the image receiving apparatus 300 of the image transfer destination, the code stream received through the communication unit 301 is decoded by the decoding unit 302. Since this code stream is encoded under conditions that do not exceed the decoding capability of the image receiving apparatus 300 that is the image transfer destination, it can be reliably decoded. Therefore, since a code stream encoded under a condition that cannot be decoded by the image receiving apparatus 300 is transferred and cannot be decoded, a situation where the same image is encoded again and retransmitted under a different condition is avoided. .

  In addition, the decoding capability information of all the image reception devices 300 in the system is collectively managed by the system management device 200, and the configuration management table 203 in which the decoding capability information is registered is regularly updated. Therefore, even when the image receiving apparatus 300 in the system is changed or added, the image transmitting apparatus 100 acquires correct decoding capability information of the image transfer destination at the time of image transfer, and is suitable for the decoding capability of the image transfer destination. An encoding process can be performed. Further, when an image receiving apparatus in the system is deleted, it is reflected in the contents of the configuration management table 203 of the system management apparatus 200, so that erroneous transmission of images to the deleted image receiving apparatus can be prevented. it can. The image transmitting apparatus 100 does not need to periodically inquire the decoding capability of the image receiving apparatus 300 in the system. The advantage increases as the number of image receiving apparatuses 300 in the system increases.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the image transmission apparatus and image processing system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of the configuration management table in a system management apparatus. It is a flowchart of the process relevant to the update of a configuration management table. It is a figure which shows the example of an update of a structure management table when an image receiver is replaced. It is a figure which shows the example of an update of a structure management table when an image receiver is added. It is a figure which shows the example of an update of a structure management table when an image receiver is deleted. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of an image transmission apparatus. It is a figure which shows the flow of the typical encoding process of JPEG2000. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an image, a tile, a subband, a precinct, and a code block. It is a figure which shows the example of a layer structure. It is a figure which shows the example of the packet in the said layer structure.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image transmission apparatus 101 Communication part 102 Encoding process part 103 Table memory | storage part 104 Decoding capability information table 105 Parameter setting part 106 Image storage part 107 Control part 200 System management apparatus 201 Communication part 202 Table memory | storage part 203 Configuration management table 204 Table management Unit 205 control unit 300 image reception device 301 communication unit 302 decoding processing unit 303 table storage unit 304 decoding capability information table 305 control unit 400 transmission path

Claims (19)

An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding An image transmitting apparatus comprising information on parameters selected from sub bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on a prescribed function of wavelet transform in the encoding process supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on a maximum number of layers of layer encoding in the encoding process supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on a color conversion method in the encoding process supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information includes an information as to whether or not tile division in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving device of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on a maximum tile size of tile division in the encoding process supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The decoding capability information includes information as to whether or not bit plane encoding in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving apparatus as the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus constituting an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on whether or not sub-bitplane encoding in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving apparatus as the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on the number of gradations supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decoding capability information includes information indicating whether or not a function of varying a compression rate depending on a region in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decoding capability information includes information indicating whether or not lossless decoding is supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on an image size that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on whether or not tile boundary distortion suppression in the encoding process is supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. An image transmission apparatus that constitutes an image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image reception apparatus, capable of communicating with each other via a transmission path with a system management apparatus and an image receiver apparatus,
Encoding processing means for encoding the image;
Means for acquiring the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device that manages the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The image to be transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device is encoded by the encoding processing unit according to the parameters set by the parameter setting unit and transferred to the image transfer destination image receiving device,
The image transmitting apparatus, wherein the decoding capability information includes information on a progressive method in the encoding process supported by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination. In the image transmission apparatus constituting the image processing system together with the system management apparatus and the image receiving apparatus, which can communicate with each other via a transmission path with the system management apparatus and the image receiving apparatus,
Obtaining the decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the system management device managing the decoding capability information of the image receiving device in the system;
Setting the parameters of the encoding process according to the decoding capability information acquired by the step;
Performing an encoding process on an image to be transferred to the image receiving device of the image transfer destination according to the parameter set by the parameter setting step;
Transferring the image encoded by the encoding processing step to the image receiving device of the image transfer destination,
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding An image transfer method comprising information on parameters selected from sub bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression. An image processing system in which an image transmission device, an image receiver device, and a system management device are connected to each other via a transmission line so that they can communicate with each other.
The system management device has a configuration management table in which decoding capability information of image reception devices in the system is registered,
The image transmission device includes:
Encoding processing means for performing encoding processing of an image transferred to an image receiving apparatus as an image transfer destination;
Means for obtaining decoding capability information of the image receiving device of the image transfer destination from the decoding capability table in the system management device;
Parameter setting means for setting parameters of the encoding process for the encoding processing means according to the decoding capability information acquired by the acquiring means;
The decoding capability information is related to an encoding method that can be decoded by the image receiving apparatus of the image transfer destination, wavelet conversion, number of gradations, color conversion, DC level shift, tile division, tile size, image size, bit plane encoding And an image processing system including information on parameters selected from sub-bit plane coding, lossless coding, progressive method, selective area image quality improvement, and tile boundary distortion suppression. The image processing system according to claim 16.
The system management apparatus includes means for acquiring decoding capability information from an image receiving apparatus in the system, and means for updating the contents of the configuration management table based on the decoding capability information acquired by the means. Image processing system.   The program for implement | achieving the image transmission apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 14 on a computer.   A computer-readable information recording medium on which the program according to claim 18 is recorded.

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