JP2006148430A - Image recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recording apparatus with a self-diagnosis function of confirming a defect of a recording system of the image recording apparatus by each prescribed time and informing a user about the occurrence of abnormity if any. <P>SOLUTION: The image recording apparatus uses an image compression section 6 to compress a video signal converted into a digital signal, records the compressed data to a hard disk recording section 11, and expands and outputs the data. The image recording apparatus includes a ROM 9 for recording reference data and a test data generating section 3, the image compression 6 compresses the data of the test data generating section 3 and stores the compressed data, compares the reference data with the compressed test data, allows the image compression section 6 to compress the data of the test data generating section 3, stores the compressed data to a RAM 10, compares the reference data in the ROM 9 with the compressed test data in the RAM 10 to discriminate whether or not the data are normal, and can self-diagnose that either of the hard disk recording section 11 and the image compression section 6 is faulty. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus for recording a video signal of a surveillance television camera on a recording medium such as a hard disk, and more specifically, with a self-diagnosis function for detecting an abnormality of the apparatus by self-diagnosis of an image recording unit and an image compression unit. The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus including

  Conventionally, in a surveillance television camera apparatus, a video signal is recorded by a time lapse (intermittent recording) VTR. In this time-lapse VTR, it is necessary to perform periodic maintenance such as magnetic head cleaning and magnetic head replacement. Recently, recording media such as time-lapse VTRs that are subject to frequent access and recorded image degradation are changing to digital recorders that use hard disks (HDD), semiconductor memories, etc., and these recording media are subject to image degradation. It is easier to handle without.

  The digital recorder is maintenance-free, and is characterized by being easy to maintain and being excellent in continuous recording functionality when used as a storage medium for a monitoring image recording apparatus. For example, a monitoring image recording apparatus using a digital recorder includes a pre-recording memory that continuously records while overwriting, and a recording memory that operates when a person approaches the monitoring area and stores the monitoring image. Yes (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-46636 (paragraph [0012] of the specification, drawing 2)

  However, the use of a digital recorder for the monitoring image recording apparatus has the advantage that it is maintenance-free and easy to maintain and manage, but if a malfunction occurs in the recording function, the video signal is not recorded by the administrator. Nevertheless, he may not have noticed for a long time. The conventional digital recorder does not have a function for automatically confirming such a malfunction of the recording operation, and there was a case where an accident occurred and it was noticed that the data was not recorded for the first time after reproducing the data of the digital recorder. . In the monitoring image recording apparatus, if such a recording omission occurs, it becomes a fatal problem and there is room for improvement.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems as described above, and has a self-diagnosis function for confirming a malfunction of the recording system of the image recording apparatus at regular intervals, and notifies the user when there is an abnormality. An object of the present invention is to provide an image recording apparatus.

  The present invention solves the above problems, and the invention of claim 1 compresses a digitally converted video signal by an image compression unit and stores it in the image recording unit, and decompresses the data recorded in the image recording unit. In this case, the image recording apparatus includes a first storage unit that records reference data and a test data generation unit, and the image compression unit compresses the data of the test data generation unit. A first determination means for comparing the reference data stored in the image recording section and the reference data stored in the first storage section with the test data read into the image recording section; Storing in a second storage unit compressed and stored in the unit, and a second determination means for comparing the reference data of the first storage unit and the test data read into the second storage unit, In the first determination means And determining whether the image recording unit or the image compression unit is abnormal by the second determination unit when the abnormality is determined to be abnormal. An image recording apparatus. The first and second determination means can be executed by a CPU (central processing unit). Further, for example, the first storage unit is a ROM, and the second storage unit is a RAM.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an input video signal processing unit for digitally converting a video signal;
A test data generator for generating test data;
A data switching unit for selecting one of outputs from the input video signal processing unit and the test data generation unit;
An image compression unit for compressing the output of the data switching unit;
An image recording unit for recording the output of the image compression unit;
A first storage unit for recording the compressed reference data;
A second storage unit for recording compressed data of only the test data generation unit;
An image decompression unit for decompressing data read from the image recording unit;
An output video signal processing unit for converting an output signal of the image expansion unit into an analog signal;
A processing unit that compares the test data and outputs a determination result;
The processing unit records the data compressed by the image compression unit and selected by the data switching unit in the image recording unit, and reads the data read from the image recording unit and the reference of the first storage When the comparison results in a mismatch, the test data is selected, the data compressed by the image compression unit is recorded in the second storage unit, and the read data of the second storage unit is recorded. Is compared with the reference data of the first storage unit, and if the result of the comparison is a match, an abnormality of the image recording unit is determined, or a mismatch is determined, an abnormality of the image compression unit is determined. An image recording apparatus. The comparison and the determination of coincidence or non-coincidence can be executed by a CPU (central processing unit). Further, for example, the first storage unit is a ROM, and the second storage unit is a RAM.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the test data is a fixed image signal based on a color bar signal.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the comparison between the test data compressed by the image recording unit and the reference data is performed at predetermined time intervals arbitrarily set. An image recording apparatus characterized by the above.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the abnormality is determined, the light emitting diode is turned on or displayed by characters. . In addition, it is possible to construct a system that detects an abnormality, transmits an output signal, and notifies a manager to a mobile phone by a contact signal based on the output signal.

  The effects of the present invention will be described below. According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image recording apparatus for compressing a digitally converted video signal by an image compression unit, storing the compressed video signal in the image recording unit, and decompressing and outputting the data recorded in the image recording unit. Comprises a first storage unit for recording reference data and a test data generation unit, the data of the test data generation unit is compressed by the image compression unit and stored in the image recording unit, and the first storage A first determination unit that compares the reference data of the image and the test data read into the image recording unit; and a second storage unit that compresses and stores the test data of the test data generation unit by the image compression unit A second determination unit for storing and comparing the reference data of the first storage unit with the test data read into the second storage unit, and whether or not the first determination unit is normal Is judged as abnormal. In this case, since the image recording apparatus is characterized by self-diagnosis that either the image recording unit or the image compression unit is abnormal by the second determination unit, the first determination is performed first. The image recording unit including the image compression processing system is self-diagnosed by the means, and if the reference data and the test data recorded in the image recording unit do not match, the second determining means uses the image recording unit and the image compression unit. It is possible to determine whether there is an abnormality with any of the units, the reliability of the apparatus can be improved, and it is extremely effective as a monitoring image recording apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an input video signal processing unit for digitally converting a video signal;
A test data generator for generating test data;
A data switching unit for selecting one of outputs from the input video signal processing unit and the test data generation unit;
An image compression unit for compressing the output of the data switching unit;
An image recording unit for recording the output of the image compression unit;
A first storage unit for recording the compressed reference data;
A second storage unit for recording compressed data of only the test data generation unit;
An image decompression unit for decompressing data read from the image recording unit;
An output video signal processing unit for converting an output signal of the image expansion unit into an analog signal;
A processing unit that compares the test data and outputs a determination result;
The processing unit records the data compressed by the image compression unit by the data switching unit selected by the data compression unit in the image storage unit, and the data read from the image recording unit and the reference of the first storage When the comparison results in a mismatch, the test data is selected, the data compressed by the image compression unit is recorded in the second storage unit, and the read data of the second storage unit is recorded. Is compared with the reference data of the first storage unit, and if the result of the comparison is a match, an abnormality of the image recording unit is determined, or a mismatch is determined, an abnormality of the image compression unit is determined. Since it is an image recording apparatus, first, self-diagnosis of the image recording unit including the compression processing system is performed, and if it is determined to be abnormal, the reference data matches the test data recorded in the second recording unit or Due to mismatch One of the image recording unit and an image compression section it is possible to determine whether there is an abnormality, has the advantage of improving the reliability of the device is very effective as a monitoring image recording apparatus.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the test data is a fixed image signal based on a color bar signal. If the test data compressed in the second storage unit is supplied to the image decompression unit and output to the monitor television as a video output signal, the image compression unit It is possible to detect not only the abnormality detection but also the failure of the image expansion unit.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the comparison between the compressed test data of the image recording unit and the reference data is performed at predetermined time intervals arbitrarily set. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of a problem that important recording data to be monitored is not recorded due to equipment failure.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image recording device according to the first or second aspect, when the abnormality is determined, the light emitting diode is turned on or displayed by characters. Therefore, the user can visually recognize the abnormality, and this output can be used as a contact signal as a control signal for a terminal such as a mobile phone, and various systems can be constructed. It is extremely effective as a device.

  Embodiments of an image recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, this embodiment has a configuration in which a self-diagnosis function is added to a basic configuration of an image compression processing system for video input signals, an image expansion processing system for compressed data, a control system, an image recording unit, and the like. 1 is a block diagram showing this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the self-diagnosis function.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the image recording apparatus of this embodiment will be described. First, the image compression processing system will be described. 1 is an input terminal to which a video signal is inputted, 2 is a video buffer for converting the inputted video signal to an appropriate level, 3 is a test data generator for generating test data such as a color bar, and 4 is from the video buffer 2 A video decoder (input video signal processing unit) that digitally converts an input video signal and decomposes it into luminance signal (Y) and color difference signals (U, V) or R, G and B signal components, and 5 generates test data. A data selector (data switching unit) that selects and outputs test data from the device 3 and a video input signal from the video decoder 4, and 6 is an image for compressing data output from the data selector 5 according to a standard such as JPEG. It is a compression unit. Thus, the image compression processing system is provided with the test data generator 3, the data selector 5 for switching between the video input signal and the test data, and is connected to the CPU processing unit (control unit) 8 via the system bus 7. .

  The CPU processing unit 8 has a function of comparing the switching control of the data selector 5 and the test data with reference data to be described later to determine whether the data matches or does not match, or to send an alarm output signal or the like based on the determination. Details thereof will be described later. Reference numeral 9 is a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which reference data for comparing test data is written, 10 is a RAM (Random Access Memory) for writing test data, and 11 is a captured (monitored) image. A hard disk recording unit (image recording unit), 12 is an operation panel for controlling the CPU processing unit 8, and 13 is an alarm output unit, which are connected to the CPU processing unit (control unit) 8 via the system bus 7. .

  The image decompression processing system is connected to the system bus 7 and decompresses the compressed image data and outputs it as a composite video signal. 14 is an image decompression unit for decompressing the compressed data, and 15 is an encoder for converting the decompressed luminance signal (Y) and color difference signals (U, V) or R, G and B component signals into composite video signals. (Output video signal processing unit), 16 is a character display unit (OSD: on-screen display), 17 is a video driver, and 18 is an output terminal. These circuits constitute an image expansion processing system.

  First, a normal image recording operation (operation when no self-diagnosis is performed) in the present embodiment will be described. A video signal that is an output of the television camera is input from the input terminal 1. Since it is an output of a TV camera, it is a moving image signal, but there are cases where there is little movement depending on the object to be imaged (monitored). The input video signal is input to the video decoder 4 through the video buffer 2. The video decoder 4 converts the video signal into a digital signal and decomposes it into a luminance signal (Y) and a color difference signal (U, V) or R, G and B component signals. Further, the luminance signal (Y) and the color difference signals (U, V) or the component signals of R, G, and B are converted into an image based on an international standard such as JPEG by the image compression unit 6 via the data switching unit 5. Compression is performed. In the case of moving images, compression is performed using motion JPEG. The compressed image signal is recorded in the hard disk recording unit 11 via the system bus 7.

  The image signal recorded in the hard disk recording unit 11 is read out by the control from the CPU processing unit 8 in accordance with the operation of the operation panel 12. The read compressed image signal is expanded by the image expansion unit 14 into a luminance signal (Y) and a color difference signal (U, V) or R, G, and B signals before compression. The expanded luminance signal (Y) and color difference signals (U, V) or R, G and B signals are converted into composite video signals by the video encoder 15 and simultaneously converted into analog signals. Is output from the output terminal 18 as a video signal. The recorded video signal can be viewed by connecting the output video signal to a television monitor.

  Next, the self-diagnosis operation in the image recording apparatus of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The self-diagnosis in the image recording apparatus is executed by operating the CPU processing unit 8 by a self-diagnosis program. First, in step S1, the self-diagnosis program is activated, and the process proceeds to step S2. In step S 2, based on a switching signal from the CPU processing unit 8, the data selector 5 is switched to select test data, and the test data from the test data generating unit 3 is input to the image compression unit 6 via the data selector 5. And compress the image. In step S3, the compressed test data is written and recorded in the hard disk recording unit 11 via the system bus 7, and the process proceeds to step S4. In step S 4, the compressed test data recorded in the hard disk recording unit 11 is read and stored in the register of the CPU processing unit 8. Subsequently, the compressed reference data is read from the ROM 9 storing the reference data, the test data stored in the register of the CPU processing unit 8 is compared with the reference data, and the process proceeds to step S5. If the result of comparison between the reference data and the compressed test data matches in step S5, it is determined that the data is normal, the process proceeds to step S6, and the self-diagnosis is terminated. On the other hand, if they do not match, it is determined to be defective and the process proceeds to step S7. Steps S <b> 2 to S <b> 5 are first determination means that determine whether the image compression system or the hard disk recording unit 11 is normal. Note that the comparison of the test data may be executed at a time in consideration of the size of the register of the CPU processing unit 8 and the length of the test data, or may be read and executed little by little.

  Next, when it is determined by the first determination means that there is an abnormality, the process proceeds to step S7. In step S 7, the data selector 5 is switched again to select the test data from the test data generating unit 3 by the switching signal from the CPU processing unit 8, and the test data selected by the data selector 5 is changed by the image compressing unit 6. Compress and proceed to step S8. In step S8, the compressed test data is written into the RAM 10 via the system bus 7, and the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the test data written from the RAM 10 is read out and stored in the register of the CPU processing unit 8, and the compressed reference data is read out from the ROM 9 storing the reference data and stored in the register of the CPU processing unit 8. Compared with the compressed test data, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, the compressed reference data is compared with the test data. As a result, if it is determined that they match, the process proceeds to step S11, where it is determined that the hard disk recording unit 11 is defective. If it is determined in step S10 that they do not match, the process proceeds to step S12, where it is determined that the image compression unit 6 is defective. Based on these determination results, an abnormality detection signal is output to the operation panel 12 or the alarm output unit 13. Based on the abnormality detection signal, it is indicated whether the abnormal part is the image compression unit 6 or the hard disk recording unit 11, and the self-diagnosis is terminated. Steps S7 to S12 of these steps are the second determination means.

  In this self-diagnosis program, a series of operations from step S1 to step S6, or from step S1 to step S11 or step S12 is executed every predetermined time. For example, if control is performed so as to be performed at a short time interval of one minute or three minutes, an abnormality in the image recording apparatus can be detected quickly, and reliability can be improved.

As the test data, a color bar signal serving as a reference is used as an image signal.
A fixed image such as a color bar is image-compressed by the image compression unit 6 using a certain self-diagnosis parameter (compression rate or the like). The compressed data is written into the hard disk recording unit 11. Next, the compressed data of the test data that has been compressed is read out from the hard disk recording unit 11, and the reference data prepared in advance is read out from the ROM 9 and compared. Here, the reference data is reference compressed data for comparison created by test data for self-diagnosis of the HDD (hard disk recording unit 11). At this time, the self-diagnosis parameters (compression rate, etc.) set by the image compression unit 6 are set and used at the time of recording diagnosis. When the image compression unit 6 is normal, the compressed image data is the same as the reference data. Obtainable.

  Further, when a signal written to the hard disk recording unit 11 or the RAM 10 is read after image compression by using the color bar signal as test data, the read signal is expanded by the image expansion unit 14 and the video output terminal Can be connected to a TV monitor, the operation of the image expansion unit can be self-diagnosed by the TV monitor output, and the readout results from the hard disk recording unit 11 and the image compression unit 6 can be confirmed on the TV monitor. .

  Next, notification when an abnormality occurs in the present embodiment will be described. First, in the case of an operation panel using a liquid crystal display or the like, the abnormal part can be displayed as characters. For example, if the hard disk recording unit is abnormal, a warning can be issued such as "HDD abnormality detected. Images are not recorded correctly. Please turn off the power and perform maintenance immediately." Also, if the image compression unit is abnormal, a warning such as "Image compression unit detected an abnormality. The image is not recorded correctly. Please turn off the power and perform maintenance immediately." Then, the display of the same content is displayed on the character display unit 16 by the OSD. As another notification, a light-emitting diode can be provided on the operation panel so that it can be turned on when an abnormality occurs. Further, the alarm output unit 13 can warn with a buzzer or output as a contact output of a relay or the like.

  Also, based on the contact output at the time of abnormality detection, it is possible to automatically make a call to a mobile phone, and it is possible to notify the abnormality by voice, and to build a highly reliable system as a monitoring image recording device Can do.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, as described in the conventional example, a recording medium that can be continuously overwritten may be provided, or the self-diagnosis as described above may be performed while image data is intermittently recorded. Processing may be performed.

  As an application example of the present invention, since the reliability of image recording can be increased, it can be used as a monitoring image recording apparatus.

It is a block diagram which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flowchart explaining the self-diagnosis function of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Input terminal 2 Video buffer 3 Test data utterance unit 4 Video decoder (input video signal processing unit)
5 Data selector (data switching part)
6 Image compression unit 7 System bus 8 CPU processing unit 9 ROM (first storage unit)
10 RAM (second storage unit)
11 Hard disk recording unit (image recording unit)
12 Operation Panel 13 Alarm Output Unit 14 Image Expansion Unit 15 Video Encoder (Output Video Signal Processing Unit)
16 Character display 17 Video driver 18 Output terminal

Claims (5)

In an image recording apparatus that compresses a digitally converted video signal by an image compression unit and stores the compressed signal in an image recording unit, and decompresses and outputs the data recorded in the image recording unit.
The image recording apparatus includes a first storage unit that records reference data and a test data generation unit, and the data of the test data generation unit is compressed by the image compression unit and stored in the image recording unit, A first determination unit that compares the reference data in the first storage unit with the test data read into the image recording unit; and the second determination unit that compresses and stores the test data in the test data generation unit in the image compression unit. And a second determination unit that compares the reference data of the first storage unit and the test data read into the second storage unit, and the first determination unit And determining whether or not there is an abnormality. If it is determined that there is an abnormality, the second determination means performs self-diagnosis that either the image recording unit or the image compression unit is abnormal. apparatus. An input video signal processing unit for digitally converting the video signal;
A test data generator for generating test data;
A data switching unit for selecting one of outputs from the input video signal processing unit and the test data generation unit;
An image compression unit for compressing the output of the data switching unit;
An image recording unit for recording the output of the image compression unit;
A first storage unit for recording the compressed reference data;
A second storage unit for recording compressed data of only the test data generation unit;
An image decompression unit for decompressing data read from the image recording unit;
An output video signal processing unit for converting an output signal of the image expansion unit into an analog signal;
A processing unit that compares the test data and outputs a determination result;
The processing unit records the data compressed by the image compression unit and selected by the data switching unit in the image recording unit, and reads the data read from the image recording unit and the reference of the first storage When the comparison results in a mismatch, the test data is selected, the data compressed by the image compression unit is recorded in the second storage unit, and the read data of the second storage unit is recorded. Is compared with the reference data of the first storage unit, and if the result of the comparison is a match, an abnormality of the image recording unit is determined, or a mismatch is determined, an abnormality of the image compression unit is determined. Image recording device. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the test data is a fixed image signal based on a color bar signal. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
An image recording apparatus comprising: comparing the test data compressed by the image recording unit with the reference data at predetermined time intervals arbitrarily set. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
When it is determined that the abnormality is present, the image recording apparatus is characterized in that a light emitting diode is turned on or displayed by characters.

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