JP2007013787A - Image special effect device and image special effect system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image special effect device which can execute various image special effects and can be miniaturized. <P>SOLUTION: The image special effect device has a frame memory (F memory) 2 which accumulates N frames of input image data, an F memory control part 4 which specifies a write address 5 and a read address 8 in the F memory 2 to control write/read of the image data in the F memory 2, an operation part 9 which constitutes an arithmetic circuit 6 for calculating a read address from the write address 5 based on inputted operation resource constitution information using held operation resources and outputs the read address 7 calculated by the arithmetic circuit 6 to the F memory control part 4 and a CPU 10 which transfers operation resource constitution information 12-14 corresponding to image special effects selected by selection buttons 15-17 from a memory 11 to the operation part 9. In the image special effect device, the arithmetic circuit 6 which executes the selected image special effects is mounted on the operation part 9 whenever the image special effects are selected by the selection buttons 15-17. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image special effect device used for video production or the like, and a system thereof, and particularly to miniaturization of a device that generates various types of special effect images.

  The image special effect device performs various video effects such as page turn, ripple, wave, screw, and the like on an image by reading image data sequentially written in the frame memory from the frame memory by controlling a read address.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the conventional image special effect device includes a frame memory 2, a frame memory control unit 4 that controls a write / read address of the frame memory 2, a calculation unit 101 that calculates a read address, and a special effect. And a CPU 10 that controls the calculation of the calculation unit 101 in response to the operation of the buttons 15 to 17 for selecting.

  The arithmetic unit 101 includes a special effect common arithmetic circuit 102, special effect dedicated arithmetic circuits 105 to 107, and a first selector 103 and a second selector 104 that select the special arithmetic circuits 105 to 107. .

  The frame memory control unit 4 of this apparatus outputs sequential write addresses 5 to the frame memory 2 and sequentially writes the input images 1 to the frame memory 2. When the operator designates special effect 1 and presses the special effect 1 selection button 15, the CPU 10 that has received this notification controls the first selector 103 and the second selector 104 to perform a special effect common arithmetic circuit. The output of 102 is sent to the special effect 1 dedicated arithmetic circuit 105 for arithmetic processing. The calculation unit 101 outputs the calculation result of the special effect 1 dedicated calculation circuit 105 to the frame memory control unit 4 as the image special effect read address 7. The frame memory control unit 4 adjusts this for frame memory 2 control, outputs the image special effect read address 8 to the frame memory 2, performs read control of the frame memory 2, and obtains a special effect image.

Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a plurality of basic special effect means for performing special effects on image data (for example, reduced special effect means for applying a reduction effect to image data, and rotation special effects for applying a rotation effect). Select a plurality of basic special effect means according to the operator's instruction, determine the processing order, and select the basics selected from the group of the movement means, the moving special effect means for applying the moving effect, the fade-out special effect means for applying the fade-out effect, etc. An image effect processing method is described in which processing of special effect means is executed to realize various image special effects. For example, when a reduction special effect unit, a rotation special effect unit, and a fade-out special effect unit are selected, an image effect of “fading out while rotating while reducing” is applied.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-18005

  However, in the above-described conventional image special effect device, as shown in FIG. 5, it is necessary to mount all arithmetic circuits for obtaining a special effect on an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or LSI in advance. Effects other than special effects by the mounted arithmetic circuit cannot be obtained. For this reason, in order to realize various special effects, it is necessary to install arithmetic circuits corresponding to all the special effects. However, if all arithmetic circuits are mounted on an FPGA or LSI, there is a shortage of arithmetic circuit resources. As a result, it is necessary to add an FPGA and an LSI, and the image special effect device is enlarged.

  The same applies to the case where the image effect processing method of Patent Document 1 is adopted, and special effect means that are not mounted cannot be combined with other basic special effect means that are mounted. In this case, it is necessary to mount a large number of basic special effect means on the FPGA or LSI. Therefore, it is inevitable to increase the size of the image special effect device.

  The present invention was devised in view of such circumstances, and provides an image special effect device that can execute various image special effects and can be miniaturized, and also provides a system thereof. It is aimed.

  The image special effect device according to the present invention includes a frame memory that stores input image data, a frame memory control unit that controls writing and reading of the image data to and from the frame memory, and the write resource based on the calculation resource configuration information. An arithmetic circuit configured to calculate the read address from the address, and an arithmetic unit that outputs the read address calculated by the arithmetic circuit to the frame memory control unit.

  In this image special effect device, the read address calculated by the calculation circuit that executes the selected image special effect is output to the calculation unit.

  The image special effect device according to the present invention also includes a frame memory for storing at least one frame of input image data, a write address for storing image data and a read address for reading image data to the frame memory. Is used to calculate the read address from the write address based on the input operation resource configuration information using the frame memory control unit that controls the writing and reading of image data to and from the frame memory and the operation resource that is held. An arithmetic circuit for outputting the read address calculated by the arithmetic circuit to the frame memory control unit, a selection operation unit for selecting an image special effect, and an image special effect selected by the selection operation unit. The corresponding computation resource configuration information is transferred to the computation unit, and the computation circuit is configured from the computation resource configuration information. And a CPU for controlling the.

  In this image special effect device, every time an image special effect is selected by the selection operation unit, an arithmetic circuit that executes the selected image special effect is mounted in the arithmetic unit.

  In the image special effect device according to the present invention, the CPU transfers the computation resource configuration information stored in the memory to the computation unit.

  Further, the CPU transfers the computation resource configuration information acquired through the network to the computation unit or stores it in the memory.

  Since this image special effect device can acquire necessary calculation resource configuration information through a network, it is not necessary to store a large number of calculation resource configuration information in a memory in advance.

  The image special effect system of the present invention includes an image special effect device and a server connected to the image special effect device via a network, and the image special effect device stores at least one frame of input image data. Frame memory control for controlling the writing and reading of image data to and from the frame memory by designating a frame memory and a write address for storing image data and a read address for reading image data to the frame memory And a calculation circuit for calculating a read address from a write address based on the input calculation resource configuration information using the calculation resource held by the block and the frame memory control unit A calculation operation unit, a selection operation unit for selecting an image special effect, and a selection operation unit The computation resource configuration information corresponding to the selected image special effect is transferred to the computation unit, and the computation resource configuration information is controlled to configure the computation circuit, and the acquisition of the computation resource configuration information from the server is controlled. A server, and the server holds at least one calculation resource configuration information and a calculation parameter control program for controlling a calculation parameter of a frame when calculating a read address. When the computing resource configuration information is requested from the server, the server transfers the computing resource configuration information and the computation parameter control program to the image special effect device, and the CPU configures the computation circuit from the computation resource configuration information. Control the frame calculation parameters according to the calculation parameter control program.

  In this system, image special effects that can be executed in the image special effect device can be added by downloading the calculation resource configuration information and the calculation parameter control program from the server to the image special effect device. In addition, when the CPU controls the calculation parameters for each M frame according to the calculation parameter control program, the aspect of the image special effect changes with the transition of the frames.

  The image special effect device according to the present invention is equipped with a function for executing various image special effects at high speed and with high accuracy, and even when added, it is not necessary to add a calculation unit and the device can be miniaturized.

  Further, the image special effect system of the present invention can add a function for executing various image special effects to the image special effect device.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image special effect device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus includes a frame memory 2, a frame memory control unit 4, selection buttons 15 to 17 for selecting special effects, and a memory in which calculation resource configuration information 12 to 14 for configuring a special effect calculation circuit is stored. 11, a calculation unit 9 that calculates the read address by configuring the calculation circuit 6 from the specified calculation resource configuration information, and a CPU 10.

  The frame memory 2 stores at least one frame of image data of the input image 1. The frame memory control unit 4 generates a sequential write address 5 for accumulating the image data of the input image 1 in the frame memory 2, and reads the image special effect for reading the written image data from the frame memory 2. The address 8 is generated based on the read address 7 calculated by the calculation unit 9.

  The memory 11 holds a plurality of pieces of computation resource configuration information 12 to 14 for configuring a special effect computation circuit. The computing resource configuration information is information that defines computing resource connection relationships, operation settings, and the like.

  The special effect selection buttons 15 to 17 are pressed by an operator who selects an image special effect.

  When the CPU 10 receives the image special effect information selected by pressing the special effect selection buttons 15 to 17, the CPU 10 downloads only the calculation resource configuration information 12 to 14 corresponding to the selected image special effect from the memory 11 to the calculation unit 9. Then, control is performed so as to configure an arithmetic circuit from the arithmetic resource configuration information.

  The arithmetic unit 9 is composed of, for example, a chip that forms a reconfigurable (dynamic reconfiguration) circuit. The reconfigurable circuit is a circuit that performs a specified circuit function while changing connection relations and operation settings of several circuit units (calculation resources) prepared in advance by software. The calculation unit 9 configures the calculation circuit 6 on the basis of the calculation resource configuration information using the calculation resource held, and outputs the calculation result (that is, the image special effect read address 7) to the frame memory control unit 4. In FIG. 1, when the special effect 1 selection button 15 is pressed, the calculation resource configuration information 12 for special effect 1 is downloaded from the memory 11 to the calculation unit 9, and the calculation circuit 6 for the special effect 1 is configured by the calculation unit 9. Is shown.

  The flowchart of FIG. 2 shows the operation of this image special effect device.

  When the special effect 1 selection button 15 is pressed among the special effect selection buttons 15 to 17, the information is notified to the CPU 10 (step S1). Receiving the notification, the CPU 10 transfers the special effect 1 computing resource configuration information 12 corresponding to the special effect 1 from the memory 11 to the computing unit 9 (step S2).

  The calculation unit 9 configures the special effect 1 calculation circuit 6 based on the special effect 1 calculation resource information 12 (step S3).

  After configuring the special effect 1 arithmetic circuit 6, the frame memory control unit 4 sends the sequential write address 5 to the frame memory 2 and stores the input image 1 in the frame memory 2 for one frame (step S4).

  The frame memory control unit 4 also inputs the sequential write address 5 to the special effect 1 calculation circuit 6 in the calculation unit 9 (step S5).

  The special effect 1 arithmetic circuit 6 in the arithmetic unit 9 performs the special effect 1 operation on the input sequential write address 5, obtains the image special effect read address 7 as the operation result, and the frame memory control unit 4. (Step S6).

  The frame memory control unit 4 outputs the image special effect read address 7 to the frame memory 2, and the frame memory 2 outputs the output image obtained by adding the special effect 1 to the input image 1 based on the image special effect read address 7. 3 is read (step S7).

  Thereafter, unless the selection of the image special effect is changed, the processing from step S4 to step S7 is repeated (step S8).

  As described above, in this image special effect device, every time the operator presses a button for selecting an image special effect, only the arithmetic circuit that realizes the selected special effect is mounted in the arithmetic unit 9. For this reason, even if a large number of arithmetic circuits are not mounted in advance, various special effect arithmetic can be performed, and high-speed arithmetic processing equivalent to that of the dedicated circuit is possible. In addition, when a large number of arithmetic circuits are mounted in advance, it is necessary to add an arithmetic unit in order to secure arithmetic resources. However, in this image special effect device, no additional arithmetic unit is required, and the device is It can be downsized.

  In the present embodiment, an image for one frame is stored in the frame memory 2, but an image of another size (image data for N frames) may be stored. Although the number of special effect options is three here, other numbers may be used, and the operation is the same regardless of which special effect is selected.

(Second Embodiment)
In the second embodiment of the present invention, an image special effect system that adds an image special effect function to the image special effect device in the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image special effect system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  This system includes an image special effect device 40, a server 22, and the Internet 21 connecting them.

  The server 22 holds special effect computing resource configuration information 26 to 28 and special effect parameter control programs 29 to 31. The special effect parameter control programs 29 to 31 are programs for controlling parameters for each special effect frame.

  In addition, the image special effect device 40 includes special effect addition buttons 23 to 25 that are pressed when the special effect computing resource configuration information that is not held in the memory 11 is acquired from the server 22. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment (FIG. 1).

  In this system, when the special effect addition buttons 23 to 25 of the image special effect device 40 are pressed, the special effect parameter control programs 29 to 31 are displayed together with the selected special effect computing resource configuration information 26 to 28 from the server 22. It is transferred to the effect device 40 and stored in the memory 11.

  When any of the special effect selection buttons 32 to 34 of the image special effect device 40 is pressed, the corresponding special effect calculation resource configuration information is sent from the memory 11 to the calculation unit 9 to form the calculation circuit 40. Special effects are performed. At this time, the CPU 10 controls the parameter for each frame of the special effect according to the special effect parameter control program corresponding to the special effect.

  The flowchart of FIG. 4 shows the operation of this image special effect system.

  When the operator presses the special effect 4 addition button 23 among the special effect addition buttons 23 to 25 of the image special effect device 40, the information is notified to the CPU 10 (step S21). Upon receiving the notification, the CPU 10 sends the special effect 4 computing resource configuration information 26 corresponding to the special effect 4 and the special effect 4 parameter control program 29 for controlling the parameters of the special effect 4 for each frame from the server 22 to the Internet. 21 is obtained via the address 21 and transferred to the memory 11 (step S22).

  When the operator presses the special effect 4 selection button 32 among the special effect selection buttons 32 to 34 of the image special effect device 40, the information is notified to the CPU 10 (step S23). Receiving the notification, the CPU 10 transfers the special effect 4 computation resource configuration information 26 corresponding to the special effect 4 from the memory 11 to the computation unit 9 (step S24).

  The calculation unit 9 configures the special effect 4 calculation circuit 40 based on the special effect 4 calculation resource information 26 (step S25).

  After configuring the special effect 4 arithmetic circuit 40, the frame memory control unit 4 sends the sequential write address 5 to the frame memory 2 and stores the input image 1 in the frame memory 2 for one frame (step S26).

  The frame memory control unit 4 also inputs the sequential write address 5 to the special effect 4 calculation circuit 40 in the calculation unit 9 (step S27).

  In accordance with the special effect 4 parameter control program, the CPU 10 controls the arithmetic unit 9 to control the special effect 4 parameters for each frame (step S28).

  The special effect 4 calculation circuit 40 in the calculation unit 9 calculates the special effect 4 on the input sequential read address 5 and outputs the image special effect read address 7 (step S29).

  The frame memory control unit 4 outputs the image special effect read address 8 adjusted for controlling the frame memory 2 using the image special effect read address 7 to the frame memory 2, and the special effect 4 is added from the frame memory 2. The output image 3 is read (step S30).

  Thereafter, unless the selection of the image special effect is changed, the processing from step S26 to step S30 in FIG. 4 is repeated (step S31).

  As described above, in this image special effect system, an arithmetic circuit for image special effects that is not held by the image special effect device can be configured based on the calculation resource information acquired from the outside. Therefore, the image special effect device does not need to have a special effect calculation circuit in advance and does not need to have a large number of special effect calculation resource configuration information in advance, and thus can be configured in a small size. Also, the image special effect calculation circuit configured based on calculation resource information acquired from the outside can perform high-speed calculation processing equivalent to a dedicated circuit.

  Note that the Internet 21 in FIG. 3 may be another network such as a local bus, and the server 22 may be a storage device such as a PC card. Here, the special effect 4 computing resource configuration information 26 held in the server 22 is transferred to the memory 11, but may be directly transferred to the computing unit 9.

  Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the matters shown in the above-described embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make modifications and applications based on the description and well-known techniques. This is also the scope of the present invention, and is included in the scope for which protection is sought.

  The present invention provides an image special effect device that can realize various image special effects with a downsized configuration, and a system that can add various image special effect functions to the image special effect device. It can be widely used in various fields where production and editing are performed.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the image special effect apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the image special effect apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows the structure of the image special effect system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process sequence of the image special effect system in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. Block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional image special effect device

Explanation of symbols

1 Input image
2 frame memory 3 output image 4 frame memory control unit 5 sequential write address 6 arithmetic circuit for special effect 1 7 read address for image special effect 9 arithmetic unit 10 CPU
11 Memory 12 Computing Resource Configuration Information for Special Effect 1 13 Computing Resource Configuration Information for Special Effect 2 14 Computing Resource Configuration Information for Special Effect 3 15 Special Effect 1 Selection Button 16 Special Effect 2 Selection Button 17 Special Effect 3 Selection Button 21 Internet 22 Server 23 Special effect 4 add button 24 Special effect 5 add button 25 Special effect 6 add button 26 Special effect 4 computational resource configuration information 27 Special effect 5 computational resource configuration information 28 Special effect 6 computational resource configuration information 29 Special effect 4 Parameter control program 30 Special effect 5 parameter control program 31 Special effect 6 parameter control program 32 Special effect 4 selection button 33 Special effect 5 selection button 34 Special effect 6 selection button 40 Special effect 4 calculation circuit 101 Calculation unit 102 Special Common effect arithmetic circuit 103 One selector 104 Second selector 105 Special effect 1 dedicated arithmetic circuit 106 Special effect 2 dedicated arithmetic circuit 107 Special effect 3 dedicated arithmetic circuit

Claims (6)

A frame memory for storing input image data;
A frame memory control unit that controls writing and reading of image data to and from the frame memory;
An arithmetic circuit for calculating the read address from the write address based on the arithmetic resource configuration information, and an arithmetic unit for outputting the read address calculated by the arithmetic circuit to the frame memory control unit;
An image special effect device comprising: A frame memory for storing at least one frame of input image data;
A frame memory controller for controlling the writing and reading of image data to and from the frame memory by designating a write address for storing image data and a read address for reading image data to the frame memory;
An arithmetic circuit for calculating the read address from the write address is configured based on the input arithmetic resource configuration information using the arithmetic resource that is held, and the read address calculated by the arithmetic circuit is controlled by the frame memory An arithmetic unit to output to the unit,
A selection operation section for selecting image special effects;
A CPU for transferring the computation resource configuration information corresponding to the image special effect selected by the selection operation unit to the computation unit and controlling the computation circuit to configure the computation circuit from the computation resource configuration information;
An image special effect device comprising: The image special effect device according to claim 2,
An image special effect device in which the CPU transfers the computing resource configuration information stored in a memory to the computing unit. The image special effect device according to claim 3,
An image special effect device in which the CPU stores the computing resource configuration information acquired through a network in the memory. The image special effect device according to claim 2,
An image special effect device in which the CPU transfers the computing resource configuration information acquired through a network to the computing unit. An image special effect system comprising an image special effect device and a server connected to the image special effect device via a network,
The image special effect device is:
A frame memory for storing at least one frame of input image data;
A frame memory controller for controlling the writing and reading of image data to and from the frame memory by designating a write address for storing image data and a read address for reading image data to the frame memory;
An arithmetic circuit for calculating the read address from the write address is configured based on the input arithmetic resource configuration information using the arithmetic resource held, and the read address calculated by the arithmetic circuit is controlled by the frame memory An arithmetic unit to output to the unit,
A selection operation section for selecting image special effects;
The calculation resource configuration information corresponding to the image special effect selected by the selection operation unit is transferred to the calculation unit and controlled to configure the calculation circuit from the calculation resource configuration information. A CPU that controls the acquisition of information from the server;
With
The server holds at least one of the calculation resource configuration information and a calculation parameter control program for controlling a calculation parameter of a frame when calculating the read address,
When the CPU of the image special effect device requests the computation resource configuration information from the server, the server transfers the computation resource configuration information and the computation parameter control program to the image special effect device, and the CPU Is an image special effect system in which, when the calculation unit configures the calculation circuit from the calculation resource configuration information and calculates the read address, the calculation parameter of the frame is controlled according to the calculation parameter control program.

Images