JP2007060015A - Interphone system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the image processing of a digital motion picture variously without sacrifycing the beautiful appearance of a living room master unit. <P>SOLUTION: By the control of the CPU 307 in a living room master unit 3, a video image picked up by means of a camera 101 in a door slave unit 1 or a video image picked up by means of a sensor camera 2 is stored on a hard disc 306 as a non-compressed digital motion picture at the detection timing of a ringing signal transmitted from the door slave unit or a ringing signal originated from the sensor camera, and the storage is ended upon the elapse of a predetermined time. When the digital motion picture stored on the hard disc is reproduced by a monitor 303, the picture is outputted while being enlarged by a factor of 2, 4, 8 or 16 by the control of recording/reproduction CPU 308a and 308b which have detected the operation of an operating section 302, or the picture is outputted while enhancing image quality as compared with an original image by adjusting brightness, saturation or contrast. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an interphone system, and more particularly, to an interphone system equipped with a technique for storing / reproducing digital moving images.

  Conventionally, as this type of intercom system, for example, an apartment intercom apparatus that can monitor a moving image video and audio of a visitor who is away is disclosed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  In this collective housing intercom device, a collective entrance machine in which a call operation is performed by a visitor and a call from the collective entrance machine are notified, and a resident can establish a call with the visitor (residential master unit) The central video / audio storage device of the controller that controls is, for example, a video of a visitor who made a call operation while the resident was absent from the dwelling unit. A video / audio data memory is provided for storing the moving image captured by the television camera and the voice of the call content when the call is established. In addition, the moving image video and audio stored in the video / audio data memory can be monitored by the occupant machine by, for example, a resident reading operation when returning home.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-121252 (paragraph numbers “0011” to “0020”, FIGS. 1 and 2)

  In the collective housing intercom device described in Patent Document 1 described in the background art, a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory is suitable for the video / audio data memory of the centralized video / audio storage device, and its storage capacity is generally small. Is. For this reason, when storing a moving image and sound, the size must be reduced by compression, and there is a possibility that image quality / sound quality may deteriorate as a result of image / sound processing.

  In addition, in order to expand the storage capacity, the video / audio data memory must be enlarged, and if a large video / audio data memory is provided in the centralized video / audio device, the aesthetics of the controller will be reduced. There was a difficulty to be damaged.

  The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and applies a large-capacity and small hard disk as a storage area provided in the base unit of the living room, and stores digital moving images in a high-quality state without compression. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an intercom system that can perform various image processing of digital moving images without impairing the aesthetics of the room master unit.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an intercom system according to a first aspect of the present invention includes an entrance slave unit having a camera, a sensor camera, a sensor via a transmission line and the entrance slave unit and the transmission line. It is equipped with a living room base unit to which each camera is connected. The room master unit has a CPU for detecting a call signal transmitted from the entrance slave unit and a camera call signal transmitted from the sensor camera, and an image captured by the camera of the entrance slave unit and a sensor camera. The monitor for displaying each captured image and the image captured by the camera of the entrance cordless handset or the image captured by the sensor camera are not displayed at the timing when the call signal or the camera call signal is detected. And a hard disk that starts saving as a compressed digital moving image and ends saving after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  The intercom system according to the second aspect of the present invention is the interphone system according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the living room master unit doubles by the image processing when reproducing the digital moving image stored in the hard disk on the monitor. It has a recording / reproducing CPU for performing enlarged display of double, eight times, or sixteen times, and an operation unit for performing the operation.

  The intercom system according to the third aspect of the present invention is the interphone system according to the first aspect or the second aspect of the present invention, wherein the room master unit performs image processing when playing back the digital moving image stored in the hard disk on the monitor. The recording / reproducing CPU for adjusting the lightness, saturation, or contrast to improve the image quality of the captured original image and outputting the image, and the operation unit for performing the operation.

  According to the intercom system of the present invention, the CPU of the room master unit can call the image captured by the camera of the entrance slave unit or the image captured by the sensor camera, or a call signal or sensor camera transmitted from the entrance slave unit. Can be saved to the hard disk as an uncompressed digital video at the timing when the camera call signal sent from is detected, and the storage can be terminated after a lapse of a predetermined time. For this reason, it is not necessary to increase the size of the room parent machine, and the aesthetics of the room parent machine are maintained.

  Also, according to the intercom system of the present invention, when playing back a digital moving image stored on the hard disk of the living room master unit on the monitor, it is controlled by the recording / reproducing CPU that detects the operation of the operation unit to double, The image can be displayed with a magnified display of double, eight times, or sixteen times, or the image can be displayed with improved image quality than the original image by adjusting the brightness, saturation, or contrast, and visibility is improved.

  The best mode for carrying out the intercom system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of an intercom system which is the best mode for carrying out the present invention.

  The intercom system shown in FIG. 1 includes an entrance cordless handset 1 installed outdoors such as a front door or a gate, a sensor camera 2 installed in a garage, etc., installed indoors (consent with a dwelling unit), and a transmission line ( Hereinafter, it will be referred to as the first transmission line.) The room master 3 to which the sensor camera 2 is connected via the entrance terminal 1 and the transmission line (hereinafter referred to as the second transmission line) L2 via L1. And.

  The entrance cordless handset 1 is used for capturing a video of a call button 100 operated by a visitor who is outdoors to call a resident in the room indoors, and an image of a visitor who has performed the call operation and an outdoor neighborhood. Voice (transmitted voice, incoming voice) is input / output when a visitor establishes a call between the camera 101 such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) image sensor, and the like. A microphone 102 and a speaker 103 are provided.

  The sensor camera 2 has a sensor unit 200 for detecting the presence or absence of a suspicious person such as a thief or a suspicious object, and a suspicious person detected by the sensor part 200 or the like. It becomes active in conjunction with the operation of the camera unit 201 such as a CCD image sensor, a CMOS image sensor and the like for capturing images of surroundings such as suspicious objects and garages, and sounds near the surroundings such as garages, for example, It includes a microphone 202 for collecting suspicious object sounds and loud noises, and a speaker 203 for outputting a sound for threatening the suspicious person, for example, an alarm sound (including a voice message). The sensor camera 2 can be provided with a light (not shown) as an illumination function in addition to the components described above, and an image captured by the camera unit 201 at night or the like when the light is turned on. Can be ensured.

  The room base unit 3 is connected to a commercial power supply (AC 100 V), a ringing sound (including a voice message) indicating that there is a call from a visitor who has operated the call button 100 of the entrance unit 1, and the sensor camera 2. And a sound (a voice message is included) indicating that the sensor unit 200 is activated and a sound (a suspicious noise or a loud noise) collected by the microphone 202 are output, and the resident is in contact with the visitor. In order to establish a call, a speaker 300 that outputs the voice (received voice) of the visitor and a microphone 301 that receives a voice (transmitted voice) for the resident to establish a call with the visitor are input. Then, a response operation for the resident to establish the call, an end operation for ending the ongoing call, and various operations for image processing of a video to be reproduced on the monitor 303 to be described later are performed. The operation unit 302 configured by a touch panel disposed on the front surface of the monitor 303, which will be described later, and the image captured by the camera 101 of the entrance unit 1 and the camera unit 201 of the sensor camera 2 It has a monitor 303 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display for displaying each captured image.

  In the living room master unit 3, the form of the call that is established between the resident and the visitor is not limited to the form of the voice call (hands-free call) using the speaker 300 and the microphone 301 as described above. For example, a form of a call using a handset (handset) provided separately is also suitable, and the microphone 301 is usually unnecessary for establishing this call.

  Further, the operation unit 302 of the living room master unit 3 is not limited to the form of the touch panel as described above, and can be configured by independent buttons such as a call button and various image processing buttons.

  Further, the monitor 303 of the living room base unit 3 not only has the video image output function as described above but also a text message or picture data indicating that there is a call from a visitor who operates the call button 100 of the front door unit 1. It is also possible to display a character message, picture data, or the like indicating that the sensor unit 200 of the sensor camera 2 is activated.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the room base unit 3 in the intercom system which is the best mode for carrying out the present invention. In addition, illustration and description about the specific structure of the front door 1 and the sensor camera 2 are omitted.

  The room master unit 3 generates a DC power source obtained by rectifying / smoothing the above-described speaker 300, microphone 301, operation unit 302, monitor 303, and commercial power source (AC 100V), and this DC power source is configured as the room base unit. A power supply circuit 304 for supplying operation power for each unit / circuit and power supply for the entrance slave unit 1 and the sensor camera 2 respectively, and voice input / output via the microphone 301 and the speaker 300 (transmission) A speech circuit 305 for forming a speech line by performing 4-wire / 2-wire conversion, 2-wire / 4-wire conversion, amplification, etc. on the speech signal subjected to the signal processing, and the entrance terminal 1 The storage capacity for storing the video captured by the camera 101 or the video captured by the camera unit 201 of the sensor camera 2 as an uncompressed digital moving image is large. And a small hard disk 306 and a control for detecting a call signal transmitted from the front cordless handset 1 and outputting a ring tone (including a voice message) from the speaker 300, and a camera call signal transmitted from the sensor camera 2. Control for detecting and outputting a calling sound (including a voice message) from the speaker 300, control of the power supply circuit 304 and the call circuit 305, timing for storing an uncompressed digital moving image in the hard disk 306, and control for terminating the storage CPU 307 (hereinafter referred to as the main CPU) 307, and when the digital moving image controlled by the main CPU 307 and stored in the hard disk 306 is played back on the monitor 303, 2 times, 4 times, 8 times or Process the image so that it is 16x magnified, or lightness, saturation, or contrast A CPU (hereinafter referred to as a recording / playback CPU) that adjusts the last and performs image processing so that the image quality is improved over the original image captured by the camera 101 of the front door 1 or the camera unit 201 of the sensor camera 2. Interface circuits 308a and 308b, a power supply line from the power supply circuit 304 to the first transmission line L1, and a (bidirectional) signal transmission line between the main CPU 307 and the first transmission line L1 ( (Hereinafter referred to as the front door side I / F) 309, the power supply line from the power circuit 304 to the second transmission line L2, and the (bidirectional) signal transmission between the main CPU 307 and the second transmission line L2. Interface circuits (hereinafter referred to as sensor camera side I / F) 310 for forming lines are provided.

  In the intercom system that is the best mode for carrying out the present invention configured as described above, specific operations will be described below.

[First action]
When the intercom system of the present invention is in a standby state, that is, in a state where there is no call from a visitor who is outdoors and no telephone call is established, the DC power generated by the power supply circuit 304 of the living room base unit 3 shown in FIG. Is supplied at a predetermined voltage level for standby to the constituent parts / circuits of the living room main unit, and is also supplied to the main unit 1 via the front I / F 309 and the first transmission line L1. The supplied operation power supply for standby of the entrance slave unit is further supplied to the sensor camera 2 via the sensor camera side I / F 310 and the second transmission line L2, and the operation power supply for monitoring the sensor camera is provided. Become.

  Next, in a standby state as described above, when a visitor who is outdoors operates the call button 100 of the front door 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to call a resident in the room, a call signal Is generated. This calling signal is transmitted from the entrance slave unit 1 to the main CPU 307 via the first transmission line L 1 and the entrance slave unit side I / F 309 of the living room master unit 3.

  The main CPU 307 of the living room main unit 3 detects that there is a call from a visitor based on the call signal transmitted from the front door set 1, and makes a ringing sound to that effect (including a voice message) as a speaker. 300, and the power supply circuit 304 is controlled to supply operating power to the monitor 303 so that the monitor can be output. Note that the monitor 303 can display a text message or picture data indicating that there is a call from a visitor under the control of the main CPU 307.

  Further, when the main CPU 307 of the living room base unit 3 detects the calling signal transmitted from the front door unit 1, the main CPU 307 controls the voltage level of the DC power supplied from the power supply circuit 304 to the front side handset 1. The operation can be started. The video imaged by the camera 101, that is, a video image of a visitor who has performed a call operation or a video image in the vicinity of the outside is signal-processed into a video signal (hereinafter referred to as a first video signal), and then described above. It is transmitted to the main CPU 307 of the room base unit 3 through the same route as the call signal.

  Furthermore, the main CPU 307 of the living room master unit 3 can not only display the real-time video signal processed from the first video signal transmitted from the entrance cordless handset 1 on the monitor 303, but also output the call signal described above. The timing function becomes active at the detected timing, and a predetermined time is started, and the control to the recording / playback CPUs 308a and 308b is started, so that the predetermined time is up from the start of the time measurement. Until then, the first video signal can be stored in the hard disk 306 as uncompressed digital moving image data (hereinafter referred to as first digital moving image data).

  The hard disk 306 of the living room master 3 has a large storage capacity and a small size, so that the predetermined time can be set longer. Therefore, not only the first digital moving image data can be stored for a long time, but also the room base unit 3 does not need to be enlarged, and the aesthetics of the room base unit are maintained.

  Next, based on the ringing sound (including a voice message) output from the speaker 300 of the living room base unit 3 and the video displayed on the monitor 303 in real time, it is confirmed that there is a call from the visitor. When the resident who has confirmed the user's identification performs a predetermined response operation using the operation unit 302, the call circuit 305 is controlled by the main CPU 307 that detects this operation, and the speaker 300 and the microphone used by the resident 301, a call line between the call circuit 305, the main CPU 307, the entrance side I / F 309, the microphone 102 and the speaker 103 of the entrance 1 used by the visitor via the first transmission line L 1. The call is established by sending and receiving voice signals via the formed call line, especially for residents, checking the state of visitors The call can be established while

  Next, when reproducing the first digital moving image data stored in the hard disk 306 of the living room master unit 3 in the enlarged display on the monitor 303, the resident uses the operation unit 302 to double, quadruple, Any one of 8 times or 16 times can be selected. Upon detecting this operation, the main CPU 307 controls the recording / playback CPU 308a to perform image processing so that the first digital moving image data read from the hard disk 306 is enlarged by any one selected multiple. The first digital moving image data after the image processing is transmitted to the monitor 303 via the main CPU 307 as the uncompressed data, so that the visitor who performed the calling operation or the outdoor data An image in the vicinity can be displayed on the monitor 303 as an image with improved visibility without deterioration in image quality even if the image is enlarged.

  In addition, when the first digital moving image data stored in the hard disk 306 of the living room master unit 3 is reproduced on the monitor 303, the resident uses the operation unit 302 in addition to the enlarged display described above. The brightness, saturation, or contrast of moving image data can be adjusted. The main CPU 307 that has detected this operation controls the recording / playback CPU 308b to adjust the brightness, saturation, or contrast of the first digital moving image data read from the hard disk 306, and to the camera 101 of the front door unit 1. Then, the image processing is performed so that the image quality is improved as compared with the original image captured. The first digital moving image data after the image processing is transmitted to the monitor 303 via the main CPU 307 as the uncompressed data, so that the visitor who performed the calling operation or the outdoor data An image in the vicinity of the surroundings can be displayed on the monitor 303 as a highly visible image with improved image quality compared to the original image captured by the camera 101 of the front door 1.

[Second action]
As in the first operation described above, when the intercom system of the present invention is in a standby state, the sensor unit 200 of the sensor camera 2 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The presence or absence of a suspicious person or suspicious object is monitored, and if the presence is detected, a camera call signal is generated. This camera call signal is transmitted from the sensor camera 2 to the main CPU 307 via the second transmission line L 2 and the sensor camera side I / F 310 of the room base unit 3.

  Based on the camera call signal transmitted from the sensor camera 2, the main CPU 307 of the living room master unit 3 detects that there is a suspicious person such as a thief or a suspicious object in the vicinity of the garage or the like, and accordingly. Is output from the speaker 300, and the power supply circuit 304 is controlled to supply operating power to the monitor 303 so that the monitor can be displayed. The monitor 303 can also display a text message, picture data, or the like indicating that the sensor unit 200 of the sensor camera 2 has been operated under the control of the main CPU 307.

  Further, when the main CPU 307 of the living room base unit 3 detects the camera call signal transmitted from the sensor camera 2, the main CPU 307 controls the voltage level of the DC power supplied from the power supply circuit 304 to the sensor camera 2 to control the camera unit 201. Can be started. The video imaged by the camera unit 201, that is, the video around the surroundings of the suspicious person or the suspicious object or the garage detected by the sensor unit 200 is a video signal (hereinafter referred to as a second video signal). After the signal processing, the signal is transmitted to the main CPU 307 of the room base unit 3 through the same route as the camera call signal described above.

  Further, the main CPU 307 of the living room master unit 3 can not only display the real-time video obtained by signal processing of the second video signal transmitted from the sensor camera 2 on the monitor 303 but also the camera call signal described above. The timing function becomes active at the timing when the time is detected, and the measurement of the predetermined time is started and the control to the recording / playback CPUs 308a and 308b is started, so that the predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the time measurement. Until then, the second video signal can be stored in the hard disk 306 as uncompressed digital moving image data (hereinafter referred to as second digital moving image data).

  Note that the hard disk 306 of the living room master unit 3 has a large storage capacity and is downsized, so that the predetermined time can be set longer as in the first operation described above. Therefore, not only the second digital moving image data can be stored for a long time, but also the room base unit 3 does not need to be enlarged, and the aesthetics of the room base unit are maintained.

  Next, based on the call sound (including voice message) output from the speaker 300 of the living room base unit 3 and the video displayed on the monitor 303 in real time, a suspicious person such as a thief or a suspicious object When a resident who has confirmed that the presence is in the vicinity of the surroundings of the garage or the like together with the identification of the suspicious person or the suspicious object performs a predetermined sound collecting operation using the operation unit 302, the main CPU 307 that detected this operation As a result, the voltage level of the DC power supplied from the power supply circuit 304 to the sensor camera 2 is controlled to start the sound collecting operation of the microphone 202, and the call circuit 305 is controlled from the microphone 202 of the sensor camera 2. The signal transmission line to the speaker 300 is formed via the transmission line L2, the sensor camera side I / F 310, and the call circuit 305. Therefore, by transmitting an audio signal, sound generated in the vicinity of the garage or the like, for example, suspicious object sound or loud noise can be monitored by the output from the speaker 300.

  In addition, the resident makes a call sound (including a voice message) output from the speaker 300 of the room master unit 3, sounds (suspicious noises and loud noises) generated in the vicinity of the garage, etc., and a monitor. When a predetermined threatening operation is performed using the operation unit 302 as necessary after confirming the video displayed in real time in 303, the speaker 203 of the sensor camera 2 is controlled by the main CPU 307 that detects this operation. Therefore, a sound for threatening a suspicious person, for example, an alarm sound (including a voice message) can be output, and crime prevention is improved. Note that alarm sound (including a voice message) can be output from the speaker 203 of the sensor camera 2 in the same manner from the speaker 103 of the front door 1, and crime prevention can be further improved.

  Next, in reproducing the second digital moving image data stored in the hard disk 306 of the living room master unit 3 on the monitor 303 in an enlarged display, the resident uses the operation unit 302 in the same manner as the first operation described above. It can be used to select any one of 2 times, 4 times, 8 times, or 16 times. The main CPU 307 that has detected this operation controls the recording / reproducing CPU 308a to perform image processing so that the second digital moving image data read from the hard disk 306 is enlarged by any one of the selected multiples. The second digital moving image data after image processing in this way is transmitted to the monitor 303 via the main CPU 307 as uncompressed data, so that a suspicious person such as a thief or a suspicious object or garage For example, an image in the vicinity of the surroundings can be displayed on the monitor 303 as an image with improved visibility without deterioration in image quality even when enlarged.

  Further, when the second digital moving image data stored in the hard disk 306 of the living room master unit 3 is reproduced on the monitor 303, the resident not only performs the above-described enlarged display but also the operation unit as in the first operation. 302 can be used to adjust the brightness, saturation, or contrast of the digital video data. The main CPU 307 that has detected this operation controls the recording / playback CPU 308 b to adjust the brightness, saturation, and contrast of the second digital moving image data read from the hard disk 306, and thereby the camera unit 201 of the sensor camera 2. The image processing is performed so that the image quality is improved as compared with the original image picked up by. The second digital moving image data after image processing in this way is transmitted to the monitor 303 via the main CPU 307 as uncompressed data, so that a suspicious person such as a thief or a suspicious object or garage A video in the vicinity of the surroundings can be displayed on the monitor 303 as a highly visible video with improved image quality compared to the original image captured by the camera unit 201 of the sensor camera 2.

  The intercom system of the present invention has been described with the specific embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, respectively. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and is known so far as long as the effects of the present invention are achieved. Needless to say, any configuration can be adopted.

L2 is a system explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of an intercom system which is the best mode for carrying out the present invention. The block diagram which shows the specific structure of a living room main | base station in the intercom system which is the best form for implementing this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Entrance cordless device 101 …… Camera 2 …… Sensor camera 3 …… Living room parent device 302 …… Operation part 303 …… Monitor 306 …… Hard disk 307 …… Main CPU (CPU)
308a, 308b ... Recording / playback CPU
L1 …… First transmission line (transmission line)
L2 …… Second transmission line (transmission line)

Claims (3)

The entrance camera (1) having the camera (101), the sensor camera (2), and the sensor camera are connected via the transmission line (L1) and the entrance slave and the transmission line (L2), respectively. With a parent machine (3)
The living room master unit is imaged by a CPU (307) for detecting a call signal transmitted from the entrance slave unit and a camera call signal transmitted from the sensor camera, and a camera of the entrance slave unit. A monitor (303) for respectively displaying the captured image and the image captured by the sensor camera, and the image captured by the camera of the entrance unit or the image captured by the sensor camera, And a hard disk (306) which starts saving as an uncompressed digital moving image at a timing when a call signal or the camera call signal is detected and ends the saving after a predetermined time has elapsed. Intercom system.   The room master unit is a recording / playback CPU for performing enlarged display of 2 ×, 4 ×, 8 ×, or 16 × by image processing when playing back a digital moving image stored in the hard disk on the monitor. The intercom system according to claim 1, further comprising: (308a) and an operation unit (302) for performing the operation. When playing back a digital moving image stored in the hard disk on the monitor, the living room master unit adjusts brightness, saturation, or contrast by image processing to improve the image quality over the captured original image. The intercom system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a recording / playback CPU (308b) for displaying an image, and an operation unit (302) for performing the operation.

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