JP2007060260A - Camera control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a camera control system which allows a plurality of users to control the camera parameters simultaneously by using one camera only and which is capable of wide-angle shot. <P>SOLUTION: Optical PT is automatically performed so that the periphery of a distributed image may come to the center of an imaging region to prevent the distributed image from hanging out of the imaging region. When the periphery of the distributed image comes out of the imaging region, the zoom magnification is changed to fit the distributed image inside the imaging region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a camera control system, and is particularly suitable for a camera control system in which a user controls parameters of a remote camera and displays images from the camera in a switchable manner.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a system for distributing captured images of a camera to a plurality of remote users, a camera control system is known in which each user controls camera parameters such as pan / tilt angle and zoom magnification, and switches its own display image. . However, in such a conventional system, only one user can control the camera parameters at a time, and other users have a problem of waiting in turn.

In order to solve such a problem, an image of a single fixed camera is recorded on an image generation server, and a panning, tilting, and zooming operation is virtually performed on the recorded image, so that a camera by a plurality of users Patent Document 1 discloses a method for realizing simultaneous control of these parameters.
JP 2003-319364 A

  However, this type of conventional system has a problem that only one camera parameter can be controlled at a time. Further, even [Patent Document 1] corresponding to this problem, it is difficult to cover all shooting targets with one fixed camera. It is well known that the image of the wide-angle camera is distorted, and if the camera is pulled (disposed far away) to cover all the objects to be photographed, the photographing pixels will become large. Also, if you want to shoot a range of 180 ° or more when shooting landscapes or sightseeing spots, you can't handle it at all.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a camera control system in which a plurality of users can control camera parameters simultaneously with only one camera and can perform wide-angle shooting.

  The camera control system of the present invention is a camera control system including a camera server and a user terminal, and includes a user terminal having means for transmitting a camera control command to the camera server via a network, and a user terminal via the network. Means for distributing the image to the image, control means for controlling the geometric parameters of the camera, means for changing the distribution image in response to the camera control command, means for determining the outer peripheral area of the distribution image, and the control means And a camera server having means for positioning at the center of the imaging region.

  In another aspect of the present invention, a camera control system including a camera server and a user terminal, the user terminal including means for transmitting a camera control command to the camera server via the network, and the user terminal via the network Means for distributing the image to the image, control means for controlling the geometric parameters of the camera, means for changing the distribution image in response to the camera control command, means for determining the outer peripheral area of the distribution image, and the control means The camera server includes means for positioning at the center of the imaging area and comparison means for comparing the outer peripheral area and the imaging area. When the outer peripheral area protrudes from the imaging area, imaging is performed by the control means. The zoom ratio is changed.

  The camera control system of the present invention allows a plurality of users to control camera parameters at the same time with only one camera, and can take a wide range of images.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the camera control system in the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a camera server, which has an image sensor capable of photographing 2000 × 1500 pixels and a camera having a mechanism capable of optically panning, tilting, and zooming, and has a function of distributing photographed images. Yes.

  Reference numerals 2, 3 and 4 denote user terminals which are connected to the camera server 1 via the network 5 and can control camera parameters such as pan / tilt angle and zoom magnification. Has a function of displaying the generated image.

  Each user terminal can be applied to a terminal provided with display means such as a computer terminal, PDA, mobile phone, input means, and network means, and a GUI screen as shown in FIG. 8, for example, is displayed on the display means. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 501 denotes a distribution image, which has various resolutions depending on the user terminal. In the following description, a case where the user terminals 1 and 2 described above have a resolution of 640 × 480 and the user terminal 3 has a resolution of 320 × 240 is taken as an example.

  Reference numerals 502, 503, and 504 denote scroll bars for setting the pan angle, tilt angle, and zoom magnification, respectively. The user can set the pan angle, tilt angle, and zoom magnification parameters using the scroll bars 502, 503, and 504, and obtain a desired image. This scroll bar may be allocated to the key input means when the screen resolution is low, such as a mobile phone. In this case, the distribution image 501 can be displayed on the entire display unit.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a more detailed configuration of the camera control system in the embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a camera server, which is composed of blocks 101 to 111, and 2 is a user terminal, which is composed of blocks 201 to 209. Although 3 and 4 are user terminals, the configuration thereof is the same as that of the terminal 2, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

  With the configuration of the camera server 1, the image input unit 102 converts a zoom lens for changing the zoom magnification, a focus lens for focusing, a diaphragm for adjusting the amount of light, and an optical image incident through these into an electrical signal. It consists of an image sensor with 2000 × 1500 pixels. In addition, the image processing unit 103 that has received the image signal from the image input unit 102 performs processing such as extraction and resizing of an image for distribution to the user terminal.

  The image transmission unit 104 compresses the image data from the image processing unit 103 or attaches a communication header, and transmits the compressed data to the user terminals 2, 3, 4 via the network 5 from the I / F unit 110. The command communication unit 109 also transmits and receives commands between the camera server 1 and the user terminals 2, 3, and 4 via the I / F unit 110. Pan / tilt angle and zoom magnification control from the user terminal to the camera server is one of the command communications.

  The calculation unit 108 is a part that calculates the outer periphery from the distribution image to the user terminals 2, 3, and 4 and performs a calculation for centering the outer peripheral region in the imaging region. Details of this will be described later.

  The control unit 107 includes a camera platform and motors for driving the camera, that is, a pan / tilt mechanism, a pan motor and a tilt motor, a motor for driving the zoom lens of the image input unit 102, a motor driver for driving them, and the like. This is the part that controls, and controls the geometric and optical parameters of the camera.

  The CPU 101 is a part that controls the entire camera server 1, and loads a program stored in the ROM 105 into the RAM 106 and executes it. Further, the CPU 101 has a system bus 111, and each unit described so far is connected to the system bus 111, and the CPU 101 performs overall control via this.

  Next, the configuration of the user terminal 2 will be described. The image receiving unit 207 receives image data sent from the camera server 1 via the network 5 via the I / F unit 208, and decompresses compressed data, removes a communication header, and the like. The command communication unit 204 also transmits / receives commands to / from the camera server 1 via the I / F unit 208. Pan / tilt angle and zoom magnification control to the camera server is one of the command communications.

  The display unit 203 includes a display such as a CRT or LCD and its control unit, and displays the image data received by the image receiving unit 207, the scroll bars 502, 503, 504, and the like. That is, display control of the GUI screen as shown in FIG. 8 is performed.

  The input unit 202 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pad, and the like, and is used for input and input of various characters and codes as well as for the scroll bars 502, 503, and 504 described above.

  The CPU 201 is a part that controls the entire user terminal 2, and loads a program stored in the ROM 205 into the RAM 206 and executes it. The CPU 201 has a system bus 209, and each unit described so far is connected to the system bus 209, and the CPU 201 performs overall control via this.

  Next, the operation of the camera control system in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a follow chart of a portion related to the embodiment of the present invention in the user terminal 2 and is activated when an operation of the scroll bar 502, 503 or 504 is detected by the input unit 202. When this program is activated, it is checked in step S201 whether or not it is a pan instruction by operating the scroll bar 502. If it is not a pan instruction, the process proceeds to step S203. If it is a pan instruction, the movement direction (in this case, right or left) and the movement amount are converted into commands in step S202, and the process proceeds to step S203.

  In step S203, it is checked whether or not a tilt instruction is issued by operating the scroll bar 503. If it is not a tilt instruction, the process proceeds to step S205. If it is a tilt instruction, the movement direction (in this case, up or down) and the movement amount are converted into commands in step S204, and the process proceeds to step S205.

  In step S <b> 205, it is checked whether or not the zoom instruction is made by operating the scroll bar 504. If it is not a zoom instruction, the process proceeds to step S207. If it is a zoom instruction, the magnification is converted into a command in step S206, and the process proceeds to step S207.

  In step S207, the command created in step S202, S204 or S206 is transmitted from the command communication unit 204 to the camera server 1 via the I / F unit 208, and this program ends.

  FIG. 7 is a follow chart of the part related to the embodiment of the present invention in the camera server 1, and is activated when a pan, tilt or zoom command is received from the user terminal. When this program is activated, the position of the new distribution area is calculated using the calculation unit 108 from the movement amount or zoom amount of the distribution area according to the command in step S101, and all distribution areas including the new distribution area are calculated. Is calculated. In step S102, the outer peripheral area calculated in step S101 is centered in the imaging area, and the process proceeds to step S103. This centering will be described later in detail. In step S103, it is checked whether or not the outer peripheral area calculated in step S101 fits within the imaging area. If so, the process proceeds to step S105, and if not, the process proceeds to step S104. In step S104, the zoom ratio required to fit the outer peripheral area within the imaging area is calculated using the calculation unit 108, and the actual zoom ratio is changed using the control unit 107 (in this case, the zoom-out is performed). However, since the distribution image size is reduced when zooming out here, the image processing unit 103 is used to enlarge the original image size. In the next step S105, image distribution is started in the new distribution area in response to the result of centering in step S102 or the result of zooming out in step S104, and this program is terminated.

  Hereinafter, the process of creating a distribution image will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 3A, reference numeral 1101 denotes an area that can be imaged at one time by the image sensor, and the resolution is 2000 × 1500 pixels as described above. Reference numerals 2101, 3101, and 4101 denote distribution images to the user terminals 2, 3, and 4, respectively, and the resolutions are 640 × 480, 640 × 480, and 320 × 240, respectively, as described above. Reference numeral 1501 denotes an area connecting the outer peripheries of the distribution images 2101, 3101, and 4101. In this case, the upper side is determined by the upper side of 2101, the left side is the left side of 2101, the lower side is the lower side of 4101, and the right side is determined by the right side of 3101. The size in this case is 1200 × 900 pixels. The numbers indicated by arrows in the figure indicate the number of pixels between each side and the outer periphery of the imaging region 1101. In this state, the area 1501 is centered both vertically and horizontally within the imaging area 1101, and there are 300 pixels above and below and 400 pixels each left and right.

  Here, consider a case where the user operates the scroll bars 502 and 503 of the terminal 3 to move the distribution image 200 pixels to the right and 300 pixels downward from the position 3101 (position 3102 in FIG. 3B). A region 1502 connecting the outer peripheries of the regions 2101, 3102, and 4101 is at a position where there is an empty region of 300 pixels upward, 100 pixels downward, 400 pixels left, and 200 pixels right. In order to center this region 1502 within the image sensor region, the image sensor is first moved 100 pixels to the right and 100 pixels downward (rotated) by using an optical pan and tilt mechanism. This position is 1102 in FIG. Next, the distribution image area on the imaging area 1102 is changed by moving 100 pixels upward from the positions 2101, 3102, and 4101 in FIG. c) 2102, 3103, and 4102 are distribution images, and the outer peripheral area 1503 falls within the imaging area 1503 and is centered.

  As a result, the distribution image 2102 is the same as 2101 and 4102 is not equal to 4101, and the distribution image 3101 is distributed as 3103 moved from 3101 to the right by 200 pixels and down by 300 pixels as instructed by the user. Are centered within the imaging area 1102. The purpose of centering the outer peripheral area is to averagely deal with camera control from the user terminal, which is unknown in which direction, by making the surrounding empty areas uniform.

  FIG. 4A is a diagram completely equivalent to FIG. 3A, in which 1201 indicates an area that can be imaged at once by the image sensor, and the resolution is 2000 × 1500 pixels, 2201, 3201, and 4201 each for each user. The distribution images to the terminals 2, 3, and 4 have resolutions of 640 × 480 pixels, 640 × 480 pixels, 320 × 240 pixels, and 1601, respectively, that are regions connecting the outer periphery of the distribution images 2201, 3201, and 4201. The size in this case is 1200 × 900 pixels.

  Here, consider a case where the user operates the scroll bar 502 of the terminal 3 and the distribution image moves 1000 pixels to the right from 3101 (arrow 3301 in FIG. 3A). As described with reference to FIG. 3, the outer periphery of the distribution area including the moved area of the distribution area 3201 has a positional relationship as illustrated in FIG. 4B, and does not fit in the imaging area 1602. Therefore, as described with reference to FIG. 6, the zoom ratio necessary to fit the outer peripheral area within the imaging area is calculated using the calculation unit 108, and the actual zoom ratio is changed using the control unit 107. Here, FIG. 4C shows a result obtained by reducing the zoom ratio to 0.8. In the figure, reference numeral 1203 denotes an imaging area, reference numeral 1603 denotes an outer peripheral area of a distribution image, the size of which is 1720 × 720 pixels, and distribution images 2202, 3203, and 4202 to user terminals 2, 3, and 4 are 512 × 384 pixels and 512, respectively. × 384 pixels, 256 × 192 pixels. In the periphery of 1603, there are empty areas of 390 pixels on the top and bottom and 120 pixels on the left and right. In this way, since the distribution area is reduced to 2202, 3203, and 4202, the enlargement process is performed using the image processing unit 103, and after returning to 640 × 480 pixels, 640 × 480 pixels, and 320 × 240 pixels, respectively. , Distributed to each user terminal.

In the description of FIG. 3, it has been described that the image pickup element is moved 100 pixels to the right and 100 pixels downward by using the optical pan / tilt mechanism. However, since the pan and tilt mechanisms are actually rotational movements by the respective drive motors, a method for obtaining the rotational angle from the number of moving pixels will be described below using FIG. However, here, only the horizontal movement using the pan mechanism will be described. Since the same concept can be applied to the vertical movement using the tilt mechanism, description thereof is omitted here. In the figure, 1801 is the viewpoint of the camera, X0 is the number of imaging pixels in the horizontal direction, here 2000 pixels, x is the number of moving pixels, P is the angle of view, α is the central angle with respect to x, and the angle to be obtained here It is. When these relationships are expressed by mathematical formulas,
(X0 / 2) / tan (P / 2) = x / tanα
Than this,
tan α = (2x / X0) · tan (P / 2)
α = arctan ((2x / X0) · tan (P / 2))
Since P = 2000, when calculating the case where it is desired to move 100 pixels by setting the shooting angle of view P to 80 °,
α = 4.80 ° In other words, in the example shown in FIG. 3, if the pan is moved to the right by 4.80 °, the movement is 100 pixels.

  Although the method for obtaining the rotation angle by calculation has been described above, these may be tabulated and stored in the ROM 105.

  In the embodiments described so far, the case of three terminals as user terminals has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention can be similarly applied to a larger number or one terminal.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the outer periphery of the distribution image is automatically controlled so as to come to the center of the imaging region, and still. When the outer periphery of the distribution image does not fit in the imaging area, the zoom magnification is changed and the distribution image is stored in the imaging area, so multiple users can control camera parameters simultaneously with only one camera. There can be provided a camera control system capable of wide-angle shooting.

The figure which shows the detailed structure of the camera control system in embodiment of this invention The figure which shows the structure of the camera control system in embodiment of this invention The figure explaining the process of the delivery image preparation in embodiment of this invention The figure explaining the process of the delivery image preparation in embodiment of this invention The figure explaining the method of calculating | requiring a rotation angle from the number of moving pixels in embodiment of this invention. A chart explaining the operation of the user terminal in the embodiment of the present invention A flowchart explaining the operation of the camera server in the embodiment of the present invention The figure which shows the example of the GUI screen of the user terminal in embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

1 Camera server
2 User terminal
3 User terminal
4 User terminal
5 network
102 Camera server image input section
103 Image processing unit of camera server
104 Image processing unit of camera server
107 Camera server controller
108 Camera server computing unit
109 Command communication part of camera server
110 Camera server interface
202 Image input unit of user terminal
203 User terminal display
204 Command communication part of user terminal
207 Image receiving unit of user terminal
208 User terminal interface

Claims (2)

A camera control system comprising a camera server and a user terminal,
A user terminal comprising means for transmitting a camera control command to the camera server via a network;
Means for distributing an image to a user terminal via a network; control means for controlling a geometric parameter of the camera; means for changing the distribution image in response to the camera control command; means for determining an outer peripheral area of the distribution image; And a camera server comprising means for positioning the outer peripheral area at the center of the imaging area by means. A camera control system comprising a camera server and a user terminal,
A user terminal comprising means for transmitting a camera control command to the camera server via a network;
Means for distributing an image to a user terminal via a network; control means for controlling a geometric parameter of the camera; means for changing the distribution image in response to the camera control command; means for determining an outer peripheral area of the distribution image; A camera server comprising: means for positioning the outer peripheral region at the center of the imaging region by means; and comparing means for comparing the outer peripheral region and the imaging region.
The camera control system, wherein when the outer peripheral area protrudes from the imaging area, a zoom ratio of imaging is changed by the control means.

Images