JP2009081514A - Video intercom apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve visibility of videos imaged by a video imaging unit without reference to the installation environment of an entrance slave device by widening the dynamic range that the video imaging unit has with simple circuit constitution when the video imaging unit of the entrance slave device images videos of a watched object including a visitor and a background. <P>SOLUTION: As the videos of the watched object including the visitor and background, at least two videos differing in exposure time are received by a sensor circuit 110 constituting the video imaging unit 101 of the entrance slave device 1, and the at least two videos which are received are put together by an image composing circuit 111 constituting the video imaging unit. Further, an image correction processing unit 103 of the entrance slave device performs contrast correction processing on the watched object in the video composed by the image composing circuit. Specifically, the visitor is detected and exposure for the detected visitor is adjusted to perform the contrast correction processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a television doorphone device, and more particularly, to a television doorphone device with improved visibility of a video to be monitored including a visitor and a background imaged by an entrance unit.

  Conventionally, when imaging an image of an entrance cordless device installed outside a dwelling unit, such as a camera, the brightness of the entire screen of the captured image is detected, and signal processing is performed to optimize exposure. After that, the image is displayed on an image display means, for example, a monitor.

  According to this video image pickup / image output means, for example, when the ratio of visitors entering the entire screen is small with a backlit state in the background, the exposure of the camera is bright with a large dynamic range. There is a possibility that the visitor may be crushed in black due to the background, and the image on the monitor becomes dark and the visibility is low. In addition, if the difference between the brightness of the visitor and the brightness of the background is large, the visitor may be crushed in black and the background may fly white. It was.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned difficulties, although a method of adjusting exposure to the face of the visitor by adjusting the exposure of the camera by operating the backlight correction button or the like is suitable, the face of the visitor When it becomes dark, it is necessary to set the imaging environment appropriately and adjust the exposure appropriately by operating the backlight compensation button, etc. When the difference between the brightness of the person and the brightness of the background is large, it may not be possible to cope with the operation of the backlight correction button or the like. Therefore, a television interphone has been disclosed that can confirm a person imaged by an imaging camera of a slave unit without deteriorating visibility on the monitor of the master unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-244900 A

  According to the TV intercom described in Patent Document 1 described in the background art, the deterioration in visibility that has occurred because the average luminance of the entire screen is used for the control of the screen brightness. Although the target region can always be monitored with an appropriate luminance by controlling based on the luminance level of the body), an infrared light emitting diode corresponding to the light projecting means is required in addition to the imaging means. There was the difficulty that it became complicated and cost increased.

  The present invention has been made in order to eliminate this difficulty, and the video imaging unit has a simple circuit configuration when imaging a video to be monitored including a visitor and a background by the video imaging unit of the entrance cordless handset. An object of the present invention is to provide a television door phone device that can increase the visibility of the video imaged by the video imaging unit regardless of the installation environment of the entrance cordless handset by expanding the dynamic range.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, a television door phone apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is an entrance cordless handset having a video image capturing unit that is installed outside a dwelling unit and captures a video to be monitored including a visitor and a background. And a room base unit having a video image output unit for outputting an image captured by the video image capturing unit of the entrance unit. The image pickup unit of the entrance unit includes a sensor circuit for receiving at least two images having different exposure times, and an image composition circuit for combining at least two images received by the sensor circuit. Yes. The entrance unit includes an image correction processing unit for performing a contrast correction process on a monitoring target among videos synthesized by the image synthesis circuit of the video imaging unit.

  Further, in the television door phone device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the image correction processing unit of the entrance cordless handset is an image synthesized by the image synthesizing circuit of the video imaging unit. A visitor is detected, and a contrast correction process is performed by adjusting exposure of the detected visitor.

  According to the television door phone device of the present invention, when the entrance cordless handset is installed in an installation environment having a greatly different brightness such as a visitor and a background as a target of an image captured by the video image capturing unit of the entrance cordless handset. Even so, by expanding the dynamic range of the image capturing unit with a simple circuit configuration, it is possible to capture images with the exposure of both the visitor and the background matched, and the room is highly visible. It is displayed in the video output section of the main unit, making it easy to distinguish visitors and the background. In addition, by performing contrast correction processing in the image correction processing unit of the entrance cordless handset, even if the visitor is crushed black or the background flies white, the room parent is highly visible. It will be displayed in the video output section of the machine, making it easy to distinguish visitors and backgrounds. Furthermore, by performing video (image) processing in the video image capturing unit and the image correction processing unit of the entrance cordless handset, the effect of backlight correction can be automatically obtained only by performing a call operation in the handset operating unit. In addition to being able to display the contrast-corrected image on the image output unit of the parent unit, the room is highly visible even when there is a large difference in the brightness of the visitors and the background. It is displayed in the video output section of the main unit, making it easy to distinguish visitors and the background.

  Next, an exemplary embodiment to which the television door phone device of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a system explanatory diagram showing an overall (external) configuration of a television door phone device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The TV door phone apparatus shown in FIG. 1A is installed outside the dwelling unit, and a visitor calls the resident while in the dwelling unit to establish a call, and also displays a video to be monitored including the visitor and the background. A call from the entrance cordless handset 1 for imaging and the entrance cordless handset 1 installed in the dwelling unit and connected via the transmission line L is notified, and the resident who responds to the call is between the visitor. A living room base unit 2 is provided for establishing a telephone call and for displaying an image captured by the front door unit 1.

  1A includes a slave unit operation unit 100, a video imaging unit 101, and a slave unit call unit 102. In this entrance child device 1, the child device operation unit 100 is operated by a visitor to call a resident, and for example, a call button is suitable. The video imaging unit 101 is for imaging a video to be monitored including a visitor and a background. For example, various imaging element media such as a CCD and a CMOS are suitable. Further, the handset communication unit 103 inputs / outputs a voice (sending voice, receiving voice) for a visitor to establish a call with a resident, for example, a microphone and a speaker are suitable. The

  Furthermore, the room master unit 2 shown in FIG. 1A includes a video output unit 200, a base unit call unit 201, and a base unit operation unit 202. In this living room master unit 2, the video output unit 200 is for displaying the video imaged by the video image capturing unit 101 of the front door unit 1, such as an LCD, PDP, organic EL display, etc. Various image display media are suitable. The base phone call unit 201 inputs and outputs voices (sending voice and incoming voice) for a resident to establish a call with a visitor. For example, a microphone and a speaker are suitable. The Furthermore, the base unit operation unit 202 is operated by a resident in response to a call from a visitor to establish a call by using the base unit call unit 201 or to terminate a call that has been established. A call button, a touch panel disposed on the front surface of the video output unit 200, and the like are preferable.

  In addition, in the living room master unit 2 shown in FIG. 1A, the video output unit 200 displays a call message, picture data, and the like for notifying a call from a visitor in addition to the above-described video output function. Can be made. Moreover, the speaker which comprises the main | base station call part 201 can output the ringing tone, voice message, etc. for alert | reporting the call from a visitor other than the above-mentioned call function.

  FIG.1 (b) is a block diagram which shows the specific structure of the entrance cordless handset 1 in the television door phone apparatus by the Example of this invention. The entrance slave unit 1 includes the above-described slave unit operation unit 100, video imaging unit 101, slave unit call unit 102, image correction processing unit 103, slave unit control unit 104, and slave unit I / F (interface). 105.

  In the entrance terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1B, the video imaging unit 101 that captures a video to be monitored including a visitor and a background includes a sensor circuit 110 for receiving at least two videos having different exposure times. And an image synthesis circuit 111 for synthesizing at least two images received by the sensor circuit 110.

  The image correction processing unit 103 performs contrast correction processing on the monitoring target among the videos synthesized by the image synthesis circuit 111 of the video imaging unit 101. For example, the image correction processing unit 103 detects a visitor from the synthesized video and detects it. It is for adjusting the exposure by adjusting the exposure of visitors.

  The subunit | mobile_unit control part 104 is for controlling each part of the structure of the entrance subunit | mobile_unit 1. As shown in FIG. As an example of specific control, the child device control unit 104 detects a call operation performed by a visitor performed by the child device operation unit 100 so that the video imaging unit 101 and the image correction processing unit 103 become active. Can be controlled. Moreover, the subunit | mobile_unit control part 104 can detect the response operation by the resident performed in the living room main | base station 2, and can control the subunit | mobile_unit call part 102 to become active.

  The slave unit I / F 105 includes a signal transmission line between the slave unit call unit 102 and the transmission line L, a signal transmission line from the image correction processing unit 103 to the transmission line L, and the slave unit control unit 104 and the transmission line L. And a signal transmission line between them.

  In the TV door phone device according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the following description will be given with respect to specific operations with reference to FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b) and FIGS. 2 (a), 2 (b). The description will be given with reference. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the installation environment of the entrance cordless handset 1 in the television door phone device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of video (image) processing applied in the TV door phone apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, as an installation environment of the entrance child device 1, a dwelling unit roof A is provided on the upper portion of the entrance child device 1 so as to cover the entrance child device, and the imaging shaft 101 a of the image pickup unit 101 is provided. For example, when a visitor P calls a resident in a state where a building B such as a building or the sun C exists within a predetermined imaging area Z on the extension line, the entrance shown in FIGS. When a call operation is performed using the slave unit operation unit 100 of the slave unit 1, the slave unit control unit 104 that detects this operation controls the video imaging unit 101 and the image correction processing unit 103 to be active. In addition, a call signal is generated. Further, the calling signal generated by the slave unit control unit 104 is transmitted to the living room master unit 2 via the slave unit I / F 105 and the transmission path L. The room master unit 2 that has received the call signal can display a call message, picture data, and the like on the video image output unit 200, and can also provide a ring tone, a voice message, and the like from a speaker constituting the base unit call unit 201. Can be notified to the resident about the call from the visitor (call notification).

  In the entrance terminal 1 shown in FIG. 1B, the sensor circuit 110 of the image capturing unit 101 receives at least two images having different exposure times when capturing an image to be monitored including the visitor P and the background. . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2B, for example, an image with a long exposure time, for example, 10 ms (hereinafter referred to as a first image) S1, and an image with a short exposure time, for example, 0.1 ms (hereinafter, referred to as “first image”). This is called the second video.) S2 is received. Here, the first video S1 has a feature that the corresponding part of the background such as the building B or the sun C is whitened because the exposure time is long and overexposed (over). On the other hand, the second video S2 has a characteristic that the exposure time is short and underexposure (under), so that the corresponding portions of the visitor P and the dwelling unit roof A are crushed in black. Note that the images received by the sensor circuit 110 of the image pickup unit 101 are not limited to two such images as the first and second images S1 and S2 having different exposure times, but more than one. Can be received with different exposure times.

  Thereafter, in the entrance cordless handset 1 shown in FIG. 1B, the image synthesis circuit 111 of the video imaging unit 101 synthesizes the first and second videos S1, S2 received by the sensor circuit 110, for example, Then, a luminance signal, a color signal, and the like of the video are synthesized by parameter control to generate a synthesized video S3, which is sent to the image correction processing unit 103. Here, as the composite video S3, as shown in FIG. 2B, the composite video is the same as the corresponding part of the visitor P and the dwelling roof A that are crushed in black in the entire screen of the composite video. The corresponding parts such as the building B and the sun C, which are occupied white in the entire screen, are reduced.

  Next, in the entrance cordless handset 1 shown in FIG. 1B, the image correction processing unit 103 is squeezed black, for example, to be monitored in the synthesized video S3 synthesized by the image synthesis circuit 111 of the video imaging unit 101. Contrast correction processing is performed on the corresponding part of the visitor P and the dwelling unit roof A, or the corresponding part such as the building B or the sun C flying white, for example, in the image composition circuit 111 of the video imaging unit 101 The visitor P is detected from the synthesized video S3 synthesized in this way, and the exposure of the detected visitor P is adjusted to perform the contrast correction processing to generate a corrected video (corrected video signal) S4. Further, the corrected video signal S4 generated by the image correction processing unit 103 is transmitted to the room master unit 2 shown in FIG. 1A via the slave unit I / F 105 and the transmission path L. In the living room master 2 that has received the corrected video signal S4, as shown in FIG. 2B, the monitoring target video including the background such as the visitor P, the (dwelling roof A), the building B, and the sun C is displayed. Of these, high-visibility images in which contrast correction processing has been performed on the monitoring target, that is, images of visitors P and dwelling roof A that are not crushed black, and images of buildings B and sun C that are not crushed white are visible. High-quality video can be displayed on the video output unit 200, which makes it easy for the resident to distinguish between the visitor P and the background.

  Further, in FIG. 1A, when a resident who has confirmed the above-described call notification and video output performs a response operation using the master unit operation unit 202 of the room master unit 2, the resident uses it. A call line is formed by forming a call line between the base unit call unit 201 (microphone and speaker thereof) and the slave unit call unit 102 (microphone and speaker thereof) of the front door slave 1 via the transmission path L. A call is established by transmitting and receiving an audio signal via a line.

  As is clear from the above description, according to the television door phone device according to the embodiment of the present invention, the target of the video imaged by the video image capturing unit 101 of the entrance cordless handset 1 is as follows. ) Even when the entrance cordless handset is installed in an installation environment with greatly different brightness such as the background such as the building B and the sun C, by expanding the dynamic range of the video imaging unit with a simple circuit configuration The video can be taken with both the visitor P and the background being in the same exposure, and the video is displayed on the video display unit 200 of the living room master unit 2 with high visibility. Discrimination becomes easy. In addition, by performing the contrast correction process in the image correction processing unit 103 of the entrance cordless handset 1, even if the visitor P is crushed black or the background is white, the visibility is high. Thus, the image is displayed on the video image output unit 300 of the living room master unit 2, so that the visitor P and the background can be easily identified. Further, by performing video (image) processing in the video imaging unit 101 and the image correction processing unit 103 of the entrance cordless handset 1, the effect of backlight correction is automatically obtained only by performing a call operation in the handset operating unit 100. And the contrast-corrected image can be displayed on the image output unit 200 of the living room master unit 2, and even if there is a large difference between the brightness of the visitor P and the brightness of the background, The image is displayed on the video image output unit 200 of the living room master unit 2 in a highly visible state, so that it is easy to distinguish the visitor P and the background.

  Further, in the television door phone apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, as an example of the video (image) processing, it is assumed that the luminance of the background is bright compared with the luminance of the visitor P. However, the present invention is limited to this assumption condition. It is not a thing. For example, even when the brightness of the background is dark and the brightness of the visitor P is bright, the contrast correction processing performed by the image correction processing unit 103 of the entrance cordless handset 1 is performed on the corresponding portion of the background that has been crushed black. By performing the correction process, it is easy to determine the visitor P and the background that have been flying white in a highly visible state.

  In the television door phone apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring target video including the visitor P and the background captured by the video imaging unit 101 of the entrance cordless handset 1 is displayed as a high-visibility video. In order for the second video output unit 200 to display the image, the call operation by the visitor P is indispensable as a prerequisite, but the present invention is not limited to this mode. For example, at the time of standby, a resident performs a predetermined operation using the master unit operation unit 202 of the living room master unit 2 to take an image so that the video image output unit 200 becomes active. By controlling the image capturing unit 101 and the image correction processing unit 103 to be active under the control of the slave unit control unit 104, contrast correction processing is performed on the image at the time of monitoring, and video with high visibility is output. The image unit 200 can also display the image.

  Finally, the TV door phone apparatus of the present invention has been described with a specific embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. As long as the effects of the present invention are exhibited, the TV doorphone apparatus of any configuration known so far is provided. Needless to say, even a door phone device can be adopted.

FIG. 1A is a system explanatory diagram showing an overall (external) configuration of a television door phone device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of the entrance cordless handset in the television door phone device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an installation environment of the entrance cordless handset in the television door phone device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing an example of video (image) processing applied in the TV door phone apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Entrance cordless handset 101 ... Image pick-up part 110 ... Sensor circuit 111 ... Image composition circuit 103 ... Image correction processing part 2 ... Office master 200 ... Image output part

Claims (2)

An entrance cordless handset (1) having a video image pick-up unit (101) for picking up an image of a monitoring target including visitors and backgrounds installed outside the dwelling unit, and the video image pick-up unit of the entrance cordless handset installed inside the dwelling unit A living room base unit (2) having a video image output unit (200) for outputting the video imaged at
A sensor circuit (110) for receiving at least two images having different exposure times and a combination of the at least two images received by the sensor circuit are provided in the image capturing unit of the entrance unit. An image composition circuit (111),
The entrance unit includes an image correction processing unit (103) for performing contrast correction processing on the monitoring target in the video combined by the image combining circuit of the video imaging unit. TV door phone device.   The image correction processing unit of the entrance unit detects the visitor out of the video synthesized by the image synthesis circuit of the video imaging unit, and adjusts the exposure of the detected visitor to adjust the contrast. 2. The television door phone apparatus according to claim 1, wherein processing is performed.

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