JP2010074382A - Monitor camera system and monitor video generation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitor camera system which switches video photographed by a plurality of monitor cameras and character information to be overlapped on video at the same time on the side of a display device on which monitor video is displayed, and a monitor video generation method. <P>SOLUTION: The monitor camera system 100 has one or more monitor devices which are placed in monitor areas, and a monitor camera center system 1 which manages the monitor devices. The monitor devices have monitor cameras 7a to 7c, sensors 8a to 8c which acquire transition information related to the monitor areas, encoders 9a to 9c which encode video and character information, and multicast-distribute them to an IP network as independent communication packets. The monitor camera center system 1 has a character information storage part 4 which stores character information that is to be overlapped on video, an OSD decoder 3 which overlaps character information on video, and a monitor camera management server 2 which instructs the OSD decoder to acquire character information that is to be overlapped on video from the character information storage part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a surveillance camera system and a surveillance video generation method for superimposing a surveillance video taken by a surveillance camera and character information about the surveillance video on a display device.

  Surveillance camera systems using closed circuit television (CCTV) have become widespread. In this surveillance camera system, it is common to display character information such as a title indicating a camera installation location in a screen for displaying surveillance video. Since this character information is directly superimposed on the video on the monitoring camera side, it is impossible to display only the video separately on the receiving side.

  Although the display of the character information is useful for a surveillance camera administrator who manages a large number of surveillance cameras, there is a case where it is not necessary to be known when monitoring only one point. On the other hand, in recent years, not only the distribution within the surveillance camera system that was initially assumed, but also the opportunity for distribution and provision of surveillance video to external neighboring municipalities and broadcast stations, etc. has increased, and there are various requirements for handling the title display. There is.

In response to a request to select and display monitoring data related to video monitoring in addition to the display title on the receiving display side, the monitoring video distribution management server and the receiving side decoder are linked to a specific distribution location. A system for superimposing character information on is realized (see Patent Document 1).
However, if the title directly superimposed on the surveillance video cannot be deleted and the surveillance data is transmitted in correspondence with the surveillance video, the video and the surveillance data may not only have different signal types, but the transmission system may be different. The majority. As a result, when switching the monitoring video, it is difficult to switch the display of the monitoring data with the video in a timely manner corresponding to the switching of the video.

In particular, this problem occurs remarkably when the surveillance video information is compression-encoded, but a large number of surveillance video information and surveillance data signals are received via the IP network and a plurality of surveillance displays are received and switched on the receiving side. When the image is displayed, the display time of the image and the character may be shifted, the image may not be displayed for a certain period of time, the display screen may be blacked out, or the image and character information may not match immediately after switching the image. It was.
JP 2005-136557 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems. On the monitor video display device side, video images taken by a plurality of surveillance cameras and character information to be superimposed on these videos can be switched together. It is an object of the present invention to provide a possible surveillance camera system and a surveillance video generation method.

  In view of the above-described problems, a first feature of the present invention is a surveillance camera system including a surveillance device installed in each of one or more surveillance areas, and a surveillance camera system internal device that manages the surveillance device. The monitoring device converts the transition information received from the monitoring camera that captures video of the monitoring area, a sensor that acquires transition information related to the monitoring area into character information, and is captured. An encoder that encodes the video information and the character information and multicast-distributes them to a plurality of display devices via an IP network as independent communication packets, and the surveillance camera center system transmits the character information to be superimposed on the video. A character information storage unit to store, the character information multicast-distributed via the IP network, and the video Information is acquired, and the video information is superimposed on one or both of the character information stored in the character information storage unit and the character information received and decoded from the encoder, and connected to the connected display device. A surveillance camera system comprising: an OSD decoder for outputting; and a surveillance camera management server that instructs the OSD decoder to acquire the character information to be superimposed on the video information from the character information storage unit. It is a summary.

  Further, according to a first feature of the present invention, the OSD decoder includes a first superimposing unit that superimposes the video information and the character information being received, and a second superimposing unit that superimposes the video information and the character information to be switched. When superposition of the video information and the character information by the superimposing means and the second superimposing means is completed, the video information and the character information being received are switched to the video information and the character information to be switched. You may add providing the switching means to output.

  Still further, when the second superimposing means starts decoding and outputting the video information to be switched in units of GOPs, the second superimposing means, a decoding ready signal indicating that decoding and output of the video information has started, and the first superimposing A video decoder for outputting a frame synchronization signal for synchronization with the video information output by the means, and character information to be superimposed on the video information to be switched, in accordance with an instruction from the surveillance camera management server. The OSD decoder monitors the character information being received and the transmission source information of the video information, and after detecting that the transmission source information has been switched, A character that obtains a decoded ready signal output from the video decoder and is further superimposed on the video information to be switched in the character buffer means When detecting that the acquisition of the broadcast has been completed, based on the frame synchronization signal may be added by further comprising monitoring control it means for executing a switching process in the switching means.

  The surveillance camera system further includes an external system that is permitted to acquire the character information and the video that are distributed by multicast, and the external system determines whether or not to superimpose the character information on the video. It may be added that it can be selected.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring video generation method for monitoring a monitoring video shot by a monitoring device installed in each of one or more monitoring areas by a monitoring camera center system that controls the monitoring device. In the monitoring device, a monitoring camera captures a video of the monitoring area, a sensor acquires transition information regarding the monitoring area, and an encoder receives the transition information received from the sensor. Converting the captured video information and the character information into multicast information and distributing them to a plurality of display devices via an IP network as independent communication packets; and within the monitoring camera system internal device, the OSD The character information and the decoder to be multicast-distributed via the IP network Obtaining a video; instructing the OSD decoder to obtain the character information to be superimposed on the video from the character information storage unit based on the character information; The OSD decoder superimposes either or both of the character information stored in the character information storage unit and the character information received and decoded from the encoder on the video information, and outputs it to the connected display device. And a monitoring video generation method characterized by comprising steps.

  According to the monitoring camera system and the monitoring video generation method of the present invention, on the monitoring video display device side, it is possible to switch between video captured by a plurality of monitoring cameras and character information to be superimposed on these video.

  Hereinafter, a surveillance camera system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, the apparatus, method, etc. which are used in embodiment of this invention are examples, and of course, this invention is not limited to these.

(Embodiment)
<< Configuration of Surveillance Camera System 100 >>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the surveillance camera system 100.

  In FIG. 1, a monitoring camera system 100 includes a monitoring camera center system 1, camera monitoring apparatuses A to C, an external system X, an external system Y, and a telemeter system device 16 that acquires information such as water level and rainfall. , Connected to the IP network 10.

  Although not shown here, each of the components connected to the IP network 10 is provided with network interface means between the IP network 10 and the ID and address corresponding to each component by these network interface means. A required packet signal is transmitted / received between the components according to the information.

<Camera monitoring devices A to C>
The camera monitoring devices A to C include monitoring cameras 7a to 7c, sensors 8a to 8c, and encoders 9a to 9c, respectively.

  For example, the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c capture images of monitoring objects such as installed rivers, landslide areas, and embankments.

  The sensors 8a to 8c are installed together with the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c, and for example, acquire local monitoring data (contact points, BCD codes, etc.) such as temperature, humidity, and wind speed as transition information.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the encoders 9 a to 9 c include character information generation means 91, encoding means 92, and information transmission means 93.

  The character information generation means 91 receives the transition information acquired by the sensors 8a to 8c and converts it into character information in real time.

  The encoding unit 92 performs an encoding process on the monitoring videos taken by the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c to generate an encoded monitoring image, and performs an encoding process on the character information converted by the character information generation unit 91. Encoded character information.

  The information transmission means 93 adds the identification information of the transmission source or the transmission source address data to the IP network 10 as a communication packet using the encoded video information and the encoded character information encoded by the encoding means 92 as a multicast transmission. To do. It is assumed that the encoded video information and the encoded character information are multicast transmitted as separate independent information. In addition, a plurality of display systems for displaying respective monitoring videos are designated as multicast transmission destinations of each communication packet. In this embodiment, the monitoring camera center system 1, the external system X, and the external system Y are designated. It is assumed that a plurality of display systems selected from are designated.

<Monitoring camera center system 1>
The surveillance camera center system 1 includes a surveillance camera management server 2, an on-screen display (hereinafter referred to as “OSD”) decoder 3, a character information storage unit 4, a display unit 5, and a telemeter system server 6. Among these, the surveillance camera management server 2, the OSD decoder 3, and the telemeter system server 6 are connected to each other via the IP network 10 or by an internal bus or the like. The OSD decoder 3 is connected to the character information storage unit 4 and the display unit 5 through the IP network 10 or by communication means such as a dedicated link.

<Character information storage unit 4>
The character information storage unit 4 stores character information to be superimposed on video information as a title or caption in advance as a table as display characters corresponding to character information (symbols) transmitted from the camera monitoring devices A to C. Yes.

  Whether the character information storage unit 4 is connected to the character information setting code storage unit 24 in the surveillance camera management server 2 by a communication unit without being connected to other devices as shown in FIG. Alternatively, it may be used as an internal memory of the OSD decoder 3 or the like, but here it will be described as an independent device for convenience of explanation.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a table T of character information stored in the character information storage unit 4.

  In the table T of FIG. 4, “monitoring area information” corresponds to, for example, the identification IDs of monitoring cameras described in the signals received from the camera monitoring apparatuses A to C, “CAMERA #A, #B, #C”. Thus, for example, “Tama River upstream right bank”, “Tama River middle right bank”, and “Tama River downstream right bank” are stored as superimposed character information.

  Similarly, as “transition information”, data types such as “temperature”, “humidity”, “rainfall”, “wind velocity”, etc., and units such as “° C.”, which are added to data of only numerical values transmitted from the sensors 8a to 8c in each area A code is stored.

  Further, the “telemeter information” transmitted from the telemeter system device 16 and stored therein is information such as the water level and the rainfall that are acquired via the telemeter system server 6. In addition, as information to be displayed on the external systems X and Y and each display unit of the monitoring center, character information such as “information provided by the water level gauge server” and “information provided by the rain gauge server” is stored. .

  Furthermore, as “external information” output to the outside of the surveillance camera center system 1, for example, “Tama River” indicating the entire surveillance area, information indicating the video distribution source “Video distribution source XYZ disaster prevention system” Etc. are stored.

<Monitoring camera management server 2>
The monitoring camera management server 2 controls the operation of each component of the monitoring camera center system 1 and performs selection of the monitoring cameras A to C displayed on the display unit 5, selection of display characters, control of display form, and the like. Further, by transmitting a predetermined display control signal to the external systems X and Y via the IP network 10 as necessary, the display characters can be selected and displayed as in the case of the display unit 5 of the surveillance camera center system 1. The form may be controlled.

  FIG. 3 shows a detailed configuration of the monitoring camera management server 2. The surveillance camera management server 2 includes an input device 21, a communication interface 22, a camera identification information storage unit 23, a character information setting code storage unit 24, a processing control device (hereinafter referred to as CPU) 25, and the like.

  The input device 21 receives from the operator of the monitoring camera center system 1 a monitoring video such as a camera switching command for switching a camera monitoring device that transmits a video to be displayed and a command indicating a code for designating character information to be superimposed. For example, an information processing terminal including a personal computer display, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like may be used.

  The communication interface 22 is interface means for inputting / outputting signals such as data and commands to / from the communication network inside the surveillance camera center system 1 and the IP network 10.

  The camera identification information storage means 23 stores information on the monitoring target of the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c, position information, identification information of each of the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c, and the like.

  The character information setting code storage unit 24 stores a character information setting code for setting character information to be displayed superimposed on the display unit 5. This character information setting code is linked one-to-one with the telemeter information stored in the character information storage unit 4.

  The CPU 25 includes camera management means 25a, character information control means 25b, telemeter information control means 25c, and the like.

  The camera management unit 25a manages writing and reading of information stored in the camera identification information storage unit 23. In addition, the camera management unit 25 a acquires information about the monitoring camera corresponding to the camera switching command input from the input device 21 from the camera identification information storage unit 23 and transmits the information to the OSD decoder 3 via the communication interface 22.

  The character information control means 25b controls the content and display / non-display of the character information to be displayed superimposed on the video. Specifically, according to an instruction input from the input device 21, the character information code to be superimposed on the video transmitted from the camera monitoring devices A to C by the OSD decoder 3 is acquired from the character information setting code storage unit 24. And output to the OSD decoder 3 via the communication interface 22. Further, the character information control means 25b transmits control information such as designation of character information to be superimposed on video and a display format via the IP network 10 to the decoders 11 and the OSD decoder 13 of the external systems X and Y.

  The telemeter information control means 25c receives monitoring data acquired by the telemeter system device 16 via the telemeter system server 6 and converts it into character information as necessary, and converts the character information as character information via the OSD decoder 3. Control to transmit to the storage unit 4.

<OSD decoder 3>
FIG. 5 shows a detailed configuration of the OSD decoder 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the OSD decoder 3 is switched between a communication interface unit 31, a monitoring control unit 32, a first decoding unit 33 a, and a second decoding unit 33 b that are connected to each other by an internal bus or the like. Part 34.

  The communication interface unit 31 encodes encoded video information and encoded character information transmitted from the camera monitoring apparatuses A to C via the IP network 10, information related to the monitoring camera transmitted from the monitoring camera management server 2, and character information setting. Receive code.

  The monitoring control unit 32 controls an operation of switching the first decoding unit 33a and the second decoding unit 33b in the switching unit 34.

  The first decoding unit 33a includes a first video decoder 331a, a first character decoder 332a, a first character buffer unit 333a, and a first superimposing unit 334a.

  The first video decoder 331a receives encoded video information multicast-transmitted from the camera monitoring apparatus that is currently designated for display, and decodes it into video information.

  The first character decoder 332a receives encoded character information corresponding to the encoded video information received by the first video decoder 331a and decodes it into character information.

  The first character buffer unit 333a stores the decoded character information and corresponds to the encoded video information received by the first video decoder 331a based on the character information code transmitted from the character information control means 25b. Character information to be acquired is acquired from the character information storage unit 4 and stored.

  The first superimposing unit 334a is one of video information decoded by the first video decoder 331a, decoded character information stored in the first character buffer unit 333a, and character information acquired from the character information storage unit 4. Alternatively, the monitoring video is generated by superimposing both.

  The second decoding unit 33b includes a second video decoder 331b, a second character decoder 332b, a second character buffer unit 333b, and a second superimposing unit 334b.

  The second video decoder 331b receives the encoded video information multicast-transmitted from the switching destination camera monitoring device and decodes it into the video information when the camera monitoring device of the video to be displayed is switched.

  The second character decoder 332b receives encoded character information corresponding to the encoded video information received by the second video decoder 331b and decodes it into character information.

  Since the configurations of the second character buffer unit 333b and the second superimposing unit 334b are the same as the configurations of the first character buffer unit 333a and the first superimposing unit 334a, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The switching unit 34 is operated under the control of the monitoring control unit 32, and the video information decoded by the newly displayed second video decoder 331b in order to smoothly switch the display accompanying the switching of the camera monitoring device of the displayed video. The video information and the character information output from the first video decoder 331a and the first character decoder 332a are continued until the character information acquired by the second character buffer unit 333b is output together. Display on the display unit 5.

  The display unit 5 is a CRT monitor or the like, and displays video information and character information superimposed by the OSD decoder 3.

  The telemeter system server 6 receives the monitoring information transmitted from the telemeter system device 16 via the IP network 10.

<External system X>
The external system X receives only the encoded video information multicast-transmitted from any of the camera monitoring devices A to C, decodes the encoded video information into video information, and the decoder 11 decodes the encoded video information. A display unit 12 for displaying the video information.

<External system Y>
The external system Y includes an OSD decoder 13 provided in place of the decoder 11 in the external system X, an external character information storage unit 14, and a display unit 15.

  The OSD decoder 13 receives and decodes the encoded video information and encoded character information multicast-transmitted from any of the camera monitoring devices A to C, and further sets the decoded character information and, if necessary, in advance. The character information stored in the external character information storage unit 14 is superimposed on the decoded video information and output to the display unit 15 such as a CRT monitor. Note that the inside of the OSD decoder 13 is duplicated in order to match the display timing of characters and video when the camera monitoring devices A to C that are the transmission sources of character information and video are switched.

  The contents of the character information superimposed and displayed / non-displayed by the OSD decoder 13 are controlled by the monitoring camera management server 2 of the monitoring camera center system 1.

<Telemeter equipment 16>
The telemeter system device 16 measures a water level, a rainfall amount, and the like related to the monitoring target area.

<< Operation of Surveillance Camera System 100 >>
Next, the operation of the monitoring camera system 100 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. In the following operation, the video information / character information provided from the camera monitoring device A (monitoring camera 7a, sensor 8a, encoder 9a) in FIG. Processing of each device, means, etc. when switching to video information / character information provided from the monitoring device C (monitoring camera 7c, sensor 8c, encoder 9c) will be described.

(Operation of surveillance camera system 100)
(A) First, in step S101, in each of the camera monitoring devices A to C, the monitoring cameras 7a to 7c shoot the monitoring video to generate video information, and the sensors 8a to 8c display real-time transition information such as temperature and rainfall. Have acquired. In the flow of FIG. 6, for the sake of explanation, video information and transition information are acquired from the monitoring camera 7 a and the sensor 8 a of the camera monitoring apparatus A. Next, the character information generation means 91 of the encoder 9a converts the on-site transition information received from the sensor 8a as character information. The encoding unit 92 performs encoding processing on the video information received from the monitoring camera 7a and the character information received from the sensor 8a. The information transmission means 93 multicasts the encoded video information and character information as communication packets to the IP network 10 (step S102).

(B) When the external system X displaying only video receives this multicast packet, in step S103, the decoder 11 receives this packet and decodes video information. In the external system X, since “surveillance information 3 (no information to be superimposed)” (see FIG. 4) is set in advance by the surveillance camera management server 2, the data of the character information portion of the received packet is discarded. The In step S104, the decoded video information is displayed on the display unit 12.

(C) When the external system Y displaying the video and fixed character information receives the multicast packet, the OSD decoder 3 receives the multicast packet and decodes the video information in step S105. In the external system Y, the surveillance camera management server 2 is set in advance to superimpose “external information 2 video distribution source XYZ disaster prevention system” (see FIG. 4) on the video, and this character information is stored in the external character information storage unit 14. Since it is stored, the data in the character information portion of the received packet is discarded. Depending on the setting of the OSD decoder 3, the data of the character information portion can be displayed in a superimposed manner. The video decoded in step S106 is superimposed on the fixed character information “video distributor XYZ disaster prevention system” stored in the external character information storage unit 14. In step S107, the superimposed video information and fixed character information are displayed on the display unit 15.

(D) When the surveillance camera center system 1 receives the encoded video information and the character information multicast-transmitted from the camera surveillance apparatus A designated by the surveillance camera management server 2 via the IP network 10, in step S108, the OSD The first character decoder 332a of the decoder 3 receives and decodes the encoded character information. The decoded character information is stored in the first character buffer unit 333a. A character code, character information, and the like transmitted from the character information control unit 25b of the monitoring camera management server 2 are further input to the first character buffer unit 333a.

  On the other hand, from the camera monitoring device A, video information encoded by MPEG compression is decoded by the first video decoder 331a and output to the first superimposing unit 334a. In MPEG encoding, in order to perform compression encoding with correlation between screens (frames), for example, one decoding process is performed in units of 15 frames (1 GOP: group of pictures). Accordingly, the monitoring control unit 32 performs timing control for switching the display image between the character and the camera in synchronism with the timing at which the I frame as the reference screen is output in about 500 msec in 1 GOP units.

(E) When detecting the video information (signal) in step S109, the monitoring control unit 32 performs a temporary storage (buffer) process to superimpose the video information detected in the first character buffer unit 333a. The superimposed character is acquired from the character information storage unit 4 in accordance with the code received from the character information control means 25b of the surveillance camera management server 2. For example, when the code of “camera monitoring device A” is transmitted from the character information control means 25b, the character information of “Tama River upstream right bank” (see FIG. 4) is read from the character information storage unit 4 and buffered.

  The monitoring control unit 32 uses the first character buffer unit 333a to output the character information and the character information output from the decoder according to the character control information to be displayed on the display unit 5 designated by the monitoring camera management server 2 corresponding to the camera monitoring device A. Character information corresponding to the character code transmitted from the control means 25b is acquired from the character information storage unit 4, and display character information such as “Upstream right bank of the Tama River, rainfall 10 mm” is generated and buffered.

  The sensor signal received from the camera monitoring device A is updated at a predetermined interval or when there is a change, but the monitoring control unit 32 is buffered by the first character buffer unit 333a at a predetermined character update timing. The displayed display character information is updated.

  In step S110, the switching unit 34 switches to transmit the video character information received from the first superimposing unit 334a and transmits the video character information to the display unit 5. In step S111, the display unit 5 displays the received video and character information.

  In addition, when the code of “transition information 1” is transmitted from the character information control means 25b, the character information of “temperature” (see FIG. 4) included in the decoded character information is set to be displayed as a video. When the telemeter information 1 code is transmitted from the text information control means 25b, the text information of the “water level” (see FIG. 4) measured by the telemeter system device 16 obtained through the telemeter system server 6 is displayed. And may be superimposed and displayed.

  At this stage, video character information corresponding to the camera monitoring device A has already been displayed on the display units 5, 12, and 15. Hereinafter, the user will change this video character information to that of the camera monitoring device C. A case will be described in which the external systems X and Y, the OSD decoder 3 of the surveillance camera center system 1 and the like receive an instruction and a camera switching command such as “Moni CAMERA #C”.

(F) First, in step S201, the monitoring camera 7c captures a monitoring image on the camera monitoring device C side, and the sensor 8c acquires transition information such as temperature and rainfall. In step S202, the character information generation means 91 of the encoder 9c converts the field transition information received from the sensor 8b as character information. The encoding unit 92 performs encoding processing on the video information received from the monitoring camera 7c and the character information received from the sensor 8c. The information transmission means 93 multicast-transmits the encoded video information and character information to the IP network 10 as communication packets.

(G) When the external system X displaying only video receives the multicast packet from the camera monitoring apparatus C, the decoder 11 receives this packet and performs video information decoding processing in step S203. In the external system X, the data of the character information part is discarded as described above.

  The video information decoded in step S204 is displayed on the display unit 12. In the external system X, since the decoder 11 is not duplicated, the video of the camera monitoring device C is displayed in S204 after the video is temporarily stopped or blacked out or blue-backed after the video is displayed in S104. The Rukoto.

(H) When the external system Y displaying video and fixed character information receives the multicast packet of the camera monitoring device C, the OSD decoder 13 receives the multicast packet and performs decoding processing of the video information in step S205. In the external system Y, as described above, the surveillance camera management server 2 is set in advance to superimpose “external information 2 video distribution source XYZ disaster prevention system” on the video, and this character information is stored in the external character information storage unit 14. Since it is stored, the data in the character information portion is discarded. The video decoded in step S206 is superimposed and displayed in synchronization with the fixed character information “video distribution source XYZ disaster prevention system” stored in the external character information storage unit 14. In step S207, the superimposed video information and fixed character information are displayed on the display unit 15. In the external system Y, since the decoding unit of the OSD decoder 13 is duplicated as described above, the display timing of the fixed character is matched with the video in step S206 without stopping the video after the video display in step S107. In step S207, the video from the camera monitoring device C is displayed.

(I) When the surveillance camera center system 1 receives the multicast packet via the IP network 10, the second character decoder 332b of the second decoding unit 33b of the OSD decoder 3 receives the encoded character information in step S208. Decrypt. The decoded character information is stored in the second character buffer unit 333b. The second video decoder 331b receives and decodes the encoded video information.

  In the monitoring camera center system 1, the character information control means 25b of the monitoring camera management server 2 displays the switching destination camera monitoring device C (its identification information or network address information) and displays it to the monitoring control unit 32 of the OSD decoder 3. Control signals and commands related to the switching of the camera monitoring device such as “Tama River downstream right bank, rainfall mm” are notified as character control information in the monitoring camera center system 1 via the IP network 10 or the communication interface 22 or the like. Each configuration is sent to an external system.

  In accordance with this, a character information code or the like for displaying “Tama River downstream right bank, precipitation mm” is transmitted from the character information storage unit 4 to the OSD decoder 3.

  Upon receiving the camera switching command, the monitoring control unit 32 receives the encoded video information and character information that are multicast transmitted from the camera monitoring apparatus C via the IP network 10 via the network interface, and the internal control unit (not shown) The data is transferred to the second video decoder 331b and the second character decoder 332b of the second decoding unit 33b by a bus or the like.

  By the way, the encoded video information and the character information transmitted from the camera monitoring apparatus C by multicast transmission are transmitted as independent channels. In particular, when the sensor information is different from the video information at a low speed and the update frequency (100 milliseconds to several seconds or the like) is low, the timing for newly receiving character information from the camera monitoring device C may be delayed from the encoded video information. is there.

  On the other hand, even if the character information is received first, the encoded video information cannot be displayed immediately since the decoding process takes time until 500 msec in 1 GOP units after the start of switching reception. Therefore, even if the video and characters are displayed immediately after the switching command, there are cases in which the camera monitoring video is disturbed or the character display remains corresponding to the camera monitoring device A.

  In step S209, the monitoring control unit 32 monitors the output of the encoded video information and character information received from the communication interface unit 31, and checks the transmission source address. When it is detected that the transmission source addresses of both have been switched to the addresses from the camera monitoring device C, the decoding timing is checked next.

  That is, the second video decoder 331b outputs video information decoded in units of 1 GOP to the second superimposing unit 334b. When the second video decoder 331 b starts not only outputting video information but also decoding output in units of GOP, the second video decoder 331 b outputs a decoded ready signal and a frame synchronization signal as a monitor signal to the monitor control unit 32.

  Note that the monitoring control unit 32 determines the timing at which the video information is output so that the synchronization signal output from the second video decoder 331b matches the synchronization signal of the video information output from the first video decoder 331a currently being displayed. Make adjustments such as adjusting the delay time.

  On the other hand, the character information can be output from the second character buffer unit 333b when all the character information to be displayed on the display unit 5 is prepared. When the character information transfer from the character information storage unit 4 to the second character buffer unit 333b is completed, the monitoring control unit 32 sets a character ready flag and outputs display character information from the second character buffer unit 333b.

  The second superimposing unit 334b receives the frame synchronization signal in the same manner, and performs a process of superimposing the display character information that is also input on the video information accordingly, and starts output.

  Therefore, the monitoring control unit 32 executes the following synchronization process. That is, when the superimposition output is started, the monitoring control unit 32 further outputs a display switching signal to the switching unit 34 with reference to the synchronization signal. Through the above processing, when the camera monitoring device is switched, the display unit 5 displays the characters and the video together, and the screen is switched without disturbing the screen from the video displayed so far.

  In order to synchronize the display of video and characters, when character information is received by the second character buffer unit 333b, it is buffered until numerical data decoded from character information transmitted as transition information from the sensor 8b is embedded. And a case where data is displayed without receiving data. These selections are determined by setting the operation mode from the input device 21 of the monitoring camera management server 2.

  As in the above-described synchronization process, in step S210, the switching unit 34 switches to transmit the video character information received from the second superimposing unit 334b. Finally, in step S211, the display unit 5 displays the received video character information.

  As described above, according to the monitoring camera system 100, the video information acquired from the monitoring camera side and the character information displayed together with the video are matched and synchronized, so that the video and the character information are simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of predetermined display devices. In addition, display switching can be smoothly displayed.

  Even when video or sensor data is provided to an external system, the character information to be superimposed on the video is set in advance, stored in the storage means of the external system, and displayed to display the video or measurement of the surveillance camera system. Data can be used effectively.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the surveillance camera system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The block diagram of an encoder. The functional block diagram of a surveillance camera management server. Example of character information table stored in character information storage unit An example of superimposed character information stored in the character information storage unit. The functional block diagram explaining operation | movement of an OSD decoder. The sequence diagram explaining operation | movement of the surveillance camera system in connection with the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

A to C: Camera monitoring device X, Y: External system 1 ... Surveillance camera center system 2 ... Surveillance camera management server 3 ... OSD decoder 4 ... Character information storage unit 5, 12, 15 ... Display unit 6 ... Telemeter system server 7a- 7c ... Surveillance camera 8a-8c ... Sensor 9a-9c ... Encoder 10 ... IP network 11 ... Decoder 13 ... OSD decoder 14 ... External character information storage 16 ... Telemeter system equipment 21 ... Input device 22 ... Communication interface 23 ... Camera identification information Storage means 24 ... Character information setting code storage means 25 ... CPU
25a ... Camera management unit 25b ... Character information control unit 25c ... Telemeter information control unit 31 ... Communication interface unit 32 ... Monitoring control unit 33a ... First decoding unit 33b ... Second decoding unit 34 ... Switching unit 91 ... Character information generation unit 92 ... Coding means 93 ... Information transmitting means 100 ... Surveillance camera system 331a ... First video decoder 331b ... Second video decoder 332a ... First character decoder 332b ... Second character decoder 333a ... First character buffer section 333b ... Second character Buffer unit 334a ... first superimposing unit 334b ... second superimposing unit

Claims (8)

A surveillance camera system comprising: a surveillance device installed in each of one or more surveillance areas; and a surveillance camera system internal device that manages the surveillance device,
The monitoring device
A surveillance camera for capturing images of the surveillance area;
A sensor for acquiring transition information regarding the monitoring area;
An encoder that converts the transition information received from the sensor into character information, encodes the captured video information and the character information, and multicasts them to a plurality of display devices via an IP network as independent communication packets; The surveillance camera center system comprises:
A character information storage unit for storing character information to be superimposed on the video;
The character information and the video information distributed by multicast via the IP network are acquired, the character information stored in the character information storage unit and the character information received from the encoder and decoded in the video information, An OSD decoder that superimposes one or both of them and outputs the result to a connected display device;
A surveillance camera system comprising: a surveillance camera management server that instructs the OSD decoder to obtain the character information to be superimposed on the video information from the character information storage unit. The OSD decoder
First superimposing means for superimposing the video information and the character information being received;
Second superimposing means for superimposing the video information and the character information to be switched;
When the superimposition of the video information and the character information by the second superimposing unit is completed, the switching unit that switches the video information and the character information being received to the video information and the character information to be switched and outputs them. The surveillance camera system according to claim 1, further comprising: The second superimposing means includes
When decoding and output of the video information to be switched in GOP units is started, a decoding ready signal indicating that decoding and output of the video information has started and the video information output by the first superimposing means are synchronized. A video decoder that outputs a frame synchronization signal for
Character information superimposed on the video information to be switched is acquired from the character information storage unit according to an instruction from the monitoring camera management server, and character buffer means is provided.
The OSD decoder
The transmission source information of the character information and the video information being received is monitored, and after detecting that the transmission source information has been switched, the decoding ready signal output from the video decoder is acquired, and the character When it is detected in the buffer means that the acquisition of the character information to be superimposed on the video information to be switched is completed, the monitor means further comprises a monitoring control means for executing a switching process in the switching means based on the frame synchronization signal. The surveillance camera system according to claim 2. The surveillance camera system further includes an external system that is permitted to acquire the character information and the video that are distributed by the multicast,
The surveillance camera system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the external system can select whether or not to superimpose the character information on the video. A monitoring video generation method for monitoring a monitoring video photographed by a monitoring device installed in each of one or more monitoring areas by a monitoring camera center system that controls the monitoring device, wherein the monitoring video is generated in the monitoring device. ,
A surveillance camera taking a video of the surveillance area;
A sensor acquiring transition information relating to the monitored area;
A step of converting the transition information received by the encoder from the sensor into character information, encoding the captured video information and the character information, and multicast-distributing them to a plurality of display devices via an IP network as independent communication packets; When,
In the monitoring camera system internal device,
An OSD decoder obtaining the character information and the video that are multicast-distributed via the IP network;
A step in which the surveillance camera management server instructs the OSD decoder to acquire, from the character information storage unit, the character information to be superimposed on the video based on the character information;
The OSD decoder superimposes either or both of the character information stored in the character information storage unit and the character information received and decoded from the encoder on the video information, and outputs it to a connected display device And a monitoring video generation method comprising the steps of: The superimposing step includes
A step of superimposing the video being received and the character information by a first superimposing unit;
A second superimposing unit superimposing the video to be switched and the character information;
When the superimposition of the video and the character information by the second superimposing unit is completed, a switching unit switches the video and the character information being received to the video and the character information to be switched and outputs them. The monitoring video generation method according to claim 5, further comprising: The step of superimposing the second superimposing means includes:
When a video decoder starts decoding and outputting the video information to be switched in GOP units, a decoding ready signal indicating that decoding and output of the video information has started, and a video output by the first superimposing means Outputting a frame synchronization signal for synchronizing with information;
Obtaining character information to be superimposed on the video information to be switched by the character buffer means from the character information storage unit according to an instruction from the monitoring camera management server;
Have
The step of switching to and outputting the video to be switched and the character information,
The monitoring control unit monitors the transmission source information of the character information and the video information being received, and after detecting that the transmission source information has been switched, obtains a decoding ready signal output from the video decoder. Further, when it is detected that the acquisition of character information to be superimposed on the video information to be switched is completed in the character buffer means, the character buffer means is executed based on the frame synchronization signal. Surveillance video generation method. An external system authorized to obtain the character information and the video to be distributed by multicast, obtaining the character information and the video;
The monitoring video generation method according to claim 5, further comprising: a step of selecting whether or not to superimpose the character information on the video.

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