JP2010171659A - Image transmitting device, image transmission method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transfer moving image data to an image storage server and to quickly reproduce the moving image data. <P>SOLUTION: The image transmitting device is provided with a storage control part 103 for storing the moving image data in a memory 104, and a transfer part 107 for transferring moving image data to be reproduced at last among the moving image data stored in the memory 104 in consideration of a remaining storage time. Playback latency for the moving image data can be reduced and the remaining storage time can be secured. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image transmission apparatus, an image transmission method, and a program, and more particularly, to a technique suitable for use in transferring moving image data to an image storage server.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known an image transmission apparatus that transfers image data captured by a digital camera having a communication function or a camera-equipped mobile phone to an image storage server via a public line (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). . According to these image transmitting apparatuses, even when the memory of the digital camera or camera-equipped mobile phone is full of image data, the memory can be made free by transferring the image data to the image storage server. As a result, it is possible to solve the problem that there is no memory space and shooting cannot be performed. In addition, there is an advantage that the amount of memory mounted in a digital camera or camera-equipped mobile phone can be reduced.

JP-A-11-146224 JP 2001-128113 A JP 2004-343328 A

  However, conventional image transmission devices target only still image data, and there is no system suitable for moving image data. In an image transmitting apparatus that targets moving image data, it is necessary not only to make a space in the memory, but also to shorten a delay time from reading out moving image data to starting reproduction. It is also desirable to guarantee the storable time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to enable moving image data to be transferred to an image storage server and to reproduce the moving image data quickly.

  An image transmission apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage control unit that stores moving image data in a memory, a storage capacity detection unit that detects a remaining storage capacity of the memory, and a data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data set by a user And transfer means for transferring moving image data to the external device based on a communication band with the external device for accumulating moving image data stored in the memory and a detection result of the storage capacity detecting means It is characterized by providing.

  The image transmission method of the present invention includes a storage control step of storing moving image data in a memory, a storage capacity detection step of detecting the remaining storage capacity of the memory, and a data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data set by the user And transferring the moving image data to the external device based on the communication band with the external device for accumulating the moving image data stored in the memory and the detection result in the storage capacity detecting step And a process.

  A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute each step of the image transmission method.

  According to the present invention, the reproduction delay time for moving image data can be shortened and the storable time can be guaranteed.

(First embodiment)
The configuration of the image transmission apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system using the digital camera 301 in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes a digital camera that captures moving image data. The digital camera 301 is connected to a storage server 303 via a network 302. The storage server 303 includes a large-capacity server memory 304.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of a digital camera (image transmission apparatus) 301 according to the present embodiment.
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes an imaging unit that captures moving image data, and reference numeral 102 denotes an encoding unit that encodes captured moving image data and outputs moving image encoded data. In the digital camera 301 of the present embodiment, MPEG-2 is assumed as the encoding method, but other encoding methods may be used, for example, Motion-JPEG or H.264. It may be encoded by an encoding method such as H.264. Further, the moving image data may be output as it is without encoding.

  Reference numeral 103 denotes a storage control unit for storing moving image encoded data in the memory 104, and reference numeral 104 denotes a memory for storing moving image encoded data. The memory 104 may be a removable medium such as an SD card, or may not be removable such as a flash memory built in a digital camera. The memory 104 may be an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

  Reference numeral 105 denotes a storage capacity detection unit that detects the amount of moving image encoded data stored in the memory 104, and reference numeral 106 denotes a communication band detection unit that detects a network communication band in real time. A transfer unit 107 transfers the encoded data to the storage server 303 via the network 302.

  Reference numeral 108 denotes a receiving unit that receives encoded moving image data transmitted from the storage server 303 via the network 302. The receiving unit 108 includes a reception buffer (not shown) that temporarily holds moving image encoded data transmitted from the storage server 303. Reference numeral 109 denotes a reproduction control unit that reads moving image encoded data from the memory 104 and receives moving image encoded data from the receiving unit 108 when a reproduction instruction is given from the outside. Reference numeral 110 denotes a decoding unit that decodes the moving image encoded data output from the reproduction control unit. Reference numeral 111 denotes a display unit that displays the decoded moving image data.

  The digital camera 301 of the present embodiment includes the encoding unit 102 and the decoding unit 110, but the present invention is not limited to this, and encoding processing and decoding processing for moving image data are performed. It does not have to be.

  Here, components of the moving image encoded data will be described. As shown in FIG. 15, the moving image encoded data is composed of elements such as a sequence, a GOP (group of pictures), a picture (video unit), and a slice. A sequence is a series of GOPs from the start to the end of shooting. A GOP is an element constituting a sequence and is composed of a plurality of pictures. In FIG. 15, I represents an intra-frame coded picture, P represents a forward prediction coded picture, and B represents a bidirectional predictive coded picture.

  In general, a GOP is a series of pictures divided by intra-frame coded pictures, and is a unit that allows random access to moving picture coded data. A picture is composed of one or more slices. H. In H.264, there is no moving picture encoded data component called GOP, but a series of pictures separated by IDR (Instantaneous Decoding Refresh) pictures as shown in FIG. 14 is handled as GOP.

Next, the operation of the image transmission apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail.
The encoding unit 102 outputs bit-rate moving image encoded data determined by the shooting mode and image quality specified by the user. Here, the bit rate is a data amount per predetermined time of moving image data.

  Upon receiving an instruction from the user, the storage control unit 103 stores the encoded moving image data output from the encoding unit 102 in the memory 104. As shown in FIG. 13, the storage control unit 103 also stores the head position information of each GOP constituting the sequence in the memory 104. Note that the head position of each GOP constituting the sequence may be stored in the memory 104 after the encoding of the series of sequences is completed. Furthermore, the storage control unit 103 may store the top position information of each picture in the memory 104 instead of the GOP.

  The transfer unit 107 inputs the remaining storage capacity of the memory 104 obtained from the storage capacity detection unit 105 and the bit rate information set in the encoding unit 102. Further, the communication band of the network 302 obtained from the communication band detection unit 106 and the head position information of the GOP stored by the storage control unit 103 are input. And based on these information, the process shown in the following FIG. 2 is performed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a transfer processing procedure by the digital camera 301 of the present embodiment.
First, the transfer unit 107 calculates a storable time value (step S201). The storable time is obtained by the following equation.
Storage time = remaining storage capacity / (bit rate-communication bandwidth)

  Next, it is determined whether or not the storable time is a predetermined value or more set in advance by the user (step S202). If the result of this determination is that the storable time is not less than or equal to the predetermined value (No in step S202), the processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the storable time is less than or equal to the predetermined value (Yes in step S202), the process proceeds to step S203.

  Next, the transfer unit 107 selects a sequence with the largest amount of encoded data from the sequences stored in the memory 104. At this time, for example, a sequence having the highest bit rate may be selected. Alternatively, the user may select a sequence to be transferred. Then, the transfer unit 107 sets the number of GOPs in the selected sequence as a variable N. Further, the transfer unit 107 reads out the Nth GOP encoded data in the sequence based on the GOP head position information as shown in FIG. 13 stored by the storage control unit 103 and transfers it to the accumulation server 303. (Step S203). The transferred GOP encoded data is deleted from the memory. If N is equal to the number of GOPs, the last GOP in the sequence is transmitted.

  Next, the transfer unit 107 calculates the recordable time as described above (step S204). Then, it is determined whether or not the remaining storage time is greater than or equal to a predetermined value set in advance (step S205). If the result of this determination is that the remaining storage capacity is not less than or equal to the predetermined value (No in step S205), the processing is terminated. On the other hand, if the remaining storage capacity is equal to or smaller than the predetermined value (Yes in step S205), the process proceeds to step S203, and the transfer unit 107 decreases the value of N by 1 and transfers the encoded data to the storage server 303 again. To do.

  If the transfer instruction is given by the user in the middle of performing these processes and the GOP is being transmitted, the transfer unit 107 completes transferring all the GOP data to the storage server. The process is terminated. If not, the transfer unit 107 immediately ends the process.

  When the transfer unit 107 performs the processing described above, moving image encoded data is transferred to the accumulation server 303 in order from the last GOP of the selected sequence until the storable time becomes larger than a predetermined value. . The transferred moving image encoded data is stored in the server memory 304 of the storage server 303. As a result, even if the transfer unit 107 finishes the transfer process in the middle, the second half of the sequence is stored in the server memory 304 and the first half of the sequence is left in the memory 104.

  In the digital camera 301 of the present embodiment, in step S205, it is determined whether or not to continue transmission of encoded data to the accumulation server according to the storable time, but the storable time always varies. . The bit rate varies depending on the shooting mode and image quality set by the user, and the communication band always varies.

  Furthermore, in the digital camera 301 of this embodiment, moving image encoded data is transferred to the storage server 303 for each GOP. On the other hand, for example, it may be transferred for each of a plurality of GOPs, or the moving image encoded data may be transferred to the storage server 303 for each picture or each slice.

  However, when the bit rate during shooting is larger than the communication band, the storable time decreases. For this reason, the storable time described in the present embodiment is the storable time from the shooting start point. Further, when a new image is taken immediately after the image is taken, there may be a case where the storable time cannot be secured by transferring the moving image encoded data to the storage server 303.

Next, with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 12, the operation when reproducing the moving image encoded data for the digital camera 301 of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a procedure for reproducing moving image encoded data by the digital camera 301 in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 12, when the reproduction control unit 109 is instructed to reproduce the sequence selected by the user, first, the GOPs constituting the corresponding sequence are read from the memory 104 in the reproduction order, and output to the decoding unit 110 (step). S1201).

  Next, the playback control unit 109 determines whether or not to end playback (step S1202). Specifically, the reproduction control unit 109 performs processing when either of the conditions that either all the GOPs constituting the sequence have been output to the decoding unit or an instruction to interrupt reproduction is issued by the user is satisfied. finish. As a result of this determination, when the reproduction is to be ended (YES in step S1202), the reproduction control unit 109 ends the process.

  On the other hand, if not finished (NO in step S1202), the reproduction control unit 109 determines whether or not the GOP behind the sequence has been transferred to the storage server 303 (step S1203). As a result of this determination, when the data has not been transferred to the storage server 303 (NO in step S1203), the reproduction control unit 109 performs the process of step S1201 again. On the other hand, if not (YES in step S1203), the reproduction control unit 109 determines whether there are M or less GOPs that have not been read from the memory (step S1204).

  The specific calculation method of the numerical value M is not particularly limited. For example, the numerical value M is calculated based on the number of GOPs that are decoded in the time from when the transmission request is output to the storage server 303 until the reception unit 108 receives the data. A method is conceivable. Alternatively, the calculation may be performed based on the capacity of a reception buffer not shown in FIG. Furthermore, M may be the number of all GOPs constituting the sequence. In this case, immediately after reading the first GOP of the sequence from the memory 104, a transmission request is output to the storage server 303.

  As a result of this determination, if the number of GOPs not yet read from the memory 104 is not less than M (NO in step S1204), the reproduction control unit 109 performs the process of step S1201 again. On the other hand, if not (YES in step S1204), the playback control unit 109 requests the storage server 303 to transmit a GOP (step S1205).

  When the storage server 303 accepts the transmission request, the storage server 303 transmits the GOPs in order from the earliest playback order among the GOPs stored in the server memory 304. For example, among the sequences composed of GOP1 to GOP10, when moving image encoded data of GOP5 to GOP10 is stored in the server memory 304, the sequence is transmitted in order from GOP5.

  Next, the playback control unit 109 determines whether or not all the GOPs stored in the memory 104 have been read (step S1206). As a result of this determination, if all GOPs have not yet been read (NO in step S1206), the process in step S1201 is performed again. On the other hand, when all the GOPs have been read from the memory 104 (YES in step S1206), the playback control unit 109 receives the GOP from the reception unit 108 and outputs the GOP to the decoding unit 110 (step S1207). Repeat the process.

  Note that the playback control unit 109 of the digital camera 301 according to the present embodiment reads moving image data from the memory 104 in GOP units and issues a transmission request to the storage server 303. On the other hand, moving image encoded data may be read in units of pictures or slices, or a transmission request may be issued.

  As described above, the digital camera 301 according to the present embodiment transfers the moving image encoded data stored in the memory of the digital camera to the storage server in order from the back of the sequence. Thereby, since the storable time is taken into consideration, the photographing time set by the user can be guaranteed. In addition, since the moving image encoded data at the beginning of the sequence is stored in a memory having a data read delay shorter than that of the storage server, it is possible to perform quick reproduction when an instruction to start reproduction is given.

  Furthermore, since the first half of the sequence remains in the memory, the digital camera 301 according to the present embodiment may prevent data transmission on the network from occurring during playback of moving image data if the user ends playback halfway. it can. Further, when the transfer to the storage server is interrupted, the reproduction time of the moving image data remaining in the memory becomes long, so that the reproduction time can be extended without being affected by a transmission error that may occur on the network.

(Second Embodiment)
The configuration of the image transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system using the digital camera 401 in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 4, 401 is a digital camera that captures moving images, and 406 is a local storage server having a function of storing and displaying moving image data. The digital camera 401 is connected to the local storage server 406 via the network 402, and the local storage server 406 is connected to the storage server 403 via the network 402. The accumulation server 403 includes a large-capacity server memory 404.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of the digital camera (image transmission apparatus) 401 and the local storage server 406 of the present embodiment.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 505 denotes a personal computer (PC) that controls the digital camera 401 and transmits / receives moving image encoded data via the network 402. The PC 505 further stores the encoded data in an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 507, decodes the moving image encoded data, and displays the decoded data on the monitor 506. In this embodiment, the HDD 507 is used as the memory, but a flash memory or the like may be used, for example.

  Reference numeral 501 denotes an imaging unit that captures moving image data. Reference numeral 502 denotes an encoding unit that encodes the captured moving image data and outputs the encoded moving image data. Reference numeral 503 denotes an output unit that outputs moving image encoded data to the PC 505 via the network 402. Also, the computer 504 receives instructions regarding various camera controls such as shooting start, shooting end, pan / tilt / zoom / shooting mode / image quality, and the like from the PC 505 via the network 402, and receives an imaging unit 501, an encoding unit 502, and an output An imaging control unit that controls the unit 503.

  Next, the operation of the digital camera 401 of this embodiment will be described in detail. When receiving a shooting start operation from the user, the PC 505 issues a shooting start instruction to the shooting control unit 504. At this time, the shooting control unit 504 is instructed to set the shooting mode and image quality preset by the user. The imaging control unit 504 instructs the imaging unit 501, the encoding unit 502, and the output unit 503 to start the operation. Thereby, the encoded moving image data is output from the output unit 503 to the PC 505 via the network 402. The PC 505 stores the moving image encoded data output from the output unit 503 in the HDD 507. In addition, when the PC 505 accepts an operation for ending shooting from the user, the PC 505 issues an instruction to end shooting to the shooting controller 504.

The PC 505 constantly monitors the remaining storage capacity of the HDD 507 and the communication bandwidth of the network 402, and calculates the value of storable time according to the following equation.
Memory time = remaining memory capacity / (bit rate-communication bandwidth)

  Then, the PC 505 performs the process shown in FIG. 2 as in the first embodiment when the storable time is equal to or less than a predetermined value specified in advance by the user.

Next, an operation when the image transmitting apparatus of the present embodiment reproduces moving image encoded data will be described.
When the PC 505 receives a playback start operation for the sequence selected by the user, the PC 505 reads moving image encoded data from the HDD 507 in order from the first GOP of the selected sequence. Further, the PC 505 performs a decoding process on the moving image encoded data read from the HDD 507, and outputs the decoded moving image to the monitor 506.

  When the remaining moving image encoded data stored in the HDD 507 decreases, the PC 505 outputs a transmission request for the sequence to the storage server 403. When the storage server 403 receives the transmission request, the storage server 403 transmits the moving image encoded data stored in the server memory 404 in order from the GOP with the earliest reproduction order. After completing the decoding of all the GOPs stored in the HDD 507, the PC 505 receives the encoded moving image data transmitted from the storage server 403, performs a decoding process, and outputs it to the monitor 506.

  Note that, as shown in FIG. 6, the digital camera 601 and the PC 605 may be directly connected. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the encoding process may not be performed on the moving image data inside the digital camera 601 but may be performed by the PC 605.

  As described above, the digital camera 401 of this embodiment transfers moving image encoded data from the HDD to the storage server in order from the back of the sequence. At this time, since the storable time is taken into consideration, the photographing time set by the user can be guaranteed. Further, since the moving image encoded data in the first half of the sequence is stored in the HDD whose data read delay is shorter than that of the storage server, quick reproduction is possible when the user gives an instruction to start reproduction.

  Furthermore, since the first half of the sequence of the digital camera 401 of the present embodiment is left in the HDD, if the user finishes playback halfway, data transmission on the network does not occur during playback of moving image data. can do. In addition, when the transfer to the storage server is interrupted, the reproduction time of the moving image data remaining in the HDD becomes long, so that the reproducible time can be extended without being affected by a transmission error that may occur on the network.

(Third embodiment)
The configuration of the image transmission apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system including the recorder 801 of the present embodiment.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 801 denotes a recorder that accumulates moving image data transmitted from the broadcasting station 806, and 805 displays moving image data transmitted from the broadcasting station 806 or moving image data accumulated in the recorder 801. Display. The recorder 801 is connected to the storage server 803 via the network 802, and the storage server 803 includes a large-capacity server memory 804.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration example of a recorder (image transmission device) 801 in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes a receiving unit that receives moving image data transmitted from a broadcasting station, and reference numeral 902 denotes an encoding that encodes moving image data received by the receiving unit 901 at a bit rate set by a user. Part. Note that when moving image data encoded in advance is transmitted from the broadcast station 806, the encoding process is not performed.

  Reference numeral 908 denotes a communication band detection unit that detects the communication band of the network 802, and 903 stores the moving image encoded data in the HDD 904, and causes the accumulation server 803 to transfer the encoded moving image data according to the storable time. It is a transmission part. Reference numeral 904 denotes an HDD for storing moving image encoded data. In the present embodiment, the HDD 904 is used as the memory, but a flash memory or the like may be used, for example.

  Reference numeral 905 denotes a storage capacity detection unit that detects the remaining storage capacity of the HDD 904, and reference numeral 906 denotes a reproduction control unit that reads out the encoded moving image data from the HDD 904 or the storage server 803 and outputs it to the decoding unit 907. Reference numeral 907 denotes a decoding unit that decodes moving image encoded data. When the moving image encoded data received by the receiving unit 901 is displayed in real time, the decoding unit 907 outputs a moving image output from the receiving unit 901. Decode the encoded data. Also, when it is desired to reproduce the moving image encoded data stored in the HDD 904, the decoding unit 907 decodes the moving image encoded data output from the reproduction control unit 906.

  Reference numeral 805 denotes a display for displaying moving images. When displaying unencoded moving image data transmitted from the broadcasting station 806, the display 805 displays moving image data output from the receiving unit 901. On the other hand, if not, the display 805 displays the moving image data output from the decoding unit 907.

Next, the operation of the recorder 801 of this embodiment will be described in detail.
Upon receiving an instruction from the user, the transmission unit 903 stores the encoded moving image data output from the encoding unit 902 or the reception unit 901 in the HDD 904. As illustrated in FIG. 13, the transmission unit 903 also stores, in the HDD 904, head position information of encoded data of each GOP (Group Of Picture) constituting the sequence. The transmission unit 903 calculates the value of the storable time based on the detection result (remaining data amount of the HDD 904) obtained from the storage capacity detection unit 905 and the communication band detected by the communication band 908 according to the following equation.
Memory time = remaining memory capacity / (bit rate-communication bandwidth)

  The transmission unit 903 performs the processing illustrated in FIG. 2 as in the first embodiment when the storable time is equal to or less than a predetermined value specified in advance by the user.

Next, an operation when the recorder 801 of the present embodiment reproduces moving image data will be described.
When the playback control unit 906 starts playback for the sequence selected by the user, the playback control unit 906 reads the corresponding sequence from the HDD 904 and outputs the sequence to the decoding unit 907. When the back of the sequence stored in the HDD 904 is transferred to the storage server 803 and the number of GOPs that have not been read from the HDD 904 decreases, the playback control unit 906 sends a transmission request for the sequence to the storage server 803. Output.

  When receiving the transmission request, the storage server 803 transmits the GOPs in order from the earliest playback order among the stored GOPs. When the reproduction control unit 906 finishes outputting all the GOP encoded data stored in the HDD 904 to the decoding unit 907, the reproduction control unit 906 outputs the moving image encoded data transmitted from the storage server 803 to the decoding unit 907. To do.

  In this embodiment, the recorder 801 includes the encoding unit 902. However, when only the moving image data encoded from the broadcast station 806 is transmitted, the recorder 801 includes the encoding unit as illustrated in FIG. It does not have to be. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the recorder 701 may receive moving image data from the broadcast station 706 via the network 702. In addition, when moving image data that is not encoded is transmitted from the broadcasting station 806 and the HDD 904 has a relatively large capacity, the encoding unit and the decoding unit may not be provided as illustrated in FIG.

  As described above, the recorder 801 of this embodiment transfers moving image encoded data from the HDD to the storage server in order from the back of the sequence. At this time, since the storable time is taken into consideration, the photographing time set by the user can be guaranteed. In addition, since the moving image encoded data in the first half of the sequence is stored in the HDD whose data read delay is shorter than that of the storage server, quick reproduction is possible when the user gives an instruction to start reproduction.

  Furthermore, since the recorder 801 of the present embodiment is left in the HDD in the first half of the sequence, when the user finishes playback halfway, data transmission on the network is prevented from occurring during playback of moving image data. be able to. In addition, when the transfer to the storage server is interrupted, the playback time of the moving image data remaining in the HDD becomes long, so that the playback time can be extended without being affected by a transmission error that may occur on the network.

(Other embodiments according to the present invention)
Each means constituting the image transmission apparatus and each step of the image transmission method in the embodiment of the present invention described above can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable recording medium (storage medium) recording (storing) the program are included in the present invention.

  In addition, the present invention can be implemented as a system, apparatus, method, program, recording medium (storage medium), or the like, and can be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. It may also be applied to an apparatus consisting of a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 2 and 12) may be supplied directly or remotely to the system or apparatus. Including. This includes the case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, and the like.

  Examples of the recording medium (storage medium) for supplying the program include a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk. Further, there are MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  As another program supply method, there is a method of connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser of a client computer. Further, the computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium (storage medium) such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, the present invention includes a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer.

  As another method, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a recording medium (storage medium) such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and a homepage is established via the Internet for users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Download key information to decrypt from. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Furthermore, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can be realized by the processing.

  Furthermore, as another method, a program read from a recording medium (storage medium) is first written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Then, based on the instructions of the program, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are also realized by the processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of an internal structure of the digital camera (image transmission apparatus) of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the transfer processing procedure by the digital camera of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the system using the digital camera in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the system using the digital camera in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structural example of the digital camera (image transmission apparatus) and local storage server of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the system using the digital camera in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the system using the recorder of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the system using the recorder of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structural example of the recorder (image transmission device) in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the internal structure of the recorder in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the internal structure of the recorder in the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the reproduction | regeneration procedure of the moving image encoded data by the digital camera in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the table which stored GOP head position information. H. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a picture group corresponding to a GOP in the H.264 encoding scheme. FIG. It is a figure showing the component of moving image coding data.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Image pick-up part 102 Encoding part 103 Storage control part 104 Memory 105 Storage capacity detection part 106 Communication band detection part 107 Transfer part 108 Reception part 109 Playback control part 110 Decoding part 111 Display part 301 Digital camera 302 Network 303 Storage server 304 Server memory

Claims (10)

Storage control means for storing moving image data in a memory;
Storage capacity detecting means for detecting the remaining storage capacity of the memory;
Based on the data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data set by the user, the communication band with the external device for accumulating the moving image data stored in the memory, and the detection result of the storage capacity detecting means The image transmitting apparatus further comprises transfer means for transferring moving image data to the external apparatus.   The transfer means obtains a remaining storable time from a data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data, a communication band with the external device, and a remaining storage capacity of the memory, and the remaining storable time is a predetermined value. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transfer is started when the following occurs.   The transfer means obtains the remaining storable time from the data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data, the communication band with the external device, and the remaining storage capacity of the memory, and the remaining storable time is more than a predetermined value. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein moving image data is transferred until the image data becomes large.   The image transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing the moving image data.   2. The image transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reproducing unit that reproduces the moving image data transferred to the external device by the transfer unit after reproducing the moving image data stored in the memory. .   6. The image transmitting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the moving image data to be reproduced last by the reproducing means is a last video unit of the sequence.   The image transmission apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the video unit is a picture.   The image transmission apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the video unit is a group of pictures. A storage control step of storing moving image data in a memory;
A storage capacity detection step of detecting a remaining storage capacity of the memory;
Based on the data amount per predetermined time of the moving image data set by the user, the communication band with the external device for accumulating the moving image data stored in the memory, and the detection result in the storage capacity detection step And a transfer step of transferring moving image data to the external device.   The program for making a computer perform each process of the image transmission method of Claim 9.

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