JP2011151743A - Monitoring program and monitoring apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring program and monitoring apparatus for implementing accurate monitoring using an existent computer, a personal computer or the like while reducing a processing load. <P>SOLUTION: A monitoring apparatus includes: a monitor line setting section for setting a monitor line into a photographing area; an image processing section for generating a monitor line pixel data stream by arraying, in one line, pixels in an image of a photographing area corresponding to a position of the monitor line; and a monitoring section for determining a change in the image of the photographing area on the basis of a change in pixel values between the monitor line pixel data stream in the images of the monitored area photographed continuously at prescribed intervals. The monitoring section divides the monitor line pixel data stream into a prescribed number of pixel groups, determines the change in the image of the photographing area on the basis of the change in pixel values in the pixel groups between the monitor line pixel data streams, and divides the monitor line pixel data stream in such a way that pixels of a first pixel group are included in at least partial pixels of a second pixel group, in the first pixel group and the second pixel group divided in an order of arraying the monitor line pixel data streams. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides a photographing area based on a monitoring line arbitrarily set in a photographing screen displayed on the display means in a state where an image photographed by an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS is displayed on a display means such as a monitor. The present invention relates to a monitoring program and a monitoring device for determining an image change in the image.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a monitoring device that uses video captured by an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS (see Patent Document 1). This monitoring apparatus sets a monitoring attention area surrounded by a plurality of straight lines or curves using a mouse on a monitoring video displayed on a monitor. Then, paying attention to the line segment of the set monitoring target area, for example, the difference between the monitoring images (frame images) obtained by dividing the monitoring video at a predetermined interval is calculated, and the pixels on the monitoring video corresponding to the line segment Detect changes in value. Then, the image change in the imaging region is determined based on the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line.

  Since such a monitoring device using a video imaged by an image sensor does not require a physical sensor such as a thermal sensor or an optical sensor, the equipment cost of the sensor and the equipment installation cost are not required, and the monitoring system There is an advantage that the overall cost can be reduced.

  On the other hand, a monitoring device using a video imaged by a conventional image sensor detects a change in a specific pixel value of the whole or a part of the monitoring video image by matching between frame still images of the monitoring video image. A determination process for determining a change is performed, but the processing load is generally very large.

  For this reason, a high-spec dedicated computer equipped with a special processing circuit must be used. With a low-spec personal computer, etc., the state change determination processing speed is slow compared to the dedicated computer, so that it can withstand practical use. It wasn't. Further, for example, when performing an erroneous determination suppression process that suppresses an erroneous determination associated with a change in the entire monitoring video due to a natural phenomenon or the like as described in Patent Document 2, the processing load of the determination process is larger.

  Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, determination processing is performed by detecting a change in the pixel value of each pixel on the line segment or a plurality of pixels on the entire line segment. Has a problem that the determination accuracy is low.

  That is, when a change in the pixel value of each pixel on the monitoring image corresponding to the line segment is detected, the processing load increases, and a change in the pixel value of at least one pixel corresponding to the line segment is detected. Even if there is a change in the monitoring image, it is determined that there has been a change in the monitoring image. Therefore, if there is a change in the shooting environment (for example, a change in brightness, flickering, shaking, etc.), the change in the monitoring image is excessively determined. Resulting in. In addition, when viewing the change in the pixel value of the entire line segment, for example, the change in the pixel value on the monitoring video corresponding to the line segment is detected using the average pixel value of each pixel corresponding to the line segment, and It is conceivable to determine the monitoring image change. However, if the average pixel value of a plurality of pixels corresponding to a line segment is simply used, a change in the pixel value of the entire pixel corresponding to the line segment appears even if a large change in one or more pixel values appears. In this case, it is not possible to appropriately determine an image change in the imaging region.

  Next, the monitoring method described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems. First, as shown in FIG. 14 (a), it is necessary to use a monitoring image taken two-dimensionally from directly above the monitoring object. In other words, since the monitoring area for the monitoring object is based on the plane image and the monitoring area is set on the plane image, as shown in FIG. In the monitoring video taken in (2), the person P interferes with the line segment, the pixel value of the line segment changes, and it is detected that the pixel value on the monitoring video corresponding to the line segment has changed, resulting in an erroneous determination. End up.

  As described above, the monitoring method disclosed in Patent Document 1 provides effective monitoring when the positional relationship between the region to be monitored and the person P is three-dimensional, such as a monitoring image having a three-dimensional depth (perspective). However, it is necessary to take measures such as installing a device such as an optical sensor separately to prevent misjudgment. In addition, the shooting direction (shooting conditions such as the installation position of the shooting device with respect to the monitoring target) is limited due to the necessity of using a monitoring image that is two-dimensionally shot from directly above the monitoring target, and there is an existing three-dimensional depth. There is a problem that it is difficult to introduce into a monitoring system using a photographing device for photographing a monitoring video.

  Second, there is a problem that it is not possible to provide appropriate monitoring for various aspects of monitoring. As an aspect of monitoring, for example, there is a case where an intruder S entering over the wall H as shown in FIG. At this time, in order to detect a person moving from above the wall H as the intruder S, the monitoring line is set above the wall H.

  However, the person P who moves in the left and right direction along the wall H interferes with the monitoring line, and a change in the pixel value on the monitoring video corresponding to the monitoring line is detected, which may cause an erroneous determination. . That is, in the example of FIG. 14C, only a person who moves in the vertical direction with respect to the wall H is determined as the intruder S, and the person P1 who travels in the horizontal direction along the wall H interferes with the monitoring line. However, since the monitoring line cannot specify the intrusion direction with respect to the wall H, the pixel value of the person P1 moving in the left-right direction with respect to the monitoring line is also necessary. Changes, and the person P1 is also determined as an intruder.

  As described above, the monitoring device using the monitoring video imaged by the conventional imaging device takes into account the monitoring between the monitoring line and the monitoring region on the monitoring image and the actual monitoring region that specify the route and direction with respect to the monitoring line. There is a problem that it is not possible to perform monitoring suitable for an individual specific monitoring mode according to the monitoring purpose such as monitoring.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-224011 (paragraphs 0001 to 0026, FIG. 1, FIG. 4, etc.) JP-A-11-239337

  The objective of this invention is providing the monitoring program and monitoring apparatus which implement | achieve highly accurate monitoring using the existing computer or a personal computer etc., reducing processing load.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring program and a monitoring apparatus capable of performing monitoring suitable for individual specific monitoring modes according to shooting conditions and monitoring purposes.

  A monitoring program according to a first aspect of the present invention is a monitoring program executed by a computer that performs a process of determining an image change of a shooting area shot by a shooting device, and the computer includes a display unit of the computer. A function to generate monitoring line setting information including position information in the imaging area of the set monitoring line and a position of the monitoring line based on the monitoring line setting information. A function for generating a monitoring line pixel data sequence in which pixels in an image of an imaging region corresponding to information are arranged in a row, and a pixel between the monitoring line pixel data sequences in each image of the monitoring region captured continuously at a predetermined interval And a function for determining an image change in the shooting area based on a change in value, and The function of determining the image change is to divide the monitoring line pixel data sequence into a predetermined number of pixel groups, determine an image change in the imaging region based on a change in pixel value in the pixel group between the monitoring line pixel data sequences, The first pixel group and the second pixel group that are divided in the arrangement order of the monitoring line pixel data sequence are divided so that at least some of the pixels of the second pixel group include the pixels of the first pixel group. .

The monitoring program according to claim 1 further has a function of converting each image of the monitoring area continuously photographed at a predetermined interval into a pixel data string in which pixels are arranged in a line in a predetermined order. In addition, the function of determining an image change in the shooting area can be configured to determine an image change in the entire shooting area based on a change in pixel value between pixel data strings.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring device for determining an image change of a photographing region photographed by a photographing device, performing control for setting a monitoring line in the photographing region through a display unit, and set monitoring. A monitoring line setting unit that generates monitoring line setting information including position information in the shooting area of the line, and monitoring in which pixels in the image of the shooting area corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a line based on the monitoring line setting information An image processing unit that generates a line pixel data sequence, and a change in the image of the imaging region is determined based on a change in pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data sequences in each image of the monitoring region that is continuously captured at a predetermined interval A monitoring unit, wherein the monitoring unit divides the monitoring line pixel data sequence into a predetermined number of pixel groups, and pixel values in the pixel groups between the monitoring line pixel data sequences Based on the change, the image change of the imaging region is determined, and in the first pixel group and the second pixel group divided in the arrangement order of the monitoring line pixel data sequence, at least a part of the second pixel group includes the first pixel group. It divides | segments so that this pixel may be included, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

Furthermore, the monitoring program according to claim 4 of the present invention is a monitoring program executed by a computer that performs a process of determining an image change of an imaging region imaged by an imaging device, and the computer displays on the computer. The monitoring line setting information including each position information in the imaging area of the set monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line is performed while performing control for setting the monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line corresponding to the monitoring line in the imaging area through the unit. A monitoring line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the imaging region corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a row based on the monitoring line setting information and the imaging region corresponding to the monitoring invalid line position information A function to generate a monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence in which pixels in an image are arranged in a row; And a function of determining an image change in the shooting area based on a change in pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring area continuously shot at a fixed interval, and The function of determining the image change is a change in the pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings and the change in the pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring area continuously captured at a predetermined interval. It is characterized in that an image change in the imaging region is determined based on the correlation.

In addition, the function of determining the image change of the shooting area of the monitoring program according to claim 1 causes a change in the pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings and the pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data strings. When it is determined that a change has occurred, it is possible to invalidate the determination of the image change in the imaging region based on the change in the pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a monitoring device for determining an image change in a photographing region photographed by a photographing device, and sets a monitoring line and a monitoring invalid line corresponding to the monitoring line in the photographing region through a display unit. A monitoring line setting unit that performs control and generates monitoring line setting information including position information in the imaging region of the set monitoring line and monitoring invalid line, and position information of the monitoring line based on the monitoring line setting information A monitoring line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the imaging region corresponding to the image are arranged in a row and a monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the imaging region corresponding to the position information of the monitoring invalid line are arranged in a row are generated. Pixel values between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring area continuously captured at a predetermined interval A monitoring unit that determines a change in the image of the imaging region based on the monitoring unit, and the monitoring unit changes a pixel value between monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring region that is continuously captured at a predetermined interval. And an image change in the imaging region is determined based on a correlation between the change in pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data string and the monitor invalid line pixel data string.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the processing load is low, and high-precision monitoring can be realized using an existing computer or personal computer.

  According to the invention according to claim 4 of the present invention, it is possible to perform monitoring suitable for an individual specific monitoring mode according to a photographing situation and a monitoring purpose.

It is a figure which shows an example of the monitoring apparatus (monitoring system) in 1st Embodiment of this invention, and is a figure which shows the block diagram of a monitoring apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows the process transition of the monitoring line setting process in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitoring line setting screen in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process transition of the monitoring control in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the image processing in 1st Embodiment of this invention, (a) is a line-up of a monitoring image, (b) is explanatory drawing of pixel line-up of a monitoring line. It is explanatory drawing of the determination process of the whole monitoring image in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the determination method of the whole monitoring image in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the discrimination | determination process of the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process transition of the monitoring line and monitoring invalid line setting process in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen of the monitoring line and monitoring invalid line in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process transition of the monitoring control in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the correlation with the monitoring line in the determination process which determines the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention, and a monitoring invalid line, (a) is an example of a correlation, ( b) is an example of the correlation between the monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line shown in FIG. 10A, and FIG. 10C is a diagram for explaining the correlation with the monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line shown in FIG. It is. It is a figure for demonstrating the monitoring invalid area | region in 2nd Embodiment of this invention, (a) is an example of the setting screen of a monitoring invalid area | region, (b) is the detection process of the change of the pixel value in a monitoring invalid area | region. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the monitoring method using the conventional monitoring image, (a) is an example at the time of setting a monitoring area | region (monitoring line) on a plane image, (b) is on an image with a perspective. An example when a monitoring area is set, (c) is an example of an image in which a monitoring target (intruder) and a non-monitoring target (person) with respect to the set monitoring area are captured.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail.

(First embodiment)
1 to 8 are views showing a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a monitoring apparatus (monitoring system) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. A computer apparatus such as a personal computer can be applied to the monitoring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, and a photographing apparatus 200 such as a video camera having an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS, a speaker 300 as a sound output unit, and a liquid crystal display apparatus. And a display device 400 such as a mouse, a pointing device such as a mouse, and an operation input unit 500 such as a keyboard.

  The monitoring apparatus 100 A / D converts image information input from the CPU 110 that controls the entire monitoring apparatus 100, the memory (main storage unit) 120, the auxiliary storage unit 130, and the imaging apparatus 200, and generates a digital image. An image input unit 140 is included. Further, an interface (IF) unit 150 such as a hardware interface or a software interface that mediates connection with the speaker 300, the display unit 400, and the operation input unit 500 may be included.

  The imaging device 200 may be a separate imaging device that is externally connected to the monitoring device 100, or may be a built-in imaging device that is provided integrally with the monitoring device 100. The monitoring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment performs an A / D conversion process for converting a monitoring video (analog monitoring video) captured by the imaging apparatus 200 into a digital image, and outputs an generated digital image. 140, the image input unit 140 is not necessary when the photographing apparatus has an A / D conversion processing function.

  The monitoring device 100 receives an input of a monitoring video imaged by the imaging device 200, performs an image processing to be described later, and displays the monitoring video in the imaging region displayed on the display unit 400 through the display control unit 114. In addition, the monitoring line setting unit 112 that performs drawing control for the monitor to draw the monitoring line L via the operation input unit 500 and control for displaying the drawing result, pixel information of the monitoring video corresponding to the set monitoring line L A monitoring unit (determination control unit) that detects a change in a pixel value on the monitoring video corresponding to the monitoring line L using (position information) and determines an image change in the imaging region (monitoring video) based on the monitoring line L 113 functions. These functions are realized by the monitoring apparatus 100 when the CPU 110 executes the monitoring program of the present invention cached on the memory 120.

  The display control unit 114 performs display control of the monitoring video or the monitoring image on the display unit 400 as described above, and displays the drawing result of the monitoring line L input from the monitoring line setting unit 112. Execute the control displayed on the screen. The communication control unit 115 performs data communication control through a network such as the Internet. For example, it performs communication control for transmitting information related to the monitoring status and monitoring results to an external device connectable to the network and receiving setting operation information for the monitoring device 100. The memory 120 and the auxiliary storage unit 130 are storage devices that operate as a storage unit, and store information generated and extracted. For convenience of explanation, the memory 120 and the auxiliary storage unit 130 will be collectively referred to as a storage unit below.

  The monitoring video captured by the imaging device 200 is a moving image or a continuous still image, and the monitoring device 100 is a frame still image of a moving image, a still image captured at a predetermined time interval, or a continuous still image. Any still image can be used as a monitoring image. Then, the monitoring apparatus 100 performs a monitoring control process, which will be described later, based on the monitoring image in the monitoring area captured at a predetermined time interval and the monitoring line L set on the monitoring image.

  The total number of pixels of the monitoring image (the number of pixel columns N × the number of pixels n per pixel column) is arbitrary, and may vary depending on the number of effective pixels of the image sensor of the photographing apparatus 200 and setting conditions (image compression processing or the like). . In addition, the pixel value is a numerical value representing the color type and intensity (brightness) of each pixel on the monitoring image. For example, in the case of the RGB system, an 8-bit number (0 to 255) for each RGB. The color information represented by is a pixel value. In the case of a pixel value converted from a color pixel value such as an RGB system to a gray scale, a pixel value represented by a number from 0 to 255 converted by extracting a predetermined color element is obtained.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the process transition of the monitoring line setting process of the present embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the monitoring line setting screen of the present embodiment. The monitoring line setting process in FIG. 2 is mainly performed by the monitoring line setting unit 112.

  The monitoring apparatus 100 receives an input of a monitoring line setting request from a monitor through a screen (not shown). Specifically, when the monitor selects a monitoring line setting icon using the operation input unit 500, the monitoring apparatus 100 receives a monitoring line setting request (S101) and receives the monitoring video input via the image input unit 140. Is displayed on the display unit 400 (S102).

  The monitoring apparatus 100 performs drawing control for drawing a straight line or a curve on the monitoring video displayed on the display unit 400, and displays the drawing result on the display unit 400 via the display control unit 114 (S103). The monitoring line L displayed on the display unit 400 can be displayed in any color that can identify the monitoring line L on a monitoring video such as red. In the example of FIG. 3, for convenience of explanation, the monitoring line L is indicated by a one-dot chain line, but may be an arbitrary line (solid line or the like).

  Upon selection by the monitor to end the setting process of the monitoring line L, that is, when a setting end request is received through the operation input unit 500, the monitoring apparatus 100 extracts pixel coordinates on the monitoring video of the drawn monitoring line L. Then, the monitoring line setting information including the extracted pixel coordinates is generated and stored in the storage unit such as the memory 120 (S105). The pixel coordinates are identification information for identifying each pixel of the total number of pixels of the monitoring image, and information indicating the position and arrangement relationship of each pixel of the monitoring image.

  A plurality of monitoring lines L can be set. For example, an identification ID is assigned to each set monitoring line, and monitoring line setting information including each pixel coordinate of each monitoring line L corresponding to the monitoring video is stored for each identification ID. can do. It is also possible to draw a plurality of straight or curved monitoring lines L and set a monitoring area surrounded by the plurality of monitoring lines L. In this case, the monitoring area setting information including pixel information of each pixel included in the monitoring area including the line segment of the monitoring line L is stored in the storage unit as the monitoring setting information. Since it can also be regarded as a bundle of L, the monitoring area setting information may be stored in the storage unit as monitoring setting information including a plurality of the above-described monitoring line setting information (see FIG. 13).

  In addition, the monitoring line L of the present embodiment is a line segment connecting two pixels on the monitoring image, and the width (thickness) of the line segment is the same as the size of the pixel. It is also possible to set a monitoring line L having a predetermined thickness by arbitrarily setting the width of the line segment.

  4 to 8 are diagrams for explaining the monitoring control process performed by the monitoring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The monitoring control process includes an image process for the monitoring video and a determination process for determining an image change of the monitoring video. . The determination process includes two processes, a first determination process for determining an image change of the entire monitoring video and a second determination process for determining an image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line.

  The monitoring control process of the present embodiment includes a first monitoring image, a second monitoring image, a third monitoring image in the monitoring area extracted or generated from the monitoring video imaged by the imaging device 200 as in the prior art. Are stored in the storage unit in time series, but in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5A, the monitoring image is not an image file format such as JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, etc. Are converted into pixel data strings arranged in a line in a predetermined order and stored.

  Conventionally, monitoring images are saved in an image file format such as JPEG, TIFF, BMP, GIF, etc., and monitoring images in a predetermined image file format are matched in time-series order to determine the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L. It was. In contrast, in the present embodiment, a pixel data string in which the pixels of the monitoring image are arranged in a line in a predetermined order is generated, the pixel data strings in which the pixels are arranged in a line are matched, and the monitoring line L The image change of the monitoring video based on the is determined.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, the image processing unit 111 of the monitoring apparatus 100 connects a plurality of pixel columns of the monitoring image input via the image input unit 140, for example, the monitoring image Each pixel is arranged in a line in the pixel coordinate order assigned from the upper left to the lower right. That is, a single-row process is performed in which the pixel 1 having the pixel coordinates (X1, Y1) in the monitoring image and the pixel N × n having the pixel coordinates (XN, Yn) are converted into one continuous pixel data row. Each monitor image is stored in the storage unit.

  For the monitoring line L, a monitoring line pixel data string is generated using the pixel coordinates of the monitoring line L included in the monitoring line setting information, and is stored in the storage unit for each monitoring line L. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, the image processing unit 111 includes pixel information (pixel coordinates) of pixels corresponding to the monitoring line L from the monitoring image that is lined up or from the monitoring image that is not lined up. , And a monitoring line pixel data string composed only of pixels of the monitoring image corresponding to the monitoring line L is generated and stored in the storage unit.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the image change determination processing for the entire monitoring image, and is performed by the monitoring unit 113 using the monitoring image that has been subjected to the alignment processing. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the monitoring unit 113 compares the pixel value difference of each pixel (difference) between the pixel data sequence 1 of the monitoring image 1 and the pixel data sequence 2 of the monitoring image 2 stored in the storage unit. Pixel value) is calculated.

  Further, the monitoring unit 113 calculates an average value of differences calculated for each pixel (a value obtained by dividing the total difference of each pixel by the total number of pixels, a total average difference pixel value), and changes in the pixel values of the entire monitoring image Is detected (FIG. 7A).

  Then, when the total average difference pixel value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (first threshold value), the monitoring unit 113 determines that the image of the entire monitoring image has changed due to a natural phenomenon or the like. It is determined that there is no change in the entire monitoring image.

  In addition to the total average difference pixel value, the image change of the entire monitoring image may be determined by applying the example shown in FIGS. 7B to 7E. FIG. 7B divides the monitoring image into a plurality of areas. For example, an average difference pixel value (area division average difference pixel value) of each pixel included in any of the areas 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8. 7C, when the change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image is detected, FIG. 7C shows the average difference pixel value (selected pixel average difference pixel value) in the selected pixels or the selected pixel groups of the monitoring image. ) To detect a change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image.

  FIG. 7D shows a change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image using the average difference pixel value (four-corner average difference pixel value) of each pixel in a pixel group in a predetermined range at the four corners on the monitoring image. In this case, FIG. 7E detects a change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image using the average difference pixel value (side pixel average difference pixel value) of each pixel of the pixel group corresponding to the four sides of the monitoring image. It is an example of a case. These various determination methods can be selected as appropriate on the monitoring control setting screen (not shown) according to the surveillance video to be photographed.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 8, the determination process of the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L of the present embodiment will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the monitoring line L is stored as a monitoring line pixel data string in which pixel groups corresponding to the position of the monitoring line L on the monitoring image are lined up. Similar to the image change determination process for the entire monitoring image, a change in pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in the monitoring image 1 and the monitoring image 2 is detected, and based on the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L. To determine the image change of the surveillance video.

  In addition, it is preferable that the determination process of the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined with higher accuracy than the determination process of the image change of the entire monitoring image. Therefore, in the present embodiment, correction processing is performed on the pixel value difference between the respective monitoring line pixel data strings in the monitoring image 1 and the monitoring image 2, and the corrected difference (corrected difference value) is used for the monitoring line L. Based on the determination process.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, the difference between the pixel values of the corresponding pixels between the monitoring line pixel data string 1 and the monitoring line pixel data string 2 is calculated, and the calculated difference between the pixel values is expressed as n. A logarithmic correction operation of multiplying and dividing by a predetermined number m is performed to calculate a correction difference value. Note that n and m are natural numbers and can be set arbitrarily.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the monitoring based on the monitoring line L using the difference (pixel value change amount) of each pixel corresponding to the monitoring line pixel data string 1 and the monitoring line pixel data string 2 as it is. Rather than judging image changes in video, a correction calculation using logarithm is applied to capture larger changes in pixel values with larger differences, and conversely, using corrected difference values that capture smaller changes in pixel values with small differences. To perform the judgment process. By correcting in this way, in each pixel of the pixel data string corresponding to the monitoring line L, a pixel having a large change amount of pixel value (a large difference pixel value) has a small change amount of pixel value (difference pixel value). It is possible to prevent the change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring line L from being detected by being absorbed by the pixels, and to perform a determination process that more accurately reflects the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L. it can.

  In addition, the monitoring unit 113 according to the present embodiment extracts a predetermined unit number of pixel groups sequentially from the first pixel of the line of monitoring line pixel data, and detects a change in pixel value for each extracted pixel group. The image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined. In particular, in the present embodiment, a predetermined number of pixel groups extracted from the monitoring line pixel data string are extracted as follows to detect a change in the pixel value of the pixel group.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the monitoring line pixel data sequence includes 17 pixels, the monitoring apparatus 100 first extracts a predetermined number of pixel groups from the head of the monitoring line pixel data sequence, and extracts the extracted pixel groups. The average value of the correction difference values is calculated. In the example of FIG. 8, the predetermined unit number is 4, and four pixels 1, pixel 2, pixel 3, and pixel 4 are extracted as one pixel group from the head of the monitoring line pixel data string, and four pixels 1 to 4 are extracted. The average correction difference value in the pixel group obtained by dividing the total value of the correction difference values by the predetermined unit number 4 is calculated. Then, it is determined whether or not the average correction difference value of the pixel group composed of the pixel 1, the pixel 2, the pixel 3, and the pixel 4 is equal to or larger than a predetermined value (second threshold). When it is determined that there is an image change of the monitoring video based on the line L, and it is less than the predetermined value, it is determined that there is no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L.

  When it is determined that the average correction difference value of the pixel group of the first four pixels 1 to 4 is less than a predetermined value, in other words, from the pixel group of the pixels 1 to 4, the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is displayed. When it is determined that there is no image change, the monitoring apparatus 100 further extracts a pixel group including pixels after the pixel 5 of the monitoring line pixel data string, calculates an average correction difference value of the pixel group, and performs average correction By determining whether or not the difference value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (second threshold), the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined.

  At this time, the monitoring apparatus 100 extracts a predetermined unit number of pixel groups in the order from the head to the tail of the monitoring line pixel data string, but the pixels 5 to 8 are the pixel groups next to the pixel groups of the pixels 1 to 4. Are not extracted as a pixel group in the order of the pixel 3 and the pixel 4 included in the pixel group when it is determined that there is no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L. Pixel 5 and pixel 6 are extracted as a pixel group of the next predetermined unit number.

  That is, when the monitoring apparatus 100 extracts a predetermined unit number of pixel groups in the order from the head to the tail of the monitoring line pixel data string, it is determined that there is no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L immediately before. It is determined whether or not there is a pixel group. If there is, a pixel group including at least one pixel included in the immediately preceding pixel group is extracted, and a predetermined number of units are extracted from the head of the monitoring line pixel data sequence. Except for the pixel group, at least one or more pixels of the nearest pixel group determined to have no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L overlap in the image change determination processing of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L. To be used.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, when the predetermined unit number is 4, the monitoring line pixel data string of the monitoring line L composed of 17 pixels has five pixel groups (pixel 1 to pixel 4, pixel 5 to pixel 5). Pixel 8, pixel 9 to pixel 12, pixel 13 to pixel 16, pixel 17) are not sequentially extracted, but eight pixel groups (pixel group 1: pixel 1 to pixel 4, pixel group 2: pixel 3 to pixel) 6, pixel group 3: pixel 5 to pixel 8, pixel group 4: pixel 7 to pixel 10, pixel group 5: pixel 9 to pixel 12, pixel group 6: pixel 11 to pixel 14, pixel group 7: pixel 13 to pixel 16, pixel group 8: pixel 14 to pixel 17) are sequentially extracted, and the average correction difference value in each pixel group between the monitoring line pixel data string 1 and the monitoring line pixel data string 2 is a predetermined value (second threshold). When it is determined that the above is true, the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is changed. It determines that there is.

  Note that the number of overlapping pixels (the number of overlapping determination pixels) may be automatically determined from the predetermined unit number, or may be set as the overlapping determination pixel number separately from the predetermined unit number. For example, when the overlap determination pixel number is automatically determined from the predetermined unit number, the predetermined unit number can be divided into two and overlapped. When the predetermined unit number is 2, the overlap determination pixel number is 1, and when the predetermined unit number is 4, the overlap determination pixel number is 2. Similarly, when the predetermined unit number is 6, the overlap determination pixel number is 3.

  Further, as in the example of FIG. 8, when the number of pixels in the monitoring line pixel data string is 17 and the predetermined unit number is 4, the pixel group 8 to be subjected to the determination process after the pixel group 7 is the pixel 15. Although the pixel 18 is present, the pixel 18 does not exist, so that the pixel group is extracted by changing the overlap determination pixel number. Specifically, when the monitoring unit 113 extracts a predetermined number of pixel groups, at least some of the pixels in the pixel group that have undergone the determination process and the pixels in the monitoring line pixel data sequence that has not been subjected to the determination process When the total number is less than the predetermined unit number, pixels corresponding to the predetermined unit number are extracted as a pixel group from the trailing pixels of the monitoring line pixel data sequence. In the example of FIG. 8, the pixels 14 to 17 are extracted as the pixel group 8. At this time, the number of pixels overlapping with the pixel group 7 is three, that is, the pixel 14, the pixel 15, and the pixel 16, and the pixel group 8 is extracted by changing the overlap determination pixel number.

  In the example of FIG. 8, after calculating the difference between the monitoring line pixel data string 1 and the monitoring line pixel data string 2, the average correction difference value of the two corresponding pixel groups in the monitoring line pixel data strings 1 and 2 is calculated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the difference calculation process and the correction process may be performed for every two corresponding pixel groups. That is, the monitoring line pixel data sequence extracted based on a predetermined number of units without first performing all the difference calculation processing and correction processing in each pixel of the monitoring line pixel data sequence 1 and the monitoring line pixel data sequence 2. For the pixel group only, the difference calculation process and the correction process between the monitoring line pixel data string 1 and the monitoring line pixel data string 2 are performed, and it is determined whether or not the correction difference value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. A difference calculation process, a correction process, and a process for determining whether or not the correction difference value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value may be performed for each pixel group based on a predetermined number of units.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the monitoring video image change determination process based on the monitoring line L is performed by detecting a change in the pixel value of each pixel on the monitoring image corresponding to the monitoring line L. Instead of determining the change or determining the image change of the monitoring video using the average difference value of all the pixels corresponding to the monitoring line L, the monitoring line pixel data string is divided into a predetermined number of pixel groups and monitored. A change in the image of the captured video is determined based on a change in pixel value in the pixel group between the line pixel data strings, and the second pixel in the first pixel group and the second pixel group divided in the arrangement order of the monitoring line pixel data string The pixel value is changed by dividing at least some of the pixels so that the pixels of the first pixel group are included, and overlapping at least some of the pixels extracted in the order of arrangement of the monitoring line pixel data sequence. Inspect It is. For this reason, the processing load is reduced, and a change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L can be detected with high accuracy.

  For example, referring to the example of FIG. 8, the pixel values in the pixel group without overlapping the pixels included in each other, such as pixel group 1: pixel 1 to pixel 4 and pixel group 2: pixel 5 to pixel 8. In the case of detecting the change in pixel value, even if the pixel 4 and the pixel value 5 are greatly changed, the change in the pixel value in each of the pixel groups 1 and 2 is not detected greatly. That is, when adjacent pixels that are grouped in a predetermined number of units have changed greatly, the change is included in other pixel groups, and the change in pixel value is distributed to a plurality of pixel groups. A change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L cannot be detected properly.

  However, as in the present embodiment, by detecting a change in pixel value by overlapping at least some pixels of a predetermined number of pixel groups sequentially extracted from the head of the monitoring line pixel data sequence, the pixel group Therefore, it is possible to appropriately detect a change in the pixel corresponding to the monitoring line L across the monitor line L, and to improve the determination accuracy of the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process transition of the monitoring control in the present embodiment, and shows a process of determining an image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L after setting the monitoring line shown in FIG.

  When the monitoring person selects a monitoring start button (start icon) displayed on the display unit 400 through the operation input unit 500, the monitoring apparatus 100 receives a monitoring start button selection request and performs a monitoring control process (S301). ).

  The monitoring input unit 140 of the monitoring device 100 converts the analog format monitoring video imaged by the imaging device 200 into a digital image, and outputs the monitoring image to the image processing unit 111 (S302). The image processing unit 111 performs an alignment process for converting the monitoring image into a continuous pixel data string based on the pixel coordinates on the input monitoring image, and stores the aligned monitoring image in the storage unit. Store (S303).

  In addition, the image processing unit 111 of the monitoring apparatus 100 uses the pixel coordinates of the monitoring line L included in the monitoring line setting information stored in the storage unit in parallel or individually with the alignment processing for the monitoring image. Pixel information (pixel coordinates) of the pixel corresponding to the monitoring line L is extracted from the monitoring image that has been converted to the monitoring image or the monitoring image that has not yet been aligned, and is configured by only the pixels of the monitoring image that correspond to the monitoring line L. A monitoring line pixel data string is generated. The generated monitoring line pixel data sequence is stored in the storage unit for each monitoring image (S304).

  Next, the monitoring unit 113 of the monitoring device 100 performs an image change determination process of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L based on the latest monitoring image input. First, when the image processing unit 111 generates a pixel data string and a monitoring line pixel data string that are arranged in the latest monitoring image (for example, monitoring image 1) by the image processing unit 111, the monitoring unit 113 stores the latest ( A pixel data sequence and a monitoring line pixel data sequence that are made into a single row related to the immediately preceding monitoring image (for example, monitoring image 2) are extracted, and image change determination processing of the entire monitoring image and monitoring video based on the monitoring line L are extracted. Image change determination processing is performed (S305a, S305b).

  In step S305a, the monitoring unit 113 of the monitoring apparatus 100, as described above, calculates the average value of the differences calculated for each pixel of the entire monitoring image (the value obtained by dividing the total difference of each pixel by the total number of pixels, the total average Difference pixel value) is calculated to detect a change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image, and an image change of the entire monitoring image is determined.

  On the other hand, in step S305b, the monitoring unit 113 extracts a predetermined number of pixel groups in order from the first pixel of the line of the monitored line pixel data, and detects a change in the pixel value for each extracted pixel group. At this time, as described above, a change in pixel value is detected by overlapping at least a part of pixels of a predetermined number of pixel groups sequentially extracted from the head of the monitoring line pixel data sequence, and based on the monitoring line L. A change in the image of the monitoring video is determined.

  Next, the monitoring unit 113 determines that the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is “Yes” and the image change of the entire monitoring image is “No” based on the determination results in Steps S305a and S305b. This is a case where it is determined whether or not a change in the pixel value on the monitoring image corresponding to the monitoring line L is detected, and it is determined that the image of the monitoring video has changed based on the monitoring line L (S306). However, if it is determined that the image of the entire monitoring image has changed, it is determined that the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L is accompanied by the image change of the entire monitoring image, and finally the monitoring line L It determines with it not being the image change of the monitoring video based on it, and progresses to step S308. On the other hand, when the image change of the entire monitoring image is determined to be “none” and the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined to be “present”, the process proceeds to step S307 and a predetermined warning process is performed. .

  As the warning process in step S307, for example, a warning sound can be output from the speaker 300 or the like, or a warning message or a warning display object can be displayed in a pop-up on the display unit 400. In addition, in order to record the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L, the latest monitoring image used for the determination process is stored in the storage unit, and the monitoring image is transmitted to a preset mail address. Such processing can also be performed.

  Thereafter, the monitoring unit 113 determines in step S308 whether or not there is a monitoring end instruction by the monitor or based on a scheduler or the like. If there is no monitoring end instruction, the monitoring unit 113 returns to step S302, and from step S302 to step S307. Repeat each process. On the other hand, if there is a monitoring end instruction, the monitoring end process is performed to end the monitoring control process (S309).

  As described above, the monitoring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment converts and holds the monitoring image by the one-row processing, and detects the change in the pixel value between the one-row monitoring images. Therefore, the image file format such as JPEG is used. Compared with the conventional processing matched in (1), the processing load for detecting a change in pixel value between monitoring images and determining an image change in monitoring video is reduced. In particular, the monitoring line L is also stored as a monitoring line pixel data string in which a group of pixels corresponding to the position of the monitoring line L on the monitoring image is aligned, and the monitoring line pixel is similar to the image change determination process of the entire monitoring image. Since the change in the pixel value between the data strings is detected, the processing load for determining the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is reduced.

  Furthermore, since a change in pixel value is detected by overlapping at least some of the pixels of a predetermined number of pixel groups sequentially extracted from the head of the monitoring line pixel data sequence, it corresponds to the monitoring line L across the pixel groups. It is possible to appropriately detect a change in the pixel to be performed, and to improve the determination accuracy of the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L while reducing the processing load.

  Therefore, it is possible to provide a monitoring program and a monitoring apparatus that realize high-precision monitoring using an existing computer or personal computer.

(Second Embodiment)
9 to 13 are diagrams showing a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, in addition to the above-described monitoring control processing in the first embodiment, monitoring in various shooting situations is realized, and a function for performing monitoring suitable for an individual specific monitoring mode according to the monitoring purpose is added. It is an embodiment. Hereinafter, the description will focus on the parts different from the first embodiment, and the overlapping parts will be omitted as appropriate.

  The monitoring apparatus 100 of this embodiment sets a monitoring invalid line EL corresponding to (related to) the monitoring line L together with the monitoring line L, and changes in pixel values corresponding to the monitoring line L and the pixel values of the monitoring invalid line EL. The image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined based on the correlation with the change.

  The monitoring line setting unit 112 of the monitoring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment performs a monitoring invalid line setting process corresponding to the monitoring line L to be set together with the monitoring line setting process according to the first embodiment (see FIG. 2). FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process transition of the monitoring line and monitoring invalid line setting process in the present embodiment, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a setting example of the monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line in the present embodiment. The monitoring line and monitoring invalid line setting processing of FIG. 9 is mainly performed by the monitoring line setting unit 112.

  When the monitoring apparatus 100 receives a monitoring line setting request accompanying selection of a monitoring line setting icon (not shown) displayed on the display unit 400 (S501), the monitoring apparatus 100 displays the monitoring video input via the image input unit 140. 400 is displayed (S502).

  The monitoring apparatus 100 performs drawing control for drawing a straight or curved monitoring line L on the monitoring video displayed on the display unit 400, displays the drawing result on the display unit 400 via the display control unit 114, and The monitoring line setting unit 112 according to the present embodiment performs drawing control of the monitoring invalid line EL corresponding to the drawn monitoring line L and processing for displaying the drawing result on the display unit 400. For example, a line selection button (not shown) that allows the monitor to select the monitoring line L or the monitoring invalid line EL is displayed on the screen, and in response to the selection of the line selection button through the operation input unit 500, the monitoring line Each of L and the monitoring invalid line EL can be drawn on the monitoring video.

  In response to the selection of the line selection button, the monitoring line setting unit 112 performs drawing control of each line of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL and display control of the drawing result (S503). The monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL displayed on the display unit 400 can be displayed in individual colors. For example, the monitoring line L is displayed in red and the monitoring invalid line EL is displayed in blue on the monitoring video. can do. In the example of FIG. 10, for convenience of explanation, the monitoring line L is represented by a one-dot chain line and the monitoring invalid line EL is represented by a two-dot chain line, but may be an arbitrary line (solid line or the like).

  The monitoring invalid line EL can be automatically drawn (or set) on the monitoring video as a monitoring invalid line corresponding to the monitoring line L with respect to the setting of the monitoring line L.

  Upon selection by the monitor to end the setting process of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL, that is, when a setting end request is received through the operation input unit 500 (S504), the monitoring apparatus 100 detects the drawn monitoring line L. The pixel coordinates on the monitoring video (monitoring image) and the pixel information on the monitoring video of the monitoring invalid line EL are respectively extracted, and the monitoring line including the extracted pixel coordinates and the monitoring invalid line setting information are generated and stored in the memory 120 or the like. (S505).

  A plurality of monitoring invalid lines EL can be set for the monitoring line L. The monitoring invalid line EL is associated with at least one or more monitoring lines L. It is also possible to draw a plurality of straight or curved monitoring invalid lines EL and set a monitoring invalid area surrounded by the plurality of monitoring invalid lines EL. In this case, the pixel information of each pixel included in the monitoring invalid area including the line segment of the monitoring invalid line EL is associated with the monitoring line setting information of the monitoring line L and stored in the storage unit.

  Here, a setting example of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL and the monitoring control method of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 10 and 12. The pixel value change detection process on the monitoring video corresponding to the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL is the same as in the first embodiment, and each pixel on the monitoring video corresponding to the monitoring invalid line EL is Like the monitoring line L, the monitoring invalid line pixel data string is stored in the storage unit. In addition, the monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence is extracted for each predetermined number of pixel groups to detect a change in pixel value, and at least some of the pixels in the extracted monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence overlap each other. The same applies to detecting a change in pixel value.

  Conventionally, in a monitoring image obtained by photographing a monitoring object three-dimensionally from above, a person P interferes with the monitoring line L and the pixel value of the monitoring line L changes, and an image of the monitoring image is generated based on the monitoring line L. There has been a misjudgment in which it is determined that has changed (see FIG. 14B). Therefore, in this embodiment, the monitoring invalid line EL corresponding to the monitoring line L is set as shown in FIG. 10A, and the pixel value corresponding to the monitoring line L and the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL are changed. Image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined.

  FIG. 12A is a diagram illustrating an example of a correlation between the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L and the conversion of the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL in the present embodiment, and a determination result for the correlation. FIG. 12B is a diagram illustrating an example of each correlation in the setting example of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL illustrated in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 12B, by setting a monitoring invalid line EL corresponding to the monitoring line L outside the monitoring line L, and performing the determination process based on the correlation in FIG. It is possible to suitably suppress erroneous determination due to deviation between the monitoring area on the three-dimensional monitoring video and the actual monitoring area.

  That is, when the pixel value does not change in each of the monitoring line L and the monitoring line EL (correlation A), when the pixel value changes only in the monitoring invalid line EL (correlation D), the monitoring line L and When a pixel value change occurs in each of the monitoring invalid lines EL (correlation C), it is determined that no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L occurs.

  In particular, in the determination condition C, even if the pixel value of the pixel corresponding to the monitoring line L has changed, the pixel value of the pixel corresponding to the monitoring invalid line EL has changed. Even if the pixel value of the monitoring line L is changed by the person P on the monitoring video with depth, the monitoring invalid line positioned outside the monitoring line L because the person P does not interfere with the actual monitoring line L. When a change in the pixel value of L occurs, the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is determined to be “none”, and thus the deviation between the monitoring area on the three-dimensional monitoring video and the actual monitoring area is determined. The erroneous determination due to can be suitably suppressed.

  Therefore, in the example of FIGS. 12A and 12B, the change in the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL occurs, and in the case of the correlation B in which the change of the pixel value of the monitoring line L does not occur, the monitoring line L It is determined that there is a change in the image of the monitoring video based on it, and the shooting direction of the monitoring video (shooting conditions such as the installation position of the shooting device with respect to the monitoring target) is not limited, and a separate device such as an optical sensor is installed. Therefore, it is possible to realize monitoring that suppresses erroneous determination.

  Furthermore, since it is possible to realize monitoring that appropriately suppresses misjudgment due to deviation between the monitoring area on the three-dimensional monitoring video and the actual monitoring area, the monitoring program of the present embodiment is also applied to the existing photographing apparatus. It becomes easy to introduce a monitoring system.

  Note that whether or not the pixel values of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL have changed is determined by the change of the pixel value (difference pixel value) and the predetermined value (threshold value), as in the first embodiment. If the change of the pixel value is less than the predetermined value, the pixel value is not changed. If the change is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the pixel value is changed. That is, in the present embodiment, it is determined that “the pixel value has changed” when the change in the pixel value is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, and “no change in the pixel value” is determined when it is less than the predetermined value. Then, based on the correlation in FIG. 12A, the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is finally determined. Note that the predetermined value for determining the change in the pixel value can be arbitrarily set, and individual values can be used for the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL, or the same value can be used. .

  Next, FIG. 12C is a diagram illustrating an example of each correlation in the setting example of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL in FIG.

  As described above, when the person P1 moving in the left-right direction interferes with the monitoring line L that monitors the intruder S entering the wall H, the pixel value of the monitoring line L changes, and the monitoring line L An erroneous determination is made in which it is determined that there is an image change of the monitoring video based on “present”. In other words, conventionally, it has not been possible to perform monitoring with a path or direction specified based on the monitoring line L.

  However, as shown in FIG. 12C, a monitoring invalid line EL that interferes (superimposes) with the person P1 moving in the left-right direction with respect to the monitoring line L is set below the wall H, and the By performing the determination process based on the correlation, the monitoring line L can be monitored with its path and direction specified.

  In FIG. 12C, when the pixel value changes only in the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL (correlation D, person P2), the pixel values of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL change. Each case (correlation C, person P1), an example of each of cases where the pixel value of the monitoring line L changes and the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL does not change (determination condition B, intruder S) It is. Accordingly, when it is determined that only the pixel value of the monitoring line L has changed, it is determined that there is a change in the image of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L. Only the interference from the direction can determine the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L, and can realize the monitoring that excludes the person P1 from the monitoring target.

  That is, in the determination process for determining the image change of the monitoring video accompanying the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L, the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L and the change in the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL are correlated and determined. By doing so, it is possible to realize monitoring specifying the route and direction with respect to the monitoring line L.

  Therefore, the monitoring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment performs a determination process using the change in each pixel value of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line L corresponding to the monitoring line L in a correlating manner. It is possible to perform monitoring suitable for individual specific monitoring modes according to the monitoring purpose, such as monitoring that specifies the direction and direction and monitoring that takes into account the deviation between the monitoring area on the monitoring video and the actual monitoring area .

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the process transition of the monitoring control in this embodiment, and the process for determining the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L after the setting of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL shown in FIG. Show.

  When the monitoring person selects a monitoring start button (start icon) displayed on the display unit 400 through the operation input unit 500, the monitoring apparatus 100 receives a monitoring start button selection request and performs a monitoring control process (S701). ).

  The monitoring input unit 140 of the monitoring device 100 converts the analog format monitoring video imaged by the imaging device 200 into a digital image, and outputs the monitoring image to the image processing unit 111 (S702). The image processing unit 111 performs an alignment process for converting the monitoring image into a continuous pixel data string based on the pixel coordinates on the input monitoring image, and stores the aligned monitoring image in the storage unit. Store (S703).

  In addition, the image processing unit 111 of the monitoring device 100 performs pixel coordinates of the monitoring line L included in the monitoring line and monitoring invalid line setting information stored in the storage unit in parallel with or separately from the alignment processing for the monitoring image. Is used to extract pixel information (pixel coordinates) of pixels corresponding to the monitoring line L from the monitoring image lined up or from the monitoring image before being lined up, and only the pixels of the monitoring image corresponding to the monitoring line L are configured. One monitoring line pixel data string to be generated is generated. In addition, pixel information (pixel coordinates) of the pixels corresponding to the monitoring invalid line EL is extracted from the monitoring image lined up or the monitoring image before being lined up, and only the pixels of the monitoring image corresponding to the monitoring invalid line EL are extracted. One configured monitoring invalid line pixel data string is generated. The generated monitoring line pixel data string and monitoring invalid line pixel data string are stored in the storage unit for each monitoring image (S704).

  Next, the monitoring unit 113 of the monitoring device 100 performs an image change determination process of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L based on the latest monitoring image input. First, the monitoring unit 113 stores a pixel data string, a monitoring line pixel data string, and a monitoring invalid line pixel data string that are converted into a single column by the image processing unit 111 into the latest monitoring image (for example, monitoring image 1). The pixel data sequence, the monitoring line pixel data sequence, and the monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence related to the latest (immediately preceding) monitoring image (for example, monitoring image 2) stored in the unit are extracted, and the entire monitoring image is extracted. An image change determination process and an image change determination process of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L are performed (S705a, S705b).

  In step S705a, the monitoring unit 113 of the monitoring apparatus 100 detects a change in the pixel value of the entire monitoring image and determines an image change of the entire monitoring image in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above.

  On the other hand, in step S705b, the monitoring unit 113 extracts a predetermined number of pixel groups in order from the first pixel of the aligned monitoring line pixel data sequence in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above. A change in the pixel value is detected. Furthermore, the monitoring unit 113 extracts a predetermined unit number of pixel groups in order from the first pixel of the one row of the monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence, and detects a change in the pixel value for each extracted pixel group.

  Then, the monitoring unit 113 detects the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L based on each correlation between the change of the pixel value of the monitoring line L and the change of the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL in FIG. Judgment processing is performed. That is, the monitoring unit 113 does not change the pixel value in each of the monitoring line L and the monitoring line EL (correlation A), or changes the pixel value only in the monitoring invalid line EL (correlation D). When the pixel value changes in each of the monitoring line L and the monitoring invalid line EL (correlation C), it is determined that there is no image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L, and the monitoring line L Even if the pixel value of the corresponding pixel has changed, if the pixel value of the pixel corresponding to the monitoring invalid line EL has changed (correlation B), an image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L has occurred. Judge that it is.

  Further, the monitoring unit 113 determines that the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is “Yes” and the image change of the entire monitoring image is “No” based on the determination results in Steps S705a and S705b. It is determined whether or not it has been done (S706). If the image of the monitoring video has changed based on the monitoring line L and the image of the entire monitoring image has not changed, it is determined that there is a change in the image of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L, and the process proceeds to step S707. A predetermined warning process is performed at.

  The warning process in step S707 is the same as step S307 in FIG. 4 in the first embodiment. In addition, the monitoring unit 113 determines whether or not there is a monitoring end instruction by the monitor or based on a scheduler or the like in step S708. If there is no monitoring end instruction, the monitoring unit 113 returns to step S702, and from step S702 to step S707. Repeat each process. On the other hand, if there is a monitoring end instruction, the monitoring end processing is performed, and the monitoring control processing is ended (S709).

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the monitoring invalid area ELA in this embodiment. FIG. 13A shows an example of a setting screen for the monitoring invalid area ELA, and FIG. 13B shows the monitoring invalid area ELA. It is a figure explaining the detection process of the change of a pixel value.

  As shown in FIG. 13B, since the monitoring invalid area ELA surrounded by the monitoring invalid lines EL can be regarded as a bundle of a plurality of monitoring invalid lines EL, the monitoring invalid area setting information includes a plurality of monitoring invalid areas. The setting information including the line setting information is stored in the storage unit.

  That is, the pixel data string in the monitoring invalid area ELA is generated as a plurality of monitoring invalid line pixel data strings and stored in the storage unit, and the change in pixel value is detected in order for each monitoring invalid line pixel data string. The change in the pixel value of the monitoring invalid area ELA can be detected.

  Thus, by setting the monitoring invalid area as an area instead of one line for the monitoring line L, it is possible to more accurately detect the change in the monitoring invalid line EL with respect to the change in the pixel value of the monitoring line L. For example, in the example of FIG. 13A, when the person P1 is stationary on the wall H and only the head moves, the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL set below the wall H does not change. For this reason, the pixel value of the monitoring line L changes with the movement of the head, and the correlation between the change of the pixel value of the monitoring line L and the change of the pixel value of the monitoring invalid line EL is the correlation in FIG. B, and it is determined that the image change of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L is “present”.

  However, by setting the monitoring invalid area ELA, the pixel value of the monitoring invalid area changes with the movement of the head. For example, the correlation C in FIG. It is determined that there is no image change in the surveillance video. Therefore, by setting the monitoring invalid area ELA as an area instead of one line for the monitoring line L, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the image change determination process of the monitoring video based on the monitoring line L.

  As described above, in the above-described embodiment, the monitoring device 100 includes an information processing terminal device having an arithmetic function such as a mobile communication terminal device such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The monitoring device 100 is not limited to a network such as the Internet, and can be connected to other nodes via other communication networks, for example, other wireless communication networks / wired communication networks, and is a dedicated line network. May be.

  Further, the monitoring device of the present invention can be realized as one or a plurality of different computer devices or the like, and can be configured as a system connected via a line such as a network, and is distributed to each processing unit and storage unit. A system configuration is also possible.

  The monitoring device (each process in the monitoring control) of the present invention can also be realized as a computer-executable program, and the computer in which the program is installed performs an information processing device that performs the processing of the present invention. It is possible to operate as For example, the program is stored in the auxiliary storage device 130, and the control unit of the CPU 110 reads the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 130 to the main storage device 120, and the CPU 110 executes the program read to the main storage device 120. In addition, the processing of each unit of the present invention can be operated by a computer.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the CPU 110 implements each function by the CPU 110 as a processing subject has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and each function of the present invention is dedicated or configured with a plurality of function groups. These processing circuits (dedicated hardware) can also be used. For example, the monitoring device of the present invention can be realized by an information processing device provided with a dedicated processing circuit that executes only each processing of the image processing unit 111 and the monitoring unit 113 separately from the CPU 110 or as a part of the CPU 110. Is possible.

  Further, the program can be provided in a state where it is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, or can be provided by being downloaded through a network such as the Internet. Computer-readable recording media include optical disks such as CD-ROM, phase change optical disks such as DVD-ROM, magneto-optical disks such as MO (Magnet Optical) and MD (Mini Disk), floppy (registered trademark) disks, Examples include magnetic disks such as removable hard disks, memory cards such as compact flash (registered trademark), smart media, SD memory cards, and memory sticks. A hardware device such as an integrated circuit (IC chip or the like) specially designed and configured for the purpose of the present invention is also included as a recording medium.

  Although the present invention has been described according to a preferred embodiment, it can be variously modified in light of the technology in the technical field without departing from the gist of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the above-described embodiment, but should be determined based on the description of the claims and equivalents thereof.

100 monitoring device 110 CPU (control unit)
111 Image processing unit 112 Monitoring line setting unit 113 Monitoring unit (determination control unit)
114 Display control unit 115 Communication control unit 120 Memory (main storage unit)
130 Auxiliary storage unit 140 Image input unit 150 Interface (IF)
200 Shooting Device 300 Sound Output Unit (Speaker)
400 Display unit 500 Operation input unit L Monitoring line EL Monitoring invalid line ELA Monitoring invalid area

Claims (6)

A monitoring program that is executed by a computer that performs a process of determining an image change of an imaging region that is imaged by an imaging device, the computer comprising:
A function of performing control for setting a monitoring line in the imaging region through the display unit of the computer, and generating monitoring line setting information including position information of the set monitoring line in the imaging region;
Based on the monitoring line setting information, a function of generating a monitoring line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the imaging region corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a line;
Realizing a function of determining an image change in the imaging region based on a change in pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring region continuously captured at a predetermined interval;
The function of determining the image change in the shooting area is as follows.
The monitoring line pixel data sequence is divided into a predetermined number of pixel groups, an image change in the imaging region is determined based on a change in pixel value in the pixel group between the monitoring line pixel data sequences, and the monitoring line pixels The monitoring is characterized in that the first pixel group and the second pixel group that are divided in the arrangement order of the data string are divided so that at least some of the pixels of the second pixel group include the pixels of the first pixel group. program. A function of converting each image of the monitoring area continuously photographed at a predetermined interval into a pixel data string in which pixels are arranged in a line in a predetermined order;
The function of determining the image change in the shooting area is as follows.
The monitoring program according to claim 1, wherein an image change of the entire imaging region is determined based on a change in pixel value between the pixel data strings. A monitoring device for determining an image change of a shooting region shot by a shooting device,
A monitoring line setting unit that performs control for setting a monitoring line in the imaging region through a display unit, and generates monitoring line setting information including position information of the set monitoring line in the imaging region;
Based on the monitoring line setting information, an image processing unit that generates a monitoring line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the imaging region corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a row;
A monitoring unit that determines an image change in the imaging region based on a change in a pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring region continuously captured at a predetermined interval;
The monitoring unit
The monitoring line pixel data sequence is divided into a predetermined number of pixel groups, an image change in the imaging region is determined based on a change in pixel value in the pixel group between the monitoring line pixel data sequences, and the monitoring line pixels The monitoring is characterized in that the first pixel group and the second pixel group that are divided in the arrangement order of the data string are divided so that at least some of the pixels of the second pixel group include the pixels of the first pixel group. apparatus. A monitoring program that is executed by a computer that performs a process of determining an image change of an imaging region that is imaged by an imaging device, the computer comprising:
Performing control for setting a monitoring line and a monitoring invalid line corresponding to the monitoring line in the imaging area through the display unit of the computer, and each of the set monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line in the imaging area A function for generating monitoring line setting information including position information;
Based on the monitoring line setting information, a monitoring line pixel data string in which pixels in the imaging area image corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a line, and the imaging area corresponding to the monitoring invalid line position information A function of generating a monitoring invalid line pixel data sequence in which pixels in the image of the image are arranged in a row
Realizing a function of determining an image change in the imaging region based on a change in pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring region continuously captured at a predetermined interval;
The function of determining the image change in the shooting area is as follows.
Based on a correlation between a change in the pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings and a change in the pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring area continuously photographed at a predetermined interval. A monitoring program for determining an image change in the shooting area. The function of determining the image change in the shooting area is as follows.
When it is determined that a pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings has changed and a pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data strings has changed, a pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings The monitoring program according to claim 4, wherein determination of an image change in the shooting area based on a change in the image is invalidated. A monitoring device for determining an image change of a shooting region shot by a shooting device,
The control unit performs control for setting a monitoring line and a monitoring invalid line corresponding to the monitoring line in the imaging area through a display unit, and sets each position information of the set monitoring line and the monitoring invalid line in the imaging area. A monitoring line setting unit that generates monitoring line setting information including:
Based on the monitoring line setting information, a monitoring line pixel data string in which pixels in the imaging area image corresponding to the monitoring line position information are arranged in a line, and the imaging area corresponding to the monitoring invalid line position information An image processing unit for generating a monitoring invalid line pixel data string in which pixels in the image of
A monitoring unit that determines an image change in the imaging region based on a change in a pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring region continuously captured at a predetermined interval;
The monitoring unit
Based on a correlation between a change in the pixel value between the monitoring line pixel data strings and a change in the pixel value between the monitoring invalid line pixel data strings in each image of the monitoring area continuously photographed at a predetermined interval. A monitoring apparatus for determining an image change in the imaging region.

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