JP2012003563A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor that allows attendants to easily acquire image data displayed on specified image display devices and/or information processing terminals of the attendants in a conference system or the like.SOLUTION: An information processor 10 connects image display devices such as a projector 31, a personal computer 32, and a display for TV conference system 33, and a plurality of information processing terminals (personal computers) 41 are capable of logging in to the information processor 10. The information processor 10 includes: identification means for identifying the personal computers 41 that are logged in; acquisition means for acquiring an image displayed on the image display devices and/or the personal computers that are logged in; and transfer means for transferring the acquired image to the personal computers in response to a transfer request from the personal computers that are logged in.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus that allows a plurality of information processing terminals to log in and configure a conference system.

  In recent years, a system has been developed in which a plurality of people bring in an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, log in to one information processing apparatus, and perform a meeting or a meeting in a state where resources are shared. At that time, there is a case where a conference participant desires to acquire an image currently displayed on an image display device such as a projector. In that case, in order to request acquisition of image data to be acquired from a participant or an information processing apparatus that holds the image data, an operation for specifying currently displayed data from a number of data is required. Actually, since the saved file cannot be specified even if the display screen is viewed, it is necessary to exchange URLs and file names. Even if the file name is known, it is complicated to search from a number of files.

  In Patent Document 1, an image processing apparatus is provided that can set an allocation layout for aggregation according to a user instruction when displaying a preview image when the aggregate printing function is selected. However, this image processing apparatus has only a stand-alone function, although the user can instruct aggregate allocation. Patent Document 1 does not mention application to a conference system.

  Patent Document 2 describes a projector having a printing function. By instructing the projector to print, the display image is converted into printable data and printed. However, this projector has only a printing function, and does not synthesize or assign images. In Patent Document 2, reference is not made to the delivery of image data.

JP 2008-227484 A JP 2009-63851 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus in which a participant can easily obtain image data displayed on a specific image display device and / or an information processing terminal of a conference participant in a conference system or the like. It is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention provides:
In an information processing apparatus to which at least one image display device is connected and in which a plurality of information processing terminals can log in,
An identification means for identifying the information processing terminal that is logged in;
Obtaining means for obtaining an image displayed by the image display device and / or the logged-in information processing terminal;
Transfer means for transferring the image acquired by the acquisition means to the information processing terminal based on a transfer request from the information processing terminal logging in;
Control means for controlling the identification means, the acquisition means, and the transfer means;
It is provided with.

  The information processing apparatus acquires an image displayed by the image display device and / or the logged-in information processing terminal, and transfers the image in response to an image transfer request from the logged-in information processing terminal. To do. Thus, the conference participant can easily obtain the currently displayed image.

  According to the present invention, in a conference system or the like, a participant can easily obtain image data displayed on a specific image display device and / or an information processing terminal of the conference participant.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of a conference system. It is a block diagram which shows the control part of the information processing apparatus which comprises the said conference system. It is explanatory drawing which shows an image selection screen. It is explanatory drawing which shows the layout image for printing of the acquired image. It is a flowchart figure which shows the basic process sequence regarding the request | requirement / transfer of an image. It is a flowchart figure which shows the 1st example of the image acquisition request processing procedure by a user. It is a flowchart figure which shows the 2nd example of the image acquisition request processing procedure by a user. It is a flowchart figure which shows the 3rd example of the image acquisition request processing procedure by a user. It is a flowchart figure which shows an example of the image storage process sequence by the said information processing apparatus.

  Embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Overall configuration of conference system, see Fig. 1)
In the conference system centering on the information processing apparatus 10, as shown in FIG. 1, an image display device such as a projector 31, a personal computer 32, and a display 33 of a TV conference system is connected to the information processing apparatus 10. Further, a plurality of information processing terminals such as the personal computer 41 can log in to the information processing apparatus 10.

(Information processing device, see FIGS. 2 to 4)
The information processing apparatus 10 is configured as an image forming composite apparatus (MFP) having an image forming function based on electrophotography and a function as a base station of the conference system. Therefore, hereinafter, the information processing apparatus 10 is referred to as MFP 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit of the MFP 10 is configured with a CPU 11 as the center, and includes an identification unit 12, an image acquisition / transfer unit 13, an image format conversion unit 14, and a buffer 15 that functions as an image memory unit. , A list display unit 16, a related image discrimination unit 17, a network management unit 18, and the like.

  The identification unit 12 identifies an information processing terminal (such as a personal computer 41) that is logged in, and includes a login user management unit 12a. The image acquisition / transfer unit 13 acquires an image displayed by the image display device (such as the projector 31) and the logged-in information processing terminal, and transfers the acquired image from the logged-in information processing terminal. Transfer to the information processing terminal based on the request.

  The list display means 16 displays a list of images displayed by the image display device and the logged-in information processing terminal on the logged-in information processing terminal. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, image display device names such as “projector”, “TV conference system”, “PC 32”, and information processing terminals such as “other PCs logged in” are displayed as a list. To do. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3B, the currently displayed images are displayed as a list as thumbnail images 31. The logged-in user receives this display, and if there is an image desired to be obtained, clicks on the display and makes an image request as described in detail below.

  When the logged-in user makes an image request and the requested image is transferred from the MFP 10, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the user can select another device image transferred on one print sheet P and Allocate images, memos, etc. on their information processing terminals and print them if necessary. Processing such as image request, layout, and printing is performed by the printer driver of the information processing terminal owned by the user.

  The related image discriminating unit 17 discriminates a related image from among images displayed by the image display device and the information processing terminal that is logged in. For such determination, for example, another image including the same character as the title of the currently displayed image is determined as a related image, or an image including a specific keyword is determined as a related image. Then, the image acquisition / transfer unit 13 transfers the related image to the information processing terminal based on the transfer request of the related image from the information processing terminal that is logged in.

  The CPU 11 permits the logged-in information processing terminal to acquire an image displayed by the image display device and another logged-in information processing terminal. However, if the image displayed on the logged-in information processing terminal is not permitted to be acquired, the information processing terminal displaying the image is requested to acquire the image. Allow transfer.

  Further, the CPU 11 detects the conversion of the image displayed by the image display device and the logged-in information processing terminal, and stores the image immediately before the conversion in the buffer 15. As a result, even if the image is no longer displayed, the image can be transferred based on the request of the logged-in user. However, since the buffer 15 has a limited capacity, it is not preferable to store a large number of images. Therefore, it is preferable that the image stored in the buffer 15 is erased only for one image that was displayed last time, and the image that was previously displayed is deleted.

(Details of processing procedure, see FIGS. 5 to 9)
Next, the above-described image request processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 5 to 8, and the image storage processing procedure will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The image request / transfer is performed according to the basic procedure shown in FIG. First, the user logs in to the MFP 10 (MFP 10 is also referred to as a resource) using his / her information processing terminal (personal computer) (step S1), and other devices (projector 31, personal computer 32, display 33, When an image of another user's personal computer 41) is selected from the list shown in FIG. 3 (step S2), the printer driver requests the MFP 10 for an image (step S3). Then, the MFP 10 acquires a displayed image from the designated device (step S4). Thereafter, the MFP 10 transmits the acquired image to the requesting user's personal computer (step S5). The user who has received the transmission performs an image assignment operation using the printer driver of his / her personal computer (see FIG. 4), and instructs storage, printing or transmission.

  FIG. 6 shows a first example of processing in step S2 when the user makes an image acquisition request for another device. First, the user's personal computer inquires of the MFP 10 about an acquirable image (step S11). The MFP 10 acquires a device name and image information that can be earned from a display image of a currently logged-in device (including an image display device and an information processing terminal) (step S12), and requests the acquired device name and image information from the request source. It returns to the user's personal computer (step S13). The personal computer that is the request source displays the image list or device name list on its screen as an acquirable list (step S14). The user selects an image or device name from the displayed obtainable list (step S15). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3.

  FIG. 7 shows a second example of the process executed in step S2 when the image requested by the user is that of another user. First, the user makes an image acquisition request to another user's personal computer (step S21). The resident printer driver of the other user's personal computer causes the owner user to select whether or not to allow acquisition by pop-up on the screen of the personal computer (step S22). If another user permits (YES in step S23), the other user's personal computer returns the permitted image information to the requesting user's personal computer (step S24). On the other hand, if the other user does not permit, a message not permitting is returned to the requesting user's personal computer (step S25).

  Thereafter, the personal computer that is the request source displays the image list or device name list as an acquirable list on its own screen (step S26). The user selects an image or a device name from the displayed acquirable list (step S27). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3.

  Note that the user may inquire whether or not to allow other users to acquire an image directly without using the MFP 10. However, it is necessary that the MFP 10 can identify whether it is permitted or not.

  FIG. 8 shows a third example of the process executed in step S2 when there is an image related to the image that the user requests to acquire. First, the user makes a related image acquisition request to the MFP 10 (step S31). The MFP 10 acquires a device name and image information that can be earned from a display image of a currently logged-in device (including an image display device and an information processing terminal) (step S32), and based on the acquired image information, a request source personal computer Narrow down images related to the image displayed at (Step S33). The narrowing down here is performed by the related image discriminating means 17.

  Next, the MFP 10 returns the narrowed-down related image information to the requesting personal computer (step S34). The requesting personal computer displays the image list or device name list on its screen as an acquirable list (step S35). The user selects an image or a device name from the displayed acquirable list (step S36). Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S3.

  Next, a procedure in which the MFP 10 accumulates display images will be described with reference to FIG. The MFP 10 stores the currently displayed image in the buffer 15 (step S51), and acquires an image by periodic polling with respect to another device (step S52). Then, the image stored in the buffer 15 is compared with the newly acquired image to determine whether or not they are different (step S53). If the two images are the same, the process returns to step S52. If they are different, the currently displayed image is stored in the buffer 15 and the previously displayed image is erased (step S54), and the process returns to step S52.

(Other examples)
The information processing apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified within the scope of the gist.

  For example, the MFP 10 used as the base station can use various configurations other than those described in the above embodiment, and may be a device other than the image forming composite apparatus. Of course, the image display device and the information processing terminal that can log in are not limited to those described in the embodiment.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for an information processing apparatus. In particular, in a conference system or the like, a participant receives image data displayed on a specific image display device and / or an information processing terminal of a conference participant. It is excellent in that it can be easily obtained.

10. Information processing apparatus (image forming composite apparatus MFP)
11 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... User identification means 13 ... Image acquisition / transfer means 14 ... Image format conversion means 15 ... Buffer 16 ... List display means 17 ... Related image discrimination means 18 ... Network management means 31 ... Projector 32 ... Personal computer 33 ... Display (TV conference system) )
41 ... PC of logged-in user

Claims (7)

In an information processing apparatus to which at least one image display device is connected and in which a plurality of information processing terminals can log in,
An identification means for identifying the information processing terminal that is logged in;
Obtaining means for obtaining an image displayed by the image display device and / or the logged-in information processing terminal;
Transfer means for transferring the image acquired by the acquisition means to the information processing terminal based on a transfer request from the information processing terminal logging in;
Control means for controlling the identification means, the acquisition means, and the transfer means;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   2. The image display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a list display unit configured to display a list of images displayed by the image processing device and / or the logged-in information processing terminal on the logged-in information processing terminal. The information processing apparatus described in 1. The image display device is a projector, a video conference system and / or a personal computer,
The acquisition means acquires an image displayed on the projector, the TV conference system and / or a personal computer;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The information according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit permits acquisition of an image displayed by the image display device and / or an information processing terminal that is logged in. Processing equipment.   If the image displayed on the logged-in information processing terminal is not permitted to acquire, the control means requests the information processing terminal displaying the image for permission to acquire. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Further, the image display device and / or a determination means for determining a related image from images displayed by the logged-in information processing terminal,
The transfer means transfers the related image to the information processing terminal based on a transfer request of the related image from the logged-in information processing terminal;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: And further comprising memory means,
The control means detects conversion of an image displayed by the image display device and / or an information processing terminal that is logged in, and stores the image immediately before being converted in the memory means;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

Images