JP2012169856A - Image recording device and drive recorder system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image recording device that records information capable of speeding up display of a thumbnail of a recorded image file.SOLUTION: Image information acquisition means 100 acquires plural image frames and difference frames corresponding to the image frames in a time sequential order. An image recording device comprises specific information recording means that, when image information recording means 170 records the image frames and the difference frames in recording means 30 as image information, records specific information 50 for specifying the image frames from the image information in the recording means 30.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus and a drive recorder system for recording information that can speed up the display of thumbnails of recorded image data.

  A drive recorder that records driving data of a vehicle together with image data is mounted on the vehicle. Data recorded by the drive recorder can be viewed by being transferred to a playback device by a recording medium or the like. At this time, a part of the image data is generally displayed as a thumbnail for convenience.

  Image data is reproduced as a moving image by continuously displaying individual data recorded in time series. Conventionally, image data at the head of this image data is displayed as a thumbnail. However, since the head portion does not always indicate the characteristics of the image data, it is inconvenient when displaying a list of image data.

  On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, when establishment of a recording condition is detected, image information captured by the imaging unit is recorded on a recording medium, and image information corresponding to the time when the recording condition is satisfied is displayed as a thumbnail creation image. The drive recorder specified as is disclosed.

JP 2010-183464 A

  When the thumbnail creation image is specified as a position in the middle of the image data as in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to read out all the image data in order to identify the thumbnail creation image, so that it takes time to display. .

  In addition, when the drive recorder records image data, a method of separately storing a thumbnail creation image is also conceivable, but in this case, it is necessary to secure an area for recording the thumbnail creation image on the recording medium, The time during which image data can be recorded is limited.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and provides an image recording apparatus and a drive recorder system for recording information that can display thumbnails without requiring a large processing time. Objective.

  The present invention is an image recording apparatus comprising: image information acquisition means for acquiring image information; and image information recording means for recording the image information acquired by the image information acquisition means in the recording means. Generating a plurality of image frames and difference frames with respect to the image frames in time series, and specifying the image frame from the moving image information when the image information recording unit records the image frame and the difference frame as moving image information in the recording unit. Specific information recording means for recording the specific information in the recording means.

  According to the present invention, only the image frame can be specified from the moving image information by the specific information recorded when recording the image information. For example, only the image frame is processed when displaying the thumbnail image. It is possible to prevent the processing time from increasing.

It is explanatory drawing of the drive recorder system containing the drive recorder of this invention of embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the drive recorder of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of the personal computer of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the drive recorder system of embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the moving image file and thumbnail file which the drive recorder of embodiment of this invention records. It is explanatory drawing of an example of the thumbnail image which PC of embodiment of this invention displays.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a drive recorder system 1 including a drive recorder 10 of the present invention.

  The drive recorder system 1 includes a drive recorder 10 mounted on a vehicle 11, a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) 20 installed in a business office, and a memory card 30 that records data acquired by the drive recorder 10. Is done.

  The drive recorder 10 acquires travel data (for example, vehicle speed, engine speed, latitude, longitude, etc.) from the vehicle 11 and records them at predetermined intervals together with the date and time. The drive recorder 10 is connected to a camera 12 and records image data captured by the camera 12. These travel data and image data are recorded in the memory card 30.

  The drive recorder 10 includes a memory card interface 170 that writes and reads data to and from the memory card 30 with the memory card 30 inserted, and a record button 180 that artificially records image data on the memory card 30. Is provided.

  The PC 20 includes a memory card interface 21 that writes data to and reads data from the memory card 30 with the memory card 30 inserted, a display unit 22 that includes a liquid crystal display that can display image data, and the like. And an input unit 23 including a keyboard and a mouse that can input instructions from.

  The memory card 30 is configured to be readable and writable by the memory card interfaces 170 and 21, and for example, a flash memory card such as SD (Source Digital) or CF (Compact Flash) is used.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the drive recorder 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  The drive recorder 10 includes a camera interface 120 that connects the camera 12, a vehicle interface 130 that acquires vehicle data by connecting to a vehicle CAN and the like, and a memory card interface 170 that reads and writes data with the memory card 30. A recording button 180 for recording image data and travel data on a memory card regardless of the occurrence of an event, which will be described later.

  In addition, the drive recorder 10 temporarily records image data, vehicle data, and the like, and also records a data 110 relating to control of the drive recorder 10 and an event for detecting occurrence of a predetermined event set in advance. A detection unit 140.

  The control unit 100 controls the operations of these units in an integrated manner. More specifically, the control unit 100 sequentially records the image data acquired via the camera interface 120 and the travel data acquired via the vehicle interface 130 in the buffer of the recording unit 110. That is, the camera 12 and the control unit 100 constitute an image information acquisition unit.

  The control unit 100 sequentially records the image data acquired by the camera 12 and recorded in the buffer as a moving image file on the memory card 30 via the memory card interface 170. In the embodiment of the present invention, image data is MPEG-encoded and recorded as a moving image file. That is, the memory card interface 170 and the control unit 100 constitute an image information recording unit.

  The event detection unit 140 includes an acceleration sensor. When the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold (for example, when the front-rear G or the lateral G becomes 0.8 G or more), the event detection unit 140 shocks the vehicle. It is determined that has been added and an event is detected. That is, the event detection unit 140 constitutes an impact detection unit.

  When the event detection unit 140 detects a predetermined event, the control unit 100 extracts the image data and the travel data recorded in the buffer of the recording unit 110 for a predetermined time before and after the time when the event is detected. To do. The predetermined time is, for example, a total of 20 seconds, 12 seconds before event detection and 8 seconds after event detection. The extracted image data is recorded on the memory card 30 as an image file different from the moving image data.

  The record button 180 performs the same processing as when an event is detected when pressed by the driver, such as when the image detection is not performed by the event detection unit 140 and the image data is to be recorded in the memory card 30. Do. For example, even when the acceleration detected by the event detection unit 140 does not exceed a predetermined threshold value, data of a predetermined time before and after the time when the recording button 180 is pressed by pressing the recording button 180 by the driver. And this data can be recorded on the memory card 30.

  For connection between the camera 12 and the camera interface 120, an interface such as USB (Serial Universal Bus) is used. In the present embodiment, a configuration in which one camera 12 is connected to the drive recorder 10 is shown as an example. However, a plurality of cameras 12 are connected to the camera interface 120 and each camera is placed at an arbitrary position on the vehicle 11. May be installed. For example, one camera 12 may be installed so as to photograph the front of the vehicle, and the other camera 12 may be installed so as to photograph the rear of the vehicle and the vicinity of the driver in the passenger compartment.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the personal computer (PC) 20 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  The PC 20 is an image reproduction device that acquires a moving image file or the like recorded on a memory card inserted into the memory card interface 21 and reproduces the acquired moving image file.

  The PC 20 includes an external interface 270. The external interface 270 includes a memory card interface 21 that writes and reads data, a display unit 22 that includes a liquid crystal display that can display image data and the like, and an input that includes a keyboard and a mouse that can input instructions from the user. Are connected to each other.

  The PC 20 includes a vehicle information setting unit 230 that sets the drive recorder 10 using the input unit 23, and a data acquisition unit 240 that acquires image data, travel data, and the like recorded in the memory card 30.

  The control unit 210 comprehensively controls these units. The recording unit 220 includes a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, a hard disk, and the like, and records data used by each unit controlled by the control unit 210.

  In the PC 20, the control unit 210 reads the software recorded in the recording unit 220 and executes the software, whereby the vehicle information setting unit 230, the data acquisition unit 240, and the decryption unit 250 are configured.

  Further, for example, a USB or the like is used for connection between the external interface 270 and the memory card interface 21 or the input unit 23. For connection between the external interface 270 and the display unit 22, for example, an interface such as DVI (Digital Visual Interface) or HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is used.

  Next, the operation of the drive recorder system 1 configured as described above will be described.

  The drive recorder 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention appropriately encodes image data acquired by the camera 12 during operation of the vehicle 11 and records the encoded image data in the memory card 30 as a moving image file. The recording time varies depending on the encoding method, image size, quantization number, and the like, but usually it can be recorded as a moving image file of several tens of minutes to several hours.

  Thereafter, after the driving of the vehicle 11 is completed, the memory card 30 is inserted into the memory card interface 21 of the PC 20. The PC 20 reads the moving image file recorded on the memory card 30 based on a reproduction request from the user, and reproduces the image on the display unit 22.

  In the PC 20, the control unit 210 displays a list of the moving image files recorded on the memory card 30 on the display unit 22. At this time, not only the file name and recording date / time of the moving image file but also the thumbnail of the moving image file are displayed.

  Accordingly, for example, by displaying thumbnails at predetermined time intervals of the moving image file, the contents and transition of the moving image file can be easily identified. Further, even when a plurality of moving image files exist in the memory card 30, the user can easily identify the target moving image file only by visual observation.

  By the way, in the conventional drive recorder system, when displaying a thumbnail of a moving image file, the following method is used.

  There is a method of displaying a video frame at the top of a video file as a thumbnail. In this method, only the beginning of the video file recorded for a long time is displayed, and it does not necessarily indicate the characteristics of the recorded video file. It is inconvenient to identify the recorded video file.

  There is also a method for specifying a thumbnail creation image as a position in a moving image file. In this case, since it is necessary to read all the image data in order to specify the thumbnail creation image, it takes time to display. In particular, in the case of a moving image file represented by MPEG, it is necessary to read the entire moving image file from the beginning of the file to the target position and then play it back, which increases the processing time.

  In addition, when the drive recorder 10 records a moving image file, there is a method of separately recording a characteristic portion of the moving image file (for example, an image when an event is detected) as a thumbnail creation image. In this case, it is necessary to secure an area for recording the thumbnail creation image in the memory card 30, and the time during which a moving image file can be recorded is limited.

  Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the thumbnail image is displayed without increasing the time for reading the moving image file and without limiting the capacity of the memory card 30 by the following operation. Configured.

  FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation of the drive recorder system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  First, the user inserts the memory card 30 into the memory card interface 21 of the PC 20 (S100), and sets vehicle information.

  In the PC 20, the vehicle information setting unit 230 displays a GUI on the display unit 22, and receives an input such as a user ID from a user (administrator) (S101). The vehicle information setting unit 230 writes the input user ID into the memory card 30 (S102). The memory card 30 records the written user ID (S103).

  The user ID set by the vehicle information setting unit 230 is an ID number that individually sets the vehicle 11 on which the drive recorder 10 is mounted. For example, a vehicle number unique to the vehicle 11 may be registered as a user ID, or information individually set for a driver driving the vehicle 11 may be added to the ID number.

  The user removes the memory card 30 from the PC 20 and inserts it into the memory card interface 170 of the drive recorder 10 (S104).

  In the drive recorder 10, when the control unit 100 detects that the memory card 30 is inserted into the memory card interface 170, the control unit 100 acquires the user ID recorded in the memory card 30 and records it in the recording unit 110 (S105). ).

  When the control unit 100 detects that the driving of the vehicle 11 is started with the memory card 30 inserted in the memory card interface 170, the control unit 100 starts recording the image data and the traveling data in the buffer of the recording unit 110 (S106). ). In addition, the control part 100 detects having started the driving | operation of the vehicle 11, when the vehicle speed acquired from the vehicle interface 130 exceeds 0 [km / h], for example.

  The image data recorded in the buffer of the recording unit 110 is appropriately encoded by the control unit 100, created as a moving image file, and recorded on the memory card 30 via the memory card interface 170. In the embodiment of the present invention, the image data is created as a moving image file by MPEG encoding (S107).

  Here, in the moving image file creation processing in step S107, the control unit 100 creates a thumbnail file corresponding to the created moving image file. The thumbnail file is obtained by recording the offset position from the top of the moving image file and the size (number of bytes) for the I-picture recorded at a predetermined interval among the frames of the generated moving image file.

  The control unit 100 writes the created moving image file and the created thumbnail file to the memory card 30 via the memory card interface 170 (S108). The memory card 30 records the written moving image file (S109). The newly acquired image data is sequentially encoded and added to the moving image file recorded on the memory card.

  In addition, when the event detection unit 140 detects an event during the driving of the vehicle 11 (S110), the control unit 100 detects the time when the event is detected from the image data and the travel data recorded in the recording unit 110. Data for a predetermined time before and after (for example, 15 seconds before and after) is extracted, and the extracted data is written in the memory card 30 as an image file (S111, S112).

  Note that the event detection unit 140 detects that an event has occurred, for example, when the front and rear G or the lateral G is 0.8 G or more. If no event is detected, the recording of the image data and the running data is continued.

  After the driving of the vehicle 11 is completed, the user removes the memory card 30 from the drive recorder 10 and inserts it into the memory card interface 21 of the PC 20 (S113).

  In the PC 20, the control unit 210 first reads out the thumbnail file recorded on the memory card 30 via the memory card interface 21 and the external interface 270 (S113).

  At this time, the control unit 210 refers to the thumbnail file, and for each I-picture of the moving image frame recorded in time series in the moving image file recorded on the memory card 30, the position on the moving image file and Identify the size.

  Then, the control unit 210 selects one or a plurality of I-pictures from the specified I-pictures and displays them on the display unit 22 via the external interface 270 as thumbnail images of the moving image files ( S114). If a plurality of moving image files are recorded on the memory card 30, thumbnail images are displayed for each of the plurality of moving image files.

  The user of the PC 20 visually recognizes the content of the moving image file from the thumbnail image displayed on the display unit 22. When it is desired to reproduce a moving image file, the moving image file is selected by the input unit 23 and a reproduction request is input.

  When the PC 20 receives a video file playback request from the user via the external interface 270, the PC 20 acquires the video file recorded on the memory card 30 via the memory card interface 21 and the external interface 270. The moving image file is reproduced on the display unit 22 (S115).

  Through the processing described above, the drive recorder 10 creates a thumbnail file when recording as a moving image file, and the PC 20 can obtain a thumbnail image from the moving image file with reference to the recorded thumbnail file.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a moving image file and a thumbnail file recorded by the drive recorder 10 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  In the process of step S108 in FIG. 4, when creating the moving image file 40, the control unit 100 of the drive recorder 10 separately creates a thumbnail file 50 as shown in FIG.

  The moving image file 40 is a moving image file obtained by MPEG-encoding image data sequentially acquired by the camera 12. A moving image file is composed of a plurality of frames. The frame includes an I-picture and B-picture and P-picture which are difference frames from the I-picture as image frames recorded at a predetermined interval. An I-picture and a plurality of B-pictures and P-pictures are configured as one group.

  Since I-picture contains complete image information, it can be reproduced by I-picture alone. On the other hand, since B-picture and P-picture are only difference information with respect to I-picture, they do not include information that can be displayed alone.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, I-pictures are recorded at 1 second intervals. Therefore, information indicating the position and size of the I-picture is recorded as a thumbnail file 50.

  The thumbnail file 50 is a set of an offset address from the head of each I-picture included in the moving image file 40 and the file size of the I-picture. This set is recorded for all I-pictures.

  The PC 20 can specify the position and size of each I-picture included in the moving image file by referring to the thumbnail file. Therefore, only the specified I-picture is read without reading the entire moving image file. Is possible.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of thumbnail images displayed by the PC 20 according to the embodiment of this invention.

  FIG. 6A is an example of a thumbnail image when a plurality of thumbnail images are displayed on the display unit 22 from the moving image file recorded in the memory card 30 at predetermined time intervals.

  The control unit 210 of the PC 20 specifies the position and size on the I-picture moving image file recorded at a predetermined interval from the thumbnail file recorded on the memory card 30. Then, only the I-picture specified from the moving image file is read and displayed on the display unit 22.

  In the example of FIG. 6A, an image created by I-picture is displayed at predetermined time intervals in an area divided into nine blocks. By displaying thumbnail images at predetermined intervals of the moving image file, it is possible to easily grasp the moving image file time series.

  FIG. 6B is an example of a thumbnail image when a plurality of moving image files are recorded on the memory card 30 and displayed on the display unit 22 corresponding to each moving image file.

  The control unit 210 of the PC 20 specifies the position and size of the I-picture moving image file corresponding to the event occurrence time from the thumbnail file recorded in the memory card 30. Then, only the I-picture specified from the moving image file is read and displayed on the display unit 22.

  By displaying the I-picture of the event occurrence time as a thumbnail for each moving image file recorded on the memory card 30, the most characteristic part of the moving image file can be displayed. Thereby, for example, even when a plurality of cameras 12 are provided in the vehicle, they can be displayed in a list.

  In the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, image data is acquired by the camera 12 provided in the traveling vehicle 11, and the image data is acquired when an event such as an impact is detected by the event detection unit 140. The drive recorder for recording in the memory card 30 is configured to record specific information when recording a moving image file.

  With this configuration, it is possible to read only the image frame (I-picture) specified by the specific information without reading the entire moving image file during playback of the moving image file, and the processing time for displaying the thumbnail image It can be prevented from becoming large.

  In particular, since the specific information includes information for specifying the position and size in the video file, the I-picture included in the video file can be easily specified, and the thumbnail is displayed using the specified I-picture. Can do. By using the thumbnail display using this I-picture, it is possible to perform fast-forwarding, rewinding, etc. by displaying only image frames continuously without performing image reproduction processing by MPEG decoding when reproducing a moving image file. It can be carried out.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the moving image file is created by the MPEG encoding method, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the moving image file may be created by another encoding method.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, an example in which the image data sequentially recorded by the camera 12 is sequentially recorded as a moving image file has been shown. However, as in step S110 of FIG. May be extracted for a predetermined time before and after the time when the event is detected (for example, before and after 20 seconds), and the extracted data may be recorded as a moving image file by encoding such as MPEG. At this time, a thumbnail file corresponding to the recorded moving image file may be created.

  It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various modifications and improvements that can be made within the scope of the technical idea.

1 Drive Recorder System 10 Drive Recorder 11 Vehicle 12 Camera 20 Personal Computer (PC)
30 memory card 100 control unit 210 control unit

Claims (5)

An image recording apparatus comprising: image information acquisition means for acquiring image information; and image information recording means for recording image information acquired by the image information acquisition means as moving image information in a recording means,
The image information acquisition means generates a plurality of image frames and difference frames with respect to the image frames in chronological order,
When the image information recording unit records the generated image frame and difference frame as moving image information in the recording unit, recording information for identifying each image frame from the moving image information is recorded in the recording unit. An image recording apparatus comprising specific information recording means for performing The image information recording means records the image frame and a difference frame corresponding to the image frame as a moving image file generated in chronological order,
The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the specifying information includes information for specifying a position and a size in the moving image file for each of the image frames.   3. The image recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving image file is an MPEG moving image including the image frame and a plurality of difference frames corresponding to the image frame. Image information acquisition means for acquiring image information, image information recording means for recording a plurality of image frames acquired by the image information acquisition means in chronological order and difference frames for the image frames as recording information in the recording means, and A drive comprising: specific information recording means for recording specific information for specifying each of the image frames from the moving picture information when the image information recording means records the moving picture information in the recording means; A recorder,
Reproducing means for reproducing the image information recorded in the recording means on a display unit, and specifying one or a plurality of the image frames from the image information with reference to the specific information recorded in the recording means, Thumbnail display means for displaying the displayed image frame on the display unit,
A drive recorder system comprising: The image information recording means records a set of the image frame and a plurality of difference frames corresponding to the image frame as a moving image file arranged in time series,
The specifying information has information for specifying the position and size in the video file for each of the image frames,
The thumbnail display means refers to the specifying means recorded in the recording means, specifies the position and size of the one or more image frames in the moving image file, and specifies the specified image frame from the moving image file. The drive recorder system according to claim 4, wherein only the acquired image frame is acquired and the acquired image frame is displayed.