JP2012178755A - Monitor camera device and monitor camera controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem that a user has to manually set a white balance if white balance setting is failed when the white balance setting is automatically performed.SOLUTION: IP cameras installed in the same place include camera group information showing an installation place. When an automatic white balance setting is failed, setting is performed again by using a setting value in the same camera group. Setting of camera group information and acquisition/setting of setting value information from the same camera group are performed by using a standardized interface.

Description

  The present invention relates to a surveillance camera device and a surveillance camera control device.

  There is Patent Document 1 as a background art of this technical field. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-228867 “When white images are coordinated and photographed by a plurality of imaging devices, a white balance control device that can easily and appropriately correct white balance even in an imaging device that does not include a white subject, and that has a uniform color for each imaging device. The imaging device 100 acquires white balance information, which is information regarding the white balance correction amount and its reliability, from the external imaging devices (101 to 103). , Calculate the white balance correction amount and its reliability of its own device, and based on the white balance correction amount with the highest reliability, including the acquired white balance information, the white balance gain of multiple imaging devices including its own device It is described that the solution means "correct."

JP2010-4464 (see abstract)

  Cited Document 1 proposes a white balance control method for photographing the same subject with a plurality of imaging devices. Technology is provided to send and receive white balance correction amounts and reliability between multiple imaging devices on the same network, and to correct the white balance values of multiple imaging devices using the most reliable white balance correction amount Yes.

  In recent years, surveillance camera systems using IP (Internet Protocol) transmission are becoming popular. In the IP surveillance camera system, multiple surveillance cameras, surveillance recorders, and surveillance camera control devices (IP network devices) are connected via a network, making installation easier than with analog surveillance cameras and enabling long-distance monitoring. It is. In addition, high image quality is possible. In conventional surveillance camera systems using IP transmission, control between IP network devices is often performed using a unique communication interface for each system, and monitoring devices that do not support the communication interface are often used. could not. However, by standardizing communication interfaces such as communication protocols and communication formats between these IP network devices, it is becoming possible to flexibly select devices and construct a monitoring system. For example, it is possible to request and control camera settings using a standard interface, and any device that supports the standard interface can be used regardless of the manufacturer.

  Also, when using a surveillance camera, it is necessary to adjust the white balance so that an appropriate color can be reproduced. For this reason, there are cases where a white subject is photographed for each camera and white balance adjustment is performed, and there are a method in which white balance adjustment is performed automatically or a method in which the user himself / herself checks the color and performs manual adjustment.

  However, particularly when automatic white balance adjustment is performed, the setting may fail, and the user needs to manually perform white balance adjustment on the corresponding camera again.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, the invention described in the claims is provided as an example. For example, if there is a standard communication interface for acquiring white balance automatic setting requests and white balance setting values, this surveillance camera system allows the same surveillance camera with the same installation location to have the same camera group information. White balance setting is performed using white balance setting information, and information sharing is performed using a standardized communication interface.

  According to the present invention, user convenience can be improved. More specifically, usability in white balance adjustment of surveillance cameras having the same installation location using an IP network device corresponding to a standardized communication interface is improved.

System configuration of surveillance camera system Configuration example of surveillance camera system Camera group setting process flow White balance setting process flow Camera group setting process flow White balance setting process flow White balance setting process flow White balance setting process flow Example of display screen on camera control device when white balance is abnormal Communication format example

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  An example of an embodiment suitable for carrying out the present invention will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a surveillance camera system 100 having a system configuration according to the present invention.

  Reference numeral 101 denotes a monitoring camera control device, and 151 denotes a monitoring camera device. These are connected via a 190 network.

  The monitoring camera control apparatus 101 includes a 102 function inquiry unit, a 105 function setting unit, a 109 white balance setting unit, a 113 standard communication I / F, a 114 internal memory, and a 115 display unit. The 102 function inquiry unit includes a function inquiry request unit 103 that inquires about a function of the device with respect to a monitoring camera device connected via an IP network, and a function reception unit 104 that receives the function. The function setting unit 105 includes a function setting request unit 106 that performs settings for the monitoring camera device, and a setting reception unit that receives setting values from the monitoring camera device. 109 A white balance setting unit is a WB (White Balance) setting request unit 110 for setting white balance for a monitoring camera, a WB setting receiving unit 111 for receiving a white balance setting value from the monitoring camera, and whether the set white balance is correct A WB setting determination unit 112 for determining

  The 151 monitoring camera device has a 152 function inquiry unit, a 155 function setting unit, a 158 white balance setting unit, a 161 standard communication I / F, and an internal memory of 162. The 152 function inquiry unit includes a function inquiry request receiving unit that receives an inquiry request for a function of its own camera from a network device connected via the IP network, and a function notification unit 154 that notifies a function of its own camera. The function setting unit 155 includes a setting request receiving unit 156 that receives a setting request from a network device, a setting processing unit 157 that sets the camera according to the setting content, and a setting transmitting unit 163 that transmits the camera setting to the network. Have. In the case of white balance setting, the setting processing unit 157 instructs the white balance setting unit 158. The white balance setting unit 158 includes an automatic WB setting unit 159 that automatically performs white balance adjustment, a WB setting unit 160 that sets white balance using the received setting values, and a WB setting transmission unit 164 that transmits WB setting values to the network.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the surveillance camera system. Reference numeral 101 denotes a monitoring camera control apparatus 1, 131 denotes a monitoring camera control apparatus 2, and a plurality of monitoring camera control apparatuses are connected via an IP network 190. A plurality of surveillance cameras are connected on the same network.

  1 and 2 show the system configuration of the surveillance camera system. The processing flow of these IP network devices will be described.

  FIG. 3 shows a setting process flow of the camera group information of the monitoring camera. In step 301, the function inquiry request is received from the monitoring camera control apparatus connected via the IP network by the 153 function inquiry request receiving unit via the standard communication I / F 161. In step 302, in response to this request, the function possessed by itself is notified via the 154 function notification unit and the 161 standard communication I / F. In this example, it is notified that the camera group setting and response functions are provided. Thus, when a camera group setting request is made from the surveillance camera control device, the camera group setting is received in step 303 and the camera group set in step 304 is stored in the internal memory 162.

  FIG. 4 shows a flow when white balance is set for the monitoring camera shown in step 300. In step 401, an automatic white balance setting request is received via the standard I / F 161 and the setting request receiving unit 156 from the monitoring camera control apparatus connected via the IP network. Thus, in step 402, the automatic white balance setting process is performed in the 159 automatic WB setting unit. At this time, the set value is held in the internal memory 162. When a white balance setting value acquisition request is made from the surveillance camera control device, the white balance setting value acquisition request is received in step 403, and the white balance setting value is read from the internal memory in response to this, and the standard communication I / F 161 is received. To send through. At this time, if the camera group information is set for itself, the camera group information is also transmitted.

  FIG. 5 shows a camera group setting flow in the surveillance camera control apparatus. In step 501, a function inquiry request is transmitted from the function inquiry request unit 102 to the monitoring camera apparatus connected via the IP network via the standard communication I / F 113. In step 502, a function inquiry response transmitted from a network device corresponding to the standard communication I / F is received via the standard communication I / F 113 and the function receiving unit 104. In step 503, if camera group information can be set in the connected monitoring camera device, the process proceeds to step 504. If not, the process proceeds to step 505. In step 504, information indicating that they are in the same camera group is transmitted to the cameras installed in the same installation location. In step 505, information indicating that the camera group is the same for the cameras installed at the same installation location is held in the internal memory 114 so as to be paired with the camera.

  FIG. 6 shows a white balance setting process flow in the monitoring camera control apparatus. In this example, a case is shown in which a camera group representing a camera installation location cannot be set in a monitoring camera device connected to a network. In step 601, transmission is performed to perform automatic white balance setting to all the monitoring camera devices connected to the IP network via the WB setting request unit 110 and the standard communication I / F 113. Thereby, automatic white balance adjustment is performed in the corresponding monitoring camera device. In step 602, a white balance setting value acquisition request is transmitted via the standard communication I / F 113. As a result, the white balance setting value is transmitted from the corresponding monitoring camera device. In step 604, the WB determination unit 112 determines whether the white balance setting value is normal. The camera group held in the internal memory compares the difference between the white balance setting values from the same surveillance camera, and the camera exceeding the difference threshold preset by the user is in an abnormal state, that is, the white balance setting has failed. I reckon. Alternatively, a camera in which the difference from the white balance setting value set in advance by the user exceeds the threshold value is set to an abnormal state. At this time, in step 605, the monitoring camera that has failed to set the white balance is transmitted to perform the white balance setting using the setting value of the monitoring camera determined to be normal via the standard communication I / F 113. The surveillance camera performs white balance setting using the given setting value.

  FIG. 7 shows a white balance setting process flow in the monitoring camera control apparatus. In this example, a case where a camera group representing a camera installation location can be set in a monitoring camera device connected to a network will be described. Here, this process may not be performed for cameras that do not have the same camera group.

  In step 701, camera group information is transmitted to a plurality of surveillance cameras. The same camera group information is transmitted to the camera groups installed at the same installation location. In step 702, an automatic whistle and balance setting request is transmitted to a plurality of surveillance cameras. In step 703, a white balance setting value acquisition request is transmitted. In step 704, a white balance setting value is received from each surveillance camera. Subsequently, in step 705, a camera group information acquisition request is transmitted to each monitoring camera, and in step 706, camera group information is received. The received camera group compares the white balance setting values in the same camera group. As described above, a method of comparing the differences between the white balance setting values as described above is used. If the set value is normal in step 708, the process is terminated. If the set value is abnormal, the display unit 115 is used to display an abnormal state to the user in step 709 (FIG. 9). Here, the user inputs a camera number to be set in the same manner or selects a camera image, and performs white balance setting for the camera of the camera number 5 that is determined to be abnormal in white balance setting by the white balance setting value of the selected camera. .

  Alternatively, the process proceeds to step 810 of the white balance setting process flow in the monitoring camera control apparatus of FIG. 8, and a white balance request transmission is performed so as to set a normal white balance setting value in the same camera group for the camera for which the white balance setting has failed. You may go.

The normal white balance setting value may be an average value of the setting values of the camera group that has succeeded in the white balance setting, or may be the largest or the smallest setting value.
FIG. 10 shows an example of the communication format. (1) is a format when setting a group ID. A command indicating a group ID setting request is set in the request command portion, and a group ID to be set is stored in the group ID portion. (2) is a response format to the group ID acquisition request. An identifier indicating that the response is a response to a group ID acquisition request is stored in the response identifier, and a group ID set and held in the camera is stored in the group ID. (3) is a response format for a white balance setting value acquisition request. An identifier indicating that the response is a response to a white balance setting acquisition request is stored in the response identifier, and a white balance setting value is stored in setting value 1 to setting value x.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above. According to the present invention, it is possible to easily perform camera control setting in a device having a camera function among IP network devices using a standardized communication interface.

  Although this invention was demonstrated along the Example, this invention is not limited to these examples. It can be applied not only to surveillance camera systems, but also to devices with camera functions and client functions such as video conference systems and videophones.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. In addition, a part of the configuration of a certain embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of a certain embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

  Each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them with, for example, an integrated circuit. Each of the above-described configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function by the processor. Information such as programs, tables, and files for realizing each function can be stored in a recording device such as a memory, a hard disk, an SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

  Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Surveillance camera system 101 ... Network 201 ... Surveillance camera A
211 ... Standard function 212 ... Unique function 301 ... Surveillance camera B
311 ... Unique function 401 ... Surveillance camera C
411: Standard function 501: Surveillance camera control device 511: Standard function 512: Unique function

Claims (6)

A surveillance camera device connected to a network,
First notification means for notifying camera group information indicating a camera installation location to the outside via the network;
When there is a function inquiry request from the outside via the network, a second notification means for notifying the outside that the first notification means is provided;
A monitoring camera device comprising: setting means for setting the camera group information. The surveillance camera device according to claim 1,
Automatic white balance setting means for automatically setting white balance;
Third notification means for notifying a white balance setting value to the outside via the network;
A monitoring camera device comprising: fourth notification means for notifying the camera group information and the white balance setting value to the outside via the network. A surveillance camera control device connected to a network,
Setting means for setting unique camera group information according to the installation locations of a plurality of surveillance camera devices connected via the network;
A communication means for performing a function inquiry request to the monitoring camera device connected via the network and receiving a response from the monitoring camera device;
Means for receiving from the monitoring camera device information indicating that the monitoring camera device has means for notifying the camera group information;
A monitoring camera control device comprising storage means for storing the camera group information. The surveillance camera control device according to claim 3,
Means for notifying camera group information indicating the same location to surveillance cameras installed at the same location;
Instruction means for issuing an automatic white balance setting instruction to a plurality of monitoring camera devices connected via the network;
Request means for making a request for obtaining a white balance setting value for the plurality of monitoring camera devices;
Receiving means for receiving the white balance setting value from the plurality of monitoring camera devices;
Means for receiving the camera group information from the plurality of monitoring camera devices;
Means for notifying a user when the white balance setting values of a plurality of monitoring camera devices belonging to the same camera group exceed a threshold value,
The monitoring camera control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is a difference between the white balance setting values or a difference with a white balance setting value preset by the user. The surveillance camera control device according to claim 4,
Surveillance camera comprising a communication means for instructing automatic white balance setting using a white balance setting value of a monitoring camera device in the same camera group that has succeeded in white balance setting among the received white balance setting values Control device. A surveillance camera control device connected to a network,
Instruction means for issuing an automatic white balance setting instruction to a plurality of monitoring camera devices connected via the network;
Request means for making a request for obtaining a white balance setting value for the plurality of monitoring camera devices;
Receiving means for receiving the white balance setting value from the plurality of monitoring camera devices;
Communication for instructing automatic white balance setting using the white balance setting value of the monitoring camera device that has succeeded in white balance setting out of the received white balance setting values when automatic white balance setting of the monitoring camera device fails A surveillance camera control device comprising means.

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