JP2013240004A - Image management device, image processing apparatus, image management system, image processing system, image management method, and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To include an image of an image area to be visually confirmed in an image received from a terminal of another site in respective terminals disposed at respective sites.SOLUTION: An MCU 70 adjusts pieces of image data from terminals at respective sites in an image adjustment (A) unit 72c according to an image adjustment signal received from a terminal 100a of a site A. The image adjustment (A) unit 72c cuts out image data from a terminal of a site to be indicated by ID data from image coordinates on the basis of ID data of a terminal of the site A selected by an operator and the image coordinates that is an adjustment parameter, and enlarges the cut-out image data. An image composition (A) unit 72d combines image data from a terminal of a site B or C and the image data obtained by subjecting the image data from the terminal of the site A to cut-out processing and enlargement processing to obtain one image data. An encoder (A) unit 72e encodes the composite image data, and the encoded data is transmitted from a transmission unit 72g to a terminal 100b or 100c.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image management apparatus, an image processing apparatus, an image management system, an image processing system, an image management method, and an image processing suitable for transmitting and receiving images between terminals arranged at a plurality of bases via a communication line. Regarding the method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a multi-site video conference system, video conference terminals arranged at each site transmit after compressing and encoding an image captured by a connected camera. The transmitted images of the respective bases are decoded once in an MCU (Multi point control unit) and then combined into one image. After that, a technique is known in which images at multiple locations are transmitted to a video conference terminal by being re-encoded and transmitted to each terminal.

First, with reference to FIG. 13, an operation of distributing images by a conventional multi-site connection type video conference system will be described.
A video conference terminal (hereinafter referred to as “terminal”) 200 disposed at each site includes a processing device 210, a photographing device 120, and a display device 230, and is connected to a network N. On the other hand, a multi-site connection device (MCU, hereinafter MCU) 250 is also connected to the network N. Image data photographed by the photographing device 220 at each base is processed by the processing device 210 and transmitted to the MCU 250 via the network N.
The image data received by the MCU 250 is combined with image data from each base by the processing device 250a. The synthesized image data is transmitted to the terminal 200 at each base. Image data received by the terminal 200 is processed by the processing device 210 and displayed on the display device 230.
As a result, the image data obtained by combining the image data from the terminals at the respective bases can be visually confirmed at the terminals at the respective bases.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 14A and 14B, image data processing functions in the conventional multi-site connection type terminal 300 and MCU 350 will be described. The base 300 indicates a terminal at an arbitrary base A.
In FIG. 14A, the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 321 in the imaging device 321 of the terminal 300 installed at the site A is transmitted to the processing device 310, and the processing device 310 receives the image data from the image acquisition unit 321. The received image data is encoded by the encoder unit 311. The image data encoded by the encoder unit 311 is transmitted to the MCU 350 via the network N by the transmission unit 312.

In FIG. 14B, the image data transmitted from the terminal 300 is received by the receiving unit 361 in the processing device 360 of the MCU 350 via the network N. Image data transmitted from a base other than the base A (assuming that the bases B and C are other bases in FIG. 14) is also received by the receiving unit 361. The image data received from the terminal at each base received by the receiving unit 361 is once decoded by the decoder unit 362. The image data decoded by the decoder unit 362 is combined by the image combining unit 363 to be used exclusively by the terminal at the base A, and becomes one piece of image data. The combined image data is encoded by the encoder unit 364, and the encoded image data for the site A is transmitted from the transmission unit 365 toward the terminal 300 at the site A.
In the processing device 310 of the terminal 300 installed at the site A, the image data received by the receiving unit 313 is decoded by the decoder unit 314, and the decoded image data is input to the image display unit 331 and displayed. .
Thus, in the conventional multi-site connection type video conference system, the image data from each terminal installed at the multi-site can be displayed at the site A, and a video conference can be performed.

With reference to FIG. 15, an operation related to image distribution of a conventional router connection type video conference system will be described. The conventional router connection type video conference system shown in FIG. 15 is similar to the multi-site connection type video conference system shown in FIG. 410, a photographing device 420, and a display device 430, which are connected to the network N, while the router 450 is also connected to the network N.
Image data photographed by the photographing device 420 at each terminal is processed by the processing device 410 and transmitted to the router 450 via the network N. The image data received by the router 450 is routed by the processing device 410 and transmitted to the terminal 400 at each site.
That is, unlike the MCU 250 shown in FIG. 13, the router 450 does not perform processing on the image data itself. Image data received by the terminal 400 is processed by the processing device 410 and displayed on the display device 430.

Referring to FIG. 16, the operation by the image data processing function in terminal 400 of the conventional router connection method shown in FIG. 15 will be described.
Here, the terminal 400 is a terminal at an arbitrary base A. Note that the processing in the processing device 460 of the router 450 is only routing of the transmitted image data, and therefore description and description of the processing function block are omitted.
In the imaging device 420 of the terminal 400 arranged at the site A, the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 421 is encoded by the encoder unit 411 in the processing device 410. On the other hand, the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 421 is also transmitted to the image composition unit 415. The image data encoded by the encoder unit 411 is transmitted from the transmission unit 412 to the router 450 via the network N.

The image data transmitted from the transmission unit 412 is routed by the processing device 460 of the router 450 and then transmitted to terminals located at other locations. In the processing device 460 of the router 450, the image data received from the terminals arranged at other bases are similarly routed and transmitted to the terminal 400 at the base A.
In the terminal A, image data transmitted from a terminal at another base is received by the receiving unit 413 and decoded by the respective decoder units 414. The image data decoded by the decoder unit 414 is combined by the image combining unit 415 together with the image data taken at the site A, and combined as a single piece of image data. The synthesized image data is displayed on the touch panel by the image display unit 431.
As a result, in the video conference system using the router connection method, images from multiple locations can be displayed at the location A, and a video conference can be performed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a video conferencing camera control method in a multi-site video conference system for the purpose of controlling a camera so that an image of an image area that a conference participant at each site wants to visually check is displayed on the other image. It is disclosed. Specifically, it displays which site holds the camera control right, and transfers the control right that is being held, in an image received from multiple bases in a short time and without unnecessary operations. A configuration has been disclosed in which cameras at multiple locations are controlled so that an image of an image region to be visually confirmed is included.

However, in a conventional multi-site video conference system using the MCU system, an image taken by a terminal placed at a certain base is captured in order to re-encode the image data as it is by a MCU placed at a certain base. The data will be displayed in the same manner on terminals arranged at all other locations.
For this reason, if the image data received from the terminal at the target site includes the image data of the image area to be visually confirmed, it is necessary to change the position and orientation of the camera installed at the target site. As a result of this change, all the image data of the terminals at the target base transmitted to the terminals at all other bases will be the same. There was a problem that the area could not be changed freely.
Patent Document 1 discloses that a control instruction signal is transmitted toward a multi-site terminal so that an image received from a terminal at another site includes an image of an image region to be visually confirmed. However, in order to include the image data of the image area to be visually confirmed in the image from the terminal of the target base for each base, the view angle movement corresponding to the pan / tilt / zoom instruction to the camera arranged at the target base is performed. Since it is necessary to perform this, there is a problem that images received from the terminals at the target site can be confirmed on the terminals arranged at all other sites.

Therefore, it is anxious for each terminal arranged at each site to include an image of an image area that is desired to be visually confirmed in an image received from a terminal at another site.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and as an object of the present invention, an image of an image region to be visually confirmed is included in an image received from a terminal at another base in each terminal arranged at each base. An image management apparatus, an image processing apparatus, an image management system, an image processing system, an image management method, and an image processing method are provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, an image management apparatus according to the present invention is an image management apparatus that transmits and receives images between at least a terminal at a first site, a terminal at a second site, and a terminal at a third site. Receiving means for receiving an image from the terminal at the third base and a terminal at the third base, an image adjusting signal receiving means for receiving an image adjustment signal from the terminal at the first base, and an image adjustment signal received from the terminal at the first base Based on the change means for changing the size of a certain image area of the image received from the terminal at the second base, the image from the terminal at the second base changed by the change means, and at least the first It is characterized by comprising combining means for combining images received from terminals at three sites, and transmitting means for transmitting the images combined by the combining means to the terminals at the first site.

  According to the present invention, images are received from at least the terminals at the second and third sites, and based on the image adjustment signal received from the terminals at the first site, of the images received from the terminals at the second site. The size of a certain image area is changed, the changed image from the second base terminal and the image from at least the third base terminal are combined, and the combined image is transmitted to the first base terminal. By doing so, the image of the image area to be visually confirmed can be included in the image received from the terminal at the other base in each terminal arranged at the base.

It is a figure for demonstrating the structure and operation | movement of the video conference system 1 applicable to the image processing apparatus of a multi-site connection system. It is a figure for demonstrating the external view of the video conference terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the imaging device 10 and the processing apparatus 20 which are shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining each function of the processing block of the video conference terminal 100 of the multi-site connection system applicable to the image processing apparatus and image management apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention, and MCU70. It is a figure for demonstrating the function which can select the image area | region which can be implement | achieved by the image management apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention, and wants to visually confirm the image from the terminal of many bases for every base. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process between the terminal 100 and MCU70 of the multi-site connection system concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention. (A), (b) is for explaining a function that can be realized by the image management apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and can select an image area for which visual confirmation of images from terminals at multiple sites is desired for each site. It is a figure which shows the display screen before image adjustment, and the display screen after image adjustment. It is a figure for demonstrating each function of the processing block of the video conference terminal 150 and the router 170 of the router connection system applicable to the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows the process between the terminal 150 and the router 170 as an example of the process by the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram for demonstrating the image parameter acquisition process by the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the coordinate information acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition part 157b provided in the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. (A)-(d) is a figure for demonstrating the procedure for designating an image area | region with respect to the image processing apparatus concerning 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure regarding the image delivery of the video conference system of the conventional multi-site connection system. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the processing function block of the image data in the terminal 300 and MCU350 of the conventional multisite connection system. It is a figure which shows the structure regarding the image delivery of the video conference system of the conventional router connection system. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an outline of functional blocks for processing image data in the conventional router connection type terminal 400 shown in FIG. 15.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, at the time of image distribution processing in a multi-site video conference system, the terminal at each site captures a wide range image using a camera having a wide-angle lens, encodes all the captured wide range images, and transmits them to the MCU. On the other hand, the terminal at each base transmits a pan / tilt / zoom instruction to the MCU with respect to the image received from the terminal at the other base. In response to the pan / tilt / zoom instruction, the MCU cuts out an image area to be projected from a wide range image from the terminal at the target site decoded on the MCU. The MCU uses the clipped image to encode it after synthesizing it with an image from a terminal at another base. By performing these processes corresponding to each base, the MCU transmits an image cut out in accordance with an instruction for each terminal at the base to each terminal at the base.
In addition, instead of the MCU used in the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, a conventional router is used to transmit an image cut out according to an instruction for each terminal at the base, as described above. It is characterized by performing processing.

Hereinafter, the features of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Here, with reference to FIG. 1, the configuration and operation of a video conference system 1 that can be applied to an image processing apparatus of a multi-site connection method will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the video conference system 1 includes video conference terminals 100a, 100b, and 100c arranged at a plurality of bases A, B, and C, and a network N to which these video conference terminals 100 are connected. The video conference terminal 100 includes an imaging device 10 and a processing device 20. The video conference terminal 100 also includes a microphone 5, a speaker 6, a touch panel 7, and the like, and is connected to the processing device 20 like the imaging device 10.
For example, image data captured by the imaging device 10 of the video conference terminal 100 a arranged at the site A is captured by the imaging device 10 by the operation of the imaging device 10 and the processing device 20 in the video conference terminal 100. The image data is corrected and displayed on the touch panel 7 in the video conference terminal 100. At the same time, the corrected image data is also transmitted to the video conference terminals 100B and 100C located at the other bases B and C connected to the network N and displayed on the touch panel 7.

For example, when an instruction for zoom-in / zoom-out operation is input from the touch panel 7 in response to contact by an operator at the video conference terminal 100a disposed at the site A, the digital zoom process is performed by the processing device 20 in the video conference terminal 100a. The image data subjected to the digital zoom processing is displayed on the touch panel 7 of the video conference terminal 100. At the same time, the image data that has been subjected to the digital zoom processing is also transmitted to the video conference terminals 100b and 100c arranged at the bases B and C connected to the network N and displayed on the touch panel 7.
According to this multi-site connection type video conference system, it is possible to display, in real time, image data subjected to digital zoom processing and distortion correction processing on a plurality of video conference terminals 100 connected to the network N. .

Next, an external view of the video conference terminal 100 will be described with reference to FIG.
Hereinafter, the longitudinal direction of the video conference terminal 100 is the X-axis direction, the direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction in the horizontal plane is the Y-axis direction (width direction), and the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are orthogonal (vertical direction, high direction). (Direction) is described as the Z-axis direction.
The video conference terminal 100 includes a housing 40, an arm 50, and a housing 52. Among these, a sound collecting hole 42 is provided in the right wall surface 41 of the housing 40. The sound from the outside that has passed through the sound collecting hole 42 is collected by the microphone 5 (see FIG. 1) provided inside.
The upper surface portion 43 is provided with a power switch 44 and a sound output hole 45. When the operator turns on the power switch 44, the video conference terminal 100 can be activated. The sound output from the speaker 7 (see FIG. 1) is output to the outside through the sound output hole 45. Furthermore, a plurality of operation buttons (not shown) are arranged on the upper surface portion 43 of the housing 40 of the video conference terminal 100.

Further, a concave housing portion 46 for housing the arm 50 and the camera housing 52 is formed on the left wall surface 47 side of the housing 40. Further, a connection port (not shown) is provided on the left wall surface 47 of the housing 40. The connection port is connected with a cable 7 a for connecting the video output unit 24 and the touch panel 7.
The arm 50 is attached to the housing 40 via a torque hinge 51. The arm 50 is configured to be vertically rotatable with respect to the housing 40 within a tilt angle ω1 of 135 degrees. FIG. 2 shows that the tilt angle ω1 is 90 degrees. By setting the tilt angle ω1 to 0 degrees, the arm 50 and the camera housing 52 can be accommodated in the accommodating portion 46.

The camera housing 52 accommodates the built-in imaging device 10. The imaging device 10 can photograph a person (for example, a participant in a video conference), characters and symbols written on a sheet, a room, and the like. A torque hinge 53 is formed in the camera housing 52. The camera housing 52 is attached to the arm 50 via a torque hinge 53. The camera housing 52 can be rotated vertically and horizontally with respect to the arm 50 within a range of a pan angle ω2 of ± 180 degrees and a tilt angle ω3 of ± 45 degrees with the state shown in FIG. It is configured.
In addition, the video conference terminal 100 is not described in FIG. 2 and may have another configuration. For example, a PC (Personal Computer) with a speaker 6 and a microphone 5 externally connected may be used. Moreover, you may apply this video conference terminal 100 to portable terminals, such as a smart phone.

Next, the hardware configuration of the imaging device 10 and the processing device 20 illustrated in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG.
The video conference terminal 100 includes at least the imaging device 10 and the processing device 20. The processing device 20 is, for example, a personal computer. The imaging device 10 and the processing device 20 are connected by wire (such as USB) or wirelessly.
The imaging apparatus 10 includes a super-wide-angle lens 11 on which a subject image is incident, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) that converts an optical image to be imaged formed by the super-wide-angle lens 11 into an analog electrical signal. ), An image processing unit 13 including an image signal processor (ISP) that performs various image processing on a frame image that is a digital signal by A / D converting an analog electric signal, and a frame It is configured to include an I / F unit 14 that transmits and receives images, various image processed frame images, and other data and control signals to and from the processing device 20.

The processing device 20 includes an I / F unit 21 that transmits and receives a frame image, various image processed frame images, other data, control signals, and the like to and from the imaging device 10, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various processes. ) 22, a video signal is sent to the memory 23 for storing various software and data necessary for the processing of the CPU 22, frame images, various image processed frame images, converted frame images, etc., and the touch panel 7 connected to the processing device 20. A video output unit 24 for transmission, a communication unit 25 for transmitting image data, control data, and the like to a video conference terminal located at another base of the other party connected to the network N, and a control unit for controlling the entire apparatus 26, a bus 27 for connecting each unit, and a touch panel for receiving a touch instruction from an operator. 7 consists of an operation unit 28 for inputting instruction information and coordinate information from. The memory 23 is a generic name for RAM, ROM, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc., which are volatile memories.
The CPU 22 of the processing device 20 detects a person from the image picked up by the image pickup device 10, determines whether or not distortion aberration correction processing is necessary based on the range of the image in which the person is shown, and instructs the image processing unit 13. To turn on / off distortion correction. The image processing unit 13 has a function of performing distortion correction processing based on an on / off instruction for distortion correction processing from the processing device 20.

The video conference apparatus terminal 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 described above can be equipped with various functions of the image processing apparatus according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention. explain.
<First Embodiment>
With reference to FIG. 4, functions of processing blocks of the multi-site connection type video conference terminal 100 and MCU 70 applicable to the image processing apparatus and the image management apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The video conference terminal (hereinafter referred to as a terminal) 100a disposed at the site A and the terminals 100b and 100c disposed at the site B and the site C have the same configuration, and description thereof is omitted. In addition, it is assumed that the terminals 100 arranged at the bases A and B and the base C are commonly connected to the MCU 70 via the network N.

The terminal 100 a arranged at the site A includes the imaging device 10, the processing device 20, the display device 30, and the image adjustment I / F unit 40.
The imaging apparatus 10 includes, for example, a digital camera and a video camera, captures an imaging target with the camera, acquires an image signal, and outputs image data obtained by A / D converting the image signal to the encoder unit 20a. An image acquisition unit 10a is provided.
The processing device 20 encodes (encodes) an encoder unit 20a that generates, for example, MPEG or JPEG image data that is compressed by encoding (encoding) the image data input from the image acquisition unit 10a. A transmitting unit 20b that transmits the compressed image data, a receiving unit 20c that receives the encoded image data via the network N, and the original image data by decoding (decoding) the encoded image data. A decoder unit 20d for generation, an adjustment parameter acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b, and an image adjustment signal generation unit 20e for generating an image adjustment signal based on the coordinate information of the currently used image are provided. .

The display device 30 includes a touch panel 7 as an image display unit 30a for displaying image data.
The image adjustment I / F unit 40 includes an ID display unit 40 a that displays ID data corresponding to image data received from a terminal placed at another base, and an operator touch operation on the display screen of the touch panel 7. An adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b that acquires an adjustment parameter composed of the ID data of the image data from the terminal at the base that is the object of image adjustment and the coordinate information of the image area to be displayed. . In addition, the touch panel 7 is used for the ID display part 40a.
The MCU 70 constitutes an image management apparatus, includes a CPU that executes processing according to a program read from the memory unit, and a memory unit (ROM, RAM, HDD), and includes a processing device 72 that performs various image processing. The processing device 72 includes a receiving unit 72a that receives encoded image data via the network N, and decoder units 72b1, 72b2, and 72b3 that decode the encoded image data and generate original image data. , An image processing (A) unit 73a, an image processing (B) unit 73b, an image processing (C) unit 73c, and a transmission unit 72g.

Based on the image adjustment signal received by the receiving unit 72a, the image processing (A) unit 73a enlarges / reduces the image received from the terminal at the site A and arranges the image at the left position, and receives it from the terminal at the site B or C. The image is composed so as to be arranged at the right position. Based on the image adjustment signal received by the receiving unit 72a, the image processing (B) unit 73b scales and arranges the image received from the terminal at the base B at the left position, and receives it from the terminal at the base A or C. The image is composed so as to be arranged at the right position. Based on the image adjustment signal received by the receiving unit 72a, the image processing (C) unit 73a enlarges / reduces the image received from the terminal at the base C and arranges it at the left side position, and receives it from the terminal at the base A or B. The image is composed so as to be arranged at the right position.
The image processing (A) unit 73a cuts out the image data of the target site indicated by the ID data based on the image coordinates based on the ID data corresponding to the site selected by the operator and the image coordinates that are the adjustment parameters. The image adjustment (A) unit 72c for enlarging the cut-out image data and the image data for the terminal at the base A are combined exclusively, and the image data from the terminals at the base B and the base C are combined to form one sheet. An image composition (A) unit 72d for obtaining image data, an encoder (A) unit 72e for encoding one piece of image data, ID data corresponding to the image data, and ID / coordinates for generating currently used coordinate information An information generation (A) unit 72f is provided. Note that the configurations of the image processing (B) unit 73b and the image processing (C) unit 73c have the same block configuration as the image processing (A) unit 73a, and thus description thereof is omitted.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the operations of the terminal 100 and MCU 70 of the multi-site connection apparatus method will be described.
Prior to the following description, it is assumed that the MCU 70 changes the size of the image data received from the terminal 100b or 100c arranged at the base B or the base C in accordance with an instruction from the operator at the base A. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the terminals 100a, 100b, and 100c are arranged at the three bases A, B, and C. However, two bases may be provided, or three or more bases may be provided.
In the photographing device 10 of the terminal 100 arranged at the site A, the image acquisition unit 10a acquires image data using, for example, a digital camera or a video camera. The image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 10 a is encoded by the encoder unit 20 a of the processing device 20. The transmission unit 20b adds ID data indicating the terminal of the base as a transmission source to the header portion of the image data encoded by the image encoding unit 20a, and the image data having the header portion to which the ID data is added. The data is transmitted to the MCU 70 via the network N. Here, for example, “A”, “B”, and “C” may be used as the ID data indicating the terminal at the base.
Image data transmitted from the transmission unit 20 b provided in the terminal 100 is received by the reception unit 72 a of the processing device 72 provided in the MCU 70. Similarly, the image data transmitted from the terminals of the other bases B and C are also received by the receiving unit 72a. The image data received from the terminal at each base received by the receiving unit 72a is once decoded by the respective decoder units 72b1, 72b2, and 72b3.

  On the other hand, the image data received by the receiving unit 72a is input to the ID / coordinate information generating unit 72f. The ID / coordinate information generation unit 72f generates, from the input image data, ID data indicated by, for example, a site name or a character string that is used to identify the terminal at the site. For example, “A”, “B”, and “C” may be used as the ID data indicating the terminal at the base.

Here, the ID / coordinate information generation unit 72f uses the ID data and the currently used image as an image adjustment signal associated with the image data received from each terminal at each base (A, B, C). Coordinate information is generated and used for image adjustment in the image adjustment (A) unit 72c.
Here, the image adjustment is based on an instruction added to the image adjustment signal received from the terminal 100a arranged at the site A, and a certain image area of the image data at the site B or the site C. It is an adjustment to change the size of. For example, assume that the image data includes a person and a whiteboard. For example, it is assumed that the operator at the base A pays attention to the contents written on the white board at the base B.
In this case, the operator at the site A can transmit a zoom instruction for zooming the point of interest on the whiteboard, and the image area where the characters on the whiteboard are written can be enlarged. The zoom instruction from the base A is added to the coordinate parameter acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b provided in the terminal 100 described later and the image adjustment signal generated by the image adjustment signal generation unit 20e.

On the other hand, the image data decoded by the decoder unit 72b1 is subjected to dedicated image adjustment for the terminal at the site A by the image adjustment unit (A) 72c. Note that the image adjustment operation by the operator is not performed at the start of the video conference, and therefore the image adjustment unit (A) 72c does not perform the adjustment.
The image composition unit (A) 72d synthesizes the image data for the terminal at the base A exclusively, and obtains one piece of image data by combining the image data from the terminals at the base B and the base C. The single image data is encoded by the encoder unit 72e and transmitted from the transmission unit 72g to the terminal 100a disposed at the site A via the network N.

The receiving unit 20c of the terminal 100a arranged at the site A receives the image data (base B and site C) via the network N, and the received image data is decoded by the decoder unit 20d to be an image display unit. It is displayed on the touch panel 7 which is 30a. On the other hand, the header portion of the image data includes the ID data of the terminal at each base associated with the image data, and the ID data related to the image data is extracted when the receiving unit 20c receives the image data. The ID data is displayed on the ID display section 40a of the image adjustment I / F section 40.
At this time, the operator operates the mouse 8a to select the target area on the display screen as indicated by the dotted line portion 81 shown in FIG. 5 with respect to the image from the terminal at the base with the ID data to be adjusted. .
The adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b acquires the adjustment parameter from the selected result based on the ID data of the image to be adjusted and the image coordinates of the image area to be displayed. Next, the image adjustment signal generation unit 20e generates an image adjustment signal based on the adjustment parameter acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b and the coordinate information of the currently used image.
Then, the transmission unit 20b transmits the ID data of the terminal at the base that is the target of image adjustment and the adjustment parameters (image coordinates) to the MCU 70 via the network N.

Next, the receiving unit 72a provided in the MCU 70 adjusts the image data from the terminal at each site by the image adjustment (A) unit 72c in accordance with the image adjustment signal received from the terminal 100a disposed at the site A. Specifically, the image adjustment (A) unit 72c, based on the ID data of the terminal of the base A selected by the operator and the image coordinates that are the adjustment parameters, the terminal of the target base indicated by the ID data. Image data is cut out by image coordinates, and the cut-out image data is enlarged.
Then, the image composition (A) unit 72d synthesizes the image data from the terminal at the base B or C and the image data obtained by performing the cutout process and the enlargement process on the image data from the terminal at the base A. Image data is obtained, the synthesized image data is encoded by the encoder (A) unit 72e, and transmitted from the transmission unit 72g to the terminal 100b or 100c via the network N.
By performing the operation of each unit described above for each terminal at the base, as shown in FIG. 5, in each terminal arranged at the base, an image of an image area to be visually confirmed in an image received from a terminal at another base Can be included.

With reference to FIG. 6, the sequence which shows the process between the terminal 100 of the multi-site connection system and MCU70 concerning 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. This sequence diagram assumes that image data received from each terminal of the base B and the base C is displayed on the display screen in the terminal 100a arranged at the base A.
In each of the terminals 100a and 100b arranged at the site B and the site C, the image acquisition unit 10a captures an imaging target and acquires image data (S11).
The encoder unit 20a encodes the image data for the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 10a (S12).
The transmission unit 20b adds ID data indicating the terminal of the base as a transmission source to the header portion of the image data encoded by the image encoding unit 20a, and the image data having the header portion to which the ID data is added. The data is transmitted to the MCU 70 via the network N (S13).

In the terminal 100a arranged at the site A, the image acquisition unit 10a acquires image data (S21).
For the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 10a, the encoder unit 20a encodes the image data (S22).
The transmission unit 20b adds ID data indicating the terminal of the base as a transmission source to the header portion of the image data encoded by the image encoder unit 20a, and the image data having the header portion to which the ID data is added. The data is transmitted to the MCU 70 via the network N (S23).

In the MCU 70, the receiving unit 72a receives the image data transmitted from each terminal at each base via the network N (S31).
In step S31, the image data from the terminal at each site received by the receiving unit 72a is decoded by the decoder units 72b1, 72b2, and 72b3 (S32). The receiving unit 72a extracts the source ID data included in the header portion of the received image data from the terminal at each base, and outputs the extracted ID data to the ID / coordinate information generating unit 72f.
In step S32, the ID / coordinate information generation unit 72f generates ID data corresponding to the image data decoded by the decoder units 72b1, 72b2, and 72b3 and the currently used coordinate information (S33).
The image data from the terminals at the respective locations decoded by the decoder units 72b1, 72b2, 72b3 is synthesized by the image synthesis (A) unit 72d. Here, since it is assumed to be displayed on the display screen of the terminal at the site A, the image composition (A) unit 72d synthesizes image data from the terminals at the site B and the site C (S34).
In step S34, the image data synthesized by the image synthesis (A) unit 72d is encoded by the encoder unit 72e (S35).
In step S35, the image data encoded by the encoder unit 72e and the ID data generated by the ID / coordinate information generation unit 72f in step S33 are transmitted from the transmission unit 72g to the terminal 100a at the site A (S36).

In the terminal 100a disposed at the site A, the receiving unit 20c first uses the image data transmitted from the MCU 70 via the network N (image data from the terminals at the sites B and C) and the header portion of the image data. The added ID data and the currently used coordinate information are received (S41).
Next, the image data received by the receiving unit 20c is decoded by the decoder unit 20d (S42).
Next, the image data decoded by the decoder unit 20d is displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 which is the image display unit 30a. At the same time, the receiving unit 20c extracts the source ID data included in the header portion of the received image data, and displays the ID data received by the receiving unit 20c on the display screen of the touch panel 7 which is the ID display unit 40a. (S43).
In step S43, the image displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 is, for example, as shown in FIG.

Here, it is assumed that the operator who operates the terminal at the base A wants to enlarge a partial image of the whiteboard arranged at the base B on the touch panel 7 connected to the terminal 100a. That is, assume that the user wants to enlarge the image area 81 (a part of the whiteboard) surrounded by a broken line shown in FIG.
At this time, the operator of the terminal at the base A performs a part of the image area 81 (image area surrounded by a broken line) of the image from the terminal at the base B displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 on the touch panel 7. When the touch operation is selected, coordinate information is output from the touch panel 7 to the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b. As a result, the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b acquires the coordinate parameters of the selected image area 81 on the display screen (S44).
In step S44, the image adjustment signal generation unit 20e generates an image adjustment signal for adjusting the image data from the coordinate parameter acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 40b and the coordinate information currently used (S45).
In step S45, the image adjustment signal generated by the image adjustment signal generation unit 20e is transmitted from the transmission unit 20b to the MCU 70.

In the MCU 70, the receiving unit 72a receives the image adjustment signal transmitted from the terminal 100a disposed at the site A (S51).
The image adjustment signal received by the reception unit 72a is output to the image adjustment (A) unit 72c. The image adjustment (A) unit 72c adjusts the position and size of the image by performing enlargement processing or reduction processing on the image data based on the image adjustment signal (S52). Thus, by adjusting the position and size of the image data, the image data from the terminal at the site B can be enlarged or reduced.
Next, in step S52, the bases received by the receiving unit 72b1 excluding the image data adjusted by the image adjustment (A) unit 72c and the image data adjusted by the image adjustment (A) unit 72c of step S52. The image data from terminal C is synthesized (S53). That is, the image data adjusted from the terminal at the base B and the image data not adjusted from the terminal at the base C are synthesized.
The image data synthesized by the image synthesis (A) unit 72d in step S53 is encoded by the encoder (A) unit 72e (S54).
Next, the transmission unit 72g transmits the image data encoded by the encoder unit 72e to the terminal 100a arranged at the site A (S55).

Next, the receiving unit 20c receives the image data (an image obtained by enlarging a part of the image from the terminal at the base B and the image from the terminal at the base C) transmitted from the MCU 70 (S61).
Next, the decoder unit 20d decodes the image data received by the receiving unit 20c (S62).
Next, the image data decoded by the decoder unit 20d is input to the touch panel 7 which is the image display unit 30a, and the image data is displayed (S63). As a result, an image in which the image area of the whiteboard is enlarged is displayed on the left side of the touch panel 7 as shown in FIG.

  Here, the image adjustment signal for enlarging a part of the image data from the terminal at the base B is transmitted to the MCU 70 from only the terminal 100a arranged at the base A. In this case, since the same image adjustment signal as that of the terminal 100a at the site A is not transmitted from the terminal 100c at the site C, each of the site C and the site A receives from the terminal at the site B displayed on the display screen of the terminal. The image area of the image is different.

With reference to FIG. 5, a function that can be realized by the management apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention and that can select an image area for which a multi-site image to be visually confirmed can be selected for each base will be described.
For example, it is assumed that a person and a whiteboard are reflected in the image from the terminal at the site A. Here, when the operator at the site C wants to visually check the person and the operator at the site B wants to visually check the whiteboard, in the conventional multi-site video conference system, the operator at the site A can change the person and the whiteboard. It is necessary to point the camera at the pan / tilt / zoom PTZ in order, and at the same time, it is not possible to display an image area that the operators of the respective bases B and C want to visually check.
On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a person is enlarged and displayed on the left side of the display screen of the touch panel 7 provided at the terminal 100c at the site C, and provided at the terminal 100b at the site B. A whiteboard is enlarged and displayed on the left side of the display screen of the touch panel 7.
In the multi-site connection method, since processing on the terminal 100 side is reduced, the processing cost on the terminal side can be reduced, while processing on the MCU 70 side is increased, so that processing cost on the MCU 70 side is increased. There is.

Second Embodiment
With reference to FIG. 8, each function of the processing blocks of the router connection type video conference terminal 150 and the router 170 applicable to the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first embodiment described above, the system is configured such that the terminals 100 a, 100 b, and 100 c arranged at the respective bases A, B, and C are connected to the MCU 70. On the other hand, the second embodiment is a system in which terminals 150 a, 150 b, and 150 c arranged at each base A, B, and C are connected via a router 170, for example. Here, the terminal 150 indicates a terminal arranged at an arbitrary base.

The terminal 150 a arranged at the site A includes an imaging device 151, a processing device 153, a display device 155, and an image adjustment I / F unit 157.
The imaging device 151 includes, for example, a digital camera and a video camera, captures an imaging target with the camera, acquires an image signal, and outputs image data obtained by A / D converting the image signal to the encoder unit 153a. An image acquisition unit 151a is provided.
The processing device 153 encodes (encodes) an encoder unit 153a that generates, for example, MPEG or JPEG image data that is compressed by encoding (encoding) the image data input from the image acquisition unit 10a. A transmission unit 153b for transmitting compressed image data, a reception unit 153c for receiving image data encoded via the network N, and decoding (decoding) the encoded image data into the original image data A decoder (C) unit 153d2 to be generated, a decoder (B) unit 153d1 that decodes the encoded image data to generate the original image data, and ID data from the terminal at the base selected by the operator And an image adjustment unit 153e that cuts out and enlarges the image data from the terminal at the target base based on the image coordinates, An image composition unit 153f that synthesizes image data from terminals at one base to obtain one piece of image data, and ID / coordinate information that is generated by extracting ID data and coordinate information of the transmission source included in the received image data An image adjustment signal for adjusting image data is generated from the adjustment parameter acquired by the generation unit 153g, the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b, and the currently used coordinate information generated by the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g. And an image adjustment signal generation unit 153h.
The display device 155 includes a touch panel 7 as an image display unit 155a that displays image data.

The image adjustment I / F unit 157 acquires an ID display unit 157a that displays ID data corresponding to the image data received from the terminal at the base, and an adjustment parameter of the image area selected by touching on the display screen of the touch panel 7 And an adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b that outputs the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h.
The router 170 is a conventional router having a routing function. In the processing device 170a, a transfer destination is determined from destination information included in image data (packet) by, for example, TCP / IP as a communication protocol, and the received image is received. Send data to the destination.

Next, the operation of the router connection type terminal 150 will be described with reference to FIG.
Note that, in the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the size of the image data from the terminal at the base B or the base C is changed according to an instruction from the operator to the terminal at the base A. A pan / tilt zoom PTZ is assumed. In the second embodiment, terminals arranged at three locations are assumed, but terminals arranged at two locations may be used.
The image acquisition unit 151a of the terminal 150a arranged at the site A captures the imaging target and acquires image data. The image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 151a is encoded by the encoder unit 153a. The image data encoded by the encoder unit 153a is transmitted from the transmission unit 153b to the router 170 via the network N.
The image data transmitted from the terminal 150a disposed at the site A is routed by the processing device 170a provided in the router 170, and transmitted to the terminals 150b and 150c disposed at the other sites B and C. The image data from the terminals 150b and 150c arranged at the other bases B and C are similarly routed and transmitted to the terminal 150a arranged at the base A.

  In the terminal 150a arranged at the site A, the image data transmitted from the terminals 150b and 150c arranged at the other sites B and C is received by the receiving unit 153a. The image data from the terminals at other bases received by the receiving unit 153a is decoded by the decoder units 153d1 and 153d2, respectively. After being decoded by the decoder units 153d1 and 153d2, the image adjustment unit 153e performs image adjustment. However, since no image adjustment operation is performed by the operator at the start of the video conference, image adjustment by the image adjustment unit 153e is not performed. The image data including the image from the terminal at the site A is combined by the image combining unit 153f to obtain one piece of image data. The image data synthesized by the image synthesis unit 153f is displayed on the touch panel 7 which is the image display unit 155a.

On the other hand, in the processing device 153 provided in the terminal 150a, the receiving unit 153c receives image data from the terminal at each base. The ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g extracts and generates the ID data included in the image data and the coordinate information of the currently used image from the image data received by the reception unit 153c. The ID data generated by the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g is displayed on the touch panel 7 serving as the ID display unit 157a via the image adjustment I / F 157. The operator touches the display screen of the touch panel 7 with respect to the image area to be displayed from the image from the terminal at the base where the ID data to be adjusted is attached, and a dotted line portion 81 shown in FIG. select.
As a result of the selection by the touch operation on the touch panel 7, the ID data of the target image subjected to image adjustment and the coordinates of the image area to be displayed are coordinate parameters by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b provided in the image adjustment I / F 157. To be acquired.

Next, based on the coordinate parameters acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b and the coordinate information of the currently used image, the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h generates an image adjustment signal.
The image adjustment unit 153e adjusts the image data from the terminal at each base in accordance with the ID data of the terminal at the base targeted for image adjustment and the generated image adjustment parameters (image coordinates). Specifically, based on the ID data and image coordinates of the terminal at the base selected by the operator, the image data from the terminal at the target base is cut out and enlarged. Then, the image is synthesized by the image synthesis unit 153f.
By performing the above processing operation for each terminal at the target base, as shown in FIG. 5, in each terminal arranged at the base, the image area to be visually confirmed in the image received from the terminal at the other base. Images can be included.

With reference to FIG. 9, a sequence indicating processing between the terminal 150 and the router 170 will be described as an example of processing performed by the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In each of the terminals 150b and 150c arranged at the site B and the site C, the image acquisition unit 151a acquires image data (S111).
For the image data acquired by the image acquisition unit 151a, the encoder unit 153a encodes the image data (S112).
The transmission unit 153b adds ID data indicating the terminal of the base as a transmission source to the header portion of the image data encoded by the encoder unit 153a, and adds the image data including the header portion to which the ID data is added to the network. N is transmitted to the router 170 via N (S113).
The router 170 that has received the image data via the network N is routed by the processing device 170a and transmitted to the terminal 150a located at the site A (S121). Here, in the processing device 170a provided in the router 170, a transfer destination is determined from destination information included in image data (packet) by TCP / IP as a communication protocol, for example.

In the terminal 150a arranged at the site A, the receiving unit 153c receives the image data transmitted from the router 170 via the network N, and the ID / coordinate information generating unit 153g is included in the header portion of the received image data. The source ID data is extracted and generated (S131).
Of the image data received from the terminal at each site received by the receiving unit 153c, the image data whose transmission source is the terminal at the site B included in the image data is output to the decoder (B) unit 153d1, and the decoder (B) unit 153d1 Decodes the image data and outputs it to the image adjustment unit 153e, while the image data whose transmission source is the terminal at the base C is output to the decoder (C) unit 153d2, and the decoder (C) unit 153d2 Decodes the image data and outputs it to the image adjustment unit 153e (S132).
The image adjustment unit 153e that has input the decoded image data from the terminal of each base does not perform image adjustment in a state where no image adjustment signal is input, and images the input image data of the bases B and C. The data is output to the combining unit 153f.
The image combining unit 153f combines and arranges one of the input image data on the right side and the other on the left side, and outputs it to the image display unit 155a. Here, since it is assumed to be displayed on the display screen of the terminal at the base A, the image data from the terminals at the base B and the base C are combined (S133).

The image data combined by the image combining unit 153f in step S133 is displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 serving as the image display unit 155a, and at the same time, the transmission source ID data generated in step S131 is the ID display unit 157a. It is displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 (S134).
The image displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 in step S134 is as shown in FIG.
Here, it is assumed that the operator who operates the terminal at the site A wants to enlarge and display a part of the whiteboard arranged at the site B. That is, it is desired to visually confirm an enlarged image of an image region (a part of the whiteboard) surrounded by a broken line shown in FIG. At this time, when the operator at the site A touches and selects a part of the image from the terminal at the site B displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 7 (an image region surrounded by a broken line), the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b Then, the adjustment parameter of the image area selected by the touch on the display screen of the touch panel 7 is acquired and output to the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h (S135).

The image adjustment signal generation unit 153h is an image adjustment signal for adjusting image data from the adjustment parameter acquired by the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b and the currently used coordinate information generated by the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g. Is generated (S136).
The image adjustment unit 153e adjusts the image data from the terminal B or the terminal C based on the image adjustment signal input from the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h (S137).
Next, the image data adjusted by the image adjusting unit 153e and the image data of the base excluding the image data from the terminal of the base adjusted by the image adjusting unit 153e are combined (S138). That is, the image adjustment unit 153e combines the image data that has been adjusted received from the terminal at the site B and the image data that has not been adjusted at the site C.
Next, the image display unit 155a displays the image data combined by the image combining unit 153f on the display screen of the touch panel 7 (S139).

With reference to FIG. 10, an image parameter acquisition process executed by the image processing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the image adjustment unit 153e, the transmission unit 153b outputs the coordinate information of the image data from the terminal of the base currently transmitted to the router 170 to the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g. For example, it is assumed that the image data from the terminals at each base has a resolution of vertical X [pics] and horizontal Y [pics], and initially uses all of these image areas. The coordinate information of the vertical X [pics] and the horizontal Y [pics] is output to the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g (S211).
The ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g inputs the coordinate information of the image data of the base currently being transmitted from the image adjustment unit 153e (S221).
The ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g generates data in which the ID data of the base is associated with the image coordinate information (S222). For example, {B: original (0, 0) (X, Y), use coordinates (0, 0) (X, Y)} is generated as the base data regarding the terminal of the base B.

The ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g outputs data in which the ID data of the terminal at the base and the image coordinate information are associated with each other to the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h (S223).
The image adjustment signal generation unit 153h receives data in which the ID data of the terminal at each base is associated with the image coordinate information from the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g (S231).
The adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b inputs data in which the ID data of the terminal at each base is associated with the image coordinate information from the ID / coordinate information generation unit 153g (S241).
The adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b acquires the ID data of the terminal at the base designated by the operator (S242). For example, when the operator selects the terminal at the base B on the display screen of the touch panel 7 on the display screen as illustrated in FIG. 12B, {B: original (0, 0) (X, Y ), Use coordinates (0, 0) (X, Y)}.
The adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b acquires the coordinates of the image area designated on the display screen of the touch panel 7 by the operator (S243). For example, as illustrated in the explanatory diagram of FIG. 11, the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b acquires the coordinates {(x1 ′, y1 ′) (x2 ′, y2 ′)}.
The adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b transmits the acquired ID data and coordinates (S244). For example, the coordinates {B (x1 ′, y1 ′) (x2 ′, y2 ′)} are output to the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h.

The image adjustment signal generation unit 153h inputs the acquired ID data and coordinates from the adjustment parameter acquisition unit 157b (S251).
The image adjustment signal generation unit 153h converts the acquired coordinates into coordinates on the original image, and generates coordinate information for image adjustment (S252). For example, as coordinate transformation,
{B (x1 ′, y1 ′) (x2 ′, y2 ′)} → {B (x1, y1) (x2, y2)}
I do.
The image adjustment signal generation unit 153h outputs the generated image adjustment information to the image adjustment unit 153e (S253).
The image adjustment unit 153e inputs the image adjustment information generated by the image adjustment signal generation unit 153h (S261).
The image adjustment unit 153e adjusts the image based on the input image adjustment information (S262).

Next, referring to FIG. 12, a procedure for specifying an image area by the operator will be described.
In the “normal screen (previous)” shown in FIG. 12A, the image data of each site is displayed on the touch panel 7.
When the operator operates an operation button provided on the operation unit 28 or an operation button of the remote controller, the screen shifts to an image adjustment screen: ID data selection shown in FIG.
In the “image adjustment screen: ID selection” shown in FIG. 12B, the image from the terminal at the base where the image is to be adjusted is selected and determined by operating the main body or the remote control, the mouse button operation, or the touch panel 7 touch operation. . Here, for example, the image of the terminal at site B is selected.
In the “image adjustment screen: area selection” shown in FIG. 12C, when an operator performs a touch or pinch operation on an operation button provided on the operation unit 28, an operation button on the remote control, or the touch panel 7. Then, the image area of the terminal at the base where the image adjustment is desired is selected, and the image area is determined by pressing the determination button. In addition, the image area which can be selected is restrict | limited to the image area of the terminal of the base which selected ID data. Here, for example, the broken line 81 area of the image of the terminal at the site B is selected.
In the “normal screen (rear)” shown in FIG. 12D, the selected image area is enlarged and displayed with respect to the image from the terminal at the selected base.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 7 ... Touch panel, 10 ... Imaging device, 10a ... Image acquisition part, 20 ... Processing apparatus, 20a ... Encoder part, 20b ... Transmission part, 20c ... Reception part 20c, 20d ... Decoder part, 20e ... Image adjustment signal generation part 20e, 28 ... Operation unit, 30 ... Display device, 30a ... Image display unit, Image adjustment I / F unit 40, 40a ... ID display unit, 40b ... Adjustment parameter acquisition unit, 70 ... MCU, 72 ... Processing device, 72a ... Reception unit 72b1 ... decoder (A) unit, 72b2 ... decoder (B) unit, 72b3 ... decoder (C) unit, 72g ... transmitting unit, 73a ... image processing (A) unit, 73b ... image processing (B) unit, 73c ... Image processing (C) unit, 100a, 100b, 100c ... terminal, 150a, 150b, 150c ... terminal, 151 ... photographing device, 153 ... processing device, 155 ... display device, 15 ... Image adjustment I / F unit, 153a ... Encoder unit, 153b ... Transmission unit, 153c ... Reception unit, 153d1 ... Decoder (C) unit, 153d2 ... Decoder (B) unit, 153e ... Image adjustment unit, 153f ... Image synthesis unit 153g: ID / coordinate information generation unit, 153h: captured image adjustment signal generation unit, 155 ... display device 155, 157 ... image adjustment I / F unit, 157a ... ID display unit, 157b ... adjustment parameter acquisition unit, 170 ... router , N ... Network

JP 05-292497 A

Claims (8)

In an image management device that transmits and receives images between at least a first site terminal, a second site terminal, and a third site terminal,
Receiving means for receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
Image adjustment signal receiving means for receiving an image adjustment signal from the terminal at the first base;
Based on the image adjustment signal received from the terminal at the first base, changing means for changing the size of a certain image area among the images received from the terminal at the second base;
Combining means for combining the image from the terminal at the second base changed by the changing means with the image received from at least the terminal at the third base;
An image management apparatus comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit an image synthesized by the synthesis unit to the terminal at the first base.   The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image transmitted to the terminal at the first site by the transmitting unit is different from the image transmitted to the terminal at the third site. The changing means is
The size of the image received from the second site terminal is changed based on the coordinate information of the image transmitted to the first site terminal and the coordinate information based on the image adjustment signal received from the first site terminal. The image management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: In an image processing apparatus disposed at a first site, at least an image processing device that transmits and receives images between a terminal at a second site and a terminal at a third site,
Receiving means for receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
An instruction means for instructing a change to an image received from at least the terminal of the second site;
Changing means for changing the size of a certain image area of the image received from at least the terminal of the second base based on an instruction by the instruction means;
Combining means for combining the image received from the terminal at the second base changed by the changing means and the image from at least the terminal at the third base;
An image processing apparatus comprising: display control means for causing a display means to display an image synthesized by the synthesis means. In an image management system comprising at least a terminal at a first base, a terminal at a second base, and an image management device that transmits and receives images between terminals at a third base,
The image management device includes:
Receiving means for receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
Image adjustment signal receiving means for receiving an image adjustment signal from the terminal at the first base;
Based on the image adjustment signal received from the terminal at the first base, changing means for changing the size of a certain image area among the images received from the terminal at the second base;
Combining means for combining the image received from the terminal at the second base changed by the changing means and the image from at least the terminal at the third base;
An image management system comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit the image synthesized by the synthesis unit to the terminal at the first base. In an image processing system that transmits and receives an image between the image processing apparatus disposed at the first site and at least the second site terminal and the third site terminal,
The image processing apparatus includes:
Receiving means for receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
An instruction means for instructing a change to an image received from at least the terminal of the second site;
Based on the image adjustment signal from the instruction means, a changing means for changing the size of a certain image area of at least the image received from the terminal at the second base;
Combining means for combining the image received from the terminal at the second base changed by the changing means and the image from at least the terminal at the third base;
An image processing system comprising: display control means for displaying on the display means the image synthesized by the synthesizing means. In an image management method by an image management device that transmits and receives images between at least a terminal at a first base, a terminal at a second base, and a terminal at a third base,
A receiving step of receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
An image adjustment signal receiving step of receiving an image adjustment signal from the terminal of the first base;
Based on the image adjustment signal received from the terminal at the first site, a changing step for changing the size of a certain image area among the images received from the terminal at the second site;
A synthesizing step of synthesizing the image received from the second base terminal changed by the changing step and the image from at least the third base terminal;
And a transmitting step of transmitting the image synthesized in the synthesizing step to the terminal at the first base. In an image processing method performed by an image processing apparatus disposed at a first site and transmitting and receiving images between at least a second site terminal and a third site terminal,
A receiving step of receiving images from at least the second base terminal and the third base terminal;
An instruction step for instructing a change to an image received from at least the terminal at the second site;
Based on the image adjustment signal by the instruction step, a change step of changing the size of a certain image area of at least the image received from the terminal of the second base,
A synthesizing step of synthesizing the image received from the terminal at the second site changed by the changing step and the image from at least the terminal at the third site;
And a display step of displaying on the display means the image synthesized by the synthesis step.

Images