JP2014131211A - Imaging apparatus and image monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an object not desired to be imaged from being imaged by automatically extending a mask area when an emergency earthquake prompt report is received.SOLUTION: An imaging apparatus includes: imaging means for imaging a subject and outputting a captured image; mask means for overlapping a mask image with the captured image; reception means for receiving an emergency earthquake prompt report; calculation means for calculating the size of the mask image to be overlapped with the captured image to be output from the imaging means when the emergency earthquake prompt report is received from the reception means; and control means for performing control to allow a second size mask image larger than a normal first size to be overlapped with the captured image when the emergency earthquake prompt image is received from the reception means. The mask image can be extended with the emergency earthquake prompt report as a trigger.

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and a video monitoring system, and more particularly to a technique suitable for use in performing image recognition processing using a captured image.

  Conventionally, when a subject is imaged in a video surveillance system, if an object that is not desired to be captured exists within the angle of view, a mask image is superimposed on the object that is not desired to be captured. If the field of view is not fixed due to vibration or the like, it is necessary to prevent the object that is not desired to be captured from being projected from the mask image by enlarging the mask area to prevent it from being captured. It was.

For example, in Patent Document 1, when an object on which a mask image is superimposed enters the outside of the mask area a certain number of times within a certain time, there is a technique for enlarging the mask area and superimposing the object that has entered the mask area on the mask image. It is disclosed.
Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for superimposing evacuation information on display information and outputting it to a display device and a printing device when emergency earthquake information is detected.

The prior art described in Patent Document 1 will be specifically described with reference to FIG.
In the setting example in the case of FIG. 8A, the mask area MA is set so that the entire tree Tr can be accommodated even when the wind is not blown or the wind strength is below a predetermined value. Assembles a plurality of small mask areas Ma to cover the entire tree Tr.

  When the wind blows strongly, the tree Tr shakes greatly and protrudes from the mask area MA, and the movement of the protruding part may cause the image sensor to detect the protruding part as a moving object. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8B, when the tree Tr moves across the small mask areas Ma constituting the mask area MA, the tree Tr is detected in the same manner as the detection of a normal moving object. Each time it is detected, a built-in counter (not shown) is counted up. Then, when the counted number of movements exceeds a certain number of times within a certain time, a small mask area Ma is additionally set so that the mask area MA is widened in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. Processing to do. In the mask area MA, when the number of movements counted within a certain time after the widening process is less than a certain number, the process returns to the original width.

JP 2007-318675 A JP 2009-272688 A

  In the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, when the movement of an object is detected more than a certain number of times within a certain time in the mask area, the area of the mask area is reduced during the certain time. It is designed to expand until the number is less than a certain number. There is a problem that an object that is not desired to be imaged is imaged until the area of the mask region is enlarged.

Further, the conventional technique described in Patent Document 2 described above is a technique that allows a user in a place where a display device is installed to be appropriately evacuated, and an object that is not desired to be imaged is imaged. It is not a technology that solves this point.
In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to automatically expand a mask area when an earthquake early warning is received so that an object that is not desired to be imaged can be prevented from being imaged.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a photographing unit that photographs a subject and outputs a photographed image, a mask unit that superimposes a mask image on the photographed image, a receiving unit that receives an earthquake early warning, and an emergency earthquake by the receiving unit. When the early warning is received by the calculating means for calculating the size of the mask video to be superimposed on the photographed image output from the photographing means when the breaking news is received, and when the earthquake early warning is received by the receiving means, the first normal size is obtained. And a control means for controlling to superimpose a mask image having a second size larger than the second image on the captured image.

According to the present invention, the mask area is automatically expanded when an earthquake early warning is received, so that it is possible to more reliably prevent photographing an object that is not desired to be photographed even when a disaster occurs. .
According to another feature of the present invention, the mask expansion ratio can be automatically set according to seismic intensity information included in the earthquake early warning.

It is a figure which shows the system configuration | structure of embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the structural example of the network camera of embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the control apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the control procedure of the software performed with CPU of the network camera of embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the control procedure of the software performed with CPU of the control apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the control procedure of the earthquake early warning reception process of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the control procedure of mask expansion cancellation | release. It is a figure which shows a prior art and illustrates the example which superimposes a mask area | region on an imaging screen.

Details of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a video monitoring system including a network camera 100 as an imaging device, a control device 120 to 121, and an earthquake early warning proxy server 122 that constitute the system of the present embodiment.
Control devices 120 to 121 and an earthquake early warning proxy server 122 are connected to the network camera 100 via a network 150.

  Control devices 120 to 121 include a program for performing camera control using a communication protocol for camera control, and a program for notifying earthquake early warning server 122 of earthquake early warning using communication protocol for camera control. Is included.

Next, the overall configuration of the network camera 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The network camera 100 according to the present embodiment has a mask function for superimposing a mask image on a captured image.
In FIG. 2, 201 is a lens unit, 202 is a CCD unit, 203 is a signal processing unit, 204 is an image analysis unit, 205 is an encoding unit, and 206 is a communication processing unit.
Hereinafter, processing until video data captured by the network camera 100 is distributed to the network 150 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the optical image captured from the lens unit 201 is converted into RGB digital data by the CCD unit 202 and then sent to the signal processing unit 203. The signal processing unit 203 performs processing to convert RGB digital data into digital data in the YCbCr4: 2: 0 format or YCbCr4: 2: 2 format. Also, the requested transmission video is converted into an image size and various filter processes are performed.

  The processed image data is sent to the image analysis unit 204 and simultaneously to the encoding unit 205. The encoding unit 205 converts the image data to H.264. A process of encoding and compressing to H.264 format or JPEG format is executed. The H.C. H.264 video stream data or JPEG still image data is distributed by the communication processing unit 206 according to a network protocol such as TCP / IP, HTTP, or RTP. In the present embodiment, data is distributed to the control devices 120 to 121 via the network 150.

  The image analysis unit 204 analyzes the captured image data and performs processing to detect whether the target image includes an image pattern of a subject or a specified condition. Each processing block of the signal processing unit 203, the image analysis unit 204, the encoding unit 205, and the communication processing unit 206 is connected to a CPU 211 described later.

  A camera control unit 207 is connected to the motor driving unit 208 and the lens driving unit 210. The camera control unit 207 outputs control signals for panning, tilting, and rotation operations of the camera and control signals for zooming and AF (autofocus) operations in accordance with instructions from the CPU 211 described later.

The motor drive unit 208 includes a motor drive circuit (not shown). As a result, the network camera 100 according to the present embodiment drives the pan, tilt, and rotation motor 209 according to the control signal from the camera control unit 207, changes the shooting direction of the camera by the rotation of the motor, and displays a shot image of a desired subject. It becomes possible to output.
A lens driving unit 210 includes a motor and a motor driving circuit (not shown) for performing various controls such as zoom and AF, and is controlled according to a control signal from the camera control unit 207.

  Reference numeral 211 denotes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), which controls the operation of the entire apparatus by executing control program codes stored in a ROM 212 described later. Connected to the CPU 211 are a ROM (Read Only Memory) 212, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 213, a Flash memory 214, an earthquake early warning receiver 215, and a gyro sensor 216.

  In addition, the signal processing unit 203, the image analysis unit 204, the encoding unit 205, and the communication processing unit 206 are also connected, and the CPU 211 starts / stops operations for each module, sets operation conditions, acquires operation results, and the like. By executing this, each module is controlled. The operation of the CPU 211 will be described in detail with reference to a flowchart described later.

The ROM 212 stores program codes and data for the CPU 211 to control the network camera 100 of the present embodiment such as application processing.
The RAM 213 is a memory that writes and reads data when the CPU 211 executes the program of the ROM 212. The RAM 213 is provided with a work area, a temporary save area, and the like used by the CPU 211 for program execution in device control.

Next, an example of the overall configuration of the control devices 120 to 121 in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.
A keyboard 301, a mouse 302, a display 303, a CPU 304, a ROM 305, a RAM 306, and a network I / F 307 are connected to the control devices 120 to 121 via an internal bus 310.
A general input device that gives instructions is connected to the keyboard 301 and the mouse 302. A general output device for displaying is connected to the display 303.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 4, in the network camera 100, the program recorded in the ROM 212 shown in FIG. 2 is expanded on the RAM 213 functioning as a work memory, and the software control procedure executed by the CPU 211 is executed. Will be explained.
In FIG. 4, when the process is started, that is, when the network camera 100 is activated, a mask extension setting reading process stored in the flash memory 214 is performed in S400. The mask expansion setting to be read is information on the expansion ratio of the mask image and the height of the building.

  In S402, when the earthquake early warning signal from the earthquake early warning proxy server 122 is received by the communication processing unit 206, or when the emergency early warning signal is received from the earthquake early warning receiving unit 215 by wireless or the like, the process proceeds to S404. The details of the processing when receiving the earthquake early warning are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  In S404, the presence / absence of the mask extension setting read in S400 is determined. If there is no setting, the process is not performed, and the next emergency earthquake warning reception process S402 is awaited. If the setting exists, it is determined whether or not the building height is set in S406. If there is a building height setting, a table file (not shown) of the building height and mask expansion ratio stored in the flash memory 214 is referred to in S408. Then, the size (mask size) of the mask video to be superimposed on the captured image is determined based on the value calculated using the height of the installation point of the network camera 100.

  If there is no building height setting, in S410, it is determined whether or not the mask expansion ratio read in S400 is set. If there is no mask expansion ratio setting, the process returns to S402 to wait for the next emergency earthquake warning reception process. If there is a mask expansion ratio setting, the size of the mask image is calculated using the mask expansion ratio read in S400 or the mask size calculated in S408 in S412.

Next, in S414, a timer for automatically canceling the mask expansion after a predetermined time has elapsed is started.
In S416, a process for expanding the mask to the mask size calculated in S412 is performed. Thereby, when receiving the earthquake early warning, a mask having a second size larger than the normal first size is set. The size of the mask image having the second size is determined by a value input by a user operation or a value set in advance.
In S418, the mask expansion is canceled. The process at the time of canceling the mask expansion is shown in the flowchart of FIG.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG. 5, in the control devices 120 to 121, the program recorded in the ROM 305 shown in FIG. A control procedure will be described.
When the display of the mask expansion ratio setting screen is requested by the input of the keyboard 301 or the mouse 302, the mask expansion ratio setting screen is displayed in S500.

In S <b> 502, when the mask expansion ratio setting is input from the keyboard 301 or the mouse 302, it is stored in the RAM 306.
In S504, a mask expansion ratio setting command is created, and in S506, a mask expansion ratio setting command is transmitted.

In S508, a response from the network camera 100 is awaited. If no NG response or no response is received, a message indicating that the mask expansion ratio could not be set in the network camera 100 is displayed on the display 303.
If the response is OK, in S512, a message indicating that the mask expansion ratio has been set in the network camera 100 is displayed on the display 303.

Next, the control procedure of the earthquake early warning reception process S402 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In S600, the earthquake early warning signal is received from the communication processing unit 206 or the earthquake early warning receiving unit 215. The earthquake early warning received in this embodiment includes seismic intensity information.
In S602, a process for turning on the earthquake standby flag is performed.
In step S604, the process waits until vibration detection by the gyro sensor 216 is performed.

Next, the control of the mask extension cancellation processing S418 shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In S700, it is determined whether there is a timer setting activated in the timer activation process in S414 of FIG. If the timer has been started, the timer setting is acquired in S702, and it is determined whether the timer has expired in S704. If the timer is not activated in S700, it is determined whether or not a manual stop request is present in S706.

  If the result of determination in S <b> 704 is that the timer has expired after the lapse of the specified time, mask extension cancellation processing is performed in S <b> 708. If the timer has not expired, it is determined in S706 whether or not there is a manual stop request. If a manual stop request is made, a mask extension cancellation process is performed in S708. If no manual stop request has been made, the process waits for timer activation determination in S700.

As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.
For example, the mask expansion ratio may be automatically set according to the seismic intensity information included in the emergency earthquake bulletin acquired in the reception process of S402.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (computer program) that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various computer-readable storage media. Then, the computer (or CPU, MPU, etc.) of the system or apparatus reads out and executes the program.

203 Signal processing unit 204 Image analysis unit 205 Coding unit 206 Communication processing unit 207 Camera control unit 208 Motor drive unit 209 Pan / tilt motor 210 Lens drive unit 211 CPU
212 ROM
213 RAM
214 Flash Memory 215 Earthquake Early Warning Receiver 216 Gyro Sensor

Claims (10)

Photographing means for photographing a subject and outputting a photographed image;
Mask means for superimposing a mask image on the captured image;
A receiving means for receiving the earthquake early warning;
A calculation means for calculating a size of a mask video to be superimposed on a captured image output from the imaging means when an emergency earthquake warning is received by the receiving means;
Control means for controlling so that a mask image having a second size larger than a normal first size is superimposed on the photographed image when an emergency earthquake warning is received by the receiving unit. An imaging device.   The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size of the second size mask image is determined by a value input by a user operation or a preset value.   The size of the second size of the mask image is determined by a value calculated using the height of the installation point of the imaging device from a table including the height of the installation point of the imaging device and the size of the mask image. The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The change from the size of the second size mask image to the size of the first size mask image is performed by a user operation or expiration of a timer after a specified time has elapsed. Item 2. The imaging device according to Item 1.   The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the earthquake early warning is received, the size of the mask image is changed by vibration detection by a gyro sensor. The earthquake early warning includes seismic intensity information,
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit sets an expansion ratio of a mask according to seismic intensity information included in the earthquake early warning. An imaging device having a mask function for superimposing a mask image on a captured image;
A control device having a program for controlling the operation of the imaging device using a camera control communication protocol;
Using a communication protocol for camera control, and an earthquake early warning agent server for notifying the image pickup device of an early earthquake,
The imaging device, when receiving the earthquake early warning from the earthquake early warning agency server, control means for controlling to superimpose a mask image having a second size larger than the normal first size on the captured image A video surveillance system comprising: A shooting process of shooting a subject and outputting a shot image;
A mask step of superimposing a mask image on the captured image;
A receiving process for receiving an earthquake early warning;
A calculation step of calculating a size of a mask video to be superimposed on a photographed image output from the photographing step when receiving an earthquake early warning in the reception step;
A control step of controlling so that a mask image having a second size larger than the normal first size is superimposed on the captured image when an emergency earthquake warning is received in the receiving step. A method for controlling the imaging apparatus. A shooting process of shooting a subject and outputting a shot image;
A mask step of superimposing a mask image on the captured image;
A receiving process for receiving an earthquake early warning;
A calculation step of calculating a size of a mask video to be superimposed on a photographed image output from the photographing step when receiving an earthquake early warning in the reception step;
When the earthquake early warning is received in the receiving step, the computer is caused to execute a control step of controlling the mask image having a second size larger than the normal first size to be superimposed on the captured image. A program characterized by that.   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 9.

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