JP3045281B2 - Video information recording device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video information recording apparatus which captures and records video (moving images) for a long time, and more particularly to a video camera which is fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place, such as a monitoring camera. The present invention relates to a video information recording device that records a video (moving image).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for capturing a video (moving image) by a monitoring camera fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place and recording the captured video for a long time, a monitoring system including a VTR device in a recording device There is. In this surveillance system, the surveillance camera and the VTR device are connected via a signal cable, and a video (moving image) captured by the surveillance camera is transmitted to the VT via the signal cable.
It is sent to the R device and recorded on a video tape. The VTR device is provided with a function of recording the image at a reduced resolution so that the transmitted image can be recorded for a long time. Video information can be recorded.

[0003]

The above-mentioned conventional video information recording apparatus has the following problems.

(1) Since recording is performed with a reduced image resolution so that a video (moving image) can be captured on a single video tape for a long time, the quality of a reproduced image deteriorates.

(2) Since the image pickup unit and the VTR device as the recording unit are separated from each other, it is necessary to lay a cable between them, and the installation is poor.

(3) Since the VTR device has a mechanical drive unit, it is difficult to reduce the size and cost of the device and also requires maintenance.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a compact video information recording device capable of obtaining a high-quality reproduced image.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, the image information recording apparatus of the present invention includes an imaging unit that will be fixed to image certain locations, captured continuously from said image pickup means Detecting means for detecting a moving part having a motion and a background part having no motion with respect to the video information; first memory means for recording video information of the background part detected by the detecting means; Changes detected
Of the parts, those smaller than the specified size are regarded as noise.
And isolated point removing means for removing Te at the isolated point removing means
The video information of the changed part from which the noise has been removed is recorded.
2 memory means, and the first and second memory means
Image information and changed part of the background part recorded respectively
And video synthesizing means for synthesizing the video information .

Further , the video information recording apparatus of the present invention
Imaging means fixed to capture an image of a location,
The video information continuously captured from the image
Detection to detect live changes and backgrounds that do not move
Means, and image information of a background portion detected by the detecting means.
Information is recorded in the first memory means and the detecting means.
Second memo in which video information of the detected changed part is recorded
Information in the first and second memory means.
Control means for controlling writing and reading of information
And trigger generation means for generating a trigger signal.
The first memory means stores the spine detected by the detection means.
A first volatile memory device for storing video information of a scene portion
Step and video information recorded in the first volatile memory means.
And a first non-volatile memory means for storing information.
And the second memory means detects by the detection means
The second volatile information in which the video information of the changed portion is recorded
A memory means and the second volatile memory means
Second nonvolatile memory means for storing the stored video information;
Wherein the memory control means generates the trigger.
Receiving the trigger signal generated by the means,
And the video information written in the second volatile memory means.
Respectively, and reads the read video information into the first
And second non-volatile memory means, respectively.
It is characterized by being comprised so that.

In the above case, the detection by the detection means is performed.
Change parts that are smaller than the specified size are noise
Further comprising an isolated point removing means for removing a said second
Noise is removed by the isolated point removing means in the memory means.
Even if the video information of the changed part is recorded
Good.

In any one of the above apparatuses, the detection
Means for the particular part of the change,
Configured to detect information at a higher resolution than the part
Is also good.

[0012]

[0013]

[0014]

(Operation) Most of the video information from the imaging section fixed to capture an image of a certain place is considered to be information relating to a stationary background such as a building, and a moving part is a person or a car. It is believed that there is.

In the present invention, utilizing the above, the captured image is divided into a moving portion having a motion and a background portion having no motion, and are separately recorded. Since there is almost no change in recording of the background portion, information is recorded at regular intervals. This makes it possible to record a video with a small amount of information. In particular, in the present invention, the recording of the background portion is performed by recording the image information of the background portion first captured as an initial value, and thereafter, at regular time intervals, the image of the background portion captured as the initial value is recorded. The information is compared with the video information of the latest background portion, and when a changed portion is detected, only the video information of the changed portion is recorded, so that the video is recorded with a smaller amount of information. It becomes possible. On the other hand, the video information of a moving part such as a person or a car is continuously recorded, combined with the information of the background part, and the original video information is reproduced. It doesn't get worse. In particular, in a configuration in which a specific portion of a changed portion is detected at higher resolution than other portions of the changed portion, for example, a human face can be reproduced in detail, so that the image quality is improved. It is higher than the conventional one.

Further, in the present invention, since a semiconductor recording device is used as a memory means for recording video information, maintenance is not required unlike a conventional device having a mechanical drive unit, and a cable is not required. No need to lay.

[0018]

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

The video information recording apparatus according to the present invention records video taken from an imaging camera (for example, a surveillance camera) fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place over a long period of time. The feature is that by incorporating a semiconductor memory device in the imaging camera, an external recording device is unnecessary, and the video information captured from the imaging camera is divided into a moving part (change area) and a non-moving part (background). The point is that video information is recorded with a smaller capacity by separately recording.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video information recording apparatus according to the present invention. This video information recording device includes an imaging section 1, a motion detection section 2, a background memory section 3, an isolated point removal section 4, a memory section 5, a memory control section 6, a video synthesis section 7, a video output section 8, and a trigger generation section 9. Consists of

In the image pickup section 1, the optical signal is an electric signal (video signal).
And is fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place.

The motion detecting section 2 detects a moving part (change area) and a non-moving part (background) in the video information taken in from the image pickup section 1. This detection is performed by, for example, comparing images between two consecutive frames (inter-image difference) with respect to images continuously captured by the imaging unit 1, and detecting a changed portion. Here, the image processing is performed for each frame, but the image processing may be performed for each field. In addition, the motion detection unit 2 detects a changed portion,
By comparing background information as described later, the changed part is also detected.

The background memory unit 3 is a semiconductor memory device such as a dynamic RAM, and records information of a portion (background) where there is no motion detected by the motion detecting unit 2. In the recording of the background information in the background memory unit 3, for example, the background information for one frame which is first taken in is recorded as an initial value, and the recorded background information is recorded in the motion detecting unit 2 at a predetermined cycle. Is compared with the latest background information taken in, and if there is a change, the portion corresponding to the change is recorded. Here, the background information is recorded only for the changed portion, but the latest background information may be recorded in the background memory unit 3 when there is a change.

The isolated point removing section 4 determines, as a noise, a portion having a movement smaller than a reference size (change area) detected by the movement detecting section 2 and removes it. That is, in this noise removal, an isolated point having no related point in an adjacent pixel is determined as noise and removed.

The memory unit 5 comprises a semiconductor memory device such as a dynamic RAM, similar to the background memory unit 3. The memory unit 5 includes an isolated point removing unit among the moving parts detected by the motion detecting unit 2. At 4, a changed portion exceeding the reference size from which noise has been removed is recorded.

The memory control unit 6 controls writing and reading of information in the background memory unit 3 and the memory unit 5. At the time of writing, if the write address is completed, address control is performed such that the write address is returned to the head, or information recorded in the background memory unit 3 is read at a predetermined cycle and transmitted to the motion detection unit 2. . When a trigger signal is input from a trigger generation unit 9 described later, the memory control unit 6 stops the information writing control. As a result, the background memory unit 3 and the memory unit 5 hold the video information for a fixed period in the past from the writing stop time.

The video synthesizing section 7 synthesizes information obtained from the video information of the background recorded in the background memory section 3 and the video information of the changed portion recorded in the memory section to generate an original video signal. . The video output unit 8 outputs the video signal generated by the video synthesis unit 7. The trigger generator 9 generates a trigger signal for stopping the control of writing information by the memory controller 6.

Next, a series of processing operations of the video information recording apparatus will be described.

First, frame images captured by an image capturing unit 1 fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place are continuously taken in.
A moving part (change area) and a non-moving part (background) are detected in the captured frame image.
Here, most of the video information from the imaging unit fixed to image a certain place is considered to be information on a stationary background such as a building, and the moving part is considered to be a person or a car. Can be The image information of the background such as a building is sent to the background memory unit 3 and recorded as an initial value, and the image information of the changed part such as a person or a car is input to the isolated point removing unit 4 and meets the reference size. Missing parts (noise) are removed. The information of the changed portion from which the noise has been removed by the isolated point removing unit 4 is recorded in the memory unit 5 by address control by the memory control unit 6. In the recording of the video information in the memory section 5, the information of the continuously changed frame image is sequentially written from the top address, and when the write address reaches the end, the write operation is returned to the top address again. Will be

When the background video information and the information of the changed portion are recorded in the background memory unit 3 and the memory unit 5, respectively, the video image of the background and the video of the changed portion recorded in these memory units are recorded by the video synthesizing unit 7. The information is combined to generate the original video signal. Then, the video signal synthesized by the video synthesis unit 7 is output from the video output unit 8.

The background video information recorded in the background memory unit 3 is read out at predetermined time intervals, and compared with the latest background information captured by the imaging unit 1 by the motion detection unit 2, and there is a change. In this case, information on the changed portion is recorded in the background memory unit 3. Also in the recording of the video information of the changed portion, as in the case of the recording in the memory unit 5 described above, the data is sequentially written from the top address by the address control by the memory control unit 6. Returning to the address, writing is performed. The background video information recorded as an initial value is recorded at a specific address so as not to be rewritten.

When the changed portion of the background video information is recorded in the background memory section 3, the video synthesizing section 7 outputs the video information of the changed portion recorded in the background memory section 3, the video information of the background of the initial value, and the memory. An original video signal is generated by synthesizing the video information of the changed portion recorded in the section 5. The synthesized video signal is output from the video output unit 8.

Here, when a trigger signal is generated by the trigger generation unit 9, the memory control unit 6 receives the trigger signal and writes the video information of the changed portion related to the background in the background memory unit 3 and the memory unit 5. The writing of the video information of the changed part in is stopped. As a result, the background memory unit 3 and the memory unit 5 hold the video information of the changed part in the past fixed period without being overwritten.

In the above-described video information recording apparatus of the present embodiment,
A change portion such as a person or a car is detected by the motion detection unit 2 and the detected video information is recorded in the memory unit 5.
The information of the specific part of the changed part can be detected at a higher resolution than the other parts. For example, it is possible to record a large amount of information above a moving object. With this configuration, for example, when the object is a person, it is possible to record only a large amount of information of the face portion, and when the recorded information is reproduced, a clear image of the face can be obtained. it can.

In the present embodiment, it is also possible to record audio data together with video information and reproduce video information together with audio data.

(Other Embodiments) In the above embodiment, when a volatile memory element (for example, a dynamic RAM) is used as a semiconductor memory device used for the memory units 3 and 5, the recorded video information Is lost. A non-volatile memory (for example, a flash memory) is used as a semiconductor storage device capable of retaining information even after power is turned off.
However, there is a problem in that the number of times of writing information is limited, and the writing speed of information is slow. Therefore, this nonvolatile memory cannot be simply used for the memory units 3 and 5 described above. Here, an embodiment will be described in which a volatile memory element and a non-volatile memory element are used in combination to realize non-volatility of recorded video information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a memory section of a video information recording apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The main configuration of the video information recording apparatus of this embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1, but the configurations of the memory sections 3 and 5 are the same as those of the dynamic RAM 10 shown in FIG.
And a flash memory 11. Here, since the memory units 3 and 5 have the same configuration, only the memory unit 5 will be specifically described.

The memory section 5 stores the dynamic RAM 10 in which the video information of the changing section detected by the motion detecting section 2 and from which the noise has been removed by the isolated point removing section 4 is recorded, and is recorded in the dynamic RAM 10 when the power is turned off. And a flash memory 11 to which the transferred video information is transferred and recorded. Writing and reading of information in the dynamic RAM 10 and the flash memory 11 are performed by address control by the memory control unit 6.

Next, the operation of holding the recorded information when the power of the video information recording device is cut off will be described with reference to FIG. Here, a case where the power supply is cut off by an external impact will be described.

Normally, the video information of the dynamic RAM 10, which is detected by the motion detecting section 2 and whose noise is removed by the isolated point removing section 4, is transferred to the memory control section 6.
Are written in order starting from the first address. Also in this embodiment, when the write address reaches the end, writing is performed again by returning to the first address, as in the above-described embodiment.

When an impact occurs, a trigger signal is generated by the trigger generation unit 9, and upon receiving the trigger signal, the memory control unit 6 stops recording video information in the dynamic RAM 10 and records the video information in the dynamic RAM 10 so far. The video information is read, and the read video information is recorded in the flash memory 11. Although the power is cut off by the impact, in the present embodiment, the video information recorded in the dynamic RAM 10 is held for a certain period of time by receiving the power supply from a battery device (not shown) provided as a standby power supply. Can be transferred. Here, the battery device is for temporarily preventing the loss of information when the power supply is cut off, and is used for a time necessary for transferring all video information recorded in the dynamic RAM 10 to the flash memory 11. It is only necessary to have enough capacity.

When all video information recorded in the dynamic RAM 10 is transferred to the flash memory 11 and the power supply by the battery device ends, the dynamic RAM 10
Although the recorded video information is lost in the flash memory 11, the transferred video information is retained in the flash memory 11. By reproducing the video information held in the flash memory 11, it is possible to view the video recorded by the time of the impact.

The video information recording device as described in the present embodiment can be used for a device for recording a sudden event such as an accident, for example, a recording device such as a black box mounted on an aircraft. In particular, the video information recording apparatus of the present embodiment is expected to have high effectiveness because it can solve maintenance, miniaturization, and weight reduction, which are problems in a magnetic recording apparatus such as a black box.

[0045]

According to the present invention configured as described above, the image information of the background portion is recorded with a smaller amount of information, and the image information of the moving portion such as a person or a car is recorded. Since detailed information is recorded, there is an effect that video information can be recorded with a small amount of information.

In addition to the above effects, in the present invention, a mechanical drive unit is not provided in the recording unit unlike the conventional apparatus, and the image quality of the reproduced image is not deteriorated. A compact video information recording device capable of obtaining a high-quality reproduced image can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video information recording device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a memory unit of a video information recording device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of holding the recorded information when the power of the video information recording apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is turned off.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 imaging unit 2 motion detection unit 3 background memory unit 4 isolated point removal unit 5 memory unit 6 memory control unit 7 video synthesis unit 8 video output unit 9 trigger generation unit 10 dynamic RAM 11 flash memory

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] And 1. A <br/> imaging unit that will be fixed to image certain locations, the video information taken continuously from the imaging means, the change portions and no motion background portion with motion Detecting means for detecting; first memory means for storing video information of a background portion detected by the detecting means; and a predetermined large amount of a changed part detected by the detecting means.
Isolated point removal that removes less than noise as noise
Means, and a change portion from which noise has been removed by the isolated point removing means.
Second memory means for storing video information, and the video information stored in the first and second memory means, respectively.
Combines the video information of the background part and the video information of the changing part.
Video information recording apparatus characterized by comprising a video synthesizing unit that. 2. A camera is fixed so as to capture an image of a certain place.
Imaging means and video information continuously taken from the imaging means;
To detect moving parts and background parts that do not move.
Detecting means, and video information of a background portion detected by the detecting means are recorded.
A first memory means for storing the video information of the changed portion detected by the detecting means
Second memory means, and writing of information in the first and second memory means
Memory control means for controlling read and read, and trigger generation means for generating a trigger signal, wherein the first memory means is detected by the detection means
First volatile memory for storing video information of a background portion
Means and an image recorded in the first volatile memory means
A first nonvolatile memory means for storing information.
And wherein the second memory means is detected by the detection means.
Second volatile memory in which video information of a changed portion is recorded
Means and an image recorded in the second volatile memory means
A second nonvolatile memory means for storing information.
Made is, the memory control means, generating of at said trigger generation means
Receiving the first and second volatile signals,
Video information written to the memory means
The read video information is stored in the first and second nonvolatile memories.
Configured to be written to the respective memory means.
A video information recording device characterized by being recorded. 3. The video information recording apparatus according to claim 2,
There are, among the detected change portion by the detecting means, a predetermined large
Isolated point removal that removes less than noise as noise
Means for detecting noise in the second memory means by the isolated point removing means.
So that the video information of the changed part from which
A video information recording device characterized by the fact that it is formed . 4. The image according to claim 1, wherein
In the image information recording apparatus, the detecting unit may be configured to change a specified portion of the changed portion.
Configured to detect information at a higher resolution than the rest of the
A video information recording device characterized by being formed .