JP3290600B2 - Network system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network system, and more particularly to a network system, which is suitably used for a client server system in which a storage device for image data and a device to be used are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many apparatuses have been used in which digital image data is stored in a memory or the like and can be read out and displayed. The image data to be stored is input using an image input device such as an image scanner or a video camera using a CCD, for example, and is often configured to be able to store a plurality of image data. .

[0003] Basically, each image data is stored as an image file. When storing an image file having a large data amount, for example, a large-capacity magneto-optical disk (MO) or hard disk (HDD) is used as a file storage device. When a magneto-optical disk is used, image data for one file is usually recorded on one magneto-optical disk. However, if the amount of image data constituting one image file exceeds the capacity of one magneto-optical disk, it is divided and stored on a plurality of magneto-optical disks.

[0004] When the size of each image file is very large or the number of image files to be stored is very large as described above, storage, reading, and display of image files are performed by a plurality of image files via a network. Of the client-server system performed by the other device. That is, a plurality of image files are stored in the server, the image file specified by the client is read out at appropriate times, and the read image file is displayed on the display screen of the client.

Here, when a large-scale image file device is constructed on the server side by using the above-mentioned magneto-optical disk, for example, a disk such as a jukebox in which a plurality of magneto-optical disks can be replaced by an auto-change mechanism. A library device is used. In this disk library device, a disk is exchanged in response to an instruction from a client, and a corresponding image file is read.

[0006]

In this type of system, since the size of each image file stored in the server is very large, the entire image is displayed as it is due to the limitation of the display screen of the client. Can not do it. Therefore, conventionally, the image data stored in the server is reduced and displayed so that the entire image data is displayed. Therefore, the image cannot be viewed on the display screen with the original accuracy.

However, for example, there are cases where it is desired to check a fine part in a photographic image or to refer to a specific part part in a drawing image in detail. However, such a request cannot be satisfied with a reduced whole image. Therefore, it is required that a part of the image can be enlarged and displayed on the entire screen with the original accuracy. According to this, for example, when it is desired to see the entire image, it is possible to display the entire image in a reduced size, and when it is desired to see the details in detail, it is possible to display the enlarged image.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, one image data is stored as one or a plurality of image files, so that the reading of the image data is also performed in file units. Therefore, even when a part of the image is enlarged and displayed, the entire image file is transferred from the server to the client.

As described above, since each image file has a very large amount of image data, it takes a lot of time to transfer the file. As a result, it takes a lot of time from issuing the enlargement / reduction instruction on the client to actually displaying the image. It takes a lot of time especially when the network connecting the server and the client is thin (when using a personal computer as a client machine, the network supported by the personal computer in many cases is thin). .

It is also required that one image data can be displayed at various resolutions. For example, in addition to displaying the entire image in a reduced size as described above, the original image data is also supported so that a desired image file can be easily searched from a plurality of image files stored in the server. It is required to simultaneously display a plurality of low-resolution reduced image information as list icons, and to display a rough layout image in order to cope with work in the design industry or the like.

However, in order to be able to display one image data at various resolutions, it is necessary to create image data of each resolution in advance and store it separately from the original image file. However, such a method has a problem that the amount of image data stored in the server becomes enormous, and the storage capacity of the entire apparatus increases.

In order to speed up the process of enlarging and displaying the details of an image as described above, it is conceivable to prepare image files in which image data of the details are stored in advance and prepare them separately. However, it is conceivable that the user requires an enlarged display in an infinite number of parts, and it is impractical to store the image file assuming all of them. Therefore, the portion that can be enlarged and displayed is fixed due to the limitation of the storage capacity.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to store large-scale image data in a server and correspond to an instruction from a client. In a client-server system that transfers and uses image data, processing for enlarging and displaying an arbitrary portion of an entire image with its original accuracy can be performed at high speed without increasing storage capacity. It is in.

[0014]

[0015]

According to the present invention, there is provided a network system in which a storage device for image data and a device to be used are connected, wherein the device to be used is located within a whole range of an image displayed on a screen. Area specifying means for specifying an arbitrary partial area from a requesting means for transferring the partial area specified by the area specifying means as a request signal to the storage device via a network, and a request signal by the requesting means. Accordingly, while reading and transferring the image data of the partial area by the storage device, the image data already stored in the device in use is subjected to digital signal processing to display the currently displayed image data. Image zooming means for sequentially displaying a plurality of zoom images generated while changing the zoom magnification stepwise with respect to the image of the partial area. The device is configured to interpret the request signal sent from the device in use, and, in accordance with the result of the interpretation by the interpreting device, store the image data of the image in the designated partial area from the image data of the image. Image reading means for cutting out corresponding image data and transferring the image data to the used device via a network, wherein the used device reads the image after the image of the partial area is zoomed to the entire display screen. The display is switched to the image data transferred by the reading means.

[0016]

[0017]

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

[0021]

[0022]

Since the present invention comprises the above technical means, when a request is made to use a partial area in a device that uses image data, the entire image data is not transferred as a file but is requested. Only the image data of a partial area is dynamically cut out on the image data storage device and transferred to the device in use, thereby making it possible to reduce the amount of data to be transferred. Further, since a partial area of the image data is dynamically cut out, it is not necessary to create and store the image data assuming all the partial areas to be used in advance.

By providing the image zooming means in the device using the image data, for example, between the time when the enlarged display of a partial area is instructed in the device using the image data and the time when the enlarged image is displayed with the correct resolution. Then, a state in which the image of the partial area is gradually zoomed is displayed.

[0025]

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are block diagrams illustrating a configuration example of the network system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the present embodiment, a server that stores large-scale image data (here, one that has a large number of image files and a large data amount of each image file), 1 shows a client-server system including a client that displays image data read from a client.

As shown in FIG. 1, the server machine includes a system control unit 1, a communication interface 2, an image input unit 3,
It includes a data interpretation unit 4, a data storage unit 5, a data cutout unit 6, a resolution conversion unit 7, a disk control unit 8, a hard disk (HDD) 9, and a disk library device (juke box) 10.

Here, the jukebox 10 includes a storage 13 for storing a plurality of magneto-optical disks (MO) 14, a plurality of optical disk drives 11, and an automatic change mechanism 12. The optical disk drive 11 writes and reads image data to and from the MO 14 stored in the storage 13.

The auto-change mechanism 12 performs an exchange process of the MO 14 under the control of the disk control unit 8.
That is, the MO 14 specified by the disk control unit 8
From the storage 13 to load it into the corresponding optical disk drive 11 or to store the MO 14 loaded in the optical disk drive 11 specified by the disk control unit 8 in the storage 13.

Normally, each image data is stored in one MO
14 is stored as an image file. However, the amount of image data constituting one image file is one MO14
If the storage capacity exceeds the storage capacity of the MOs, the MOs are divided and stored. In the jukebox 10 configured as described above, the disk is exchanged in response to an instruction from the client, and the corresponding image file is read out via the disk control unit 8.

The system control unit 1 controls the entire server system.
It is stored in DD9. The communication interface 2 communicates image data and request signals with the client machine shown in FIG. 2 via a network. The image input unit 3 is for inputting image data to be stored in the jukebox 10, and for example, an image input device such as an image scanner or a video camera using a CCD is used.

The data interpreter 4 interprets the request signal sent from the client machine. The request signal includes, for example, a signal indicating a partial area designated as a part to be enlarged and displayed on an image currently displayed on the display screen of the client side. vice versa,
In some cases, the signal requests that the entire image be reduced and displayed in order to display the entire range of one image data. Also,
It may be a signal requesting that image data be displayed at a certain resolution. The data interpreting unit 4 interprets these request signals and transmits the result to the system control unit 1.

The data storage unit 5 stores the jukebox 10
And temporarily stores the image data read from the disk controller 8 via the disk controller 8. The data storage unit 5 may be shared by the HDD 9. The image data stored in the data storage unit 5 is used when processing is performed by the data cutout unit 6 and the resolution conversion unit 7. That is, the data storage unit 5 functions as a work memory for processing in the data cutout unit 6 and the resolution conversion unit 7.

The data cutout unit 6 converts the image data of a partial area interpreted by the data interpretation unit 4 from the entire range of image data read from the jukebox 10 and stored in the data storage unit 5. Perform cutout processing. Then, only the image data of the partial area thus cut out is supplied to the communication interface 2 and transferred to the client machine via the network.

The resolution converter 7 converts image data read from the jukebox 10 and stored in the data storage unit 5 into image data having a resolution interpreted by the data interpreter 4. For example, when a request to display an image icon for searching for an image file, a coarse image for layout, or the like is made, a process of lowering the original resolution of the image data stored in the data storage unit 5, for example, a thinning process is performed. Then, the image data whose resolution has been converted in this way is supplied to the communication interface 2 and transferred to the client machine via the network.

Here, the process of lowering the resolution means lowering the DPI of the image data itself without changing the DPI (dots per inch) on the display. To tell. Similarly, the process of increasing the resolution means to enlarge and show an image.

The image data reading device of the present invention is included in the server machine in the case of the present embodiment, and mainly includes a system control unit 1, a communication interface 2, a data interpretation unit 4, a data extraction unit 6, It is composed of a resolution converter 7 and a disk controller 8.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the client machine comprises a system control unit 15 and a communication interface 1.
6, image display unit 17, data storage unit 18, cut-out area designating unit 19, resolution designating unit 20, image zooming unit 2
1 and the HDD 22.

Here, the system control section 15 controls the entire client system, and a program for that is stored in the HDD 22. The communication interface 16 communicates image data and request signals with the server machine shown in FIG. 1 via a network. The image display unit 17 is for displaying image data, and for example, a display device such as a CRT, an LCD, and a plasma display is used.

The data storage section 18 is for temporarily storing the image data currently displayed on the image display section 17. Note that the image data stored in the data storage unit 18 is used when the image zooming unit 21 performs a zoom process. The cut-out area specifying unit 19 is for specifying an arbitrary partial area from the entire range of the image displayed on the image display unit 17.

As described above, for example, when there is a request to check a fine part in a photographic image or to refer to a specific part part in a drawing image in detail, a detailed image is displayed on the entire screen with the original accuracy. A desired region is designated by using the cutout region designation unit 19 so as to be displayed in an enlarged manner.
When a desired enlarged area is designated by the cut-out area designation unit 19, it is transferred as a request signal by the communication interface 16 to the server of FIG. 1 via the network.

The enlargement area can be specified, for example, by clicking the mouse at the center point of a desired rectangular area (similar to the display screen, and the similarity ratio is predetermined) or at a position that is an arbitrary point. An operation may be performed, or a region having an arbitrary shape may be freely designated by a mouse drag operation or the like as a partial region to be enlarged.
The method of specifying the cutout area is not particularly limited here.

Further, the resolution designating section 20 is provided for the image display section 1.
In step 7, the user designates an image to be displayed at a desired resolution. For example, when there is a request to display images at various resolutions, such as a low-resolution image such as an image icon for searching for an image file or a coarse image for layout, or a medium-resolution image representing the entire image, the resolution specifying unit 2
0 is used.

The resolution can be specified by directly specifying a plurality of resolutions (for example, high resolution, medium resolution, and low resolution) that are divided stepwise, or by using the above-described image icons and layout rough images. Alternatively, a menu or an icon for instructing display of a message or the like may be designated by clicking the mouse. How to specify the resolution is not particularly limited here. When a desired resolution is designated by the resolution designation unit 20, the resolution is transferred as a request signal by the communication interface 16 to the server in FIG. 1 via the network.

The image zooming section 21 digitally converts an image of a partial area designated as an area to be enlarged and displayed by the cutout area designating section 19 based on the image data stored in the data storage section 18. A plurality of zoom images generated while changing the zoom magnification stepwise by signal processing are sequentially displayed. The details will be described later.

Next, the operation of the network system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. First,
In the state where certain image data is displayed on the image display unit 17 on the client side in FIG.
When an area for enlarging and displaying details is designated, the area is transferred as a request signal to the server in FIG. 1 via the network.

On the server side, the transmitted request signal is interpreted by the data interpretation unit 4 and the result is transmitted to the system control unit 1. The system control unit 1 controls the data cutout unit 6 according to the result of the interpretation, and performs an image cutout process. At this time, the data cutout unit 6 selects, from the image data stored in the data storage unit 5, a partial area (the area specified by the cutout area specifying unit 19 of the client) interpreted by the data interpreting unit 4. A process of cutting out only image data is performed.

The image data of the partial area cut out as described above is supplied to the communication interface 2 and transferred to the client via the network. The image data of the partial area transferred from the server to the client is enlarged and displayed on the entire display screen of the image display unit 17. If it is desired to enlarge the image further, an enlarged area may be designated in the same manner. As a result, the user can check a detailed portion in the photographic image or refer to a specific component portion in the drawing image in detail.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when a request for enlarging and displaying a partial area is made on the client, the entire corresponding image data is not transferred to a file, but
Only the image data of the requested partial area is dynamically cut out and transferred on the server. This allows
The amount of data to be transferred can be reduced, and the time required for transfer can be significantly reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time from when the instruction for enlarged display is issued on the client to when the image is actually displayed. In particular, when the network connecting the server and the client is thin, the time can be greatly reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, as described above, a partial area of the image data is dynamically cut out, so that the image data is created by assuming all the partial areas to be enlarged and displayed in advance. It is not necessary to prepare an image file storing the detailed image data separately from the entire range of image files. Therefore, an arbitrary area can be freely enlarged and displayed without increasing the storage capacity on the server.

Next, the operation when one image is displayed at various resolutions will be described. First, when an image is designated to be displayed at a certain resolution by the resolution designation unit 20 on the client side in FIG. 2, it is transferred as a request signal to the server in FIG. 1 via a network.

On the server side, the transmitted request signal is interpreted by the data interpretation unit 4 and the result is transmitted to the system control unit 1. The system control unit 1 controls the resolution conversion unit 7 according to the result of the interpretation to convert the resolution of the image. At this time, the resolution conversion unit 7 performs a process of lowering the resolution using the image data of the original resolution stored in the data storage unit 5 so that the image has the required resolution.
For example, when displaying an image icon for searching for an image file or a coarse layout image, the resolution is reduced by performing a process such as thinning to form reduced image information.

The image data whose resolution has been converted in this way is supplied to the communication interface 2 and transferred to the client via the network. The image data transferred from the server to the client is displayed on the display screen of the image display unit 17.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when there is a request to display an image at various resolutions on the client, the resolution is dynamically changed on the server so that the image of the requested resolution is obtained. Conversion is performed and transferred. Accordingly, it is possible to deal with images of each resolution only by storing image data of the original resolution without separately creating and storing image data of various resolutions in advance. Therefore, images of various resolutions can be displayed as required without increasing the storage capacity on the server.

In the above embodiment, the image data cutout processing and the resolution conversion processing on the server are performed using the image data read from the jukebox 10 and stored in the data storage unit 5. But
A similar function is realized by reading out only necessary parts when reading image data from the jukebox 10 by cooperating the data cutout unit 6 and the disk control unit 8 and the resolution conversion unit 7 and the disk control unit 8. It is also possible.

As described above, the image data transferred from the server to the client is a part of the image file regardless of whether the details in the image are enlarged or displayed at various resolutions. Therefore, the transfer time can be shortened as compared with the related art, and the time from issuing an instruction on the client to actually displaying an image can be shortened. However, since a certain amount of processing time is still required, in addition to the above operations, in the present embodiment, the image zooming unit 21 is provided on the client side, and the following measures are taken.

That is, the image zooming section 21 performs the image data (enlargement) stored in the data storage section 18 while reading and transferring the image data of the partial area designated as described above. By performing digital signal processing on the currently displayed image data in which the area to be displayed is specified, and generating a plurality of images generated while changing the zoom magnification stepwise for the currently displayed image of the partial area. Stepwise zoom images are sequentially displayed.

This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 (a)
Indicates an original image before image enlargement, and a rectangular frame A
Indicates a display window displayed on the entire display screen on which an image is displayed on the image display unit 17 or on a part of the screen (hereinafter, referred to as a display frame A). Note that FIG.
The characters of “Aioe ...” shown in (a)
Image data.

When an area to be enlarged and displayed is specified on the display image of FIG. 3A, the image in the specified area is subjected to digital signal processing.
(B) → (c) → (d), the image is gradually zoomed in and displayed. The image in FIG. 3D is the same as the image in FIG.
Since the image is generated by digital signal processing using the image itself, the resolution is coarse.

Thereafter, when the zooming is completed as shown in FIG. 3D, the image shown in FIG. 3D is converted into an image having the correct resolution as shown in FIG. It is replaced and displayed. Note that, as shown in FIG. 3D, if the image has not been completely extracted from the server at the time when the zooming is completed, the image of FIG.

In this way, the image in the designated area is gradually zoomed in between the time when the zoom image is displayed on the client and the zoom image is displayed at the correct resolution. Become like Therefore, the user can clearly grasp the target portion even after instructing the image enlargement, and can increase the bodily sensation speed of the image retrieval waiting time from the server,
The user's stress due to the processing waiting time can be reduced.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention, only the data of an arbitrary partial area requested by the device to be used is selected from the entire range of one image data stored in the image data storage device. Since the image data is cut out and transferred to the device to be used via the network, only the image data of a partial area requested by the device using the image data is dynamically cut out on the storage device and transferred to the device to be used. Become like
As a result, the amount of data to be transferred can be reduced, and the time required for transfer can be significantly reduced.
Further, since a partial area of the image data is dynamically cut out, there is no need to create and store the image data assuming all the partial areas to be used in advance. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a process of enlarging and displaying an arbitrary portion in the entire image with the original accuracy at a high speed without increasing the storage capacity.

Further, according to the present invention, an image zooming means for performing a zooming process while reading / transferring image data of a partial area is provided in a device using image data. Between the time when the enlarged display of the partial area is instructed and the time when the enlarged image is displayed at the correct resolution, it is possible to display a state in which the image of the partial area is gradually zoomed, and the state from the storage device can be displayed. The bodily sensation speed of the image retrieval waiting time can be increased, and the user's stress due to the processing waiting time can be reduced.

[0064]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a server machine that configures a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of a client machine configuring a network system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example for explaining an operation of an enlarged image display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System control part 2 Communication interface 3 Image input part 4 Data interpretation part 5 Data storage part 6 Data cutout part 7 Resolution conversion part 8 Disk control part 9 HDD (hard disk) 10 Jukebox 11 Optical disk drive 12 Auto change mechanism 13 Storage 14 MO (Magneto-optical disk) 15 System control unit 16 Communication interface 17 Image display unit 18 Data storage unit 19 Cut-out area designation unit 20 Resolution designation unit 21 Image zooming unit 22 HDD (hard disk)

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-46937 (JP, A) JP-A-63-156478 (JP, A) JP-A-7-271953 (JP, A) JP-A-7-192124 (JP) JP-A-5-260311 (JP, A) JP-A-5-252353 (JP, A) JP-A-4-292077 (JP, A) JP-A-4-282766 (JP, A) 4-148275 (JP, A) JP-A-3-177973 (JP, A) JP-A-3-87977 (JP, A) JP-A-2-89179 (JP, A) JP-A-2-3872 (JP, A A) JP-A-1-240074 (JP, A) JP-A-1-159768 (JP, A) JP-A-61-134170 (JP, A) JP-A-60-173623 (JP, A) (58) Survey Field (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 G06T 1/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A network system in which a device for storing image data and a device to be used are connected, wherein the device to be used designates an arbitrary partial area from an entire range of an image displayed on a screen. Requesting means for transferring a partial area specified by the area specifying means as a request signal to the storage device via a network; and responding to the request signal by the request means, By performing digital signal processing on the image data already stored in the device in use while reading and transferring the image data of the partial area, the image of the partial area currently displayed is obtained. Image zooming means for sequentially displaying a plurality of zoom images generated while changing the zoom magnification step by step, wherein the storage device is Interpreting means for interpreting the request signal sent from the apparatus, and extracting image data corresponding to the specified partial area from the stored image data of the image according to the result of the interpretation by the interpreting means. Image reading means for transferring the image to the used device via a network, wherein the used device is transferred by the image reading device after the image of the partial area is zoomed to the entire display screen. A network system wherein the display is switched to image data.