JP4443801B2 - How to use a karaoke machine that connects several remote karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system and merges the progress of the banquet - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for using a karaoke apparatus, and more specifically, to a method for using a karaoke apparatus that connects a plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system and merges the progress of the banquet.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Japanese Patent No. 2652474 discloses a karaoke store (karaoke box) equipped with a system that connects a plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system and communicates the state of each banquet hall to each other. This karaoke store is equipped with a video and audio transmission system that outputs video and audio signals captured and sampled from inside the banquet hall using video cameras and microphones installed in the banquet hall. A video / audio reception system is provided which acquires video / audio signals sent from the banquet hall and reproduces and outputs them using a display and speakers installed in the banquet hall. In addition, the operation panel of each banquet hall is used to select the banquet hall from which the video / audio transmission system in the room is to be played and the transmission switch for switching the video / audio transmission system in the room to be reproduced. And a receiving switch.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The above-mentioned system of Japanese Patent No. 2652474 enables the transmission switch at both banquet halls that hold a video conference and selects each other's banquet hall with the reception switch so that both parties can be the party of the conference. You can watch the situation. However, both users of the karaoke banquet hall in the video conference state naturally enjoy karaoke, so they use the karaoke device to play karaoke music and sing it. In other words, any karaoke song will be played at any time in both banquet halls. If you are playing a song in your room, if video and audio are transmitted from the other party banquet hall, On the other hand, video and audio only get in the way.
[0004]
Therefore, the present invention has an object to provide a method of using a karaoke apparatus that merges a plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system so that the progress of the banquets coincide with each other. .
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention connects a plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system, communicates the state of each banquet hall to each other, and inputs a performance reservation for a karaoke apparatus installed in each banquet hall. Communicating information with each other, sharing the performance reservation queue of each karaoke device, and controlling each karaoke device under the control of the unified synchronization information, thereby performing chronological performance control of karaoke music according to the queue. It is set as the usage method of the karaoke apparatus synchronized in each karaoke apparatus.
[0006]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
=== Network configuration ===
FIG. 1 shows a network block diagram including a karaoke device used by a method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, a configuration is shown in which LANs 1 laid in karaoke stores scattered in various places are connected to each other via the Internet. FIG. 2 shows a network configuration diagram of LAN 1 installed in each karaoke store. The karaoke store has a plurality of karaoke banquet halls 2, and each karaoke banquet hall 2 is provided with a karaoke apparatus 3. Information processing apparatuses such as the karaoke apparatus 3 and the store server 4 are connected to the LAN 1, and these information processing apparatuses are connected to the Internet via the router 5 and perform data communication with an external computer. In the present embodiment, the router 5 is connected to the Internet by a broadband (broadband) dedicated line corresponding to large-capacity data transfer such as video data. Of course, not only the Internet but also a wide area network (WAN) in which each LAN 1 is connected by a dedicated line may be configured.
[0007]
Further, the karaoke computer 10 and the performance terminal unit 30 in the same karaoke banquet hall 2 are connected via an interface (IF) 6 of the RS232C standard, and the karaoke computer 10 and the performance terminal unit 30 are connected via the IF 6. It exchanges synchronization signals when performing karaoke music.
[0008]
The karaoke apparatus 3 of the present embodiment includes a performance terminal unit 30 for outputting karaoke accompaniment music and a karaoke computer 10 for receiving various user inputs. In addition, the store server 4 performs processing related to accounting (e.g., usage fees for each guest room, aggregation / output of food and beverage charges ordered by the customer), performance status of each karaoke device 31 and usage status of each guest room (entrance / exit time, This is a personal computer (PC) for performing management of the expected time of charging).
[0009]
In this embodiment, the use of the karaoke apparatus of the present invention is applied to the network configuration described above, and the karaoke computer 10 is used as a video conference terminal, and a video conference system is constructed by a plurality of karaoke computers 10. A plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls 2 are connected by this video conference system, and even if a user of the karaoke apparatus 3 in each karaoke banquet hall 2 requests karaoke music arbitrarily, each karaoke apparatus 3 in each banquet hall 3 Manages the performance process in a unified queue, and the same karaoke piece is played synchronously in each banquet hall according to the queue.
[0010]
=== Configuration and operation of karaoke apparatus ===
As described above, the karaoke apparatus 3 includes the karaoke computer 10 and the performance terminal unit 30, and the karaoke computer 10 operates as a terminal of the video conference system. The hardware of the karaoke computer 10 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as a general PC. Similar to the performance terminal of the known communication karaoke system, the performance terminal unit 30 has a built-in synthesizer and processes the MIDI data that is the origin of karaoke accompaniment music to perform the same hardware as a karaoke device of the type that plays karaoke music. It has a configuration.
[0011]
FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the karaoke computer 10 of this embodiment. FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of the performance terminal unit 30. The karaoke computer 10 includes a PC main body 11, a display (PC monitor) 12, a keyboard 13, and a mouse 14. The PC main body 11 includes a computer main body 15 including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, a hard disk device 16, various interfaces (IF) 17 to 19 for input / output devices, a network interface (LAN-IF) 20, a serial interface ( In addition to basic elements such as RS232C-IF) 6, an AV data processing unit 21 for processing video conference video signals and audio signals is mounted on the PC main body 11 in the form of an expansion card.
[0012]
The AV data processing unit 21 of the present embodiment inputs the video signal (transmission conference video) from the video camera 50 and the audio signal (transmission conference audio) from the microphone 36 attached to the performance terminal unit 30 and inputs the MPEG2 format. MPEG2 encoder for converting into AV (audio / video) data, and decoding of MPEG2 format AV data transmitted over the network to generate analog audio signal (reception conference audio) and video signal (reception conference video) And an MPEG2 decoder for output.
[0013]
The karaoke computer 10 is installed with dedicated software (a karaoke-linked TV conference program) for using the karaoke apparatus 3 according to the method of the present invention. The AV data converted in step 1 is sent to the Internet via the LAN 1 and delivered to the karaoke computer 10 that is the partner of the video conference, and the AV data sent from the partner karaoke computer 10 is sent to the AV data processing unit 21. A plurality of remote karaokes, performing a step of combining in real time and a step of collectively handling a queue of performance processing for karaoke songs requested at both karaoke banquet halls 2 connected by a video conference Video conference system for banquet hall To merge the banquet progress of the signed in Temu has achieved a "karaoke conjunction TV conference function".
[0014]
The karaoke computer 10 has an “electronic table of contents” function in addition to the above-described karaoke-linked TV conference function (hereinafter referred to as “TV conference function”). The karaoke computer 10 stores and manages data in which song names and artist names of many karaoke songs are associated with song IDs (song numbers) in a hard disk device 16 built in the PC main body 11 and an interactive user interface. Is installed with software for sequentially designating the song name, artist name, etc. from the index, finally searching for the song number of the requested song, and transferring the number to the performance terminal unit 30. Of course, the karaoke computer 10 also transfers the music number directly focused by the user to the performance terminal unit 30 using this software. Note that the searched music number is transferred to the performance terminal unit 30 in the same guest room via the LAN 3.
[0015]
The hard disk device 32 of the performance terminal unit 30 displays, on a display (karaoke monitor) 39 in synchronism with the music generation data that is the origin of the karaoke accompaniment music described in the MIDI format for the karaoke music of a large number of songs. It stores lyric rendering data that is the origin of the generated lyric image.
[0016]
When the music number is transferred from the karaoke computer 10, the central control unit 32 that performs overall control of the performance terminal unit 30 stores the number in the internal RAM in the order of transfer, and manages the music number as a queue for performance processing. . Then, the music numbers in the queue are picked up in order, and the corresponding music generation data and lyric rendering data are extracted from the hard disk device 32 and processed.
[0017]
The music generation data is sequentially transferred to the synthesizer 33, and the audio signal of the accompaniment music generated here and the audio signal input from the microphone 36 are input to the mixing amplifier 34, and the mixed audio signal is acoustically output from the speaker 35. The
[0018]
In addition, the central control unit 32 processes the lyric rendering data to generate a lyric image including the lyric character string synchronized with the performance, and changes the color of each character in the lyric character string at a designated timing. Lyric images are generated sequentially. The generated lyric image is successively bitmap-developed in the video RAM 37. The video control unit 38 inputs the received conference video decoded by the karaoke computer 10 and the transmitted conference video from the video camera 50, and superimposes the lyrics image bitmap-developed in the video RAM 37 on the conference video. The video is output to the karaoke monitor 39.
[0019]
Note that the audio signal from the microphone 36 is input as a transmission conference audio to the AV data processing unit 21 of the karaoke computer 10 through the mixing amplifier 34, and the received conference audio is the accompaniment music or the audio signal from the microphone 36 at the mixing amplifier 34. So that the sound is output to the speaker 35.
[0020]
Here, a case where two karaoke banquet halls 2 in different karaoke stores are connected by a video conference system and the banquet is simultaneously progressed using the karaoke apparatus 3 installed in each banquet hall 2 is given. A method of using the karaoke apparatus of the present invention will be described.
[0021]
=== Holding a video conference ===
A global IP address is assigned to the router 5 connected to the LAN 1 of each karaoke store. The router assigns a local IP address to each information processing apparatus connected to the LAN 1 to which the router belongs by a known IP masquerade function, and which information processing apparatus communicates with which external computer by which application. Is constantly monitoring. That is, it is understood which karaoke computer 10 on the LAN 1 is performing the video conference by the karaoke-linked TV conference program, and which karaoke computer 10 is in data communication with which karaoke computer in which karaoke store. Monitor. As a result, various data to be processed by the karaoke-linked TV conference program such as AV data are reliably transmitted and received with the communication partner.
[0022]
Users who are remote from each other communicate with each other the branch number of the karaoke store used by each user and the room number of the karaoke banquet hall 2. Then, each user enters each karaoke banquet hall 2, and both banquets are merged while a video conference is proceeding using the karaoke computer 10 installed in each karaoke banquet hall 2.
[0023]
FIGS. 5A to 5D show transition states of screens displayed on the PC monitor 12 in a situation where banquets proceed simultaneously between remote locations realized by the TV conference function. When the user enters the karaoke banquet hall 2, the PC monitor 12 activates guidance and various functions such as explanation and operation methods of various functions implemented by the karaoke computer 10 such as an electronic table of contents function and a TV conference function. A screen including an instruction button or the like is displayed (A). Here, it is assumed that the TV conference function is instructed by a mouse operation or the like at one of the two karaoke banquet halls 10.
[0024]
When the video conference function is activated, the karaoke computer 10 displays a guidance screen for designating a video conference partner (B). On this screen, as with the electronic table of contents yesterday, the branch of the other party's karaoke store is identified while searching through the hierarchy, such as the prefecture name, municipality, and branch name. And if a karaoke store is specified, the guest room with which the store is provided is specified. In response to this designated input, the karaoke computer 10 delivers a video conference holding notification to the karaoke computer 10 corresponding to the video conference partner. Upon receiving this notification, the karaoke computer 10 of the conference partner displays a sub-screen indicating that the conference has been held on the screen of the PC monitor 12 (C). When the karaoke computer 10 that has received the opening notification issues a confirmation instruction indicating that the notification has been received, both karaoke computers 10 mutually exchange and receive the AV data encoded by the AV data processing unit 21. The AV data is decoded and two karaoke banquet halls are connected by a video conference system. That is, the reception conference video input to the partner karaoke computer 10 is displayed and output on the karaoke monitor 39, and the reception conference sound input to the partner karaoke computer 10 is acoustically output from the speaker 35. In addition, the karaoke computer 10 displays an operation screen for requesting karaoke music on the PC monitor 12 through a user interface similar to that at the time of starting the electronic table of contents function, and receives designation input of requested music during the meeting (D). . FIG. 6 shows an outline of a conference video displayed on the karaoke monitor 39 when the performance terminal unit 30 is playing karaoke music. The transmission conference video and the reception conference video are simultaneously displayed with one screen divided vertically, and the lyrics image is superimposed on the conference video as a background.
[0025]
=== Banquet merger ===
The procedure until the video conference is held is described above. Next, a method of using the karaoke apparatus for merging banquets, which is the essence of the present invention, will be described. When the users of both karaoke banquet halls 2 having a video conference specify the requested music on their respective karaoke computers 10, the specified time and the music number of the specified music are communicated to each other. Then, the music numbers are rearranged in the designated order in accordance with the music number / designated time received from the other party and the music number / designated time input to itself, and the music numbers are transferred to the performance terminal unit 30 in accordance with the rearranged order. Go. As a result, the performance processing queues are unified at both performance terminals 30. Furthermore, when the performance terminal unit 30 performs the requested music according to the queue, the time required to read the karaoke data and be ready for performance may differ between the performance processing units 30. For this reason, in this embodiment, the karaoke piece is played after confirming that both the performance processing units 30 are ready for performance. Specifically, the performance processing unit 30 notifies the karaoke computer 10 in the same banquet hall via the RS232C-IF 6 that the performance preparation is ready, and communicates the notification between the karaoke computers 10 that conduct a video conference. Then, when it is confirmed that both performance terminal units 30 are ready for performance, the karaoke computer 10 on the side that issued the event notification starts performance at the performance terminal unit 30 in the same karaoke banquet hall via the RS232C interface 6. Is sent to the conference partner's karaoke computer 10 as well. Then, the karaoke computer 10 on the side receiving the performance start instruction immediately transfers the instruction to the performance terminal unit 30 corresponding to itself. As a result, the same karaoke music is played synchronously on both sides. Of course, synchronized performance of karaoke music can be realized even if the clocks are set between the two karaoke computers 10 and the performance start time is determined in advance.
[0026]
Also, if appropriate performance operation information is input such as canceling the performance at a banquet hall during the performance of a karaoke song, the karaoke computer 10 transmits the operation information to the karaoke computer 10 of the conference partner, The operation information is transferred to the performance terminal unit 30 in the banquet hall of the conference partner. Thereby, in addition to the timing control of performance start at both banquet halls, the performance operation of karaoke music can be controlled synchronously. The karaoke computer 10 displays a list of songs on the PC monitor 12 in a timely manner, such as between karaoke music performances or when a predetermined user input is received. When this list is displayed, it is displayed so as to be able to identify which music is reserved for performance at which banquet hall by color coding or the like. Of course, this list can also be displayed on the karaoke monitor 39.
[0027]
Therefore, the performance data is processed independently after the two performance terminals are synchronized, and the video / audio signals related to the video conference are decoded and output from the network. .
[0028]
=== Other Examples / Modifications / Supplements ===
In the said Example, the karaoke banquet hall in a different karaoke store was connected with the video conference system. Of course, a video conference may be held between karaoke banquet halls in the same karaoke store. As a matter of course, the video conference may be performed by connecting three or more karaoke banquet halls.
[0029]
If the network configuration is such that an IP address is assigned to each karaoke computer, the karaoke computer of the conference partner can be directly identified simply by specifying the IP address.
[0030]
In the above embodiment, direct data communication is performed between karaoke computers. In addition to this configuration, a configuration may be adopted in which a server computer that mediates a video conference is installed on the Internet by a mechanism similar to that of a known video / voice chat.
[0031]
In the above embodiment, the video camera is fixedly installed in the banquet hall. In addition to this embodiment, a plurality of video cameras are installed in each banquet hall, and information indicating that an arbitrary video camera in the conference party banquet hall is designated as well as performance reservation input information and performance operation input information is transmitted. Alternatively, an image captured by an arbitrary video camera in the other party's banquet hall may be displayed. Of course, if an electric zoom lens is attached to the video camera, the zoom magnification can be controlled. In addition, if a video camera is installed on an electric pan head that can be rotated up and down and left and right, and the control information of this pan head is communicated, the video shot at the other party's banquet hall can be displayed at a desired angle. Can do. The control of the video camera may be performed based on performance control of karaoke music or a queue of performance processing. For example, when a certain piece of music is played, it can be appropriately controlled such as transferring the control right from the requesting side to the karaoke computer of the conference partner.
[0032]
It is not an embodiment in which a plurality of karaoke banquet halls are connected by a video conferencing system by a prior meeting of users, and a user of a certain karaoke banquet hall offers to hold a video conference to any karaoke banquet hall, and the offer is made. The user of the received banquet room may accept the spot and connect both karaoke banquet halls with a video conference system. This embodiment can be easily realized by applying the inter-room communication system disclosed by the applicants of the present application in JP-A-11-184485 to a wide area network such as the Internet.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, when a plurality of remote karaoke banquet halls are connected by a video conference system, the progress of the banquets at the plurality of banquet halls can be matched. Therefore, karaoke songs do not collide with each other in the video conference. Also, since the karaoke music piece is played by a karaoke apparatus in the karaoke banquet hall, it has a higher sound quality than the voice sent through the TV conference.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a network configuration diagram to which a method of using a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a LAN of a karaoke store that constitutes the network. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a karaoke computer that constitutes the LAN.
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a performance terminal unit constituting the LAN.
FIG. 5 is a transition diagram (A) to (D) of screens displayed on the PC monitor 12 of the karaoke computer showing the situation in which the banquet is simultaneously progressing in the remote karaoke banquet hall connected by the video conference system in the embodiment. ).
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a conference video displayed on a karaoke monitor when the performance terminal unit is playing karaoke music.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 LAN
2 Karaoke banquet hall 3 Karaoke device 10 Karaoke computer 30 Performance terminal section

Claims (1)

It is a method of connecting two banquet halls with a video conference system and linking karaoke devices installed in both banquet halls,
The video conference system sends and receives the video and singing voice of the singer photographed at both banquet halls in real time, and outputs the received video and singing voice at both banquet halls.
The karaoke apparatus comprises performance control means and performance means,
The terminals of both banquet halls that make up the video conference system are each equipped with linked control means,
The link control means accepts designation input of the requested song from the user of the performance hall, sends the song number and reception time of the requested song to the terminal of the other banquet hall,
The cooperation control means receives the music number and the reception time from the terminal of the other banquet hall,
The linkage control means transfers the music numbers to the performance control means in order of the reception time based on the music number and reception time received at the performance hall and the music number and reception time received from the terminal of the other banquet hall. When the performance control means receives the music number from the cooperation control means, it registers the music number in the queue,
When the performance preparation of the karaoke music corresponding to the first music number in the queue is completed, the performance control means outputs a preparation completion notice to the cooperation control means,
When the cooperation control means receives the preparation completion notice from the performance control means, the cooperation control means transmits a preparation completion notice to the terminal of the other banquet hall,
When one of the predetermined linked control means receives the preparation completion notice from the performance control means of the performance hall and receives the preparation completion notice from the terminal of the other banquet hall, the performance start timing instruction information is sent to the performance control means of the performance hall. Output and send it to other banquet hall terminals,
When the cooperation control means of the other banquet hall receives the performance start timing instruction information from the predetermined one cooperation control means, the information is output to the performance control means,
The performance control means of both banquet halls starts playing the karaoke music pieces for which performance preparation is completed simultaneously by the performance means based on the performance start timing instruction information received from the cooperation control means.

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