JPH03126391A - Video telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send only its own video image for a talker without notifying a background by eliminating the background of the talker (object) and sending the result. CONSTITUTION:A picture processing section 2 applies A/D conversion to a video signal outputted from a pickup camera 1 to apply digital signal processing and a ridge extraction section 3 applies identification separation between a noted object, i.e., a talker from a background among video signals and applies threshold level processing. A background elimination section 4 clears a background picture data based on the video signal subjected to digital signal processing at the picture processing section 2 and the contour information of the talker obtained by the ridge extraction section 3. Thus, a video telephone set of an opposite party observes only the video image of the talker.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a videophone device, and particularly to a videophone device having a captured image processing function.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional videophone devices directly modulate images captured by a television camera and transmit the modulated images to the other party's device via a communication control unit.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional videophone device has a method of transmitting all captured images including the image of the object (- ultimately the caller) and the background captured by the TV camera to the other party's device.
There was a drawback that the background image was sent even if the caller did not want to send it.

[Means to solve the problem]

The videophone device of the present invention includes: a digital image processing unit that performs digital image processing by A/D converting a video signal of an object photographed by an imaging camera; and an edge point extraction unit that extracts the outline of the object. , and a background deletion section that deletes the background of the object using the contour data extracted by the edge point extraction section.

〔Example〕

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention.

The imaging camera 1 is a small camera for photographing a person trying to talk using a videophone device. The image processing unit 2 converts the video signal output from the imaging camera 1 into an A/D
Convert and perform digital signal processing. The edge point extraction section 3 performs threshold processing to identify and separate objects of interest from the video signal, that is, the caller and the background. The background deletion section 4 clears background image data based on the contour information of the caller obtained from the edge point extraction section 3 from the video signal digitally processed by the image processing section 2. The modulator 5 modulates the video data obtained by the background remover 4 at a carrier frequency fC for transmission to the public telephone line 7. The communication control unit 6 performs a calling procedure 1 in order to transmit the video signal modulated at the carrier frequency fc to the other party's video telephone device.
Control communication protocols. Further, the communication control section 6 is connected to the public telephone network via a public telephone line 7.

The demodulator 8 demodulates the modulated video data sent from the other party's video phone device. The display control unit 9 controls brightness signals, synchronization signals, etc. for displaying the demodulated video data on the display unit 1°. Display section 10
is a display device composed of a CRT, LCD (liquid crystal display), or the like. The operation section 11 is equipped with input means such as a key switch, and an indicator for displaying a simple lamp, etc., and is used by the caller to perform various operations on the videophone device. The input control section 12 is the operation section 1
1 and the microprocessor 13. The microprocessor 13 performs program control of a series of operations of the video telephone device, and the program is written in a memory 14 as a ROM.

The telephone 15 is used by the caller to make a voice call with the other party, and is connected to the communication control section 6, and is used by the microprocessor 13 to perform the call and to switch between transmitting image data. The carrier wave oscillation unit 16 is a part that oscillates a carrier wave for transmitting video data via the public telephone line 7.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

The caller can make a manual call using the telephone set 15, or press the automatic dialing key on the operation unit 11 to make an automatic call using the communication control unit 6 to connect to the other party. After completion, when transmitting image information (i.e., the photographed screen of the caller), the caller must press the operation unit 11.
From key human power. The key manual data is transmitted to the microprocessor 13 via the input control section 12. The microprocessor 13 identifies the data and drives the imaging camera l to take a picture of the caller. The video signal obtained by the picture is transmitted to the image processing part 2 and the edge point extraction part 3. The image processing section 2 performs A/D conversion on the video signal and performs digital signal processing. On the other hand, from the video signal input to the edge point extracting section 3, threshold processing or the like is used to generate contour information for separating one caller from the background. The generated contour information is input to the background deletion section 4, but the caller decides whether or not to delete the background by looking at his/her own image displayed on the display section 10 and then inputting the information from the operation section 11. It can be executed by key human power. If the background image is to be transmitted as is, the video data is sent to the modulation section 5 without performing any operations in the background deletion section 4. On the other hand, when deleting the background, the background deletion section 4 clears the background image data using the contour information from the edge point extraction section 3 and sends it to the modulation section 5 using the key input from the operation section 11, and the communication control section 4. It is transmitted to the other party's video telephone device via the public telephone line 7. Therefore, only the image of the caller can be viewed on the other party's video telephone device.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the caller (object)
By deleting the background before sending, the caller can send only his or her own video without being aware of the background.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention. 1... Imaging camera, 2... Image processing unit, 3...
Edge point extraction section, 4... Background deletion section, 5... Modulation section, 6
... Communication control unit, 7... Public telephone line, 8... Demodulation unit, 9... Display control unit, 10... Display unit, 11.
...Operation unit, 12...Input control unit, 13...Microprocessor, 14...Memory, 15...Telephone,
16...Carrier wave oscillation section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A digital surface image processing section that performs digital image processing by A/D converting the video signal of the object photographed by the imaging camera, an edge point extraction section that extracts the outline of the object, and this edge point extraction section A video telephone device comprising: a background deletion unit that deletes the background of the object using extracted contour data.