JPH031690A - On-vehicle still picture video telephone - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make an on-vehicle still picture video telephone system suitable for the mount in a narrow cabin, to improve the operability, to miniaturize the system and to reduce cost by displaying a pickup picture of a camera at the outside of a vehicle and a picture received from a telephone line onto a display device in common. CONSTITUTION:When an automobile telephone set main body 12 receives a picture via a telephone line, a received picture 19 is displayed on a display screen of a display device 14 displaying a pickup picture 18 by a camera 11 at the outside of the automobile as a window. Moreover, when the picture 19 is desired on the display screen of the display device 14 in full scale, the picture is switched by a switch 17 and full scale display is attained as to the picture 18 by the similar operation. Furthermore, both the areas of the pictures 18, 19 are arranged in parallel on the display screen. That is, the pictures 18, 19 are displayed on the display device 14 in common and the shape of the telephone set suitable for mount in a narrow cabin is attained, the operability is improved and the on-vehicle still picture video telephone system is miniaturized and the cost is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle still picture video telephone device.

[Background Art] With the development of compact solid-state image sensors, many small, high-performance surveillance cameras using them have been put into practical use.

Figure 5 shows one form of use of this surveillance camera (1), in which it is installed at the rear of a large vehicle (2) with limited rear visibility, such as a truck, as an auxiliary rearview mirror. A rear view monitoring device has been put into practical use that displays images taken using (1) on a display in the driver's seat so that the driver can drive while checking the blind spot behind the driver.

In addition, as shown in Figure 6, the video phone on the transmitting side (3
) modulates the image signal taken by the camera (4) into an audio signal, transmits it to the receiving side via the telephone line (6), and the receiving side's video phone (3) receives it from the telephone line (6,). A still image videophone device that demodulates an audio signal into an image signal and reproduces and displays it on a display (5) has been put into practical use. (7
) is a handset that is connected to the video phone (3) and used for voice calls. In this case, the form of transmission between the sending side and the receiving side may be any other form of telephone line (6) shown in the figure, as long as it is capable of transmitting audio signals, and wireless communication is also possible.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional rearview monitoring devices and still image video telephone devices have been developed as separate and independent devices. Therefore, when trying to install these devices in a car,
Each device must be installed separately, and a wide installation requires space, making it difficult to install in a confined space that is close to the driver's seat. Further, there are problems in that the operation of such devices is complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle still image video telephone device having a rear monitoring function and an image transmission/reception function.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The in-vehicle still image video telephone device according to the present invention is capable of transmitting an image of the rear of the vehicle taken by an outside imaging means, an image of the inside of the car taken by an inside imaging means, and a telephone line from the other party. It is equipped with a control means for displaying the received images transmitted via the display on a display device and controlling the display so that the respective images are displayed so that they do not interfere with each other.

[Function] The in-vehicle still image videophone device of the present invention normally displays images from an outside photographing means installed outside the vehicle on a display in the driver's seat. When a received image is received, the received image is displayed on the display.

In this case, it is a problem for safe driving if the display screen suddenly switches from the image taken by the outside camera to the received image, so the received image should be large enough to make it possible to identify the face. Rearward monitoring is possible by displaying a window on a part of the display screen of the display device displaying the image, and if necessary, eliminating the display of the captured image and displaying the received image in full scale. To provide a compact and inexpensive in-vehicle still image video telephone device with good operability and capable of reliably exhibiting functions and image transmission/reception functions.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1st
In the figure, (11) is an external camera for rear monitoring as an outside photographing means installed at the rear of the vehicle body, and (12) is a car phone main body.
It transmits and receives wireless signals, and includes image signal processing means and storage means (not shown) necessary for a still image video telephone. (13) is an in-vehicle camera installed as an in-vehicle photographing means for a passenger making a phone call to take an image of his or her face, etc., and (14) is the image value 1 of the outside camera (11) or the in-vehicle camera (13). The display (15) displays the received image transmitted from the other party via the telephone or phone line, and controls the switching of the display contents of the display (14), as well as receiving input from the switch (17). A central processing unit (16) serves as a control means for performing various operations, and a handset (16) performs voice calls in the same manner as a normal car telephone device.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when you turn on the power, the camera outside the vehicle (1
The photographed image of 1) is displayed on the display (14) (step 5TI). In this state, the car phone body (1
A call is made in step 2), and it is determined whether or not an image has been received from the other party during this call (step 5T2).
If YES, as shown in FIG. 3, a part of the image (18) taken by the camera outside the vehicle (11) and the received image (19) are automatically displayed in a window on the display (14) (step 5T3). .

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not to display the image stored in the storage means of the car phone main body (12) (step 5).
T4), if YES, erase the image taken by the external camera (11) and display the image read from the storage means on the display (
14) are sequentially displayed (step 5T5). Also, NO
If so, it is determined whether the received image should be enlarged and displayed (step 576); if YES, the received image is displayed in full scale (step 5T7).

Further, if the determination in step ST6 is No, it is determined whether to return to displaying only images taken by the camera outside the vehicle (11) (step 5T8), if YES, the process returns to step STI, and if NO, step ST3 Return to

After displaying the received image in full scale in step ST7, it is determined whether or not to display the image stored in the storage means (step 5T9). If YES, the images stored in the storage means can be sequentially read out. Display (Step 5TIO). If NO, determine whether to return to window display or not.Step STI 1), Y
If ES, the process returns to step ST3; if NO, the process returns to step ST7.

As mentioned above, when the car phone main body (12) receives an image via the telephone line, this received image fl (19) is displayed on the display (18) displaying the image (18) taken by the camera (13) outside the vehicle. 14) Displaying a window on a part of the display screen (the lower right corner in the example shown) is recommended because if the entire display screen suddenly changes while driving, it will be impossible to check the rear of the vehicle, which will impede safe driving. It is.

If it is desired to display the received image (19) in full scale on the display screen of the display (14), the switch (17) is operated. The central processing unit (15) has a switch (1
When receiving the switching signal input in step 7), the built-in program causes the display screen of the display device (14) to display the received image (19) in full scale, and controls image operations, image transmission, etc.

Furthermore, the image taken by the in-vehicle camera (13) can be displayed in the same way as the received image (19), and the pose of the image to be transmitted can be determined while looking at this display state.

Voice calls are carried out using a handset (16) in the same way as a normal telephone.

In addition to the window display, as shown in FIG.
Two display areas (14a) on the display screen of the display device (14)
, (14b) in parallel, the captured image (18) from the camera outside the vehicle (11) will not be cut off, and if the display (14) is of a French screen, it will be easier to see. It has the same effect as.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a single display device is configured to display images captured by the camera outside the vehicle and images received from the telephone line, making it possible to easily enter the narrow interior of the vehicle. The present invention has the advantage that it can be formed into a shape suitable for mounting, and that it is possible to realize an in-vehicle still image video telephone device that is small and inexpensive and has good operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the overall configuration of an in-vehicle still picture video telephone device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of this device, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the display device of this device. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the displayed window display screen, FIG. 4 is a modification of the display, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a car with a surveillance camera attached to the rear of the vehicle, and FIG. 6 is a diagram of a conventional still image video telephone. It is a connection diagram. In the figure, (11) is a camera outside the vehicle for rear monitoring (imaging means outside the vehicle), (2) is the main body of the car phone, (13) is an in-vehicle camera (imaging means inside the vehicle), (14) is a display (image display means), (15) is a central processing unit (control means). In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Image signal processing means for identifying and modulating/demodulating image signals, a car phone main body for transmitting and receiving the image signals, external imaging means for monitoring the rear of the car, and image pickup means for photographing the person making the call. an in-vehicle imaging means; an image display means for displaying captured images obtained by the in-vehicle imaging means and the in-vehicle imaging means; and received images obtained through the car phone main body; An in-vehicle still image videophone device comprising a control means for controlling images to be displayed on an image display means.