JPH0323792A - Video telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance a television function effectively even during absence by sending automatically picture information picked up by an image pickup section in advance to a digital communication line when a call comes during absence. CONSTITUTION:A subscriber uses an image pickup section 9 to pick up a picture to be sent prior to the absence, stored in a picture data storage section 12 as a picture data via a data processing control section 4 and the absence mode is set by the absence mode setting means of an operation section 5. When a telephone call comes via a digital communication line 15 during the absence, an interface section 1 outputs an incoming detection signal S1 to an automatic transmission means of the data processing control section 4 and the automatic transmission means receiving the signal outputs an automatic incoming command signal S2 to apply automatic transmission to a telephone section 3. Then the picture data stored in advance in the picture data storage section 12 is outputted to the digital communication line 15 via the interface section 1. Thus, the television function of the video telephone set is enhanced effectively even during the absence.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a video telephone device that communicates voice and image information via a digital communication line.

Conventional technology> As this type of videophone device, for example, the one shown in FIG. 3 has been known. This videophone device uses a digital communication line when receiving data! 5 to line termination device (
A digital signal input through the DSU (hereinafter abbreviated as DSU) 16 is separated into an image signal and an audio signal by the line interface section l, and sent to the data transmission section 2 and the telephone section 3, respectively, and the telephone section 3 reproduces the audio. On the other hand, the data transmission unit 2 extracts image data from the serial image signal, and the data processing controller 24 decodes this based on the command signal from the operation unit 25 and stores it in the display memory 6. The digital video signal is converted into an analog video signal by a D/A converter 7 and displayed as an image on a display section 8. In addition, at the time of transmission, an image such as a person's image taken by the imaging unit 9 is converted into a digital video signal by the A/D converter IO, and the image is converted into a digital video signal by the capture memory 1.
The digital video signal stored here is encoded into image data by the data processing control section 24 based on the command signal from the operation section 25, and this image data is transmitted to the data transmission section 2.
After converting it into a serial image signal suitable for the transmission speed of the digital communication line 15, the line interface section 1 mixes the image signal with a serial audio signal from the telephone section 3 and sends it to the digital communication line 15 via the DSU 16. Output. In this way, the videophone device transmits and receives audio and image information to and from other videophone devices via the digital communication line 15.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, the conventional videophone device described above does not start transmitting/receiving operations until the subscriber is present and the transmitter/receiver of the telephone operator 3 is off-hook. There is a problem that if a call comes in while the person is away, the call cannot be received. In this case, if you set the video phone device's phone number 3 to an answering machine, it will respond to the caller's call and let you know that you are away, and will also record the caller's voice and send image information to the caller. This has the disadvantage that it cannot function effectively as a videophone device while you are away.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable image information taken in advance by an imaging unit to be automatically sent to a digital communication line when a call is received while the user is away, thereby making it possible to effectively utilize the television function even when the user is away. An object of the present invention is to provide a videophone device.

Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above objects, the videophone device of the present invention has the following features:
a telephone unit that transmits and receives voice data to and from a digital communication line via an interface unit; a telephone unit that processes control signals and image data input from the digital communication line via the interface unit and displays images on a display unit; A device that is equipped with a data processing control unit that processes image signals from an imaging unit and outputs the processed image signals to a digital communication line via an interface unit, and that communicates audio and image information,
An image data storage unit that stores image data photographed by the above-mentioned image sensor and processed by the data processing control unit, and an operation unit that inputs command signals to the data processing control unit for setting an absent mode. an absentee mode setting means, provided in the data processing control section, and configured to automatically send an operation to the telephone section upon receiving an incoming call detection signal inputted from the interface section when the absentee mode is set by the absentee mode setting means; The present invention is characterized in that it includes an automatic transmission means that outputs an automatic call reception instruction signal for the purpose of the communication, and outputs the image data stored in the image data storage section to the digital communication line via the interface section.

<Operation> Before the subscriber is away, the subscriber takes an image to be sent using the imaging unit, stores it as image data in the image data storage unit via the data processing control unit, and also uses the away mode setting means of the operation unit to cancel the image when the subscriber is away. Set the mode. When a call comes through the digital communication line while the user is away, the interface section outputs an incoming call detection signal to the automatic transmission means of the data processing control section, and the automatic transmission means that receives this outputs an automatic incoming call instruction signal. At the same time, the image data previously stored in the image data storage section is outputted to the digital communication line via the interface section. In this way, even when the subscriber is away, image information from the image data storage unit is transmitted to the other subscriber via the digital communication line in addition to audio information from the telephone unit informing the subscriber that the subscriber is away.

Example Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to illustrated embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention. This videophone device adds an automatic transmission means to be described later to the data processing control section 24 of the conventional videophone device described in FIG. 3 to form a data processing control section 4.
An absence mode switch for setting an absence mode is added to the conventional operation section 25 to form the operation section 5, and the image is captured by the image pickup section 9, passed through the A/D converter IO and the capture memory IT, and then transferred to the data processing control section. The configuration is the same as that of the conventional example shown in FIG. 3, except that an image data storage section l2 is newly provided to store the image data processed in step '4, and the same blocks are designated with the same numbers. The explanation will be omitted.

The automatic transmission means of the data processing control section 4 is operated by operation 1!4.
When the absence mode is set with the above-mentioned absence mode switch in No. 5, the call detection signal Sl output by the line interface section I when the activation signal is received from the other subscriber via the digital communication line I5 is sent to the telephone terminal. 3, outputs an automatic call reception instruction signal S for automatic transmission operation, and
The image data previously stored in the image data storage section l2 is transferred to the data transmission section 2. Line interface section 1, D
S.U. 16 and is output to the digital communication line 15.

The operation of the video telephone device having the above configuration will be described next.

Before the subscriber is away or absent, the subscriber can take an image 19 of the image he or she wants to send.
When the desired image is displayed on the display section 10, the user operates the absent mode switch on the operation section 5 to store it. Then, the target image such as a human figure is converted into a digital video signal by the A/D converter 10 and temporarily stored in the capture memory 11, and then subjected to image compression processing by the data processing control section 4. The image data is converted into image data and stored in the image data storage section 12. When you receive a call from the other party's terminal via the digital communication line 15 and DS016 while you are away, the line interface I outputs an incoming call detection signal S1 to the automatic transmission means of the monitor processing control section 4, and in response to this, the automatic transmission Since the answering mode switch of the operation section 5 is set, the means outputs an automatic call incoming instruction signal St to cause the telephone section 3 having an answering machine function to perform an automatic transmission operation, and also pre-stores the above image data in the image data storage section l2. The image data that has been sent is output to the digital communication line 15 via the data transmission unit 2, line interface unit 1, and DS016. At this time, the line interface unit 1 mixes and transmits the image data signal with the voice data signal from the telephone unit 3 informing the subscriber that he is away, so that the subscriber's voice information informing the other party of his absence is combined with the subscriber's voice information. Image information such as a person's image is conveyed.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively utilize the television function of the videophone device even when the subscriber is away from home, and it is possible to convey the absence information to the other party more easily than with voice answering messages, which is very effective. It's convenient.

FIG. 2 shows a modification of the embodiment of FIG. I in which the storage capacity of the image data storage section 12 is increased, and the other blocks are the same as those of FIG. 1. This modification has the advantage that a plurality of screens can be stored in the image data storage unit l3 and the plurality of screens can be transmitted.

It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

<Effects of the Invention> As is clear from the above description, the videophone device of the present invention includes an interface section with a digital communication line, and a telephone section for transmitting and receiving voice data. In a device that is equipped with a data processing control unit that processes control signals and image data, a display unit, and an imaging unit and communicates audio and image information, an image that is photographed by the imaging unit and processed by the data processing control unit to be transmitted. When the data is stored in the image data storage unit in advance and the data is set in the absence mode setting means provided in the operation unit that inputs a command signal to the data processing control unit, automatic transmission is performed in the data processing control unit. When receiving the incoming call detection signal from the interface unit, the means outputs an automatic incoming call instruction signal for automatic transmission operation to the telephone unit, and digitally communicates the image data previously stored in the image data storage unit. Since the output is output to the telephone line, when a call is received while you are away, the call is automatically received, and image information such as the person's profile of the absentee subscriber can be transmitted to the other party's terminal along with a voice answering message. The TV function of the device can be effectively utilized even when one is away, which is extremely convenient.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a modification of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional video telephone device. l...Line interface section, 3...Telephone section, 4
...Data processing control unit, 5...Operation unit, 8...Display unit, 9...Imaging unit, 12.13...Image data storage unit, S1...Incoming call detection signal, S1... Automatic incoming call instruction signal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A telephone unit that sends and receives voice data to and from a digital communication line via an interface unit, and a telephone unit that processes control signals and image data that are input from the digital communication line via the interface unit and displays images on the display unit. In a videophone device that communicates voice and image information, the videophone device is equipped with a data processing control unit that processes image signals from the imaging unit and outputs the processed image signals to a digital communication line via an interface unit, and the image signals are processed by the imaging unit. , an image data storage section for storing image data processed by the data processing control section, and an absent mode setting means for setting an absent mode provided in an operation section for inputting a command signal to the data processing control section; An automatic incoming instruction signal provided in the data processing control unit for automatically transmitting an incoming call to the telephone unit in response to an incoming call detection signal inputted from the interface unit when the outgoing mode is set by the outgoing mode setting means. What is claimed is: 1. A video telephone device comprising automatic transmission means for outputting the image data stored in the image data storage section to a digital communication line via an interface section.