JPH04119182U - Videophone device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] In a videophone device, when the video information to be transmitted becomes image information that does not include the interior of the room due to the operator leaving the seat, etc., the image information to be transmitted is To provide a videophone device that enables automatic blurring. [Structure] A video telephone device is provided with a subject detection circuit 101 that detects the presence or absence of a subject, and the detection result is given as a resolution change instruction from a control circuit 102 to an image information processing circuit 105, thereby automatically detecting the presence or absence of a subject. The resolution of the transmitted image information is adjusted accordingly.

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea]

0001

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a video telephone device that transmits moving image information.

0002

[Conventional technology]

Traditionally, videophone equipment (hereinafter referred to as static video) used to transmit still images using analog lines. A still image videophone device) has been developed and put into practical use (for example, the Japan Broadcasting System Article ``TTC standard method'' in the August 1988 issue of ``Electronics Life'' published by Japan Publishing Association (Refer to ``Unification of Still Image TV Phone Standards Based on Standards''). This still image videophone device has audio In addition to making phone calls, it was also possible to transmit still images. However, audio, images Simultaneous communication was not possible, and voice communication was temporarily interrupted to transmit still images. In contrast, in recent years, there have been multiple information channels and control systems that can transmit large amounts of information at high speed. Simultaneous mutual communication of audio and video using a digital line with control channel A videophone device (hereinafter simply referred to as a videophone device) has been developed (e.g. For example, "Communication Technology" published by Rick Telecom Co., Ltd., December 1990. (See the article ``International Standards for Video Conference Systems,'' pages 35 to 42). This tele Bi-telephone devices enable mutual communication of voice and video, allowing you to see the facial expressions of the person you are communicating with. It became possible to have a casual conversation.

0003

[Problem that the idea aims to solve]

However, videophone devices that can mutually communicate image information in real time are By transmitting the image information, regardless of the presence or absence of the subject such as the operator, the image capturing means The captured images are sent as is. In other words, the videophone device is operated by the operator. Even if the operator leaves his/her seat during communication, the situation in the room when the operator is not present will be communicated as is. Sending to the other party. This image showing the background of the absence of the operator is In many cases, this is an image that you do not wish to send, and in such cases, the other party may have to This creates an unpleasant feeling of being looked at.

0004 The present invention was developed in consideration of these points, and it allows the operator to leave his/her seat during communication. We provide videophone equipment that does not pose a risk of the background being seen by the other party even when the user removes the phone. It is something that

[0005]

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides an image capturing means for capturing an image, and a captured image obtained by the image capturing means. An image smoothing means for converting an image into a smoothed captured image, and an image for encoding the captured image. an encoding means; a communication means for transmitting image information encoded by the image encoding means; A subject detection device that detects whether or not a subject exists within a predetermined range from the image capturing means. A videophone device comprising: a stage in which the subject detecting means detects a subject within a predetermined range; When the presence of a body is detected, the image encoding means captures an image using the image capturing means. The captured image is encoded, and the object detection means detects that the object exists within a predetermined range. When it is detected that there is no image, the image capturing means smoothes the image using the image smoothing means. It encodes the captured image.

[0006] The present invention also provides an image capturing means for capturing an image, and a predetermined range from the image capturing means. a subject detection means for detecting whether or not a subject exists within the subject; Image smoothing means for causing the image capturing means to capture a smoothed image according to the detection result of , an image encoding means for encoding an image captured by the image capturing means, and the image encoding means; and communication means for transmitting image information encoded by the encoding means.

[0007]

[Effect]

The object detection means determines whether the object exists within a predetermined range from the image capturing means. is monitored, and when it is detected that there is no subject within a predetermined range, the image smoothing means is used to The image is made into a blurred image, and the blurred image is encoded by an image encoding means and then transmitted. This eliminates the need to show images that only show the background.

[0008]

【Example】

An embodiment of the videophone device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5. do light work

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the video telephone device of the present invention.

0010 FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of object detection according to an embodiment of the videophone device of the present invention.

[0011] In Figure 1, T is a video phone device, which is an 8-pin modular cable. 111 to the digital line K.

0012 The video telephone device T includes a camera 103 as an image capturing means for capturing image information. Then, it is detected whether a subject such as an operator exists within a predetermined range from the camera 103. A subject detection circuit 101 serves as a subject detection means for detecting a subject, as well as overall control. A subject detection signal from the detection circuit 101 is sent to the image information processing circuit 105, which will be described later. A control circuit 102 instructs smoothing processing of image information, and a control circuit 102 that instructs smoothing processing of image information, and CRT 1 that displays image information received from the camera 103 or image information captured from the camera 103; 04 and image information captured by the camera 103 or received by the communication circuit 109 described later. An image information processing circuit 105 processes information according to instructions from a control circuit 102, and inputs audio. a microphone 106 that outputs audio, a speaker 107 that outputs audio, and an input from the microphone 106. or A/D and D/A conversion of audio information received by the communication circuit 109, which will be described later. An audio information processing circuit 108 that performs A communication circuit 109 serves as a communication means for transmitting and receiving information, and receives instructions from an operator. and an operation circuit 110 for controlling the operation.

[0013] Here, the image information processing circuit 105 converts the captured image from the camera 103 into a blurred image. From the image smoothing circuit 112 as a smoothing means for converting into an image and from the camera 103, is an image encoding means for encoding image information from the image smoothing circuit 113. an image encoding circuit 113; an image decoding circuit 114 that decodes received image information; It consists of a camera 103 and an image smoothing circuit 112, and a camera 103 and an image encoding circuit. The line 113 is switched and connected by a switch 115 according to instructions from the control circuit 102. . The image smoothing circuit 112 is connected to the camera 103 according to instructions from the control circuit 102. At this time, for the captured image obtained from the camera 103, the pixels constituting the captured image are Group multiple pixels into blocks that are adjacent to each other and average the values within that block. . With this process, the captured image from the camera 103 becomes a low-resolution blur with little change overall. The resulting image will be The size of the block can be freely set according to instructions from the control circuit 102, and Stepwise resolution change processing is possible.

[0014] When such a device communicates with a videophone device having a similar configuration, explain about.

[0015] The object detection circuit 101 shown in FIG. 1 measures the distance to the object using ultrasonic waves. It is determined whether the subject exists within a certain range. An overview is shown in Figure 2. figure 2, 201 and 202 are the object detection circuit and camera as in FIG. 1, and 203 is the object detection circuit and camera. 204 is a subject detection range for determining whether or not a subject exists; 204 is a subject such as an operator; 205 is an ultrasonic wave emitted by the object detection circuit 1 for object detection, and 206 is its reflection. It's a wave. The object detection circuit 201 emits ultrasonic pulses and detects the reflected waves. Measure the time it takes for the object to reach the object, convert the measured time to distance, and determine if the object is within the specified range. Determine whether or not.

[0016] Next, Figure 1 shows the subject detection and transmission image processing related to the videophone device of the present invention. This will be explained with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 5.

[0017] Figure 3 explains the operation in response to the signal indicating the presence or absence of a subject from the subject detection circuit described above. FIG.

[0018] Figure 4 is a detailed flowchart of the resolution reduction process shown in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is shown in Figure 3. FIG. 7 is a detailed flowchart of resolution recovery processing.

[0019] In Figure 3, with the start of mutual communication of voice and images by the videophone device, Step 300 is entered and a communication state is established (step 301). Telephone that is in communication status The telephone device periodically issues an instruction to end communication and checks whether there is a subject within the predetermined range 203. I do. Confirmation of communication end instruction is performed in step 302, and if there is, step 303 If the communication is not completed, the process advances to step 304 to confirm the subject. Step 304 In the subject confirmation, the subject detection circuit 101 detects that the subject is within the predetermined range 203. If this is detected, the process returns to step 301 and normal image transmission is continued. Subject detection times When the step 101 detects that there is no subject within the predetermined range 203, the step Proceed to step 305. In step 305, the control circuit 102 controls the image information processing circuit 105. The image taken from the camera 103 is smoothed using the switch 115. The image smoothing circuit 112 performs resolution reduction processing. this FIG. 4 shows an example of resolution reduction processing. In this example, the image smoothing circuit described above By using the fact that the pixel block size in step 112 can be set stepwise, The resolution is lowered by one step in step 401, and the resulting image is transmitted in step 402. , In step 403, the resolution of the transmitted image is reduced to a preset resolution. The process of steps 401 to 403 is repeated until the judgment is satisfied. return. With this resolution reduction process, it is necessary to show that the subject is not present and the background is shown. It is possible to make an image without a blur gradually blurred. This low resolution image (blurry In the transmission state of the image), it is monitored whether or not there is a subject within the predetermined range 203. (Step 306). Confirmation and continue sending low-resolution images (blurred images). Object detection circuit When the presence of a subject within the predetermined range 203 is detected in step 101, the process proceeds to step 307. The control circuit 102 sends image information to the image smoothing circuit 112 of the image information circuit 105. Instructs to return the resolution to the original resolution. In step 307, the image information to be transmitted is information, the original captured image that has undergone resolution recovery processing from a low-resolution image (blurred image) and returns to the communication state in step 301. This resolution recovery process lowers the resolution Similar to the processing, the image smoothing circuit 112 performs the processing. An example of this resolution recovery process is Shown in Figure 5. In this embodiment, the image smoothing circuit 1 12, the pixel block size can be set in stages, but the processing procedure The order is opposite to the resolution lowering process, and in step 501, the resolution is restored by one level, The image is sent in step 502, and the resolution is changed to the original resolution in step 503. Determine whether the recovery has been made and continue processing steps 501 to 503 until the resolution is recovered. repeat. When it is confirmed that the resolution has been restored to the original resolution, the control circuit 102 The switch 115 is connected to the image information processing circuit 105 to transfer the image signal from the image smoothing circuit 112 to the image information processing circuit 105. Issues an instruction to switch to the encoding circuit 113 and encodes the captured image of the camera 103 Connect to circuit 113. The image encoding circuit 113 uses the image captured by the camera 103. Return to normal communication where the image is encoded and transmitted as is.

[0020] In the above embodiment, the subject exists or does not exist within the predetermined range 203. When detected, the image smoothing circuit 112 reduces the resolution or The recovery process is performed step by step using the free setting of the pixel block size in the process. I went to , but there is no need to do it in particular steps. For example, the image smoothing circuit 112 It has a one-step resolution reduction function that is sufficient to make the captured image blurry, and the control circuit Path 102 indicates that the subject detection circuit 101 detects that there is no subject within the predetermined range 203. When detected, the switch 115 is connected to the image smoothing circuit 112 and the image smoothing circuit is activated. 112, the captured image is instantly blurred, and the subject is within a predetermined range 203. When it is detected that it exists, the switch 115 is connected to the image encoding circuit 113 and the The process may also include restoring the captured image to the original resolution.

[0021] In addition, in the above embodiment, it is necessary to show that the subject does not exist within the predetermined range 203. A captured image without a Due to the resolution reduction processing function in the image smoothing circuit 112, a blurred image with low resolution is created. However, the image capturing means included in the videophone device does not require autofocus. If the automatic focus adjustment function is provided, the image smoothing circuit 112 There is no need to perform image reduction processing, and a focus adjustment circuit is used as an image smoothing means. It is possible to intentionally shift the focus when taking images with a new camera, resulting in a blurry image. Ru.

[0022] Furthermore, the above embodiments have been described with reference to a videophone device that mutually communicates moving images. However, the invention is not limited to this, and communication terminal devices that mutually communicate moving images, such as televisions, etc. It can also be used as a review conference system.

[0023]

[Effect of the idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, a video telephone device that performs mutual communication of moving images can be used. Automatic detection of the subject and automatic processing of the transmitted image resolution make operation easier. Communication allows people to show only what they want to see to the other party without worrying about their surroundings. It becomes possible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a video telephone device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of object detection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Object detection circuit 102 Control circuit 103 Camera 104 CRT 105 Image information processing circuit 106 Microphone 107 Speaker 108 Audio information processing circuit 109 Communication circuit 110 Operation circuit 111 8-pin modular cable 112 Image smoothing circuit 113 Image encoding circuit 114 Image decoding circuit 115 Switch

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An image capturing means for capturing an image; an image smoothing means for converting a captured image obtained by the image capturing means into a smoothed captured image; and an image encoding means for encoding the captured image; comprising a communication means for transmitting image information encoded by the image encoding means, and a subject detection means for detecting whether or not a subject exists within a predetermined range from the image capturing means,
When the subject detecting means detects that a subject exists within a predetermined range, the image encoding means encodes the image taken by the image capturing means, and the subject detecting means detects that the subject is within a predetermined range. 2. The video telephone apparatus, wherein when detecting that the image does not exist, the image capturing means encodes the captured image smoothed by the image smoothing means. 2. Image capturing means for capturing an image; subject detecting means for detecting whether or not a subject exists within a predetermined range from the image capturing means; and smoothing according to the detection result of the subject detecting means. image smoothing means for capturing an image captured by the image capturing means; image encoding means for encoding the image captured by the image capturing means; and communication means for transmitting image information encoded by the image encoding means. A video telephone device comprising: