JPH04273690A - Television doorphone device with picture memory - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the resolution and to increase the video recording capacity by providing a gatedoor slave set having a camera picking up a visitor and generating a video signal, an in-room master set receiving the video signal, a video signal compression means provided in the master set, and a means decoding the video signal from the picture memory and displaying the signal onto a TV monitor to the device. CONSTITUTION:When a call button 25 of a gatedoor slave set 21 is depressed while the automatic answering mode is set by the operation of a video recording button FK1 of a gatedoor master set 1, a video signal generated by a camera eye 22 of the slave set 21 is fetched by a picture fetch circuit 4 of the master set 1, converted by an A/D converter 5 and stored once in a buffer memory 6. Then the video signal is compressed by a (K-L) expansion section 7 and recorded in still picture memories ME1-ME6 of a picture memory unit 12. In this case, the resolution is a multiple of four when the compression is set to 1/4. Then the reproduction button FK2 is operated, a (K-L) decoding section 9 decodes the picture and it is outputted from a TV monitor 14.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

FIELD OF INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION The present invention relates to a video door intercom device with an image memory, and more particularly to a video door intercom device with an image memory that compresses and stores a video signal of an image of a visitor sent from an entrance handset to an indoor base unit. Regarding.

0002

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As shown in FIG. 2, a conventional video door intercom device with an image memory includes an entrance handset 21 that has a camera eye 22, a speaker 23, a microphone 24, and a call button 25 mounted on the front. , 2 to the entrance cordless unit 21
It is composed of an indoor main unit 31 connected by a video cable L1 such as a line-balanced cable.

[0003] The indoor main unit 31 is composed of a telephone circuit 2 to which a handset 3 is connected, an image capture circuit 4, an A/D conversion circuit 5, a memory I/O interface 8, and an IC memory. Image memory unit 13, video circuit 16, D/A conversion circuit 11, television monitor 14, record button FK1, playback button FK2, erase button FK
3 is connected to the CPU 20 and includes a still image memory management program.

[0004] The telephone circuit 2 of the indoor main unit 31 is connected to a terminal 31a.
It is connected to cable L1 via. In addition, the terminal 31a
The output side of the image capture circuit 4 connected to the input side is connected to the input side of the A/D conversion circuit 5, and the output side of the A/D conversion circuit 5 is connected to the memory I/0 interface 8 via the data bus 17.
connected to the input side of the Further, one output side of the memory I/0 interface 8 is connected to the image memory unit 13 via a data bus 19. The other output side of the memory I/0 interface 8 is connected to the D/O interface via the data bus 18.
Connected to the input side of the A conversion circuit 11, and connected to the input side of the D/A conversion circuit 11.
The output side of the video circuit 16 is connected to one input side of the television monitor 14, and the output side of the video circuit 16 to which the terminal 31a is connected is connected to the other input side of the television monitor 14.

Image capture circuit 4, video circuit 16, A/
Each control side of the D conversion circuit 5, D/A conversion circuit 11, and image memory unit 13 is connected to the CPU 20. Here, when the recording button FK1 of the indoor base unit 31 is operated and the answering mode is set, the call button 2 of the entrance slave unit 21 is pressed.
5 is pressed, the CPU 20 detects the pressing of the call button 25 via the video circuit 16. When the CPU 20 detects that the call button 21 is pressed, the image capture circuit 4
It operates by executing a still image memory management program built into the 0, and captures the video signal input from the terminal 31a.

The video signal captured by the image capture circuit 4 is converted into digital data by the A/D conversion circuit 5 and recorded in the still image memories ME11 to ME16 of the image memory unit 13. Still image memory ME11 of image memory unit 13
When the playback button FK2 is operated, the video signal recorded in ~ME16 is sent to the television monitor 14 via the memory I/0 interface 8 and the D/A conversion circuit 11.

In the at-home mode when the record button FK1 is not operated, the CPU 20 detects that the call button 25 is pressed and directly sends a video signal to the television monitor 14 via the video circuit 16. As a result, the speaker 23 of the entrance slave unit 21
A call is made between the microphone 24 and the handset 3 of the indoor base unit 31, and connection control is performed by turning the handset 3 on-hook and off-hook.

[0008] A video door intercom device with an image memory is usually constructed of a semiconductor memory circuit formed into an IC, and has drawbacks such as the need for a large capacity image memory in order to improve the resolution of the image quality of the recording screen.

[0009]

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned difficulties.The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned difficulties. An object of the present invention is to provide a video intercom device with an image memory that can improve resolution by compressing images, increase recording capacity by reducing redundancy, etc.

0010

[Means for Solving the Problems] A video door intercom device with an image memory according to the present invention includes an entrance handset having a camera that images a visitor and generates a video signal, and receives the video signal generated by the entrance handset. The indoor base unit includes a video signal compression means for compressing the received video signal, an image memory for storing the video signal compressed by the video signal compression means, and a video signal output from the image memory. The apparatus includes a video signal restoring means for restoring, and a television monitor for monitoring the video signal restored and reproduced by the video signal restoring means.

[0011]

[Operation] When the recording button FK1 is operated on the indoor base unit 1 shown in FIG.
The video signal generated in step 2 is captured by the image capture circuit 4 of the indoor base unit 1, A/D converted by the A/D conversion circuit 5, and temporarily stored in the buffer memory 6. The video signal stored in the buffer memory 6 is compressed in the K-L expansion section 7 and recorded in the still image memories ME1 to ME6 of the image memory unit 12 via the memory I/0 interface 8. If the degree of compression is set to 1/4, the recording density of each will be four times that of the conventional technology, and the resolution will be four times as high.

Still image memory M of image memory unit 12
When the playback button FK2 is operated, the video signals recorded in E1 to ME6 are sent from the memory I/0 interface 8 to the K-L restoration unit 9, and the video signals restored by the K-L restoration unit 9 are sent to the A/D. The image is output from the television monitor 14 via the conversion circuit 11.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the video intercom device with image memory according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the video door intercom device with image memory according to the present invention includes a camera eye 22, a speaker 23, a microphone 24,
Entrance handset 21 with call button 25 mounted on the front, and entrance handset 2
The main unit 1 is connected to the main unit 1 by a video cable L1 such as a two-wire balanced cable.

The indoor main unit 1 includes a telephone circuit 2 to which a handset 3 is connected, an image capture circuit 4, an A/D conversion circuit 5, a buffer memory 6, and a K-L expansion method (Karhunen-Lo
K-L expansion part 7 by eve-expansion),
A memory I/0 interface 8, an image memory unit 12 consisting of still image memories ME1 to ME6 constituted by IC memories, a video circuit 16, a K-L restoring section 9, a buffer memory 10, a D/A conversion circuit 11, and a television monitor. 14,
A CPU 2 to which a record button FK1, a playback button FK2, and an erase button FK3 are connected, and which has a built-in still image memory management program.
Consists of 0.

A telephone circuit 2 of the indoor main unit 1 is connected to a cable L1 via a terminal 1a. Further, the output side of the image capture circuit 4 to which the terminal 1a is connected to the input side is connected to the input side of the A/D conversion circuit 5, and the output side of the A/D conversion circuit 5 is connected to the buffer memory via the data bus 17. Connected to the input side of 6. Further, the output side of the buffer memory 6 is connected to the input side of the K-L expansion section 7 via the data bus 17.
The output side of the memory I/O interface 8 is connected to one input side of the memory I/0 interface 8 via the data bus 17. Also, memory I/
One output side of the 0 interface 8 is connected via a data bus 19 to an image memory unit 12 provided with still image memories ME1 to ME6. Further, the other output side of the memory I/0 interface 8 is connected to the K-L via the data bus 18.
It is connected to the input side of the restoration section 9, and the output side of the K-L restoration section 9 is connected to the input side of the buffer memory 10. The output side of the buffer memory 10 is connected to the input side of the D/A conversion circuit 11. Further, the output side of the D/A conversion circuit 11 is connected to one output side of the television monitor 14, and the other input side of the television monitor 14 is connected to the output side of the video circuit 16 to which the terminal 1a is connected.

Image capture circuit 4, A/D conversion circuit 5, K
- The control side of each of the L expansion section 7, buffer memory 6, K-L restoration section 9, buffer memory 10, D/A conversion circuit 11, image memory unit 12 and video circuit 16 is C
Connected to PU20. Here, press the recording button F of indoor main unit 1.
When the call button 25 of the entrance handset 21 is pressed while K1 is operated and the answering mode is set, the CPU 20 detects the press of the call button 25 via the video circuit 16. When the CPU 20 detects that the call button 25 is pressed, the image capture circuit 4 operates by executing a still image memory management program built into the CPU 20, and captures the video signal input from the terminal 1a.

The video signal captured by the image capture circuit 4 is converted into digital data by the A/D conversion circuit 5 and sent to the buffer memory 6. Buffer memory 6 is A/D conversion circuit 5
The video signal input from the device is recorded as a single still image. For example, the buffer memory 6 has a capacity four times that of the still image memories ME1 to ME6 of the image memory unit 12, and has a unit pixel of 256×256 pixels at a density level of 256 (8 bits).
It has the capacity to record pixels. The K-L expansion unit 7 divides the 256×256 pixels stored in the buffer memory 6 into 32×32 blocks each consisting of 8×8 main components. When, for example, 16 codes are extracted from the 8x8 principal components, the codes in the image memory are compressed to one-fourth. The video signal compressed by this K-L expansion unit 7 is 128×128
are recorded in the still image memories ME1 to ME6 as pixels.

The density of the video signal recorded here corresponds to 65,536 pixels, four times that of the conventional 16,384 pixels. Still image memories ME1 to M of the image memory unit 12
The video signal recorded on E6 is played back by operating the playback button FK2, and sent from the memory I/0 interface 8 to the K-L restoring section 9 to be restored. The restored video signal is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 10, and then transferred to the D/A conversion circuit 11.
It is sent to the television monitor 14 via. The reproduced video signal has less noise and higher image quality than before.

In the at-home mode when the record button FK1 is not operated, the CPU 20 detects pressing of the call button 25 and directly sends a video signal to the television monitor 14 via the video circuit 16. As a result, the speaker 2 of the entrance slave unit 21
3 and the microphone 24 and the handset 3 of the indoor base unit 1, and connection control is performed by turning the handset 3 on-hook and off-hook.

The compression of the video signal by image coding in the above embodiment is not limited to the K-L expansion method, and redundancy reduction means such as predictive coding, vector quantization, etc. may be used. Further, although the above embodiment is configured to obtain a clear video signal, the resolution of the video signal may be kept as it is conventionally, and the number of still image memories ME1 to ME6 may be increased. Further, in the above embodiment, the video circuit 16 was used in the at-home mode, but the video circuit 16 is deleted and the image memory unit 12 is
One of the still image memories ME1 to ME6 may be allocated exclusively to the at-home mode.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] The video door intercom device with image memory according to the present invention includes an entrance slave unit having a camera that images a visitor and generates a video signal, and an indoor base unit that receives the video signal generated by the entrance slave unit. The indoor base unit is equipped with a video signal compression means for compressing the received video signal, an image memory for storing the video signal converted into a video signal by the video signal compression means, and an image memory for restoring the video signal output from the image memory. Since it is composed of a signal restoration means and a television monitor that monitors the video signal restored and reproduced by the video signal restoration means, it is possible to improve resolution through compression and increase storage capacity through reduction of redundancy. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a video intercom device with image memory according to the present invention.

[Figure 2] Block diagram of a conventional video door intercom device with image memory

[Explanation of symbols]

1... Indoor base unit 7... K-L expansion section (video signal compression means) 9.
...K-L restoration unit (video signal restoration means) 14...
...TV monitor 12... Image memory unit (image memory) 2
1... Entrance slave unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claim 1: A doorway slave unit having a camera that images a visitor and generates a video signal; and an indoor base unit that receives the video signal generated by the doorway slave unit, wherein the indoor base unit receives the video signal. a video signal compression means for compressing the video signal; an image memory for storing the video signal compressed by the video signal compression means; a video signal restoring means for restoring the video signal output from the image memory; 1. A video door intercom device with an image memory, comprising: a television monitor for monitoring a video signal restored and reproduced by a video signal restoration means.