JPH0478290A - Television telephone terminal set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the terminal set to be used as a personal computer through the addition of required minimum devices by using a picture display means for a television telephone set and a data processing in common. CONSTITUTION:When the personal computer mode is designated, a controller 30 executes the arithmetic processing according to the predetermined processing procedure based on the data entered from a keyboard 37 and gives a video signal relating to the calculation process and the calculation result to a picture- in-picture circuit 27 via a switcher 25. Thus, a data processing pattern relating to the arithmetic processing is displayed on a CRT monitor 28. The data processed by the controller 30 is stored in a hard disk device 35 by entering a prescribed command from a keyboard 37 and printed out by a printer 36. Furthermore, data is sent/received to/from an opposite party via a MODEM 38 to implement personal computer communication.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] "Industrial Application Field" The present invention is capable of communicating with each other through a digital telephone line network and transmitting and receiving moving or still images of people, calligraphy, etc. This invention relates to a videophone terminal device that can be used.

"Prior Art" In recent years, various videophone terminal devices have been developed that are equipped with a video and still image transmission function in addition to the voice transmission function of a normal telephone. In this case, the videophone terminal device includes, in addition to audio signal circuits such as the handset and voice control device used for audio input and output during calls, a camera for taking self-portraits, and documents placed on the table. The document camera that takes the document image, the other party's image transmitted from the other party's videophone terminal bag [), and each image taken by the person camera and document camera of the own terminal (your videophone terminal device) A video signal path consisting of a CRT monitor, etc. that displays the video signal is provided, and a transmission system circuit compresses and encodes the video signal, multiplexes it with audio signals and various data, and transmits the video signal to the digital telephone. A co-op or the like is provided for transmitting data to the other party's terminal via a line network. This allows both parties to talk while looking at the other party's face displayed on the monitor screen of their own terminals, and it is possible to talk with the other party with the same feeling as if they were actually talking face-to-face with the other party.

[Problem to be solved by the invention J] By the way, there is a plan to introduce the above-mentioned videophone terminal device for the purpose of transmitting information between specific employees within a company. In order to make effective use of the limited office space, it is desirable to add a personal computer function to perform various administrative calculations, etc., and to share each part of the device. In other words, a videophone terminal device is equipped with a CRT monitor for displaying the image of the person on the other end of the conversation, but if this CRT monitor could also be used as a computer monitor, it would be easier than installing separate monitors. , less space for 6-year-old children will be needed.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a videophone terminal device that can be used as a personal computer by adding the minimum necessary equipment by sharing each part of the device. .

"Means for Solving the Problems" The present invention provides a videophone terminal device that transmits images taken by its own terminal to a partner terminal and displays images transmitted from the partner terminal using an image display means.
An input means for inputting data, and a data processing screen for controlling the operation of each part and executing arithmetic processing according to a predetermined processing procedure based on the data input by the input means, and for the arithmetic processing. and arithmetic control means for causing the image display means to display the image.

"Operation" According to the above-mentioned horizontal aperture, predetermined arithmetic processing is executed based on the data input by the input means,
The data processing screen showing the processing process, calculation results, etc. is displayed by an image display means originally provided to display the image of the person on the other end of the call, so this image display means can be used for both videophone calls and data processing. can be shared,
The entire device has a compact configuration.

"Embodiments" Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of a video telephone terminal device l according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, a videophone terminal device 1 is connected to a videophone terminal device 3 of the other party via a digital line network 2. For convenience of explanation, one's own videophone terminal device 1 will be abbreviated as the own terminal, and the other party's videophone terminal device 3 will be abbreviated as the other party's terminal.

Here, the external configurations of the own terminal l and the other party terminal 3 are as follows:
As shown in the figure, 4 is a terminal device body, 5 is a handset, 6 is a portrait camera, 7 is a document camera, and 8 is an operation board.

The handset 5 corresponds to a receiver of a general telephone, and is placed on the operation board 8 when not talking. During a call, it is used to input and output audio, and as shown in FIG. 1, it is provided with a microphone 9, a speaker IO, and a hook switch 11. The person camera 6 is a device that takes a self-portrait of the person making the call, and is attached to the upper end of the terminal device main body 4. The document camera 7 is a device for taking images of documents, drawings, etc. placed on a tabletop, and is supported so as to be vertically movable via an arm mechanism 12 attached to the side of the terminal device main body 4. . Both the portrait camera 6 and the document camera 7 are small CO
It is composed of a D camera. The operation board 8 is a coordinate input device with a display function, and is a transparent plate that outputs coordinate data corresponding to the pressed position based on the change in capacitance of the pressed part with the tip of the pen 15. A transparent coordinate input device (tablet) 0 and a liquid crystal display device 11 are provided in a state where they are superimposed on each other.

Next, in the terminal device body 4 (Fig. 1), 20 performs data compression and encoding of the analog video signal and audio signal, multiplexes it with various data, converts it into a 64 kbps digital signal, and transmits the data to the digital telephone. It is a copier that transmits to the other party's terminal 3 via the line network 2, and has the function of decoding the dinotal signal transmitted from the other party's terminal 3 into the original analog video signal and audio signal, and converting moving images into one.
It also has a function of storing a screen portion and transmitting it as a still image, and these functions are controlled by a control signal C3.

2I is an audio control circuit that switches the combination of human outputs of various audio signals based on the control signal C1, and connects the microphone 9 and speaker 10 in the handset 5, the hands-free microphone 22 and speaker 23, and the co-op 20. Audio signals related to telephone calls are exchanged between the two, and audio signals related to some television broadcasts supplied from a television tuner 24 (described later) to a monitor speaker 24a are input.

The television tuner 24 receives some television broadcasts supplied via a coaxial cable of a CATV (cable television) network, and outputs audio and video signals of the reception channel specified by the control signal C4. be.

25 is connected to its input terminals 11 to 11 based on the control signal C4.
The various video signals supplied to I8 are output from output terminals O3 to
This is a switcher that distributes and outputs to each of 06. In this case, a video image signal is inputted to the input terminal 1 via the external video input terminal Tin, a document image signal output from the document camera 7 is inputted to the input terminal I, and the input terminal 1 is inputted to the input terminal 1. A person video signal outputted from the person camera 6 is inputted, and a composite video signal outputted from a superimpose circuit 29, which will be described later, is inputted to the input terminal I4.
The decoded video signal output from the copier 20 and transmitted from the partner terminal 3 is input to the input terminal I. A reproduced video signal output from an image recording/reproducing device 26, which will be described later, is input to input terminal 7, a television video signal output from the television tuner 24 is input to input terminal 7, and input terminal 1. A video signal related to a facsimile image outputted from a controller 3o, which will be described later, is input to the controller 3o. Further, the video signal output from the output terminal ol is supplied to the video output terminal Tout, and the video signal output from the output terminal 0. and o
The video signal output from output terminal 0.3 is supplied to the picture-in-picture circuit 27, the video signal output from output terminal 04 is supplied to the superimpose circuit 29, and the video signal output from output terminal 0.3 is supplied to the superimpose circuit 29. The video signal output from is supplied to the copier 2o, and the output terminal 0. The video signal output from is supplied to the image recording and reproducing device 26.

The image recording/reproducing device 26 performs recording/reproducing according to the control signal C5.
It is composed of a rewritable optical disk device whose playback operation is controlled. During recording, the supplied analog video signal for one screen is sequentially converted into Dinotal image data and written to a designated area on the optical disc, and during playback, One screen worth of image data read from the area is converted into the original analog video signal and output. In this case, the area on the optical disk where image data is written and the area from which it is read can be arbitrarily designated by the control signal C6.

The picture-in-picture circuit 27 is connected to the CRT monitor 2
This is a circuit for simultaneously displaying two large and small screens on the display screen of No. 8, and a small screen 28b is fitted into a part of the large screen 28a and displayed. The CRT monitor 28 is for displaying the other party's image transmitted from the other party's terminal 3 and the self-portrait and document image taken by the person camera 6 and document camera 7 of the own terminal l. The superimpose circuit 29 is a circuit for synthesizing the computer video signal output from the controller 30 and various video signals supplied via the switcher 25, and the composite video output from the superimpose circuit 29 The signal is from the operation board 8
The signal is supplied to the liquid crystal display device 14 provided in the switcher 25 and the input terminal 4 of the switcher 25.

The controller 30 controls the operation of each part of the terminal device, and includes a CPU (central processing unit), a memory that stores various programs used by the CPU, a memory used as a work area, and a memory that stores images for multiple sides. A VRAM (video RAM) 31 that stores data and this VRAM
It is composed of a display controller that outputs a video signal based on image data read out from the RAM 31, and a microcomputer system consisting of various input/output interfaces, etc., and control signals C, -C, supply each.

Further, in the figure, reference numeral 32 is a handwriting input recognition device,
When a character is written in the handwriting area on the coordinate input device 13 with the tip of the ben 15 (FIG. 2) and the coordinate data corresponding to the character is sequentially supplied to the controller 30,
Based on the coordinate data output from the controller 30, manually input characters are recognized, and the recognized character code is output to the controller 30. 35 is a hard disk device for storing data processed by the controller 30, and 36 is a printer for printing out the data processed by the controller 30. Further, 37 is a keyboard used for inputting data in the personal computer mode, which will be described later, and 38 is a keypad used to input data in the personal computer mode, which will be described later.
(Recommended communication method for personal computer communication devices) This is a modem device that exchanges data with the other party based on the standard.

In the personal computer mode, the controller 30 executes pre-programmed arithmetic processing such as office work calculations based on data input from the keyboard 37, and displays display data related to the arithmetic processing as a video image using the display controller. Convert it to a signal and output it,
The middle switch 25 is switched so that the video signal related to this arithmetic processing is supplied to one input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27.

Next, regarding the operation of the video telephone terminal device according to the above-described embodiment, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 to 4,
This will be explained with reference to the liquid crystal display screens shown in FIGS. 5 to 7.

First, when the power is turned on, the controller 30
After initial setting of each part is performed in step SP1 shown in the figure, the process proceeds to step SP2, and a menu screen Gl shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14 of the operation board 8. In this case, the controller 30 supplies a computer video signal for displaying the menu screen Gl to the liquid crystal display device 14 via the superimpose circuit 29.

Here, the tip of the pen 15 selects one of the various operation modes displayed at the upper left corner of the menu screen GL: "Telephone", "Phone Book", "Drawing/Word Processing", "TV", and "PC". When pressed, the coordinate data of the pressed part is supplied from the coordinate input device 13 to the controller 30,
Each operating mode is specified.

That is, if "telephone" is pressed, step 5P-3
The process then proceeds to step SP4, and a videophone mode is entered for making a videophone call with the other party's terminal 3.

“If the phonebook ° is pressed, the process advances from step SP5 to step SP6, where you can search the phonebook, edit (register, change,
It enters the phonebook mode for performing operations such as deletion), and the next step SP
The telephone directory mode continues until it is determined at 7 that the "menu" shown outside the liquid crystal display screen has been pressed.

When “Drawing/Word Processing” is pressed, the process advances from step SP8 to Step SP9, and the mode enters a drawing/word processing mode in which drawing by handwriting input operation and document creation and searching using the handwriting input identification device 32 are performed. Next step 5P
The drawing/word processing mode continues until it is determined that "°menu" has been pressed in the IO.The document data created in this drawing/word processing mode is placed in the file processing mode described later, and the specified file name input etc. By performing this operation, the data is stored in the hard disk device 35.

If 1 TV 1 is pressed, the process advances from step 5 PII to step 5 PI2, and enters the TV reception mode for receiving general TV broadcasts, and in the next step SPI 3 it is determined that ``Clear'' or ``Menu'' has been pressed. TV reception mode continues.

When ° is pressed, the process advances from step SP+4 to step SP+5, and enters the PC mode in which arithmetic processing, etc. This mode continues until it is determined that "Run Return" has been input.

If none of these operating modes is specified, the process returns from step 5PI7 to step SP2 unless the power is turned off.

Here, the operation in the videophone mode in step SP4 will be explained. In this case, it is assumed that a button (not shown) has been pressed and the line between the own terminal 1 and the other party's terminal 3 has been secured.

In this state, the controller 3o executes each process shown in FIG. That is, in step 5P20, the co-op 2o is initialized, and then in step 5P21, the switcher 25 is switched in order to make a person-to-person call, which is a normal telephone call. In this case, a video signal of a self-portrait taken by the person camera 6 is supplied to one input terminal of the copier 20 and the picture-in-picture circuit 27, while a video signal of the other party's image (transmitted from the other party's terminal 3) decoded by the copier 20 is image)
The switcher 25 is switched so that the video signal is supplied to the other input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27. As a result, the other party's image is displayed on the large screen 28a of the CRT monitor 28, and a part of the small screen 2 of this large screen 28a is displayed.
A self-portrait is displayed at 8b.

Next, in step 5P22, the controller 30 executes each process of drawing/word processing mode, and thereby,
A drawing screen G2 shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14.

Here, outside the liquid crystal display screen on the left side of the coordinate input device 13 shown in FIG. 6, operation marks M1 to M7 are shown to be pressed when instructing various operations in the videophone mode.

The operation mark M1 is pressed when making a call using the handset 5, and when this mark M1 is pressed, the microphone 9 and speaker IO in the handset 5 are enabled. The operation mark M2 is for activating the microphone 22 and speaker 23 for the hand-free phone.
3 is for specifying a person-to-person call in step SP21.

Further, the operation mark M4 is used to designate a calligraphy call, and when this is pressed, the process proceeds from step 5P23 to steps S and P24 shown in FIG. 4, and in order to make a calligraphy call,
Switch the switcher 25.

In this case, the controller 30 supplies the video signal of the desktop document or drawing taken by the document camera 7 to the superimpose circuit 29, and the video signal of the other party's image decoded by the copier 20 and the superimpose circuit 29.
The switcher is configured such that the composite video signal output from the super innovators circuit 29 is supplied to two input terminals of the picture-in-picture circuit 27, and the composite video signal output from the super innovose circuit 29 is supplied to the copier 20. 2
Switch 5. Also picture-in-picture circuit 2
7, the size relationship of the composite screen is swapped,
Images such as documents and drawings are displayed on the large screen 2 of the CRT monitor 28.
8a, a part of the small screen 28 of this large screen 28a
The other party's image is displayed in b.

Furthermore, the video signal synthesized by the superimpose circuit 29 is supplied to the liquid crystal display device 14, and the display screen displays a document image S (of a design drawing, for example) captured by the document camera 6, as shown in FIG. and computer images B 1 , , B 2 based on image data written into the VRAM 31 of the controller 30 by handwriting input operation are displayed in an overlapping manner. That is, when a figure is drawn on the coordinate input device 13 of the operation board 8 with the pen 15, coordinate data corresponding to the figure is sequentially supplied to the controller 30. Then, the controller 30 creates image data corresponding to the input figure based on the sequentially supplied coordinate data, writes it into the VRAM 3, and outputs a video signal for displaying the figure. As a result, the computer image B shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14. In this case, the composite video signal output from the superimpose circuit 29 is transmitted to the other party's terminal 3.
Since it is also sent to the other party, a specific part of the calligraphic image S can be shown to the other party by drawing.

In addition, the controller 30 exchanges drawing data with the other party's terminal 3 via the copier 20, and stores the drawing data in the VRAM 31 based on the drawing data transmitted from the other party's terminal 3.
New image data corresponding to the drawing input by the coordinate input device of the partner terminal 3 is written. As a result, the computer image B is displayed on the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14 as shown in FIG. 7, and the other party can also draw any part of the document image S using the coordinate input device. It can be pointed out by

Next, the operation mark M5 shown in FIG. 6 is for specifying a still image call, and when this is pressed, the process advances from step 5P25 to step 5P26 shown in FIG. The user instructs the user to create a still image, and also switches the switcher 25. In this case, the still image created by the copier 20 is sent to the other party's terminal 3 and also supplied to one input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27, and furthermore, the video signal of the other party's image decoded by the copier 20 is sent to the other party's terminal 3. The switcher 25 is switched so that the signal is supplied to the other input terminal of the picture-in-picture circuit 27. As a result, the other party's image is displayed on the large screen 28a of the CRT monitor 28, and the still image is displayed on the small screen 28b.

Furthermore, when the mark M6 is pressed, the self-portrait is temporarily displayed on the large screen 28a, and when the mark M7 is pressed, the small screen 28b is erased, the large screen 28a and the small screen 28b are replaced, etc.

Next, symbols E1 to E I+ shown in FIG. 6 are icons that are pressed when instructing various drawing processes and changing the mode in the drawing/word processing mode.

These have the following functions. Icon E1~
E7 is used to specify a drawing method such as pointillist mode (freehand mode), diagonal line mode, empty square mode, and to specify line thickness and color.

Also, the icon E is pressed to specify the word processing mode, the icon E is pressed to specify the file processing mode, the icon E +o is pressed to specify the TV reception mode, and the icon E is pressed to specify the TV reception mode.
l l is pressed when transferring drawing data to the partner terminal 3.

Here, icon E. When is pressed, the process advances from step 5P27 to step 5P2B shown in FIG. 4, and the TV reception mode is entered. In the television reception mode, the controller 30 activates the television tuner 24, causes the CRT monitor 28 to display the video of some television broadcasts received by the television tuner 24, and outputs the audio from the monitor speaker 24m. Furthermore, the switcher 25 is switched so that the video signal and audio signal of these television broadcasts are sent to the other party's terminal 3 via the copier 20.

The above are the main operations in the videophone mode, and when the call ends in this mode, the process returns from step 5P29 shown in FIG. 4 to step SP2 shown in FIG. 3, and the display screen of the liquid crystal display device 14 is changed as shown in FIG. Menu screen G
It becomes 1.

Next, the operation in the personal computer mode at step SP+5 shown in FIG. 3 will be explained. On the menu screen Gl shown in FIG. Arithmetic processing is executed according to a predetermined processing procedure, and video signals related to the arithmetic process and arithmetic results are sent to a picture-in-picture circuit 27 via a switcher 25.
supply to As a result, a data processing screen related to arithmetic processing is displayed on the CRT monitor 28, which normally displays the image of the other party when making a videophone call. In this case, by inputting a predetermined command from the keyboard 37, the data processed by the controller 30 is stored in the hard disk device 35, and is also printed out by the printer 36. Further, data is exchanged with the other party via the modem device 38, and so-called personal computer communication is performed.

In this way, the videophone terminal device can be used as a personal computer in addition to its original function.

"Effects of the Invention" As explained above, according to the present invention, arithmetic processing is executed based on the data input by the input means, and a data processing screen showing the processing process, the calculation result, etc.
Since the image display means originally used to display the image of the person on the other end of the call, this image display means can be used in common with videophone calls and data processing, thereby reducing the amount of equipment necessary. By adding , the effect that it can be used as a personal computer is obtained.

In addition to this, if data transmission means for transmitting data processed by the arithmetic and control means via a telephone line network is provided, personal computer communication can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external configuration of the embodiment, and FIG.
5 and 4 are flowcharts for explaining the operation of the same embodiment, and FIGS. 5 to 7 are diagrams showing display examples of the liquid crystal display device 14 according to the same embodiment. 8...CRT monitor (image display means), 0...
... Controller (arithmetic control means), 5...
Hard disk device, 7...Keyboard (input means), 8...
-Modem device (data transmission means).

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) In a videophone terminal device that transmits images taken by its own terminal to a partner terminal and displays images transmitted from the partner terminal using an image display means, a method for inputting data is provided. an input means, controlling the operation of each part, executing arithmetic processing according to a predetermined processing procedure based on the data input by the input means, and displaying a data processing screen related to the arithmetic processing by the image display means; A videophone terminal device comprising: arithmetic control means for displaying information; 2) The videophone terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising data transmission means for transmitting the data processed by the arithmetic and control means via a telephone line network.