JPH06253301A - Video telephone device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm the image of a transmission side and the image sent from a 3rd person and to put the images together with an image of a specific communication party and displays the composite image. CONSTITUTION:A video input device 9 inputs video signals from a camera 6 and a magnetic recording and reproducing device 7 and selects an input image. A voice input device 8 selects a voice signal from a microphone 5 or the magnetic recording and reproducing device 7. When the television telephone device 1 is a transmission side, the mode is switched to a confirmation mode by using a video changeover switch 13 and then an image received by a transmitter receiver 4 and an image from the video input device 9 are put together by a video composing device 11 and displayed on a video display device 14. When a 3rd party makes an interruption telephone call, a video discriminating and separating device 12 outputs a received subordinate image to the video composing device 11, which puts the received main image and subordinate image together, so that the composite image is displayed on the video display device 14.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a videophone device capable of simultaneously watching other images including a passing party and a third party.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video digital compression technology has become widespread, and a videophone device capable of transmitting and receiving a video signal using an ordinary telephone line has been put into practical use. The conventional videophone device is configured to output only video and audio of the other party on the display device.

[0003]

In such a conventional videophone apparatus, the transmission screen cannot be confirmed on the transmission side during a call. Further, it was not possible to watch the image of the third party at the same time as the image of the other party on the telephone that can receive an interrupt call from the third party during a call with a particular party.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, and is capable of confirming a transmission screen during a call and receiving a call from a third party input during the call. It is an object of the present invention to realize a videophone device capable of simultaneously watching the images of the other party and the third party in the telephone system.

[0005]

According to the invention of claim 1 of the present application, a voice input means for inputting a voice of the transmitting side, a video input means for inputting a video of the transmitting side, and a voice obtained by the voice input means The signal and the video signal obtained from the video input means are respectively modulated into a transmission signal and output, and a transmission / reception device that receives a signal from a specific communication partner and demodulates a video signal and an audio signal is demodulated by the transmission / reception device. A videophone device having a voice output device for inputting a voice signal and converting the voice signal into a voice, and a video display device for inputting a video signal demodulated by the transmitting / receiving device and displaying a video,
A video selector switch for outputting a switching signal for switching one or both of the video signal on the receiving side output from the transmitting / receiving device and the video signal on the transmitting side output from the video input means, and a video. An image synthesizing device that generates a synthetic image of the image of the image input means and the image received by the transmitting / receiving device when a switching signal of the synthetic image is given from the changeover switch, and outputs the synthesized image signal to the image display device. It is characterized by having.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the voice input means for inputting the voice of the transmission side, the video input means for inputting the video of the transmission side, the voice signal obtained from the voice input means, and the video input means are used. The obtained video signals are each modulated into a transmission signal and output, and at the same time, a signal from a specific communication partner and a third party is received and demodulated into a video signal and an audio signal, and a voice demodulated by the transmission / reception device. A videophone device having an audio output device for inputting a signal and converting it into audio, and a video display device for inputting a video signal demodulated by a transmitting / receiving device and displaying an image, the video demodulated by the transmitting / receiving device A video identification separation device that inputs a signal and separates into a reception main video that is a video signal transmitted from the other party during a call and a reception sub video that is a video signal generated by an interruption of a third party, An image changeover switch for displaying a combined image obtained by combining the received main image and the received sub-image output from the image identification / separation device or outputting a changeover signal for outputting either one of the images, and an image changeover switch. And a video synthesizing device for generating a synthetic video by synthesizing the reception main video and the reception sub-video output from the video identification and separation device when the switch signal of the synthesis video is given from the switch, and outputting the synthesized video to the video display device. It is characterized by being provided.

[0007]

According to the invention of claim 1 of the present application having such a feature, the voice of the transmitting side is input to the voice inputting means, and the video of the transmitting side is input to the video inputting means. At the time of transmission, the transmission / reception device modulates the audio signal of the audio input unit and the audio signal and the video signal of the video input unit into a transmission signal and outputs the transmission signal. Further, at the time of reception, the transmission / reception device demodulates a video signal and an audio signal from the reception signal of a particular communication partner. The audio output device inputs the audio signal demodulated by the transmitting / receiving device and converts it into audio. When a switching signal is output by the video selector switch during transmission, one or both of the video signal on the reception side reproduced from the transmitter / receiver and the video signal on the transmission side output from the video input means are displayed. To select. When both images are selected, the video compositing device generates a composite video of the video of the video input means and the video received by the transmitting / receiving device based on the switching signal of the video switching switch, and the video signal is generated. Output to the display device. This allows you to check the transmission screen even during a call.

According to the invention of claim 2 of the present application, the voice of the transmission side is input to the voice input means, and the video of the transmission side is input to the video input means. At the time of transmission, the transmission / reception device modulates the audio signal of the audio input unit and the audio signal and the video signal of the video input unit into a transmission signal and outputs the transmission signal. Further, at the time of reception, the transmission / reception device demodulates the video signal and the audio signal from the reception signals of the particular call partner and the third party. The audio output device inputs the audio signal demodulated by the transmitting / receiving device and converts it into audio. The video identification / separation device inputs the video signal received and demodulated by the transmission / reception device, and separates it into a reception main video transmitted from the other party during a call and a reception sub-video generated by an interruption of a third party. When the switching signal is output to the video synthesizing device by the video sWitching switch at the time of reception, a synthetic image obtained by synthesizing the main receiving video and the sub receiving video, or a video signal outputting one of the images is generated, and the video is displayed. It is displayed on the device. This allows you to watch the video of the other party and the third party at the same time.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A videophone device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the videophone device of this embodiment. In the figure, a video telephone device 1 is a telephone device that is connected to a telephone cable 2 and has a function of transmitting and receiving audio and video signals and displaying the screen on a display device.

In the videophone device 1, the call switch 3 is a switch for switching the videophone device 1 from a normal call to an interrupt call of a third party, and sends a call switch signal a to the transmitting / receiving device 4. The transmission / reception device 4 is connected to the telephone cable 2 and inputs / outputs a transmission / reception signal b. The transmitter / receiver 4 compresses and encodes a video signal at the time of transmission, modulates the signal, and sends the signal to the telephone cable 2 together with an audio signal. Further, the transmitter / receiver 4 inputs the received signal from the telephone cable 2 at the time of reception, demodulates the video modulation signal and expands the code, reproduces the video signal and reproduces the audio signal.

Next, the video telephone 1 is provided with a microphone 5 and a camera 6 for outputting voice and video on the transmitting side. A magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 for outputting video and audio recorded on a recording medium is also provided. The microphone 5 outputs an audio signal on the transmitting side, and the camera 6 outputs a video signal on the transmitting side. The microphone input voice c output from the microphone 5 is given to the voice input device 8. The camera input image d output from the camera 6 is the image input device 9
Given to. Further, the reproduced sound e output from the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 is given to the audio input device 8 and the reproduced video f is given to the video input device 9.

The voice input device 8 is a device for selectively switching the voice signal of the microphone 5 or the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 on the basis of the input switching signal g output from the input selector switch 10. The output is given to the transmitting / receiving device 4. To be The video input device 9 also selectively switches the video signal output from the camera 6 or the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 based on the input switching signal g output from the input switching switch 10, and supplies the switching output to the transmitting / receiving device 4. Is. The video input device 9 also outputs the selected input video h to the video synthesizing device 11 described later. Here, the microphone 5 and the voice input device 8 constitute voice input means for inputting the voice of the sender. Further, the camera 6, the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 and the video input device 9 constitute a video input means for inputting a video intended by the sender.

The video identification / separation device 12 inputs the received video i reproduced from the transmission / reception device 4 and identifies whether it is the received video of the other party or the interrupted video input from a third party,
If it is the video signal of the other party, this signal is received.
If it is a video signal of a third party, this signal is output to the video synthesizing device 11 as the received sub-video k. The video identification / separation device 12 also outputs the received main video j to the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7.

Next, the image synthesizing device 11 inputs the input image h given from the image input device 9 and the receiving main image j and the receiving sub image k outputted by the image discriminating / separating device 12, and outputs them by the image changeover switch 13. 1 based on the video switching signal l
This is a device that outputs a composite image m in which two or more types of video are combined. That is, if the video switching signal 1 is the confirmation mode for monitoring the video on the transmission side,
The input image h from the image input device 9 and the image identification separation device 1
The received main image j output from 2 is combined, and the combined image m is output to the image display device 14. If the video switching signal 1 is in the interrupt display mode for displaying the video of a third party, the reception main video j and the reception sub-video k are combined, and the composite video m is output to the video display device 14.

The image display device 14 is a display device which displays the transmitted image of the communication partner and simultaneously displays the image of the third party or the transmission side. The voice output device 15 is a device that receives the received voice n reproduced from the transmission / reception device 4 and outputs the voice from a receiver or a speaker provided in the videophone device 1. The transmitting and receiving videophone devices are the same as those shown in FIG.

The operation of the videophone device 1 of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described. First, call the other party to make a normal call. Then, voice is input using the microphone 5, and the microphone input voice c is output to the voice input device 8. Also, the camera 6 is used to project the face of the calling party, for example, and the camera input image d is output to the image input device 9.
At this time, the input selection signal g
To the audio input device 8 and the video input device 9, and switch to output the microphone input voice c and the camera input video d to the transmission / reception device 4, respectively.

The transmitting / receiving apparatus 4 compresses and encodes the input video image h input within the transmission band of the telephone cable 2, modulates the signal, and outputs the transmission / reception signal b. The input voice o output from the voice input device 8 is also modulated by the transmission / reception device 4 and sent to the telephone cable 2 as a transmission / reception signal b.

On the other hand, the videophone device 1 on the receiving side inputs the transmission / reception signal b transmitted via the telephone cable 2. Then, the transmitter / receiver 4 demodulates the video signal and decompresses the code to reproduce the received video i. The received voice n demodulated by the transmitter / receiver 4 is converted into voice via the voice output device 15. At this time, the video display device 14 inputs the received main video j given via the video synthesizer 11 and displays the image of the other party.

Next, in order to send out the video / audio signal of the recording medium previously recorded on the transmitting side, the input changeover switch 10 is used to apply the input changeover signal g to the audio input device 8 and the video input device 9. The signal of the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus 7 is switched to be selected. In this case, the video and audio signals are transmitted to the other party of the call via the transmitting / receiving device 4 as in the case of the normal call described above.

In order to record the received video signal and audio signal, the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7 is set to the recording mode. The received image i reproduced by the transmitter / receiver 4 is supplied to the image identification / separation device 12, and the main received image j is output to the magnetic recording / reproduction device 7. The received voice n is directly given from the transmitting / receiving device 4 to the magnetic recording / reproducing device 7. In this way, the necessary video and audio are recorded on the recording medium.

Next, when it is desired to confirm the video signal to be transmitted on the transmitting side, the video switching switch 13 is used to output the video switching signal 1 and the video synthesizing device 11 is switched to the verification mode. In this case, the input image d captured by the camera 6 is input to the image synthesizing device 11 via the image input device 9. or,
The video sent from the other party of the call is converted into the main received video j through the video identification / separation device 12 and input to the video synthesizing device 11. In this case, the image on the transmitting side and the image on the other end of the call are simultaneously displayed on the image display device 14, and the contents can be confirmed.

Further, assuming that the telephone system is configured so that the videophone device 1 can receive an interruption call from a third party together with a switching device (not shown), and there is an interruption call from a third party during a call with a specific call partner. The operation of the case will be described. When an unintended third party makes a call, the third party's video signal is received via the telephone cable 2 by being sandwiched between the images of the normal caller. At this time, the image identification / separation device 12 identifies the control signal of the exchange contained in the received image i to distinguish the image of the other party from the image of the third party,
Receiving main image j and receiving sub-image k are output respectively. At this time, the video synthesizing device 11 selects only the reception main video j or outputs both the reception main video j and the reception sub-video k according to the output mode of the video changeover switch 13.

In this way, the receiving side caller can see the screen of the video display device 14 to know who the third party is, and if necessary, switch the call or continue the current call. You can make a choice. If the call is to be switched to the third party, it is possible to switch the call to the third party by giving a call switching signal a to the transmitting / receiving device 4 using the call selector switch 3.

When the videophone device 1 is constructed in this way, the image on the transmitting side can be checked by itself during a call, and an interrupt call from a third party can be input when a call is being made with a specific caller. If so, the video of the third party and the video of the current call partner can be viewed at the same time.

[0025]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the received video and the transmitted video can be viewed at the same time during a call. Therefore, since it is possible to confirm erroneous transmission, etc., the caller can safely transmit video and audio, and in the telephone system that can receive a call from a third party while passing,
During a call, you can see the video coming from a third party in addition to the video of the other party. Therefore, the caller can easily select whether to switch the phone and talk with the third party.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a videophone device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Videophone device 2 Telephone cable 3 Call selector switch 4 Transmitter / receiver device 5 Microphone 6 Camera 7 Magnetic recording / reproducing device 8 Audio input device 9 Video input device 10 Input selector switch 11 Video synthesizer 12 Video identification separation device 13 Video selector switch 14 Video Display device 15 Audio output device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A voice input unit for inputting a voice of a transmitting side, a video input unit for inputting a video of a transmitting side, a voice signal obtained by the voice input unit, and a video signal obtained by the video input unit. Each of which is modulated into a transmission signal and output, and a transmission / reception device that receives a signal from a specific communication partner and demodulates a video signal and an audio signal, and inputs the audio signal demodulated by the transmission / reception device,
An audio output device for converting into audio, and inputting a video signal demodulated by the transmission / reception device,
In a videophone device having a video display device for displaying video, one of a video signal on the reception side output from the transmission / reception device and a video signal on the transmission side output from the video input means, or A video changeover switch for outputting a changeover signal for switching to output both images, and a combination of the video of the video input means and the video received by the transmitter / receiver when a composite video changeover signal is given from the video changeover switch. A video telephone device, comprising: a video synthesizing device that generates a video image and outputs the synthesized video signal to the video display device. 2. A voice input means for inputting a voice of the transmitting side, a video input means for inputting a video of the transmitting side, a voice signal obtained by the voice input means, and a video signal obtained by the video input means. A transmitter / receiver that receives signals from a specific caller and a third party and demodulates them into a video signal and an audio signal, and outputs the audio signal demodulated by the transmitter / receiver, while modulating and outputting the transmitted signals respectively. ,
An audio output device for converting into audio, and inputting a video signal demodulated by the transmission / reception device,
In a videophone device having a video display device for displaying video, a video signal demodulated by the transmission / reception device is input, a main received image which is a video signal transmitted from the other party in a call, and an interruption of a third party A video identification / separation device that separates it into a reception sub-video that is a video signal generated by, and a composite image that combines the reception main video and the reception sub-video output from the video identification / separation device, or either An image changeover switch for outputting a changeover signal for changing over to display one image, and a reception main image and a reception subimage output from the image discrimination device when a combination image changeover signal is given from the image changeover switch. And a video synthesizing device for generating a synthetic video by synthesizing the video and outputting the synthesized video to the video display device.