JPH0662256A - Device and method for supplying image data - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accelerate image retrieval or the like due to the restoration of hierarchically encoded data concerning the device and method for supplying image data to supply the hierarchically encoded data. CONSTITUTION:A control means 15 controls an image data reading means 11 and selects image data stored in an image data storage means 10, and a buffer means 12 stores over two kinds of hierarchically encoded data constituting the selected image data at least, preferably, stores all the hierarchically encoded data. Then, an image data segmenting means 13 is controlled, and one part of over two kinds of hierarchically encoded data constituting the image data stored in the buffer means 12 are read out and supplied to the side of restoration.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention encodes an original image stored in a magnetic disk device or the like by the JPEG method, which is an international standard method of color still image encoding, and supplies the image data to the restoration side of the image data. An apparatus and method, in particular
The present invention relates to an image data supplying device and method for supplying hierarchically encoded image data.

In order to store image data whose information amount is orders of magnitude larger than that of numerical data, particularly halftone image data and color image data, or to transmit at high speed and high quality, gradation for each pixel is required. The values need to be encoded efficiently.
Currently, as a coding method of image data in an image database search or the like, a hierarchical coding method capable of gradually improving the image quality from a rough image to a high quality image and restoring the image is being studied. Further, it is strongly desired to develop an image data supply method for realizing high-speed supply of such hierarchically encoded image data and realizing an efficient image database search and the like.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image data supply device. In FIG. 22, reference numeral 100 denotes an image data storage unit, which stores image data 1 to 2 composed of two or more hierarchical code data obtained by JPEG or the like for an original image. For example, the image data storage unit 100
Is a magnetic disk device or the like.

When supplying the image data to the restoration side, the image number of the selected image number is selected by incrementing or decrementing the selected image number in the image selecting unit 210 according to an instruction from the supply control unit 230. The data is read from the coded data storage unit 100 and supplied to the restoration unit 140. For example, if image data is selected, first the first layer code data in the image data is the image selection unit 21.
0 is selected and supplied from the code data storage unit 100 to the restoration unit 140.

Here, the restoration unit 140 is the direct image selection unit 21.
Although connected to 0, the restoration unit 146 at a remote place is supplied with hierarchical code data via the sending unit 142 and the communication line 144. When the supply of the first layer coded data to the restoration unit 140 is completed, the image selection unit 2 continues.
Reference numeral 10 selects the second layer coded data of the image data from the coded data storage unit 100 and supplies it to the restoration unit 140 or 146. Similarly, the following layers are supplied to the restoration side selected by the image selection unit 210 for each layer.

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, when the image data is designated, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 23, reading of the hierarchical code data from the image data storage unit 10 is started in step S1, and step S2 is executed. The image data is supplied to the restoration side, and the image data is read for each layer and sent to the restoration side until it is determined in step S3 that the last layer is supplied.
The processes of 1 and S2 are repeated.

[0007]

However, in such a conventional image data supply device, when the image number is selected and the layer code data is supplied to the restoration side in order from the upper layer, Since the image selection unit 210 operates to read each layer code data from the image data storage unit 100, for example, when a magnetic disk device is used as the image data storage device, a seek operation is performed every time each layer code data is read. This is necessary, and there is a problem that it takes time to restore and display the search image due to the time loss of the image supply.

Also, when the operator instructs the supply control unit 230 to change the image data, the image selecting unit 210 operates to read new image data from the code data storage unit 100 by a head seek operation or the like. Therefore, there is a time loss from when the change of image data is instructed until the layered code data is actually sent, it is difficult to speed up the code data supply, and there is an obstacle when searching for images. This makes it difficult to efficiently search the image database.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image data supplying apparatus and method capable of performing high-speed image retrieval by restoring hierarchical code data.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a principle explanatory view showing an apparatus configuration of the present invention as an example. First, the present invention is
An image data supply device for supplying image data composed of hierarchical code data obtained by dividing an original image into two or more layers and encoding the object. In the present invention for such an image data supply device, the image data storage means 10 storing the hierarchical code data forming the image data and the image data read from the image data storage means 10 are temporarily stored. An image data reading means 11 for reading out the image data stored in the image data storage means 10 and the buffer means 12, and an image data for reading out the image data stored in the buffer means 12 and supplying them to the restoration side. Data cutting means 13 and image data reading means 11
The image data stored in the image data storage means 10 is selected under the control of 1. and at least two or more layered code data constituting the selected image data are stored in the buffer means 12 to extract the image data. Under the control of the means 13, there is provided a control means 15 for reading out a part of the two or more hierarchical code data forming the image data stored in the buffer means 12 and supplying it to the restoration side.

Here, while the image data reading means 11 is reading the hierarchical code data from the image data storage means 10, the control means 15 monitors whether or not the reading up to a preset hierarchical level has been completed and sets. When it is determined that the reading up to the layer has been completed, the process proceeds to the selective reading of layer code data of a new image (claim 2). Further, the control means 15 detects the delimiter of each layer of the all-layer code data forming the selected image data in the image data storage unit 10, and stores the all-layer code data in accordance with the delimiter detection result.
Information about the position of each layer in the inside is stored (claim 3).

Further, as for the supply of the hierarchical code data, a part of the hierarchical code data in the buffer means 12 is supplied on the basis of the supply condition inputted by the operator or the supply condition notified from the restoration side. , 5). Buffer unit 12
The control method based on the code amount (claims 6 to 11) The control method based on the image quality (claims 12 to 19) The control method based on the supply time (claim) (Items 20, 21)

A control method based on required time (claim 2)
2, 23) There is a control method based on designation of the number of layers (claims 24 and 25) and a control method based on restoration time (claims 26 to 29).

[0014]

According to the image data supplying apparatus and method of the present invention having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the coded data obtained by coding the original image by dividing it into two or more layers is coded. At the time of supplying, the hierarchical code data of the image is selected from the image data storage unit 100 in step S1, the code data of all layers of the image selected in the next step S2 is stored in the buffer unit 12, and further in step S3. Of the stored hierarchical code data, only the hierarchical code data used for the search is supplied to the restoration side.

Therefore, even if a device such as a magnetic disk device, which takes a long time to access, is used as the image data storage means 10, all layer code data are read into the buffer means 12 by one access, and each layer data is read. Is supplied from the buffer means 12, the loss due to the access time of the image data storage means 10 can be minimized, and the hierarchical code data for image retrieval can be continuously supplied at high speed.

[0016]

[Table of Contents] (1) Supply control based on code amount information in image data (2) Supply control when code amount of each hierarchical code data is not described in image data (3) Image quality Supply control based on (4) Supply control based on supply time of hierarchical code data (5) Supply control based on restoration time (1) Supply control based on code amount information in image data FIG. 3 shows a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the Example shown. This embodiment is characterized in that supply control for the restoration side is performed based on the code amount information included in the image data composed of code data of a plurality of layers.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 100 denotes an image data storage unit, for which a magnetic disk device or the like is used. In the image data storage unit 100, for example, image data, ...
, Are stored, and each image data is composed of a plurality of layer code data obtained by dividing the original image into two or more layers and encoding. FIG. 4 shows the image data storage unit 1.
10 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific data structure of image data stored in 00. FIG.

In FIG. 4, one image data is composed of layer code data of the first layer to the fifth layer as shown, for example, and the image name and size are placed at the head of the layer code data of these five layers. , Image information indicating the number of colors, coding conditions, etc. is provided.
You are using bytes. Each layer code data from the first layer to the fifth layer is, for example, as shown in the first layer, layer definition information of 16 bytes, code amount information of 2 bytes, ADCT.
For example, it is composed of coded data of 3560 bytes obtained by coding such as. Similarly for the second layer, 16
It is composed of byte hierarchy definition information, 2-byte code amount information, and, for example, 5966-byte code data corresponding to the second hierarchy.

Furthermore, in addition to the 18 bytes in which the layer definition information and the code amount information are combined, the third, fourth and fifth layers have a third layer.
The layer is 5960 bytes of code data, and the fourth layer is 756
8 bytes of code data, and the fifth layer is composed of 3055 bytes of code data. As described above, the code amount information of 2 bytes is provided in each code data portion from the first layer to the fifth layer, and by checking this code amount information, it is possible to determine how many bytes the code data amount of each layer is. I understand.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the image data storage unit 100 is followed by an image data reading unit 110, a buffer unit 120, a code data cutting unit 130, and a cutting control unit 15.
0 is provided. The image data cut out from the code data cutout unit 130 is directly supplied to the restoration unit 140, or is supplied from the transmission unit 142 via the communication line 144 to the restoration unit 146 installed at a remote place. It

The image data reading unit 110 is an image switching unit 11
1 and the image number management unit 112. Further, the cutout control unit 150 includes a code information decoding unit 151, a hierarchical position information storage unit 152, a cutout information instruction unit 153, and a cutout supply instruction unit 1.
54. The cutout supply instructing unit 154 includes a drive control unit 157 and a control condition determining unit 250. Further, the control condition determination unit 250 is composed of a control condition comparison unit 251, a code amount storage unit 257, and a target code area setting unit 258, as shown in FIG.

The cut-out control section 150 has a function as a control means for performing overall control of the image data supply control. First, prior to the supply of the image data to the restoration side, the cut-out control unit 150 instructs the image data reading unit 110 to the buffer unit 12
The reading of image data from the image data storage unit 100 for 0 is instructed. That is, the drive control unit 157 provided in the cutout supply instructing unit 154 issues an image reading instruction to the image number management unit 112 of the image data reading unit 110, and at the same time, for example, sets the image number 1 indicating the image data. Is done.

Upon receiving the setting of the image number 1, the image switching section 111 selects the hierarchical code data of the image data corresponding to the image number 1 in the image data storage section 100. Each layer code data of the selected image data is stored in the buffer unit 120 via the image data reading unit 110 in order from the first block. When the reading of the image data into the buffer unit 120 is completed, the cutout control unit 150 starts the layer break detection for the layer code data of the image data stored in the buffer unit 120 and the target.

Here, in the buffer section 120, for example, FIG.
Since the hierarchical code data having the data structure shown in FIG. 3 is stored, first, the drive control unit 157 of the cutout supply instructing unit 154.
Reads the image information of the first 238 bytes of the layer code data in the buffer unit 120, the layer definition information of the next 16 bytes, and the code amount information of the next 2 bytes from the code information decoding unit 151. The data amount allocated to the layer definition information and the code amount information is 238 bytes + 16 bytes + 2 bytes = 256 bytes, and 3560 bytes obtained from the code amount information of the first layer are calculated.

The code amount 381 up to the break of the first layer
If 6 bytes are known, the final address of the first layer with respect to the first address can be specified, and the delimiter of the first layer code data can be detected. The delimiter of the hierarchical code data detected from the code amount information included in the image data in this way is stored in the hierarchical position information storage unit 152. Hereinafter, the second to fifth layers are similarly processed.

As a result, in the layer position information storage unit 152, for the first layer, the data from the beginning of the buffer to the 3816th byte, the second layer to the 3817th byte to the 9800th byte, and the third layer Data from the 9801st byte to the 15778th byte, 1st for the 4th layer
The data from the 5779th byte to the 23364th byte is the data, and the fifth layer is the data from the 23365th byte to the 26437th byte.

Subsequently, the drive control section 157 of the cutout supply instructing section 154 controls the cutout information instructing section 153 based on the detection result of the division of each layer of the layered code data stored in the layered position information storage section 152. By the operation of the code data cutout unit 130, image data is cut out from the buffer unit 120 in units of layers and sequentially supplied to the restoration side. The conditions for cutting out the code data are judged by the control condition judging unit 250 provided in the cutting supply instructing unit 154.

As shown in FIG. 5, the control condition determination unit 250 includes a target code amount value setting unit 258 for setting the number of layers of the hierarchical code data to be cut out from the buffer unit 120, and the target code amount value setting unit 258. Thus, for example, if cutout up to the second layer is set, the control condition comparison unit 25
For No. 1, 13616 from the beginning which is the end position of the second layer stored in the layer position information storage unit 152 of FIG.
The byte position is set as the target code area.

On the other hand, the actual code amount supplied by the code data cutout unit 130 is sequentially stored in the code amount storage unit 257. Therefore, the control condition comparison unit 251 compares the actually supplied code amount with the target code amount, and when the actual supplied code amount matches the target code amount, the control condition comparison unit 251 sends the second code to the control unit 157.
Notify that the supply of code amount data up to the layer has been completed.

The control of the control condition judging section 250 is as shown in FIG. 6, for example. FIG. 6A shows the contents of the buffer memory, in which five-layer hierarchical code data is stored. In FIG. 6B, in order to cut out up to the second layer, a pointer 160 indicating the cutout end position is set, and the setting of this pointer 160 is performed by the target code amount value setting unit 258. On the other hand, at the head position of the buffer memory, there is a pointer 17 indicating the cutout start position.
0 is provided, and this pointer 170 moves to the right side according to the actual code read amount, so that the pointer 170
Will be created by the code amount storage unit 257 of FIG.

The control condition comparison unit 251 determines whether or not the pointer 170 in FIG. 6B moves and coincides with the pointer 160 indicating the end position. When the pointer 170 coincides with the position of the pointer 160, The cut end up to two layers is determined. FIG. 6C shows a case where after the cutting up to the second layer is completed, the pointer 160 indicating the cutting end position is set and changed to the end position of the fourth layer in order to further improve the image quality of the restored image. In response to such a setting change of the pointer 160, the layer code data is again cut out and supplied from the head of the third layer indicated by the pointer 170.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing the image data supply processing in the first embodiment of FIG. In FIG. 7, first, in step S1, the image data storage unit 110 reads out all hierarchical data forming the image data of the specified image number from the image data storage unit 100 based on the instruction from the cutout control unit 150, and the buffer unit It is stored in 120. The storage of the image data in the buffer unit 120 is normally performed for a plurality of image data to be searched once.

After the image data is stored in the buffer unit 120 in step S1, the process of selecting the supply hierarchical data in the buffer unit 120 is performed in step S2. That is, first, in step S21, the image information provided at the head of the plurality of layer code data forming one image data is acquired, and subsequently, the layer definition information and code amount information provided for each layer data are configured. Get the hierarchy information. Acquisition of layer information is performed until all layers are completed in step S23.

Subsequently, in step S24, the layer delimiter position in each of the first layer to the final layer is calculated based on the code amount obtained from the top image information and the layer information for each layer. The calculation of the layer delimiter position may be performed by calculating the start position and the end position for each layer, or may be calculated from the buffer head to the end position of each layer. When the calculation of the layer delimiter position is completed in step S24, step S2
Then, the process proceeds to step 5, and the cutout from the beginning of the hierarchical code data is started.

Here, in the supply control of the code data in step S3, one of the fixed setting of the number of supply layers, the setting of the number of supply layers by the operator, and the setting based on the reception result of the number of supply layers is performed.

FIG. 8 is a cutout control unit 1 of FIG. 3 which controls cutout from the buffer unit 120 according to an instruction from an operator or the like.
The block diagram of 50 Example is shown. In the cutout control unit 150 of FIG. 8, a supply condition input detection unit 155 is newly provided for the cutout supply instruction unit 154, and the supply condition input detection unit 1 is provided.
Reference numeral 55 indicates, for example, the number of supply layers input by the operator, and the cut-out supply instructing unit 154, specifically, the target code amount value setting unit 258 shown in FIG. 5 which constitutes the control condition determination unit 250 of FIG. Set the number of cutout layers.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the cut-out control section 150 of FIG. 3, and in this embodiment, it is provided at a remote place via the communication line 144 shown in FIG. The supply condition receiving unit 156 receives the supply condition from the restoring unit 146, and the cut-out supply instructing unit 154 controls the supply condition. (2) Supply control when the code amount of each hierarchical code data is not described in the image data FIG. 10 shows the data structure of the image data used in the second embodiment of the supply control based on the code amount of the present invention. FIG.

In the image data shown in FIG. 10, the 2-byte code amount information shown in FIG. 4 is not included in each layer code data of the first layer to the fifth layer. Instead,
A delimiter "FF" is provided at the end position of the code data of each layer as a symbol for detecting the end of the layer code data at the time of restoration. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the supply control of the present invention performed for image data having a data structure in which the delimiter “FF” of FIG. 10 is provided instead of the code amount of each layer. Note that the apparatus configuration itself using the image data having the data configuration of FIG. 10 is basically the same as that of the first embodiment of FIG. 3, and instead of detecting the delimiter calculated from the code amount, each layer code data is obtained from the delimiter symbol. It is changed to the process of detecting the break.

In FIG. 11, first, in step S1, all hierarchical data constituting image data is read from the image data storage unit 100 and stored in the buffer unit 120 and stored. Then, the process of selecting the hierarchical supply data in the buffer in step S2 is executed. First, in step S21, the head image data 238 bytes shown in FIG. 10 is acquired, and then the 16-byte layer definition information of the first layer is acquired. Then, the delimiter "FF" at the end of the code data of the first layer
Is started, and when a delimiter is detected in step S24, the hierarchy end position is detected in step S25. The detection of the hierarchical end position can be realized by counting the number of bytes from the head of the buffer.

The abnormal steps S22 to S26 are performed for all the layers, and in step S27, the layer data is cut out based on the detection result of the layer completion position. Subsequently, in step S3, it is monitored whether or not the supply to the data amount of the target number of layers has been completed by the fixed setting, the operator setting, or the setting based on the reception result. (3) Supply Control Based on Image Quality FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing a third embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the supply control is performed under conditions other than the code amount. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the case where the supply is controlled based on the image quality is taken as an example.

In FIG. 12, the image data storage unit 10
The configurations of 0, the image data reading unit 110, the buffer unit 120, and the code data cutout unit 130 are the same as those in the first embodiment of FIG. In addition, the code information decoding unit 15 of the cutout control unit 150
1, layer position information storage unit 152, cutout information instruction unit 153
Also, the cutout supply instructing unit 154 is provided as in the embodiment of FIG.

The cut-out supply instructing section 154 is a drive control section 157.
The control condition determining unit 250 controls the supply of image quality based on the image quality, so that the control condition comparing unit 251, the image quality storing unit 252, and the target image quality value setting unit 25.
It is composed of three. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the image data used in the embodiment of FIG.

In FIG. 13, the image data is the head 238.
Following the byte image information, layer code data from the first layer to the fifth layer is provided. For each layer code data, for example, as shown for the first layer, 16-byte layer definition information is newly provided with additional information of a predetermined byte, and code data is provided with a delimiter "FF" indicating the end position. There is. As the additional information provided in each layer code data, for example, an S / N ratio value shown in FIG. 14 is provided.

FIG. 14 is an S / N given by the additional information provided in the hierarchical code data of the first to fifth layers of the first image, the second image and the third image provided in the code data storage unit 100. The ratio is shown. Therefore, in the embodiment of FIG. 12, after the image data reading unit 110 reads out the image data from the image data storage unit 100 and stores them in the buffer unit 120, the cutout control unit 150
The code information decoding unit 151 reads the S / N ratio value described in the additional information of each hierarchical data, and the image quality storage unit 25
2 is set as shown in FIG.

At the same time, the code information decoding unit 151 detects the layer end position based on the delimiter "FF" at the end of each layer code data, and stores the detection result in the layer position information storage unit 152. FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing the supply control in the third embodiment of FIG.

In FIG. 15, first, in step S1, the image data supplied to the restoration side is read from the image data storage unit 100 and stored in the buffer unit 120. Then, in step S2, the data selection process of the supply hierarchy in the buffer is performed. First, in step S21, the image information at the head of the image data is acquired, in step S22, the layer definition information of the next first layer is acquired, and in step S23, the layer additional information is acquired, and as shown in FIG. Stores the / N ratio.

Next, in step S24, the delimiter symbol "FF"
Is searched, and when a delimiter is detected in step S25, the process proceeds to step S26, and the hierarchy end position is detected and stored. When the above steps S22 to S26 are completed for all the layers, the process proceeds from step S27 to S28, and the cutout of the layer code data is started. In the supply of the cut out hierarchical code data in step S3, for example, the operator instructs the target image quality value setting unit 253 of the control condition determination unit 250 to set the target image quality value,
The control condition comparison unit 251 compares the target image quality value with the image quality value for each layer stored in the image quality storage unit 252 acquired from the additional information, specifically, the S / N ratio.

That is, the corresponding S / N ratio is read from the image quality storage unit 252 at the cut-out start position of the hierarchical code data of each layer, and the control condition comparison unit 251 compares it with the target image quality value. If so, cutout of the next layer is instructed, and if the target image quality value is reached, supply is stopped at this layer. The information indicating the image quality is S shown in FIG.
In addition to the / N ratio, there are a 10-level evaluation value of image quality, a 5-level evaluation value, a value indicating the magnitude of error with respect to the original image, and any image quality information can be used.

Further, the evaluation of the image quality may be the evaluation of the original image or may be the evaluation of the stored restored image of a specific hierarchy. FIG. 16 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing another embodiment of the control condition judging unit 250 used for the supply control based on the image quality. 16, the control condition determination unit 250 is characterized in that an image quality calculation unit 254 is provided instead of the image quality storage unit 252 of FIG. That is, FIG.
In the embodiment described above, the image quality is acquired from the additional information provided for each layer of the image data stored in the buffer section 120 and stored, but in the embodiment of FIG. The image quality of the hierarchically coded data that is cut out and supplied is calculated and the target image quality value from the target image quality value setting unit 253 is compared with the control condition comparison unit 251.

The specific structure of the image quality calculation unit 254 is as follows.
For example, as shown in FIG. Image quality calculator 2 in FIG.
Reference numeral 54 includes a reference image generation unit 501, an image restoration unit 502, and an image quality evaluation unit 503. That is, the image restoration unit 502
In step (c), the image data stored in the buffer unit 120 is restored to an image of a specific layer, for example, the final layer, and the image is supplied to the image quality evaluation unit 503. A predetermined reference image is given to the image quality evaluation unit 503 from the reference image generation unit 501, and the image quality evaluation unit 503 is based on the restored image and the reference image.
The calculated evaluation value is given to the control condition comparison unit 251 and compared with the target image quality value set by the operator or received.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing another embodiment of the image quality calculation unit 254, which comprises a reference image storage unit 601, a reference image selection unit 602, an image restoration unit 603 and an image quality evaluation unit 604. . In the embodiment of FIG. 18,
As the reference image, for example, the image 1 in the reference image storage unit 601
2 and 3 are prepared, and an appropriate reference image is selected by the reference image selection unit 602 and given to the image quality evaluation unit 604.

As in the embodiment of FIG. 17, the image restoration unit 603 restores and supplies images up to a specific layer of the image data stored in the buffer unit 120, for example, the final layer, and evaluates the image quality. The section 604 is for the selected reference images 1 and 2.
Alternatively, the image quality of the restored image is evaluated based on any one of 3 or 3 and the restored image, and is compared with the target image quality value set by the operator or received by the control condition comparison unit 251. (4) Supply Control Based on Supply Time of Hierarchical Code Data FIG. 19 shows a cutout control unit 150 used in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a control condition determination unit 250 therein, and the embodiment is characterized in that supply control is performed based on an image data supply time.

The control condition judging unit 250 is composed of a timer 255, a target time value setting unit 256 and a control condition comparing unit 251. The other structure is the same as that of the embodiment of FIG. That is, the control condition determination unit 250 of the cutout control unit 150 in the embodiment of FIG. 12 may be replaced with the embodiment of FIG. The timer 255 of the control condition determination unit 250 of FIG. 19 is started at the same time when the supply of the code data in the buffer unit 120 to the restoration side is started from the beginning, and the supply time is measured. A target time value is set in the target time value setting unit 256 by fixed setting, operator setting, or reception setting.
Therefore, the control condition comparison unit 251 compares the value of the set target time with the supply time counted by the timer 255, and when the supply time reaches the target time, the drive control unit 157 is notified. A comparison output indicating the end of supply is generated, and the supply of image data is stopped. (5) Supply Control Based on Restoration Time FIG. 20 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the control condition determination unit 250 used in the fifth embodiment of the present invention.
1, restoration time storage unit 259 and target restoration time value setting unit 2
It consists of 60. The control condition determination unit 2 shown in FIG.
Other than 50 is the same as the embodiment of FIG.

For the restoration time storage unit 259, based on the restoration time described in the additional information for each layer of the image data stored in the buffer unit 120, for example, the first image and the first image as shown in FIG. 2 images, 3rd image,
The restoration time (seconds) is stored in units of layers for each of the first to fifth layers. Here, in FIG. 21,
The necessary restoration time is stored for each of the first to fifth layers, but the accumulated restoration time from the first layer may be stored for the second and subsequent layers.

In the control condition judging section 250 of FIG. 20, the supply hierarchy of the image currently being supplied shown in FIG. 21 is detected in accordance with the division detection of each hierarchical data based on the cut-out supply of the image data from the buffer section 120. Value of the restoration time is read out and supplied to the control condition comparison unit 251.
The restoration time is integrated by and compared with the target restoration time value. When the restoration time reaches the target restoration time, the control condition comparison unit 251
Instructs the drive control unit 157 to end the data supply up to the layer up to the restoration time when the target value is reached.

Here, in the supply control based on the restoration time of FIG. 20, when there is a difference in the restoration time between the restoration time by the restoration device assumed for the supply control and the actual restoration time, Either the restoration time obtained from the additional information or the target restoration time set by the operator is selected. Further, the restoration time of the additional information and the target restoration time set by the operator may be calculated and standardized to eliminate the difference between the expected restoration time and the actual restoration time.

In the above embodiment, the buffer unit 1 is read out by reading all hierarchical data of one or a plurality of image data.
Although the supply control is performed after the image data is stored in the storage unit 20, the two or more hierarchical data that may be used for displaying each image may be stored in the buffer unit 120 to control the supply. Reading is not limited to all hierarchical data.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, the coded data of two or more layers of the image data having the hierarchical structure housed in the magnetic disk device or the like is temporarily stored in the buffer section and then restored. Since the data is cut out and controlled for supply, the time loss until the next hierarchical code data is supplied can be reduced compared to the case where the hierarchical code data unit is directly accessed and supplied to the restoration side. It is possible to perform a restoration display for searching images with high speed and a natural feeling.

Further, the cutout of the hierarchical code data from the buffer unit can restore and supply up to an arbitrary hierarchy depending on the fixed setting, the operator setting, the code amount depending on the receiving setting by the communication line, the image quality supplying time, the restoring time, etc. By setting a small number of restoration layers, it is possible to perform high-speed search, and it is possible to avoid waste of sending more code data to the restoration side than necessary when supplying it via a communication line.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the operation of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a data structure of image data.

5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a control condition determination unit in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of supply control from a buffer memory using a pointer.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing supply control according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the cutout control unit of FIG.

9 is a configuration diagram of another embodiment of the cutout control unit of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a data structure of image data used in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing supply control according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

13 is an explanatory diagram of a data structure of image data used in the embodiment of FIG.

14 is an explanatory diagram showing a storage state of the S / N ratio acquired from the additional information of the image data in the embodiment of FIG.

15 is a flowchart showing supply control according to the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a control condition determination unit that controls the supply by obtaining the image quality of a restored image by calculation.

FIG. 17 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment showing an embodiment of the image quality calculation unit in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an embodiment showing another embodiment of the image quality calculation section of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a supply condition determination unit used in the fourth embodiment of the present invention for controlling supply based on the supply time of hierarchical code data.

FIG. 20 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a supply condition determination unit used in the fifth embodiment of the present invention for supply control based on the restoration time of hierarchical code data.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a storage state of the restoration time acquired from the additional information of the image data in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of a conventional device.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a conventional hierarchical code data supply process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: Image data storage means 11: Image data reading means 12: Buffer means 13: Image data cutting means 15: Control means 100: Image data storage section 110: Image data reading section 111: Image switching section 112: Image number management section 120: Buffer unit 130: Code data cutout unit 140, 146: Restoration unit 142: Sending unit 144: Communication line 150: Switching control unit 151: Code information decoding unit 152: Hierarchical position information storage unit 153: Cutout information instruction unit 154: Cutout supply instruction unit 155: Supply condition input unit 156: Supply condition receiving unit 157: Drive control unit 250: Control condition determination unit 251: Control condition comparison unit 252: Image quality storage unit 253: Target image quality value setting unit 254: Image quality calculation Part 255: Timer 256: Target time value setting unit 257: Code amount storage unit 258: Target code amount value setting unit 259: Restoration time storage unit 260: Target restoration time value setting unit 501: Reference image generation unit 502: Image restoration unit 503: Image quality evaluation unit 601: Reference image storage unit 602: Reference image selection unit 603: Image restoration unit 604: Image quality evaluation unit

Claims (35)

[Claims] 1. An image data supply device for supplying image data composed of hierarchical code data obtained by encoding an original image by dividing it into two or more layers, and hierarchical code data constituting the image data. Image data storage means (10) storing the image data, buffer means (12) for temporarily storing the image data read from the image data storage means (10), and image data storage means (10) for storing the image data. Image data reading means (11) for reading the stored image data and storing it in the buffer means (12), and image data cut-out means (for reading the image data stored in the buffer means (12) and supplying it to the restoration side ( 13) and selecting the image data stored in the image data storage means (10) under the control of the image data reading means (11) and constructing the selected image data. At least two hierarchical coding data buffer means have to (12)
Control for reading out a part of two or more layered code data constituting the image data stored in the buffer means (12) by the control of the image data cut-out means (13) and supplying it to the restoration side. An image data supply device comprising: a means (15); 2. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein said control means (15) reads hierarchical code data from said image data storage means (10) by said image data reading means (11). Image data characterized by observing whether or not the reading up to a preset layer has been completed, and shifting to the selective supply of layer code data of a new image when the completion of reading up to the set layer is determined Supply device. 3. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control means (15) stores the hierarchical code data in the image data storage section (10) by the image data reading means (11). Selecting means, means for detecting a delimiter of each layer of all layer code data forming the selected image data, and an all layer code according to a delimiter detection result of each layer of all layer code data of the selected image An image data supply device, comprising means for storing information regarding the position of each layer in the buffer means (12) which stores data. 4. The image data supply device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said control means (15) is based on a supply condition input by an operator or the like.
An image data supply device characterized in that a part of the hierarchical code data in 2) is supplied. 5. The image data supply device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the control means (15) receives the supply condition notified from the restoration side, and based on the received supply condition. An image data supply device for supplying a part of hierarchical code data in the buffer means (12). 6. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control means (15)
Supplies a part of the hierarchical code data to the restoration side from the image data composed of at least two or more hierarchical code data stored in the buffer means (12) based on the code amount. Image data supply device. 7. The image data supply device according to claim 6, wherein the control means (15) comprises the buffer means (1).
2) has a code amount storage means for detecting and storing the code amount for each layer from the code amount information included in the image data stored in 2), and based on the code amount stored by the code amount storage means, An image data supply device characterized by controlling the supply of hierarchical code data to the reconstruction side. 8. The image data supply device according to claim 6, wherein the control means (15) comprises the buffer means (1).
2) has code amount storage means for detecting and storing the code amount to be supplied by the end of supply of each layer from the code amount information included in the image data stored in 2), and the code stored by the code amount storage means. An image data supply device, characterized in that the supply of hierarchical code data to the reconstruction side is controlled based on the amount. 9. The image data supply device according to claim 6, wherein the control means (15) comprises the buffer means (1).
4) has a code amount measuring means for measuring the supplied code amount, and controls the supply of the hierarchical code data to the restoration side on the basis of the code amount measured by the code amount measuring means. Image data supply device. 10. The image data supply device according to claim 6, wherein said control means (15) comprises said buffer means (1).
4) has code amount calculation means for calculating the code amount for each layer of the image data stored in 4), and supplies the layer code data to the restoration side based on the code amount calculated by the code amount calculation means. An image data supply device for controlling the image data supply device. 11. The image data supply device according to claim 6, wherein said control means (15) has a code amount calculation means for calculating a code amount to be supplied by the end of supply of each layer. An image data supply device, characterized in that the supply of hierarchical code data to the reconstruction side is controlled based on the code amount calculated by the amount calculation means. 12. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein the control means (15)
In the buffer means (12) based on the image quality of the image restored by the hierarchical code data from the image data composed of at least two or more hierarchical code data stored in the buffer means (12). An image data supply device, characterized in that a part of the hierarchical code data is supplied to the restoration side. 13. The image data supply device according to claim 12, wherein the control means (15) has means for storing the image quality of each layer of the image data stored in the buffer means (12). , Comparing the restored image quality with a predetermined target image quality value during the supply of the hierarchical code data to the restoration side, and when the image quality target value is reached, the supply of the hierarchical code data is stopped and the next image data An image data supply device characterized by switching to supply. 14. The image data supply device according to claim 12, wherein said control means (15) has hierarchical code data up to each hierarchy detected from the additional information of the image data stored in said buffer means (12). The image quality evaluation unit stores the image quality evaluation value of the restored image restored from the image quality control unit, and controls the supply of the hierarchical code data to the restoration side based on the image quality evaluation value stored in the image quality storage unit. Image data supply device. 15. The image data supply device according to claim 12, wherein the control means (15) detects the code data of each layer detected from the additional information of the image data stored in the buffer means (12). An image quality storage unit that stores an image quality evaluation value of a restored image that is improved by additionally restoring the image is provided, and hierarchical code data to the restoration side based on the image quality evaluation value stored in the image quality storage unit. An image data supply device, characterized in that the supply of the image data is controlled. 16. The image data supply device according to claim 12, wherein the control means (15) evaluates the image quality of a restored image up to each layer of the image data stored in the buffer means (12). An image data supply device comprising an image quality evaluation means, and controlling the supply of hierarchical code data to the restoration side on the basis of the image quality evaluation value obtained by the image quality evaluation means. 17. The image data supply device according to claim 16, wherein the control means (15) has a reference image storage means for storing a reference image which is a reference for evaluation of the restored image. Image data supply device. 18. The image data supply device according to claim 16, wherein the control means (15) has a reference image generation means for generating a reference image which is a reference for evaluation of the restored image. Image data supply device. 19. The image data supply device according to claim 16, wherein said control means (15) has an image restoration means for generating a restored image from the image data stored in said buffer means (12). An image data supply device, wherein the restored image generated by the image restoration means is evaluated by the image quality evaluation means. 20. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein said control means (15)
In the buffer means (12) based on the time required to supply the hierarchical code data from the image data composed of at least two or more hierarchical code data stored in the buffer means (12). An image data supply device, characterized in that a part of the hierarchical code data is supplied to the restoration side. 21. An image data supplying apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said control means (15) has a time measuring means for measuring a supply elapsed time of the hierarchical code data from said buffer means (14). An image data supply device, wherein hierarchical code data to be supplied to the restoration side is controlled on the basis of the supply elapsed time measured by the time measuring means. 22. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein said control means (15)
Calculates the required supply time from the image data composed of at least two or more hierarchical code data stored in the buffer means (12) based on the code amount of the hierarchical code data and the supply speed, and supplies the required supply time. An image data supply device, characterized in that the supply of hierarchical code data to the restoration side is controlled based on time. 23. An image data supply device according to claim 22, wherein said control means (15) starts a supply to the decompression side of the hierarchical code data, and at the same time, a code amount measuring means for measuring the supplied code amount. An image data supply means for comparing the code amount obtained by the code amount measuring means with a predetermined code amount upper limit value and supplying hierarchical code data until the measured code amount reaches the code amount upper limit value. apparatus. 24. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein said control means (15)
Has a layer number designating means for designating the number of layers to be supplied,
An image data supply device characterized in that a part of the hierarchical code data from the image data stored in the buffer means (12) is supplied to the restoration side on the basis of the number of hierarchies designated by the hierarchy number designating means. 25. The image data supply device according to claim 24, wherein the control means (15) compares the number of layers specified as a supply condition with the actual number of supply layers during the supply of the image code data. An image data supply device, comprising: a comparison means for performing the operation, and stopping the supply of the layer code data and switching to the supply of new image data when the number of supply layers reaches a specified number of layers by the comparison means. 26. The image data supply device according to claim 1, wherein said control means (15)
Is from the buffer means (12) to the restoration side based on the time required to restore the image data from the image data composed of at least two or more hierarchical code data stored in the buffer means (12). An image data supply device, characterized in that the supply of the hierarchical code data is controlled. 27. The image data supply device according to claim 26, wherein the control means (15) restores each layer of image data detected from the additional information of the image data stored in the buffer means (12). Storage means for storing time,
Comparing the storage restoration time of the storage means with a preset target time, and controlling the supply of hierarchical code data from the buffer means (12) to the restoration side based on the comparison result of the comparison means. An image data supply device characterized by: 28. An image data supply apparatus according to claim 26, wherein said control means (15) calculates a restoration time for each layer of the image data stored in said buffer means (14). An image data supply device comprising a calculating means, and controlling the supply of hierarchical code data from the buffer means (14) to the restoring side based on the restoring time calculated by the restoring time calculating means. 29. The image data supply device according to claim 26, wherein said control means (15) adds code data of each layer detected from incidental information of the image data stored in said buffer means (12). And a restoration time calculation means for calculating a restoration time required to restore the image, and based on the restoration time calculated by the restoration time calculation means, the hierarchical code data from the buffer means (12) to the restoration side. An image data supply device characterized by controlling supply. 30. An image data supplying method for supplying image data composed of hierarchical code data obtained by dividing an original image into two or more layers and encoding the same, wherein hierarchical code data constituting the image data. Storing in the image data storage means (10), selecting the image data stored in the image data storage means (10), and at least two or more constituting the selected image data. The hierarchical code data is stored in the image data storage means (10).
Read out from and store in the buffer means (12); and a step of reading out a part of two or more hierarchical code data forming the image data stored in the buffer means (12) and supplying it to the restoration side. A method of supplying image data, comprising: 31. The image data supply method according to claim 30, wherein coded data of all layers forming the selected image data is read from said image data storage means (10) and buffer means (12). A method for supplying image data, characterized in that the image data is stored in. 32. The image data supplying method according to claim 30, wherein during the reading of the hierarchical code data from the image data storage means (10), it is determined whether the reading up to a preset hierarchical level is completed. A method for supplying image data, characterized in that, when monitoring is performed and it is determined that reading up to a set layer has been completed, the layer code data of a new image is selectively supplied. 33. The image data supplying method according to claim 30, wherein the image data selected from the image data storage unit (10) by the image data reading unit (11) is stored in the buffer unit (12). At this time, the delimiter of each layer of the all-layer code data is detected, and the information on the position of each layer in the buffer means (12) storing the all-layer code data is generated according to the delimiter detection result. A method for supplying image data, characterized in that the image data is stored as a file. 34. The image data supplying method according to claim 30, 31, 32 or 33, wherein said buffer means (12) is based on a supplying condition inputted by an operator or the like, or a supplying condition notified from the restoration side. A method for supplying image data, wherein a part of the hierarchical code data is supplied from. 35. The image data supply method according to claim 34, wherein the supply of the hierarchical code data from the buffer means (12) to the decompression side is performed by the code amount, the image quality, the supply time, the required time, and the number of layers. A method for supplying image data, characterized in that control is performed based on the restoration time or the supply time.