JPH07222130A - Image transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To respectively individually and arbitrarily turn on/off a local system cursor and another system cursor by storing received coordinate information of the other system cursor and individually controlling whether the other system cursor and the local system cursor are to be superimposed and displayed or not by a cursor display control means. CONSTITUTION:Horizontal and vertical direction counters 11 and 13 count and hold the cursor positions of a local system according to a cursor switch 14. The outputs of the counters 11 and 13 are inputted through a local system cursor suppression processing part 17 to a local system cursor matching detection part 15. When matching with a display address from a display address generation part 4 is detected, the detection part 15 generates a local system cursor signal (q) and displayes the local system cursor in red through a switch 6. Similarly, the coordinate value of the other system cursor information is applied from a cursor suppression processing part 18 of the other system to a cursor matching detection part 16 of the other system and when matching is detected, the other system cursor is displayed in blue. Further, the cursors can be turned on/off with the local system and the other system cursor switches 20 and 21.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image transmission device for transmitting and receiving image information via a communication line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system for connecting and receiving image information to and from a remote place via a telephone line or a communication line such as ISDN (Integrated Service / Digital Network) and transmitting / receiving image information includes a videophone and a video conference. There are systems, etc. Further, in recent years, there is also a system that transmits drawing information and performs a meeting while referring to the same drawing. In these conventional image transmission devices, the cursor display is always displayed, and the cursor information is not handled when the received image is stored in the storage device. In addition, when both the other system cursor and the own system cursor are displayed on the same screen for a meeting or the like, there is a device that displays each cursor in a different color, but these two cursors are at the same position. When overlapping, only one of the cursors was displayed.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned conventional image transmission device has the following problems, and it is not possible to carry out an efficient meeting. In other words, regarding the turning on and off of the cursor display,
Since it was not possible to erase each of the other system cursors or two cursors at the same time, there was a problem that the cursors were always displayed in a part of the display image. In addition, since the information of either or both of the transmitted self-cursor and the received other-cursor could not be stored or reproduced, there is a problem that the information indicating the important part of the image information cannot be recorded. there were.

Further, when the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor are displayed at the same time, if the positions of the two cursors overlap each other, only one cursor is displayed, and the existence of the other cursor is unknown. It was further,
Regarding the movement of the cursor on the display screen, when moving the cursor from one end of the display screen to the other end, it is necessary to move the cursor by the height or width of the display screen, which makes it impossible to move the cursor quickly. There was a problem.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image transmission apparatus which can individually switch a self-system cursor and a received another-system cursor individually. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission device capable of confirming the positions of two cursors when the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor are simultaneously displayed, even if the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor overlap. That is. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an image transmission device in which the cursor can be moved quickly from one end to the other end of the display screen.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following constitution. That is, the present invention is
In an image transmitting apparatus for transmitting and receiving image information by a communication means, a transmitting means for adding cursor coordinate information to the image information and transmitting the image information, an image storing means for storing the received image information, and the received cursor coordinate information. Other system cursor coordinate storage means, an image display device for reproducing and displaying the image information stored in the image storage means, and another system cursor and receiving side device instructed by the contents of the other system cursor coordinate storage means. An image transmission device comprising: cursor display control means for individually controlling, for each cursor, whether or not to display an own-system cursor that can be arbitrarily designated on the image display device. is there.

In the present invention, the other-system cursor and the own-system cursor are displayed in different colors on the image display device, and when the two cursors overlap each other, they are displayed in a composite color of the respective colors. Cursor display color control means may be further provided.

The present invention may further comprise cursor moving means capable of moving the cursor so that one end of the display screen of the image display device and the other end of the display screen are cyclically continuous. .

[0009]

In the image transmitting apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration, the received other system cursor coordinate information is stored, and the other system cursor and the own system cursor are superimposed and displayed on the image display device by the cursor display control means. Control whether to display or not. Further, when the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor are overlapped at the same position, it is possible to display a composite color of the colors of the respective cursors and display the overlap of the two cursors. Also, when moving the cursor from one edge of the screen to the other edge, the area of the screen is circularly continuous left and right and up and down, so for example, if one unit is moved to the left from the position at the left edge of the screen. , The cursor moves to the right edge of the screen, allowing quick cursor movement.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an image transmission apparatus according to the present invention. In an image transmission system to which the present invention is applied, an image transmission device of another system (not shown) and an image transmission device of its own system whose main part is shown in FIG. 1 are connected to each other by a line 50.

In FIG. 1, the main parts of the image transmission apparatus of the embodiment are a line control unit 1, a storage unit 2, an image control unit 3 and
The display address generator 4, the image memory 5, the switches 6, 7, 8 and the digital / analog converter (hereinafter, D
AC) 9 and basic clock generators 10 and 12,
The horizontal counter 11, the vertical counter 13, the cursor switch 14, and the own system cursor coincidence detection unit 15
Other system cursor coincidence detection unit 16, own system cursor suppression processing unit 17, other system cursor suppression processing unit 18, system control unit 19, own system cursor switch 20, and other system cursor switch 21. .

In this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure, the line controller 1 is both a transmitter and a receiver at the same time, and the video input a of its own system inputted to the image controller 3 is connected to the line 50 through the storage unit 2. When the image is transmitted to the other system image transmission device, the own system cursor information, m and o are added and transmitted.
Further, the other-system image information received from the other system via the line 50 passes through the storage unit 2 and is separated into the other-system cursor coordinate value n and the other-system image information in the image control unit 3 to obtain the other-system image. The information is stored in the image memory 5 which is an image storage means, read out at a required display timing of an image display device (not shown), and displayed as an image on the image display device.
On the other hand, the other-system cursor coordinate value n separated from the other-system image information is stored in the storage unit 2. Next, the cursor display control means includes the own system cursor suppression processing unit 17, the own system cursor matching detection unit 15, the other system cursor suppression processing unit 18, the other system cursor matching processing unit 16, the system control unit 19, and the own system cursor switch 20. , Another system cursor switch 21 and video signal switches 6, 7 and 8.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First,
The image input signal a passes through the image control unit 3 and is stored at the address of the image memory 5 designated by the address signal d of the display address generation unit 4. Address signal d at this time
Is the same as the address signal c synchronized with the image input signal, but once stored in the image memory 5, it becomes a unique read address signal generated by the display address generator 4 and depends on the display address signal c. do not do.

The address signal d causes the image memory 5
The red signal e, the green signal f, and the blue signal g of the image data stored in are read out, and the cursor information is appropriately superimposed by the switches 6, 7, and 8. The red superimposed signal h, the green superimposed signal i, and the blue superimposed signal j on which the cursors are superimposed by these switches are converted into analog signals by the DAC 9 and output as image signals k. Further, the image control unit 3 temporarily stores the image information, the cursor information, and the like to be transmitted to the other system in the storage unit 2, and then the line control unit 1 transmits the image information and the cursor information to the other system image transmission device through the line 50. It On the other hand, when the information sent from the image transmission device of the other system through the line 50 arrives at the line control unit 1, the received image information passes through the storage unit 2 and is supplied to the image control unit 3.

Next, the details of the image controller 3 will be described with reference to FIG. The other-system information x given to the image control unit 3 via the line control unit 1 and the storage unit 2 is separated from the other-system cursor coordinate value n and the image data by the data separation circuit 28, and the other-system cursor coordinate value. n is input to the other system cursor coincidence detection unit 16 that detects the cursor display position through the other system cursor suppression processing unit 18, and the image data is input to the decoder 29. The image information decoded by the decoder 29 is
Image memory 5 via the B and C terminals of switch 30
Stored in.

On the other hand, at the time of capturing an image of its own system, an image input a from an image pickup device or an external image storage device (not shown) is converted into a digital image signal by an analog / digital converter (hereinafter abbreviated as ADC) 22. Then, while being stored in the fetch memory 23 instructed by the memory address generation circuit 26, the A terminal of the switch 30
It is stored in the image memory 5 via the C terminal. An address signal from the memory address generation circuit 26 is used as the address signal of the image memory 5 at the time of this storage, which becomes the address signal c through the A terminal and the C terminal of the switch 27. Then, it is applied as an address signal d.

Further, the image information taken in the taking-in memory 23 is encoded by the encoder 24 in accordance with the line system, and the data synthesizing circuit 25 adds the own system cursor coordinate value and the like, and then the transmitted image. The information s is output from the line control unit 1 to the line 50 through the storage unit 2. The contents of the storage format x, the transmission video information format u, and the reception video information format v shown above are shown in FIG.

Next, the cursor control relationship will be described with reference to FIG. For the cursor switch 14, a 4-way seesaw switch, a 4-way joystick, or the like is used.
The switch is tilted in a desired direction when the own-system cursor is arbitrarily moved up, down, left or right. Cursor switch 14
Has upper and lower contacts and left and right contacts, and generates a count-up signal or a count-down signal from the contacts in the selected direction to the vertical counter 13 or the horizontal counter 11.

The vertical counter 13 or the horizontal counter 11 is a counter for counting and holding the vertical coordinate or the horizontal coordinate of the cursor, respectively. The basic clock is input from the basic clock generator 12 or 10, respectively, and the cursor switch 14 is operated. The count value is raised or lowered by the given count up signal or count down signal to change the coordinate value of the cursor. The vertical counter 13 and the horizontal counter 11 are
It is connected so as to perform the circulation counting with the maximum count values of nV and nH, respectively.

For example, if the maximum count of the horizontal counter 11 is nH as shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal coordinate value at the right end of the display screen becomes nH, and if the cursor is moved further to the right from this position, the cursor moves to the screen. The horizontal counter 11 is controlled so as to move to the position of 1H which is the left end. When the cursor is moved to the left from the nH position, the horizontal coordinates of the cursor are nH-1, nH-2, n.
It becomes H-3, ..., 1H, moves to the left end of the screen, and further moves to the left, moves to nH which is the position at the right end of the screen.
Similarly, when moving the cursor in the vertical direction, if the cursor is moved further upward from 1V which is the vertical coordinate value at the upper end of the display screen, the cursor moves to nV at the lower end of the display screen.
When the cursor is moved further down from nV which is the vertical coordinate value at the lower end of the display screen, the cursor moves to 1V at the upper end of the display screen.

As described above, the outputs of the horizontal direction counter 11 and the vertical direction counter 13 which count and hold the cursor position of the own system according to the cursor switch 14 pass through the own system cursor inhibition processing unit 17 and are used as actual cursor display signals. Is input to the self-system cursor coincidence detection unit 15 for generating. The own-system cursor coincidence detection unit 15 compares the own-system cursor coordinate values held by the horizontal direction counter 11 and the vertical direction counter 13 with the display address of the display device generated by the display address generation unit 4. When a match is detected in this comparison, the own-system cursor match detection unit 15 generates the own-system cursor signal q, and the common contacts C and + V are applied to the switch 6 inserted in the red video signal circuit. Instruct to connect with the connected A contact. As a result, the own-system cursor information is superimposed on the red superimposed signal h, and the own-system cursor is displayed in red on the image display device.

Similarly, for the other-system cursor information, the other-system cursor suppression processing unit 18 supplies the other-system cursor coordinate value p to the other-system cursor coincidence detection unit 16 to compare with the display address to detect coincidence. And another system cursor signal r is generated. The other system cursor signal r is applied to the switch 8 inserted in the blue video signal circuit by the common contacts C and + V thereof.
It is instructed to connect with the A contact connected to. As a result, the other system cursor information is superimposed on the blue superimposed signal j,
The other system cursor is displayed in blue on the image display device.

Further, when the own-system cursor coordinate value and the other-system cursor coordinate value are equal to each other and two cursors are displayed together, the own-system cursor signal q and the other-system cursor signal r are simultaneously output, and the switch 6 and switch 8 simultaneously superimpose red and blue on the video signal. Therefore, it is easy to see that the cursor is displayed on the display device in magenta color, which is a composite color of red and blue, and the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor point to the same position.

Next, control for individually turning on / off the display of the self-system cursor and the display of the other-system cursor will be described. The system control unit 19 is connected with the own system cursor switch 20 and the other system cursor switch 21 independently of each other, and the control of each switch controls "ON" and "OFF" of each cursor display. . When "cut" of each cursor is instructed by the own system cursor switch 20 or the other system cursor switch 21, the own system cursor suppression processing unit 17 or the other system cursor suppression processing unit 18 outputs the cursor coordinate value output, m, Let o or p be a value different from the range of the display screen. As a result, the self-system cursor coincidence detection unit 15 or the other-system cursor coincidence detection unit 16 outputs the coincidence signal, that is, the self-system cursor signal q or the other-system cursor signal r without detecting a coincidence within the range of the coordinate values on the screen. There is no output, so the display of the cursor is suppressed.

Next, FIG. 3 shows the details of the storage unit 2. The storage unit 2 includes a storage circuit 34 and switches 31 and 32, and the information stored in the storage circuit 34 is the received image information v and the transmitted image information u input from the line control unit 1. Also,
According to the accumulated image information, the self-system cursor information o,
m and other system cursor information n are stored in the storage circuit 34. This storage format x is shown in FIG. Further, when the accumulated data is read from the accumulation circuit 34 and displayed, it is input to the image control unit 3 via the B terminal and C terminal of the switch 31. When transmitting the accumulated information, it is input to the line control unit 1 via the B and C terminals of the switch 32.

While the preferred embodiment has been described above, this is not a limitation of the invention. For example, the suppression of the cursor display in the above-described embodiment is performed before the cursor coincidence detection unit in both the self system and the other system, but may be suppressed by inserting a coincidence detection signal suppression gate in the subsequent stage of the cursor coincidence detection unit. Good. In addition, as for the cursor composite color when both the own system cursor and the other system cursor are coincident, a combination as shown in Table 1 below including the embodiment can be considered.

[Table 1]

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Each of the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor can be selectively displayed and can be erased as necessary, which has the effect of improving the operability of the apparatus. In addition, when the image information is stored, the cursor information can be stored together with the image information, which has the effect of improving the recording performance.
In addition, when the self-system cursor and the other-system cursor are overlapped, the mixed-color cursors of the two are displayed, so that the distinguishability of the cursor position is improved. Furthermore, by making the cursor move in an endless ring shape, the cursor can be moved quickly from one end to the other end on the screen, and the operability is significantly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an image transmission apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram showing details of a video control unit.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram showing details of a storage unit.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a storage format, a transmission image information format, and a reception image information format.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of cursor movement.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 line control unit 2 storage unit 3 image control unit 4 display address generation unit 5 image memory 6, 7, 8 switch 9 DAC 10, 12 basic clock generator 11 horizontal direction counter 13 vertical direction counter 14 cursor switch 15 own system cursor match Detecting unit 16 Other system cursor coincidence detecting unit 17 Own system cursor suppression processing unit 18 Other system cursor suppression processing unit 19 System control unit 20 Own system cursor switch 21 Other system cursor switch 50 Line

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 7/081

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An image transmitting apparatus for transmitting and receiving image information by a communication means, transmitting means for adding cursor coordinate information to image information and transmitting the image information, and image storing means for storing the received image information. Another system cursor coordinate storage means for storing the cursor coordinate information, an image display device for reproducing and displaying the image information stored in the image storage means, and another system indicated by the content of the other system cursor coordinate storage means A cursor display control means for individually controlling, for each cursor, whether or not the cursor and the self-system cursor that can be arbitrarily designated by the receiving side device are respectively displayed on the image display device in a superimposed manner; Image transmission device. 2. The cursor according to claim 1, wherein the other-system cursor and the own-system cursor are displayed in different colors on the image display device, and when the two cursors are overlapped, the composite color of each color is displayed. An image transmission device further comprising cursor display color control means for controlling the color. 3. The cursor moving unit according to claim 1, further comprising a cursor moving unit that moves the cursor so that one end of the display screen of the image display device and the other end opposite to the display screen are cyclically continuous. An image transmission device characterized by the above.