JPH0766928A - Image transmission device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To transmit an image video-recorded in a recording medium such as a video tape, etc., in a short time, and also, without deteriorating the picture quality. CONSTITUTION:A Y signal outputted from a VTR is compared with a prescribed threshold by a binarizing circuit 11, converted to binary data of '0' and '1', and thereafter, stored in a field memory 13. The binary signal stored in the field memory 13 is read out by synchronizing with a line synchronizing signal of a facsimile terminal, converted to serial data, subjected to level conversion so as to conform to the facsimile terminal, and thereafter, inputted to the facsimile terminal. Subsequently, it is converted to a facsimile signal therein, and transmitted through a telephone line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for converting a video signal reproduced from a recording medium into a facsimile signal and transmitting the facsimile signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of remotely confirming an image recorded on a recording medium such as a video tape, a video signal reproduced from the video tape is printed by a video printer, and the printed image is displayed. It is possible to use a facsimile terminal to transmit to a remote place.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional method, the electric signal (video signal) is once converted into a visible image and then converted into the electric signal (facsimile signal) again. Therefore, until the image is transmitted. However, there is a problem in that the image quality is deteriorated during the conversion process.

Further, since it is necessary to set an image created by a video printer in a facsimile apparatus, there is a problem that the image cannot be automatically transmitted.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is an apparatus for transmitting an image recorded on a recording medium such as a video tape in a short time without deteriorating the image quality. The purpose is to provide.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of remotely transmitting an image recorded on a video tape or the like via a telephone line.

[0007]

In order to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1 is an image transmission apparatus for converting a video signal reproduced from a recording medium into a facsimile signal and transmitting the facsimile signal. First means for reproducing a video signal, second means for comparing the video signal reproduced by the first means with a predetermined threshold value to create binary data, and one field or one frame Third means for sampling and storing a predetermined number of the binary data with respect to the video signal, and reading the binary data stored in the third means in synchronization with the line synchronization signal of the facsimile signal. The fourth means and the fifth means for receiving the binary data read by the fourth means, converting the binary data into a facsimile signal and transmitting the facsimile signal are provided.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value is set to an average level of the white peak level and the black level of the video signal.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is based on claim 1.
Alternatively, in the invention according to 2, the fourth means is configured to read the same binary data from the third means repeatedly a plurality of times.

The invention according to claim 4 is, in the invention according to claim 1, 2 or 3, a sixth means for decoding a tone signal received via a telephone line, and an output of the sixth means. The seventh means is provided for controlling the operations of the first means and the fifth means based on the above.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the video signal reproduced from the recording medium is converted into binary data and stored. The stored binary data is read in synchronization with the line sync signal of the facsimile signal, converted into a facsimile signal, and transmitted.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the video signal is compared with the average level of the white peak and the black level and converted into binary data of 1 or 0.

According to the third aspect of the invention, each binary data stored in the third means is repeatedly read a plurality of times.

According to the invention of claim 4, the operations of the first means and the fifth means are controlled according to the contents of the tone signal.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image transmission device to which the present invention is applied. This embodiment is a system for confirming the contents of a video tape at home from outside.

In this figure, a telephone 1 and a facsimile terminal (hereinafter referred to as FAX terminal) 2 are provided at the destination. Also, at home, there are a telephone 3, a fax terminal 4, a tone decoder 5, a personal computer 6, a VTR 7 and a video / F.
An AX converter 8 is provided. The telephones 1 and 3 and the FAX terminals 2 and 4 at home and away are connected to the telephone line 9.

The tone decoder 5 transmits the tone signal transmitted from the telephone 1 at the destination to the telephone 3 at home, for example, 8
It is converted to bit parallel data and supplied to the parallel port of the personal computer 6. The personal computer 6 uses the parallel data supplied from the tone decoder 5 to send the FAX terminal 4,
It controls the operations of the VTR 7 and the video / FAX converter 8 (details will be described later). The VTR 7 supplies the video signal reproduced from the video tape to the video / FAX converter 8. The video / FAX converter 8 converts the video signal supplied from the VTR 7 into binary data and supplies it to the FAX terminal 4.
The FAX terminal 4 creates a facsimile signal based on the binary data supplied from the video / FAX converter 8 and transmits it to the FAX terminal 2 at the destination via the telephone line 9.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the image transmission apparatus of FIG. Hereinafter, the schematic operation of the image transmission apparatus of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to this figure. When going out, first, the telephone 1 is used to call the telephone 3 at home. Then, using the tone signal, a command for setting the VTR 7 to the reproduction mode is sent. This tone signal is input to the tone decoder 5 via the telephone 3 and converted into parallel data here,
It is input to the personal computer 6. When the personal computer 6 identifies that this parallel data is a command for setting the VTR 7 in the reproduction mode, it outputs a control signal for setting the VTR 7 in the reproduction mode. As a result, the VTR 7 is set to the reproduction mode, and the video signal is reproduced from the video tape. The method for controlling the VTR 7 by the personal computer 6 is as follows:
C (Local Application Controller)
ol Bus System) terminal may be configured to supply a control signal.

Next, at the destination, a command is sent to the video / FAX converter 8 by binarizing the video signal reproduced from the video tape by using the tone signal. This tone signal is similarly converted into parallel data and supplied to the personal computer 6. This parallel data is VTR for the personal computer 6.
It identifies that it is a command to take in the video signal reproduced from 7 into the video / FAX converter 8 and outputs a control signal to the video / FAX converter 8. As a result, the video signal for one field is binarized and taken into the video / FAX converter 8.

Next, when going out, using a tone signal, F
It sends a command to start the operation of the AX terminal 4. The personal computer 6 identifies that the parallel data decoded by the tone decoder 5 is a command to start the operation of the FAX terminal 4, and outputs a control signal to the FAX terminal 4.
As a result, the FAX terminal 4 reads the binary data taken into the video / FAX converter 8, converts the binary data into a facsimile signal, and transmits the facsimile signal to the FAX terminal 2 at the destination. As a result, the contents of the home video tape can be confirmed on the go. When an image is received by the FAX terminal 2 on the go, a command to stop the operation of the FAX terminal 2 is sent using a tone signal. Also, for example, if the contents of the video tape are checked and it is judged that they are unnecessary, the tone signal is used for the VTR.
Recording reservation can be made by sending a command to set 7 to the recording reservation mode.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of the video / FAX converter. The configuration and operation of the video / FAX converter will be described below with reference to this figure. VT in Figure 1
The Y signal in the video signal output from R7 is supplied to the binarization circuit 11 and the sync separation circuit 12. Binarization circuit 1
1 compares the level of the input Y signal with a predetermined threshold value, for example, the average level of the white peak level and the black level, and converts it into binary data of 1 or 0 according to the magnitude relationship.
The sync separation circuit 12 separates the horizontal sync signal and the vertical sync signal from the Y signal, and supplies them to the write control circuit 14.

When the writing control circuit 14 receives a control signal (hereinafter referred to as a data fetch signal) for fetching a video signal into the video / FAX converter 8 from the personal computer 6 shown in FIG.
A write address signal, a write enable signal and a write clock signal for storing the output of the binarization circuit 11 in the field memory 13 are generated and supplied to the field memory 13. In this embodiment, binary data is stored in each of 256 fields in the horizontal direction and 256 samples in the vertical direction.

The binary data stored in the field memory 13 is read out in 8-bit parallel by the microcomputer 15 and supplied to the parallel / serial conversion circuit 16. This reading is performed in synchronization with the line synchronization signal supplied from the FAX terminal 4 to the microcomputer 15. Then, the fax terminal 4 receives the control signal for starting the operation of the fax terminal 4 from the personal computer 6, and then outputs this line synchronization signal.

When the parallel / serial conversion circuit 16 converts the input 8-bit parallel data into serial data, the serial-converted data is converted into the level conversion circuit 17.
To a buffer memory (not shown) in the FAX terminal 4 via the, and an interrupt signal to the microcomputer 15. The level conversion circuit 17 adapts the level of the binary data to the image signal level of the FAX terminal 4 (eg, 5V → 3V). When receiving the interrupt signal, the microcomputer 15 increments the read column address of the field memory 13 and supplies the next 8-bit parallel data to the parallel / serial conversion circuit 16. When the above operation is repeated and 256 samples in the horizontal direction are converted into serial data, the next line synchronization signal is waited for from the FAX terminal 4, and when the next line synchronization signal is input, the same operation is repeated. .

As described above, the binary data stored in the field memory 13 is transmitted to the FAX terminal 4, but as described above, in the present embodiment, the field memory 13 has only 256 samples in the horizontal direction and 256 samples in the vertical direction. Since it is not stored, the fax terminal's A
It is less than a fraction of the number of dots of four sizes in the horizontal and vertical directions. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when parallel data is read from the field memory 13, one sample is read four times in the horizontal direction and one sample is read six times in the vertical direction.

The binary data thus stored in the buffer memory of the FAX terminal 4 is subjected to a predetermined redundancy compression process, and is transmitted to the FAX terminal 2 at the destination via the telephone line 9.

At the destination, when the image received by the FAX terminal 2 is confirmed, a command to stop the operation of the FAX terminal 2 is sent using a tone signal. At this time, FAX
The terminal 2 may be configured to sequentially read binary data from the video / FAX converter 8 and convert it into a facsimile signal to transmit a plurality of images until receiving a command to stop the operation. When the transmission of one image is completed and the command to transmit the next image is received from the destination, the binary data of the next field is read from the video / FAX converter 8 and the next one image is transmitted. It may be configured to do so.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention, and these modifications are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, 256 samples in the horizontal direction and 25 samples in the vertical direction from the video signal for one field.
Binary data of a 6-dot sample is stored, and the same sample is repeatedly read four times in the horizontal direction and six times in the vertical direction, but the present invention is not limited to these numerical values.
Alternatively, binary data may be created from a video signal for one frame. Furthermore, instead of sampling from the entire screen, the peripheral part of the screen may not be sampled.

Further, in the above embodiment, the video signal is compared with the average level of the white peak level and the black level, and white and black 2
Although it is converted into the value data, it may be converted into the pseudo halftone binary data by the dither method.

The video / FAX converter can be provided in the FAX terminal, and the tone decoder can be provided in the telephone.

[0032]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, an image recorded on a recording medium such as a video tape can be transmitted in a short time without deteriorating the image quality. Also, images recorded on a video tape or the like can be transmitted by remote control via a telephone line.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image transmission device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic operation of the image transmission device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a video / FAX converter in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 3 ... Telephone, 2, 4 ... FAX terminal, 5 ... Tone decoder, 6 ... Personal computer, 7 ... VTR, 8 ... Video / FAX
Converter, 11 ... Binarization circuit, 13 ... Field memory, 15 ... Microcomputer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image transmission apparatus for converting a video signal reproduced from a recording medium into a facsimile signal and transmitting the facsimile signal, comprising: (a) first means for reproducing the video signal from the recording medium; and (b) the means. A second means for comparing the reproduced video signal with a predetermined threshold value to generate binary data; and (c) a predetermined number of binary data for one field or one frame of the video signal. Means for sampling and storing the data, and (d) fourth means for reading the binary data stored in the third means in synchronization with the line synchronization signal of the facsimile signal; An image transmission apparatus comprising: a fifth means for taking in binary data read by the means of 4, and converting the binary data into a facsimile signal for transmission. 2. The image transmission device according to claim 1, wherein the threshold value of the second means is an average level of a white peak level and a black level of the video signal. 3. The image transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fourth means repeatedly reads the same binary data from the third means a plurality of times. 4. A sixth means for decoding a tone signal received via a telephone line, and a seventh means for controlling the operations of the first means and the fifth means based on the output of the means. The image transmission device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein.