JPH0798792A - Monitoring tv telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To record information such as the wide angle or telephoto lens of the monitoring camera, the setting of direction, and the generation of abnormal ity by providing a photographing means which automatically starts photographing when an event set in advance is detected. CONSTITUTION:When a user calls with a TV telephone 1 from outside, a communication control part 3 detects the presence or absence of the telephone and operates a response control part 4 and connects a line to a system control part 5 to make the communication with the user available. Then the user sets the direction of a monitor camera 8 with a dial signal and sets it to the proper photographing position with the use of the wide angle or telephoto lens function by a zoom lense. A setting event detection means 13 informs the system controller 5 of the generation of abnormality and it takes the abnormality state such as an intrusion of a stranger and a fire generation as a picture by the monitoring camera 8 through a direction setting control part 6 and a zooming control part 7. The acquired picture information is automatically recorded through the picture control part 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitoring videophone apparatus capable of monitoring in accordance with a command from a remote place and transmitting and recording the status thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following techniques have been disclosed with respect to this type of technique. (1) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-136589 In advance, the angle of the camera with respect to the dial signal is established, and after making a call from outside, the set dial signal is sent and the camera is moved by the angle corresponding to the dial signal. By rotating it, it is possible to monitor a wide range.

(2) Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 03-28999 By making a videophone call in the room where the user is out, and adjusting the position and zooming of the TV camera while looking at the screen, it is possible to observe the details of the room interior without any omission. Allow confirmation.

[0004]

In the case of the above (1),
If you have to find the target object by changing the angle setting of the surveillance camera with a certain angle of view little by little, and if there are multiple target objects that you want to monitor and their size is not constant, set the position accurately. It is difficult to specify, and it takes a long time to transmit an image, so that there is a problem that the efficiency becomes very low.

Further, in the case of the above (2), when monitoring from a remote place through the videophone, only the information when the videophone is in the call state can be obtained, and when the call is not in the call state. There was a problem that monitoring could not be performed at all.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in a monitor videophone apparatus capable of transmitting and receiving information from a remote place via a telephone line, dialing from an external telephone. A surveillance camera for wide angle, telephoto, or shooting direction that can be arbitrarily set according to a signal command, shooting means for automatically starting shooting when a preset event is detected, and the shooting means. Image output means for outputting image data photographed by, recording / playback means capable of recording and playing back the image data, and means for digitizing the image data and converting it into a modulated signal for output to a telephone line. Provided is a monitoring videophone device including an image communication control unit.

[0007]

The monitoring videophone device configured as described above is intended for monitoring from outside, and has a zoom function capable of setting any wide angle or telephoto and a monitoring camera capable of setting any direction. Since it is possible to perform control in accordance with the dial signal from the external telephone, it is possible to arbitrarily perform global monitoring in a wide range to detailed monitoring in a narrow range. When a preset event is detected, shooting is automatically started and the image data can be recorded.At the same time, the reproduced image data is digitized and converted into a modulation signal at the request of the caller. Can be output to the telephone line.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a surveillance videophone device of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a videophone for accessing the present embodiment and transmitting / receiving image information to / from the present embodiment, and 2 is a telephone line which is generally used.
Reference numeral 3 is a communication control unit that detects incoming calls and modulates and demodulates image information and control information. Reference numeral 4 is a response control unit that connects a line to the system controller 5 to make image information communicable. 6 is a direction of the surveillance camera 8. A direction control unit 7 to be set is a zoom control unit that controls the wide-angle and telephoto zoom functions of the surveillance camera 8. Reference numeral 13 is a set event detecting means for detecting the occurrence of an abnormal state in the intercom, the entrance door knob, the fire alarm, etc., and informs the system controller 5 of the occurrence state of the event. The system controller 5 controls the entire system,
The monitor camera 8 is made to correspond depending on the occurrence state of the event, and when the user is at home, the display 10 is monitored, and when the user is absent, the image controller 9 is instructed to switch the recording and reproducing of image information by the recording / reproducing device 12. .

The operation will be described with reference to FIG. When a user places a videophone 1 from outside, the communication control unit 3 detects the presence or absence of a call and activates the response control unit 4, and the line is connected to the system controller 5 to enable communication with the user. State. Here, the user confirms whether there is any abnormality in the surveillance target object from the sent image information, and further sets the direction of the surveillance camera with a dial signal so that the image information of the next target object to be monitored can be obtained, When you want to check the details or differences, you can use the zoom lens to set the appropriate shooting position using the telephoto or wide-angle functions.

[0010] For example, the same apparatus can be used to monitor a wide area such as a front door or gate of a home and observe very finely such as a pet's meal in the garden. Also, T
By dividing the screen of the V telephone device or displaying a sub screen, it is possible to monitor from both wide-angle and telephoto images at the same time. Furthermore, a more efficient surveillance videophone system can be constructed by switching between a plurality of surveillance cameras.

Further, the event to be set is intercom,
If the rotation of the entrance doorknob or the abnormal state of the fire alarm is detected, the occurrence of the abnormal state is set. Event detection means 13
Informs the system controller 5, and the system controller 5 uses the direction setting controller 6 and the zoom controller 7 to acquire an abnormal state such as intrusion of a suspicious person or the occurrence of a fire in the surveillance camera 8 as an image. A high security function can be obtained by automatically recording the acquired image information through the image control unit 9. Further, by allowing the user to control the recording / playback from the place where he / she is out, he / she can see the visitors who are out of the house, and can configure the absence recording function using images.

[0012]

As described above, the present invention is intended for monitoring from a remote place, and the wide-angle or telephoto setting of the surveillance camera and the setting of the direction are arbitrary based on the dial signal command from the user. Therefore, even for a plurality of objects to be monitored whose sizes are not constant, it is possible to quickly perform monitoring from a wide range to detailed monitoring in a narrow range with the same device.

Further, the occurrence of an abnormality or the intrusion of a suspicious person is detected, and the information is automatically recorded as image information by a recording / reproducing device so that the caller can call the image reproduction arbitrarily. As a result, high security functions can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a monitoring videophone device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... TV phone 2 ... Line 3 ... Communication control unit 4 ... Response control unit 5 ... System controller 6 ... Direction setting control unit 7 ... Zoom control unit 8 ... -Surveillance camera 9 ... Image control unit 10 ... Display 11 ... Telephone 12 ... Recording / playback device 13 ... Event detection means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A surveillance camera capable of transmitting and receiving information from a remote place via a telephone line, and a surveillance camera capable of arbitrarily setting a wide angle, a telephoto or a photographing direction according to a dial signal command from an external telephone. , Shooting means for automatically starting shooting when a preset event is detected, image output means for outputting image data shot by the shooting means, and recording / playback of the image data And a video communication control unit for digitizing the image data thereof, converting the image data into a modulated signal, and outputting the modulated signal to a telephone line.