JPH08214160A - Conference communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To allow the terminal equipment to composite writings and picture images with a conference image and an image of an opposite terminal equipment while minimizing omission of the conference image or the image of the opposite terminal equipment and to display the composited image on a monitor and to composite the writings and picture images with the conference image and to send the composite image to the opposite terminal equipment while minimizing missing fo the conference image. CONSTITUTION: The terminal equipment is provided with a binary conversion means 39 which converts an image picked up by a writings and picture camera into a binary writings and picture image by comparing each picture element of the writings and picture image with a prescribed threshold picture element and with a monitor image compositing means 38 which composites only picture elements of either predetermined level in binary levels among picture elements outputted from the binary conversion means 39 and forming the binary writings and picture image with an image to be displayed on a monitor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses, as a monitor, at least a terminal image captured by a video camera for inputting conference images or a document camera for inputting conference material images, or an image of the other terminal received from the other terminal device. While displaying
The present invention relates to a conference communication terminal device that transmits the own terminal image to the partner terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above-mentioned conventional conference communication terminal device, a monitor of a conference image photographed by the video camera and showing the participants of the conference, a document photographed by the document camera, etc. is displayed on its monitor. Only one of the document image on which the conference material is displayed or the partner terminal image received from the partner terminal device is selectively switched and displayed.

On the other terminal device, a conference image photographed by the video camera and showing the participants of the conference, or conference material such as a manuscript photographed by the document camera is displayed. Only one of the document images is selectively switched and transmitted. The transmitted image is displayed on the monitor of the partner terminal device.

[0004]

Therefore, when the conference image or the partner terminal image is displayed on the monitor of the own terminal device, the conference participants cannot see the document image. On the contrary, when the document image is displayed, the conference image and the partner terminal image cannot be viewed.

When the conference image is transmitted to the partner terminal device, the conference participant on the partner terminal device side cannot see the document image, and when the document image is transmitted. Cannot see the meeting image.

Therefore, there is a problem that the presence of the conference is impaired.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the document image is displayed on the monitor after being combined with the conference image or the image of the partner terminal while minimizing the loss thereof. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a conference communication terminal device capable of combining the document image with the conference image and transmitting the conference image to the partner terminal device while minimizing the loss of the conference image.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the conference communication terminal device according to claim 1 has at least:
While displaying the own terminal image taken by the video camera for inputting the conference image or the document camera for inputting the conference material image or the other terminal image received from the other terminal device on the monitor, the own terminal image is displayed as the other terminal device. In the conference communication terminal device for transmitting to the document communication device, the pixel value of each pixel constituting the document image captured by the document camera is converted into a binary document image by comparing the pixel value with a predetermined threshold pixel value. Among the pixels forming the binary document image output from the value converting means and the binary converting means, only the pixel having a pixel value of one of the two predetermined values is monitored by the monitor. And a monitor image synthesizing means for synthesizing the image to be displayed on the monitor.

A conference communication terminal device according to a second aspect is the conference communication terminal device according to the first aspect, wherein among the pixels forming the binary document image output from the binary conversion means,
It is characterized in that it is provided with a transmission image synthesizing means for synthesizing only a pixel whose pixel value is one of the two predetermined values among the two values, with the image to be transmitted to the partner terminal device.

A conference communication terminal device according to a third aspect is the conference communication terminal device according to any one of the first and second aspects, further comprising threshold pixel value setting means for arbitrarily setting the threshold pixel value. It is characterized by that.

[0011]

According to the structure of the present invention, the binary conversion means reflects the level of the gradation level and the brightness level of the document image signal for each pixel forming the document image captured by the document camera. That pixel value is compared with a predetermined threshold pixel value to convert it into a binary document image. That is, for example, the pixel value of the pixel generated by shooting the black area of the conference material is the minimum pixel value, the pixel value of the pixel generated by shooting the white area of the conference material is the maximum pixel value, By setting the threshold pixel value between the lowest pixel value and the highest pixel value, the image of the conference material such as an original document in which black characters are recorded on white paper has a pixel value smaller than the threshold pixel value. The pixel value of the pixel is newly set to 1,
By setting the pixel value of the pixel having a pixel value larger than the threshold pixel value to 0, it can be converted into a binary document image. The monitor image synthesizing unit outputs only the pixel having a predetermined pixel value of the binary values among the pixels forming the binary document image output from the binary converting unit. Composite with the image displayed on the monitor. That is, for example, if one of the two predetermined values is set to 1, then black, which has meaning as information, in the image of the conference material such as the manuscript in which black characters are recorded on white paper is black. Only the character portion is combined with the image displayed on the monitor. Therefore, only the portion of the calligraphic image that has meaning as information is combined with the image displayed on the monitor, and the portion that has no meaning as information is not combined.
An image that is originally displayed on a monitor is not unnecessarily lost by combining the document image.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the transmission image synthesizing means preliminarily sets the pixel value of the pixels forming the binary document image output from the binary converting means to one of the binary values. Only pixels having one of the determined values are combined with the image transmitted to the partner terminal device. Therefore,
Since only the portion having meaning as information in the document image is combined with the image transmitted to the partner terminal device, and the portion having no meaning as information is not combined, the image originally transmitted to the partner terminal device is The document image can be combined with the image transmitted to the partner terminal device without being unnecessarily lost by being combined.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the threshold pixel value setting means for arbitrarily setting the threshold pixel value is provided, the original document or the like to be the conference material has the characters or the like on the colored paper. Even if it is recorded or the characters are thin, the document image can be surely converted into a binary document image.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a conference communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This conference communication terminal device is an IS
It uses the basic interface of DN as a transmission line, and has a communication function of voice information, a communication function of moving image information, a facsimile communication function, a telewriting function, and a multiplexing communication function of these communication functions. By connecting to the interface, data communication using two information channels (B channel) is possible.

In FIG. 1, the system control unit 1 controls the respective units of the conference communication terminal device, processes of upper layers of the video conference communication, execution processes of various application programs included in the conference communication terminal device, and , And various control processes such as a help display process corresponding to a help request from a user. The ROM (Read Only Memory) 2 stores a part of the control processing program executed by the system control unit 1 and various data necessary for executing the control processing program. A RAM (random access memory) 3 constitutes a work area or the like of the system control unit 1.

The clock circuit 4 is for outputting current date information. The scanner 5 is for reading and inputting a document image at a predetermined resolution. Plotter 6
Is for recording and outputting an image at a predetermined resolution, and the encoding / decoding unit 7 encodes and compresses the image signal read by the scanner 5 by the encoding method of the group 4 facsimile function, and This is for decoding the encoded image information into the original image signal. The image processing unit 8 executes various kinds of image processing such as image data scaling processing and resolution conversion processing. The magnetic disk 9 is for storing system software, a plurality of application programs, a large number of user data, and the like.

The touch panel device 12 is used as a display device for a telewriting communication function, and
It is used as a display unit when a user operates this conference communication terminal device. LCD display control unit 11
Are for controlling display contents of a liquid crystal display (LCD) provided as a display unit of the touch panel device 12.

The touch panel control unit 13 outputs coordinate data of touch operation of the touch panel provided on the surface of the liquid crystal display of the touch panel device 12, touch state data, and the like.

The voice input / output device 14 is for inputting a voice for a call into a microphone and outputting the speaker. The analog audio signal input from the audio input / output device 14 by the microphone is output to the audio CODEC 15, and
The analog audio signal output from the audio input / output device 14 through the speaker is output from the audio CODEC 15 and added to the audio input / output device 14.

The audio CODEC 15 is for performing signal conversion processing of analog signal / digital data for transmitting an analog audio signal using the B channel of ISDN. The voice control unit 16 is for controlling the operation of the voice input / output device 14.

The video camera device 17 is for taking a conference image such as a video image on the user side of the conference communication terminal device. The moving image signal output from the video camera device 17 is a video signal of the moving image CODEC 18. It is added to the input end. The video camera control unit 20 controls the video camera device 17 to perform shooting on / off, zoom in / zoom out,
It is also for controlling various operation operations such as panning.

The document camera device 21 is for photographing a conference material image such as an original, and the image signal output from the document camera device 21 is added to the moving image CODEC 18. The document camera control unit 23 controls the operation of the document camera device 21.

The moving picture CODEC 18 receives the moving picture signals of the video camera device 17 and the document camera device 21 from the TTC standard JT-H. The moving picture information is coded and compressed by the coding method of H. 261 to form the moving picture information, and the moving picture information in the coded and compressed state is converted into the original moving picture signal while the picture signal is switched.

The display controller 19 includes a video monitor device 24.
The display contents of the screen to be displayed on the screen are controlled by a command from the system control unit 1 to form display screen information of a moving image signal output from the moving image CODEC 18, and the display screen information is displayed on the video monitor device 24. indicate.

The ISDN interface circuit 25 uses the I
In addition to being connected to the SDN, the ISDN layer 1 signal processing function and the integration / separation function of the D channel signal and the two B channel signals are provided, and the D channel signal is connected to the D channel transmission control unit 26. Interact,
Also, the signals of the two B channels are multiplexed / demultiplexed by the multiplexer / demultiplexer 2
I'm interacting with 7.

The D channel transmission control unit 26 has a signal processing function of the layer 2 of the D channel and one or two.
It is provided with a call control processing function for connecting / disconnecting one B channel.

The multiplexing / demultiplexing device 27 multiplexes data of a plurality of media such as voices, moving images, and general-purpose data exchanged using the B channel to obtain the TTC standard JT.
-H. The frame data defined in 221 is formed and transmitted to the line side, and the data of a plurality of media multiplexed in the received frame data is separated. The multiplexer / demultiplexer 28 exchanges audio data with the audio CODEC 15, exchanges moving image data with the moving image CODEC 18, and exchanges general-purpose data with the system control unit 1. .

The operation display section 30 is for displaying various information such as the operating status of the apparatus as the operator performs various operations, and is provided with a man-machine interface such as a keyboard.

These system control unit 1, ROM 2, R
AM3, clock circuit 4, scanner 5, plotter 6, encoding / decoding unit 7, image processing unit 8, magnetic disk device 9, LC
D display control unit 11, touch panel control unit 13, voice CO
The DEC 15, the audio control unit 16, the moving image CODEC 18, the display control unit 19, the video camera control unit 20, the document camera control unit 23, the D channel transmission control unit 26, the multiplexing / demultiplexing device 27, and the operation display unit 30 are the system. Bus 28
Data is exchanged between these respective elements mainly via the system bus 28.

Further, in the conference communication terminal device shown in FIG. 1, a protocol stack for realizing the communication processing is independently configured for each application, and an example thereof is shown in FIG.

In the figure, in the processing for executing the call control procedure using the D channel, the protocol stacks of Q921 and Q931 are used. Also, the C & I control processing executed using the B channel and the telewriting (T
W) control processing, general-purpose data transmission (BULK) control processing,
For the group 4 facsimile transmission (G4FAX) control process, a protocol stack defined in the recommendation or standard of the corresponding device function is used.

FIG. 3 shows a time chart when the conference communication terminal devices TA and TB having the same configuration as shown in FIG. 1 exchange data for C & I communication.

In the figure, the conference communication terminal devices TA, T
B forms a protocol stack for C & I communication, sets necessary conference control information in its user data, and exchanges these conference control information with each other.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the moving picture CODEC 18 of the conference communication terminal device shown in FIG.

In the figure, an A / D converter 32 is an NT for a conference image Vi (conference) and a document image Vi (document) input from the video camera device 17 or the document camera device 21.
The analog image signal conforming to the SC system is converted into an NTSC digital image signal. NTSC decoder 33
Is for converting the NTSC digital signal output from the A / D converter 32 into a predetermined image signal. H261
The encoder 34 transmits the image signal input from the NTSC decoder 33 to the ITU-T recommendation H.264. The data is encoded and compressed by the H.261 coding system and outputted. The output image data Do (H261) is used for the multiplexing / separation device 27, ISD.
It is transmitted to the partner terminal device via the N interface circuit 25 and the ISDN line.

On the contrary, the ISD is transmitted from the partner terminal device.
ISDN interface circuit 2 via N line
5. ITU input via multiplexer / demultiplexer 27
T Recommendation H. The input image data Di (H261) coded and compressed by the H.261 coding system is the H261 decoder 3
5 and the input image data is ITU-
Recommendation H.T. It is decoded and expanded by the H.261 coding system and output. The NTSC encoder 36 is the H261 decoder 3
The image signal input from the No. 5 is converted into an NTSC digital signal. The D / A converter 37 converts the NTSC digital signal input from the NTSC encoder 36 to NT.
It is to be converted into an SC analog image signal. The NTS
The C analog image signal corresponds to the image synthesizing circuit 38 and the display control 19
Is displayed on the video monitor device 24 via.

The binary conversion circuit 39 has a threshold pixel value set by the system controller 1 and the input document image V.
By comparing with the pixel value of each pixel forming i (writing image), it is converted into a binary writing image image and output. In this case, the binary pixel value is either 1 or 0, and the pixel value of a pixel having a pixel value smaller than the threshold pixel value is newly set to 1 and the pixel value is smaller than the threshold pixel value. It is assumed that the pixel value of a pixel having a large value is newly set to 0.

The image synthesizing circuit 38 synthesizes the binary document image output from the binary converting circuit 39 with the image output from the output terminal 1 of the switch SW2. However,
The image synthesizing circuit 38 switches the binary document image to the switch SW until the system controller 1 issues a command to start synthesizing.
The image output from the output terminal 1 of No. 2 is not combined, and only the image output from the output terminal 1 of the switch SW2 is output.

The switches SW1 and SW2 are for selectively switching between the input terminal 2 or 3 and the output terminal 1, which are provided respectively, and connecting them.
It is performed by a command from the system control unit 1.

The conference image Vi (conference) is connected to the input terminal 2 of the switch SW1, the document image Vi (document) is connected to the input terminal 3, and the output terminal 1 is connected to the A / D converter 32. Connected to input.

The conference image Vi (conference) is connected to the input terminal 2 of the switch SW2, the output of the D / A converter 37 is connected to the input terminal 3, and the output terminal 1 is of the image synthesizing circuit 38. Connected to input.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another example of the structure of the moving image CODEC 18 of the conference communication terminal device shown in FIG. 1, which is different from that of FIG.

In the figure, the moving image CODEC shown in FIG.
The same parts as those of the configuration 18 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. The difference from the configuration of FIG. 4 is that the binary conversion circuit 40,
The point is that the image synthesis circuit 41 is added. A document image Vi (document) is input to the binary conversion circuit 40.
The output of the binary conversion circuit 40 is input to the image synthesis circuit 41. Further, the image synthesizing circuit 41 displays the conference image Vi.
(Meeting) has been entered. The output of the image synthesis circuit 41 is input to the input terminal 2 of the switch 1.

The binary conversion circuit 40 is similar to the binary conversion circuit 39, and the threshold pixel value set by the system control unit 1 and each pixel forming the input document image Vi (document). It is converted into a binary document image by the comparison with the pixel value of. In this case, 2
The pixel value of the value is either 1 or 0, the pixel value of the pixel having a pixel value smaller than the threshold pixel value is newly set to 1, and the pixel value having a pixel value larger than the threshold pixel value. The pixel value of is newly set to 0.

The image synthesizing circuit 41 is similar to the image synthesizing circuit 38, and is a binary signal output from the binary conversion circuit 40.
The value document image is combined with the conference image Vi (conference). However, the image synthesizing circuit 41 does not synthesize the binary document image with the conference image Vi (meeting), and outputs only the conference image Vi (meeting) until the system control unit 1 issues a command to start synthesizing. .

FIG. 6 is a moving picture C shown in FIG. 4 or FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for selecting a threshold pixel value level to be set in the binary conversion circuit 38 or 40 of the ODEC 18. The selection of the level of the threshold pixel value is carried out in order to cope with the variety of conference materials such as the manuscript captured by the document camera device 21. That is, in the case of an original document in which black characters are recorded on white paper, the threshold pixel value is reliably set by setting an intermediate value between the pixel value corresponding to white and the pixel value corresponding to black. Can be converted to images. However, when the paper is colored other than white, the pixel value becomes smaller than when it is white. If the character is thin, the pixel value of the character is large. Therefore, if the threshold pixel value is fixed to a fixed value, it is not possible to reliably convert it into a binary document image in those cases.

Therefore, in the figure, the system control unit 1 monitors the depression of the threshold pixel value setting key (No loop of decision 101). As the threshold pixel value setting key, the keyboard of the operation display unit 30 is used. That is, for example, a key corresponding to each of 10 levels of threshold pixel values is assigned. When any one of the threshold pixel value setting keys is pressed (Yes in judgment 101)
s), the threshold pixel value corresponding to the pressed key,
The threshold pixel value to be set in the binary conversion circuit 39 or 40 is stored in the RAM 3 (process 102). Then, the processing from the determination 101 is constantly repeated. As a result, when the user presses the threshold pixel value setting key, the RAM
The threshold pixel value stored in 3 is also immediately changed.

FIG. 7 is a moving picture COD having the structure shown in FIG.
When the conference communication terminal device, which is the own terminal device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and which includes the EC 18, executes the conference communication with the conference communication terminal device on the partner side, which is the partner terminal device, via the ISDN line, It is a flow chart which shows the procedure of controlling animation CODEC18.

In the figure, the system control unit 1 checks whether there is a self-terminal monitor image synthesis request (decision 20).
1). If there is no request (No in judgment 201), it is then examined whether there is a transmission image switching request (decision 202). If there is a request (Yes in judgment 201), the switch SW
After switching 1 to 1 according to the request (process 203), the process returns to the determination 201. When there is no request (No in judgment 202)
Next, it is checked whether or not there is a request to switch the display image of its own terminal monitor (decision 204). If there is a request (Yes in determination 204), the switch SW2 is switched according to the request (process 205), and then the process returns to determination 201.

In the above procedure, in response to the self-terminal monitor image synthesizing request, the binary document image output from the binary conversion circuit 39 is synthesized by the image synthesizing circuit 38 and output, and the video of the self-terminal monitor is displayed. The request is to display on the monitor device 24. The transmission image switching request is a request to switch and transmit the conference image Vi (conference) or the document image Vi (document), which is the self-terminal image, to the partner terminal device. The own terminal monitor display image switching request is a request to switch and display the image displayed on the own terminal monitor 24 to the conference image Vi (conference) or the partner terminal image received from the partner terminal device.

The self-terminal monitor image composition request is made by the user pressing the key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30 by the system control unit 1.
Is required for. The key is composed of a combination request key and a key for canceling the request. After the combination request key is pressed, the system control unit 1 determines that there is a combination request, and after the release key is pressed. The system control unit 1 determines that there is no synthesis request.

Similarly, the transmission image switching request is requested to the system control unit 1 by the user pressing the key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is switch SW
1 is composed of a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 2 and a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 3, and the system control unit 1 The connection of the switch SW1 is switched accordingly.

Similarly, the request for switching the display of the own terminal monitor is
This is requested by the system control unit 1 when the user presses a key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is composed of a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 2 of the switch SW2 and a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 3, and the system control unit 1
The connection of the switch SW2 is switched according to the pressed key.

Therefore, according to the above procedure, the system control section 1 responds to the user's keyboard operation.
By switching the connection of the switch SW1 and the switch SW2, the conference image Vi (conference) or the document image Vi
While switching (writing) and transmitting to the other terminal device, the conference image Vi (conference) or the other terminal image is switched and displayed on the own terminal monitor 24.

The procedure up to this point is the process when there is no own terminal monitor image composition request (No in judgment 201), but when there is the own terminal monitor image composition request (decision 201).
Yes)), the threshold pixel value is set in the binary conversion circuit 39 (process 206). This threshold pixel value is stored in the RAM 3 according to the procedure shown in FIG. 6 as described above, and the system control unit 1 reads the threshold pixel value from the RAM 3 and performs binary conversion. A threshold pixel value is set in the circuit 39. Then, the image synthesis circuit 38 is instructed to start image synthesis (process 207). After this process 207, the image synthesizing circuit 38 continuously executes image synthesizing. After executing the process 207, the process returns to the determination 301.

By further executing this procedure, the conference image Vi displayed on the terminal monitor 24 after that is displayed.
A binary document image in which the document image Vi (document) is binary-converted is combined with the partner terminal image received from the (conference) or the partner terminal device. As mentioned above,
In this case, only pixels having a pixel value of 1 are combined.

FIG. 8 is a moving picture COD having the structure shown in FIG.
When the conference communication terminal device, which is the own terminal device having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and which includes the EC 18, executes the conference communication with the conference communication terminal device on the partner side, which is the partner terminal device, via the ISDN line, It is a flow chart which shows the procedure of controlling animation CODEC18.

In the figure, the system control unit 1 checks whether or not there is a transmission image composition request (decision 301). If there is no request (No in judgment 301), it is then checked whether there is a self-terminal monitor image combination request (judgment 302). If there is no request (No in judgment 302), it is then checked whether there is a transmission image switching request (decision 303). If there is a request (Yes in determination 303), the switch SW1 is switched according to the request (process 304), and then the process returns to determination 301. If there is no request (No in decision 303), it is next checked whether there is a request to switch the display image of the own terminal monitor (decision 3).
05). If there is a request (Yes in determination 305), the switch SW2 is switched according to the request (process 30).
After 6), the process returns to judgment 301.

In the procedure described above, the transmission image composition request is a request for composing the binary document image output from the binary conversion circuit 40 in the image composition circuit 41, outputting the composite image, and transmitting it to the partner terminal device. Is. The self-terminal monitor image synthesizing request is a request for synthesizing and outputting the binary document image output from the binary conversion circuit 39 by the image synthesizing circuit 38 and displaying the synthesized image on the video monitor device 24 which is the self-terminal monitor. The transmission image switching request is issued to the partner terminal device by the conference image Vi (conference) or the document image Vi that is the self-terminal image.
It is a request to switch (paper) and send. The own terminal monitor display image switching request is a request to switch and display the image displayed on the own terminal monitor 24 to the conference image Vi (conference) or the partner terminal image received from the partner terminal device.

The transmission image composition request is a request to the system control unit 1 when the user presses a key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is composed of a combination request key and a key for canceling the request. After the combination request key is pressed, the system control unit 1 determines that there is a combination request, and after the release key is pressed. The system control unit 1
Judge that there is no synthesis request.

Similarly, the self-terminal monitor image synthesis request is also issued to the system control unit 1 by the user pressing the key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is composed of a combination request key and a key for canceling the request. After the combination request key is pressed, the system control unit 1 determines that there is a combination request, and after the release key is pressed. The system control unit 1 determines that there is no synthesis request.

Similarly, the transmission image switching request is requested to the system control unit 1 by the user pressing the key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is switch SW
1 is composed of a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 2 and a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 3, and the system control unit 1 The connection of the switch SW1 is switched accordingly.

Similarly, the request for switching the display of the own terminal monitor is
This is requested by the system control unit 1 when the user presses a key assigned to the request on the keyboard of the operation display unit 30. The key is composed of a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 2 of the switch SW2 and a key assigned to the connection between the output terminal 1 and the input terminal 3, and the system control unit 1
The connection of the switch SW2 is switched according to the pressed key.

Therefore, according to the above procedure, the system control section 1 responds to the user's keyboard operation.
By switching the connection of the switch SW1 and the switch SW2, the conference image Vi (conference) or the document image Vi
While switching (writing) and transmitting to the other terminal device, the conference image Vi (conference) or the other terminal image is switched and displayed on the own terminal monitor 24.

The procedure up to this point is the processing when there is no transmission image composition request (No in judgment 301) and when there is no own terminal monitor image composition request (No in judgment 302). If there is (Yes in judgment 301)
s)) sets a threshold pixel value in the binary conversion circuit 40 (process 309). This threshold pixel value is stored in the RAM 3 according to the procedure shown in FIG. 6 as described above, and the system control unit 1 reads the threshold pixel value from the RAM 3 and performs binary conversion. The circuit 40 sets the threshold pixel value. Then, the image composition circuit 41 is instructed to start image composition (process 310). After this process 310, the image synthesizing circuit 41 continuously executes image synthesizing. After executing the process 310, the process returns to the determination 301.

If there is a self-terminal monitor image composition request (Yes in judgment 302), a threshold pixel value is set in the binary conversion circuit 39 (process 307). The threshold pixel value is stored in the RAM 3 by the procedure shown in FIG. 6 as described above, and the system control unit 1 causes the RAM 3 to operate.
The threshold pixel value is read from the binary conversion circuit 39.
Set threshold pixel value.

Then, the image composition circuit 38 is instructed to start image composition (process 308). This process 308
After that, the image compositing circuit 38 continuously executes the image composition. After executing the process 308, the process returns to the determination 301.

By further executing these procedures,
Meeting image Vi (conference) displayed on the own terminal monitor 24
Alternatively, the conference image Vi that is transmitted to the partner terminal device is transmitted while the document image Vi (document) is binary-converted and the binary document image is combined with the partner terminal image received from the partner terminal device.
In the (conference), the document image Vi (the document image) is converted into binary 2
The value document image is combined. As described above, in this case, only the pixels having the pixel value of 1 are combined.

FIG. 9 shows an ISD of the conference communication terminal apparatus according to the present embodiment having the configuration shown in FIG. 1, which is the own terminal apparatus TA and which has the moving image CODEC 18 having the configuration shown in FIG.
9 conceptually shows a case where image switching and image combining processing is executed according to the procedure shown in FIG. 7 in the case of conference communication with the partner terminal apparatus TB via the N line.

FIG. 10 shows the terminal device TA itself.
When the conference communication terminal device according to the present embodiment having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 equipped with the moving image CODEC 18 having the configuration shown in FIG. 5 performs conference communication with the partner terminal device TB via the ISDN line, 8 conceptually shows a case where image switching and image combining processing is executed according to the procedure shown in FIG.

9 and 10, the own terminal device TA selects the conference image taken by the own terminal camera 17 or the image received from the other terminal device TB and displays it on the own terminal monitor 24. can do. On the other hand, the partner terminal device TB can select an image captured by the partner terminal camera 50 or an image received from the own terminal device TA and display it on the partner terminal monitor 51.

In FIG. 9, only the pixels having a pixel value of 1 in the conference material image of the manuscript P photographed by the document camera 21 and converted into the binary document image are displayed by the own terminal camera 17 as the participants of the conference. It is shown that, etc. are displayed on the own terminal monitor 24 after being combined with the captured conference image. Pixel value is 1
Since the original P is an original with black characters on a white background, the black characters correspond to the pixels with a pixel value of 1 and only the character information is displayed in a composite manner. As a result, only a portion having meaning as information of the document image is combined with the image displayed on the monitor, and a portion having no meaning as information is not combined, so that the image originally displayed on the monitor is combined with the document image. It will not be unnecessarily omitted.

FIG. 10 shows a picture taken by the document camera 21.
Of the conference material image of the manuscript P converted into the value document image,
Only pixels having a pixel value of 1 are combined with the conference image in which the participants of the conference are photographed by the own terminal camera 17 and displayed on the own terminal monitor, while they are photographed by the document camera 21.
Of the conference material image of the manuscript P converted into a binary document image, only pixels having a pixel value of 1 are combined with the conference image in which the participants of the conference are photographed by the own terminal camera 17 and the other terminal device. And is displayed on the partner terminal monitor 51. A pixel having a pixel value of 1 indicates that the original P is an original with black characters on a white background, and therefore a black character has a pixel value of 1
Corresponding to the pixel of, only the character information is combined and displayed.
As a result, only a portion having meaning as information of the document image is combined with the image displayed on the monitor, and a portion having no meaning as information is not combined, so that the image originally displayed on the monitor is combined with the document image. It will not be unnecessarily omitted. Further, since only the portion having meaning as the information of the document image is combined with the image transmitted to the partner terminal device, and the portion having no meaning as information is not synthesized, the image originally transmitted to the partner terminal device is the same as the document image. There is no unnecessarily missing by synthesizing.

As described above, the binary conversion circuit 39
Alternatively, the level of the threshold pixel value set to 40 is shown in FIG.
Since it can be changed according to the procedure shown in, even if the original P is not black characters on a white background, it is possible to reliably generate the two-writing image.

[0076]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the document image can be displayed by being combined with the image displayed on the monitor. Further, since only the portion having meaning as the information of the document image is combined with the image displayed on the monitor, and the portion having no meaning as information is not combined, the image originally displayed on the monitor is unnecessarily omitted due to the document image. I won't let you. Therefore, the realism of the conference is not impaired.

According to the invention of claim 2, the document image can be combined with the image transmitted to the partner terminal device. In addition, since only the portion having meaning as the information of the document image is combined with the image to be transmitted to the partner terminal device, and the portion having no meaning as information is not combined, the image originally transmitted to the partner terminal device is converted by the document image. It will not be deleted unnecessarily. Therefore, the realism of the conference will not be further impaired.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, even if the document or the like as the conference material has characters or the like recorded on colored paper or the characters are thin, the document image can be reliably displayed. It can be converted into a binary document image and can be used for various conference materials.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a conference communication terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a configuration of a protocol stack corresponding to each communication function of the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing an example of exchange of C & I information.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a moving image CODEC of the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a block diagram showing another example of the configuration of the moving image CODEC of the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention, which is different from FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure for designating a threshold pixel value in the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure for controlling a moving image CODEC in the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing another example of the procedure for controlling the moving image CODEC in the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing an operation of combining a document image with an image displayed on the own terminal monitor in the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing an operation of synthesizing a document image with an image displayed on the own terminal monitor or an image transmitted to the other terminal device in the conference communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 System Control Unit 2 ROM 3 RAM 4 Clock Circuit 5 Scanner 6 Plotter 7 Encoding / Decoding Unit 8 Image Processing Unit 9 Magnetic Disk Device 11 LCD Display Control Unit 12 Touch Panel Device 13 Touch Panel Control Unit 14 Voice Input / Output Device 15 Voice CODEC 16 Audio control unit 17 Video camera device 18 Video CODEC 19 Display control unit 20 Video camera control unit 21 Document camera device 23 Document camera control unit 24 Video monitor device 25 ISDN interface device 26 D channel transmission control unit 27 Multiplexing / separating device 28 System Bus 30 Operation display unit 32 A / D converter 33 NTSC decoder 34 H261 encoder 35 H261 decoder 36 NTSC encoder 37 D / A converter 38 Image synthesis circuit 39 Binary conversion circuit 40 Binary conversion Circuit 41 the image synthesizing circuit 50 partner terminal camera 51 counterpart terminal monitor P original TA own terminal device TB counterpart terminal device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least a self-terminal image captured by a video camera for inputting a conference image or a document camera for inputting a conference material image or a remote-terminal image received from a remote-terminal device is displayed on a monitor while In a conference communication terminal device that transmits a terminal image to the partner terminal device, binary values are obtained by comparing the pixel value of each pixel forming the document image captured by the document camera with a predetermined threshold pixel value. Of a binary document image output from the binary converter, and the pixel value of the binary document image output from the binary converter is one of the two predetermined binary values. A conference communication terminal device, comprising: a monitor image synthesizing means for synthesizing only a value pixel into an image displayed on the monitor. 2. Among the pixels forming the binary document image output from the binary conversion means, the pixel value of the pixel is only one of the two predetermined values. 2. The conference communication terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising a transmission image synthesizing unit that synthesizes an image to be transmitted to the terminal device. 3. The conference communication terminal device according to claim 1, further comprising threshold pixel value setting means for arbitrarily setting the threshold pixel value.