JPH08237628A - Communication conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To input a pointer or hand-written information without increasing an installation area of the equipment by forming an input area to input a pointer or hand-written information onto a touch panel. CONSTITUTION: This system is provided with an operation display section 34 in which an operation section 30 for the communication conference equipment and a touch panel display device 33 are integrated. The touch panel display device 33 is made up of a liquid crystal display device and a touch panel device added to the display device, a coordinate of a contact point is inputted by touching the surface of the panel with a touch pen 32 and a command displayed on the liquid crystal display device corresponding to the coordinate is selected. Then an input area to input a pointer or hand-written information is formed to the touch panel of the touch panel display device 33 to input the hand-written information or the like. Thus, the input is made by using the touch panel display device 33 without provision of an exclusive hand-written tablet to input the pointer or hand-written information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention, at least, transmits and receives image information to and from a partner terminal, displays the transmitted and received image information on a monitor, and a pointer or a handwriting for pointing a specific portion of the image. The present invention relates to a communication conference device that displays information on an image displayed on the monitor in an overlapping manner.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional communication conference apparatus described above, a pointer for pointing a specific portion to be noticed to a communication partner and handwritten information such as characters and curves are overwritten in an image displayed on a monitor. In addition, a dedicated handwriting tablet is used.

FIG. 8 schematically shows how the pointer and handwritten information input by the handwriting tablet are displayed in an overlapping manner on the image displayed on the monitor.

In the figure, the monitor 24 displays an image transmitted / received to / from the partner terminal. The operator of the communication conference apparatus moves the touch pen 32 while touching the tablet 31 in order to input handwritten information into the image displayed on the monitor 24. The trajectory along which the contact portion moves is detected as a change in the coordinates of the contact portion.
Then, the tablet 32 of the image displayed on the monitor 34
Handwritten information is overwritten at a position corresponding to the coordinates of the contact portion of.

The pointer P is displayed on the image displayed on the monitor 34 by touching the coordinate position of the tablet 31 corresponding to the display position with the touch pen 32.

As described above, by inputting the pointer and handwritten information on the image displayed on the monitor by using the tablet 31, it is possible to have a detailed meeting without any discomfort with the communication partner.

[0007]

However, in the conventional communication conference apparatus described above, since the handwriting tablet for inputting the pointer and handwriting information is dedicated to inputting the pointer and handwriting information, the communication conference is not performed. It must be provided separately from other devices that make up the device. Therefore, the installation area of the device becomes large, and when the handwriting tablet is placed on a desk or the like, the desk or the like becomes narrow. Further, since the coordinate position on the handwriting tablet and the coordinate position on the image displayed on the monitor do not directly correspond, it is difficult to understand the correspondence between the line drawing drawn on the handwriting tablet and the image displayed on the monitor. There were also problems.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables input of a pointer or handwritten information without increasing the installation area of the device, and the pointer or handwritten information and an image displayed on a monitor. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication conference device whose correspondence with is easy to understand.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the communication conference apparatus according to claim 1 transmits / receives image information to / from at least a partner terminal and displays the transmitted / received image information on a monitor. On the other hand, in a communication conferencing apparatus that displays a pointer for pointing a specific portion of an image and handwritten information on the image displayed on the monitor, a touch panel display device including a display unit and a touch panel attached to the display unit. And a means for generating an input area for inputting the pointer or handwritten information on the touch panel.

The communication conferencing apparatus according to claim 2 is the same as claim 1.
In the communication conference apparatus as described above, the touch panel display device is configured integrally with an operation unit in which operation keys are arranged.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication conference apparatus according to the first aspect.
Alternatively, in the communication conference apparatus according to the item 2, there is provided means for displaying an image displayed on the monitor in an area corresponding to the input area generated on the touch panel of the display unit.

[0012]

According to the structure of claim 1, a touch panel display device for inputting handwritten information and the like is formed by a display unit and a touch panel attached to the display unit for displaying various operation states and messages. An input area for inputting the pointer or handwritten information is generated on the touch panel. Thus, in order to input the pointer and handwriting information, it is possible to input using the touch panel display device without providing a dedicated handwriting tablet.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the touch panel display device is formed integrally with the operation section in which the operation keys are arranged, so that the installation area of the device can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the image displayed on the monitor is displayed in the area corresponding to the input area generated on the touch panel of the display unit, a pointer or handwritten information is input. For the coordinate position specified on the touch panel and the image displayed on the monitor,
The position corresponding to the designated coordinate position is directly associated.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 shows a communication conference apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This communication conference device uses the basic interface of ISDN as a transmission line,
It has a voice information communication function, a moving image information communication function, a still image information communication function, a facsimile communication function, a telewriting function, and a multiplexed communication function of these communication functions. By connecting to the ISDN basic 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 communication conference device, processes of upper layers of the video conference communication, execution processes of various application programs included in the communication conference device, and a user. It executes various control processes such as help display process corresponding to the help request from. 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. RAM
The (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 uses the encoding method of the group 4 facsimile function or the group 3 facsimile function for the image signal read by the scanner 5. It is for encoding and compressing by the encoding method of 1 and 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, and a large number of user data such as original images read by a scanner.

The liquid crystal display device 10 is used as a display device for a telewriting communication function and also as a display unit when a user operates the communication conference device. The LCD display control unit 11 is for controlling the display content of the liquid crystal display device 10.

The touch panel device 12 is a liquid crystal display device 1.
It is attached to the display screen of 0 and outputs coordinate data touched by a touch pen, touch state data, and the like.

The touch panel controller 13 controls the operation of the touch panel device 12.

Touch panel device 12 and liquid crystal display device 10
And are integrally attached to each other to form the touch panel display device 33.

The voice input / output device 14 is for inputting a voice for a call by a microphone and outputting it by a 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 an image on the user side of the communication conference device, and the moving image signal output from the video camera device 17 is applied to the image signal input end of the moving image CODEC 18. With
It is added to the moving image signal input terminal of the display control unit 19. The video camera control unit 20 is for controlling various operation operations of the video camera device 17, such as shooting on / off, zooming in / zooming out, and panning.

The moving picture CODEC 18 converts the moving picture signal of the video camera device 17 into the TTC standard JT-H. In addition to encoding and compressing with the H.261 encoding system to form moving image information,
The moving picture information in the encoded and compressed state is converted into the original moving picture signal.

The still camera device 21 is for photographing a still image, and the still image signal output from the still image camera 21 is added to the still image CODEC 22.

The still picture CODEC 22 encodes and compresses a still picture signal applied from the still picture camera device 21 by a predetermined coding method (for example, JPEG method), and the compressed still picture information is used as the original still picture. A still image signal for one frame formed or a still image signal obtained by decoding is output to the still image signal input terminal of the display control unit 19.

The display controller 19 includes a video monitor device 24.
It controls the display contents of the screen displayed on the screen of the video camera device 17 according to a command from the system control unit 1.
Display screen information of video signal output from video, video CODE
Display screen information of the video signal output from C18, and
The display screen information of the still image signal added from the still image CODEC 22 is formed, and the display screen information is appropriately combined and displayed on the display device of the video monitor device 24.

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 multiplexer / demultiplexer 27 multiplexes data of a plurality of media such as voices, moving images, and general-purpose data (other data such as still image data) exchanged using the B channel, and 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. This multiplexer / demultiplexer 28 converts the audio data into audio CODEC.
Exchange with 15 and send video data to video CODEC
18, and general-purpose data is also exchanged with the system control unit 1.

The operation unit 30 is used by the operator to perform various operations, and is provided with a man-machine interface such as a numeric keypad.

These system control unit 1, ROM 2 and 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 D channel transmission control unit 26, the multiplexing / demultiplexing device 27, and the operation unit 30 are connected to the system bus 28. Data exchange between these elements is mainly performed via the system bus 28.

FIG. 2 is a T which is applied as a transmission control procedure executed when an audiovisual terminal such as the communication conference apparatus shown in FIG. 1 transmits data using the B channel.
TC standard JT-H. 242 shows an example of a general procedure of 242. In this case, an example of a transmission procedure for exchanging audio data, general-purpose data, moving image data or still image data between terminals using two B channels is shown.

First, the calling terminal makes a call to the destination terminal and performs a call setting procedure on the D channel to secure one B channel (hereinafter referred to as the first channel) (Phase A), and set the set first channel. Frame synchronization is performed while exchanging frame data in which PCM audio data (A-law or μ-law, 64 Kbps) is set on one channel (frame mode). When frame synchronization is established, the capability BAS data and command BAS data are mutually exchanged. Exchanges (phase B1-1), decides a transmission mode to be used at that time, and starts an additional call setup request for securing the second B channel (phase B1-2).

Then, in principle, the modes having the highest functions common to each other are selected from the contents of the exchange of the transmission modes at that time (phase B1-3), and the call-in terminal receives the call in the selected operation mode. A BAS command designating a terminal function is transmitted to the terminal to operate the function, and parameters common to the device functions of the calling terminal and the called terminal are set (phase B2). Thereby, in the first channel, for example, data transmission of audio data (16 Kbps) corresponding to the transmission mode selected at that time, and
Data transmission of moving image data (46.4 Kbps) is performed (phase C).

When the first channel starts data transmission in the frame mode, the second B channel (hereinafter referred to as the second channel).
When the second channel is established by performing the call setup procedure on the D channel (referred to as channel) and the second channel is established, the frame data including only the frame synchronization signal FAS and the bit allocation signal BAS is exchanged using the second channel. Synchronization and frame synchronization are established (Phase CB1-11), and then synchronization between the first channel and the second channel is established (Phase CB).
1-12).

When the synchronization of the two B channels is completed,
The BAS command is sent from the calling terminal side to set the transmission mode (phase CB1-2), the transmission mode is switched to the set contents (phase CB1-3), and the common parameter is set (phase CB3).

In this way, when the initialization of the second channel is completed, after that, the frame data exchanged on the first channel and the frame data exchanged on the second channel are synchronized with each other. Using the B channel, for example, audio data, general-purpose data, and moving image data or still image data,
58Kbps, 6.4Kbps and 62.4Kbps
And the data transmission is performed (see FIG. 3).

Here, the general-purpose data channel is C & I mode (conference control function) data other than voice data,
For example, it is used for exchanging data of the C & I function, the telewriting communication function, and the bulk transfer function (group 4 facsimile data etc.).

To end such data transmission, first, the second channel is disconnected. At this time, the procedure for setting the common mode is performed for the audio data transmission performed only on the first channel (Phase CD
1), the mode of the second channel is switched to the frame mode mode 0F (phase CD2). At this time, the first channel and the second channel are asynchronous, and the frame synchronization signal FAS is used for the second channel.
The call is held in a state where only the bit allocation signal BAS is transmitted, and the call of the second channel can be released by the call disconnection release procedure of the D channel.

In the first channel, the phase CD
During 1 and phase CD2, the audio data and the moving picture data are transmitted in the frame mode at the transmission speed of 62.4 KBAS in total, and further, when the operator of one terminal finishes the call, the transmission of the moving picture data is finished, In order to use all the transmission capacities of the first channel including the transmission capacity of the moving picture data for the audio transmission, the mode is switched to the mode 0F (phase D2), and thereafter, the call disconnection release procedure of the D channel is performed. The call is ready to be released.

As a result, the call disconnection release procedure is executed on the D channel for the first channel and the second channel (phase E), and the audiovisual transfer between the two terminals is completed.

According to the above transmission control procedure, the communication conference apparatus according to the present embodiment is similar to the conventional communication conference apparatus in that the voice information input from the voice input / output device 14 and the video camera device with the partner terminal. Video information input from 17,
The still image information input from the still image camera device 21 and the document image information input from the scanner 5 are exchanged,
While the transmitted and received images are displayed on the video monitor device 24 and the document image information is recorded and output by the plotter 6,
Telewriting communication using the touch panel display device 33 is performed.

The teleconference device according to the present embodiment further has a function of displaying a pointer for pointing a specific portion of the image and handwritten information on the image displayed on the video monitor device 24. Some conventional devices also have the same function, but they use the handwriting tablet as shown in FIG. 8 as described above.

In the communication conference apparatus according to the present embodiment, a function for displaying a pointer for pointing a specific portion of an image and handwritten information in an overlapping manner is realized by using the touch panel display device 33 instead of using a handwriting tablet. To do.

FIG. 4 shows an operation display unit 34 in which the operation unit 30 and the touch panel display device 33 of the communication conference device shown in FIG. 1 are integrally constructed.

In the figure, the operation unit 30 includes a ten-key pad 3.
0a, other key groups 30b, monitor keys 30c, pointer keys 30d and drawing keys 30e.
The ten-key pad 30a and the other key group 30b are keys for operating the conventional functions of the apparatus.

As described above, the touch panel display device 33 is composed of the liquid crystal display device 10 and the touch panel device 12 attached to the surface thereof. Normally, the liquid crystal display device 10 displays the operation status and various messages. Then, by touching the display screen with the touch pen 32, that is, by touching the surface of the touch panel device 12 with the touch pen 32, the coordinates of the contact point are input and displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 corresponding to the coordinates. The selected command is selected. The touch panel device 12 is also used as an input device for the telewriting function, and the coordinate information of the contact point of the touch pen 32 is transmitted / received to / from the partner terminal.

As described above, the touch panel device 33 is usually used for the conventional function, but the monitor key 30 is used.
When any one of the c key, the pointer key 30d and the drawing key 30e is pressed, it is used for the corresponding function peculiar to this embodiment.

First, the case where the monitor key 30c is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the figure, the system control unit 1 monitors the pressing of the monitor key 30c (No loop of decision 101). When the monitor key 30c is pressed (Yes in judgment 101), it is checked whether the window W, which is the input area, is open (decision 102). If it is not open (No in decision 102), the window W is opened as shown in FIG. 4 (process 103). Then, the same image information as the image displayed on the video monitor device 24 is transferred to the LCD display control unit 11, and the LCD display control unit 1
1 displays the transferred image on the liquid crystal display device 10.

If the window W is open (Yes in judgment 102), the window W is closed (process 105). After the processing 104 or 105, the processing returns to the determination 101.

As described above, the monitor key 30c is used to open the window W and display the monitor image there, or to close the window W.

Next, the case where the pointer key 30d is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the figure, the system control unit 1 monitors the depression of the pointer key 30d (decision 201).
No loop). When the pointer key 30d is pressed (Yes in determination 201), the window W that is the input area is displayed.
Check whether is open (decision 202). If it is not open (No in determination 202), the operation returns to determination 201 again as an invalid key operation.

When the window W is open (Yes in judgment 202), the pointing mode is set (process 203) and the input by the touch pen 32 is monitored (No loop of judgment 204). If there is an input (Yes in determination 204), the video monitor device 24 of the own terminal
Then, the pointer P is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 at a position corresponding to the coordinate position of the contact point on the touch panel device 12 by the touch pen 32 (process 205).

In this case, the pointer displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 is displayed at the position corresponding to the contact point.
That is, when the touch pen 32 touches a specific portion of the image displayed on the window W, which is desired to be designated, the pointer is displayed at the touched position. Further, the video monitor device 24 displays an image similar to that displayed on the monitor 24 of the conventional communication terminal device shown in FIG.

Then, the coordinate information of the contact point is also transmitted to the partner terminal device as general-purpose data (process 206).
Since the pointer is displayed at the position corresponding to the coordinate information on the partner terminal, the conference can be smoothly advanced while displaying the pointer common to the own terminal and the partner terminal on the monitor.

After the process 206, the process returns to the decision 201.

As described above, by pressing the pointer key 30d to set the pointing mode and touching the touch panel 12 with the touch pen 32, an image displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 or the video monitor 24 is displayed. The pointer P can be displayed. Also,
The display position of the pointer P is designated by the liquid crystal display device 10.
It is possible to directly instruct while looking at the image displayed on the screen, and the operability is improved as compared with the case of using a conventional handwriting tablet.

Next, the case where the drawing key 30e is pressed will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In the figure, the system control unit 1 monitors the depression of the drawing key 30e (N in judgment 301).
o loop). When the drawing key 30e is pressed (determination 30
(Yes of 1), it is checked whether the window W, which is the input area, is open (decision 302). If it is not open (No in decision 302), the operation returns to decision 301 again as an invalid key operation.

If the window W is open (Yes in judgment 302), the drawing mode is set (process 3).
03), monitor the input by the touch pen 32 (decision 3)
04 No loop). When there is an input (Yes in determination 304), the drawing information is displayed at the position corresponding to the coordinate position of the touch point of the touch panel device 12 by the touch pen 32 of the video monitor device 24 and the liquid crystal display device 10 of the own terminal. (Process 305).

In this case, the drawing information displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 is displayed at the position corresponding to the contact point.
That is, by touching the position to be drawn in the image displayed on the window W with the touch pen 32, the drawing information is displayed at the touched position. Further, the video monitor device 24 displays an image similar to that displayed on the monitor 24 of the conventional communication terminal device shown in FIG.

Then, the coordinate information of the drawing information is transmitted to the partner terminal device as general-purpose data (process 30).
6). On the partner terminal, the drawing information is displayed at a position corresponding to the coordinate information, and the conference can be smoothly advanced while displaying the drawing information common to the own terminal and the partner terminal on the monitor.

After the processing 306, the process returns to the judgment 301.

As described above, by pressing the drawing key 30e to set the drawing mode and touching the touch panel 12 with the touch pen 32, an image displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10 or the video monitor device 24 is displayed. Drawing information can be displayed on. Further, the drawing information can be drawn directly while looking at the image displayed on the liquid crystal display device 10, and the operability is improved as compared with the case of the conventional handwriting tablet.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Instead of using a conventional handwriting tablet as the input means for displaying a pointer for pointing a specific portion of the image and handwritten image information on the image displayed on the video monitor device 24, the device is operated. Since the touch panel display device 33 used for such purposes is used, the installation area of the device can be reduced and the device cost can be suppressed.

Further, since the touch panel display device 33 is constructed integrally with the operation section 30, it is possible to further reduce the installation area of the device.

Further, since the image displayed on the monitor is also displayed on the liquid crystal display device, the coordinates on the touch panel 12 designated by the touch pen 32 directly correspond to the image displayed on the monitor. The operability is different from inputting handwritten information etc. by touching a handwriting tablet with a touch pen while watching.

[0073]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in order to input a pointer and handwritten information, a touch panel display device is used to display a monitor image by superimposing it even if a dedicated handwriting tablet is not provided. Since handwritten information and the like can be input, the pointer and handwritten information can be input without increasing the installation area of the device.
Also, the device cost can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the touch panel display device is constructed integrally with the operation section in which the operation keys are arranged, the installation area of the device is reduced and the pointer and handwritten information are reduced. You can enter.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the coordinate position designated on the touch panel for inputting the pointer and the handwritten information for superimposing and displaying on the monitor image, and the designated coordinate position on the image displayed on the monitor. Since the position corresponding to the coordinate position is directly associated with the monitor image displayed on the display unit, the correspondence between the pointer or handwritten information and the image displayed on the monitor can be easily understood, and the operability is improved. improves.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a TTC standard JT-H. It is a time chart which showed the example of the general procedure of 242.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of transmission capacity allocation for audio data, general-purpose data, and moving image data or still image data in data transmission using two B channels.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an operation display unit of the communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing when a monitor key of the operation display unit is pressed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing when a pointer key of the operation display unit is pressed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing when a drawing key of the operation display unit is pressed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram for explaining a conventional problem.

[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 10 liquid crystal display device 11 LCD display control unit 12 touch panel device 13 touch panel control unit 14 voice input / output device 15 audio CODEC 16 audio control unit 17 video camera device 18 moving image CODEC 19 display control unit 20 video camera control unit 21 still image camera device 22 still image CODEC 23 still image 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 unit 30a Numeric keypad 30b Other key groups 30c Monitor key 30d Pointer key 30e Drawing key 31 Handwriting tablet 32 Touch pen 33 Touch Touch panel display 34 Operation display P Pointer W window

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least image information is transmitted / received to / from a partner terminal, and the transmitted / received image information is displayed on a monitor, while a pointer for pointing a specific portion of an image and handwritten information are displayed on the monitor. In a communication conferencing device for displaying the image overlaid on the image, a unit for generating an input area for inputting the pointer or handwritten information on the touch panel, the touch panel display including a display unit and a touch panel attached to the display unit. A communication conferencing apparatus comprising: 2. The communication conference apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is integrally formed with an operation unit in which operation keys are arranged. 3. The communication according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying an image displayed on the monitor in an area corresponding to an input area generated on the touch panel of the display unit. Conference equipment.