JPH08317189A - Color image communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To save the communication time by allowing a transmitter side to reduce a color image A before the transmission, to send the reduced image as an image B, allowing the receiver side to display the image B quickly, confirming the content, receiving the image A and deciding whether or not processing such as expansion is to be conducted. CONSTITUTION: An MPU 12 controls each section and allows an image information input section 6 to read a color original image A of an original and stores it to an image memory 14 by a command of transmission operation start of a key input section 1. The MPU 12 interleaves the image A in the memory 14 to generate a reduced image B and a compression/expansion section 15 compresses the image and stores the result to an auxiliary storage section 11. A communication section 8 and a communication control section 10 make a call to an opposite terminal equipment and the acceptance of the opposite party is obtained and the image B including the communication state is read from a storage section 11 and sent before the transmission of the image A. The receiver side displays the image onto a display section 2 because the data quantity is small and the content of the image A is confirmed and whether or not the reception of the image A and the processing such as expansion are to be conducted is decided. Thus, the time-consuming processing is omitted to save the communication time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color image communication apparatus having a display section capable of displaying an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional color image communication apparatus compresses and transmits only a color image or a monochrome image, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-22156. In particular, a color facsimile corresponds to this.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the color image and the monochrome image can be transmitted only in the compressed format in the actual size, there are the following drawbacks.

(1) To display the received image on the display unit, decompression / reduction processing is required and it takes time. (2) It is difficult to understand the content, sender, etc. until the received image is displayed or output. (3) When the received image is displayed and output, it does not have the same quality as the transmitting side.

An object of the invention according to the present application is to provide a color image communication device capable of displaying information related to communication contents received on the receiving side.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a color image communication apparatus capable of reducing a difference between a received image and a document in outputting the image to a display unit and an output unit.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a transmitting side first reduces a color image and transfers the color image prior to the main image so that the receiving side first displays an image for display. It is possible to receive and display. Therefore, the user can confirm the contents before performing a time-consuming process such as receiving and expanding the main image.

Further, it becomes possible to show the communication status to the user by using the image for display. Further, since the display image has a small amount of data and does not need to be compressed, the display process is fast.

According to a second invention of the present application, by transferring an image related to the terminal itself prior to the main image, the receiving side first receives an image related to the transmitting side, for example, a photograph of the sender. And can be displayed immediately.

A third invention according to the present application is a display on a receiving side by transmitting information necessary for displaying and outputting a color image, that is, information for so-called color management,
It is possible to accurately reproduce the original image at the output.

A fourth invention according to the present application is an image input section for inputting a color image, a communication control section for outputting the input color image to a communication line, and communication executed by the communication control section. And an image forming unit that forms an image having a smaller amount of information than the color image, wherein the communication control unit is formed by the image forming unit prior to the transmission of the color image. By making it possible to transmit such an image, the receiving side can grasp the outline of the communication contents before receiving the main image, which is very convenient for the user.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image transmission apparatus which is a typical embodiment of the present invention.

The operation of this apparatus is performed by the operator by inputting various information from the key input unit 1, and various messages, images and the like are displayed on the display unit 2. The key input unit 1 and the display unit 2 are connected to the system bus 16 via the panel control unit 3.

Further, in FIG. 1, a DMAC 4 is a DMA controller for performing a DMA transfer of image data and the like, and an image information output section 5 is composed of a color printer or the like capable of printing out a color image. The image information input unit 6 is composed of a color scanner or the like for reading an image original.

The image input / output control unit 7 controls the interface between the image information output unit 5, the image information input unit 6 and the system bus 16 and also controls the image information output unit 5 and the image information input unit 6. It is a thing.

The communication units 8 and 9 communicate with each other via the communication lines 21 and 22, and the communication control unit 10 controls the communication units 8 and 9. The auxiliary storage unit 11 includes the communication units 8 and 9
It has a large-capacity storage device such as a hard disk for storing the compressed image data received via the image data or the compressed image data which is input from the image information input unit 6 and becomes the image for transmission and the received image data.

The MPU 12 outputs various data signals and control signals to control the entire apparatus.
The OM 13-1 stores a control program, which will be described later, executed by the MPU 12. RAM13-2
Is used as a work area of the MPU 12 and temporarily stores various control data.

The image memory 14 temporarily stores the image data input from the image information input unit 6 or received from the communication units 8 and 9, and outputs the image data to the image information output unit 5 and the like. Is stored.

The compression / decompression unit 15 compresses / decompresses image information transmitted / received via the communication units 8 and 9.
The floppy disk 17 stores various auxiliary information.

Next, the transmission processing executed by the color image communication apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Although the following description is mainly about the operation controlled by the MPU 12, the operation of each unit is also included.

First, in S1, the input from the key input unit 1 is awaited. At this time, the operation screen is displayed on the display unit 2 via the panel control unit 3.

Here, if there is a key input for instructing the start of the transmission operation, the process proceeds to S2, the original is read from the image information input unit 6 via the image input / output control unit 7, and is stored in the image memory 14.

Next, in S3, the original images in the image memory 14 are thinned out to create a reduced image suitable for display, and the reduced image is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 11. Next, in S4,
The original image stored in the image memory 14 is transferred to the compression / decompression unit 15 using the DMAC 4, and the color image is compressed.
The compressed information is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 11 using the DMAC4.
Transfer to.

Next, in S5, the communication control unit 10 is instructed to the communication unit 8 to call the partner terminal via the communication line 21. Further, in S6, the communication mode is negotiated with the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. Then S
If the result of this negotiation is OK in step 7, the reduced image can be transmitted, so the process proceeds to step S8 and the result is N.
In the case of G, the transmission is normal, and the process proceeds to S10.

At S8, the reduced image stored in the auxiliary storage unit 11 is read out, transferred to the communication control unit 10 using the DMAC 4, and transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8.
When this transmission is completed, in S9, the communication control unit 10 is instructed to return the communication mode to the normal mode, and a change command is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. After this,
Proceed to S10.

Next, in S10, the main image is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 1.
1 and the communication control unit 1 using the DMAC4
0 is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8, and the process is terminated.

By performing the above processing, there are two modes for sending a reduced image and for not sending it by negotiation with the partner terminal, and it is possible to maintain consistency with the conventional terminal. Also, with this function, the receiving side can receive the reduced image first, so you can use this image to display the contents before receiving the main image, and use the reduced image to display the reception status of the main image, It is possible to provide a user-friendly interface.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S11, the input from the key input unit 1 is awaited. Here, if there is a key input for instructing to start the transmission operation, the process proceeds to S12, and the image input / output control unit 7
The document is read from the image information input unit 6 via the and stored in the image memory 14.

Next, in S13, the original image in the image memory 14 is compressed / decompressed by the compression / decompression unit 15 using the DMAC4.
The color image is compressed, and the compressed image is stored in the image memory 14.

Next, in S14, the communication unit 8 is instructed via the communication control unit 10 to call the partner terminal via the communication line 21. Further, in S15, the communication mode is negotiated with the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. S1
In 6, if the negotiation result is OK, the process proceeds to S17, and if the result is NG, normal transmission is performed, so the process proceeds to S19.

In step S17, an image for identifying the terminal, which is stored in the auxiliary storage unit 11 in advance, such as a photograph of the user, is read out, transferred to the communication control unit 10 using the DMAC 4, and transferred via the communication unit 8. Send to the other terminal.

Upon completion of this transmission, in S18,
In order to return the communication mode to the normal mode, the communication control unit 10
To send a change command to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. Next, in S19, the main image is read from the image memory 14 and the communication control unit 1 using the DMAC4.
0 is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8, and the process is terminated.

By performing the above-described processing, the receiving side can immediately know the sender immediately after receiving the information, the security can be improved, the reception of the unnecessary document can be prevented, and the user can be provided with an easy-to-understand interface. .

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S20, the input from the key input unit 1 is awaited. Here, if there is a key input for instructing to start transmission, the process proceeds to S21, and the image input / output control unit 7
The document is read from the image information input unit 6 via the and stored in the image memory 14.

Next, in S22, information necessary for color reproduction such as display and output is created in accordance with the read image and temporarily stored in the RAM 13-2. In S23,
The original image stored in the image memory 14 is transferred to the compression / decompression unit 15 using the DMAC 4, and the color image is compressed.
The compressed image is stored in the image memory 14.

Next, in S24, the communication section 8 is instructed via the communication control section 10 to call the partner terminal via the communication line 21. Further, in S25, the communication mode is negotiated with the partner terminal via the communication unit 8, and S2
If the result of this negotiation is OK in 6, the process proceeds to S27, and if the result is NG, normal transmission is performed, so the process proceeds to S29.

In S27, the information for reproducing the color image held in the RAM 13-2 is transferred to the communication control unit 10 using the DMAC 4 and transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. When this transmission ends, in S28,
In order to return the communication mode to the normal mode, the communication control unit 10 is instructed to transmit the change command to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8. Here, the information for color image reproduction is data for color management indicating the color reproduction range, color system, etc. of the input device on the transmission side.

Next, in S29, the main image is read from the image memory 14, transferred to the communication control unit 10 using the DMAC 4, transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication unit 8, and the process ends.

By performing the above processing, the receiving side can steadily reproduce the received color image on the basis of the image information in displaying or outputting.

[0042]

As described above, according to the invention of the present application, it is possible to use an image received on the receiving side before receiving a color (book) image for various purposes. For example, it is possible to specify an image with an icon, check the image content, display the reception status, and the like. Further, since the contents and the sender of the main image can be known before the main image is received, the main image may not be expanded in some cases, which saves time. Further, since the sender can display the image as an image prior to the reception of the original image, it is easy for the user to understand and it is possible to determine whether or not to receive the original image.

Further, according to another invention of the present application,
Since the information necessary for reproducing the color image can be transferred via communication, it is possible to accurately reproduce the color in the display and the printer output even in the remote terminal.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Key input part, 2 ... Display part, 3 ... Panel control part, 4 ... DMAC, 5 ... Image information output part, 6 ... Image information input part, 7 ... Image input / output control part, 8, 9 ... Communication part, 10 ... Communication control unit, 11 ... Auxiliary storage unit, 12 ... MPU, 13-1 ... ROM, 13-2 ... RAM, 14 ... Image memory, 15 ... Compression / decompression unit, 16 ... System bus, 17 ... Floppy disk, 21, 22 ... communication lines.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A color image communication apparatus comprising a display unit for displaying a color image, wherein a reduced image of the color image is transmitted prior to transmission of the color image. 2. A color image communication apparatus having a display unit for displaying a color image, wherein an image related to the terminal is transmitted prior to the transmission of the color image. 3. A color image communication device comprising a display unit for displaying a color image and / or an output unit for recording a color image, which is necessary for displaying and / or outputting the color image prior to transmission of the color image. A color image communication device characterized by transmitting information. 4. The image input unit according to claim 3, further comprising an image input unit for inputting a color image and a communication control unit for outputting the input color image to a communication line, wherein the necessary information is the image input unit. A color image communication device including the color reproduction range or information indicating the color system of the color image. 5. The communication control unit according to claim 4, prior to transmitting the color image,
A color image communication apparatus comprising: a mode for transmitting an image formed by the image forming unit and a mode for not transmitting an image formed by the image forming unit. 6. An image input unit for inputting a color image, a communication control unit for outputting the input color image to a communication line, and a color control unit related to communication executed by the communication control unit. And an image forming unit that forms an image having a smaller amount of information than an image, the communication control unit, prior to the transmission of the color image,
A color image communication device capable of transmitting an image formed by the image forming means. 7. The communication control unit according to claim 6, prior to transmitting the color image,
A color image communication apparatus comprising: a mode for transmitting an image formed by the image forming unit and a mode for not transmitting an image formed by the image forming unit. 8. The color image communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the image forming unit forms a reduced image obtained by reducing the input color image. 9. The color image communication device according to claim 6, wherein the image forming unit forms an image for identifying the communication device.