JPH0846909A - Picture signal generation device and picture communication terminal equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the transmission quantity of pictures from increasing and to prevent monitoring from being interrupted owing to the movement of an unnecessary part. CONSTITUTION:An area setting means 1 specifying an arbitrary area among inputted pictures, a movement detection means 2 detecting the movement of the pictures in the specified area, a first picture processing means 5a executing a prescribed processing on the picture in the area and a second picture processing means 5b executing the prescribed processing on a whole screen are provided. The area setting means 1 sets and selects an arbitrary point in the inputted picture. Thus, only the movement of the point is detected, and the transmitted picture is prevented from being updated owing to the movement of the unnecessary part. Then, processing speed is improved and necessary memory capacity can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image signal generating device, for example, a high sensitivity information communication service network (I
SDN or the like) or an image signal generation device for generating image information to be transmitted to another communication terminal device via a communication terminal device connected to a dedicated line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a method has been known in which a communication terminal device communicates video, voice, data, etc. between a plurality of remote points by using a highly sensitive information service network such as ISDN or a dedicated line.

At this time, it is important to remove a redundant component in a video signal by using a device for encoding and compressing a moving image to reduce the transmission rate of image data to be transmitted. Further, it is recommended to use such a video signal transmission system as a system for monitoring a remote place.

When used in a remote surveillance system, a plurality of input images are often used, but it is impossible to transmit a plurality of images at the same time. For this reason,
In such a case, a method is used in which several screens are switched and sequentially sent, or a plurality of input images are reduced and put in one screen and simultaneously sent.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a monitoring system. In FIG. 8, 201 is a CCD camera,
Reference numeral 202 is a camera input image signal processing unit, 203 is a controller for the camera and the platform, 204 is a platform for pan / tilt of the camera, 205 is an audio input microphone, and 206 is a signal capable of outputting the input voice, This is a sound signal processing unit that digitizes and outputs.

Reference numeral 807 is an image encoding circuit for compressing and encoding a digital image signal, 208 is a multiplexing unit for encoded images, voice and data signals, and 209 is for transferring data through a connected line. Line control unit, 21
Reference numeral 0 is a voice signal compression encoding circuit, and 211 is a system controller. The monitoring system of FIG.
The image input means is composed of blocks each of which is composed of 6 elements.

Next, the operation of the image signal generating apparatus of FIG. 8 thus constructed will be described. First, the CCD camera 20
1 is directed to the point of interest by the platform 204. The camera platform 204 is controlled by the camera controller 203, and is controlled in accordance with a command signal sent from the outside via a line.

Control of camera zoom and the like is performed by sending a control signal from the camera controller 203 to the CCD camera 201. By being controlled in this way, the input image is determined, and the video signal generated by the CCD camera 201 is sent to the image coding circuit 807.

Regarding the voice, the voice signal processing unit 2
The audio signal is sent from 06 to the audio encoding circuit 210 to be encoded and sent to the multiplexing circuit 208. The multiplexing circuit 208 multiplexes the input image, voice and data signals in a predetermined format, and the line control unit 2
Send out through 09.

Next, the circuit configuration of the image coding circuit 807 will be described with reference to FIG. In this example, the motion-compensated inter-frame prediction is configured to divide an image frame into certain blocks, perform orthogonal transform, and quantize and encode.

In FIG. 9, the video signal S1 converted into a digital signal in an arbitrary format and input from the input terminal 1 is supplied to the motion vector detection circuit 15 by the motion vector detection circuit 15.
It is compared with the previous frame image stored in the frame memory 12.

There, one frame is divided into a plurality of blocks of arbitrary size, and the motion vector is detected. When the motion vector is detected in this way, the prediction circuit 14 then performs motion compensation interframe prediction from the image data of the previous frame, and outputs the predicted image data to the in-loop filter 13.

The predicted image data is subjected to a two-dimensional spatial filter by the in-loop filter 13 and then sent to the subtractor 2 as predicted image data S2. In the subtractor 2, the video signal S1 input from the input terminal 1
And the predicted image data S2 are subtracted and output to the switch 3.

The switch 3 sends the output of the subtractor 2 as prediction error data S3 to an orthogonal transform circuit, here a discrete cosine transform (DCT) circuit 4. The prediction error data S3 is orthogonally transformed for each arbitrary block in the discrete cosine transform circuit 4 and sent to the next quantization circuit (Q) 5.

The quantization circuit 5 is the system controller 1
6, the quantization step is determined, and the input prediction error data S3 is quantized by the quantization step determined by the system controller 16.

The image data S4 quantized by the quantizing circuit 5 is applied to the inverse quantizing circuit 8 and inversely quantized, and then applied to the inverse orthogonal transforming circuit 9 to undergo inverse orthogonal transform. It is sent to the adder 10 later.

In the adder 10, the reproduced prediction error data S5 and the predicted image data S2 from the motion vector detection circuit 15 are added and accumulated in the memory 12.

The image data S4 quantized by the quantization circuit 5 is also given to the variable length coding circuit (VLC) 6 to be variable length coded and sent to the buffer 7. Then, it is temporarily stored in the buffer 7 and sent to the data multiplexing circuit 8.

The system controller 16 manages the overall coding state as described above, and roughens or finens the quantization step in the quantization circuit 5 according to the amount of data accumulated in the buffer 7, for example. I am trying to do it.

In addition, the change of the camera direction in the input image,
Alternatively, when there is an extreme change in the input image, when a certain error threshold is exceeded, or when motion compensation is not performed, control is performed to switch the switch 3 and the switch 11 to the input image side. Then, by a selection setting signal sent from the outside, control is performed to select whether to give priority to image quality or time to the moving image on the transmission path.

[0021]

However, in the conventional image signal generating apparatus, one frame of image data must be transmitted when switching the input camera direction. Therefore, there is a problem that the amount of images transmitted via the communication line increases due to the movement of unimportant parts.

Further, in particular, in low-rate transmission, movements other than the point of interest may disturb the entire image, which may hinder monitoring. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the movement of unnecessary portions from increasing the amount of transmitted images and hindering monitoring.

[0023]

An image signal generating apparatus according to the present invention includes an area setting means for setting an arbitrary attention area in an input image and an image in the attention area set by the area setting means. When the motion detecting means for detecting motion and the motion detecting means do not detect a motion amount exceeding an arbitrary preset value, a predetermined process is performed on the image in the attention area. First to do
Second image processing means for performing predetermined processing on the entire one screen when the image processing means and the motion detecting means detect a motion amount that exceeds an arbitrary preset value. It has and.

Further, the image signal generating apparatus of the present invention detects the area setting means for setting an arbitrary area of interest in the input image and the movement of the image within the area of interest set by the area setting means. The motion detection means, the area image data management means for storing the area image data of the attention area set by the area setting means in the storage means when the input image is switched, and the input image The motion detection of the image by the motion detection means is stopped during the switching of the input image, and when the input image switching is completed, the motion detection is performed using the area image data stored in the area image data management means. The motion detection by means is restarted.

The image communication terminal device of the present invention is an image communication terminal device for performing image communication with another image communication terminal device via a communication line, and image communication means having a plurality of control elements, and the above communication. Communication line control means for controlling communication with other image communication terminal devices connected via a line, and drive means for designating and driving any one of the control elements of the image input means, Drive control means for controlling the drive means, storage means for storing the control element of the image input means designated by the drive means, and one control element from a plurality of control elements stored in the storage means A control element selecting means for selecting, an area setting means for setting a specific area for a plurality of image signals input by the control of the control element selected by the control element selecting means, and the image An image signal selecting means for selecting an arbitrary image signal from the image signal input by the force means,
Motion detecting means for detecting the motion of the image in the area set by the area setting means is provided for the image signal selected by the image signal selecting means, and the motion is detected by the motion detecting means of the image. At this time, the input image from the image input means controlled by the control element selection means is sent to the communication line via the communication line control means.

Another feature of the present invention is that
The image signals are sequentially selected by the image signal selecting means, the selected image signals are supplied to the motion detecting means of the image, and when the motion detecting means of the image detects the motion in the image signal, the control is performed. The input image selected by the element selection means is sent to the communication line via the communication line control means.

Another feature of the present invention is that when no motion is detected by the motion detecting means for the image, only the area set by the area setting means in the input image is used for the communication line. The data is transmitted to the communication line via the control means.

Another feature of the present invention is that when the motion is detected by the motion detecting means for the image, it is judged whether or not the motion amount exceeds a predetermined value,
When the detected motion amount exceeds a predetermined value, the entire area of the input image is sent to the communication line through the communication line control means, and when the detected motion amount does not exceed the predetermined value. Only the image of the area set by the area setting means is sent to the communication line via the communication line control means.

Another feature of the present invention is that the input image is divided into blocks and encoding means for encoding each block is further provided, and the area set by the area setting means is encoded by the above-mentioned encoding means. When the motion is detected by the motion detecting unit of the image, the input image is encoded by the encoding unit and is connected to the communication line via the communication line control unit. I am sending it out.

Another feature of the present invention is that the drive means switches the camera control element from the currently selected camera control element to the next selected camera control element. Is configured to stop the motion detection by the image motion detection means, restart the motion detection by the image motion detection means after the camera control is set for the selected camera control element. .

Another feature of the present invention is that image storage means for storing area image data in which the movement of the image with respect to the current image signal is detected is further provided, and is selected next. When the control of the image input means is switched to the control element, the motion detection of the image motion detection means is restarted using the area image data stored in the image storage means.

[0032]

Since the present invention comprises the above technical means, by setting and selecting an arbitrary point of interest in the input image, it becomes possible to detect the motion only by detecting the motion of the point of interest. The transmission image is not updated by the movement of the unnecessary portion, the processing speed can be increased, and the required memory capacity can be reduced.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an image signal generating device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image signal generation device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, is area setting means, is motion detection means, is motion amount determination means, a is first switching means, b is second switching means, a is first image processing means, and b is second. Image processing means, time lapse monitoring means, image input control means,
Is an image input means, and is an area image data management means.

The area setting means is for setting an arbitrary area of interest in the input image. The motion detecting means is for detecting the motion of the image in the attention area set by the area setting means.

The motion amount determining means is provided to determine whether or not the motion detecting means has detected a motion amount that exceeds an arbitrary preset value.

The first switching means a is for deriving the image signal given from the area setting means to either the first image processing means a or the second image processing means b.

The first image processing means a, when the motion detecting means detects a motion amount that exceeds an arbitrary preset value, the image in the attention area set by the area setting means. Is for performing a predetermined process.

The second image processing means b is for carrying out a predetermined process for the entire screen when the motion detecting means does not detect a motion amount which exceeds an arbitrary preset value. is there.

The second switching means b is for selecting an image signal output from the first image processing means a or the second image processing means b and deriving it to the circuit of the next stage. The switching operation of the first and second switching means a and b is controlled by a switching control signal output from the motion detecting means and the motion amount determining means.

The time elapsed monitoring means is provided to monitor whether or not a preset time has elapsed, and the image input control means is for controlling the input operation of the image input means. Is.

Further, the area image data management means is provided to store the area image data of the attention area set by the area setting means in the storage means when the time lapse monitoring means makes a determination. Is.

The image signal generating apparatus of this embodiment having the above-described structure stops the motion detection of the image by the motion detecting means while the input image is switched. Then, when the switching of the input image is completed, the area image data stored in the area image data managing means is used to restart the motion detection by the motion detecting means.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the details of the image encoding circuit, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the entire system.

As shown in FIG. 2, the video signal S1 input from the input terminal 1 is supplied to the selection area extraction unit 17. Then, in the selection area extraction unit 17, a predetermined attention range α designated by the system controller 16 is set.
It is cut out (see FIG. 5) and sent to the subtractor 2, the switch 3 and the motion vector detection circuit 15.

The motion vector detection circuit 15 compares the input video signal S1 with the previous frame image stored in the frame memory 12. That is, the motion vector detection circuit 15 detects the motion vector by dividing the video signal S1 into a plurality of blocks each of which has an arbitrary size. Then, the motion vector data detected as described above is output to the prediction circuit 14.

The prediction circuit 14 performs motion compensation interframe prediction from the predicted image data supplied from the motion vector detection circuit 15 and the image data of the previous frame supplied from the memory 12 to generate predicted image data S2. And sends it to the in-loop filter 13.

Then, the predicted image data S2 is two-dimensionally spatially filtered by the in-loop filter 13 and then sent to the subtractor 2. In the subtractor 2, the video signal S1 input from the input terminal 1 and the predicted image data S
2 is subtracted and output to the switch 3.

The switch 3 sends the output of the subtracter 2 as prediction error data S3 to an orthogonal transform circuit, here a discrete cosine transform (DCT) circuit 4. Then, the prediction error data S3 is orthogonally transformed for each arbitrary block in the discrete cosine transform circuit 4, and then sent to the quantization circuit (Q) 5.

The quantization circuit 5 is the system controller 1
6, the input prediction error data S3 is quantized in the quantization step determined by the system controller 16.

The image data S4 quantized by the quantizing circuit 5 is then supplied to the dequantizing circuit 8 and dequantized. After that, it is given to the inverse orthogonal transform circuit 9, subjected to inverse orthogonal transform, and sent to the adder 10. In the adder 10, the reproduced prediction error data S5 and the predicted image data S2 from the motion vector detection circuit 15 are added and accumulated in the memory 12 described above.

The image data S4 quantized by the quantization circuit 5 is variable-length coded by the variable-length coding circuit (VLC) 6 and sent to the buffer 7. Then, it is temporarily stored in the buffer 7 and then sent out to the data multiplexing circuit.

The system controller 16 manages the overall coding state and makes the quantization step in the quantization circuit 5 coarse or fine depending on the amount of data accumulated in the buffer 7, for example.

In addition, the change of the camera direction in the input image,
Alternatively, when there is an extreme change in the input image and the error threshold value set to a predetermined magnitude is exceeded, or when motion compensation is not performed, the switch 3 and the switch 11 are set to the input image signal S1 side. Control to switch to. Then, according to a selection setting command signal sent from the outside, control is performed according to the selection of whether to give priority to image quality or time to the moving image sent to the transmission path.

Next, the operation of the image signal generating apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the image signal S1 input from the input terminal 1 is sequentially sent frame by frame to the monitoring side by camera control, and then the system enters the monitoring mode and the operation starts.

When the operation is started, first, the counting of an arbitrary time a defined for the designated input image A (see FIG. 4) is started, and in step S1, it is determined whether or not the count is over. Is checked. Then, if it is within the time, the process proceeds to step S2, the selection area extracting unit 17 cuts out the attention range α as shown in FIG. 5, and sends the image as shown in FIG. 6 to the switch 3.

Next, in step S3, motion detection processing is performed. In this process, the motion vector detecting circuit 15 determines whether or not a motion vector is detected by comparing with the previous frame within the attention range α.

Then, the system controller 16 determines in step S4 if there is no movement as a result of the determination in step S3.
Then, the compression coding process of the attention range α is performed, and then the process returns to step S1 to check again how long the switching time has elapsed. Then, if the arbitrary time has not elapsed, the process proceeds to the motion detection process (step S3) again, and the above process is repeated.

If it is determined in step S1 that an arbitrary time has elapsed, the camera is switched to another direction by operating the camera platform 204 and the camera zoom control, and the second designated image is displayed. The area B or the third designated image area C comes to be displayed.

That is, the process proceeds from step S1 to step S7. In step S7, first, the image data of the attention range α processed up to the previous time is stored in a part of the memory 12. Next, in step S8, for example,
Secondly, the attention area of the designated image area B is processed. Then, at the time of this input switching, the motion detection processing is stopped until the next designated input situation is set.

In the next step S9, input signal switching control is performed. Then, while the input images are sequentially switched and processed, the last image data of the previous time is similarly stored in the memory 12.

Then, when the camera direction is switched to the first set camera direction again, the process proceeds to step S2 and the memory 1
The data of the first image previously stored in 2 is read out,
Using the read image data, the process of detecting whether or not there is motion in the newly input image data is started. At that time, if there is no change in the input image, one frame is not retransmitted and the screen is smoothly switched.

The above-mentioned motion detection processing will be described in detail. When the motion detection is not detected by the motion vector detection circuit 15, the process proceeds to step S4, and like the above description,
The prediction data is calculated in the prediction circuit 14, and the calculation result is quantized and encoded and transmitted.

If it is determined in step S3 that a motion has been detected, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the detected motion amount is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. And
If the detected amount of motion is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, it is handled in the same manner as when there is no motion, and the process proceeds to step S4 to perform the above-described processing.

On the other hand, if the result of the determination in step S5 is not less than the predetermined threshold value, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the system controller 16 switches not only the selected area but also the selected area extracting unit 17 to the full screen. , The processing mode is set to full-screen processing and data transmission is performed. After that, the process returns to step S1, and the attention area processing set by sequentially switching the inputs is restarted. In this embodiment, the image compression method is CCITT H.264. 261 mentioned above, this is M
PEG or other compression method may be used.

[0065]

As described above, the present invention is provided with the means for setting and selecting an arbitrary attention area in the input image and the means for detecting only the movement of the selected portion, which is not important. It is possible to prevent the amount of image transmission from unnecessarily increasing due to the movement of the place.

Further, by limiting the range of motion detection, it is possible to store the attention area image of the input image which was previously monitored in a small storage area, so that the direction switching by one camera is possible. The motion detection of the image can be started without retransmitting the frame.

Further, when the input image is switched, the area image data of the attention area for which the image detection is performed is stored in the storage means, and when the switching is completed, the stored area image is stored. Since the motion detection is restarted using the data, the motion detection of the image can be started without retransmitting the frame even when the direction is switched by one camera.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an image signal generation device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image encoding circuit showing the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image communication terminal device using the image encoding circuit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an area in which a camera is set at a monitoring destination.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a selection area α of an input image in the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an image selected from an input image and processed.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a conventional image communication terminal device.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional image encoding circuit.

[Explanation of Codes] Area Setting Means Motion Detecting Means Motion Determining Means a First Switching Means b Second Switching Means a First Image Processing Means b Second Image Processing Means Time Lapse Monitoring Means Image Input Control Means Images Input means Region image data management means 1 Digital video input terminal 2 Subtractor 3 Switching device 4 Orthogonal transformation circuit 5 Quantization circuit 6 Encoding circuit 7 Buffer 8 Inverse quantization circuit 9 Inverse orthogonal transformation circuit 10 Adder 11 Switching device 12 Memory 13 In-loop filter 14 Prediction circuit 15 Motion vector detection circuit 16 System controller 17 Selected area extraction unit 201 CCD camera 202 Camera input image signal processing unit 203 Camera controller 204 Pan head 205 Audio microphone 206 Audio signal processing unit 207 Moving image coding circuit 208 data multiplexing circuit 209 line control unit 210 Voice encoding circuit 211 system controller

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An area setting means for setting an arbitrary area of interest in an input image, a motion detecting means for detecting a motion of an image in the area of interest set by the area setting means, and the motion detecting means. , A first image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the image in the region of interest when no motion amount exceeding an arbitrary preset value is detected, and the motion detecting means. An image including a second image processing means for performing a predetermined process on the entire one screen when a motion amount exceeding an arbitrary preset value is detected. Signal generator. 2. An area setting means for setting an arbitrary attention area in an input image, a motion detection means for detecting a movement of an image in the attention area set by the area setting means, and the input operation. A region image data management unit that stores region image data of the region of interest set by the region setting unit in the storage unit when the image is switched, and the period in which the input image is switched Stops the motion detection of the image by the motion detecting means, and restarts the motion detection by the motion detecting means using the area image data stored in the area image data managing means when the switching of the input image is completed. An image signal generation device characterized by the above. 3. An image communication terminal device for performing image communication with another image communication terminal device via a communication line, wherein the image input means having a plurality of control elements is connected via the communication line. Communication line control means for controlling communication with other image communication terminal devices, driving means for designating and driving any of the control elements of the image input means, and driving for controlling the driving means. Control means, storage means for storing control elements of the image input means designated by the drive means, and control element selection means for selecting one control element from a plurality of control elements stored in the storage means. Area setting means for setting a specific area for a plurality of image signals input by the control of the control element selected by the control element selecting means; Image signal selecting means for selecting an arbitrary image signal from the image signals, and motion for detecting image movement in the area set by the area setting means with respect to the image signal selected by the image signal selecting means. A detecting means, and when a motion is detected by the motion detecting means of the image, an input image from the image input means controlled by the control element selecting means is used to communicate with the communication line via the communication line controlling means. An image communication terminal device, characterized in that 4. An image signal is sequentially selected by the image signal selecting means, the selected image signal is supplied to a motion detecting means of the image, and the motion detecting means of the image detects a motion in the image signal. The image communication terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the input image selected by the control element selection means is sent to the communication line via the communication line control means. 5. When no motion is detected by the motion detecting means of the image, only the area set by the area setting means of the input image is sent to the communication line through the communication line control means. The image communication terminal device according to claim 3 or 4. 6. When a motion is detected by the motion detecting means of the image, it is judged whether or not the motion amount exceeds a predetermined value, and when the detected motion amount exceeds a predetermined value, The entire area of the input image is sent to the communication line through the communication line control means, and when the detected motion amount does not exceed a predetermined value, only the image of the area set by the area setting means is displayed. The image communication terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the image communication terminal device sends the image data to a communication line via the communication line control means. 7. The image communication terminal device according to claim 5, wherein the input image is divided into blocks, and encoding means for encoding each block is further provided, and is set by the area setting means. The area is set to an area which is an integral multiple of the coding block in the coding means, and when the motion is detected by the motion detecting means of the image, the input image is coded by the coding means, and the communication line control means is An image communication terminal device characterized in that it is sent to a communication line via the image communication terminal device. 8. The movement of the image by the movement detecting means during the period in which the driving means is switching the camera controlling element from the camera controlling element selected up to now to the next selected camera controlling element. 8. The image communication terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the detection is stopped, and after the camera control is set to the selected camera control element, the motion detection of the image is restarted. 9. The image communication terminal device according to claim 8, further comprising image storage means for storing area image data in which the movement of the image with respect to the current image signal is stored, and then selected. When the control is switched to the control element of the image input means, the motion detection of the image motion detecting means is restarted using the area image data stored in the image storing means. Image communication terminal device.