JPH10136101A - Video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a video conference system where a transmission voice level from a conference terminal equipment is simultaneously adjusted from the conference terminal equipment in the case of conducting a video conference connecting to multi-points. SOLUTION: A control request section 35-i of an optional conference terminal 32-i makes a request of voice level adjustment. Upon the receipt of a request of voice level adjustment from the conference terminal 32-i, a control right permission section 48 discriminates whether or not this request is permitted and sends the result to the conference terminal 32-i. The conference terminal 32-i whose request is permitted uses a control information setting section 36-i to instruct adjustment of a voice level of a voice processing section 43-i of an optional conference terminal. A voice signal received from conference terminals 32-1-32-n is given respectively to voice processing sections 43-1-43-n, where a volume level of the voice is adjusted, and whether the voice signal is a voiced sound or a silence signal is discriminated and a talker discrimination section 45 discriminates a talker. A video processing section 46 sends a video image from a conference terminal whose talker is discriminated to all conference terminals.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video conference system for connecting a plurality of points, and for example, to a video conference system for adjusting an input volume from a conference terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A video conference system is a system for performing a conference using video and sound via a television. In a multipoint video conference system, using a multipoint control device,
In general, a conference is performed by connecting a plurality of conference terminals in a star shape around a multipoint control device. The multipoint control device edits the audio and video transmitted from each conference terminal as if they were present in the same conference room, and distributes them to these conference terminals. Some multipoint control devices use voice switching that determines the current speaker based on the level of the voice input from the conference terminal and switches the video to be distributed to the video from the conference terminal determined to be the speaker. is there. In this case, if there is a difference in the voice level at the time of the speech, the selection of the speaker's video by the voice switching is not performed properly. Conventionally, in order to make the voice switching appropriate, it has been necessary to adjust the level of the transmission voice at each conference terminal. A multi-point video conference system that performs audio switching is described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 04-35447 and 04-3544.
It is described in JP-A-71058. Of these,
In the multipoint video conference system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 35454/1993, in order to make the voice switching appropriate, the input voice is regarded as voiced or unvoiced depending on the state of the conference room in which the conference terminal is installed. The threshold value for determining whether or not to consider is set from each conference terminal.

FIG. 6 shows an outline of a multipoint video conference system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 04-35447. In this system, the conference terminals 12-1 to 12-1
12-n are connected to the multipoint control device 11. In this figure, the audio processing units 15-1 to 15-n surrounded by alternate long and short dash lines.
Are the audio decoding units 20-1 to 20-n and the audio encoding unit 2
1-1 to 21-n and level detectors 22-1 to 22-n. An audio signal input from the conference terminal 12-i (hereinafter, i represents an integer from 1 to n) is decoded by the audio decoding unit 20-i via the line interface 13, and The addition is performed by the adding unit 16. The audio signal added by the audio adding unit 16 is output to the audio encoding unit 2
1-i and transmitted to each conference terminal 12-i. Also, a threshold value for determining whether the input voice signal is voiced or unvoiced is input from the conference terminal 12-i corresponding to the voice processing unit 15-i. The level detector 22-i calculates an average power value of the audio signal decoded by the audio decoder 20-i. If the average power value is equal to or greater than this threshold, the input voice is determined to be voiced.
The speaker determination unit 17 determines the conference terminal having the largest voice level value from the voice signals determined to be voiced by the level detection unit 22-i as the speaker. In the control unit 14, the speaker determination unit 17
Based on the result determined in, the video processing unit 18 is controlled to transmit the video from the conference terminal determined to be the speaker to all the terminals participating in the conference. As described above, in this conventional example, the threshold for determining whether to be voiced or unvoiced by the level detection unit 22-i is set from the corresponding conference terminal. As a result, the image is switched by voice reflecting the situation of the conference room where the video conference terminal is installed.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional video conference system, in order to make the audio switching proper, it is necessary to adjust the transmission audio level from the conference terminal in each conference terminal. There was a point. Further, since the transmission audio level is adjusted at each conference terminal, it is difficult to adjust the transmission audio level between the conference terminals.

[0005] Further, in the video conference system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 04-35447, a threshold value for discriminating between voiced and unvoiced is set for each conference terminal. Therefore, in the conference terminal in which the threshold value is set at a low level, even if the speaker speaks in a low voice, it is determined that the speaker is a video conference speaker, and the video is displayed on all the conference terminals. Also, in the conference terminal with the threshold set at a higher level, even if the speaker speaks with a higher voice than the speaker of the conference terminal with the threshold set at a lower level, it is not determined to be the speaker. Therefore, there is a problem that the determination of the speaker is biased.

In addition, since the threshold value is set at each conference terminal, it is difficult to set a harmonized threshold value as a whole.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a video conference system capable of adjusting the level of a transmission voice from a conference terminal collectively from the conference terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a video conference system capable of judging a speaker and switching images by voice using a voice signal whose voice level is adjusted.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided: (a) a voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of a terminal when a conference is held between a plurality of persons using voice and video; Video transmission means for transmitting the video of the terminal itself, audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference, and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video. A plurality of conference terminals each having audio level adjustment instructing means for instructing the adjustment of the output level of audio from any terminal; and (b) adding the audios transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and adding Audio supply means for supplying to the conference terminal; (c) video supply means for selecting a desired one of the images transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and supplying the selected one to each of the conference terminals; Audio level of one of the conference terminals To and a sound level adjusting means for adjusting the sound level of the conference terminal that adjustment instruction means has instructed according to the instructions in the television conference system.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the output level of the sound sent from the sound sending means of each conference terminal is adjusted by the sound level adjusting means. All conference terminals are provided with audio level adjustment instructing means, and the audio level adjustment instructing means can instruct the audio level adjusting means corresponding to any conference terminal to adjust the audio level.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided: (a) a voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of the terminal when a conference is held between a plurality of persons using voice and video; And audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and output from any terminal. (B) when a conference using audio and video is performed between one or a plurality of first conference terminals each having audio level adjustment instruction means for instructing an adjustment of an audio output level, and (b) a plurality of persons; Voice transmitting means for transmitting the voice of the terminal itself;
Video transmitting means for transmitting the video of the terminal itself, and audio / video output means for inputting the audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video. (C) adding the voices transmitted from the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal, respectively, to the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal, Audio supply means for supplying to the conference terminal of
(D) Video supply for selecting a desired video from the video transmitted from the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal and supplying the selected video to the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal, respectively. Means, and (e) an audio level adjusting means for adjusting an audio level in accordance with an instruction of an audio level adjusting instruction means of the first conference terminal.

That is, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the output level of the sound transmitted from the sound transmitting means of each conference terminal is adjusted by the sound level adjusting means. A first conference terminal including an audio level adjustment instruction unit capable of instructing an audio level adjustment unit corresponding to an arbitrary conference terminal to adjust the audio level, and a second conference terminal not including the audio level adjustment instruction unit There is.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, (a) audio transmitting means for transmitting the audio of the own terminal when a conference is held with a plurality of persons using audio and video; And audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and output from any terminal. A plurality of conference terminals each having voiced and unvoiced threshold setting means for setting a threshold value for determining whether the voice output level is regarded as voiced or unvoiced; and (b) sent from the plurality of conference terminals. (C) voice from the conference terminal according to the threshold set by the voiced / unvoiced threshold setting means of any of the plurality of conference terminals. Voiced if above threshold To and a voiced unvoiced determination means for constant video conferencing system.

That is, according to the third aspect of the present invention, all conference terminals include voiced / unvoiced threshold setting means. The voiced / unvoiced threshold setting means compares the output level of the voice transmitted from the voice transmitting means of an arbitrary conference terminal and sets a threshold value for determining whether to be voiced or unvoiced. The voiced / unvoiced determination means compares the threshold value set by the voiced / unvoiced threshold value setting means with the output level of the voice from the conference terminal, and determines that the voice is voiced if the voice output level is equal to or higher than the threshold value. . If the voice determined to be voiced by the voiced / unvoiced determination means is used to select a video to be returned to each conference terminal, the selection of the video can be controlled by changing the threshold value from the conference terminal. Further, if the voice added by the voiced / unvoiced determination means is used as the voice to be added back to each conference terminal, the voice to be returned to the conference terminal can be selected by changing the threshold value.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, (a) audio transmitting means for transmitting the audio of the own terminal when a conference is held between a plurality of persons using audio and video, and video of the own terminal And audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and output from any terminal. A plurality of conference terminals each having audio level adjustment instruction means for instructing the adjustment of the audio output level; (b) adjustment permission means for selecting one conference terminal when the adjustment instructions conflict; Audio level adjusting means for adjusting with the content specified by the selected conference terminal; (d) audio supply means for adding the audio transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and supplying the audio to each conference terminal; ) Sent from the plurality of conference terminals Come was in the video it is and a video generator means for supplying to each of the conference terminals select the desired one in the video conference system.

That is, in the invention according to claim 4, the output level of the sound transmitted from the sound transmitting means of each conference terminal is adjusted by the sound level adjusting means. All conference terminals are provided with audio level adjustment instructing means, and the audio level adjustment instructing means can instruct the audio level adjusting means corresponding to any conference terminal to adjust the audio level. A plurality of conference terminals instruct the adjustment of the audio level, and when the adjustment instructions conflict, one conference terminal is selected by the adjustment permitting means.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, (a) speaker determination means for determining the conference terminal having the highest voice level among the voices adjusted by the voice level adjustment means as a speaker, and (b) The video conference system is provided with video supply means for supplying the video transmitted from the conference terminal determined as the speaker by the speaker determination means to each conference terminal.

That is, in the invention according to claim 5, the conference terminal having the maximum voice level among the voices adjusted by the voice level adjusting means is determined as the speaker by the speaker determining means. The video transmitted from the conference terminal determined as the speaker by the speaker determination means is supplied to each conference terminal by the video supply means. Thus, the selection of the video to be sent by the conference terminal can be controlled by adjusting the audio level from the conference terminal.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0020]

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following examples.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of a video conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this system, the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-32 are provided to the multipoint control device 31.
n are connected. The multipoint control device 31 includes a line interface 41, a control unit 42, and each of the conference terminals 32-1.
Audio processing units 43-1 to 43-n for processing audio signals corresponding to.
Audio adder 44 for adding audio signals from .about.43-n
And a speaker determination unit 45 that determines the conference terminal having the highest voice level among the voice level values output from the voice processing unit 43 as a speaker, and a conference terminal that is determined to be a speaker by the speaker determination unit 45. A video processing unit 46 for transmitting video to these conference terminals. The control unit 42 includes a control right permission unit 48.
FIG. 2 shows an outline of a more detailed configuration of the audio processing unit. The audio processing units 43-1 to 43-n are provided corresponding to the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-n. The audio processing unit 43-i includes an audio decoding unit 61-i, an audio level adjustment unit 62-i, a level detection unit 63-i, and an audio encoding unit 6.
4-i. Also, in FIG.
2-n includes control request units 35-1 to 35-n and control information setting units 36-1 to 36-n, respectively. One of the control requesting units 35-i includes the sound level adjusting units 62-1 to 62-1.
A request for adjusting the audio level 62-n (hereinafter referred to as an audio level control right request) is issued. Control unit 42
Upon receiving the audio level control right request, the control right permitting unit 48 determines whether to permit the request and transmits the result to the conference terminal that issued the request. The control information setting unit 36 of the conference terminal permitted to request the audio level control right
“i” indicates adjustment of the audio level adjustment units 62-1 to 62-n that are considered to require adjustment of the audio level.

Each of the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-n transmits and receives a multiplexed signal of video, audio, and data to and from the multipoint control device 31. Here, the data includes data used in the conference and a control signal. One example of the control signal is a control signal for adjusting the volume level of the audio input from the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-n. The line interface 41 is connected to the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-3.
2-n, demultiplexes the multiplexed signal transmitted from 2-n, converts the video signal into a video processing unit 46, and converts the audio signal into an audio processing unit 43-1.
, 43-n, and data and control signals to the control unit 42. Also, the line interface 41
Multiplexes signals output from the control unit 42, the audio processing units 43-1 to 43-n, and the video processing unit 46, and
2-1 to 32-n. The control unit 42 receives the control signals output from the conference terminals 32-1 to 32-n and the speaker determination unit 45, and controls the audio processing units 43-1 to 43-n and the video processing unit 46 based on the control signals. Is what you do. The control unit 42 and the control right permission unit 48 store a control program in a storage medium, and are executed by the CPU.

The audio decoding section 61-i decodes the encoded audio signal transmitted from the corresponding conference terminal 32-i and sends it to the audio level adjusting section 62-i. The audio level adjuster 62-i adjusts the volume level of the decoded audio signal output from the audio decoder 61-i, and sends the volume level to the level detector 63-i and the audio adder 44. I have. As the value for adjusting the audio level, a value set in advance from the multipoint control device 31 can be used, or the value for adjusting the audio level from the control information setting unit 36-i of any conference terminal can be used. Can be changed. The level detection unit 63-i obtains an average power value of the audio signal whose level has been adjusted by the audio level adjustment unit 62-i, and outputs a voice larger than a preset threshold value for determining whether to be voiced or unvoiced. The level value is output to the speaker determination unit 45. The audio encoding unit 64-i encodes the audio signal added by the audio adding unit 44 and outputs the encoded audio signal to the conference terminal 32-i via the line interface 41.

The operation of the video conference system according to the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described below with reference to FIGS.

When adjusting the audio level from the conference terminal 32-1, the control request unit 35-1 sends the multipoint control device 31
Sends a voice level control right request to. The signal of the voice level control right request is separated by the line interface 41 in the multipoint control device 31, input to the control unit 42, and passed to the control right permission unit 48. Control right permission unit 48
Determines whether to permit the audio level control right request of the conference terminal 32-1. The control right permitting section 48 gives the control right of the audio level to the conference terminal 32-i which previously issued the request for the audio level control right.

FIG. 3 shows a flow of a process for determining whether to permit the conference terminal 32-i to request the audio level control right. The control right permission unit 48 checks whether any of the conference terminals is adjusting the audio level based on the value set in the adjustment flag F. Initially, no audio level is adjusted by any of the conference terminals, so 0 is set to the adjustment flag F as an initial value (step S10).
1). It waits until a voice level control right request is issued from the conference terminal (step S102). If a voice level control right request is issued from the conference terminal (step S102; Y),
The value of F is checked (step S103). If the value of F is 0 (step S103; Y), the audio level control right request is permitted because there is no other conference terminal whose audio level is being adjusted. If the control right permitting unit 48 determines that the request for the audio level control right is permitted (step S103; Y), an instruction to permit the conference terminal to adjust the audio level (hereinafter, referred to as "permission for controlling the audio level control right"). Is transmitted via the line interface 41 (step S104), and 1
Is set (step S105). If F is not 0, it is determined that the voice level control right request is not permitted (step S103; N), and an instruction to reject the voice level control right request is transmitted to this conference terminal (step S1).
06). According to such a procedure, only the conference terminal 32 that has received the audio level control right permission can perform the control described below. As described above, since the audio levels of all the conference terminals participating in the conference are adjusted from one conference terminal, the control of the audio level adjustment unit 62-i does not compete, and the controlled audio level adjustment is performed. Becomes possible.

When the conference terminal 32-1 receives the voice level control right permission from the control right permission unit 48, the control information for adjusting the input voice level is transmitted to the control information setting unit 36.
-1 is transmitted to the multipoint control device 31. The control information includes information for specifying a conference terminal whose audio level is to be adjusted, and audio level adjustment information. Here, the conference terminal to be adjusted is the conference terminal 32-2. This control information is passed to the control unit 42 of the multipoint control device 31, and the control unit 42 sends this audio level adjustment via the line 51 to the audio processing unit 43-2 corresponding to the conference terminal 32-2 to be controlled. Output information. This audio level adjustment information is supplied to the audio level adjustment unit 62-2 of the audio processing unit 43-2. The audio level adjustment unit 62-2 adjusts the volume level of the audio signal decoded by the audio decoding unit 61-1 based on the audio level adjustment information. The adjustment value after adjusting the audio level is stored in the audio level adjustment unit 62-2 of the audio processing unit 43-2. From the control information setting unit 36-1 of the conference terminal 32-1, the conference terminal 31-1 to be controlled is transmitted.
.About.32-n are successively changed to adjust the audio levels between the conference terminals.

The audio signal whose audio level has been adjusted by the audio level adjusting unit 62-2 is transmitted via a line 55 to the audio adding unit 44.
Is output to Further, the output of the audio level adjustment unit 62-2 is sent to the level detection unit 63-2. The level detector 63-2 calculates an average power value of the audio signal output from the audio level adjuster 62-2, compares the average power value with a preset threshold value, and determines whether the average power value is equal to or greater than the threshold value. If it is voiced, it is determined. The voice level value determined to be voiced is
The signal is sent to the speaker determination unit 45 via the line 54. For this reason, the audio level value used to determine the speaker by the speaker determination unit 45 is also an audio level value based on the audio signal whose audio level has been adjusted. Therefore, when there are a plurality of conference terminals determined to be voiced, if the volume levels are equal among the conference terminals, the audio signals having the same audio level will be compared, and the speaker determination will be more accurate. . As a result, the switching of the image based on the speaker determination becomes more accurate. Since the audio signal added by the audio adding unit 44 is a signal whose audio level has been adjusted by the audio level adjusting units 62-1 to 62-n, it is an audio signal whose volume level has been adjusted between the conference terminals. . Therefore, it is possible to obtain an addition signal whose volume level is adjusted between the conference terminals also for the addition signal.

Since the audio level control right becomes unnecessary when the adjustment operation is completed, the conference terminal 32-1 transmits control information for relinquishing the audio level control right to the control right permitting section 48, and The right permission unit 48 sets the adjustment flag F = 0.
Release the audio level control right. However, also in this case, the adjusted audio level is held in the audio level adjustment unit 62-i, and the optimal state can be maintained during the conference.
Also, since the audio level control right is released, other conference terminals can also adjust the audio level.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, since the volume level of the audio signal of an arbitrary conference terminal can be adjusted from an arbitrary conference terminal, control can be easily achieved as compared with the case where the adjustment is made at each conference terminal. The audio level can be adjusted. In addition, using the signal obtained by adjusting the audio volume level of the audio signal input from the conference terminal, it is detected whether the audio signal is voiced or unvoiced. Is determined. for that reason,
Since the audio level values of the volume-adjusted audio signal are compared, the determination of the speaker becomes more accurate. In addition, since the volume-adjusted audio signals are added, the difference in voice volume between the conference terminals is reduced, and audio that is easy to hear can be obtained at each conference terminal.

The process in which the control right permission unit 48 shown in FIG. 1 determines whether to permit the audio level control right request may be performed as follows. The conference terminal having the audio level control right is registered in the control right permission unit 48, and the audio level control right is given to a specific conference terminal, so that the audio level control from an unauthorized conference terminal is prevented. When a plurality of conference terminals having the audio level control right are registered, the control right may be given to the conference terminal which has issued the audio level control right request first, or the priorities may be given in advance, and May be given in accordance with the following.

In the video conference system shown in FIG. 1, if the conference terminal instructing the adjustment of the audio level is limited to a specific one, the control request unit 35-i and the control right permission unit 48 can be controlled.
May not be required. Note that the video processing unit 46 may combine the video from the conference terminals and transmit the video to each conference terminal. When synthesizing the video from the conference terminal, the speaker determination unit 4
The video of the conference terminal determined to be the speaker in 5 may be large or may be marked so as to be recognized as the speaker and synthesized.

Modification FIG. 4 shows an outline of a video conference system according to a modification of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the previous embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted as appropriate. The voice processing unit 88-
1 to 88-n are the output of the control unit 82 and the level detection unit 91
-1 to 91-n are connected by a line 85 and a level detector 91
Outputs of -1 to 91-n and the speaker determination unit 45 are connected by a line 93. A threshold for determining whether to be voiced or unvoiced used by the level detectors 91-1 to 91-n from any conference terminal 72-i is set, and the level detectors 91-1 to 91-n are set. To memorize. Level detector 91-i
This threshold is used when detecting voiced or unvoiced in. Further, there are a threshold setting requesting unit 75-1 to 75-n for the conference terminal to issue a request for setting a threshold, and a threshold setting permitting unit 84 for determining whether or not to permit the request. As a result, the threshold value of an arbitrary level detection unit 91-i can be set from any one conference terminal. If the conference terminal for setting the threshold is limited to a specific one, the threshold setting requesting unit 75-i and the control right permission unit 84
May not be required.

FIG. 5 shows an outline of a voice processing unit according to another modification of the present invention. In this modification, the audio level adjusting unit 62 of a certain conference terminal is changed to an arbitrary conference terminal.
-Adjust the audio level at i. Also, a threshold is input from the conference terminal, and the input threshold is
Is used by the corresponding level detection unit 103-i.
The output of the level detection unit 103-i is input to the speaker determination unit 45 via a line 104. Thus, the volume level of the audio signal of an arbitrary conference terminal is set from a certain conference terminal, and the threshold of the level detection unit 103 corresponding to the own terminal is set from each conference terminal. Therefore, each conference terminal can independently control the voiced judgment by setting the threshold value, and can control the speaker judgment. Thereby, it is possible to satisfy the control request regarding the speaker determination from each conference terminal.

Further, the sound adding section 44 includes the level detecting section 10.
By inputting the voice determined to be voiced in 3-i,
Noise can be removed. The output of the audio level adjuster 62-i is connected to the addition / non-addition changeover switch 105-i via line 5.
5 and the addition / non-addition changeover switch 105- based on the audio level value output from the level detector 103-i.
Flip switch i. As a result, only the audio signal determined to be voiced by the level detection unit 103-i is output to the audio addition unit 44 via the line 106. For example, when the input audio of a certain conference terminal 32-i is amplified by the audio level adjustment unit 62-i, if the input signal is noise, the noise is also amplified. Therefore, by changing the threshold for judging voiced by the level detection unit 103-i to be unvoiced in the case of noise, the addition / non-addition switch 105
At -i, the signal from the audio level adjustment unit 62-i is cut. This makes it possible to provide a video conference system that outputs, to the respective conference terminals, a signal obtained by adding the audio signal from which the noise has been removed from the audio signals whose audio levels have been adjusted by the audio addition unit 44. It should be noted that the volume level of the audio signal of an arbitrary conference terminal may be set collectively from a certain conference terminal, and the threshold value of an arbitrary level detection unit 103-i may be set collectively from a certain conference terminal. good.

[0036]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the output level of the sound sent from the conference terminal is adjusted by the sound level adjusting means. The adjustment of the audio level adjusting means corresponding to an arbitrary conference terminal is instructed from the audio level adjustment instructing means of the conference terminal. Therefore, the adjustment of the audio output level can be performed collectively. Since the audio level adjustment instructing means is provided in all conference terminals, the audio output level can be adjusted from any conference terminal.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first audio signal level adjusting means can instruct the audio level adjusting means to adjust the audio output level.
And a second conference terminal that cannot be instructed.
The grant of the adjustment right can be set in advance depending on whether the first conference terminal is installed or the second conference terminal is installed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the threshold for determining whether voice from any conference terminal is voiced or unvoiced is set by the voiced / unvoiced threshold setting means.
Therefore, the threshold value can be changed at a time. Further, since all the conference terminals are provided with the voiced / unvoiced threshold setting means, the voiced judgment can be controlled from any of the conference terminals.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the voice output level adjustment instructions conflict, the conflict can be avoided by selecting one conference terminal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a system configuration of a video conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an audio processing unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining whether to permit a voice level control right request issued from a conference terminal.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system configuration of a video conference system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of another audio processing unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system configuration of a conventionally proposed multipoint video conference system using voice switching.

[Explanation of symbols]

32, 72 Conference terminal 35 Control request unit 36 Control information setting unit (voice level adjustment instruction unit) 44 Audio addition unit (voice supply unit) 45 Speaker determination unit 46 Video processing unit 48 Control right permission unit (adjustment permission unit) 62 Voice level adjuster 63, 91, 103 Level detector (voiced / unvoiced determination means) 76 Threshold setting unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] An audio transmitting means for transmitting an audio of a terminal when a conference is performed between a plurality of persons using audio and video, a video transmitting means for transmitting an image of the terminal, Audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and instructing adjustment of the output level of audio from any terminal A plurality of conference terminals each having an audio level adjustment instructing unit; an audio supply unit for adding audio transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and supplying the added audio to each conference terminal; Video supply means for selecting a desired one of the received video images and supplying it to each conference terminal, and adjusting the audio level of the conference terminal instructed by the audio level adjustment instruction means of any one of the plurality of conference terminals according to the instruction A video conference system comprising: 2. A voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of the terminal when a conference is performed between a plurality of persons using voice and video, a video transmitting means for transmitting a video of the terminal, Audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and instructing adjustment of the output level of audio from any terminal 1 having audio level adjustment instruction means
Or a plurality of first conference terminals, a voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of the own terminal side when a conference is performed between the plurality of persons using voice and video, and a video for transmitting a video of the own terminal side One or a plurality of second units each having a transmission unit and audio / video output units for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video. A conference terminal, and voices sent from the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal are added to each other, and the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal are added.
Means for supplying audio to the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal, and selecting a desired video from the video transmitted from the first conference terminal and the second conference terminal. A video conference system comprising: a video supply unit that supplies the video signal to the first conference terminal; and an audio level adjustment unit that adjusts an audio level in accordance with an instruction from the audio level adjustment instruction unit of the first conference terminal. 3. A voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of the own terminal when a conference is performed between a plurality of persons using voice and video, a video transmitting means for transmitting a video of the own terminal, Audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and whether the audio output level from any terminal is regarded as voiced A plurality of conference terminals each having voiced and unvoiced threshold setting means for setting a threshold value for determining whether to be regarded as unvoiced, and adding the voices transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and supplying them to the respective conference terminals Voice-supplying means, and voiced-unvoiced determination means for determining that the voice from the conference terminal is voiced if the voice from the conference terminal is equal to or greater than the threshold value according to the threshold value set by the voiced-unvoiced threshold value setting means for any of the plurality of conference terminals Having TV conference system which is characterized. 4. A voice transmitting means for transmitting a voice of the own terminal when a conference is performed between a plurality of persons using voice and video, a video transmitting means for transmitting a video of the own terminal, Audio / video output means for inputting audio and video of each terminal participating in the conference and outputting the state of the conference as audio and video, and instructing adjustment of the output level of audio from any terminal A plurality of conference terminals each having audio level adjustment instruction means; an adjustment permission means for selecting one conference terminal when adjustment instructions conflict; an audio level adjustment for adjusting based on the content specified by the selected conference terminal Means, an audio supply means for adding the audio transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals and supplying the same to each conference terminal, and selecting a desired one from the video transmitted from the plurality of conference terminals. Each meeting Video conference system, characterized by comprising a video supply means for supplying to the terminal. 5. A speaker judging means for judging a conference terminal having a maximum sound level among the sounds adjusted by the sound level adjusting means as a speaker, and a speaker judged by the speaker judging means. 2. The video conference system according to claim 1, further comprising video supply means for supplying a video transmitted from the conference terminal to each conference terminal.