JPH10171730A - Image transferring method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image transferring method by which image data high in quality can be quickly transmitted to a user at a client side, and communication cost can be reduced. SOLUTION: In this image transferring method for reducing a network load and transferring picture data when data high in resolution are necessary at a client side, data transferred to the client are converted into an optimized high resolution picture by using an image conversion plug-in module 308. In this case, a screen resolution setting program 306 is used for inspecting the resolution of the display device of the client. The result generated by the program 306 is transmitted to a picture conversion program 304. The transmitted data can be turned into the image high in quality and capable of being most easily viewed in a browser to which a reader is watched.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image transfer method on a network typified by the Internet, and more particularly, to an image transfer method for transferring image data while reducing network load when high-resolution data is required on the client side. Regarding the transfer method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art World Wide where image information is transmitted over a network, particularly the Internet, and displayed on a client side.
-On the Web, users can access various image information on the Internet all over the world and see a wide variety of high-quality images. Images that can be viewed include not only “pictures and photographs” such as still images, but also data such as moving images that can be delivered through a network.

In order to send these data (still image and moving image) as quickly as possible, the resolution of the image is reduced and the image is selected by an icon or the like. Only when the icon is selected, a high-quality image is obtained. Is transferred to the user (client side).

For information with a large image capacity, ftp
The data is transferred as a batch file using a file transfer tool such as.

[0005]

However, such a conventional method has the following problems.

That is, when transferring high-quality image information using the Internet, an increase in the load on the entire network becomes a problem. In other words, dial-up connections,
A user connected to a network by personal computer communication or the like often uses a network with a low line speed, and thus it takes much time and costs to view a high-quality image having a large data capacity.

Although high-quality images are used, there are various types of display devices used by users, and even if high quality is uniformly obtained on the server side, all images are displayed on the client display with high quality. Not always.
In other words, an image of uniform quality on the server side may become data that is difficult to see.

[0008] In order to solve such a problem, a method of realizing high-quality data exchange using an external medium such as a CD-ROM that does not use a network, or a method of compressing data by a server side to compress data. There is a method of transferring, or a method of displaying data having a small data capacity in an index form, and transmitting only high-quality data selected from the data.

However, even in these methods, it is necessary to use a medium represented by an optical fiber and the like, and the compressed image must be decompressed on a network such as the Internet used by general users. Display in real time.

As described above, the conventional method has a problem in that when transmitting high-quality image data having a large data capacity from a server to a client, it depends on hardware such as a network line capacity.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image transfer method capable of sending high-quality image data to a client-side user as quickly as possible and reducing communication costs.

Another object of the present invention is to provide high-quality image data at an optimum resolution for a client display.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image transfer method capable of displaying a high-quality image most suitable for a user.

[0013]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for correcting a digitized image on a network represented by the Internet, instead of correcting the digitized image on a server side and transferring a high-quality image to a client side. The uncorrected image is transferred from the server, the uncorrected image is corrected on the client side, and a high-quality image is generated on the client side. The image correction can be adjusted on the client side so that it can be generated.

An uncorrected image refers to data that has only been input by a scanner, digital camera, or the like, and refers to an image saved as a JPEG or GIF file. On the Internet, it is possible to transfer formats other than these two types.
Only the above two types can be transferred on rld Wide-Web.

Generating an image that is optimal for the resolution of the display means generating an image that matches the unique resolution of a variety of display devices sold as products. This is because even a display with a low resolution (that is, a display with a small number of dots (dots) within a certain length and a low resolution) has a low resolution image correction. For some users, on the contrary, it causes a problem that it becomes difficult to see.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram in an image transfer method to which the present invention is applied.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes an information providing server for providing information on the Internet 105. The information provided here also includes image data. 1
02, 106, and 110 are display devices. 1
Reference numeral 04 denotes a router that connects the Internet and a server. Reference numeral 106 denotes a user-side Proxy server. A proxy server indicates a proxy server,
The information instructed by the client 112 is obtained from the server where the information exists, and is transferred to the client 112. Reference numeral 111 denotes a computer main body used by a user using the Internet. 101
Is a LAN (local area network).

The configuration shown here is only one example,
Other configurations are possible. The client may be a personal computer or a workstation. The Internet 105 may be a telephone line, a CATV, or a satellite.

In this embodiment, when a reader reads (views) certain information existing in the server 100, the client 112 instructs the server 103 to send information (data) in real time, and the server 109 serves as a proxy. Store data. This storage is called caching. When the client 112 obtains the cached data, the reader can obtain (read or view) information stored in the server 100.

FIG. 2 shows the server 103 and the proxy server 109.
It is a block diagram of the server inside.

Reference numerals 214 and 236 represent 103 and 1 respectively.
09. When the client 112 executes a command to fetch the information of the server 214 (103) to the proxy server 236 (109), the proxy server 236
File 205 and accompanying gif file 205 and jpeg file 206 from disk device 204
Start transferring. At this time, by using the communication device 212, the data is transmitted to a network represented by the Internet 240, and then transferred to the proxy server 236 via the communication device 226. These controls are http
A server program for the web called d (the information providing server is a program of 203, the proxy server side is 2
30 programs). The transferred image data is temporarily stored in the disk device 232 in the proxy server 236. Stored here
The html file 233 and the image data 234 are transferred to the client, so that the client 112 can obtain information.

FIG. 3 shows software (operating system 30) stored in the client 112.
2. Browser software 300, plug-in module 30
It is a related figure of 8).

The data transferred to the client 112 uses the image conversion plug-in module 308 to generate an optimized high-resolution image. At this time, the screen resolution setting program 306 is used to check the resolution of the display device 110 of the client 112. The result generated by 306 is transmitted to the image conversion program 304. The transmitted data is a high-quality image that is most visible to the browser that the reader is viewing. The part of the image conversion program 304 is “Digital Image System” (HITACHI
REVIEW, Aug 1995, pp.227-232).

Next, based on the flowchart of FIG.
A method for generating high-quality and high-resolution data provided to the reader will be described.

First, when the client receives the transmitted information (data), it is checked whether or not the image portion in the client needs image conversion (step 401). Where No
If it is determined, the browser displays the image as it is. If it is determined to be Yes (step 402)
Check if the screen resolution is set with. If it is set here, image conversion is performed using the screen resolution data table 500 described later (step 404). If not, the resolution is set (step 403), and the image conversion processing (step 40) is performed.
Perform 4) to generate an image that matches the display resolution of the client.

FIG. 5 shows a screen resolution setting program 306.
It is a data table set by. The data table 500 is a data table that can be set for each image. The data table 500 specifies a type of an image (currently, only a gif file and a jpeg file). This is a data table including four items such as 502 for determination, 504 for determining the vertical width of the image to be displayed, and 506 for determining the horizontal width.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
High quality (high resolution) images with large capacity
Since a web browser plug-in such as Netscape can act on its behalf, images can be transmitted without increasing the network load. Also, if uniform resolution processing is performed on the server side, it will not match well with the resolution of the display on the client side and it will be rather difficult to see, but by using this invention, the reader can keep his own The best resolution for the current display. Further, since data can be transferred from the information providing server with a small capacity, communication costs can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram in an image transfer method to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an image processing server and a proxy server to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a related diagram showing data exchange between a Web browser and a plug-in module to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of generating a high-quality image provided to a reader in image transfer to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is an image resolution setting data table to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

104: router, 105: Internet, 112: user client, 214: information providing server, 236
… Proxy server, 308… image conversion plug-in module

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A high-quality image is generated on the client side by correcting the digitized image on the client side instead of correcting it on the server side to obtain a high-quality image. Image transfer method. 2. The image transfer method according to claim 1, wherein the image correction can be adjusted so that an image optimal for the resolution of the display on the client side can be generated.