JP2002312805A - Method and program for managing additional information embedded in image data - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide additional information such as hyperlink information for individual image data of an animation image constituted so that a series of image data are displayed in sequence and to use the additional information. SOLUTION: An analyzing function 101 of a browser 100 analyzes and displays page data received from a remote server 130. An additional information managing function 105 extracts and sets the additional information, embedded in each piece of image data of the page data, in an additional information management table 106. The additional information managing function 105 updates state information corresponding to an image number of the additional information management table 106 so that the image data being displayed shows the state of a current display. When the image data being displayed are indicated through an input device 111, the action recorded in the additional information is started by referring to the additional information management table 106.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of extracting additional information embedded in image data and starting a predetermined action, and more particularly to a method of extracting additional information embedded in an animation image composed of a series of image data. Information management methods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a prior art relating to the present invention, there is, for example, a GIF system described in GIF89a of Compuserve, USA. In the GIF89a format, a standard for animation display that is executed by combining multiple images in one file and using a display application such as a WWW browser compatible with the GIF89a format to continuously display multiple images is provided. Included (commonly called GIF animation). In the GIF89a method, user input information for proceeding to the next image,
An image display time (in hundredths of a second) can be embedded, whereby image switching control by user input and automatic image switching can be performed, and animation display can be performed.

In a WWW system that uses a World Wide Web (WWW) server program and a browser program, when a WWW server publishes information, first, text data, image data, audio data, Video data, email addresses, or hyperlink data to other web pages
Using a structure description language called TML (Hyper Text Markup Language), a Web page is created by associating them with each other. On a Web page displayed by a WWW browser, display of linked information can be realized by clicking a hyperlink or the like.

[0004]

Conventionally, it has been possible to associate hyperlink information and the like with a series of image data by combining an animation image with an HTML hyperlink or the like. It was not possible to associate separate hyperlink information or the like with each image data. Also, when distributing images and associated information,
It is necessary to distribute both the image data and the hyperlink information, and if the image is distributed alone, there is a problem that information associated with the image by an HTML document or the like is lost.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an animation image composed of a plurality of image data in a form in which separate additional information associated with each of the image data is integrated in order to solve the above-mentioned problem. is there.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention comprises a series of image data, and an animation image configured to sequentially display these image data is embedded from the image data. The additional information extracted is set in the storage unit in association with the status information indicating whether the image data is being displayed or not, and the status information of the image data being displayed in the image data is sequentially updated so as to indicate that the image data is being displayed. Then, when the image data being displayed is instructed, a method of managing the additional information embedded in the image data for starting an action recorded in the corresponding additional information by referring to the storage means is characterized.

[0007]

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

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an example of an embodiment of the present invention. The browser 100 has functions such as displaying characters and images, outputting sounds, and changing the display in response to an input from a user. The browser 100 includes a hardware or a program of the analysis function 101, the communication function 102, the output function 103, the input reception function 104, the additional information management function 105, and the additional information management table 106 and the data extraction method management table 107 on the storage device. Be composed. The command input by the user from the input device 111 is passed to the analysis function 101 through the input reception function 104. When the input from the user is, for example, a request for new page data, the analysis function 101 acquires the page data through the communication function 102. This page data is composed of characters, still images, animation images, moving images, sounds, and the like. The communication function 102 includes a network 120
To acquire page data from the remote server 130 via the. Next, the analysis function 101 analyzes the contents of the page data, and instructs the additional information management function 105 to check whether additional information is included when a still image or an animation image exists in the page data. Additional information management function 1
In step 05, data is extracted from all the still images and animation images in the page data by the method specified in the data extraction method management table 107, and it is checked whether the extracted data is additional information. If it is additional information, the additional information is stored in the additional information management table 106. Next, the analysis function 101 instructs the output function 103 to display characters, images, moving images, and the like constituting the page data. The output function 103 instructs the output device 110 to output characters, still images, animation images, moving images, sounds, and the like included in the page data. In the above example, the page data is sent from the remote server 130 to the browser 1
Although acquired at 00, page data on a local server that does not pass through a network can also be used. When the input from the user is, for example, a click on a still image or an animation image, the analysis function 101 receives information on the clicked still image or the animation image from the input reception function 104 and checks whether additional information is embedded. , To the additional information management function 105. The additional information management function 105 refers to the additional information management table 106, checks whether there is additional information corresponding to the clicked still image or animation image, and if so, starts an action recorded in the additional information. To the analysis function 101.
When the additional information means, for example, a jump to a hyperlink destination, the analysis function 101 acquires the page data of the hyperlink destination through the communication function 102, and outputs the output function 1
03 is displayed. The additional information is not limited to jumping to a hyperlink destination, but can also create an e-mail to a specific address, reproduce sound, display information by a pop-up, display a pop-up menu, and the like. For example, when the additional information is information relating to an e-mail address, the analysis function 101 activates an e-mail editor and sets the e-mail address recorded in the additional information as a destination. If the additional information is audio information,
The analysis function 101 starts sound reproduction software and reproduces sound information recorded in the additional information. When the additional information is a description of an image such as author information and a display instruction of information by a pop-up, the analysis function 101
With the function 0, the explanation of the image such as the author information is displayed in a pop-up. When the additional information is a plurality of pieces of hyperlink information and an instruction to display them as a pop-up menu, the analysis function 101 displays a pop-up menu including a plurality of pieces of hyperlink information by the function of the browser 100.

Next, regarding the method of embedding additional information in an animation image, the data format of the animation image is as follows.
The case of GIF89a will be described as an example. Figure 2 shows GIF89a
5 is an example of a data structure of an animation image composed of three pieces of image data based on. Animation image 2
00 is a header section 210, a screen section 220, a footer section 230, and three pieces of image data 240, 241, and 24.
2 and a control unit 250 for each image data,
251 and 252. The header section 210 indicates the starting point of the animation image data. Footer section 23
0 indicates the end point of the animation image data. The screen unit 220 displays the image data 240 to 2 on the browser 100.
42, and information on the background color of the image data display area. Screen part 220
Can also have the information of the global palette 221. The global palette 221 is a color palette composed of 2 to 256 pieces of color information, and the number of color information is defined by the screen unit 220. The global palette 221 is commonly referred to by the image data 240 to 242. In this case, the colors of the points constituting the image are determined by specifying the color information constituting the global palette 221. The control units 250 to 252 include information on the size, position, display time, and the like of the image data 240 to 242 that follow. Control unit 250-2
52 can also have information on local pallets 260-262. Local pallets 260-262
Is a color palette similarly to the global palette 221, and is referred to only from image data immediately after each local palette. Whether or not the image data 240 to 242 refers to the local palettes 260 to 262 is defined by the control units 250 to 252,
To 262, the respective image data 240 to 24
2 refers to the global palette 221. The image data 240 to 242 includes color designation information of all points constituting the image.

Next, the data structure of the color palette will be described. Reference numeral 300 in FIG. 3 is a data structure of a color pallet having 256 pieces of color information. One piece of color information is represented by a combination of three colors of red, green, and blue, each of which is represented by 8 bits, and the data length of one piece of color information is 3 bytes. In the case of a 256-color color palette, the data structure has a data structure in which the first to 256th color information is stored in order, and its data area is 768 bytes.

Next, a method for embedding additional information such as a hyperlink in the animation image 200 will be described. The area where the additional information is embedded is the global palette 22
1 or local pallets 260-262.
FIG. 4 shows a data structure of a color pallet storing additional information. The pallet 400 includes a part 401 for storing additional information and a part 402 for storing color information. In the example of the palette 400, the palette area has 256 colors, but the actual color information is 1 in the portion 402.
Only 28 colors are stored, and additional information is stored in a portion 401 which is an area for the remaining 128 colors. Therefore, the palette 400 referred to by the image data constituting the animation image
Needs to be limited to the 129th to 256th color information. In the example, the palette of 256 colors is equally divided. However, for example, in the case of the GIF89a method, the palette area can be set to any of 2 n (n = 1 to 8) colors.
The ratio of the portion for storing the additional information and the portion for storing the color information is arbitrary. If the number of color information necessary for displaying the image is stored in the palette, all the remaining areas are used for storing the additional information. It can be used for: The additional information is always stored from the top of the palette, and a header 403 including a key 404 indicating the presence of the additional information and a length 405 of the additional information to be stored must be at the top of the additional information. When embedding additional information such as a hyperlink in the animation image 200, the global palette 2
21, and it can be stored in any of the local pallets 260 to 262. For example, H for GIF animation
A function similar to associating hyperlink information using TML is realized by embedding hyperlink information in the global palette 221 and not embedding information in the local palettes 260 to 262. The function of associating separate information with each image data constituting an animation image, which cannot be realized by the combination of the GIF animation and HTML, is provided by the image data 240 to 242.
Separate information corresponding to the local palette 2
This is realized by embedding the information in the global palette 221 without embedding the information in the global palette 221. Further, the above function embeds separate information corresponding to, for example, image data 240 and 241 in local palettes 260 and 261,
It is also realized by embedding information corresponding to the image data 242 in the global palette 221.

With the above method, it is possible to generate an animation image in which additional information is embedded by using a digital watermark technique.

Next, a method for reproducing an animation image in which additional information is embedded will be described. The additional information management table 106 will be described with reference to FIG. The additional information management table 106 includes fields of an image name 501, an image number 502, additional information 503, and a display flag 504. The image name 501 stores the name of a still image or an animation image included in the page data currently displayed on the output device 110. Image number 502
Stores the number of a still image or the number of a global palette and image data constituting an animation image. The additional information 503 stores additional information embedded in still image, global palette, or animation image data. If the additional information is not embedded in the still image, the global palette, or the animation image, the additional information 503 is blank. The display flag 504 of the currently displayed still image or image data is set with a mark such as ○ indicating that it is being displayed as status information. The display flag 504 of the global palette and the image data not currently displayed is blank.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the additional information management table 106 when the currently displayed page data contains animation images A, B and C composed of three pieces of image data. . Images B and C are still images. In the image name 501, the animation image A,
The names of the image B and the image C are stored.
The global palette of the animation image A, the number of each image data, and the numbers of the images B and C are recorded.
In this example, the additional information is embedded in all the still image and animation image data and is not embedded in the global palette. Therefore, the additional information 503 is blank for the global palette, and all the still image and animation image data are blank. Is stored as additional information. In this example, the image data currently displayed are image data 2 of the animation image A, image B,
Since the image is the image C, a mark indicating that the image is being displayed is set in each of the displaying flags 504.

FIG. 6 is a processing flow from when the browser 100 acquires and displays page data. First, in step 600, the analysis function 101 acquires page data from the remote server 130 via the communication function 102. Next, in step 601, the analysis function 101 interprets the acquired page data from the beginning and checks whether the page data includes a still image or an animation image. If the page data does not include a still image or an animation image, the process proceeds to step 612. If the page data includes a still image or an animation image, in step 602, the analysis function 101 acquires the data of the included still image or animation image. Next, in step 603, the analysis function 101 determines whether the acquired data is still image data or animation image data by its header portion.

If the data obtained in step 602 is still image data, in step 604 the analysis function 101
Instructs the additional information management function 105 to check whether the additional information is embedded in the image. The additional information management function 105 extracts data from the image, assuming that the additional information is embedded in the image. When the image refers to the palette, the length 405 of the additional information is extracted from the top of the palette, and data is extracted from the top of the palette according to the recorded data length. If the image does not refer to a palette, the data is extracted based on some digital watermarking techniques. For example, assuming that a digital watermarking technique of adjusting the luminance of each point constituting an image is used, data is extracted. Also,
Data is extracted on the assumption that a digital watermarking technique of a method of converting the luminance of each point constituting an image into a frequency and adjusting the frequency is used. When data is extracted in step 604, the additional information management function 105 refers to the data extraction method management table 107 and extracts data using the stored digital watermark data extraction method. The data extraction method management table 107 may store a plurality of digital watermark data extraction methods such as a luminance adjustment method and a frequency adjustment method. In step 604, the additional information management function 105 checks the image name 501 in the additional information management table 106.
, The image number is stored in the display flag 504, and it is checked whether or not the data extracted in step 605 is additional information. Whether the extracted data is additional information or not depends on whether the head of the extracted data is a keyword representing the additional information. If there are a plurality of extracted data, check all the extracted data. If the extracted data is not additional information, the process proceeds to step 611. If the extracted data is additional information, the process proceeds to step 606. In step 606, the additional information management function 105 extracts additional information on the image from the data extracted in step 604 and stores the additional information in the additional information 503 of the additional information management table 106.

If the data obtained in step 602 is animation image data, the analysis function 101 checks in step 607 whether a global palette exists.
If there is, the process proceeds to steps 607 and 608 to check whether additional information is embedded in the global palette. If there is no global palette, it is checked in steps 607 and 608 whether additional information is embedded in the image data 240. Step 607,
The check in 608 is performed in the same manner as in steps 604 and 605. However, nothing is stored in the displaying flag 504. If the data extracted in step 607 is not additional information, the process proceeds to step 610. If the extracted data is additional information, the process proceeds to step 609, stores the additional information on the image in the additional information 503 of the additional information management table 106 in the same manner as in step 606, and proceeds to step 610. In step 610, the additional information management function 105 determines whether or not the animation image includes image data for which the presence or absence of additional information has not been checked. The existence of unchecked image data is detected by referring to the animation image data from the beginning and detecting whether unchecked image data is found by the time the data ends. If unchecked image data is detected in step 610, the process returns to step 607 to check the detected image data. If there is no unchecked image data, step 61
Proceed to 1. In step 611, the additional information management function 105
Checks whether there is a still image or an animation image for which the presence or absence of additional information has not yet been checked in the page data. The presence of an unchecked still image or animation image is detected by referring to the page data from the beginning and detecting whether a still image or animation image that has not been checked by the end of the data is found. If a still image or animation image that has not been checked is detected in step 611, the process returns to step 602, where data of the detected still image or animation image is obtained and checked. If there is no unchecked still image or animation image, the process proceeds to step 612. In step 612, the additional information management function 105 instructs the analysis function 101 to display page data.

Next, a method for displaying an animation image will be described. When the animation data 200 is included in the page data, the analysis function 101 extracts the first image data 240 from the animation image 200 and displays it via the output function 103, and the displayed image data is the image data 240. That the additional information management function 10
Notify 5 The additional information management function 105 marks the display flag 504 corresponding to the image data 240 in the additional information management table 106. Next, when the display time specified by the control unit 250 elapses, the analysis function 101
The image data 241 is displayed via the output function 103, and the fact that the displayed image data is the image data 241 is notified to the additional information management function 105. The additional information management function 105 deletes the mark of the displaying flag 504 corresponding to the image data 240 in the additional information management table 106, and adds a mark to the displaying flag 504 corresponding to the image data 241. Similarly, when the display time specified by the control unit 251 elapses, the analysis function 101 displays the image data 242, and the displayed image data is
Is notified to the additional information management function 105. The additional information management function 105 deletes the mark of the display flag 504 corresponding to the image data 241 in the additional information management table 106, and displays the display flag 50 corresponding to the image data 242.
Mark 4 When the analysis function 101 finishes displaying all the image data constituting the animation image 200,
The display from the first image data 240 is repeated again.
In this way, image data is displayed one after another. In this example, an example including three pieces of image data is described. However, the number of pieces of image data constituting an animation image is not limited to three.
Any number is possible.

Next, a case where an image is clicked will be described. FIG. 7 is a processing flow when a still image or an animation image displayed on the output device 110 is clicked. First, in step 700, the analysis function 101
Monitors whether information that the user has clicked on the image is notified from the input reception function 104, and proceeds to step 701 when the notification from the input reception function 104 is detected. In step 701, the analysis function 101 detects which image in the page data is clicked based on the information notified from the input reception function 104. Then step 70
In step 2, the analysis function 101 notifies the additional information management function 105 of the number of the clicked image, and instructs the additional information management function 105 to check whether there is additional information corresponding to the clicked image. Additional information management function 10
5 retrieves the clicked image name from the image name 501 in the additional information management table 106. Next, by referring to the display flag 504 corresponding to the clicked image name, the additional information 50 of the line in which the mark indicating that the image is being displayed is set.
In 3, it is checked whether or not additional information is stored. When the additional information is stored, the process proceeds to step 703. When the additional information is not recorded, the additional information management function 105 refers to the image number 502 of the target image name, and when there is a line in which the number of the global palette is recorded, the additional information 503 of the line is added to the additional information 503. Check whether is stored. When the additional information is stored, the process proceeds to step 703. If the additional information 503 of any of the target rows is blank, the process returns to the analysis function 101. In step 703, the additional information management function 105 instructs the analysis function 101 to execute the additional information stored in the additional information 503 of the additional information management table 106.

As described above, the animation image in which the additional information is embedded is reproduced, and when the animation image is clicked, the additional information corresponding to the image data being displayed is taken out. Jump, create emails to specific email addresses,
Processing such as sound reproduction, pop-up information display, and pop-up menu display can be performed.

In the above example, a GIF animation is mainly used. However, an image in PNG or JPEG format is created in the same manner as the GIF animation image in FIG. Additional information can be embedded. In the case of an image format that does not use a pallet, additional information can be embedded in an image by using a digital watermarking technique that adjusts the luminance and frequency of each point constituting the image data. The animation image created in this manner can be processed by the browser 100 by using the method shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 similarly to the case of the GIF animation image. Further, when the animation image of the present invention is reproduced by a browser having no analysis function according to the present invention, the animation image can be normally reproduced only by not processing the additional information such as the hyperlink information.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to associate separate additional information with each image data constituting an animation image.
Further, by distributing the image generated by the present invention alone, information associated with the image can be distributed in an integrated format.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an entire system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of an animation image.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a color palette.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a pallet division method for storing additional information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of an additional information management table 106 according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart when page data is read according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart when an image is clicked according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

100: browser, 101: analysis function, 105: additional information management function, 106: additional information management table

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Masamitsu Yamada 1-27, Shinsuna, Koto-ku, Tokyo F-term in the Public Works Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (Reference) 5B050 AA10 BA08 CA05 CA06 EA19 EA24 FA02 GA08 5B057 AA20 CA18 CA19 CC03 CH11 DA16 5C076 AA14 BA01 BA07

Claims (5)

[Claims] An animation image composed of a series of image data and configured to sequentially display the image data, extracting additional information embedded from the image data, and determining whether the image data is being displayed. Is set in the storage means in correspondence with the status information indicating, and in accordance with the display of the image data, the corresponding status information is sequentially updated so as to indicate that it is being displayed, and the storage is performed when the image data being displayed is instructed. A method for managing additional information embedded in image data, wherein an action recorded in the corresponding additional information is started by referring to means. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising extracting the additional information from the image data of the still image and, when the still image being displayed is designated, referring to the storage unit and recording the corresponding additional information. 2. The method for managing additional information embedded in image data according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The method for managing additional information embedded in image data according to claim 1, wherein said additional information is embedded in a palette area of said image data. 4. A function of extracting additional information embedded from said image data for an animation image comprising a series of image data and configured to sequentially display said image data. A function to set in the storage means in association with state information indicating whether or not the image data is being displayed; a function to sequentially update the corresponding state information so as to indicate that the corresponding state information is being displayed in accordance with the display of the image data; A program for managing additional information embedded in image data for realizing a function of starting an action recorded in the corresponding additional information by referring to the storage means when is designated. 5. A program for managing additional information embedded in image data according to claim 4, wherein said additional information is embedded in a palette area of said image data.