JPH0946710A - Picture communication system and picture communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the burdens of users for mutually performing communication while viewing the pictures of an attentional area and to track the plural areas under consideration without lowering the resolution of pictures. SOLUTION: By providing an area setting means 8 for setting the plural areas under consideration in picture data inputted from a picture input means 1, an encoding means 5 for taking out and encoding the picture data inside the respective areas under consideration set by the area setting means 8 among the picture data inputted from the picture input means 1 and a communication means 6 for transmitting the picture data encoded by the encoding means 5, encoding and transmitting only the picture data inside the respective attentional areas set in the area setting means 8 and decoding and displaying them on a reception side, the plural attentional areas under separately present within one screen are simultaneously displayed without lowering a zoom rate and enlarging a photographing visual field.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image communication system and an image communication device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, due to the development of image compression coding technology and the spread of digital communication lines, service regulations and protocol regulations for AV (Audio Visual) services such as video conferences and video telephones, or multimedia multiplexing frame configurations. Recommendations such as regulations are prepared. Along with this,
Many image communication methods and devices applied to video conference systems have been proposed.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional image communication apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 801 denotes a camera unit, which has a zoom function, a swing function, and the like.
Under the control of the camera control unit 802, it is possible to perform zooming and change the shooting direction.

The setting of the field of view of the camera section 801 desired by the user is realized by the control section 808 generating a control command corresponding to the user's designation and controlling the camera control section 802. The video signal obtained by shooting with the camera unit 801 is supplied to the video input processing unit 803. The video input processing unit 803 converts the video signal supplied from the camera unit 801 into a signal format suitable for being processed by the encoding unit 807, and supplies this to the memory unit 805.

The video data temporarily stored in the memory unit 805 is then supplied to the encoding unit 807. The encoding unit 807 compression-encodes the video data supplied from the memory unit 805 according to the encoding parameter designated by the control unit 808, and the image data obtained by the compression encoding is transmitted to the communication i / f unit. Supply to 809. Communication i / f
The unit 809 multiplexes the compression-coded image data and the coding parameter, and transmits the multiplexed data to the partner terminal via the communication line.

On the other hand, the received data from the partner terminal received by the communication i / f unit 809 is separated into the image data compressed and coded by the partner terminal and the coding parameter.
Then, the separated compressed image data is supplied to the decoding unit 811. The encoding parameter is supplied to the control unit 808 as a decoding parameter and stored in an internal memory (not shown).

The decoding unit 811 decodes the compressed image data supplied from the communication i / f unit 809 according to the decoding parameters stored in the control unit 808, and the resulting image data is displayed on the display unit 810. The image data is supplied and the received image data is displayed.

[0008]

When a user wants to focus on an arbitrary area in a video conference using the image communication apparatus shown in FIG. 8, the user must use it by himself or herself. While viewing the image displayed on the display unit 810 of the existing terminal, information is transmitted to instruct to change the shooting direction or zoom ratio of the camera unit 801 of the other terminal so that the area of interest can be shot. The camera control unit 802 of the partner terminal was operated.

Therefore, the camera unit 801 of the other party's terminal is currently available.
The user constantly monitors whether or not the area being photographed is the area of interest to the user, and when the area of interest and the imaging area are different, the user operates the camera control unit 802 of the partner terminal each time. Had to do.

This imposes a load on the user, which must monitor the received image and control the camera control unit 802 of the partner terminal at the same time as communicating with the partner. Therefore, there is a problem that it becomes impossible to concentrate on communication, which is the original purpose of the image communication terminal.

Further, when the user is paying attention to a plurality of areas and the intervals between the points of interest become large, it is necessary to reduce the zoom ratio and widen the field of view so that both points of interest are reflected at the same time. However, when the zoom ratio is lowered in this way, the resolution of the display image is lowered, and there is a problem that necessary information cannot be obtained sufficiently. Further, if the zoom ratio is not reduced, there is a problem in that it becomes impossible to photograph both points of interest at the same time, and it becomes necessary to give up tracking one of the points of interest.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and it is a first object of the present invention to reduce the burden on users who communicate with each other while viewing an image of a region of interest. The purpose of. A second object is to enable tracking of a plurality of attention areas without reducing the resolution of the image.

[0013]

The image communication system of the present invention includes an area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in the image data input by the image input means, and each attention area set by the area setting means. Area determining means for determining an area, and encoding means for extracting and encoding image data in each area determined as the attention area by the area determining means from the image data input by the image input means, Transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means, receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means, and decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means And display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means.

Another feature of the present invention is that the area setting means for setting the attention area in the image data input by the image input means, and the area determination for determining the attention area set by the area setting means. Means, a motion detecting means for detecting the movement of the image in the area determined to be the attention area by the area determining means, and an area movement for moving the attention area in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the motion detecting means. Means, an encoding means for extracting and encoding the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means from the image data inputted by the image input means, and the encoding means for encoding by the encoding means. And a receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means, and a receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means. A decoding means for decoding the image data, and display means for displaying an image based on the decoded image data by the decoding means.

Another feature of the present invention is that the area setting means for setting a plurality of areas of interest in the image data input by the image input means, and each area of interest set by the area setting means are determined. Area determining means, and a motion detecting means for respectively detecting a motion of an image in each area determined as the attention area by the area determining means,
Area moving means for moving each of the plurality of attention areas in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detecting means, and image data input by the image input means after being moved by the area moving means Coding means for taking out and coding the image data in the region of interest, transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means, and receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means. And a decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means, and a display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means.

The image communication apparatus of the present invention extracts only the area setting means for setting a plurality of areas of interest in the image data of one screen and the image data in each area of interest set by the area setting means. Receiving means for receiving the encoded image data, decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means Have and.

Another feature of the present invention is that the area determining means for determining a plurality of attention areas set in the image data of one screen and the area determining means of the image data of the one screen. It has an encoding means for extracting and encoding the image data in each area determined as the attention area, and a transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means.

Another feature of the present invention is that
Area determination means for determining the attention area set in the image data of the screen, motion detection means for detecting the movement of the image in the area determined to be the attention area by the area determination means, and detection by the movement detection means Area moving means for moving the attention area in accordance with the movement of the image, and the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area movement means, out of the image data of one screen, are extracted and encoded. It has an encoding means and a transmission means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means.

Another feature of the present invention is that
Area determination means for determining a plurality of attention areas set in the image data of the screen, motion detection means for detecting the movement of the image in each area determined to be the attention area by the area determination means, and the movement Area moving means for moving each of the plurality of attention areas according to the movement of the image detected by the detection means, and an image in the attention area after being moved by the area movement means, out of the image data of one screen. It has an encoding means for taking out data and encoding it, and a transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means.

[0020]

Since the present invention comprises the above technical means, even if there are a plurality of regions of interest to the user in one image and the intervals between them are large, if they are set as the regions of interest, they will be within the set region of interest. Only the image data of (1) is encoded and transmitted, and is displayed on one screen. Therefore, it is possible to display each attention area at the same time without lowering the zoom ratio and expanding the photographing field of view.

According to another feature of the present invention, once the attention area is set, the attention area is automatically moved in accordance with the movement of the image, and the image in the attention area after the movement is moved. Will be transmitted and displayed, so that the area of interest will be automatically tracked, and the user can constantly monitor the received image or change the shooting state of the image input means according to the movement of the image. It will not be necessary to perform the operation to do.

According to another feature of the present invention, even if there are a plurality of regions of interest to the user in one image and the intervals between them are large, if these regions are set as the regions of interest, then within the set region of interest Only the image data of is encoded and transmitted, and is displayed on one screen. Moreover, if you set those attention areas once,
After that, each attention area is automatically moved according to the movement of the image, and the image in each attention area after movement is transmitted and displayed on one screen, so that each attention area is automatically tracked. Will be done in. Therefore, it becomes possible to display each attention area at the same time without lowering the zoom ratio and widening the shooting field of view, and the user can constantly monitor the received image and / or the shooting state of the image input unit according to the movement of the image. It becomes unnecessary to do the operation to change.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an image input means, which is provided with, for example, a zoom function, a swing function, etc., and is configured so that the photographing state can be changed.

Reference numeral 8 denotes an area setting means for setting a desired attention area in the image data of one screen. It is possible to set a plurality of attention areas. The information on the attention area set by the area setting means 8 is determined by the judging means 2 via the communication means 9 on the own terminal side and the communication means 6 on the partner terminal side.
And stored in a memory (not shown) therein.

The determination means 2 determines the attention area set by the area setting means 8 from the image data of one screen input by the image input means 1 based on the information stored in the internal memory. . Reference numeral 5 denotes an encoding means, which extracts, from the image data input by the image input means 1, the image data in each attention area determined by the determination means 2 and encodes it.

The image data encoded by the encoding means 5 is transmitted from the communication means 6 on the partner terminal side and received by the communication means 9 on the own terminal side. Communication means 9 on the terminal side
The image data received at is given to the decoding means 10. The decoding means 10 decodes the image data in each attention area received by the communication means 9. The image data in each attention area decoded by the decoding means 10 is given to the display means 11 and displayed.

As described above, according to the image communication system shown in FIG. 1, when there are a plurality of areas of interest to the user in one image, if those areas are set in advance as areas of interest, the set attention area is set. Only the image data in the area is encoded and transmitted from the partner terminal, and it is displayed on one screen of the display means 11 of the own terminal.

Therefore, when a plurality of regions of interest to the user are widely separated on the screen, each region of interest can be displayed at the same time without lowering the zoom ratio of the image input means 1 to widen the photographing field of view. As a result, the images of the plurality of attention areas can be displayed with high resolution.

The above-mentioned judging means 2 has a motion detecting means 3 and an area moving means 4. The motion detecting means 3 detects the motion of the image in the attention area determined based on the information regarding the attention area sent from the terminal itself. The area moving means 4 moves the set attention area in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detecting means 3.

At this time, the control means 7 controls so as to change the photographing state of the image input means 1 according to the result of the motion detection by the motion detection means 3. Then, the encoding means 5 extracts and encodes the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means 4.

With this configuration, once the user on the terminal side has set the desired attention area, each attention area is automatically moved thereafter according to the movement of the image in the attention area. Then, the image in the attention area after the movement is transmitted from the partner terminal to the own terminal and displayed. As a result, the set attention area is automatically tracked. Therefore, the user does not have to constantly monitor the received image or change the shooting state of the image input unit 1 by performing a remote operation according to the movement of the image, and the burden on the user can be reduced. .

Next, an image communication apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition,
The image communication apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is equipped with all the respective means shown in FIG. 1, and a plurality of the image communication apparatuses are connected to each other through a communication line to exchange data with each other. Configured to be able to.

In FIG. 2, 201 is a camera unit,
It has a zoom function, a swing function, and the like, and is configured to be able to perform zooming and change the shooting direction under the control of the camera control unit 202. That is, the camera unit 201 corresponds to the image input unit 1 of FIG.
The camera control unit 202 corresponds to the control means 7.

To specify the field of view to be photographed by the camera unit 201, that is, to specify the photographing direction and the zoom ratio, the control unit 208 generates a control command according to the photographing direction and the zoom ratio designated by the user using the input unit 212. Then, it is supplied to the camera control unit 202 to control the camera control unit 202. In addition, when there is a request for changing the field of view to be described later, the camera control unit 202 changes the shooting direction and zoom ratio of the camera unit 201 according to the request.

The camera unit 201 uses a CCD camera module having effective pixels of about 400,000 pixels. The video signal obtained by shooting with the camera unit 201 is
It is supplied to the video input processing unit 203. By the way, the output signal of a general CCD camera module is an analog signal of a standard video signal (for example, NTSC, PAL, SECAM, etc.).

However, the format of this standard video signal does not match the format of the compression coded signal, for example, when a method based on ITU-T Recommendation H.261 is adopted as the compression coding method. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the signal format of the video signal captured by the camera unit 201 into a signal format suitable for ITU-T Recommendation H.261.

Therefore, the video input processing unit 203 converts the video signal supplied from the camera unit 201 into a signal format suitable for the processing of the coding unit 207 in the subsequent stage. For example, when the video signal supplied from the camera unit 201 is a composite signal such as NTSC, it is A
After the / D conversion, it is separated into a Y signal (luminance signal) and a C signal (color difference signal). Further, the separated C signal is color difference separated into a Cr signal and a Cb signal to generate Y, Cr and Cb signals.

Further, Y, C generated as described above
The r, Cb signals may be color space converted into R, G, B signals as necessary. That is, the processing performed by the video input processing unit 203 may be adaptively determined according to the subsequent processing.

The video data processed by the video input processing section 203 is supplied to the area determining section 204 and the memory section 205. The area determination unit 204 includes the video input processing unit 203.
The attention area to be compression-encoded is determined from the video data supplied from the memory output control unit 20.
6 and the control unit 208. The method of determining the attention area will be described later in detail. The information on the determination result supplied to the control unit 208 is stored in an internal memory (not shown) as a part of the encoding parameter.

Further, the memory output control section 206, based on the information of the judgment result supplied from the area judging section 204, selects necessary video data (from the attention area of the target area) from the video data stored in the memory section 205. Only the video data) is extracted and supplied to the encoding unit 207. The output control of the video data will be described later in detail together with the method of determining the attention area.

The coding unit 207 compresses the video data supplied from the memory output control unit 206 according to the control of the area determination unit 204 as described above according to the coding parameter designated by the control unit 208. The image data obtained by the encoding and the compression encoding is supplied to the communication i / f unit 209. The memory unit 205, the memory output control unit 206, and the encoding unit 207 described above constitute the encoding unit 5 in FIG.

The communication i / f unit 209 stores the image data compression-encoded by the encoding unit 207, the control information (encoding parameter) of the encoding unit 207 stored in the control unit 208, and the region of interest. Transmission data is generated by multiplexing the information of the determination result of the attention area, which is a parameter indicating the position and size, and the generated transmission data is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication line.

On the other hand, the transmission data sent from the partner terminal is received by the communication i / f unit 209, and the received data is compression-coded image data, coding parameters, and information of the determination result of the attention area. And separated. Then, the separated compressed image data is supplied to the decoding unit 211. The encoding parameter is supplied to the control unit 208 as a decoding parameter, and the information on the determination result is supplied to the control unit 208 as a display control parameter, and stored in an internal memory (not shown).

The decoding unit 211 decodes the compressed image data supplied from the communication i / f unit 209 according to the decoding parameters stored in the control unit 208, and the resulting image data is displayed on the display unit 210. Supply.

The display unit 210 includes a display device (not shown), and adapts the decoded image data supplied from the decoding unit 211 to the user's designation and the display control parameters stored in the control unit 208. As a result, a signal matching the signal format required by the display device is generated and supplied to the display device. As the display device, a general display device such as a CRT device or a liquid crystal display can be adopted.

The input unit 212 inputs desired control information (for example, information for designating a shooting direction and a zoom ratio of the camera unit 201 and information for setting a desired attention area) to the control unit 208. The input device is a general input device such as a mouse, a keyboard, and a tablet. The input section 212 includes the area setting means 8 shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of the image communication apparatus configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. Figure 3-
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall flow of the operation of the image communication device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an image taken by the CCD camera module.

Here, as the CCD camera module, CCIR (International Radio Consultative) is used.
Committee, International Radiocommunication Advisory Committee) A module that outputs a video signal conforming to Recommendation 601 is used, and ITU-T Recommendation H.261 is used as an image compression encoding method.
The case where the method conforming to is adopted will be described. However, the present invention is not limited to these modules and compression methods.

A video signal conforming to CCIR Recommendation 601 has a dot clock of 13.5 MHz, one frame is composed of effective pixels of horizontal 720 pixels × vertical 480 lines, and a luminance (Y) component is 16 bits for each pixel. And a color difference (U, V) component has 2 pixels and 16 bits of information. In addition, ITU-T
CIF (Common Interface Format), which is an intermediate format of image data according to Recommendation H.261, requires image data of horizontal 352 pixels × vertical 288 lines.

Therefore, CCIR 601 data and CI
FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the numbers of pixels when the F data and the pixels are made to correspond one-to-one. In FIG. 6, a shooting area 601 is an image area shot by using the camera unit 201, and a transmission area 602 is an image area that is compression-coded and transmitted to a partner terminal.

Generally, the image in the photographing area 601 is CI
Although it is reduced to the size of F and transmitted, in the present embodiment, the fact that the number of pixels that can be transmitted is smaller than the number of pixels that can be photographed is utilized, and a useless region in the photographing region is omitted. Has achieved high image quality. Furthermore, by automatically responding to the movement of the image within the preset attention area, the attention area can be automatically tracked, thereby reducing the operation load on the user and realizing a highly functional image communication device. are doing.

This will be described in detail below with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. In FIG. 3, the processing characteristic of the present embodiment is the processing of step S2 and the processing of step S4. In step S2, the remote terminal is remotely controlled to control the camera unit 201 and the like, and in step S4, the area of interest is automatically tracked and the screen is synthesized.
The detailed operation in each processing shown in FIG. 3 will be described below.

First, in step S1, it is determined whether to end or start the operation of this embodiment. When starting the operation, the process proceeds to the setting process of step S2. Step S
In 2, the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 is performed. That is, first, in step S11 of FIG. 4, the shooting direction, zoom ratio, and the like of the camera unit 201 of the partner terminal are set as desired by the user by remote operation.

When the initial setting is performed in step S11, the entire field of view that can be photographed by the camera unit 201, that is,
Here, the image data of the CCIR601 format image reduced to the CIF format is compression-encoded by the partner terminal and transmitted. Then, the terminal receives and decodes this, and the setting is performed while being displayed on the display unit 210 of the terminal itself.

This causes, for example, a button for controlling the camera section 201 of the partner terminal to be virtually displayed on the display section 210 of the own terminal. Then, it can be realized by operating the button with the input unit 212 and transmitting the control information according to the operation to the partner terminal.

Whether or not the setting of the photographing direction and the zoom ratio of the camera unit 201 as described above is completed is determined in step S.
Judge at 12. This determination can be realized, for example, by monitoring whether the information input from the input unit 212 is information indicating the end of the setting process.

Next, in step S13, the attention area is set. This setting information includes information such as the number of attention areas, the size and position of each attention area. Here, for the sake of explanation, the number of attention areas is four, and the size of each attention area is 1/4 of the image in the CIF format.
(Horizontal 176 pixels × vertical 144 lines).
Of course, by making these settings arbitrarily variable, a system with a higher degree of freedom can be constructed.

When the attention area is set, as shown in FIG. 7A, the entire image of the photographing area 701 is received from the partner terminal and displayed on the display unit 210 of the own terminal. A frame 706 corresponding to a quarter of the CIF format is displayed in the image, and the region of interest is set while moving the frame 706 to a desired position using the input unit 212. This operation is repeated for the number of attention areas that can be set.

As a result, in the photographing area 701,
The four attention areas 702, 703, 704, and 705 are arbitrarily set. Information such as the number, size, and position of the attention areas set in this way and the image data in each attention area is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication i / f unit 209 and illustrated in the area determination unit 204. Not stored in the memory, and then supplied to the control unit 208 and the memory output control unit 206.

Next, in step S14, it is determined whether or not the setting of the attention area is completed. When it is determined that the setting of the attention area is completed, the setting process of step S2 of FIG. 3 is completed and the process proceeds to step S3. Step S3
Then, determine whether to start communication with the other terminal,
When starting, the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S4, with respect to each of the attention areas 702, 703, 704, and 705 set in step S2, the area determination unit 204 determines whether or not the image in the attention area has moved. When moving, the attention area is moved according to the movement.

Various methods can be considered as a method of determining whether or not the image in the attention area has moved. As an example, pattern matching is performed between the image data in the attention area to be determined from now and the image data in the attention area captured at the previous time point, and the motion detection of the image in the corresponding attention area is performed. . Then, the corresponding attention area is moved in correspondence with the motion vector detected thereby.

The process in step S4 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, first, in step S21, the four attention areas 702, 7
Any one of 03, 704, and 705 is selected, and the process proceeds to step S22 to detect a motion vector for the image in the selected attention area.

When it is determined in step S21 that the area determination processing has already been completed for all the attention areas 702, 703, 704, and 705, the area determination processing is terminated without selecting any attention area, The process proceeds to the next step S5 shown in FIG.

In step S22, as described above, the image data in the region of interest photographed at the previous time,
Pattern matching is performed with the image data in the attention area to be determined, and the motion vector of the image in the corresponding attention area is detected. Then, step S23
Then, based on the result of the processing in step S22,
It is determined whether or not the image in the attention area has moved. If it is determined that the image has not moved, the processing returns to step S21 and the next attention area is processed.

If movement of the image is detected,
Proceed to step S24. In step S24, when the attention area is moved according to the movement of the image, the photographing direction of the camera unit 201 is changed based on the position of the movement area in the photographing area 701 and the movement amount of the attention area after the movement. To determine whether to control. If it is determined that the shooting direction of the camera unit 201 need not be controlled, the process proceeds to step S29, and if it is determined that the control should be performed, the process proceeds to step S25.

In step S25, it is determined whether or not the attention area after the movement is within the photographing area 701.
Here, when the attention area currently being processed is to move to the outside of the imaging area 701, the process proceeds to step S26.
The user is notified that the attention area has moved out of the photographing area 701. Then, in step S28, the user is allowed to select whether to invalidate only the attention area currently being processed or reset all the attention areas.

When the user selects to invalidate only the attention area currently being processed, the process proceeds from step S28 to step S30, the setting of the attention area currently being processed is invalidated, and then the process returns to step S21. And continue processing. When the user selects to reset all the attention areas, the process proceeds from step S28 to step S2 in FIG. 3 and the attention area is set again.

When it is determined in step S25 that the attention area currently being processed is still within the photographing area 701 even after the movement, the process proceeds to step S27, and the attention area after the movement is in the center of the photographing area 701. A control command of the camera control unit 202 is generated by the control unit 208 so as to fit,
The shooting direction of the camera unit 201 is controlled.

In step S29, the attention area is reset by storing the setting information on the attention area after the movement in the control unit 208. Then, it returns to step S21 and continues processing. As described above, all the attention areas 7
When the area determination processing is performed on 02, 703, 704, and 705, the process proceeds to step S5 of FIG.

In step S5, the image data in each attention area is read out based on the setting information of each attention area 702, 703, 704, 705 stored in the control unit 208, which is shown in FIG. 7 (b). To synthesize one CI
An F-format image 707 is generated, and the generated image data is encoded according to ITU-T Recommendation H.261.

Then, in step S6, the communication i / f unit 2
In 09, the image data compression-encoded by the encoding unit 207, the data for decoding such as encoding parameters, and the information indicating the position and size of the attention area are multiplexed to generate transmission data. The generated transmission data is transmitted to the partner terminal via the communication line in step S7.

Then, in step S8, it is determined whether or not the communication with the partner terminal is continued, and if it is continued, the process returns to step S4. When communication is not continued, the process returns to step S1.

In the above embodiment, the means for detecting the motion vector is used as the means for detecting the movement of the image in the attention area. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A means for detecting the movement by taking a correlation with an appropriate representative point in a region other than is also conceivable.

For example, the photographing area 701 of FIG. 7 is divided in advance into a plurality of blocks having an appropriate size. Then, instead of the motion vector detection process of step S22 in FIG. 5, for each attention area 702, 703, 704, 705, the movement of the image is determined by taking the cross-correlation between the attention block and its peripheral blocks. By setting the determination result as new attention areas 702, 703, 704, and 705, the same effect as the method described above can be obtained.

Although not shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the following operation is performed independently of this operation.
That is, the multiplexed data transmitted from the communication i / f unit 209 of the partner terminal in step S7 is the communication i of the own terminal.
The / f unit 209 receives the received data, and separates the received data into compression-coded image data, coding parameters, and information on the determination result of the attention area. Then, the decoding unit 211
Then, the image is decoded and the image based on the decoded image data is displayed on the display unit 210.

As a display method on the display section 210,
The received image data may be displayed as it is as a combined CIF format image as shown in FIG. 7B, or each attention area may be separated and separately displayed. When displaying each attention area separately, the distribution state of the attention area in the imaging area 701 may be displayed together.

In the above embodiment, the image data in the region of interest is encoded and then transmitted, and the receiving side decodes the encoded image data and then displays it. There is no need to convert.

[0079]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of attention areas are set in the image data input by the image input means, and only the image data in each set attention area is transmitted and displayed. Therefore, by setting a plurality of desired regions of interest, it is possible to simultaneously display a plurality of regions of interest that are present far apart in one screen without lowering the zoom ratio and widening the shooting field of view. As a result, a plurality of attention areas can be displayed without degrading the resolution of the image.

According to another feature of the present invention, means for setting the attention area in the image data input by the image input means, means for detecting the movement of an image in the attention area, and Means for moving the attention area in accordance with the movement of the image, and only the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means is transmitted and displayed, so that the attention area is set once. If you do
After that, the attention area is automatically moved according to the movement of the image, and the attention area can be automatically tracked. Therefore, the user does not have to constantly monitor the received image or perform an operation of changing the shooting state of the image input unit according to the movement of the image, which can significantly reduce the burden on the user. Can concentrate on communication by communication.

According to another feature of the present invention, means for setting a plurality of attention areas in the image data input by the image input means, means for detecting movements of images in the respective attention areas, and And a means for moving each attention area in accordance with the movement of the image in the attention area,
Since only the image data in each attention area after being moved by the area moving means is transmitted and displayed, if a plurality of desired attention areas are set once, they will be far apart in one screen. It is possible to simultaneously display a plurality of existing regions of interest without lowering the zoom ratio and widening the imaging field of view, and to automatically track the set plurality of regions of interest. Therefore, even if the user does not constantly monitor the received image or perform an operation of changing the shooting state of the image input unit according to the movement of the image, a high-resolution image can be always obtained for each attention area. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an image communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image communication apparatus which is one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overall processing flow of the image communication apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing details of the flow of processing in step S2 of FIG.

5 is a flowchart showing details of the flow of processing in step S4 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for comparing the number of pixels between a captured image and a coded image.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of setting a region of interest and an example of combining images in each region of interest.

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

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Image Input Means 2 Judgment Means 3 Motion Detection Means 4 Area Moving Means 5 Encoding Means 6 Communication Means 7 Control Means 8 Area Setting Means 9 Communication Means 10 Decoding Means 11 Display Means 201 Camera Units 202 Camera Control Units 204 Region Judgment Units 206 memory output control unit 207 encoding unit 209 communication i / f unit 210 display unit 211 decoding unit 212 input unit

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in image data input by the image input means, an area determination means for determining each attention area set by the area setting means, and the image input Of the image data input by the means,
An encoding unit that extracts and encodes image data in each region determined as the region of interest by the region determination unit, a transmission unit that transmits the image data encoded by the encoding unit, and the transmission unit. Receiving means for receiving the transmitted image data, decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means An image communication system comprising: 2. An area setting means for setting an attention area in the image data input by the image input means, an area determination means for determining the attention area set by the area setting means, and an attention area for the area determination means. Motion detection means for detecting the movement of the image within the area determined as the area, area movement means for moving the attention area in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the motion detection means, and input by the image input means Of the image data
Encoding means for taking out and encoding the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means, transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means, and transmitting by the transmitting means Receiving means for receiving the image data that has been decoded, decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means. An image communication system having. 3. An area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in the image data input by the image input means, an area determination means for determining each attention area set by the area setting means, and the area determination. Motion detecting means for detecting the movement of the image in each area determined as the attention area by the means, and area moving means for moving the plurality of attention areas in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detecting means. Of the image data input by the image input means,
Encoding means for taking out and encoding the image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means, transmitting means for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding means, and transmitting by the transmitting means Receiving means for receiving the image data that has been decoded, decoding means for decoding the image data received by the receiving means, and display means for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding means. An image communication system having. 4. The control means for changing the photographing condition of the image input means according to the result of the movement detection of the image by the movement detection means. Image communication system. 5. The image communication system according to claim 2, wherein the motion detecting means detects the motion of the image by calculating a motion vector of the image in the attention area. 6. The motion detecting means detects the motion of the image by calculating a cross-correlation between the attention area set by the area setting means and the other areas. Or the image communication system according to 3. 7. An image communication system for performing image communication via a communication line, comprising: an area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in image data of one screen; and image data input by the image input means. Of these, the transmitting means for taking out the image data in each attention area set by the area setting means and transmitting it to the communication line, the receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means, and the receiving means. An image communication system comprising: a display unit that displays an image based on the received image data. 8. An image communication system for performing image communication via a communication line, comprising: an area setting means for setting an attention area in image data of one screen; and an area within the attention area set by the area setting means. A motion detecting unit that detects a motion of an image, a region moving unit that moves the region of interest in accordance with the motion of the image detected by the motion detecting unit, and the region of the image data input by the image input unit. Transmitting means for taking out image data in the attention area after being moved by the moving means and sending it to the communication line, receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means, and receiving means for receiving the image data An image communication system, comprising: a display unit that displays an image based on image data. 9. An image communication system for performing image communication via a communication line, comprising: an area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in image data of one screen; and each attention area set by the area setting means. Input by the motion detection means for detecting the movement of each image in the area, the area movement means for moving each of the plurality of attention areas in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detection means, and the image input means. Out of the image data, a transmitting means for taking out the image data in each attention area after being moved by the area moving means and transmitting it to the communication line, and a receiving means for receiving the image data transmitted by the transmitting means. An image communication system comprising: a display unit for displaying an image based on the image data received by the receiving unit. . 10. An area setting means for setting a plurality of attention areas in image data of one screen, and image data obtained by encoding only image data in each attention area set by the area setting means. And a display unit for displaying an image based on the image data decoded by the decoding unit, the receiving unit for receiving the image data, the decoding unit for decoding the image data received by the receiving unit, and the display unit for displaying the image based on the image data decoded by the decoding unit. Image communication device. 11. An area determination means for determining a plurality of attention areas set in image data of one screen, and within each area of the image data of the one screen determined to be the attention area by the area determination means. An image communication device comprising: an encoding unit for extracting and encoding the image data of 1. and a transmitting unit for transmitting the image data encoded by the encoding unit. 12. An area determination means for determining an attention area set in image data of one screen, and a motion detection means for detecting movement of an image in the area determined as the attention area by the area determination means, Area moving means for moving the attention area in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detecting means, and image data in the attention area after being moved by the area moving means, out of the image data of one screen. An image communication device comprising: an encoding unit that extracts and encodes the image data; and a transmission unit that transmits the image data encoded by the encoding unit. 13. A region determining means for determining a plurality of attention regions set in image data of one screen, and a motion for detecting a motion of an image in each region determined as the attention region by the region determining means, respectively. Detecting means, area moving means for moving each of the plurality of attention areas in accordance with the movement of the image detected by the movement detecting means, and after moving by the area moving means of the image data of one screen. 2. An image communication device comprising: an encoding unit that extracts and encodes image data in the attention area, and a transmitting unit that transmits the image data encoded by the encoding unit.