JP3049067B2 - Moving image transmission apparatus and moving image transmission method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a moving image transmitting apparatus and a moving image transmitting method used for a multifunctional video conference device, a videophone, and the like.

(Conventional technology) When communication is performed using a moving image and a sound, there are a video conference device, a video phone, and the like.
Since these transmit voice and image simultaneously within the limited line capacity, the information must be compressed before transmission, and especially when moving images are transmitted, significant information compression is required. Become. For this reason, adverse effects associated with compression, such as deterioration of image quality and dropped frames, occur in the reproduced video on the receiving side, and accurate transmission of information may not be performed.

If the above-mentioned adverse effects occur, it is possible to confirm again on the spot while talking with the other party, but it is possible to access the message recorded on the answering machine etc. later. In such cases, even if the above-mentioned adverse effects associated with compression occur, it is not possible to check again on the spot and not only may not function as an answering machine, but also There is also a risk of transmitting the information to the other party.

Therefore, there are cases where it is desired to transmit accurate information with clear image quality even if the transmission time is slightly longer.However, conventional technology only transmits compressed information in real time. In particular, it is impossible to transmit an image, particularly a moving image, and it has not been possible to respond to the above demands.

Furthermore, such problems are not limited to answering machines, and similar inconveniences may arise when simply transmitting an image such as a VTR from one point to another through a line without deteriorating the image quality. become.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Such a conventional moving image transmitting apparatus and moving image transmitting method merely transmit information compressed in accordance with the line capacity in real time, and the image quality required by the caller is improved. In particular, it has been impossible to transmit moving images with high definition image quality. As a result, adverse effects associated with compression, such as image quality degradation and dropped frames, are always occurring. Not only can accurate information not be transmitted to the other party, but if both parties are not talking on the spot, inaccurate Unless the necessary information is confirmed again, there is a possibility that the other party will recognize the wrong information.

Therefore, the present invention solves these problems, and enables the transmission of information, particularly a moving image, with the image quality desired by the sender regardless of how much transmission time is required, especially when the sender requests. It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving image transmitting apparatus and a moving image transmitting method that can avoid a burden and an erroneous recognition due to inaccuracy of information on a partner side by transmitting accurate information to a side.

[Configuration of the invention]

(Means for Solving the Problems) A moving image transmission apparatus according to the present invention has an input unit for inputting a moving image to be transmitted, and a moving image transmitting apparatus which responds to a type of image quality selected from a plurality of encoding modes having different image quality. Storage means for temporarily storing a moving image input in accordance with an encoding mode set in accordance with the selected encoding mode, and an encoding mode set in accordance with the type of selected image quality Encoding means for compressing and encoding the moving image stored in the first storage means, means for temporarily storing the moving image compressed and encoded by the encoding means, and then sending the moving image to the receiving side; Means for temporarily storing the moving image transmitted from the transmitting side and then outputting it to the decoding means, and compression for reproducing the moving image by a decoding mode set according to the type of image quality selected on the transmitting side. Encoded motion A decoding unit for decoding the image, a second storage unit for temporarily storing the moving image decoded by the decoding unit, and an output unit for outputting the moving image stored in the second storage unit. It is characterized by having.

Also, in the moving image transmission method according to the present invention, on the transmitting side, the moving image inputted by the input means is encoded according to the type of image quality selected from a plurality of encoding modes having different image qualities. After temporarily storing the moving image for encoding by the mode and compressing and encoding the stored moving image by the encoding mode set according to the type of the selected image quality, the compression-encoded After temporarily storing the moving image and sending it to the receiving side, the receiving side temporarily stores the compression-encoded moving image and according to the type of image quality selected on the transmitting side. In order to reproduce a moving image according to a set decoding mode, the compression-encoded moving image is decoded, and then the decoded moving image is temporarily stored and output to an output unit.

(Operation) In the moving image transmission apparatus and method of the present invention, a moving image input from a coding mode set according to the type of image quality selected from a plurality of coding modes having different image qualities is encoded. Storage means for temporarily storing the moving image, compressing and coding the moving image stored in the coding mode set according to the type of the selected image quality, and selecting the transmission side on the reception side. In order to play back a moving image in the decoding mode set according to the type of image quality that has been set, the moving image is decoded, the decoded moving image is temporarily stored, and the image necessary for playing the moving image is stored. A moving image is output after being accumulated.

In general, when the image quality is high as compared with the case where the image quality is low, a considerable amount of processing and time is required for the encoding operation, and the generated code amount becomes enormous. Therefore, even when the image quality is high, the input moving images are sequentially encoded in real time in order to transmit the moving images according to the image quality requested by the user regardless of the size of the transmission line capacity (transmission speed). Instead, as in the present invention, it is necessary to perform an encoding process in accordance with the selected image quality while temporarily storing moving images and sequentially reading the moving images, and transmit the resultant to the receiving side.

On the other hand, the receiving side decodes the compression-encoded moving image, and includes a storage unit for temporarily storing the decoded moving image, so that the moving image information is stored after the moving image necessary for image reproduction is stored. Is stored.

By configuring the transmission side and the reception side in this way, even if a moving image does not arrive in real time depending on the line capacity (transmission speed) of the transmission path, the moving image after decoding is temporarily stored. It is possible to reproduce a moving image in accordance with the image quality selected in.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention is described with reference to drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a caller side 150 and a callee side 151 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Normally, image and audio information is input from the camera 101 and the microphone 103, and various signals are identified by the switch circuit 106.
The mode selection switch 108 is on the side. These image and audio signals are compressed by the codec 109 in accordance with the line capacity, and transmitted to the called party through the transmission path 111.

On the other hand, if the other party is answering and wants to transmit a message to the other party's answering machine, the information from the caller is recorded in the other party's message recording unit 112 along the above-described route unless the image quality is a problem. To transmit information with higher image quality, various operations are first performed using the keyboard 105, and a moving image can be transmitted with the image quality requested by the sender.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a part of the keyboard necessary for performing the above operation. To transmit the moving image information to the answering machine of the other party with higher image quality, the user presses the "high-definition answering machine mode" button 204 in 201 first. Then, the other party's message recording unit 112 is temporarily stopped, and at the same time, the signal from this keyboard is
The mode selection switch 108 is operated through the switch 107, and the switch is switched to the side to be connected to the buffer 110. After that, when the “STFRT” button 205 is pressed, the information is fetched into the buffer 110, and at the same time, the time when the sender actually inputs the signal into the buffer is displayed on the time display unit 203. This operation is stopped by pressing the "STOP" button 206, and thereafter, the image quality mode on the left side in 201 is selected. Here is the real time (20
This is a mode that requires a longer transmission time than the time indicated in 3), and is a mode without compression. these~
When one of the buttons is pressed, information is sent from the buffer 110 to the codec 109, where it is encoded to the selected image quality and transmitted to the receiving side. In this mode, the line is in a talking state until all the information is transmitted to the other party even if the reception in the buffer is completed and the receiver is returned to the original state.

On the other hand, as another usage, after pressing 204, any one of the mode selection buttons ~ can be pressed, and then the START button can be pressed to transmit information for a fixed time from the transmission side. In this case, since the information is taken into the buffer in a state where the transmission mode has already been determined, even while the information is being taken into the buffer, the information is transmitted to the receiving side in the determined mode. . In this case as well, the line is in a talking state until all the information is transmitted to the other party. E at the end of the information to be transmitted
A D (End of Data) signal is attached (attached by pressing the STOP button), and the line is turned off by finding the ED signal on both the transmitting and receiving sides.

On the receiving side 151, the buffer 11 decoded by the codec 109
It is captured to 0 and recorded in the message recording unit 112 through the switch 108 on the side. The other party can know the information later through the monitor 102 and the speaker 104.

As an example of an answering machine, a method of temporarily fetching the data into the buffer 110 and then passing it through the codec 109 has been described. Conversely, a code coded by the codec 109 may be fetched into the buffer 110 and then transmitted sequentially.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a part (a hatched portion in FIG. 1) on the sender side according to another embodiment of the present invention.

If the information to be transmitted to the other party is prepared in advance with a VTR etc. and you want to accurately transmit it to the other party, send that information to the other party in the same manner as transmitting a facsimile separately from the method performed by the answering machine be able to. In this case, the VTR 301 is connected to the buffer 110, and after a call is made to the other party by the keyboard 105 (108 in 151).
Also operate the VTR301).

On the receiving side, the moving image information without deterioration is recorded in the message recording unit 112 through the switch 108 connected to the side.

Alternatively, if a certain degree of deterioration is allowed, the other party can transmit to the other party with a certain number of frames and image quality regardless of the amount of information generation as long as the amount of information generation is within a predetermined range. It can be viewed as moving image information of a certain frame rate and image quality.

The other party can view the transmitted moving image any time after the maximum delay time in the above method (even during transmission) with a delay within the maximum delay time.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a part (shaded portion in FIG. 1) of the sender side according to another embodiment of the present invention.

If you want to transmit only certain information as a high-definition video during a call with the other party, a part of the keyboard shown in FIG.
Press the “START” button 504 in 501 and then
Fetches the image data into the buffer 110 and clicks “STOP”
Capture continues until the button 505 is pressed. Then, by pressing a “high-definition image multiplexing mode” button 503, the image currently captured from the camera passes through 405 and is compressed by the compression circuit 401 in the codec 109.
The image to be transmitted in high definition which has been previously captured in the buffer 110 through 6 is encoded in the low-compression circuit (or non-compression circuit) 402, multiplexed by the multiplexing circuit 403 and transmitted to the receiving side. Is done. On the receiving side, only the high-definition transmission image portion is fetched into the buffer, and the moving image can be viewed on the receiving side after all the high-definition transmission image information has been transmitted. When all of the high-definition transmission images have been transmitted to the receiving side, the line automatically returns to the normal transmission mode.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, even when the image quality is high, the moving image is temporarily stored in order to transmit the moving image according to the image quality requested by the user regardless of the line capacity (transmission speed) of the transmission path. It is necessary to perform an encoding process in accordance with the selected image quality while sequentially reading out the image data, and to transmit it to the receiving side. The receiving side decodes the compression-encoded moving image, and includes a storage unit for temporarily storing the decoded moving image, so that the moving image information is stored after the moving image necessary for image reproduction is stored. Is stored.
By configuring the transmission side and the reception side as described above, even if a moving image does not arrive in real time depending on the line capacity (transmission speed) of the transmission path, the moving image after decoding is temporarily stored. The moving image can be reproduced according to the image quality selected on the side.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a caller side and a callee side of one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are parts of a caller side of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 are diagrams showing a part of the keyboard. 201: High-definition answering machine mode operation part in the keyboard, 204: High-definition answering machine mode selection button, 501: High-definition image multiplexing mode operation part in the keyboard, 503: High-definition image multiplexing mode selection Button, 108 …… Mode selection switch.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An input means for inputting a moving image to be transmitted,
First storage for temporarily storing a moving image input in a coding mode set according to a type of image quality selected from a plurality of coding modes having different image qualities in order to encode the moving image Means, compression means for compressing and encoding a moving image stored in the first storage means by a coding mode set according to the type of selected image quality, and compression coding by the coding means. Means for temporarily storing the moving image that has been transmitted and then transmitting it to the receiving side, means for temporarily storing the moving image transmitted from the transmitting side and then outputting it to the decoding means, and the image quality selected by the transmitting side. Decoding means for decoding a moving image which has been compression-encoded to reproduce a moving image in a decoding mode set according to the type of the video signal; and a second means for temporarily storing the moving image decoded by the decoding means. Storage means and Video transmission apparatus characterized by comprising an output means for outputting a moving image stored in the second storage means. 2. A transmitting side for encoding a moving image input by an input means in an encoding mode set according to a type of image quality selected from a plurality of encoding modes having different image qualities. After temporarily compressing the stored moving image in a coding mode set according to the type of the selected image quality, temporarily storing the compression-coded moving image After being stored, it is transmitted to the receiving side, and the receiving side temporarily stores the compressed and encoded moving image, and a decoding mode set according to the type of image quality selected on the transmitting side. A decoding method of decoding the compression-encoded moving image in order to reproduce the moving image, and temporarily storing the decoded moving image and outputting the decoded moving image to an output unit.