JP3720381B2 - Network compatible camera and method of processing images obtained from network compatible camera - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial application fields]
The present invention relates to a camera used in a high-speed network capable of video communication, and control thereof.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, video cameras have been used as moving image input devices in devices for video conferences, videophones, and presentations using video images. Here, there is a document camera in which a television camera, a light, a camera stand, etc. are integrated so as to be particularly convenient in a presentation or a meeting place.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The conventional document camera is premised on the presenter handling the camera while directly operating the camera. In particular, when performing video communication with a distant place using a high-speed network capable of communicating video signals, the following problems occur in the conventional document camera.
[0004]
Since the presenter directly operates the camera, switches for camera settings (for example, zoom and focus) are attached to the document camera body, and whether the camera attachment angle and the illumination position can be changed manually. Therefore, when the video receiver wants to focus on a part of the subject in the network meeting, the presenter asks the presenter to zoom up the camera. Also, in a meeting showing a three-dimensional object with a complicated shape, it is difficult to understand the shape only from the video seen from one side, so there is a demand from the receiver side to further change the camera position, angle, focus, etc. Often occurs.
[0005]
Even when the receiver does not need the video, if the presenter continues to send the video signal, the network channel is used more than necessary.
[0006]
The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network-compatible camera in which a receiver can freely select a field angle and a shooting direction of a subject.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a network-compatible camera connected to a plurality of display terminals via a network and having a plurality of camera heads , the plurality of the plurality of display terminals according to a control command received from the first display terminal In order to control a first camera head included in the camera head and display a captured image obtained from the first camera head on the first display terminal, the captured image of the first camera head is displayed on the first display terminal. In parallel with the output, the second display terminal uses the photographed image obtained from the first camera head and its photographing condition, and the photographed image obtained from the second camera head and its photographing condition. When generating and displaying an image obtained by viewing a subject included in two captured images from the first camera head and the second camera head from an arbitrary viewpoint, the first camera head The captured image of the head and the shooting conditions thereof, and the shot image of the second camera head and the shooting conditions thereof are output to the second display terminal, and the shot obtained from the first camera head at the second display terminal. When displaying only an image, a network-compatible camera is provided, in which a captured image of the second camera head is not output to the second display terminal .
A method of processing an image obtained from a network-compatible camera connected to a plurality of display terminals via a network and including a plurality of camera heads, wherein the plurality of the plurality of display terminals are in accordance with a control command received from the first display terminal . A first camera head included in the camera head is controlled, and a photographed image of the first camera head is output to the first display terminal, and a photograph obtained from the first camera head at the first display terminal. In parallel with displaying the image and outputting the captured image of the first camera head to the first display terminal, the captured image obtained from the first camera head at the second display terminal and the shooting conditions thereof And the captured images obtained from the second camera head and the photographing conditions thereof, the objects included in the two photographed images from the first camera head and the second camera head. When generating and displaying an image of the body viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint, the captured image of the first camera head and the captured condition thereof and the captured image of the second camera head and the captured condition thereof are displayed on the second display terminal. When outputting and displaying only the captured image obtained from the first camera head on the second display terminal, the captured image of the second camera head is not output to the second display terminal. An image processing method obtained from a network compatible camera is provided.
[0008]
[Action]
The camera according to the present invention includes a plurality of camera heads, and has a function capable of operating the state of each camera and lens from a network and detecting each camera / lens state.
[0009]
【Example】
FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of a network compatible camera of the present invention. In the figure, 101 is a subject, 102 is a subject stage, 103 is a first camera head, 104 is a second camera head, 105 is a first illumination, 106 is a second illumination, 107 is a video signal bus, and 108 is A control signal bus, 109 is a system controller, 110 is a video signal encoder, and 111 is a network interface. Further, 112 is a stage drive unit, 113 is a camera head first angle drive unit, 114 is a first camera head focal length drive unit, 115 is a first camera head focus drive unit, and 116 is a first camera head aperture amount. Driving unit, 117 is a second camera head angle driving unit, 118 is a second camera head focal length driving unit, 119 is a second camera head focus driving unit, 120 is a second camera head aperture amount driving unit, 121 Is a first illumination position drive unit, 122 is a first illumination intensity control unit, 123 is a second illumination position drive unit, 124 is a second illumination intensity control unit, and 125 is a ROM table. The attachment angle drive / detection units 131 and 132 handle at least two directions, and can be operated in, for example, a horizontal direction in the paper plane and a direction perpendicular to the paper plane. This apparatus is connected to a network through an interface 111 to communicate video signals and control signals.
[0010]
Next, the operation of this apparatus will be described. First, the video signal flows as follows. The video signals of the first camera head and the second camera head are input to the video signal encoder 110 through the video signal bus 107. This encoder performs conversion processing and coding into a data format for communication over a network. Further, this signal is transmitted to the network through an interface 111 that performs protocol processing and the like. Here, in normal usage, the video signals of the two camera heads are coded and communicated as independent signals. However, as shown in the figure, the encoder 110 is configured to be controlled by the controller 109. For example, the signal of only the first camera head is transmitted and the signal of the second camera head is not transmitted, or vice versa. Can also be changed.
[0011]
A control command sent from the network to the camera head is received by the interface 111 and passed to the controller 109. The controller 109 stores the actuator control amount of each part at that time. When a control command is sent from the net, the controller 109 outputs the difference from the command value as the actuator drive amount. In this example, all actuators are assumed to be controlled by an open loop type such as a stepping motor. However, in the case of an actuator controlled by a closed loop, an encoder is provided in each part and the current value is read from the control signal bus. The configuration is to be controlled after that. From the net, it is possible to control two mounting angles of two camera heads, the focal length, the focus, the stop, and the positions and intensities of the first and second illuminations.
[0012]
This apparatus can read out each control amount, set value, device specification, that is, photographing conditions of each camera head, from the network. For example, since the control amount of the actuator at that time is stored in the controller 109, it is read out and transmitted from here. Also, since the device-specific information such as the lens focal length variable range, the mounting interval of each camera, the characteristics of the light receiving element, the minimum mounting angle drive unit, the color temperature of the illumination system, etc. are stored in the ROM table 125, this ROM Data is read from the table 125 and transmitted to the network.
[0013]
Since the camera head of the present invention has such a configuration, the following new functions can be realized. FIG. 2 shows the usage. In the figure, 200 is a trunk network, 201 is a document camera of the present invention, 202 is a video camera, 203 is a presenter, 204, 206, 209, and 212 are first, second, third, and fourth displays, 205, respectively. , 207, 210, and 213 are first, second, third, and fourth joysticks for operating the displays on the first, second, third, and fourth displays, respectively. Reference numeral 208 denotes an image coordinate conversion circuit, and 211 denotes an image composition circuit. In this figure, the video signal and the control signal are shown as being communicated on the same network, but they may be connected on different networks.
[0014]
First, the first and second displays will be described. The first display 204 displays the image of the first camera head of the document camera 201, and the second display 206 displays the image of the second camera head as it is. Each display is provided with a joystick, and by this operation, it is possible to control the mounting angle, focal length, and focusing of the camera head. Accordingly, the recipient of the image can operate the joystick and view the subject of the document camera at a desired angle and size as desired. In this example, since only two camera heads are mounted in the document camera 201, only two receivers can directly operate the camera head independently. Here, there are cases where there are three or more recipients and it is desired to view the video from a position different from the first and second displays. When this apparatus is used, the third image can be obtained without changing the state of the first and second camera heads. For example, an image coordinate conversion circuit 208 is attached to the third display 209, and a joystick is connected to this circuit. The coordinate conversion circuit 208 reads the state of each camera head and a video signal through communication, and detects stereoscopic information of the subject. Then, the image is converted into an image from the direction designated by the receiver with the joystick and output, and displayed on the third display. In the case where there are two or more camera heads as described above, a technique for artificially changing the shooting direction of a subject is already known and has been realized. In this network, no matter how many displays on the receiving side are provided, if a coordinate conversion circuit is provided, it can be displayed at each photographing angle. In addition, some recipients may want to obtain detailed information by closing up a point of interest. In a network using this apparatus, when two camera heads are shooting the same part in duplicate, the part can be displayed with high definition. For example, the fourth display includes an image composition circuit 211, calculates the corresponding points of the overlapping portions of the images of the two camera heads, and superimposes the pixels of the corresponding two images to thereby obtain an S / N ratio. High image quality can be obtained. Further, it is possible to obtain image information with an apparently fine pixel pitch by instructing the two camera head angles of view to be shifted by 0.5 pixels. As described above, in the document camera of the present invention, by providing the processing circuit on the receiver side, it is possible for a plurality of receivers to obtain one subject in a free direction, size, and image quality.
[0015]
However, when performing the above-described coordinate conversion processing, high definition of overlapping portions, and high S / N ratio processing, if the subject is moving, the following points must be noted. For example, it is assumed that the imaging device of each camera is a current CCD type CCD imaging device such as NTSC, and operates continuously at a field frequency of 60 Hz. At this time, if the exposure start time of each camera is deviated, that is, if the V direction synchronization of the video signal is not coincident, each camera captures a different state when the subject moves at high speed. At this time, the correspondence between the two images cannot be taken, and the coordinate conversion process cannot be performed accurately. In addition, when overlapping images are overlapped, the image becomes blurred or blurred. Therefore, when performing such processing, the apparatus can control the exposure time of each camera unit by an external command. When exposure is performed periodically as in the current television system, the exposure time may be controlled once by resetting. If the exposure cycles of the camera units are different, the exposure start time, exposure end time, and readout start time are controlled independently.
[0016]
Furthermore, when each camera unit is exposed at the same field frequency, a usage method in which the V cycles are intentionally shifted is also possible. This makes it possible to double the number of exposures per unit time apparently. Therefore, when the subject has a fast movement, the image shift for each field can be kept small, and the movement state can be accurately grasped. When using in such a manner, the difference in exposure time between the camera units is read out or controlled from the network.
[0017]
An error may occur in the detection value of the shooting condition of each camera unit in this apparatus due to mechanical mechanical backlash or electrical noise. For example, even if the focal length information read from each camera unit is the same numerical value, the respective video sizes may be slightly different. If the video is synthesized as it is, the video will be blurred or blurred. Therefore, in processing apparatuses that perform image synthesis, for example, 208 and 211 in FIG. 2, the command value and the detection value of the imaging condition are calibrated using the actually obtained image.
[0018]
In the above example, two camera heads are shown. However, when there are three or more camera heads, three-dimensional information can be measured more accurately, and the range of shooting directions to be converted is widened. Also, when it is desired to obtain a high-definition image as in the fourth display, a more detailed image can be displayed if there are three or more camera heads. However, a document camera with only one camera head or a camera that cannot be operated from a network even if two or more camera heads are provided cannot obtain any of the above functions, so these are functions unique to the camera of the present invention.
[0019]
The apparatus further has the following functions. In FIG. 2, when the second, third, and fourth displays desire the same image and display only the image, for example, when only the first camera head is required, The video signal of the camera head 2 uses a waste channel (band) on the network. Therefore, the document camera 201 does not transmit the signal of the second camera head to the network when there is no signal requesting the video of the second camera head. Therefore, the network traffic can be reduced to the minimum.
[0020]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the document camera of the present invention includes a plurality of camera heads, and is provided with a function capable of operating and detecting each camera head state from the network. In conferences and presentations, the receiver can freely select the angle of view and shooting direction of the subject, thereby realizing more realistic video communication.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a document camera of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of imaging of a document camera of the present invention in a video network.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Subject 102 Subject Stage 103 First Camera Head 104 Second Camera Head 105 First Illumination 106 Second Illumination 107 Video Signal Bus 108 Control Signal Bus 109 System Controller 110 Video Signal Encoder 111 Network Interface 112 Stage Driver 113 1st camera head angle drive part 114 1st camera head focal distance drive part 115 1st camera head focus drive part 116 1st camera head aperture amount drive part 117 2nd camera head angle drive part 118 2nd Camera head focal length drive unit 119 Second camera head focus drive unit 120 Second camera head aperture amount drive unit 121 First illumination position drive unit 122 First illumination intensity control unit 123 Second illumination position drive unit 124 Second illumination intensity control unit 1 5 ROM table 200 Trunk network 201 Document camera 202 Video camera 203 Presenter 204 First display 205 First display operation joystick 206 Second display 207 Second display operation joystick 208 Image coordinate conversion circuit 209 Third display 210 Third display operation joystick 211 Image composition circuit 212 Fourth display 213 Fourth display operation joystick

Claims (6)

A network-compatible camera that is connected to a plurality of display terminals via a network and includes a plurality of camera heads,
In order to control the first camera head included in the plurality of camera heads in accordance with a control command received from the first display terminal, and to display a captured image obtained from the first camera head on the first display terminal. In parallel with outputting the captured image of the first camera head to the first display terminal,
The first camera head and the second camera head using the photographed image obtained from the first camera head and the photographing conditions in the second display terminal and the photographed image obtained from the second camera head and the photographing conditions. When generating and displaying an image obtained by viewing the subject included in the two captured images from the viewpoint from an arbitrary viewpoint, the captured image of the first camera head and the captured condition thereof, and the captured image of the second camera head and the captured image of the captured image Output the condition to the second display terminal,
When displaying only a captured image obtained from the first camera head on the second display terminal, the captured image of the second camera head is not output to the second display terminal. camera. The shooting condition is to externally combine a plurality of captured images obtained from the plurality of camera heads according to an operation on the first display terminal, and to generate an image in which the subject is viewed from an arbitrary viewpoint The network compatible camera according to claim 1, wherein the network compatible camera is information to be used.   The shooting conditions include the distance between the camera heads, the shooting angle of each camera head, the lens focal length, the focus position of each camera head, the aperture amount, the shutter speed of the light receiving element, the position of the subject stage, the position of the illumination, and the amount of illumination. The network compatible camera according to claim 1, further comprising:   The photographing conditions include information on the signal characteristics of the light receiving element, the characteristics of the color filter, the variable range of the focal length / focus / aperture of the lens, the variable minimum unit, the response characteristics to the command, the color temperature of the illumination, and the flicker characteristics. The network compatible camera according to claim 1, wherein the camera is a network compatible camera.   The network-compatible camera according to claim 1, wherein the photographing condition includes information regarding an exposure start, end, readout time, and mutual time difference of an image sensor of each camera head. A method for processing an image obtained from a network-compatible camera that is connected to a plurality of display terminals via a network and includes a plurality of camera heads,
In response to a control command received from the first display terminal, the first camera head included in the plurality of camera heads is controlled, and a captured image of the first camera head is output to the first display terminal. Displaying a captured image obtained from the first camera head on the first display terminal;
In parallel with outputting the captured image of the first camera head to the first display terminal,
The first camera head and the second camera head using the photographed image obtained from the first camera head and the photographing conditions in the second display terminal and the photographed image obtained from the second camera head and the photographing conditions. In the case of generating and displaying an image obtained by viewing the subject included in the two captured images from an arbitrary viewpoint, the captured image of the first camera head and the shooting conditions thereof, and the captured image of the second camera head and the shooting conditions thereof Are output to the second display terminal,
When displaying only a captured image obtained from the first camera head on the second display terminal, the captured image of the second camera head is not output to the second display terminal. A method for processing an image obtained from a camera.

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