JP4157591B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication apparatus suitable for use in image instruction and selection during image data communication.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable videophone devices have been realized that can communicate while viewing images from a communication partner by transmitting and receiving images together with sound. The camera of this portable videophone device has a structure that not only images the direction of the speaker but also images the area around the speaker. Thereby, it is possible not only to talk to each other while watching the other party's face, but also to send, for example, the scenery of a travel destination.

  A conventional portable videophone device encodes an image captured by a camera and audio input by a microphone, and transmits the encoded image to a terminal of a communication partner using a wireless line. Also, the encoded image and audio data received from the communication partner terminal is decoded and output by the display unit and the speaker, respectively. It takes a certain amount of time for an image captured by the portable videophone device to be displayed and output on the communication partner terminal based on the image and audio encoding / decoding processing and the transmission bandwidth of the transmission path. Also, an image has a larger amount of data than audio, and the processing time required for encoding and decoding the image is longer than the time required for encoding and decoding the audio.

Usually, in a video conference system or the like, a voice is synchronized with an image and output, thereby eliminating a gap between the movement of the mouth and the voice. However, since the audio delay hinders rhythmic conversation, when importance is attached to the conversation, output is performed without synchronizing the sound and the image. Further, there is a video conference system that gives a mark when a speaker is projected in a video conference (for example, see Patent Document 1).
JP-A-8-37655

  However, with a conventional portable videophone device, when a plurality of articles are imaged and this image is transmitted and the recipient selects an item, for example, when the customer chooses what to buy at the destination of shopping. A time lag occurs between the image captured on the transmission side and the image displayed on the reception side depending on the processing time and transmission time of the image encoding and decoding described above. For this reason, there is a delay in the time from when the sender images with the camera until the receiver views the image. In addition, the reply from the receiver to the sender is further delayed. However, the sender recognizes the object that the sender intends to show when the sender points toward the camera as if the receiver is on the spot without worrying about the delay time. There is a problem in that the images being noticed do not match between the sender and the receiver.

  Further, in the portable videophone device, there is a possibility that the user's hand may be shaken when the object is imaged, and there is a problem that the display image on the receiving side is disturbed by the shake.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus that can easily match images of interest between a sender and a receiver.

  In order to solve the above problems, a communication device according to claim 1 is provided with an image input means and an image display means, and is input by the image input means in a communication device that transmits and receives image data via a communication line. Input means for designating an input image, number setting means for associating a number with transmission data of the designated input image, and display control means for displaying the designated input image on the image display means together with the number. The edge sharpness of the input image input by the image input means is measured, and is higher than the sharpness of the previously transmitted image within the period during the period when the designation by the input means is continued An input image having sharpness is transmitted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily match images of interest between a sender and a receiver. Further, the transmission data increased according to the present invention is a small amount of information such as an instruction number or a selection number added to the encoded data, so that a decrease in transmission efficiency due to the instruction and selection of the image of interest is slight. .

  In addition, since only the input image having a higher sharpness than the previously transmitted image is transmitted, the display image on the receiving side gradually improves. As a result, for example, in a portable videophone device, camera shake tends to occur when an object is imaged. However, image disturbance due to camera shake or the like is prevented from being transmitted to the reception side as it is, and the reception side The effect that the display image is stabilized is obtained.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a portable videophone device 200 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an image encoding unit 1 encodes image information input by an image input unit 6 and outputs image encoded data. The voice encoding unit 2 encodes the voice information input by the voice input unit 5 and outputs voice encoded data. The encoded image data and the encoded audio data are multiplexed by the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 12 and wirelessly transmitted via the wireless processing unit 13 and the antenna unit 4.

Also, the encoded data received by the antenna unit 4 and the wireless processing unit 13 is separated into image encoded data and audio encoded data by the multiplexing / separating unit 12. The image decoding unit 9 decodes the separated encoded image data. The image output unit 7 displays and outputs the decoded image data. Also, the speech decoding unit 10 decodes the separated speech encoded data. The audio output unit 8 reproduces and outputs the decoded audio data.
The image output unit 7 can display and output the input image of the image input unit 6 together with the received image by the picture-in-picture function.

  The control unit 21 manages the instruction number corresponding to the input image of the image input unit 6. When the instruction signal is input by pressing the instruction key of the operation unit 3, the control unit 21 updates the instruction number, associates the updated instruction number with the current input image of the image input unit 6, and selects the image storage unit 20. To remember. Further, while the instruction signal is continuously input, the same instruction signal is associated with the input image. Then, the control unit 21 outputs the instruction number to the multiplexing / demultiplexing unit 12. The multiplexing / separating unit 12 adds the instruction number received from the control unit 21 to the transmission data when multiplexing the encoded image data of the input image.

When the encoded image data to which the instruction number is added is received, the control unit 21 receives the encoded image data and the instruction number from the multiplexing / separating unit 12 and stores them in the selected image storage unit 20. The control unit 21 causes the image output unit 7 to display each received image stored in the selected image storage unit 20 based on the key operation of the operation unit 3. Accordingly, the user can display each received image to which the instruction number has been added and select a target image by operating the key of the operation unit 3. Upon receiving an image selection determination instruction from the operation unit 3, the control unit 21 transmits the instruction number added to the selected received image as a selection number.
Further, the control unit 21 displays and outputs the received image to which the instruction number is added together with the instruction number for a certain period. Thereby, it becomes possible to improve a user's visibility.

  On the other hand, when the selection number is received, the control unit 21 reads out the image to which the instruction number matching the selection number is added from the selection image storage unit 20 and displays it as the selected image in the image output unit 7. Let

  The control unit 21 may store the moving image in the selected image storage unit 20 in association with the instruction number. For example, the control unit 21 on the image transmission side transmits an instruction number when the instruction key is pressed, and then transmits a release code of the transmitted instruction number when the instruction key is released. The input moving image is stored in the selected image storage unit 20 in association with the instruction number. Similarly, the control unit 21 on the image receiving side stores the received moving image in the selected image storage unit 20 in association with the instruction number from when the instruction number is received until the release code is received. Alternatively, the selected image storage unit 20 may store a moving image for a certain period from the time when the instruction key is pressed on the image transmitting side, and similarly, a moving image for a certain period from the time when the instruction number is received on the image receiving side. Good.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the operation of the above-described portable videophone device 200 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing for transmitting and receiving images by the portable videophone device 200 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 2, the operator 102 on the instruction image transmission side presses the instruction key while imaging the instruction target 105 using the portable videophone device 200-1. Thereby, portable videophone apparatus 200-1 adds instruction number 1 to the encoded data of the image captured when the instruction key is pressed and transmits the encoded data (step S1). Next, when the operator 102 presses the instruction key while the instruction target 103 is being imaged, the portable videophone apparatus 200-1 adds an instruction number 2 to the encoded data of the image captured when the operator 102 is pressed. Are added and transmitted (step S2). Next, when the operator 102 presses the instruction key while the instruction target 104 is being imaged, the portable videophone apparatus 200-1 adds the instruction number 3 to the encoded data of the image captured when the operator 102 is pressed. Is added and transmitted (step S3).

  Next, when the instruction image receiving side receives the encoded image data to which the instruction numbers 1, 2, and 3 are added, the portable videophone device 200-2 displays each instruction object 105, The decoded images 103 and 104 are sequentially displayed together with the corresponding instruction numbers 1, 2, and 3 (step S4). Next, the operator 107 on the instruction image receiving side selects a target image from the instruction objects displayed on the display unit of the portable videophone device 200-2. For example, when the instruction target 103 is selected (example in FIG. 2), the instruction number 2 added to the image encoded data is transmitted to the instruction image transmission side as a selection number (step S5).

Next, when receiving the selection number 2, the portable videophone device 200-1 on the instruction image transmission side reads the image stored in association with the corresponding instruction number 2 from the selection image storage unit 20 and together with the instruction number 2. The information is displayed on the display unit (step S6). As a result, the operator 102 on the instruction image transmission side can clearly grasp that the operator 107 as the communication partner desires the instruction target 103 corresponding to the instruction number 2.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to easily match images of interest between the sender and the receiver.

The operator 107 on the instruction image receiving side, when selecting a desired image from the images received together with the instruction number, scrolls the received image with the up and down keys or the scroll key as a selection key, Can be selected by pressing the enter key when displaying the image to be displayed.
Alternatively, a desired image may be selected by inputting an instruction number of a desired image using a numeric keypad and pressing the enter key.
Further, the number of selectable images is limited to 10 or less, and a selection number is assigned from 0 to 9, and an image is selected by pressing a numeric keypad that matches the target selection number. May be.

Note that the operator 107 on the instruction image receiving side may notify the operator 102 on the instruction image transmitting side by voice of the selection number.
Further, portable videophone apparatus 200-1 on the instruction image transmission side may display only the received selection number. However, it is more preferable to display the instruction number together with the image of the selected image storage unit 20 corresponding to the received selection number as in the above embodiment.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a portable videophone apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The portable videophone device according to the second embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the portable videophone device according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows only the parts related to the different configurations. ing. 3, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the portable videophone device according to the second embodiment includes a switching unit 30, a sharpness determination unit 31, and a freeze image storage unit 32.
When the instruction key of the operation unit 3 is pressed, the sharpness determination unit 31 measures the sharpness of the edge in the image input by the image input unit 6. Then, when the sharpness of the latest input image is higher than the sharpness of any input image during which the instruction key is being pressed, the latest input image is written into the freeze image storage unit 32, whereby the freeze image storage unit The image held at 32 is updated as needed.

  The switching unit 30 inputs the input image from the image input unit 6 and the image held in the freeze image storage unit 32, and outputs one of the images to the image encoding unit 1 according to the switching control of the control unit 22. The control unit 22 causes the image held in the freeze image storage unit 32 to be output as an input image of the image encoding unit 1 during the period in which the instruction key is pressed. On the other hand, the input image from the image input unit 6 is output to the image encoding unit 1 during a period when the instruction key is not pressed. Further, the image held in the freeze image storage unit 32 is stored in the selected image storage unit 20 together with the instruction number. As a result, the clearest image among the input images disturbed by camera shake or the like is transmitted as the instruction image.

  Further, by using the image of the freeze image storage unit 32 as an input image to the image encoding unit 1, the image to be encoded becomes a pseudo still image, and the input image for the encoding process is fixed. Therefore, the image encoding unit 1 outputs encoded data obtained by sequentially correcting the encoding error, and on the receiving side that receives and decodes these encoded data, the definition of the decoded display image gradually increases. It will follow. Then, a transmission code indicating that the instruction key has been released is transmitted from the transmission side, and on the reception side, decoding of the target image is stopped based on the received transmission code, whereby a decoded image associated with the instruction number is transmitted. Is obtained as the clearest still image. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the deterioration of the image quality due to the hand shake of the operator. Further, when the target key is dark when the instruction key is pressed, it is possible to further improve the sharpness of the image by emitting the flash and turning on the light.

  At the end of communication, a deletion schedule flag corresponding to the holding order is added to the instruction number and image information held in the selected image storage unit 20 during the communication period, and the selected image storage unit 20 has no free space. In this case, the oldest information held in the selected image storage unit may be deleted based on the deletion schedule flag. Alternatively, the oldest information based on the deletion schedule flag that is information related to the instruction number that has not received the corresponding selection number may be deleted.

  In addition, the instruction number and the image information stored in the selected image storage unit 20 may be erased and the instruction number may be initialized at the time of a calling operation or an incoming call response.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a portable videophone device 200 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the flow of the process which transmits / receives an image by the portable video telephone apparatus 200 shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the portable video telephone apparatus by the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image encoding part, 2 ... Audio | voice encoding part, 3 ... Operation part, 4 ... Antenna part, 5 ... Audio | voice input part, 6 ... Image input part, 7 ... Image output part, 8 ... Audio | voice output part, 9 ... Image decoding unit, 10 ... audio decoding unit, 12 ... multiplexing / separation unit, 13 ... wireless processing unit, 20 ... selected image storage unit, 21, 22 ... control unit, 30 ... switching unit, 31 ... sharpness determination unit, 32 ... Freeze image storage unit, 200, 200-1, 200-2 ... Portable videophone device, 103 to 105 ... Instruction target.

Claims (1)

In a communication apparatus that includes an image input means and an image display means, and transmits and receives image data via a communication line.
Input means for designating an input image input by the image input means;
Number setting means for associating a number with the transmission data of the designated input image;
Display control means for displaying the designated input image together with the number on the image display means;
With
The sharpness of the edge in the input image input by the image input means is measured, and the sharpness is higher than the sharpness of the image transmitted last time in the period during the period when the designation by the input means is continued. Send an input image with
A communication device.

Images