JPH069391B2 - Video conference system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention controls a speaker in a conference participant to be photographed by a television camera, and determines who the speaker is to the other party of the television conference. As can be seen, the present invention relates to a video conference system in which characters such as affiliation and name are simultaneously displayed on the monitor TV of the other party to smoothly hold a video conference between remote locations.

[Conventional technology]

The video conference system is a system in which a TV camera and a monitor TV are mutually installed so that a conference can be proceeded while seeing the faces of conference participants in a remote place. In this case, it is desirable that among the participants in the conference, only the speaker, in particular, be photographed by the TV camera and displayed on the monitor TV of the other party so that it is possible to know who is speaking. Therefore, there is a method of operating one TV camera so that only the speaker is photographed, and a method of preparing a plurality of TV cameras for meeting participants and selecting the TV camera for the speaker by a switch or the like. Is being considered.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the method of operating the TV camera so that only the speaker is photographed, it is impossible to quickly point the TV camera to the speaker unless a special TV camera operator is placed. It has the drawback of requiring a camera operator. In addition, the method of providing a TV camera for meeting participants and selecting with a switch requires a number of TV cameras corresponding to the number of meeting participants, which is very expensive. .

In addition, in the conventional video conference system, the name cannot be known to the other party unless the participants who meet for the first time are introduced to the other party. There was a drawback that much of the meeting time was used during the referral time. In addition, even if self-introduction is made, the name of the speaker may be forgotten during the conference, so that there is a drawback in that the name of the speaker must be stated each time he / she speaks.

[Means for solving problems]

The video conference system of the present invention is a video camera capable of adjusting a shooting range and a focus so that all the participants and speakers can be imaged, and a speaker among the participants is identified by a voice detection output or a selection switch. Means and a control means comprising a processor or the like for controlling the photographing range of the television camera by swinging or zooming up so as to photograph the speaker identified by the identifying means, and the affiliation, name, etc. of the speaker. Character information of the speaker and the image signal of the speaker photographed by the TV camera and transmitting the superimposed signal, the speaker and the character information such as the affiliation and name of the speaker are simultaneously monitored by the other party. It is to be displayed on a television or the like.

[Action]

The speaker is controlled so that it is photographed by the TV camera, and the affiliation, name, etc. of the speaker are sent as text information by superimposing it on the video signal of the speaker. The speaker, the affiliation, and the name of the speaker are displayed on the monitor TV, so that the other party can know who is the speaker.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a television camera, 2 is an electric zoom mechanism, 3 is a swivel base, 4 is a drive control unit (CNT), 5 is a processor (CPU), and 6 is A memory (MEM), 7 is a data conversion circuit for converting character information into a video signal, 8 is a video signal synthesizing circuit, 9 is a video signal output terminal, and 10 is a selection switch. The television camera 1 has an automatic focus adjustment mechanism, and the swivel base 3 and the electric zoom mechanism 2 are controlled according to a control signal from the drive control unit 4 to swivel in a designated direction and to a designated range. It is possible to shoot.

Further, the selection switch 10 is used for the conference participants A, B, C, D, ...
.., seats (a), (b), (c), (d), ... Corresponding switches a, b, c, d ,.
And the chairperson of the conference operates according to the speaker. By operating the selection switch 10, the shooting range and direction of the TV camera 1 are controlled.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the switch a of the selection switch 10 is pressed, the television camera 1 is turned in the direction of the seat (a) and the electric zoom mechanism 2 controls the photographing range of α. Only the conference participant A will be photographed. Further, when the switch x is pressed, the photographing range of θ is controlled, so that the entire view is photographed.

In order to perform such control, a registration table that associates each switch of the selection switch 10 with a seat position is formed in, for example, the memory 6. The affiliation and names of the conference participants are further registered in this registration table in correspondence with the seat positions. For example, as shown in FIG.
The seat position information of the switch x of the selection switch 10 is (x) indicating the entire view, and the seat position information of the switches a, b, c, ... N is the seat position as shown in FIG. 1 or 2.
(a), (b), (c), ... (n). Such a switch and seat position information can be set when the conference system is installed. Then, before the conference starts, the affiliation, names, etc. of the conference participants are registered for the seats.
As shown in the text information column in the figure, the name of the office where the conference is held is registered in correspondence with the switch x for designating the whole view,
Other switches a, b, c, ...
Register your name and name.

If the speaker is, for example, the conference participant A at the start of the conference, the switch a of the selection switch 10 is pressed. Thereby, the processor 5 identifies the signal from the switch a, searches the registration table of the memory 6, and reads the seat position information and the character information. The read seat position information is transferred to the drive control unit 4. Since this seat position information indicates the seat (a), the drive control unit 4 drives the swivel base 3 to swivel toward the seat (a) of the conference participant A, as shown in FIG. The electric zoom mechanism 2 is controlled to set the photographing range to α, and the television camera 1 is controlled to photograph only the conference participant A who is the speaker, and the video signal is applied to the synthesizing circuit 8.

The read character information is transferred to the data conversion circuit 7, converted into a video signal and added to the synthesis circuit 8. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, in the synthesizing circuit 8, the image signal (3) obtained by synthesizing the image (1) by the image signal from the television camera 1 and the image (2) by the character information is synthesized. It is combined and sent from the output terminal 9 to the other party of the conference, and the image shown in (3) is displayed to the other party, so that it is possible to immediately know where and who the speaker is.

When the switch x of the selection switch 10 is pressed to specify the whole view, the processor 5 reads the seat position information and the character information corresponding to the switch x from the registration table of the memory 6, and the seat position information is sent to the drive control unit 4. After the transfer, the drive control unit 4 controls the swivel base 3 of the TV camera 1 so that the TV camera 1 faces the front and controls the electric zoom mechanism 2 to set the shooting range of θ shown in FIG. To do so. Therefore, the entire view is taken by the TV camera 1, and the character information is transferred to the data conversion circuit 7 and converted into a video signal. For example, as shown in FIG.
Then, the signal of the image (3), which is a combination of the image (2) including the office name, time, etc., is sent from the synthesizing circuit 8.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention.
The same reference numerals as those in the figure indicate the same parts, 11 is a sound pressure comparison circuit,
Reference numerals 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, ... Are microphones. Microphones 12a, 12b, 12c, 1
2d, ... Are installed corresponding to the seats of the conference participants A, B, C, D, ...
Are microphones 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d ,.
.. to compare the signal levels from and identify the microphone with the highest signal level. Since the conference participant at the seat position corresponding to the maximum sound pressure microphone is speaking, this seat position identification information is transferred to the processor 5. Further, since the sound pressure input to the microphone changes, in the sound pressure comparison circuit 11, the microphones 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d,
The configuration is such that the average value of the signals from ... is compared, and even if the signal level from other microphones becomes large after determining the maximum sound pressure, the seat position identification information will not be changed for a predetermined time. It is composed of.

By receiving the seat position identification information from the sound pressure comparison circuit 11, the processor 5 searches the registration table in the memory 6 and operates the seat position information, as in the case of operating the selection switch 10 in the above-described embodiment. And read the character information,
The seat position information is transferred to the drive control unit 4, the drive control unit 4 controls the swivel base 3 and the electric zoom mechanism 2, and the shooting range of the TV camera 1 is controlled so that only the speaker is shot. The video signal from is added to the synthesis circuit 8. Further, the character information is added to the data conversion circuit 7,
The video signal is converted into a video signal, and the video signal obtained by photographing the speaker by the synthesizing circuit 8 and the video signal of characters such as their affiliation and name are synthesized and transmitted.

When there is no speaker, the seat position identification information is not output from the sound pressure comparison circuit 11, so the processor 5 corresponds to the case where the switch x of the selection switch 10 in the above-described embodiment is depressed. The entire view is photographed by the TV camera 1, and a video signal including character information such as the name of the business office participating in the conference and time is synthesized and transmitted. Therefore,
Since the video as shown in (3) of FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 is displayed on the partner side, the speaker can be easily identified.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the television camera 1 capable of adjusting the photographing range and the focus so as to photograph all the conference participants and the speaker, and the selection switch 10 for identifying the speaker in the conference participants or Identification means including a sound pressure comparison circuit 11 and microphones 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, ..., And a processor for controlling the photographing range of the television camera 1 so as to photograph the speaker identified by the discrimination means. 5, a control unit including the drive control unit 4 and the like,
A means comprising a synthesizing circuit 8 etc. for selecting character information such as the affiliation and name of the speaker and superimposing it on the video signal of the speaker captured by the TV camera 1 and transmitting the speaker, and the speaker and the speaker. Since the affiliation, name, etc. of the other party are simultaneously displayed on the other party's monitor TV, etc., only one speaker can be taken without installing an operator dedicated to that TV camera. Since it is possible to send to the other party and the affiliation, name, etc. of the speaker at the same time to the other party, there is an advantage that the video conference can smoothly proceed due to the economical structure. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a shooting range of a television camera, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a registration table, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of a composite image. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a TV camera, 2 is an electric zoom mechanism, 3 is a swivel base,
4 is a drive control unit (CNT), 5 is a processor (CP)
U) and 6 are memories (ME) in which a registration table and the like are formed.
M), 7 is a data conversion circuit, 8 is a synthesis circuit, 9 is an output terminal, 10 is a selection switch, a, b, c, d, ... X are switches, 11 is a sound pressure comparison circuit, 12a, 12b, 12
c, 12d, ... Microphone, A, B, C, D, ...
Is a conference participant, and (a), (b), (c), (d), ... are seats.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A television camera capable of adjusting a shooting range and a focus so that all conference participants and speakers can be shot.
Identification means for identifying the speaker among the conference participants, control means for controlling the image capturing range of the television camera so as to capture the speaker identified by the identification means, affiliation, name, etc. of the speaker. A means for selecting character information and transmitting it by superimposing it on the video signal of the speaker photographed by the television camera, and simultaneously displaying the speaker and the character information such as the affiliation and name of the speaker on the other party. A video conferencing system characterized by that.