JPH0822060B2 - Telephone terminal equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone terminal device such as a videophone for transmitting and receiving video and audio through a telephone line.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, there is a videophone that transmits and receives voice and video through a telephone line, but in recent years, an apparatus of this kind has been attracting attention as the amount of information increases.

A videophone, which is an example of this type of telephone terminal device, will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a conventional videophone, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration thereof, in which 1 is a CCD.
(Charge-coupled device) and video tube, etc. Video input section, 2 is a video display section composed of CRT (cathode ray tube), liquid crystal display panel, etc., 3 is a telephone line of the video captured by the video input section 1. This is an image sending button that is operated when sending to the other party via. 4 is a telephone line, 5 is a line interface section, 6 is an audio signal / video signal changeover switch for switching the flow of signals coming through the telephone line between the audio side (A) and the video side (B), and 7 is the audio signal / video When the signal switch is connected to the audio side, it is a video signal discrimination unit that detects whether or not there is a video signal in the signal sent from the other side via the telephone line. Is sent to the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 6. 8 is a voice output unit such as a speaker, 9 is a voice input unit such as a microphone, 10 is a video signal modulation unit that modulates the video signal taken in by the video input unit 1 into a signal that can be transmitted through the telephone line 4, 11 is telephone line 4
A video signal demodulation unit for demodulating the modulated video signal sent via the video signal demodulators 12 and 13 are a first video memory and a second video memory, respectively.

The operation of the conventional videophone configured as described above will be described below.

First, in the initial state, the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 6 is connected to the audio side (A). When a call or an incoming call occurs in this state, the calling party and the called party are connected via a telephone line, and thereafter, normal voice communication can be mutually performed by the voice output section 8 and the voice input section 9. Become. When the user wants to send an image in this state, first, by placing the subject in front of the image input unit 1 and pressing the image sending button 3, the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 6 operates and the signal flow is changed to the audio side ( Switch from A) to the video side (B),
The video information captured by the video input unit 1 into the first video memory 12 is modulated by the video signal modulation unit 10 into a signal that can be transmitted through a telephone line. After that, the modulated video signal is added to the head with a signal for switching audio / video, and is sent from the line interface unit 5 to the other party via the telephone line 4. Then, the audio / video switching signal is detected by the video signal discriminating unit 7 of the telephone terminal device of the other party,
The audio signal / video signal change-over switch 6 is operated, the flow of the signal is switched from the audio side (A) to the video side (B), the video signal is demodulated by the video signal demodulation section 11, and stored in the second video memory 13. It is displayed on the video display unit 2.

After the video transmission is completed, the audio signal / video signal changeover switch 6 automatically returns to the audio side (A).

On the other hand, when the video is sent from the other party, the same processing as described above is performed and the received video is displayed on the video display unit 2 on the own side.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the telephone terminal device having the above-described configuration, when it is desired to send an image of a subject in a place distant from the telephone terminal device,
There is a problem that the work is troublesome because the telephone terminal device itself has to be moved when the subject is brought in front of the video input unit or, conversely, when the subject is difficult to move.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a video input unit for a device body including a video modulation unit, a video demodulation unit, and a display device that displays a video signal as a visible image. The video unit with the viewfinder can be separated.

With the above-described configuration, the present invention makes it possible to carry the video unit separately from the apparatus main body and to capture an image of a distant subject with the finder for image transmission.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a videophone, which is an example of a telephone terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a perspective view showing a state in which a video input unit is separated from the device body. Also,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration. In addition,
In this embodiment, the same components as those of the above-described conventional structure are designated by the same reference numerals, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In the figure, reference numeral 14 is a main body of the apparatus, which is a video display unit 2 including a CRT (cathode ray tube), a liquid crystal display panel, a picture sending button 3, a line interface unit 5, an audio signal / video signal changeover switch 6, a video signal discrimination Section 7, audio output section 8 such as a speaker, audio input section 9 such as a microphone, video signal modulation section 10, video signal demodulation section 11 for demodulating a video signal, first
And second video memories 12 and 13.

Reference numeral 15 is a video unit equipped with the video input section 1, the finder 6 and the image sending button 3a. The video unit 15 and the apparatus main body 14 are electrically connected by a transmission cable 17. A curl cord is used as the transmission cable. Further, the video unit 15 is configured to be hooked and held by a video unit holding member 18 provided on the side surface of the video display unit 2 of the apparatus body 14. Although not shown in detail, the tilt table 19 on which the video display unit 2 is mounted is also provided.
Is configured to be rotatable and movable back and forth.

 Next, the operation will be described.

First, when sending the image of the operator making a call to the other party, in most cases, the image unit 15 is attached to the apparatus main body 14. That is, the video unit 15 is replaced by the video display unit
It is carried out with the image unit holding member 18 on the side surface thereof hooked. At this time, the framing of the image is performed by observing the image display unit 2 and recognizing the portion captured by the image input unit 1 and moving the tilt table 19. And send image button 3
The video captured by the video input section 1 by operating the is temporarily stored in the first video memory 12 and sent to the other party via the video signal modulation section 10.

If the subject is far from the device body 14 and the subject cannot be captured properly even if the tilt table 19 is moved, the video unit 15 is removed from the video unit holding member 18 on the side of the video display unit 2 and the video is removed. By taking only the unit 15 to the position of the subject, performing the desired framing while looking through the viewfinder of the image unit, and operating the image sending button 3a to perform the same operation as the above case, the image input The video captured by the unit 1 is temporarily stored in the first video memory 12 and is modulated by the video signal modulation unit 10 into a signal that can be transmitted through the telephone line. A signal for switching is added and sent from the line interface unit 5 to the other party via the telephone line 4.

As a result, it is not necessary to bring the object to be transmitted to the vicinity of this device or to move the entire telephone terminal device to the position of the subject, and the image display unit 2 and the first and second images are not required. The memories 12, 13 and the video signal modulator 10 and the video signal demodulator 11 are arranged on the device main body 14 side, and only the video input unit 1 and the video unit having the finder are carried, so that the operability is very good. Is. Furthermore,
The image unit is equipped with a finder, making framing work extremely easy.

Note that the viewfinder 16 of the above embodiment is a viewfinder that is electrically connected to the image input unit 1 and projects an image actually taken by the image input unit 1, but does not mean what the image input unit is. It does not matter whether or not they are electrically connected.

As described above, the present invention includes the video unit including the video input unit and the finder, the device main body including the video display unit, the line interface unit, the video modulation unit, and the video demodulation unit. Since the unit can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus, a distant subject can be freely transmitted, and a telephone terminal apparatus with extremely excellent operability can be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a videophone which is a telephone terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration thereof, and FIG. 3 is a television which is an example of a conventional telephone terminal device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the telephone, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing its circuit configuration. 1 ... video input part, 2 ... video display part, 3, 3a ... image transmission button, 4 ... telephone line, 5 ... line interface part, 6 ... audio signal / video signal changeover switch, 7 ...
... video signal discriminating unit, 8 ... audio output unit, 9 ... audio input unit, 10 ... video signal modulating unit, 11 ... video signal demodulating unit, 12
...... First video memory, 13 ...... Second video memory, 14 ...
… Main unit, 15 …… Video unit, 16 …… Finder, 17 …… Transmission cable, 18 …… Video unit holding member, 19 …… Tilt base

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Kazumi Kawano 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References: 63-200977, JP

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A video unit having a video input section and a finder, a line interface section connected to a telephone line, a video signal modulating section for modulating a video signal into a signal which can be transmitted through the telephone line, and a telephone line. A video signal demodulation unit for demodulating the modulated video signal sent via the video signal demodulation unit and a video display unit for displaying the video signal from the video signal demodulation unit and the video signal from the video unit as a visible image. A telephone terminal device comprising a device body, and the video unit being configured to be detachable from the device body.