JPH0564184A - Screen configuration system for video conference system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the pattern configuration system for the video conference system in which more natural and easy to see pattern display is directed. CONSTITUTION:A video image is compressed in the lateral direction by fitting a variable power lens to a TV camera 1 at an image sending side and the result is picked up, and a coder 2 codes a picture signal of the camera 1 and the result is sent. A decoder 3 at a receiver decodes a sent picture signal, a pattern division expansion device 4 divides the decoded picture signal into plural numbers in the lateral direction. The divided picture is expanded respectively and the signal for the plural patterns is generated and plural monitors of a display device 5 display plural expanded pictures respectively to display a picture of a conference room.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a screen configuration system in a TV (television) conference system, and more particularly to a screen configuration system for a TV conference system capable of providing a more natural and easy-to-see screen display.

With the rapid progress of video processing and transmission technology in recent years, TV conferences have become widely used as familiar ones. With the development of such media, communication between remote areas has become more active and efficient.

However, although the video transmission technology in the TV conference system has improved dramatically,
No significant progress has been made so far in terms of video expression methods.

Therefore, there is a demand for a screen configuration method for a TV conference system that is more natural and easy to see, and that can produce effective effects.

[0005]

2. Description of the Related Art As a screen configuration method of a conventional TV conference system, a method of displaying a received image on a single monitor is used in most cases. As the composition of the image in this case, the one in which the entire view of the conference room is photographed is often used.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a screen configuration method of a conventional TV conference system, and shows a case where an image 11 of the entire view of a conference room is taken. In this way, in the method of photographing the entire view of the conference room, the image of each person becomes small, so that when there are many attendees, it is possible to avoid limiting the transmission of facial expressions of the talker and other people. Absent.

FIG. 9 shows another example of the screen configuration system of the conventional TV conference system, which is an image 1 of the entire view of the conference room by the "picture in picture" system.
1 shows a case where a partial image 12 obtained by enlarging a part of the image is displayed on the same screen.

In the case of the "picture-in-picture" system, a part of the image in the same screen is enlarged and displayed in a corner portion or the like in the same screen, and the speaker (speaker) and others are particularly emphasized. Since the image of the person who wants to do it can be enlarged and displayed at a specific place, the drawback of the conventional screen configuration method shown in FIG. 8 can be compensated.

[0009]

Generally, in the TV conference system, due to the nature of the TV conference system, there is almost no demand for high-quality video, which is required in the case of TV broadcasting. It is often transmitted with a small amount of information, with the minimum condition being that there is no error.

However, when the entire view of the conference room is displayed in the case of a large number of people, the image of each person becomes small, and in addition, due to the influence of the information amount compression during transmission,
Image blurring is inevitable.

For this reason, not only is it difficult to convey the facial expressions of the talker and other people, but in the worst case, it may not even be possible to judge who the talker is, resulting in an extremely unnatural image. ..

In the case of the above-mentioned "picture-in-picture" system, even if the enlarged screen is clear to some extent, the microphones are used when the speaker's seats are scattered or the speakers frequently change. In the case of a system in which the camera detects the utterance direction and pans the camera, the panning of the camera is performed swiftly, resulting in an extremely uncomfortable screen.

The present invention is intended to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is more natural to divide an image in a conference room into a plurality of images and display them in a multi-screen system by a plurality of monitors. It is an object of the present invention to provide a screen configuration method for a TV conference system that is easy to see and that can produce effective effects.

[0014]

According to the present invention, an image pickup camera 1 having a magnification lens for compressing a lateral direction of an image and an encoder 2 for encoding an image signal of the image pickup camera 1 are provided on an image transmitting side. The image of the conference room is transmitted, and the decoder 3 which decodes the transmitted image signal, and the decoded image signal are divided into a plurality of parts in the horizontal direction, and the divided images are respectively expanded to form a plurality of screens. Image division / expansion device 4 for generating a signal
And a display device 5 composed of a plurality of monitors for respectively displaying a plurality of generated screens, and the image of the conference room is displayed by the plurality of screens.

According to the present invention, the image dividing / expanding device 4 inserts dummy data into each pixel in each divided image by the image dividing / expanding device 4 for dividing the image signal into a plurality of pieces in the horizontal direction. and extension portions 43 ₁ to 43 ₃ to generate a plurality of screens signals and extends laterally, and a pixel interpolating unit 44 ₁ to 44 ₃ for interpolating the dummy data in the respective extended screen predicted plane It is characterized by that.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of monitors in the display device 5 are arranged side by side in the horizontal direction and an image is displayed by a multi-screen method.

The present invention further relates to the image dividing / expanding device 4.
Divides the image signal into three in the horizontal direction and decompresses the divided images to generate signals for three screens. The display device 5 includes three monitors, and the front image on the three screens is centered. It is characterized in that they are sequentially arranged side by side.

[0018]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. In the present invention, the image in the conference room is transmitted on the image transmitting side. At this time, the image pickup camera 1 having a magnification lens generates an image signal in which the image is compressed in the horizontal direction, and the encoder 2
The image signal of the imaging camera 1 is encoded and transmitted. On the image receiving side, the decoder 3 decodes the transmitted image signal, and the image dividing / expanding device 4 divides the decoded image signal into a plurality of pieces in the horizontal direction and expands the divided images. To generate signals for a plurality of screens, and display device 5
Then, by displaying the plurality of generated screens on the plurality of monitors, respectively, the image of the conference room is displayed on the plurality of screens.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a more natural and easy-to-see screen display can be performed in the TV conference system.

[0020] In this case, the image division and expansion device 4, the screen dividing unit 42, a plurality divides the image signal in the horizontal direction, in an extended portion 43 _{1-43 3,} dummy pixels in each divided image generating a plurality of screens signals and extends laterally inserting data, pixel interpolation unit 44 _1-4
4 _3, by plane prediction to interpolate the dummy data in each of the extended screen, to generate a plurality of screens signals.

Further, in this case, in the display device 5,
It is also possible to arrange a plurality of monitors side by side in the horizontal direction so as to display by a multi-screen method.

Further, in the image division / expansion device 4,
The image signal is horizontally divided into three, and the divided images are respectively expanded to generate signals for three screens. The display device 5 is provided with three monitors, and the front image on the three screens is centered. Alternatively, they may be arranged side by side.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a display screen according to the present invention. The screen for displaying an image is composed of, for example, three monitors, and the screen of the conference room as shown in FIG. The image of the attendee is displayed on three screens, screen 1 to screen 3. Therefore, in the method of the present invention, the image of each person of the other party can be displayed large, and each person can be seen at the same time, and the target person can be seen by changing the natural line of sight, which is the same as the conference room of the other party. Like being in space,
Can create a natural situation.

[0024]

FIG. 3 shows an image pickup camera according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) shows the image pickup camera, (b) is a top view of a variable magnification lens, and (c) is an image pickup lens. The side view of a magnification lens is shown, respectively.

The image pickup camera is, as shown in (a), a TV camera 21 to which a magnification lens 22 is attached. The demagnifying lens 22 has a shape of a part of a cylinder as shown in a top view in (b) and a side view in (c), and has a function of decompressing only the lateral direction of an image. Have

FIGS. 4A and 4B show images taken by the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows a real scene in the conference room, and FIG. 4B shows an image picked up by the imaging camera shown in FIG. Is shown.

In the actual scene of the conference room shown in (a), the image 23 of the attendees, which is surrounded by a dotted line, is compressed in the horizontal direction through the image pickup camera, and the normal 3: 4 aspect shown in (b). A captured image 24 of the ratio is obtained.

FIG. 5 shows the system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 31 is an image pickup camera, 32 is a demagnification lens mounted on the image pickup camera 31, and 33 is a video signal. An encoder, 34 is a transmission line for transmitting a signal, 35
Is a decoder for decoding the coded video signal, 36 is an image division / expansion device for performing image division and expansion processing, 3
Reference numerals 7 to 39 are monitors.

On the image transmitting side, the image pickup camera 31 is equipped with a demagnification lens 32 and outputs an image pickup video signal which is laterally compressed as shown in FIG. 4 (b). The encoder 33 encodes this captured video signal in a predetermined code format. This signal is sent to the image receiving side via the transmission line 34. On the image receiving side, the decoder 35 reproduces the original video signal by decoding the transmitted signal.

The image dividing / expanding device 36 generates an image obtained by dividing the video signal into three in the horizontal direction, for example, and then expands each divided image to generate three standard aspect ratio image signals. The monitors 37 to 39 respectively display the three image signals thus obtained.

FIG. 6 shows a monitor screen according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which three image signals generated by the image dividing / expanding device 36 are respectively monitored 37 to 3.
It is shown that the display of three screens shown in screens 1 to 3 is simultaneously performed by displaying the screens in FIG.

As described above, in the method of the present invention, a plurality of screens generated by dividing / expanding are displayed on a plurality of monitors,
The monitors are arranged horizontally to provide a multi-screen display.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the structure of a screen division / expansion device, in which 41 is an analog-digital conversion unit (A / D), 42 is a screen division unit for dividing the screen into three parts, and 43.
_{1-43 3} decompression unit which performs elongation of 3 each divided image, 44 _{1-44 3} pixel interpolating unit for performing interpolation of the pixel in the decompressed image, 45 _{1-45 3} digital-to-analog conversion unit (D / A).

The analog-digital converter 41 samples the input analog video signal at, for example, 4 fsc (fsc is a subcarrier frequency; fsc = 3.58 MHz), and outputs 8
Linear encoding of the bits is performed to produce a digitized output.

The screen dividing section 42 divides the digitized video signal into three in the horizontal direction. Also, at this time,
The sync signal is removed and output as three image data.

[0036] In the extension portions 43 ₁ to 43 _3, once written to the memory of each image data, then data is read at three times the speed of the writing speed. At this time, the dummy data is output at a rate of twice for three times of reading, so that the writing and reading speeds are adjusted to 3 times.
Create screen data with two standard aspect ratios.

In the pixel interpolation units 44 _{1 to} 44 ₃ , the decompression unit 4
3 write once memory of each image data from _{1-43 3,} the dummy data of the written data, by replacing by generating an interpolation data by performing plane prediction from neighboring pixels, the pixel interpolation To do.

Digital-to-analog converters 45 _{1 to} 45 ₃
In the image data from the pixel interpolating unit 44 ₁ to 44 _3, into an analog signal. At this time, a video signal corresponding to each of the screens 1 to 3 shown in FIG. 6 is output by adding a synchronization signal to each image data.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, by adopting a new screen configuration which is completely different from the conventional system, a more natural and easy-to-see screen display can be performed.
More effective production can be performed. That is, according to the present invention, the images of each person in the conference room of the other party can be displayed large by a plurality of screens arranged side by side, and each person can be seen at the same time. Since you can see the person who is in the room, you can create a natural situation where you are in the same space as the other party's conference room.

In the method of the present invention, horizontal compression,
Since the expansion is performed, it is inevitable that the horizontal resolution will be slightly deteriorated, but in the vertical direction, the original resolution based on the number of scanning lines can be utilized as it is.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a principle configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen according to the present invention.

3A and 3B are diagrams showing an image pickup camera of one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3A shows the image pickup camera, FIG. 3B is a top view of a magnification lens, and FIG. Are shown respectively.

4A and 4B are diagrams showing a captured image in one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 4A shows a real scene in a conference room, and FIG. 4B shows an image captured by the image capturing camera shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a monitor screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a screen division / expansion device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a screen configuration method of a conventional TV conference system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the screen configuration method of the conventional TV conference system.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Imaging camera 2 Encoder 3 Decoder 4 Image division / decompression device 5 Display device 42 Screen division unit 43 ₁ to 43 ₃ Decompression unit 44 _{1 to} 44 ₃ Pixel interpolation unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An image-transmitting side is provided with an imaging camera (1) having a magnification lens for compressing a lateral direction of an image and an encoder (2) for encoding an image signal of the imaging camera (1). A decoder (3) for transmitting an image of the conference room and decoding the transmitted image signal, and a plurality of the decoded image signals which are horizontally divided and each of which is expanded to obtain a plurality of images. An image division / expansion device (4) for generating a screen signal,
A screen of a TV conference system, characterized in that a display device (5) comprising a plurality of monitors respectively displaying the generated plurality of screens is provided on the image receiving side, and the images of the conference room are displayed by the plurality of screens. Configuration method. 2. The image dividing / expanding device (4) inserts dummy data into each pixel in each divided image and a screen dividing unit (42) that divides an image signal into a plurality of pieces in the horizontal direction. A decompression unit (43 ₁ to 43 ₃ ) that decompresses in the direction to generate signals for a plurality of screens, and a pixel interpolation unit (44 ₁₎ that performs plane prediction and interpolates dummy data in each decompressed screen.
~ 44 ₃ ) are provided, The screen composition system of the TV conference system of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The screen structure of the TV conference system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of monitors in the display device (5) are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction and display is performed by a multi-screen method. method. 4. The image dividing / expanding device (4) divides the image signal into three in the horizontal direction and expands each of the divided images to generate signals for three screens, and the display device (5). 4. The screen configuration method of the TV conference system according to claim 3, wherein the screen conferencing system is provided with three monitors, and the front images on the three screens are sequentially arranged side by side in the center.