JP2005167923A - Imaging system and imaging method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging system capable of monitoring a monitor range without forming a dead angle within the monitor range. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging system includes: a wide camera 20 for imaging a first monitor range 60 over a wide angle; three dome type cameras 30a to 30c for imaging division ranges resulting from dividing the first monitor range 60 into three by each division range; and a terminal 40 connected to the wide camera 20 and the dome type cameras 30 via a network 50. The terminal 40 is configured to include: a communication IF 41 used for making communication with the wide camera 20 and the dome type cameras 30a to 30c; and an operation entry section 46 whereby a user zooms up a wide angle image in the first monitor range 60 by the wide camera 20 to designate a second monitor range, the detailed monitoring of which the user desires thereby enabling the user to supervise the first monitor range 60 without forming the dead angle within the first monitor range 60. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging system and an imaging method for imaging a subject within a monitoring range.

Conventionally, as a system for imaging a subject in a monitoring range, for example, there is a remote control pan head system that controls the movement of a monitoring camera. This remote control pan / tilt head system includes a single camera and a pan / tilt head, a pan / tilt head controller that controls the vertical and horizontal movements of the remote control pan and the zoom operation of the camera, and a camera image. When an abnormality occurs in any of a plurality of predetermined monitoring points, the pan head controller supplies a control signal to the camera and pan head, and an abnormality occurs. An enlarged image of the monitored point is taken and the details of the abnormality that has occurred can be known with a single camera (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-177822 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

  However, in such a conventional imaging system, for example, only an area where an intruder appears is zoomed in to obtain an enlarged image, and an image in the monitoring range that is not zoomed in is acquired. As a result, there was a problem that a blind spot was generated in the monitoring range and accurate monitoring could not be performed.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and provides an imaging system capable of monitoring a monitoring range without generating a blind spot in the monitoring range.

  The imaging system of the present invention includes a first imaging device that images a first monitoring range, a second imaging device that images a divided range in which the first monitoring range is divided into a plurality, and the first imaging device. An imaging device and a terminal device connected to the second imaging device, wherein the first imaging device includes wide-angle imaging means for imaging the first monitoring range at a wide angle, and the second imaging device. Comprises a divided range imaging means for imaging the divided range with a smaller angle of view than the wide angle imaging means, and the terminal device is based on the wide angle image of the first monitoring range taken by the wide angle imaging means. Range designation means for designating a second monitoring range to be imaged by the divided range imaging means, and when the second monitoring range is designated, the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and the second monitoring range Image display means for displaying an image It has a configuration which is characterized in that.

  With this configuration, the image display unit displays the first monitoring range imaged by the wide angle imaging unit and the second monitoring range imaged by the divided range imaging unit with a field angle smaller than the wide angle imaging unit. The first monitoring range can be monitored without generating a blind spot within the first monitoring range.

  In addition, the imaging system of the present invention includes coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinates of the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range into the coordinates of the image of the second monitoring range, and coordinate data of the image of the second monitoring range. The divided range image pickup means includes an image pickup control means for controlling to pick up an image of the second monitoring range.

  With this configuration, the imaging control unit controls the divided range imaging unit to image the second monitoring range based on the coordinate data of the image of the second monitoring range, so the first monitoring imaged by the wide-angle imaging unit. The second monitoring range can be designated based on the range image, and the image of the second monitoring range can be displayed on the image display means.

  Furthermore, in the imaging system of the present invention, when the second monitoring range is within a range that can be imaged by the plurality of divided range imaging units, the plurality of divided range imaging units are configured so that the second divided range imaging unit includes the second monitoring range. It has the structure characterized by controlling so that the monitoring range may be imaged.

  With this configuration, the image display unit displays an enlarged image near the boundary of the divided range on the image display unit, so that the vicinity of the boundary of the divided range can be monitored in detail.

  Furthermore, in the imaging system of the present invention, when the plurality of second monitoring ranges are designated, the image display means displays a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and a plurality of images of the second monitoring range. It has the structure characterized by displaying.

  With this configuration, a plurality of second monitoring ranges can be monitored simultaneously and in detail.

  Furthermore, the imaging system of the present invention includes a first imaging device that images a first monitoring range, a second imaging device that images a second monitoring range within the first monitoring range, and the first And a terminal device connected to the second imaging device, wherein the first imaging device includes a first imaging unit that performs wide-angle imaging of the first monitoring range, and the second imaging device. The image pickup apparatus includes a second image pickup unit that picks up the second monitoring range with a smaller angle of view than the wide-angle image pickup unit, and the terminal device performs the first image picked up by the first image pickup unit. Range specifying means for specifying the second monitoring range based on the wide-angle image of the monitoring range, and when the second monitoring range is specified, the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and the second monitoring range Image display means for displaying a range of images. The it has.

  With this configuration, the image display unit displays the first monitoring range imaged by the wide-angle imaging unit and the second monitoring range imaged by the detailed imaging unit at a field angle smaller than the wide-angle imaging unit. The first monitoring range can be monitored without generating a blind spot within the first monitoring range.

  The imaging method of the present invention performs wide-angle imaging of the first monitoring range at a first angle of view, and a divided range obtained by dividing the first monitoring range into a plurality of second angles smaller than the first angle of view. The second monitoring range within the first monitoring range is designated with the second angle of view based on the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range captured with the wide-angle imaging, and then the second monitoring range is designated. A wide angle image of one monitoring range and an image of the second monitoring range are displayed.

  By this method, the first monitoring range image captured at the first angle of view and the second monitoring range image captured at the second angle of view can be displayed. The first monitoring range can be monitored without generating a blind spot within the range.

  The present invention provides an image display means for displaying an image of a first monitoring range imaged at a wide angle by a wide-angle imaging means and an image of a second monitoring range imaged at a field angle smaller than the wide-angle imaging means by a divided-range imaging means. Thus, it is possible to provide an imaging system having an effect that the first monitoring range can be monitored without generating a blind spot in the first monitoring range.

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

  First, the configuration of the imaging system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the imaging system 10 of the present embodiment, for example, a wide camera 20 that performs wide-angle imaging of a first monitoring range 60 set indoors, and the first monitoring range 60 are divided into three. Are connected to the wide camera 20 and the dome camera 30 via the network 50, and three dome cameras 30a to 30c (hereinafter collectively referred to as the dome camera 30). Terminal device 40.

  The wide camera 20 is configured to take a wide-angle image of the entire range of the first monitoring range 60 of length L × width W. The first monitoring range 60 is divided into three, and the dome-type camera 30a, the dome-type camera 30b, and the dome-type camera 30c have a length La × width W range, a length Lb × width W range, A range of length Lc × width W (hereinafter referred to as a divided range La, a divided range Lb, and a divided range Lc, respectively) is imaged. Moreover, the wide camera 20 and the dome-type camera 30 are installed, for example, on the ceiling or wall of a room.

  Next, detailed configurations of the wide camera 20, the dome camera 30, and the terminal device 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. All three dome cameras 30 are configured in the same manner.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wide camera 20 includes a wide-angle image sensor 21 that captures an image of the first monitoring range 60 at a wide angle, and an AD converter 22 that AD converts an analog image signal output from the wide-angle image sensor 21 into a digital image signal. An image signal processing unit 23 that processes an image signal using a predetermined program, a ROM 23a that stores a program executed by the image signal processing unit 23, and temporary data when the image signal processing unit 23 processes the image signal. A RAM 23b for storing image data, an encoder 24 for encoding image signals, a ROM 24a for storing programs executed by the encoder 24, a RAM 24b for storing temporary data when the encoder 24 encodes, and a terminal via the network 50 A communication IF (Interface) 25 that communicates with the device 40 is provided.

  The wide-angle imaging device 21 is configured by, for example, a plurality of optical sensor elements arranged in a matrix, and has a shape in which the ratio of the length in the vertical direction to the length in the horizontal direction, that is, the aspect ratio is 4: 1, and approximately 115 degrees. And a horizontal angle of view. The wide-angle image picked up by the wide-angle image pickup device 21 is, for example, three times the horizontal direction with respect to the display of 640 dots × 480 dots, which is the display size of a VGA (Video Graphics Array) used in a conventional monitoring system. It is displayed on the display 47 in a display size of 1920 dots × 480 dots, which is a size expanded to 1. Therefore, unlike an image captured by a conventional monitoring system in which the angle of view is narrow and the edges of the image are easily distorted, the wide-angle imaging element 21 has a wide angle of view that allows the user to monitor the entire first monitoring range 60 in detail. Low distortion images can be acquired.

  The encoder 24 compresses the wide-angle image data captured by the wide-angle image sensor 21 using, for example, a JPEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group) format.

  The communication IF 25 exchanges packets such as image data and control signals with the terminal device 40 via the network 50 based on a predetermined communication protocol. The network 50 is configured by Ethernet (registered trademark), the Internet, or the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the dome-type camera 30 includes an image sensor 31 that images a predetermined division range, an AD converter 32 that AD converts an analog image signal output from the image sensor 31 into a digital image signal, An image signal processing unit 33 that processes an image signal by a program, a ROM 33a that stores a program executed by the image signal processing unit 33, and a RAM 33b that stores temporary data when the image signal processing unit 33 processes the image signal. A CPU 34 that controls the operation of the image sensor 31 and data communication, a ROM 34a that stores a program executed by the CPU 34, a RAM 34b that stores temporary data when the CPU 34 executes the program, and a network 50. And a communication IF 35 that communicates with the terminal device 40.

  Further, the dome-type camera 30 includes a servo control CPU 36 that mechanically controls a mounting base (not shown) to which the image sensor 31 is mounted, and a pan motor driver IC 36a that controls the horizontal movement of the mounting base. , A tilt motor driver IC 36b for controlling the vertical movement of the mounting base, a pan motor 36c for swinging the mounting base in the horizontal direction, and a tilt motor 36d for swinging the mounting base in the vertical direction.

  The image sensor 31 captures an image of a divided range obtained by dividing the first monitoring range 60 into a plurality of angles with a smaller angle of view than the wide-angle image sensor 21. An image picked up by the image pickup device 31 is displayed on a display 47 (to be described later) with a VGA display size of 640 dots × 480 dots having an aspect ratio of 4: 3, for example.

  The CPU 34 changes the coordinates from the coordinates of the first monitoring range 60 predetermined in the entire range of the first monitoring range 60 to the coordinates of the predetermined dividing range in the division range in which the dome-type camera 30 is responsible for imaging. It is supposed to convert. For example, when the position data on the coordinates of the first monitoring range 60 shown in FIG. 1 is given from the terminal device 40 to the CPU 34 of the dome-type camera 30a, the CPU 34 displays the position on the coordinates of the first monitoring range 60. The data is converted into position data on the coordinates of the division range La, and a control signal for controlling the mounting base of the image sensor 31 so as to image the position represented by the converted position data is generated and output to the CPU 36 for servo control. It is like that.

  The communication IF 35 exchanges packets such as image data and control signals with the terminal device 40 via the network 50 based on a predetermined communication protocol.

  The servo control CPU 36 operates the pan motor driver IC 36a and the tilt motor driver IC 36b based on a control signal for mechanically controlling the mounting base output from the CPU 34, and operates the pan motor 36c and the tilt motor 36d. Is to control.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal device 40 includes a communication IF 41 that communicates with the wide camera 20 and the dome camera 30 via the network 50, a CPU 42 that executes a predetermined program, and a ROM 43 that stores a program executed by the CPU 42. A RAM 44 for storing temporary data when the CPU 42 executes a program, a storage unit 45 for storing predetermined data, an operation input unit 46 operated by a user of the system, the wide camera 20 and the dome type And a display 47 for displaying an image captured by the camera 30.

  When the image data encoded by the encoder 24 is input, the CPU 42 decodes the image data and displays it on the display 47.

  The storage unit 45 is configured by a hard disk drive, for example, and stores setting information, image data, and the like of the first monitoring range 60.

  The operation input unit 46 is configured by an input device such as a mouse, a trackball, and a keyboard, for example, and information related to monitoring is set by the user's operation. Further, the user can zoom in on the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range 60 displayed by the wide camera 20 displayed on the display 47 and designate the second monitoring range to be monitored in detail by the operation input unit 46. The image of the designated second monitoring range is displayed on the display 47.

  Here, designation of the second monitoring range by the operation input unit 46 will be described.

  A window 71 as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display 47 described above. In the window 71, a wide-angle image 72 captured by the wide camera 20 is displayed. When the second monitoring range 73 is designated by the operation of the operation input unit 46 by the user, the second monitoring range 73 is captured. An enlarged image 74 is displayed. The range designation of the second monitoring range 73 is determined, for example, by clicking the corner 73a and the corner 73b with a mouse.

  When the second monitoring range 73 is within the divided range Lc shown in FIG. 1, a range corresponding to the second monitoring range 73 is captured by the dome type camera 30 c and the captured image is displayed as an enlarged image 74. It has come to be.

  A display example of the second monitoring range is shown in FIG. 6A shows a display example of an image of the second monitoring range imaged by the dome camera 30a, and FIG. 6B shows a second image imaged by the dome camera 30a and the dome camera 30b. The display example of the image of the monitoring range is shown. FIG. 6C illustrates a display example of an image in the second monitoring range captured by the dome cameras 30a to 30c. In addition, when the second monitoring range is within a range that can be photographed by two dome cameras, for example, the display can be performed as shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the imaging system 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 7, first, the first monitoring range 60 of the wide camera 20 is set by the CPU 42 and the operation input unit 46 (step S <b> 11), and the coordinate data of the set first monitoring range 60 is stored by the storage unit 45. Stored (step S12).

  Next, the first monitoring range of the dome camera 30 is set by the CPU 42 and the operation input unit 46 (step S13), and the coordinate data of the set divided range is stored by the storage unit 45 (step S14).

  Further, the CPU 42 designates a dome type camera that takes charge of imaging of the divided range (step S15). For example, in the first monitoring range 60 shown in FIG. 1, the dome camera 30a is designated to take charge of the divided range La. Then, the coordinate data of the first monitoring range 60 is transmitted by the communication IF 41 to the dome type camera 30 in charge of imaging the divided range (step S16).

  Subsequently, the CPU 42 determines whether or not to set another dome type camera 30 (step S17). For example, in FIG. 1, after specifying the dome type camera 30a responsible for imaging the divided range La, it is determined whether or not to set the dome type camera 30 responsible for imaging the divided range Lb and the divided range Lc.

  If it is determined in step S17 that another dome camera 30 is set, the process returns to step S11. On the other hand, when it is not determined that the setting of the other dome type camera 30 is performed, the setting process of the monitoring information of the wide camera 20 and the dome type camera 30 is finished, and the first image captured by the wide camera 20 is displayed by the display 47. The image of the monitoring range 60 is displayed (step S18).

  Subsequently, the CPU 42 determines whether or not the second monitoring range is designated (step S19). The second monitoring range is determined by the user specifying the range of the image of the first monitoring range 60 displayed on the display 47 using the operation input unit 46.

  If it is determined in step S19 that the second monitoring range has been designated, the CPU 42 acquires coordinate data of the designated range (step S20). On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S19 that the second monitoring range has been designated, step S19 is repeated.

  Further, the CPU 42 determines the dome type camera 30 that is responsible for imaging the divided range corresponding to the coordinate data acquired in step S20 (step S21).

  Then, an enlarged image of the detailed range captured by the dome camera 30 is displayed on the display 47 (step S22).

  Instead of the dome-shaped camera 30, as shown in FIG. 8, an imaging system 80 including a dome-shaped camera 90 is configured at a position where the first monitoring range 60 is in the field of view in the same direction as the wide camera 20. Also good. The dome-type camera 90 includes a second imaging unit (not shown) equivalent to the imaging device 31 described above, and can capture the entire first monitoring range 60 with a smaller angle of view than the wide camera 20. FIG. 8 shows a state where the second monitoring range 65 is imaged. With this configuration of the imaging system 80, the wide camera 20 and the dome type camera 90 can perform the monitoring process with the same coordinates, and therefore the coordinate conversion process between the wide camera 20 and the dome type camera 90 is omitted. Can do.

  As described above, according to the imaging system 10 of the present embodiment, the display 47 is set by the operation input unit 46 in a state in which an image of the first monitoring range 60 captured by the wide camera 20 is displayed. Since the second monitoring range image is displayed, the first monitoring range 60 can be monitored without generating a blind spot in the first monitoring range 60.

  In the above description, an example in which the wide-angle imaging element 21 can capture an image with a display size that is three times the horizontal direction of the VGA display size has been described. However, the horizontal direction of the VGA display size is four times, five times, or the like. Even in the case of a configuration expanded to the above, it can be similarly implemented.

  As described above, the imaging system and the imaging method according to the present invention have an effect that the monitoring range can be monitored without generating a blind spot in the monitoring range, and are useful as an imaging system and an imaging method. .

The block diagram of the imaging system of embodiment of this invention Block diagram of a wide camera of an imaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention The block diagram of the dome type camera of the imaging system of embodiment of this invention The block diagram of the terminal device of the imaging system of embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of designation of second monitoring range The figure which shows the example of a display of the 2nd monitoring range The flowchart of each step of the imaging system of an embodiment of the invention The block diagram of the imaging system of the other aspect of embodiment of this invention

Explanation of symbols

10, 80 Imaging system 20 Wide camera (first imaging device)
21 Wide-angle imaging device (wide-angle imaging means, first imaging means)
22, 32 AD converter 23, 33 Image signal processing unit 23a, 24a, 33a, 34a, 43 ROM
23b, 24b, 33b, 34b, 44 RAM
24 Encoder 25, 35, 41 Communication IF
30 (30a-30c), 90 Dome type camera (second imaging device)
31 Image sensor (divided range imaging means)
34 CPU (imaging control means)
42 CPU (range designation means, coordinate conversion means, imaging control means)
36 Servo control CPU (imaging control means)
36a Motor driver IC for pan
36b Motor driver IC for tilt
36c Pan motor 36d Tilt motor 40 Terminal device 45 Storage unit 46 Operation input unit (range designation means)
47 Display (image display means)
50 network 60 first monitoring range 65, 73 second monitoring range 71 window 72 wide-angle image 73a, 73b corner 74 enlarged image

Claims (6)

A first imaging device for imaging a first monitoring range;
A second imaging device that images a divided range in which the first monitoring range is divided into a plurality;
A terminal device connected to the first imaging device and the second imaging device;
The first imaging device includes wide-angle imaging means for imaging the first monitoring range at a wide angle,
The second imaging device includes a divided range imaging unit that images the divided range with an angle of view smaller than the wide-angle imaging unit,
The terminal device includes a range designating unit for designating a second monitoring range to be imaged by the divided range imaging unit based on a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range imaged by the wide-angle imaging unit;
An image pickup system comprising: an image display unit configured to display a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and an image of the second monitoring range when the second monitoring range is designated. Coordinate conversion means for converting the coordinates of the wide-angle image of the first monitoring range into the coordinates of the image of the second monitoring range;
2. The imaging control unit according to claim 1, further comprising: an imaging control unit configured to control the divided range imaging unit to image the second monitoring range based on coordinate data of an image of the second monitoring range. Imaging system. The imaging control unit controls the plurality of divided range imaging units to capture the second monitoring range when the second monitoring range is within a range that can be captured by the plurality of divided range imaging units. The imaging system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above. The image display means displays a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and a plurality of images of the second monitoring range when a plurality of the second monitoring ranges are designated. The imaging system according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A first imaging device for imaging a first monitoring range;
A second imaging device that images a second monitoring range within the first monitoring range;
A terminal device connected to the first imaging device and the second imaging device;
The first imaging device includes a first imaging unit that performs wide-angle imaging of the first monitoring range,
The second imaging device includes a second imaging unit that images the second monitoring range with an angle of view smaller than the wide-angle imaging unit,
The terminal device includes a range designating unit that designates the second monitoring range based on a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range that has been imaged at a wide angle by the first imaging unit;
An image pickup system comprising: an image display unit configured to display a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range and an image of the second monitoring range when the second monitoring range is designated. The first monitoring range is imaged at a wide angle at a first angle of view, and the divided range obtained by dividing the first monitoring range into a plurality of images at a second angle of view smaller than the first angle of view; After designating a second monitoring range in the first monitoring range with the second angle of view based on a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range captured at a wide angle, a wide-angle image of the first monitoring range And an imaging method of displaying an image in the second monitoring range.

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