JPH10294939A - System and device for image transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image transmission system which improves transmission efficiency without degrading the picture quality of fetched images. SOLUTION: When transmitting image information from a transmitting means 110 to a receiving means 120, the image information of low picture quality component at low data rate and the image information of high picture quality component at high data rate are transmitted while being adaptively switched. Thus, the display of ordinary monitor picture on a display means 123 can be performed with the image information of low picture quality component at low data rate, and the important fetched images instructed by an instructing means 124 can be simultaneously provided from the image information of high picture quality component at high data rate after the end of picture display on the display means 123.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used in a surveillance camera system, a video conference system, and the like. It concerns the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a remote system such as a surveillance camera system or a video conference system, a monitor image data constituting a monitor screen and a capture (hereinafter referred to as "capture") screen used for actual recording are constituted. And the captured image data to be transmitted. Each of these image data is formed and transmitted with the same data configuration or data rate. Also, for example,
Even when performing video dubbing at a short distance, monitor image data and captured image data are formed and transmitted with the same data configuration or data rate between video tape recorders.

[0003]

However, in the conventional image transmission system, as described above, the monitor image merely for confirmation and the captured image that is actually recorded, that is, the capture image that is really required, are the same. Since the data is formed and transmitted at the data configuration or data rate, there is a waste as a transmission system.

[0004] That is, in order to ensure the highest quality of a captured image, which is the most important, it is necessary to transmit at a high data rate. However, monitor image data only for confirmation is transmitted at a high data rate. Becomes
As a result, there is waste in transmission. Conversely, if you want to transmit efficiently, you need to lower the data rate.
This degrades the quality of the most important captured image.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to eliminate the above-mentioned disadvantages, and provides an image transmission system and an image transmission apparatus which improve transmission efficiency without deteriorating the quality of a captured image. The purpose is to do.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a first image information comprising an arbitrary image quality component and an image quality different from the image quality component of the first image information are transmitted from a transmission side to a reception side. At least second image information comprising the components is transmitted;
An image transmission system in which a screen is displayed on the receiving side with the second image information by a display unit,
After the period of the screen display on the display unit of the receiving side ends, the transmitting side obtains the first information obtained based on the instruction from the receiving side.
Is transmitted collectively to the receiving side. In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the transmitting side performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first image information and the second image information; Storage means for storing the first image information obtained by the encoding means, and second image information obtained by the encoding means
Output means for switching and outputting the first image information stored in the storage means, and control means for controlling a switching output operation of the output means, wherein the receiving side includes the output means And decoding means for performing a decoding process on the image information from the image processing apparatus, and instructing means for instructing image capture. The first image information obtained by the means is stored, and the control means controls the switching output operation by the output means based on the end of the period of the screen display by the display means on the receiving side. And The third invention is
In the second invention, the first image information is characterized by comprising an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a first image information including an arbitrary image quality component and at least a second image including an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information are transmitted from the transmission side to the reception side. An image transmission system in which information and third image information are transmitted, and the receiving side displays the second image information and the third image information from the transmission side on a screen by a display means, The side switches the second image information and the third image information based on an instruction from the receiving side and transmits the information to the receiving side, and at the same time, obtains the information based on an instruction from the receiving side. The first image information is transmitted to the receiving side. In a fifth aspect based on the fourth aspect, the transmitting side performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first to third image information; Storage means for storing the first image information obtained in step (a), and switching and outputting the second and third image information obtained in the coding means, and the first image information stored in the storage means Output means, and control means for controlling the output operation of the output means, the receiving side, decoding means for performing a decoding process on the image information from the output means, and image capture Instruction means for instructing, the storage means on the transmission side stores the first image information obtained by the encoding means based on the instruction from the instruction means on the reception side, and the control means, The output means based on an instruction from the instruction means on the receiving side And controlling the output operation. In a sixth aspect based on the fifth aspect, the first image information includes an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information, and the second image information includes the third image information. It is characterized by comprising an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the image information. In a seventh aspect based on the second or fourth aspect, the encoding process is a hierarchical encoding process. The eighth invention is directed to the second invention.
Alternatively, in the invention according to the fourth aspect, the encoding process is an MPEG process. According to a ninth aspect, there is provided an encoding unit that performs an encoding process on input image information, and a first output that outputs image information of a low image quality component included in the image information that has been encoded by the encoding unit. Means, storage means for storing at least the image information other than the low image quality component included in the image information subjected to the encoding process in the encoding means,
A second output unit that outputs the image information stored in the storage unit; a display unit that displays the image information output from the first output unit on a screen; and an instruction unit that gives an image capture instruction. Storing image information other than the low image quality component in the storage unit in accordance with the image capture instruction of the instruction unit;
After the screen display period on the display means has ended, the image information stored in the storage means is transmitted collectively. According to a tenth aspect, there is provided an encoding unit that performs an encoding process on input image information, and a first output that outputs image information of a low image quality component included in the image information that has been encoded by the encoding unit. Means, storage means for storing at least image information other than the low image quality components included in the image information which has been subjected to the encoding processing by the encoding means, and a second means for outputting the image information stored in the storage means. Output means, display means for displaying the image information of the low image quality component output from the first output means on a screen, and instructing means for giving an image taking instruction. Accordingly, the image information stored in the storage unit is transmitted at the same time as the image quality setting of the image transmitted to the display unit is changed. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, the transmitting means transmits, to the receiving means, first image information comprising an arbitrary image quality component and at least second image information comprising an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information. Is transmitted, and in the receiving means, a screen display is performed by the display means with the second image information, the transmitting means,
After the end of the screen display period on the display means of the receiving means,
The first image information obtained based on the instruction from the receiving means is transmitted to the receiving means in a lump. In a twelfth aspect based on the eleventh aspect, the transmitting means performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first image information and the second image information; Storage means for storing the first image information obtained by the encoding means; and switching and outputting the second image information obtained by the encoding means and the first image information stored in the storage means. Output means, including control means for controlling the switching output operation in the output means, the receiving means,
Decoding means for performing decoding processing on the image information from the output means, and instructing means for instructing image capture, the storing means of the transmitting means, based on the instruction from the instructing means of the receiving means The first image information obtained by the encoding unit is stored, and the control unit controls the switching output operation by the output unit based on the end of the period of the screen display by the display unit of the reception unit. It is characterized by the following. According to a thirteenth aspect, in the twelfth aspect, the first image information includes an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information. According to a fourteenth aspect, a first image information including an arbitrary image quality component and at least a second image information including an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information are transmitted from the transmission unit to the reception unit. And third
An image transmission apparatus in which the image information is transmitted, and in the receiving means, the second image information and the third image information from the transmitting means are displayed on a screen by a display means. The second image information and the third image information are switched based on an instruction from the receiving unit and transmitted to the receiving unit, and at the same time, the first image obtained based on the instruction from the receiving unit. The information is transmitted to the receiving means. In a fifteenth aspect based on the fourteenth aspect, the transmitting means performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first to third image information, and the encoding means The first obtained in
Storage means for storing the first and second image information obtained by the encoding means, and output means for outputting the first image information stored in the storage means. Control means for controlling an output operation of the output means, wherein the receiving means includes a decoding means for performing a decoding process on image information from the output means, and an instruction means for instructing image capture. Wherein the storage means of the transmission means stores the first image information obtained by the encoding means based on an instruction from the instruction means of the reception means, and the control means comprises an instruction means of the reception means. The output operation of the output means is controlled based on an instruction from the control unit. In a sixteenth aspect based on the fifteenth aspect, the first image information includes an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information, and the second image information includes the third image information. It is characterized by comprising an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the image information. The seventeenth invention is directed to the twelfth or fourteenth aspect.
In the invention, the encoding process is a hierarchical encoding process. The eighteenth invention is directed to the twelfth aspect.
Or the invention of claim 14, wherein the encoding process is performed by MPEG
Processing. According to a nineteenth aspect, an encoding unit that performs an encoding process on input image information, and a first output that outputs image information of a low image quality component included in the image information that has been encoded by the encoding unit Means, storage means for storing at least image information other than the low image quality components included in the image information which has been subjected to the encoding processing by the encoding means, and a second means for outputting the image information stored in the storage means.
Output means, display means for displaying the image information output from the first output means on a screen, and instructing means for giving an image capturing instruction, and in response to the image capturing instruction of the instruction means, The image information other than the low image quality component is stored in the storage means, and the image information stored in the storage means is collectively transmitted after the screen display period on the display means. According to a twentieth aspect, there is provided an encoding unit that performs an encoding process on input image information, and a first output that outputs image information of a low image quality component included in the image information that has been encoded by the encoding unit. Means, storage means for storing at least image information other than the low image quality components included in the image information which has been subjected to the encoding processing by the encoding means, and a second means for outputting the image information stored in the storage means. Output means, display means for displaying the image information of the low image quality component output from the first output means on a screen, and instructing means for giving an image taking instruction. Accordingly, the image information stored in the storage unit is transmitted at the same time as the image quality setting of the image transmitted to the display unit is changed.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, a first embodiment will be described.

The image transmission system according to the present invention is applied to, for example, a transmission system 100 as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transmission system 100 includes a transmitting device 110 and a receiving device 120, and the transmitting device 110 and the receiving device 120
Are transmitted to each other via the Internet.

The transmitting device 110 includes a camera-integrated video tape recorder (hereinafter, referred to as a video camera) 111,
A hierarchical encoding circuit 112 to which the output of the video camera 111 is supplied, a transmission circuit (TX) 113 and a buffer memory 114 to which the output of the hierarchical encoding circuit 112 is respectively supplied
And a receiving circuit (R
X) 116, and a memory management circuit 115 to which the output of the receiving circuit 116 is supplied.
4 is supplied to the transmitting circuit 113, the output of the memory management circuit 115 is supplied to the buffer memory 114, and the output of the transmitting circuit 113 is transmitted to the receiving device 12 via the communication path 130.
0 is transmitted.

On the other hand, the receiving apparatus 120 includes a receiving circuit (RX) 121 to which the output from the communication path 130 is supplied, and a hierarchical decoding circuit 122 to which the output of the receiving circuit 121 is supplied.
A display circuit (monitor display) 123 to which the output of the hierarchical decoding circuit 122 is supplied, a key input circuit 124 to which the output of the display circuit 123 is supplied, and a key input circuit 1
24, and a transmission circuit (T) to which the output of the system control circuit 125 is supplied.
X) 126, and the output of the transmission circuit 126 is transmitted to the transmission device 110 via the communication path 130.

First, a series of operations of the transmission system 100 as described above will be described.

First, on the transmitting device 110 side, the video camera 111 takes an image of a subject (not shown),
The video signal V and the audio signal A are obtained, and the hierarchical encoding circuit 112
To supply.

The hierarchical encoding circuit 112 employs a hierarchical encoding method, and the video camera 11 uses this method.
The video signal V from 1 is encoded.

Here, the hierarchical coding method is a method of first coding a reduced image roughly representing the whole, and then coding difference information for sequentially enlarging the reduced image. By using this method, a reduced image having a different resolution, for example, a small number of pixels is used as a monitor image, and a fine image having a large number of pixels is used for an image for recording or the like using all information. For example, it is possible to realize scalable encoding to some extent.

As such a hierarchical coding method, for example, a pyramid coding method, a sub-band coding method,
And Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)
sform) based on JPEG (Joint Photographic C)
oding Experts Group) or MPEG (Moving Pictu)
re Experts Group) method.

Therefore, the hierarchical encoding circuit 112 is configured to be able to output a hierarchical data structure by the above-described hierarchical encoding method, and encodes the video signal V from the video camera 111. As shown in FIG. 2, an information component A having a high image quality transmission level (high image quality), an information component B having a standard image transmission level (standard image quality), and an information component C having a low image quality transmission level (low image quality) are obtained.

As the hierarchical coding method, the pyramid coding method, the sub-band coding method,
For example, when the pyramid coding method is used, a small screen component obtained by the method corresponds to a low-quality information component C, The component corresponds to the information component B of the standard image quality, and the large screen component corresponds to the information component A of the high image quality. For example, when the sub-band coding method is used, the LL / LL component obtained by the method corresponds to the information component C of low image quality, and LL / HL, LL / LH, L
The L / HH component corresponds to the information component B of the standard image quality,
Assume that HL, LH / LH, and HH / HH components correspond to the information component A of high image quality. For example, when the JPEG system or the MPEG system based on DCT is used,
A low frequency component such as a direct current (DC) component obtained by DCT corresponds to the information component C of low image quality, and a middle frequency component of a high frequency component such as an alternating current (AC) component is standard image quality. It is assumed that the high frequency component of the high frequency component corresponds to the information component A of high image quality.

The hierarchical encoding circuit 112 transmits only the standard image quality information component B among the high image quality information component A, the standard image quality information component B, and the low image quality information component C as image data V '. And supplies the other high-quality information component A and the low-quality information component C to the buffer memory 11.
4 once.

Here, the buffer memory 114 has an area for temporarily storing image information (hereinafter referred to as a work area) and an area for performing image capture according to a capture instruction to be described later (hereinafter, a capture image area). The other high-quality information component A and the low-quality information component C are temporarily stored in the work area.

In the buffer memory 114, the ratio of the capacity of the work area to the capacity of the capture image area is 1: 3 here.

The hierarchical encoding circuit 112 encodes the audio signal A from the video camera 111 by a predetermined encoding method, and supplies the encoded audio signal A to the transmission circuit 113 as audio data A '.

In the hierarchical encoding circuit 112, the audio signal A may be similarly encoded by the hierarchical encoding method. As a result, the processing (sum-difference conversion) for encoding the difference information as described above is also performed on the audio signal A, and compatibility is easily achieved when the audio signal A is compressed into monaural data.

The transmission circuit 113 includes a hierarchical encoding circuit 112
The image data V ′ and the audio data A ′ are subjected to predetermined signal processing to generate transmission data, which are supplied to the receiving device 120 via the communication path 130.

Next, on the receiving device 120 side, the transmitting device 1
The transmission data from 10 is supplied to the receiving circuit 121.

The reception circuit 121 performs predetermined signal processing on the transmission data from the transmission device 110 and supplies the data to the hierarchical decoding circuit 122.

The hierarchical decoding circuit 122 employs a decoding method corresponding to the hierarchical coding method used in the above-described hierarchical coding circuit 112. Decrypt the data. Then, the hierarchical decoding circuit 122 supplies the image data included in the decoded data to the display circuit 123, and also supplies the audio data included in the data to a speaker (not shown). Also, the hierarchical decoding circuit 122
The data obtained by decoding is temporarily stored in an internal memory (not shown).

Therefore, the display circuit 123 displays a screen (monitor screen) based on the image data from the hierarchical decoding circuit 122, that is, the information component B of the standard image quality.
A sound corresponding to the display screen of the display circuit 123 is output from the speaker.

Therefore, the user of the receiving device 120 confirms a required moving image or still image by relying on the monitor screen displayed on the display circuit 123. Then, when confirming the required image, the user operates a not-shown operation unit to input a capture instruction in order to capture the required image. This input is recognized by the key input circuit 124 and supplied to the system control circuit 125.

The system control circuit 125 converts the capture instruction from the key input circuit 124 into command data,
It is supplied to the transmission circuit 126.

The transmission circuit 126 is provided for the system control circuit 12
5 is subjected to a predetermined signal processing on the command data from No. 5 and supplied to the transmission device 110 via the communication path 130.

When ending the display (monitoring) of the monitor screen on the display circuit 123, the user operates a not-shown operation unit to input a monitoring end instruction. This input is also recognized by the key input circuit 124 and supplied to the transmission device 110 via the system control circuit 125, the transmission circuit 126, and the communication path in the same manner as the above-described capture instruction. At the same time, the system control circuit 125 controls the display circuit 123, so that the monitoring by the display circuit 123 ends.

Next, on the transmitting device 110 side, the receiving device 1
The command data from 20 is supplied to the receiving circuit 116.

The receiving circuit 116 performs predetermined signal processing on the command data from the receiving device 120 and supplies the command data to the memory management circuit 115.

The memory management circuit 115 includes a receiving circuit 116
If the command data is a capture instruction, the buffer memory 11 responds to the capture instruction.
4 is controlled.

As described above, in the buffer memory 114, although the details will be described later, of the image information once stored in the work area as described above, high-quality information corresponding to the timing at which the capture instruction is given. Component A is
It is moved to the capture image area.

That is, every time command data indicating a capture instruction is supplied from the reception circuit 116, the memory management circuit 115 stores a high-quality information component A corresponding to the timing at which the capture instruction is supplied in the captured image area. The buffer memory 114 is controlled to be moved.

Therefore, a high-quality information component A corresponding to the timing at which the capture instruction is given is stored in the capture image area of the buffer memory 114.

When the command data from the receiving circuit 116 indicates a monitoring end instruction, the memory management circuit 115 collectively collects the high-quality information components A stored in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114. The buffer memory 114 is controlled so as to be read.

Thus, the high-quality information components A accumulated as described above are read out from the buffer memory 114 at a time.

The data of the high-quality information component A read from the buffer memory 114 is supplied to the transmitting circuit 113 as data for a captured image, and is supplied to the receiving device 120 via the communication path 130.

The receiving circuit 116 receives the monitoring end instruction and, at the same time, issues a data transmission end instruction to the video camera 111 as a data source. This terminates the data output from the video camera 111.

When the input of the video signal V from the video camera 111 is completed, the monitoring is also considered to be completed, and the high level stored in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114 is determined in the same manner as in the case of the monitoring end instruction. The data of the information component A of the image quality may be collectively read.

Next, on the receiving device 120 side, the transmitting device 1
The data for the captured image from the
Is supplied to the hierarchical decoding circuit 19 via

The hierarchical decoding circuit 19 combines the standard-quality information component B once stored in the internal memory as described above with the data for the captured image from the receiving circuit 18, that is, the high-quality information component A. By doing so, actual captured image data is generated.

Therefore, the captured image data obtained by the hierarchical decoding circuit 19 is supplied to, for example, a recording circuit (not shown), and is recorded on a recording medium by the recording circuit.

Next, the operation timing of the transmission system 100 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
And a timing chart shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 shows the transmission system 1 described above.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart outlining the operation of FIG.
7 is a timing chart in which time passage is expressed from left to right. In the following description, for example, the target image is a moving image.

First, when monitoring is started, the transmitting device 1
10 to the receiving device 120, the standard-quality moving image data (information component B) is transmitted, and the display circuit 123 of the receiving device 120 performs monitor screen display using the standard-quality moving image data (moving image monitor mode). ) (Step S20)
1).

Next, the receiving device 120 waits for a capture instruction from the user (step S20).
2) While the capture instruction is being detected, the moving image monitor mode is set.

When the receiving device 120 detects a capture instruction from the user, for example, at the timing P1 (black triangle in FIG. 4), the memory management circuit 115 in the transmitting device 110 The buffer memory 1 is configured such that high-quality image data d1 corresponding to the period to1 immediately before the instruction timing P1 is accumulated from the work area of the buffer memory 114 to the capture image area.
14 is controlled. As a result, high-quality image data d1 for the period to1 is accumulated in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114 (step S203).

After that, the process waits for an instruction to end monitoring, and waits until the instruction is input in step S201.
Step S203 is repeated (Step S20)
4).

As a result, the moving picture data of standard image quality (information component B) is transmitted from the transmitting apparatus 110 to the receiving apparatus 120 again, and the apparatus enters the moving picture monitor mode.

Therefore, in the moving image monitor mode state,
When a further capture instruction is input at timing P2 (the black triangle in FIG. 4), in the transmitting device 110, the memory management circuit 115 corresponds to the period to2 (= to1) immediately before the capture instruction timing P2. The buffer memory 114 is controlled so that the high-quality image data d2 to be stored from the work area of the buffer memory 114 to the capture image area. As a result, in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114, together with the high-quality image data d1 of the period to1 previously accumulated,
High-quality image data d1 for the period to2 is accumulated.

By repeatedly performing the operations of steps S201 to S203 as described above, every time a capture instruction is given, high-quality image data corresponding to the timing is stored in the capture image area of the buffer memory 114. .. are accumulated.

When a monitoring end instruction is input, the monitoring ends at the timing Pe (the black triangle in FIG. 4) of the instruction. That is, the moving image monitor mode ends.

As a result, the memory management circuit 115 outputs the high-quality image data accumulated in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114 as described above, here, the high-quality image data d1 in the period to1 and the period to2. And d2 are the ratio of the data amount of the hierarchical structure, and the period to1
Then, the buffer memory 114 is controlled so that the transmission takes a time that is three times as long as the period to2 (15 times the difference from the low-quality image data) (step S205).

The memory management circuit 115 determines whether all the high-quality image data d1 and d2 in the captured image area of the buffer memory 114 have been read, ie, whether the transmission of the high-frequency information has been completed. Determine (Step S
206), the process of step S205 is repeatedly performed until the transmission ends.

Therefore, the high-quality image data d1 and d2 corresponding to the data in the periods to1 and to2 are collectively transmitted from the transmitting device 110 to the receiving device 120 at the ratio of the data amount of the hierarchical structure to the periods to1 and d2. The data is transmitted over a period three times as long as the period to2 (still image transmission mode), and the transmitted high-quality image data d1 and d2 are used for recording and the like as important captured images on the receiving device 120 side. It will be.

As described above, in the first embodiment, transmission for a normal monitor image is performed using standard-quality image data (information component B) having a low data rate, and transmission for an important captured image is performed. Is configured to perform high-quality image data (information component A) having a high data rate after the monitoring is completed, so that the data rate of the entire system can be suppressed low. Further, since high-quality image data (information component A) is used for the captured image, high image quality can be secured without deterioration of image quality. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of transmitting high-quality image data (information component A) and the prevention of loss of a monitor image, which is a conflicting condition. Furthermore, transmission is performed after temporarily storing high-quality image data (information component A) in the buffer memory 114. On the receiving device 120 side, the standard image quality corresponding to the high-quality image data (information component A) is transmitted. Since the image data (information component B) has already been received, the buffer memory 11
Storage capacity of standard image data (information component B)
Can be reduced. Therefore, a high quality image can be obtained while effectively using the buffer memory 114.

In the first embodiment, the image information constituting the monitor screen is standard-quality image data (information component B). However, low-quality image data (information component B) having a lower data rate is used. C). As a result, the data rate of the entire system can be further reduced.

The video camera 111 is used as a data source.
However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a digital video tape recorder / player (digital VTR)
Alternatively, a device that performs a reproducing process on a solid-state memory such as a disk-shaped recording medium or a semiconductor may be used.

Although the present invention is applied to the transmission system 100 including the transmitting device 110 and the receiving device 120, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to an apparatus including one device.

Next, a second embodiment will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, during the monitoring period of the standard image data (information component B) or the low image data (information component C), the high quality image data is received in response to the capture instruction. Data (information component A)
Is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 114, and after the monitoring is completed, the high-quality image data (information component A) stored in the buffer memory 114 is collectively transmitted. In the second embodiment, The image quality of the image used in the monitor screen display is changed according to the capture instruction.

The transmission system according to the second embodiment is different from the transmission system 10 according to the first embodiment.
0 (the above-described FIG. 1), the detailed description thereof will be omitted, and the transmission system in the second embodiment will be described below as the transmission system 100 in FIG. Here, only the differences from the first embodiment will be specifically described.

First, referring to FIG.
Will be described.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the lapse of time from left to right. The upper four stages q1 to q4 show data transmission on the communication channel 130, and the lower four stages q1 to q4.
The stages q5 to q16 correspond to the buffer memory 1 on the transmission device 110 side.
14 shows the state of data stored in the memory 14. Also,
Each stage number is proportional to the data amount.

More specifically, for data transmission on the communication channel 130, four stages q1 to q4 corresponding to the transmission level of the standard quality image data (information component B) are assigned. This means that the transmission level of standard-quality image data (information component B) is four times the transmission level of low-quality image data (information component C), as shown in FIG. Shows the relationship.

For the high-quality image data (information component A) stored in the buffer memory 114, the transmission level of the high-quality image data (information component A) is the same as the standard-quality image data (information component B). ), And the difference between the transmission level of the standard-quality image data (information component B) and the transmission level of the low-quality image data (information component C) is “3”. Thus, twelve (4 × 3 = 12) stages q5 to q16 are allocated to the high-quality image data (information component A) stored in the buffer memory 114.

Therefore, first, in a normal state, image data (information component B) of standard image quality is transmitted from the transmitting device 110 to the receiving device 120. As a result, the display circuit 123 on the receiving device 120 side displays a monitor screen with standard-quality image data (information component B).

At this time, in the first embodiment described above, image data other than the standard quality image data (information component B), that is, high quality image data (information component A)
The low-quality image data (information component C) is temporarily stored in the buffer memory 114, but is not stored.

Next, the key input circuit 1 of the receiver 120
At 24, a capture instruction indicating the start of image capture (hereinafter, referred to as a capture start instruction) is issued at a timing start.
(A black triangle mark in FIG. 5), and after a lapse of to time from the timing, a capture instruction (hereinafter referred to as a capture end instruction) indicating the end of image capture is given at timing en.
When given by d (the black triangle in FIG. 5), the transmitting apparatus 110 side captures the start timing
From t, the accumulation of high-quality image data (information component A) in the buffer memory 114 is started, and the accumulation operation ends at the timing end of the capture end instruction.

Thereafter, on the transmission device 110 side, the high-quality image data (information component A) stored in the buffer memory 114, that is, the period t between the two timings start and end.
High-quality image data (information component A) corresponding to o is read and transmitted to the receiving device 120 (arrow in FIG. 5).

At this time, the transmission device 11 determines the ratio of the data amount of each transmission level in the hierarchical structure as shown in FIG.
From 0, the time for transmitting high-quality image data (information component A) to the receiving apparatus 120 is determined.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, assuming that standard-quality image data (information component B) is four units, the transmission level of high-quality image data (information component A) is Since this is four times the transmission level of the component B), there are 16 units. Further, the transmission level of the low-quality image data (information component C) is ４ of the transmission level of the standard-quality image data (information component B), so that one unit is provided.

Therefore, at the timing end when the capture end instruction is given, the transmitting device 110
The image quality of the image data for display on the monitor screen to be transmitted to the unit is set to 4 units of standard-quality image data (information component B).
From one unit of low-quality image data (information component C)
And 3 units, which is the difference, are allocated to the remaining data of 16 units of high-quality image data (information component A), that is, 12 units (16-4 = 12) of remaining transmission data.

Thus, after the timing end, the transmission residual data of one unit of low-quality image data (information component C) and 12 units of high-quality image data (information component A) are received from the transmitting device 110. Communication path 13 to device 120
0 will be transmitted.

For data transmission on the communication channel 130,
As described above, four stages q1 to q4 are allocated.
Of these four stages q1 to q4, one stage q1 is allocated to transmission of low-quality image data (information component C), and the remaining three
Stages q2 to q4 are allocated to the transmission of remaining data of high-quality image data (information component A).

Therefore, the above-mentioned remaining transmission data of 12 units corresponding to the period to is transmitted over a period of 4 to by the formula of 12 units / 3 stages = 4.

As described above, during the period 4to after the timing end, the transmitting apparatus 110
In 0, high-quality image data (information component A) corresponding to the period to is transmitted, and at the same time, low-quality image data (information component C) is transmitted. Then, the receiving device 120
On the side, the high-quality image data (information component A) and the standard-quality image data (information component B) previously received for the monitor screen are combined to obtain a high-quality captured image. During this time, the image quality of the monitor screen of the display circuit 123 switches from the standard image quality to the low image quality.

Thereafter, when the transmission of the high-quality image data (information component A) is completed, that is, after a lapse of 4 to time, the transmission device 110 again transmits the standard-quality image data (information component B) to the reception device 120. Is transmitted, and the image quality of the monitor screen of the display circuit 123 on the receiving device 120 side switches from low image quality to standard image quality.

Next, the operation of the transmission system 100 for transmitting the above-described image data will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when monitoring is started as described above, standard-quality moving image data (information component B) is transmitted from the transmitting device 110 to the receiving device 120 (step S301).

Next, the receiving apparatus 120 waits for a capture start instruction start from the user (step S302), and during this time, the display circuit 123 of the receiving apparatus 120.
In this case, the monitor screen is displayed using standard-quality moving image data.

When a capture start instruction start is input from the user in the receiving apparatus 120, command data of the capture start instruction start is transmitted to the transmission apparatus 110, and the transmission apparatus 110 transmits the capture start instruction star.
Recognize that t has been entered. Accordingly, the hierarchical encoding circuit 112 of the transmitting device 110 stores the high-quality image data (information component A) obtained by the above-described encoding process in the buffer memory 114 (Step S303).

Next, the receiving apparatus 120 waits for a capture end instruction end from the user (step S).
304) During this time, high-quality image data is stored in the buffer memory 114.

When the capture end instruction end from the user is input to the receiving device 120, the command data of the capture end instruction end is transmitted to the transmission device 110, and the transmission device 110 transmits the capture end instruction end. Recognize the input. Thereby, the transmitting device 11
The 0-side hierarchical coding circuit 112 switches the image data to be output to the transmission circuit 113 from the standard quality moving image data to the low quality image data (information component C). Therefore, low-quality image data is transmitted to the receiving device 120 over a period of 4 to, and the image quality of the monitor screen of the display circuit 123 switches from the standard image quality to the low image quality (step S305).

At the same time, the memory management circuit 115 of the transmitting apparatus 110 determines whether the high-quality image data accumulated in the buffer memory 114 as described above, that is, the timing of the capture start instruction start and the capture end instruction end. The buffer memory 114 is controlled such that high-quality image data corresponding to the period to is read out from the transmission circuit 113. Thereby, the receiving device 120
, High-quality image data of the period to is transmitted over the period 4to (step S306).

Next, the memory management circuit 115 of the transmitting device 110 determines whether or not all the high-quality image data stored in the buffer memory 114 has been read, ie, whether or not the transmission of the high-frequency information has been completed. Is determined (step S30).
7) Step S306 is repeated until the transmission is completed.

When the transmission of the high-frequency information is completed, the state of waiting for the monitoring end instruction as described above is awaited. Until the instruction is input, steps S301 to S30 are performed.
7 is repeated (step S307).

As a result, the display circuit 123 of the receiving apparatus 120 again displays a monitor screen with standard-quality moving image data.

When a monitoring end instruction is input, the monitoring by the display circuit 123 ends, and this operation ends.

As described above, in the second embodiment, a normal monitor screen is displayed using standard quality image data, and a capture start instruction and an end instruction for capturing an important capture image are given. When the period (area) of the important captured image is set,
The image quality of the monitor screen is reduced, the data rate for monitor screen display occupying the communication path 130 is reduced, and the margin of the communication path 130 secured by the reduction of the data rate is used for the setting period accumulated in the buffer memory 114. The corresponding high-quality image data is transmitted to the receiving device 120. On the receiving device 120 side, high-quality capture corresponding to the set period is performed by combining the standard-quality image data previously received for display on the monitor screen with the high-quality image data received later. Get an image. In this manner, the transmission of high-quality image data having a high data rate is adaptively performed. In addition to the effects obtained in the above-described first embodiment, in particular, a moving image monitor It is possible to reliably prevent missing images on the screen,
In addition, it is possible to obtain an effect that transmission of high-quality image data can be realized without a large delay.

[0096]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the transmission from the transmitting side to the receiving side, the transmission of the first image information and the second image information having different data rates is adaptively performed. By performing the switching, the display means on the receiving side displays a screen with the second image information, and after the screen display period ends, the first means obtained by the instruction from the receiving side to the transmitting side.
Is configured to be transmitted from the transmission side to the reception side in a lump, waste on the transmission path can be reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the entire transmission system can be improved. According to a second aspect, in the first aspect, the second image information is transmitted for display of a screen (monitor screen) on a normal display means, and the monitor screen is displayed on the second image information. When an image capture instruction is given by the instruction means during display, the first image information corresponding to the timing of the instruction is stored in the storage means, and after the monitor screen display period ends, the first image information is stored in the storage means. The first image information can be transmitted collectively. As described above, by transmitting the first image information adaptively to the important captured image, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission system can be reduced. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of the transmission of the first image information and the prevention of image loss on the monitor screen, which is a conflicting condition. According to a third aspect, in the second aspect, the second image information of the low image quality component having a low data rate is transmitted for normal monitor screen display, and only the important captured image is transmitted. After the monitor screen display period ends, the first image information of the high image quality component having a high data rate can be transmitted collectively. As a result, the data rate of the entire system can be kept low, and an actually required image can be obtained with a higher image quality than the monitor screen. In addition, the first of high image quality components
Is transmitted after being stored in the storage means once. Since the receiving side has already received the second image information of the low image quality component, the storage capacity of the storage means is reduced to the low image quality. It can be reduced by the amount of the second image information of the component.
Therefore, the storage means can be used effectively.
According to the fourth aspect, in the transmission from the transmission side to the reception side, when the display unit displays the screen with the second image information and the reception side instructs the transmission side The transmission of the second image information is switched to the transmission of the third image information, thereby changing the image quality of the display screen of the display means. Using the margin, the first image information corresponding to the timing of the instruction from the receiving side to the transmitting side can be transmitted to the receiving side. As a result, waste on the transmission path can be reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the entire transmission system can be improved. According to a fifth aspect, in the fourth aspect, the screen (monitor screen) on the normal display means is performed with the image quality of the second image information, and the image capture instruction is given by the instruction means. First, the first image information corresponding to the timing of the instruction is stored in the storage means, the image quality of the monitor screen is changed to the image quality of the third image information, and the margin of the transmission path secured by the change of the image quality is used. Thus, the first image information during the period in which the instruction to capture the image stored in the storage unit is given can be transmitted. As described above, by transmitting the first image information adaptively to the important captured image, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission system can be reduced. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of the transmission of the first image information and the prevention of image loss on the monitor screen, which is a conflicting condition. In particular, it is possible to realize the transmission of the first image information without causing a loss of a moving image on the monitor screen and without causing a large delay. According to a sixth aspect, in the fifth aspect, the screen (monitor screen) on the normal display means performs the image processing using the image quality of the second image information of the standard image quality component having a low data rate, When a capture instruction is issued, first image information of a high image quality component having a high data rate corresponding to the timing of the instruction is stored in the storage means, and the image quality of the monitor screen is reduced to a low image quality component having a lower data rate. The image quality is changed to the image quality of the third image information, the image quality is changed, the data rate for the monitor screen shown on the transmission path is reduced, and the image capture instruction is issued using the transmission path margin secured thereby. It is possible to transmit the first image information of the high image quality component during a certain period. As described above, by transmitting the first image information of the high image quality component having a high data rate adaptively to an important captured image, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission system can be suppressed low. On the receiving side, in addition to the second image information of the standard image quality component previously transmitted for monitor screen display and the first image information of the high image quality component transmitted later, the receiving side is used. The image can be obtained with higher image quality than the image on the monitor screen. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of transmitting the first image information of the high image quality component and the prevention of image dropout on the monitor screen, which are mutually exclusive conditions. In particular, it is possible to realize the transmission of the first image information of the high image quality component without a large delay without causing the loss of the moving image on the monitor screen. According to a seventh aspect, in the second or fourth aspect, the first and third image information having different image quality components or the first to third image information having different image quality components are obtained by the hierarchical coding process. Image information can be obtained. According to the eighth invention, in the second or fourth invention, the transmission efficiency of the entire transmission system can be further improved by the MPEG processing. According to the ninth aspect, the display means is configured to adaptively switch between transmission of image information of a low-quality component having a low data rate and transmission of image information of a high-quality component having a high data rate. , The normal monitor screen is displayed on the basis of image information of a low-quality component having a low data rate, and an important captured image can be obtained with image information of a high-quality component having a high data rate.
As a result, important captured images can be secured with higher image quality than the monitor screen, and the transmission data rate of the entire system can be suppressed. In addition, the immediacy of transmission of image information of high image quality components and the lack of images on the monitor screen
It is possible to satisfy both conditions that may conflict with each other. Further, the image information of the high image quality component is transmitted after being stored in the storage unit once, but since the image information of the low image quality component has already been received on the receiving side, the storage capacity of the storage unit is increased by this amount. This can be reduced by the amount corresponding to the image information of the low image quality component. Therefore, the storage means can be used effectively. According to the tenth aspect, a normal monitor screen display on the display unit is performed with the image quality component of the standard data rate, and non-transmitted image information that is not transmitted for the monitor screen display is stored in the storage unit in parallel. When a period (region) of an important captured image is designated, the image quality of the monitor screen display image is reduced, the data rate of the monitor screen display image information occupying a transmission path is reduced, and the data rate is reduced. By starting the transmission of the non-transmission image information stored in the storage means using the margin of the transmission path secured by the above, the high-quality component of the image information corresponding to the period of the captured image is transmitted. Therefore, on the receiving side,
In addition to the image information of the standard data rate image quality component (standard image quality component) previously transmitted for the monitor screen display, the image information of the high quality component transmitted later is used to generate the captured image. Image information corresponding to a period can be obtained with high image quality. In this way, by adaptively transmitting a high-quality component having a high data rate, the transmission data rate of the entire system can be suppressed low. The important captured image can secure higher image quality than an image on a normal monitor screen, that is, image information of a low image quality component having a low data rate. Furthermore, it is possible to satisfy both the immediacy of transmitting the image information of the high image quality component and the condition that may be contrary to the lack of the image on the monitor screen. In particular, loss of an image on a monitor screen of a moving image can be reliably prevented, and transmission of image information of a high-quality component can be realized without a large delay. According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, in the transmission from the transmitting means to the receiving means, the transmission of the first image information and the second image information having different data rates is adaptively switched to perform the display of the receiving means. The means displays a screen with the second image information, and after the screen display period ends, collectively transmits the first image information obtained by the instruction from the receiving means to the transmitting means from the transmitting means to the receiving means. Configuration, it is possible to reduce waste on the transmission path,
The transmission efficiency of the entire transmission device can be improved. According to a twelfth aspect, in the eleventh aspect, the second image information is transmitted for display of a screen (monitor screen) on a normal display means, and the monitor screen is displayed on the second image information. If an instruction to capture an image is given by the instruction means during the display, the first image corresponding to the timing of the instruction is displayed.
The first image information stored in the storage means can be transmitted collectively after the monitor screen display period ends. As described above, by transmitting the first image information adaptively to the important captured image, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission device can be suppressed to be low. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of the transmission of the first image information and the prevention of image loss on the monitor screen, which is a conflicting condition. According to the thirteenth invention,
In the twelfth aspect, the second image information of a low image quality component having a low data rate is transmitted for normal monitor screen display, and only important captured images are transmitted after the monitor screen display period ends. , The first of high quality components with high data rate
Image information can be transmitted collectively. As a result, the data rate of the entire transmission device can be suppressed, and an actually required image can be obtained with a higher image quality than the monitor screen. Also, the first image information of the high image quality component is transmitted after being stored in the storage means once.
Since the second image information of the low image quality component has already been received by the receiving unit, the storage capacity of the storage unit can be reduced by the amount of the second image information of the low image quality component. Therefore, the storage means can be used effectively. First
According to the fourth aspect, in the transmission from the transmission unit to the reception unit, when the display unit displays the screen with the second image information and the reception unit instructs the transmission unit, Is configured to change the image quality of the display screen of the display means by switching the transmission of the second image information to the transmission of the third image information. , The first image information corresponding to the timing of the instruction from the receiving means to the transmitting means can be transmitted to the receiving means. As a result, waste on the transmission path can be reduced, and the transmission efficiency of the entire transmission device can be improved. According to a fifteenth aspect, in the fourteenth aspect, the screen (monitor screen) on the normal display means is performed with the image quality of the second image information, and the image capture instruction is issued by the instruction means First, the first image information corresponding to the timing of the instruction is stored in the storage means, the image quality of the monitor screen is changed to the image quality of the third image information, and the margin of the transmission path secured by the change of the image quality is used. Thus, the first image information during the period in which the instruction to capture the image stored in the storage unit is given can be transmitted. in this way,
By transmitting the first image information adaptively to important captured images, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission device can be reduced. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of the transmission of the first image information and the prevention of image loss on the monitor screen, which is a conflicting condition. In particular, it is possible to realize the transmission of the first image information without causing a loss of a moving image on the monitor screen and without causing a large delay. According to a sixteenth aspect, in the fifteenth aspect, the screen (monitor screen) on the normal display means performs the image processing using the image quality of the second image information of the standard image quality component having a low data rate, If there is an instruction to import,
The first image information of the high image quality component having a high data rate corresponding to the timing of the instruction is stored in the storage means, and the image quality of the monitor screen is changed to the image quality of the third image information of the low image quality component having a lower data rate. And by changing the image quality,
It is possible to reduce the data rate for the monitor screen shown on the transmission path and transmit the first image information of the high image quality component during the period in which the image capture instruction is given, by using the reserved transmission path margin. it can. As described above, by transmitting the first image information of the high image quality component having a high data rate adaptively to an important captured image, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission device can be suppressed low. Further, the receiving means uses the first image information of the high-quality component transmitted later, in addition to the second image information of the standard-quality component previously transmitted for display on the monitor screen, and acquires the image. The image can be obtained with higher image quality than the image on the monitor screen. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of transmitting the first image information of the high image quality component and the prevention of image dropout on the monitor screen, which are mutually exclusive conditions. In particular, no loss of moving images occurs on the monitor screen, and the first
Of the image information can be realized without a large delay. According to a seventeenth aspect, in the twelfth or fourteenth aspect, the first and second image information having different image quality components or the first to third image information having different image quality components are obtained by the hierarchical encoding process. Image information can be obtained. According to the eighteenth invention, in the twelfth or fourteenth invention, the transmission efficiency of the entire transmission device can be further improved by the MPEG processing. According to the nineteenth aspect, the display means is configured to adaptively switch between transmission of image information of a low image quality component having a low data rate and transmission of image information of a high image quality component having a high data rate. , The normal monitor screen is displayed on the basis of image information of a low-quality component having a low data rate, and an important captured image can be obtained with image information of a high-quality component having a high data rate. As a result, important captured images can be secured with higher image quality than the monitor screen, and the transmission data rate of the entire transmission device can be suppressed. Further, it is possible to achieve both the immediacy of transmitting the image information of the high-quality component and the condition that may be contrary to the lack of the image on the monitor screen. Further, the image information of the high image quality component is transmitted after being stored in the storage unit once. However, since the image information of the low image quality component has already been received by the receiving unit, the storage capacity of the storage unit is increased. This can be reduced by the amount corresponding to the image information of the low image quality component. Therefore, the storage means can be used effectively. According to the twentieth aspect, the normal monitor screen display on the display means is performed with the image quality component of the standard data rate, and the non-transmitted image information which is not transmitted for the monitor screen display is stored in the storage means in parallel. When a period (region) of an important captured image is designated, the image quality of the monitor screen display image is reduced, the data rate of the monitor screen display image information occupying a transmission path is reduced, and the data rate is reduced. By starting the transmission of the non-transmission image information stored in the storage means using the margin of the transmission path secured by the above, the high-quality component of the image information corresponding to the period of the captured image is transmitted. Accordingly, the receiving means adds the image information of the image quality component (standard image quality component) of the standard data rate previously transmitted for display on the monitor screen, and transmits the image information later. Using the image information of high quality components can, image information corresponding to a period of the captured image can be obtained in high quality. In this way, by adaptively transmitting a high-quality component having a high data rate, the transmission data rate of the entire transmission device can be suppressed low. The important captured image can secure higher image quality than an image on a normal monitor screen, that is, image information of a low image quality component having a low data rate. Furthermore, the immediacy of transmission of image information of high image quality components,
It is possible to satisfy both of the conditions that may be contrary to each other, that is, the lack of an image on the monitor screen. In particular, loss of an image on a monitor screen of a moving image can be reliably prevented, and transmission of image information of a high-quality component can be realized without a large delay.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a transmission system to which an image transmission system according to the present invention is applied in a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a data configuration in a hierarchical encoding circuit of the transmission system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the transmission system.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart for explaining the operation of the transmission system.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining an operation of the transmission system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a data configuration in a hierarchical encoding circuit of the transmission system.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the transmission system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 transmission system 110 transmission device 111 video camera 112 hierarchical encoding circuit 113 transmission circuit 114 buffer memory 115 memory management circuit 116 reception circuit 120 reception device 121 reception circuit 122 hierarchical decoding circuit 123 display circuit 124 key input circuit 125 system control circuit 126 Transmission circuit 130 Communication path

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A first image information comprising an arbitrary image quality component and at least a second image information comprising an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information from a transmission side to a reception side.
An image transmission system in which image information is transmitted and a screen is displayed on the receiving side with the second image information by a display unit, wherein the transmitting side displays a screen on the display unit on the receiving side. After the end of the period, the first
An image transmission system, wherein the image information is transmitted to the receiving side in a lump. 2. The transmitting side performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first image information and the second image information, and an encoding unit that obtains the first image information and the second image information. 1
Storage means for storing the first image information obtained by the encoding means and the first image information stored in the storage means.
Output means for switching and outputting the image information, and control means for controlling a switching output operation in the output means, wherein the receiving side performs decoding processing on the image information from the output means. And instructing means for instructing image capture, wherein the transmitting-side storage means stores first image information obtained by the encoding means based on an instruction from the receiving-side instruction means. 2. The image transmission system according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls a switching output operation of said output means based on an end of a screen display period on said reception side display means. 3. The image transmission system according to claim 2, wherein said first image information comprises an image quality component higher than an image quality component of said second image information. 4. A first image information composed of an arbitrary image quality component and at least a second image information composed of an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information transmitted from a transmission side to a reception side.
An image transmission system in which image information and third image information are transmitted, and on the receiving side, the second image information and the third image information from the transmitting side are displayed on a screen by display means, The transmitting side switches between the second image information and the third image information based on the instruction from the receiving side and transmits the information to the receiving side, and simultaneously obtains the information based on the instruction from the receiving side. Transmitting the first image information to the receiving side. 5. The transmitting side performs encoding processing on input image information to obtain the first to third image information, and a first image obtained by the encoding means. Storage means for storing information; output means for switching and outputting the second and third image information obtained by the encoding means and outputting the first image information stored in the storage means; Control means for controlling an output operation in the output means, the receiving side includes a decoding means for performing a decoding process on the image information from the output means, and an instruction means for instructing image capture, The storage unit on the transmission side stores the first image information obtained by the encoding unit based on an instruction from the instruction unit on the reception side, and the control unit stores the first image information from the instruction unit on the reception side. Controlling the output operation of the output means based on the instruction. Image transmission system according to claim 4, wherein. 6. The first image information comprises an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information, and the second image information has an image quality higher than the image quality component of the third image information. 6. The image transmission system according to claim 5, comprising a component. 7. The image transmission system according to claim 2, wherein said encoding process is a hierarchical encoding process. 8. The image transmission system according to claim 2, wherein said encoding process is an MPEG process. 9. Encoding means for performing encoding processing on input image information, and first output means for outputting image information of a low image quality component included in the image information which has been encoded by the encoding means. A storage unit for storing at least image information other than the low image quality component included in the image information subjected to the encoding process by the encoding unit; and a second unit for outputting the image information stored in the storage unit. Output means; display means for displaying image information output from the first output means on a screen; and instructing means for giving an image capturing instruction. An image transmission system, wherein image information other than image quality components is stored in said storage means, and the image information stored in said storage means is transmitted collectively after a screen display period on said display means ends. 10. Encoding means for performing encoding processing on input image information, and first output means for outputting image information of a low image quality component included in the image information which has been encoded by said encoding means. A storage unit for storing at least image information other than the low image quality component included in the image information subjected to the encoding process by the encoding unit; and a second unit for outputting the image information stored in the storage unit. Output means; display means for displaying image information of the low image quality component output from the first output means on a screen; and instruction means for giving an image capture instruction. An image transmission system for changing image quality settings of an image to be transmitted to the display unit and transmitting the image information stored in the storage unit. 11. The transmitting means transmits, to a receiving means, first image information composed of an arbitrary image quality component and at least second image information composed of an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information. Transmitted, in the receiving means,
An image transmission apparatus in which a screen is displayed with the second image information by a display unit, wherein the transmission unit responds to an instruction from the reception unit after a period of the screen display on the display unit of the reception unit ends. An image transmission apparatus, wherein the first image information obtained based on the information is collectively transmitted to the receiving means. 12. The transmitting means performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first image information and the second image information, and the encoding means obtains the first image information and the second image information. Storage means for storing the first image information, output means for switching and outputting the second image information obtained by the encoding means and the first image information stored in the storage means, Control means for controlling the switching output operation of the transmitting means, the receiving means includes a decoding means for performing a decoding process on the image information from the output means, and an instruction means for instructing image capture, The storage means of the means stores the first image information obtained by the encoding means based on the instruction from the instruction means of the receiving means, and the control means displays the image on the display means of the receiving means. Based on the end of the period of Claim, characterized in that controlling the 換出 force operation 1
2. The image transmission device according to 1. 13. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first image information comprises an image quality component higher than the image quality component of said second image information. 14. A transmitting means from a transmitting means to a receiving means, wherein first image information comprising an arbitrary image quality component, and at least second image information comprising an image quality component different from the image quality component of the first image information; An image transmission apparatus in which third image information is transmitted, and in the receiving means, the second image information and the third image information from the transmission means are displayed on a screen by a display means, wherein the transmission means is , Based on an instruction from the receiving means,
The second image information and the third image information are switched and transmitted to the receiving means, and at the same time, the first image information obtained based on an instruction from the receiving means is transmitted to the receiving means. An image transmission device, comprising: 15. The transmitting means performs an encoding process on the input image information to obtain the first to third image information, and a first image obtained by the encoding means. Storage means for storing information; output means for switching and outputting the second and third image information obtained by the encoding means and outputting the first image information stored in the storage means; Control means for controlling an output operation in the output means, the receiving means includes a decoding means for performing a decoding process on the image information from the output means, and an instruction means for instructing image capture, The storage unit of the transmission unit stores the first image information obtained by the encoding unit based on the instruction from the instruction unit of the reception unit, and the control unit stores the first image information from the instruction unit of the reception unit. Output operation by the output means based on the instruction Image transmission apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control. 16. The first image information comprises an image quality component higher than the image quality component of the second image information, and the second image information has an image quality higher than the image quality component of the third image information. 16. The composition according to claim 15, comprising components.
The image transmission device as described in the above. 17. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said encoding process is a hierarchical encoding process. 18. The image transmission apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said encoding process is an MPEG process. 19. Encoding means for performing encoding processing on input image information, and first output means for outputting image information of a low image quality component included in the image information on which encoding processing has been performed by the encoding means. A storage unit for storing at least image information other than the low image quality component included in the image information subjected to the encoding process by the encoding unit; and a second unit for outputting the image information stored in the storage unit. Output means; display means for displaying image information output from the first output means on a screen; and instructing means for giving an image capturing instruction. An image transmission apparatus, wherein image information other than an image quality component is stored in the storage means, and after the screen display period on the display means ends, the image information stored in the storage means is transmitted collectively. 20. Encoding means for performing encoding processing on input image information, and first output means for outputting image information of a low image quality component included in the image information encoded by the encoding means. A storage unit for storing at least image information other than the low image quality component included in the image information subjected to the encoding process by the encoding unit; and a second unit for outputting the image information stored in the storage unit. Output means; display means for displaying image information of the low image quality component output from the first output means on a screen; and instruction means for giving an image capture instruction. An image transmission device that changes image quality settings of an image to be transmitted to the display unit and transmits image information stored in the storage unit.