Method and device for retrieving video image

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a video search method and a device, and more specifically, to a video search method and a device for searching and displaying video information stored in a storage device at high speed.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

The processing power of computers has improved dramatically, and it has become possible to use various inexpensive, large-capacity, high-speed devices as secondary storage devices. At the same time, due to improvements in image processing technology, especially image compression technology, it has become common to store moving image data in a secondary storage device and display the reproduced video on a computer monitor.

【0003】

In the conventional example, a video display window for displaying the video is set, and the video data stored in the secondary storage device is reproduced in order from the beginning and displayed in the video display window. The operation of a video file is exactly the same as the file operation of a normal file. That is, the file name of the target video file can be confirmed on the operating system, or an arbitrary video file can be specified and opened from the video display application software, and the contents can be displayed as a video. ..

【0004】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the conventional example, the only way to estimate the content of the video data is by the file name, and in the end, there is no choice but to play and display it to some extent. There is a length restriction on the file name (for example, in MS-DOS (trademark), the file name has a maximum of 8 bytes for the main body and a maximum of 3 bytes for the extension, for a total of 11 bytes). It's hard to give enough names to guess, and allowing too long filenames can be cumbersome to handle file operations and slow down the output of the results.

【0005】

Some video display application software displays a representative image (usually the first frame) for checking the contents when a video file is specified, but there is no choice but to specify the video files one by one. , Very troublesome and poor workability.

【0006】

An object of the present invention is to solve these problems and to present a video search method and an apparatus capable of easily searching an arbitrary video file from a plurality of video files.

【0007】

[Means for solving problems]

In the present invention, a wide range of search keywords can be assigned to each video information stored in the video storage device by the search keyword assignment step or means. Desirable video information is extracted from the input search keyword and this search keyword, and the extraction result is obtained by the basic information display step or means, and the basic information, specifically, the given search keyword, file name, and List the start date and time. As a result, it is possible to select the video information that is truly desired to be displayed from the extraction results based on more detailed information as compared with the conventional example.

【0008】

The video information to be displayed is selected by the selection step or means, and a plurality of video information is displayed on the same screen at the same time by the video display step or means. Since a plurality of video information is displayed at the same time, desired video information can be selected based on the content of the video.

【0009】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

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

【0010】

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. Multiple video communication devices (substantially computers or workstations) 10-1 to 10-6 are a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) including a telephone network, ISDN, and a leased line. ) Connect to the data network 12. A video storage device 14 for storing a plurality of video files, so to speak, a video server is connected to the network 12, and each video communication device 10-1 to 10-6 freely accesses the video storage device 14 via the network 12. Then, any video file stored in the video storage device 14 can be read out and displayed on the monitor screen of the own station. Video cameras 16-1 to 16-4 are connected to the video communication devices 10-1 to 10-4, respectively, and video can be input for the desired target, and the input video can be input to other video communication devices 10-1 to 10-. It can be freely transmitted to 6 and the video storage device 14.

【0011】

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of the video communication devices 10-1 to 10-4. The video communication devices 10-1 to 10-6 include a CPU 20, a main memory 22, an operating device 24 consisting of a keyboard and / or a pointing device (for example, a mouse), a secondary storage device 26 such as a hard disk device, and a bitmap. Display 28, video input control device 30 that controls the connected video cameras 16-1 to 16-4, converts the video output into digital signals and captures them internally, video coding that compresses and decompresses digital video information It includes a decoding device 32 and a communication control device 34 that controls communication via the network 12. Since the video communication devices 10-5 and 10-6 are not connected to a video camera, the video communication device 10 is basically not provided with a device corresponding to the video input control device 30. Same as -1 to 10-4.

【0012】

The video storage device 14 is also essentially a combination of a high-performance personal computer or workstation and a large-capacity auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk device, an optical disk drive device, a magneto-optical disk drive device, and a magnetic tape drive device. Consists of.

【0013】

In addition to the video file, the video storage device 14 stores a search file management table for searching the stored video file. FIG. 3 shows an example of the structure and contents of the file management table. Each video communication device 10-1 to 10-6 that intends to store a video file in the video storage device 14 can add information about the video file to be stored to this file management table, and is stored in the video storage device 14. The video communication devices 10-1 to 10-6 that try to search for a video file can read the information in the file management table.

【0014】

The file management table shown in FIG. 3 consists of keywords, file names, directories in the video storage device 14, video start date and time, and video end date and time as data items. The end date and time may be an absolute value, but may be a relative time from the start date and time. You can register multiple keywords. The start date and time may be 0 unless otherwise specified. The end date and time may also be 0 unless otherwise specified.

【0015】

FIG. 4 is an example of a search keyword setting screen for setting keywords in the file management table shown in FIG. The window 40 is provided with a field 42 for displaying the file name together with the directory path, a keyword input field 44, an existing keyword display field 46 for displaying a list of existing keywords, an OK button 48, and a cancel button 50. If the existing keywords cannot be displayed in the existing keyword display field 46 all at once, the display list can be scrolled up and down by moving the notch or the slider 52 up and down. There are two methods for inputting keywords, one is to select from the keywords displayed in the existing keyword display field 46, and the other is to directly type the keyword in the input field 44. One or more keywords selected or entered are entered in a series in the keyword entry field 44. The keyword selected in the existing keyword display field 46 is highlighted.

【0016】

When you have finished entering the required keywords, select the OK button 48. Then, the input information is posted to the corresponding item in the file management table shown in FIG. If keywords are set when the video is stored in the video storage device 14, it is clear that the start time and end time information is also added to the file management table. That is, the keyword can be set in the file management table not only when the video file is stored in the video storage device 14, but also at any time after the storage.

【0017】

Select Cancel button 50 if you want to stop entering keywords. Then, the operation performed on the window 40 is invalidated until then.

【0018】

FIG. 5 shows an example of a search keyword input screen for searching a target video file. The search keyword input window 60 is the same as the keyword setting window 40 shown in FIG. 4, except that the file name display field 42 is not provided. That is, the window 60 is provided with a keyword input field 62, an existing keyword display field 64 for displaying a list of existing keywords, an OK button 66, and a cancel button 68. If the existing keywords cannot be displayed in the existing keyword display field 64 at once, the display list can be scrolled up and down by moving the notch or the slider 70 up and down. There are two methods for inputting keywords, one is to select from the keywords displayed in the existing keyword display field 64, and the other is to directly type the keyword in the input field 62. One or more keywords selected or entered are entered in a series in the keyword entry field 44. The keyword selected in the existing keyword display field 46 is highlighted.

【0019】

When you have finished entering the required keywords, select the OK button 66. Then, based on the entered keyword, the search is started using the file management table shown in Fig. 3.

【0020】

When the cancel button 68 is selected regardless of before or after entering the keyword, the keyword input for the search is stopped and the search is not started.

【0021】

Each video communication device 10-1 to 10-6 searches the keyword field of the file management table shown in FIG. 3 according to the keyword entered in the search keyword input window 60 shown in FIG. 5, and inputs 1 or more. Pick up a video file that has any one of the keywords in. FIG. 6 shows a related file list table consisting of the picked up information. FIG. 6 shows the file management table shown in FIG. 3 from each information of the video file containing the keywords company, travel or tennis entered in the search keyword input window 60 shown in FIG. 5 as keywords. Become. The related file list table shown in FIG. 6 includes a display flag item in addition to the file management table item shown in FIG. 3, which is a nominal item used for actual display.

【0022】

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the procedure for creating the related file list table shown in FIG. 6 from the file management table shown in FIG. First, the file management table (FIG. 3) stored in the video storage device 14 is acquired via the network 12 (S1). Check the existence of the search keyword entered in the search keyword setting window (Fig. 4) (S2), and if there is a search keyword (S2), get each keyword from the input character string in the search keyword setting window. (S3).

【0023】

Then, for each keyword, compare it with the keyword registered in the keyword field of the file management table copied in S1, and extract the recorded information of each file that matches the keyword from the file management table (copy) and list the related files. Build a table (S4 ~ S9). That is, the keywords of each video file are read out in order from the keyword field of (copy) of the file management table (S5), and compared with the search keywords 8S6). If the keywords match (S7), it is checked whether it is registered in the related file list table (S8), and if it is not registered (S8), it is registered in the related file list table (S9). If the keywords do not match (S7), or if the keywords match but are already registered in the related file list table (S8), compare with the keywords of the next video file (S5 to S9).

【0024】

If there are no video files to investigate (S4), check if there are still search keywords (S2), if there are search keywords (S2), repeat S3 and later, if there are no search keywords (S2), end ..

【0025】

FIG. 8 shows an example of a screen displayed as a result of the search operation shown in FIG. 7. On the screen shown in FIG. 8, the information of each item in the related file list table shown in FIG. 6 excluding the item of the display flag is displayed. The user selects one or more videos that he / she actually wants to display from this file list. You can select multiple video files. With the all select button, you can select all the video files at once. Click the OK button to complete the selection of the video you want to display.

【0026】

When the video to be displayed is selected, flag information indicating whether or not to display is written in the display flag field of the related file list table (Fig. 6). FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents of the related file list table when a file other than the video files on the second and third lines is selected.

【0027】

The related file list table, especially its display flag field, can be changed at any time. Needless to say, by searching the file management table with new search conditions, a completely new related file list table can be blocked at any time.

【0028】

FIG. 10 shows a flowchart of the operation routine of the related file list table. When there is some event (S11), it is determined whether it is an OK button, a full selection button, or a file selection (S12, S13, S14). For the operation of the OK button (S12), this process ends. For the operation of the all select button (S13), set the display flag field of all files in the related file list table to "display" (S14). For file selection (S15), check the display flag field of the file (S16), set it to "Hide" if it is "Show" (S17), and "Show" if it is "Hide". (S18).

【0029】

FIG. 11 shows a display example of one or more video files searched and selected by this embodiment. In this embodiment, six moving image display windows 82 are set in the window 80. Below each moving image display window 82, a column 84 for displaying a keyword set for the image displayed there is set. If the keywords cannot be displayed all at once in column 84, a notch or slider 86 is displayed below column 84, and the displayed contents can be scrolled left and right. On the right side of column 84, a video end button 88 for instructing the video end is set.

【0030】

It is clear that the same operation buttons as the operation panel of the video table recorder may be arranged for each moving image display window 82.

【0031】

In the video display window to which no video file is assigned, a character indicating that fact, "no video" is displayed in FIG.

【0032】

If there are seven or more images to be displayed, the window 80 itself may be switched. In addition, the remaining one video may be assigned to the video display window that has finished displaying the video.

【0033】

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of a process of simultaneously displaying one or more video files whose display has been selected as a moving image as shown in FIG. Initialize the variable df with 1 and the variable dn with 0 (S21). The variables df and dn are both IDs that identify one of the six video display windows 82.

【0034】

When the video file is displayed to the end in any of the video display windows 82 (S23), check the display flag column of the related file list table to see if there is a video file to be displayed next (S26). Also, if the display end button is operated during display (S24), obtain the ID indicating the corresponding video display window and assign it to dn (S25), and similarly, whether there is a video file to be displayed next. Is checked by the display flag column of the related file list table (S26).

【0035】

If there is no video file to be displayed next (S26), "No video" is displayed in the video display window displayed to the end of the file or the video display window whose display ends in the middle (S34).

【0036】

Extract the video files whose display flag is "display" in order from the related file list table (S26, 27, 28).

【0037】

When the video file to be displayed is extracted (S28), the value of dn is checked (S29), and if dn is other than 0, the value of dn is assigned to df to specify the next video display window. (S30).

【0038】

Check if there is space in the video display window (S31), display the video file in the video display window indicated by df (S32), increment df (S33), and wait for the next event (S22).

【0039】

In the above embodiment, the video file is searched using the keyword as the search key, but the search key may be the recording start time. Furthermore, by setting various items such as camera position information and weather information at the time of shooting in the file management table, it becomes possible to search under a wider range of conditions.

【0040】

Existing video transmission technology can be used to send and receive video data via the network.

【0041】

It is possible to display the desired video file searched and displayed by this embodiment in full screen by giving the file name to another software or another module in the same software. ,it is obvious.

【0042】

[Effect of the invention]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, a desired video file can be easily and quickly searched for and displayed from a plurality of video files. Also, by displaying multiple videos on one screen at the same time, the contents of multiple video files can be checked at the same time.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

It is a schematic block diagram of the network configuration of one Example of this invention.

[Figure 2]

It is a schematic block diagram of video communication devices 10-1 to 10-4.

[Fig. 3]

This is an example of the structure and contents of the file management table for searching.

[Fig. 4]

This is the search keyword setting screen.

[Fig. 5]

This is the search keyword input screen.

[Fig. 6]

This is an example of the structure and contents of the related file list table.

[Fig. 7]

It is a flowchart of the related file list table creation process.

[Fig. 8]

This is an example of a search result display screen.

[Fig. 9]

This is an example of the contents of the related file list table after the display is selected.

[Fig. 10]

It is a flowchart of the related file list table update process.

[Fig. 11]

This is an example of a video display screen.

[Fig. 12]

It is a flowchart of a video display process.

[Explanation of symbols]

10-1 ~ 10-6: Video communication device 12: Data network 14: Video storage device 16-1 ~ 16-4: Video camera 20: CPU 22: Main memory 24: Operating device 26: Secondary storage 28: Bitmap display 30: Video input control device 32: Video coding / decoding device 34: Communication control device 40: Search keyword setting window 42: File name display field 44: Keyword input field 46: Existing keyword display field 48: OK button 50: Cancel button 52: Notch or slider 60: Search keyword input window 62: Keyword input field 64: Existing keyword display field 66: OK button 68: Cancel button 70: Notch or slider 80: Window 82: Video display window 84: Keyword display field 86: Notch or slider 88: Video end button