JP2001169244A - Video image capture device and its capture image display method and computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease bus traffic and to display a captured image on a monitor without degradation in image quality. SOLUTION: In the video image capture device 20 where an MPEG2 encoder 23 compresses a signal of a video image from a video decoder 22 that is connected to a PCI bus 1 of a computer and receives the signal from an image input terminal 21 and the compressed signal is outputted to the PCI bus 1, the video decoder 22 converts an analog video image signal received from the image input terminal 21 into a digital signal and provides an output of the digital signal to the MPEG2 encoder 23 and also provides an output of the digital signal directly to the PCI bus 1, from which the digital signal is transferred to a video memory 16 of the computer, and the monitor 18 displays the captured video image on the basis of the digital signal converted from the analog signal by the video decoder 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video image capture device for capturing a video image as a digital image in a computer or the like, and a captured image display method for displaying the video image captured by the video image capture device online on a monitor of a computer or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a video image capture device, a method of displaying captured images, and a computer, which require less traffic on a data transfer bus of a computer or the like, and in which image quality of an image displayed online on a monitor is small.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a video image capture device (hereinafter referred to as a capture board) used in a conventional personal computer. A conventional capture board 10 mounted on a PCI bus of a computer includes a video decoder 12 for converting a video signal (composite signal or S-video signal) captured from a terminal 11 into a digital signal (YUV), and a digital signal (YUV). YU
V) and convert it to an MPEG2 stream
MPEG (Motion Picture Coding E
xperts Group) 2 encoder 13 and an MPEG2 stream fetched from PCI bus 1 into a digital signal (YU
V) is provided.

When a video image is captured by a computer equipped with the conventional capture board 10 and stored in a hard disk 15, a video signal captured from a terminal 11 is converted into a digital signal (YUV) by a video decoder 12.
Convert to However, if the digital signal (YUV) is stored on the hard disk as it is, a huge amount of data will be required. Therefore, in order to compress this data, the digital signal (YUV) is next converted by the MPEG2 encoder 13 into the MPEG2 signal.
By converting it to data and outputting this to the PCI bus,
The hard disk 15 stores a video image as MPEG2 image data.

On the other hand, there is a demand for confirming the captured image when executing the capture of the video image.
The PEG2 decoder 14 takes in the MPEG2 data from the PCI bus 1, converts it into a digital signal (YUV), and writes it to the video memory 16 of the computer via the PCI bus 1. This allows the accelerator chip 17 of the computer to store the video memory 16
Is read out, converted into RGB signals, and displayed on a display device 18 such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT, so that the captured image can be checked on the spot.

[0005]

In the prior art described above, the MPEG2 encoder 13 writes MPEG2 data to the hard disk 15 via the PCI bus 1 and
Since the PEG2 decoder 14 also takes in MPEG2 data from the PCI bus 1 and writes a digital signal (YUV) obtained by inversely converting the digital signal into the video memory 16 via the PCI bus 1, there is a problem that the traffic on the PCI bus 1 is large. In addition, since a restored image obtained by decoding an image that has been irreversibly compressed to MPEG2 data is displayed as the above-mentioned image for confirmation, there is a problem in that confirmation work is performed on an image whose image quality is slightly deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a video image capture device, a captured image display method, and a computer capable of confirming a captured image with a good image with no image quality deterioration, requiring less traffic on a data transfer bus. To provide.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object,
The video image capture device of the present invention is a video image capture device connected to a bus of a computer, which compresses a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal by an image compression means and outputs the signal to the bus. Means for outputting an image signal, which is a digital signal, to the bus and transferring the image signal to a video memory of the computer.

The video image capture device of the present invention is connected to a bus of a computer, compresses a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal by image compression means, and outputs the compressed signal to the bus. A video decoder for converting an analog video image signal taken from an image input terminal into a digital signal, outputting the digital signal to the image compression means, and outputting the digital signal directly to the bus for transfer to a video memory of the computer; It is characterized by the following.

Further, in the video image capture device of the present invention, the image compression means is an MPEG2 encoder.

[0010] The computer according to the present invention is characterized in that a video image capture device is mounted.

Further, the computer according to the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a large-capacity storage medium for taking in and storing the image data compressed by the image compression means via the bus.

Further, in the method of displaying a captured image of the video image capturing apparatus according to the present invention, a video image signal which is connected to a bus of a computer, is compressed by an image compression means, and is output to the bus, is compressed from an image input terminal. In the captured image display method of the capture device, an image being captured is displayed on a monitor of the computer by outputting an image signal composed of a digital signal input to the image compression unit to the bus and transferring the image signal to a video memory of the computer. It is characterized by doing.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for displaying a captured image of a video image capturing apparatus, comprising the steps of: converting an analog signal of a video image taken from an image input terminal into a digital signal; And displaying the captured image on a monitor of the computer by directly outputting the digital signal to the bus and transferring the digital signal to a video memory of the computer. It is characterized by.

That is, the object of the present invention is to provide a video image capture device which is connected to a bus of a computer, compresses a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal by an image compression means and outputs the signal to the bus. This is achieved by outputting an image signal consisting of a digital signal to the bus, transferring the image signal to a video memory of the computer, and displaying the image on a monitor of the computer.

Since the digital signal before being compressed by the image compression means is directly transferred to the video memory and displayed on the monitor, a clear image without deterioration in image quality can be displayed. Also,
The traffic on the bus can be small, and the cost can be reduced because the compressed image restoring means for displaying the captured image is not required.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a video image capture device (capture board) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The capture board 20 according to the present embodiment has an input terminal 2 for capturing a video signal of a moving image.
1, a video decoder 22, and MPEG for moving image compression
2 encoder 23 and a number of connection terminals 24 connected to a data transfer bus such as the PCI bus 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a PCI bus).

The video decoder 22 takes in an analog video signal input to the input terminal 21, converts it into a digital signal (YUV), and converts this digital signal (YU
V), a vertical sync (Vsync) signal, and a horizontal sync (Hsync) signal to the MPEG2 encoder 23. The video decoder 22 outputs the same digital signal (YUV) as the digital signal (YUV) output to the MPEG2 encoder 23.
A digital signal (YUV) that is synchronized with each image unit (UV) and is directly output to the connection terminal 24 of the PCI bus 1.

The MPEG2 encoder 23 converts a digital signal (YUV) of a moving image that is input one after another into an MP one after another.
The stream is converted into EG2 data, and this stream of MPEG2 data is output to the connection terminal 24.

Next, the capture board 2 having the above-described configuration will be described.
The operation of the computer in which 0 is mounted on the PCI bus 1 will be described.

The MPEG2 transmitted from the MPEG2 encoder 23 of the capture board 20 to the PCI bus 1
The stream is written to the hard disk 15 which is a large-capacity storage medium connected to the PCI bus 1, so that the video image input to the capture board 20 is stored in the hard disk 15 in the form of data-compressed MPEG2 data.

On the other hand, a digital signal (YUV) sent directly from the video decoder 22 of the capture board 20 to the PCI bus 1 is written to the video memory 16.
The contents of the video memory 16 are subjected to color space conversion by the accelerator chip 17 to become RGB signals.
The data is transferred to the display device 18 and displayed on the monitor screen.

The monitor display image for monitoring the captured image according to the present embodiment is obtained by directly transferring the image data converted into a digital signal by the video decoder 22 to the video memory 16 for display. Once MP
Since it is not an image created by inversely converting the image converted to EG2 data, a beautiful image without image quality deterioration is obtained.

Further, since it is not necessary for the MPEG2 decoder to take in the MPEG2 stream from the PCI bus in order to create an image for monitoring a captured image as in the prior art,
The bus traffic is reduced, the data processing is simplified, and the need for mounting an MPEG2 decoder on the capture board 20 is eliminated, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

MP mounted on a conventional capture board
Although the MPEG2 decoder can be reduced by causing the CPU to perform the software processing of the EG2 decoder, in this case, the CPU must have a high performance in order to place a high load on the CPU, and furthermore, the image once compressed into the MPEG2 data must be processed. Since the CPU is restored, it is inevitable that the image quality slightly deteriorates. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, even in a personal computer equipped with a low-performance CPU,
A monitoring image without image quality degradation can be obtained at low cost.

In the above-described embodiment, the input video signal is described as an analog signal. However, if the input video signal is a digital signal and can be directly written in a video memory, the video decoder This is unnecessary, and the input video signal is directly output to the bus. Also, unless the digital signal is a digital signal that needs to undergo some kind of color space conversion and does not burden the conversion process to the CPU of the computer, a decoder for the conversion process is mounted on the capture board, and the signal after this conversion process is processed. The output is directly to the bus.

Although the present embodiment has been described as a capture board to be mounted on a bus of a computer, it goes without saying that the video image capture device of the present invention can be mounted on a computer as an integral body or as a separate body without taking the form of a board. It goes without saying that things can be used.

[0027]

According to the present invention, since a digital signal of a video image input for capture is directly transferred to a video memory of a computer or the like, a beautiful image without deterioration of image quality without imposing a load on a CPU. Can be displayed on the monitor, the traffic on the bus can be kept small, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a video image capture device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a conventional video image capture device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PCI bus 15 Hard disk 16 Video memory 17 Accelerator chip 18 Display device 20 Video image capture device 21 Image input terminal 22 Video decoder 23 MPEG2 encoder 24 Bus connection terminal

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 5B069 AA20 BA03 BA05 BC02 LA14 5C053 FA23 FA27 FA30 GB38 KA24 KA25 KA30 LA06 5C059 KK06 LA01 MA00 SS11 SS26 UA31 5C082 AA01 AA37 BA12 BA34 BA41 BB15 BB49 CA34 MM04 MM04

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A video image capture device which is connected to a bus of a computer, compresses a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal by an image compression means, and outputs the compressed signal to the bus. A video image capture device, comprising means for outputting an image signal comprising the following to the bus and transferring the image signal to a video memory of the computer. 2. A video image capture device connected to a bus of a computer, which compresses a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal by image compression means and outputs the compressed signal to the bus, wherein the analog signal taken in from the image input terminal is A video decoder for converting a video image signal into a digital signal, outputting the digital signal to the image compression means, and outputting the digital signal directly to the bus for transfer to a video memory of the computer; . 3. The video image capture device according to claim 1, wherein said image compression means includes an MP.
A video image capture device, being an EG2 encoder. 4. A computer equipped with the video image capture device according to claim 1. 5. The computer according to claim 4, further comprising a large-capacity storage medium for taking in and storing the image data compressed by said image compression means via said bus. 6. A captured image display method of a video image capture device connected to a bus of a computer and compressed by an image compression means for compressing a video image signal taken in from an image input terminal and outputting the compressed signal to the bus. Displaying an image being captured on a monitor of the computer by outputting an image signal comprising an input digital signal to the bus and transferring the image signal to a video memory of the computer, wherein a captured image is displayed by a video image capture device. Method. 7. A captured image display of a video image capture device which is connected to a bus of a computer, converts an analog signal of a video image taken from an image input terminal into a digital signal, compresses the digital signal by an image compression means, and outputs the compressed signal to the bus. A method of displaying a captured image in a video image capture device, wherein the image being captured is displayed on a monitor of the computer by directly outputting the digital signal to the bus and transferring the digital signal to a video memory of the computer.