JPH08163479A - Video search method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily retrieve an optional scene from a series of video data by revising a prescribed number of video images on a time base, selecting one of the video images and designating it and starting continuous reproduction based on the selected and designated video image. CONSTITUTION: Plural small patterns 32-1, 32-2,..., 32-6 are set to a video display window 30 displaying one motion image and video data stored in a secondary storage device 16 are divided at a prescribed time interval and the resulting data are allocated to the retrieval patterns 32-1, 32-2,..., 32-6 and the result is displayed. Then a prescribed number of video images at a prescribed time interval are extracted from a series of the video image and a prescribed number of video images to be extracted are simultaneously displayed and a prescribed the displayed video images are revised on time base. One of picture number of displayed video images is selected and designated and consecutive reproduction is started based on the selected and designated position. Since plural video images for each prescribed period are simultaneously displayed, the status on the way and the relation among the video images are easily estimated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a video search method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a video search method and apparatus that enables a desired scene to be easily searched from a series of videos.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As the capacity of computers has been remarkably improved, various devices having large capacity and / or high speed can be used as secondary storage devices. In such a situation, it has become practical to store moving image data in a secondary storage device and display the reproduced image on a computer monitor. In the conventional example, a video window for displaying video data is set, and the video data is sequentially displayed in the video window from the beginning.

Further, by operating the scroll bar, an arbitrary scene of a series of video data can be displayed in a still state. This can be used to search for any scene.

Of course, by setting a similar button on the screen as the operation button of the video tape recorder, the same operation as that of the video tape recorder can be realized and, for example, frame advance reproduction will be possible.

[0005]

However, in any case, in the conventional example, since there is only one window for displaying an image, a search is performed by trial and error when searching for an arbitrary scene from a series of image data. However, there is a problem that the desired scene may not be obtained immediately.

Further, when displaying a video for a long time,
Since the video data is once read into the memory, there is a problem that smooth display cannot be performed depending on the system performance (memory capacity or CPU processing capacity) when jumping from the current video to another video during the search. .

It is an object of the present invention to solve these problems and to provide a video search method and apparatus which can easily search for an arbitrary scene from a series of video data.

[0008]

A video search method according to the present invention is a video search method for searching a series of videos for a desired scene, and extracting a predetermined number of videos at predetermined time intervals from the series of videos. Then, a display step for simultaneously displaying a predetermined number of extracted videos, a time axis changing means for changing the predetermined number of videos displayed in the display step on the time axis, and a predetermined number displayed in the display step. It is characterized in that it comprises a selection step of selecting and designating one of the images, and a continuous playback step of starting continuous playback based on the location selected and designated in the selection step.

A video search device according to the present invention is a video search device for searching a desired scene from a series of videos, and extracting a predetermined number of videos at predetermined time intervals from the series of videos,
Display means for simultaneously displaying a predetermined number of extracted videos,
And a time axis changing means for changing a predetermined number of images displayed on the display means on the time axis.
Furthermore, a selection means for selecting and designating one of a predetermined number of videos displayed on the display means, and a continuous playback means for continuously playing back the series of videos on the basis of the location selected and designated by the selection means. To have.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a CPU for controlling the whole, 12 is C
The main memory of the PU 10, 14 is an operating device including a pointing device such as a keyboard and a mouse, 16 is a secondary storage device capable of high-speed data writing / reading,
18 is a bitmap display, 20 is a video camera, 22 is an output video signal of the video camera 20
It is a video capture device that performs A / D conversion and data compression to convert it into a format suitable for computer processing.

The output video signal of the video camera 20 is converted into video data by the video capture device 22, and is displayed on the bitmap display 18 if necessary,
At the same time, the necessary parts are stored in the secondary storage device 16.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of video data stored in the secondary storage device 16. In this embodiment, the video data is managed in Δt time unit. In FIG. 2, a set of video data from time T to time T + nΔT is shown, and Δt
A set of video data in units of time is collected into one video data. Δt is, for example, 3 minutes or 5 minutes.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a search screen in this embodiment. Usually, a plurality of (six in the present embodiment) small screens (search screens) 32-1, 32-2, ..., 32--in the video display window 30 displaying one moving image.
6 is set, and each search screen 32-1, 32-2, ...
, 32-6 are allocated and displayed with images of respective parts obtained by dividing the image data stored in the secondary storage device 16 at predetermined time intervals (for example, Δt).

FIG. 4 shows an example of a parameter setting screen at the time of video search. Reference numeral 40 is a start date / time designation window for designating the start date / time of the displayed video, 42 is an end date / time designation window for designating the end date / time of the displayed video, 44
Is a display interval designation window for designating a video display interval. Of the moving image data stored in the secondary storage device 104, the data from the start date / time designated in the start time designation window 40 to the end date / time designated in the end date / time designation window 42 is set as a search range, and the display interval designation window is set. A plurality of sections divided by the display interval designated by are simultaneously displayed on the search screens 32-1 to 32 illustrated in FIG.
Display in 6.

For example, in the secondary storage device 16, 1994
It is assumed that the video data including 5:15 pm on November 8, 2015 to 5:50 pm on the same day is stored. As illustrated in FIG. 4, when these dates and times are designated as the start date and end date and 3 minutes is designated as the display interval, as shown in FIG. 3, each search screen 32-1 of the moving image display window 30 is displayed. ~ 32-6, 5:20, 5:23,
Images from 5:26, 5:29, 5:32, and 3: 3 from 5:35 are displayed, and the images from the respective leading times are displayed in order.

The images after 5:38 are switched and displayed when the six previously displayed images are completed.

It goes without saying that the end date and time may be specified by a relative value from the start date and time, other than the absolute date and time.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart for realizing the multiple image display as shown in FIG.

A file showing the entire video data to be searched is selected (S1), its display start time Ts and display end time Te are set (S2, S3), and the time zone to be searched is designated. Further, the display time interval Δt is designated as a unit of division when the image is divided into a plurality of images for display (S4). Initialize the time feed loop variable i to 0 (S
5), Ts + 6iΔt in the reference time variable t of the displayed image
And the variable n designating the display screen (or the number of screens) is initialized to 0 (S6). At this point, t = Ts.

From the time indicated by the variable t, it is checked whether or not 6 screens can be displayed at the display interval Δt (S7). If the screens can be displayed, the time t + (n -1) Display the video data of Δt on screen 3
An image is displayed on 2-n (S8, S9, S10). Thus, on the screens 32-1 to 32-6, the times t and t + are displayed.
Video data of Δt, t + 2Δt, ..., T + 6Δt are displayed. The loop variable i is incremented (S1
1), returning to S6, n is initialized, and a new time t (=
Ts + 6iΔt) is set (S6).

When 6 screens cannot be displayed at the display interval Δt from the time indicated by the variable t (S7), how many screens the remaining time can be displayed is calculated (S12, S13). That is, rcnt = (Te−t) / Δt, and the obtained rc
Round up the fractional part of nt. While the variable j indicating the screen is set to 1 and j-1 is smaller than rcnt (S15),
An image at time t + (j-1) [Delta] t is displayed on the screen 32-j (S16), and j is incremented (S17). j-
When 1 becomes equal to rcnt, end.

In this manner, a plurality of (6 in this embodiment) screens of a Δt unit of a series of images are simultaneously displayed. In the flowchart of FIG. 5, the screens in units of Δt are sequentially displayed as still images. However, if there is sufficient moving image processing capability, as shown in FIG. It is obvious that the screens 32-1 to 32-6 are allocated and the video of the corresponding section can be displayed as a moving image on each screen 32-1 to 32-6. Of course, if a still image can be displayed, the load on the CPU and the memory can be reduced, and it can be realized by an inexpensive computer system. Even for a still image, it is desirable to update the screen at an appropriate frame interval as much as possible.

FIG. 6 shows a flow chart of a display switching process by image selection. When a target scene is found during the display of a plurality of videos according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the videos are selected and designated by the pointing device of the operation device 14 (S21, 22). When the selection of the image is designated (S22), the display of the unselected image is stopped (S23), and only the selected image is continuously displayed in the full screen (or the same screen size) until the display end time (S24).

[0025]

As can be easily understood from the above description, according to the present invention, a desired arbitrary scene can be searched at high speed from a series of images, and the labor for the operation can be reduced. In addition, since a plurality of videos for a certain period of time are displayed at the same time, it becomes possible to easily infer the relationship between the videos and the situation in the middle, which is also useful for finding a desired scene.

By displaying a plurality of images at a fixed time interval at the same time, it is possible to realize a list display to some extent. Moreover, it can be realized without requiring high system performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a storage format of video data stored in a secondary storage device 16.

FIG. 3 is a screen example of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a parameter setting screen for displaying video data.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for displaying a plurality of images.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a display switching process according to image selection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10: CPU 12: Main memory 14: Operating device 16: Secondary storage device 18: Bit map display 20: Video camera 22: Video capture device 30: Video display window 32-1, 32-2, ... , 32-6: Search screen 40: Start date / time designation window 42: End date / time designation window 44: Display interval designation window

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A video search method for searching a desired scene from a series of videos, wherein a predetermined number of videos at predetermined time intervals are extracted from the series of videos and the extracted predetermined number of videos are simultaneously displayed. A display step, a time axis changing means for changing the predetermined number of videos displayed in the display step on the time axis, and one of the predetermined number of videos displayed in the display step.
A video search method comprising: a selection step of selectively designating one of the two, and a continuous playback step of starting continuous playback based on the location selected and designated in the selection step. 2. The video search method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time interval can be arbitrarily designated. 3. The video search method according to claim 1, wherein the series of videos are stored in advance in a storage body. 4. The video search method according to claim 1, wherein the series of videos is divided at predetermined time intervals. 5. A video search device for searching for a desired scene from a series of videos, wherein a predetermined number of videos at predetermined time intervals are extracted from the series of videos and the extracted predetermined number of videos are simultaneously displayed. An image retrieval apparatus comprising: a display unit and a time axis changing unit that changes a predetermined number of images displayed on the display unit on a time axis. 6. The video search device according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined time interval can be arbitrarily designated. 7. The video search device according to claim 5, wherein the series of videos are stored in advance in a storage body. 8. Further, a selection means for selectively designating one of a predetermined number of videos displayed on the display means, and a continuous playback for continuously reproducing the series of videos based on the location selected and designated by the selection means. The video search device according to claim 5, further comprising a reproduction unit.