JPH10171728A - Email system with video - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an e-mail system with a video that shortens the time until the start of video display at the time of calling a mail and does not require a large storage capacity for a client. The mail server includes a plurality of mail clients, a mail server, and a video server for storing video images to be attached to the mail. And sends the mail body to the mail server 12 with information about the storage location of the video image attached. Further, the mail client 11 receives information on the storage location of the video image together with the mail body of the received mail from the mail server 12, requests the video server attached to the received mail from the video server, and receives it.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic mail system with a video so that a mail client can view a video image together with a mail text by transmitting the electronic mail with video data added thereto.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art E-mail is widely used on various information communication networks as an effective communication means that allows a user to read and write a message at his own convenience without facing the same time as the other party. FIG. 14 shows an outline of an existing e-mail system using the Internet. In an Internet e-mail system, mail is processed by a mail server 1 operated by a provider (A) or a mail server 2 of a company or the like.
When the mail client 3 that places a mailbox on the mail server 1 of the provider A sends a mail, the mail is sent to a post (SMTP server) placed on the mail server 1. The outgoing mail sent to the SMTP server of the mail server 1 is delivered via the Internet to the mail server 2 where the mail client 4 at the destination places a mailbox. Then, the mail client 4 issues a mail reception request to the POP server managing its own mailbox, and the POP server reads out the received mail stored in the mailbox and passes it to the mail client 4.

[0003] In the electronic mail system, files of various formats such as images, sounds, and programs can be attached to the text and sent. If video data in the form of an image file is attached to the body of the mail, it can be sent to the transmission destination as an e-mail with video.

[0004] In this case, the mail body and the attached file storing the video data are stored in the mailbox of the mail client of the transmission destination as shown in FIG. When reading the mail, download the video data stored in the attached file of the mail from the mail server to the mail client and save it on the storage medium,
The video image is displayed by the mail client by reading the video data from the storage medium and supplying it to the display control circuit.

[0005]

However, if the video image is displayed after downloading the video data from the mail server to the mail client, the display of the video image is started from the mail reading instruction because the data volume of the video data is large. It takes a long time to store the video data, and the client needs a large-capacity video data storage medium to store the video data.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and can reduce the time required until the start of video display at the time of calling a mail, and has a large storage capacity for storing video data in a client. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an e-mail system with a video that does not require a computer.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following measures. The present invention relates to an e-mail with video, comprising: a plurality of mail clients; a mail server that manages the mails of the mail clients and distributes the mail to a destination mail client; and a video server that stores a video image attached to the mail. System. In this email system,
The video client attaches the video image attached to the outgoing mail to the video server by separating the video image from the mail main body. The mail main body is attached with information on the storage location of the video image and transmitted to the mail server. In addition, the mail client receives information about the storage location of the video image together with the mail body of the received mail from the mail server, requests the video server attached to the received mail from the video server, and sends it.

According to the present invention, a large-capacity video image is separated from the mail body and registered in the video server when the mail is transmitted, and only the information indicating the storage position of the video image is stored in the mail server together with the mail body. Then, when viewing the received mail by the mail client, the video image is sent from the mail server, so that the video is displayed in real time.

Therefore, it is not necessary to download a large-capacity video image to the mail client when viewing the received mail, so that the time from the start of reading the mail to the start of displaying the video can be reduced. Also, if a large capacity is secured in the video server, it is not necessary for the mail client to secure a capacity corresponding to a large capacity video image.

[0010] The electronic mail system of the present invention analyzes the video index data included in the received mail received from the mail server and sends the information regarding the storage location of the video image attached to the received mail to the mail client. Means for obtaining, and means for accessing the video server based on the information on the storage location of the obtained video image and requesting transmission of the relevant video image,
Means for controlling display so that a video image sent from the video server is displayed on a display screen in real time; and a video indicating a storage location of the video image, in which a video image attached to an outgoing mail is registered in the video server. Means for creating index data, associating the video index data with an email, and transmitting the video index data to the mail server. A video server, a storage medium having a storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of video images,
Means for extracting a video image requested by the mail client from a storage medium and sending the video image to the requesting mail client at a constant rate corresponding to the rate of the mail client.

In addition, the present invention provides a plurality of mail servers arranged on a wide area network with a function of transferring mail between mail servers, so that mail is managed by a mail server different from the mail client of the transmission source. In an electronic mail system capable of transmitting mail to a mail client via a wide area network, a plurality of video servers for storing video images attached to the mail are arranged on the wide area network with the jurisdiction of the mail client determined. Means for separating the video image attached to the outgoing mail from the mail body and registering the video image with the jurisdiction video server in the mail client; means for attaching the information on the storage location of the video image to the mail body and transmitting the mail image to the mail server; Means for requesting the video server attached to the received mail from the responsible video server. A means for determining whether or not the video image should be transferred to another video server from the destination information of the outgoing mail; and a means for detecting a video server under the jurisdiction of the mail client of the transmission destination from the destination information of the outgoing mail. Means for instructing the video server storing the video image to transmit the video image to a video server under the jurisdiction of the mail client of the transmission destination.

According to the present invention, when the mail server determines from the destination information of the outgoing mail that the video image should be transferred to another video server, the video server under the jurisdiction of the mail client of the transmission partner is determined from the destination information of the outgoing mail. Is detected. Then, an instruction is issued to the video server storing the video image to transmit the video image to the video server under the jurisdiction of the mail client of the transmission destination. As a result, the video image is transferred from the video server that controls the client of the transmission source to the video server that controls the client of the transmission destination.

Therefore, when a video image is read out by the mail client of the transmission destination, the video image that is in charge of the mail client is always stored. Thus, the delay time is short, and the time until the start of display is shortened.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of an electronic mail system according to a first embodiment. Plural terminal devices 11-1 to 11-1 serving as mail clients on LAN10
1-n are connected, and a mail server 11 and a video server 13 of the electronic mail system are provided.

The mail server 11 has mailboxes for the respective mail clients (11-1 to 11-n). The mailbox stores the received mail 14 and the attached file attached to the mail. The attached file contains the index data 15 of the video data attached to the received mail 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mail client 1
One mailbox can store a plurality of mails sent to the client. When an attached file is attached to an e-mail, one e-mail is composed of the e-mail body and the attached file. The index data 15 of the video data is stored as a part of the attached file.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the index data 15 of the video data. Index data 15
Is composed of a server ID of the video server 13 in which the video data is stored, a file name of the video data, and a title name. When the video data covers a plurality of files, a file name and a title name are registered corresponding to each file.

The mail server 12 stores and manages the mail in the mail server 12. This mail management device 1
Reference numeral 6 stores the outgoing mail sent from the mail client in the mailbox of the destination client, reads out the received mail from the mailbox to the client that has made the mail read request, and transfers it to the requesting client. Further, the mail management device 16 provides a service for editing data such as a mail list and a video index list from received mail data in response to a request from the mail client and returning the data to the mail client.

The video server 13 is a storage device having a large storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of video data corresponding to a plurality of mails. The video server 13 stores video data added to the mail in the form of an image file in units of mail, and manages each video data based on the file name. The video server 13 has a function of saving video data to be attached to the mail on behalf of the mail server 12 and a function of supplying the video data to the mail client according to the video display rate instead of downloading the video data to the mail client. ing.

The mail client 11 includes a mail server I / F device 18 for taking out information from the mail server 12 and a video server I / F device 19 for taking out information from the video server 13. The mail client 11 temporarily stores the data extracted from the mail server 12 in the storage area 21.

The index analysis means 22 stores the storage area 2
1 has a function of analyzing index data corresponding to a mail among the information stored in 1. Specifically, the video server 1 that stores the video data attached to the mail
3 is extracted from the index data.

The video display means 23 is provided for the video server 13
This is a part for performing display control for displaying video data transmitted from the video server I / F device 19 on the display device 24 in real time. A window is opened in a predetermined area on the screen of the display device 24 displaying the received mail to display a video image.

In the mail client 11, mail is created by the mail creating means 25. Although the contents of the mail creation will be described later, the video data to be attached to the mail is stored in the video data storage unit 26 in the form of an image file. The video capturing unit 28 converts the input video signal into video data in an image file format and stores the video data in the video data storage unit 26.

Various methods can be applied to a method of inputting a video signal to the video capturing means 28. For example,
A video signal output from a video camera 28 for shooting a subject is input to a video capturing unit 28 in real time. Alternatively, a video signal is generated by reproducing a video which has been shot in advance and stored on a video tape by a video signal reproducing device, and the video signal is input to the video capturing means 28.

The operation of the electronic mail system configured as described above will be described. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram when the mail client 11 reads out video data of a mail, and FIG. 5 shows a flowchart in the mail client 11. The mail client 11 displays the video data added to the mail in the following procedure.

When the user logs in to the electronic mail system on the mail client 11 (step S
1) The mail receiving function requests the mail server 12 for data of a list of mails currently received in the mailbox of the client (step S2).

The mail management device 16 creates mail list data reflecting the current reception contents of the mailbox for each mail client. When the mail management device 16 receives the request for the list data of the received mail from the mail client 11 via the mail server I / F device 18, the current mail box of the mail client 11 is read from the mail box of the mail client 11. The mail list data reflecting the received contents is extracted and returned to the mail client 11.

The mail client 11 displays a received mail display screen including the mail list on the display device 24 based on the mail list data obtained from the mail server 12 (step S3). As shown in FIG. 7, since the titles of the received mails are displayed in a predetermined order in the mail list, the user specifies the mail number of the mail to be called from the mail server 12 to the mail client 11.

When the mail number is specified from the mail list on the received mail display screen (step S4), the mail client 11 requests the mail server 12 to retrieve the mail specified by the user (step S5).

In the mail server 12, the user-specified mail data requested by the mail client 11 is retrieved from the mailbox and transmitted to the requesting mail client 11.

Here, the mail data which the mail server 12 takes out from the mailbox and sends to the client includes a mail body including a mail body and an attached file attached to the mail as shown in FIG. ing. In the conventional e-mail system, video data itself is included in an attached file. In this embodiment, data (index data) relating to the video server 13 that stores video data is added to the attached file instead of the video data itself. It is just being done.

When the mail client 11 receives the mail data of the mail specified by the user, the mail client 11 causes the display device 24 to display a received mail display screen including a mail text and a video title list based on the mail data (step S6). ). FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of a received mail display screen including a mail text and a video title list. On the received mail display screen, a window area 31 for displaying a video body and a window area 32 for a video title list in which video title names are listed are opened.
The video title name displayed in the window area 32 is extracted from the index data 15 in the attached file received together with the mail text.

If there is a video image to be displayed in the video title list displayed in the window area 32, the user designates a corresponding video number in the video title list. In the mail client 11, when a video display request is given by designating a video number from the user (step S7), the index data analysis unit 22
Extracts information on the storage location of the video data specified by the user from the storage area 21 where the index data 15 of the mail is stored.

The index data analysis means 22 obtains the video server ID of the video server 13 storing the video data specified by the user and the file name of the video data by analyzing the index data 15 corresponding to the mail. (Step S8). The video server I / F device 19 includes an index data analysis unit 22
When the server receives the video server ID and the file name, it connects to the video server 13 specified by the video server ID, specifies the file name, and requests acquisition of video data (step S9).

The video server 13 extracts video data corresponding to the file name specified by the mail client 11 from the image file and transmits the video data to the requesting mail client 11. At this time, the video server 13 transmits video data at a constant rate corresponding to the display speed of the display device 24 of the mail client 11.

In the mail client 11, the video data fetched from the video server 13 via the video server I / F device 19 is passed directly to the video display means 23 and displayed on the received mail display screen. FIG. 9 shows a display example of a video image on the display device 24. When a request to acquire video data is issued in the process of step S9, the window area 3 of the video image shown in FIG.
3 is opened at a predetermined position on the received mail display screen, and the video display means 23 controls the display of video data input at a constant rate in accordance with the window area 33 to display a video image (step S10).

Therefore, the mail client 11 saves / stores the entire video data in the internal storage medium.
Without reading out, the video display means 23 displays the video image only by controlling the display of the video data sent from the video server 13 in real time according to the window area 33.

Next, the contents of processing from creation of an e-mail to registration of video data in the video server 13 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. At the time of creating a mail, the user activates electronic mail creation software, which is a video creation function, in the mail client 11 (step T1). When the e-mail creation software is started, an e-mail creation environment is prepared by the e-mail creation means 25 (step T2). When the user adds an attached file to the mail text, the user inputs a request for the attached file.
When adding the video data stored in the video data storage unit 26 to the mail, the user instructs the system that the electronic mail is a video-attached electronic mail.

When a request for creating an attached file is received (step T3), it is determined whether the attached file to be created is related to video data (step T4). If the attached file is related to video data, the index data 15 of the video data is created (step T).
5). That is, index data including information of a file name of video data, a server ID of a video server storing the video data, and a video title name is created. The video server ID is registered in the client 11 in advance, and is read and set when the index data 15 is created. Further, the file name of the video data is automatically created when the system stores the video data in the video server 13 and registered in the index data file 15 (step T8). The title of the video data is input by the user when the video image is captured.

If the attached file is not related to the video data, the process shifts to step T6 to create the corresponding attached file. After the user has created the mail text and the like, the user instructs mail sending. When the mail sending instruction is received, the mail body including the text and the destination and the index data of the video data are transmitted to the mail server 12 through the mail server I / F device 18 (step T7). Also, if the server ID of the video server 13 registered in advance in the client 11 is obtained and the video server 13 is connected to the video server 13 indicated by the server ID via the video server I / F device 19, the video data storage unit 26 A video file name is assigned to the extracted video data and registered in the video server 13 (step T9).

As described above, in the first embodiment, the video server 13 is provided in the electronic mail system to store the video data to be added to the mail, and the information (index data) relating to the storage position of the video data in the attached file of the mail. And register the email with the email body 1
1 and the video server 13 is accessed at the time when a video display instruction is given after the mail is displayed, and video data is acquired in real time. Therefore,
The video data added to the mail can be directly acquired in real time from the video server 13 and displayed, and the time until the start of the video display when receiving the mail can be reduced. In addition, there is no need for a large-capacity disk for temporarily storing all video data in the client.

Also, since the attached file, which is one of the functions provided in the existing e-mail system as a standard, is used as the storage location of the index data 15,
An e-mail system with video can be constructed with only a slight change by adding a function of deleting unnecessary video data registered in the video server 13. It should be noted that the storage location of the index data 15 is not limited to the attached file, but may be stored in a file of another format as long as it can correspond to a mail.

The video data is first transmitted to the video server 1
3 and then send the mail data to the mail server 12. (Second Embodiment) In the above e-mail system, the mail client 11 is provided with a real-time decoder for decoding video data in real time. In this case, the mail client 11 or the video server 1
3 is provided with a compression circuit for compressing the video data, and the video server 13 stores the video data in a compressed form.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram of video display in the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, mail data including a video index is read from the mail server 12 in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the corresponding compressed video data is extracted from the video server 13 based on the video index. Video server I / F device 19
The video data fetched by the mail client 11 via the video decoder 11 is decoded by the real-time decoder 34 and then input to the video display means 23.

According to such an embodiment, the size of the video data to be added to the mail can be reduced, so that the time for registering the video data in the video server 13, that is, the time from the start to the completion of the mail transmission is reduced. It is effective for shortening.

(Third Embodiment) In the above-described electronic mail system, a video signal input from a video camera 28 or a video reproducing device (not shown) is converted into video data by a video capturing means 27, and the video server I / F The system configuration is such that the video file can be stored as it is in the video server 13 via the device 19.

The video server I / F device 19 connects to the video server 13 in advance to secure an image file area,
The video converted by the video capturing means 27 into video data is stored in an area secured in the video server 13 in the form of an image file. The client 11 registers the file name notified to the video server 13 before or after storing the image file in the index data.

According to such an embodiment, since the data transfer to the video server 13 is performed simultaneously with the capture of the video image, the e-mail can be transmitted without any transfer time even when transmitting the e-mail.

(Fourth Embodiment) In the electronic mail system according to the third embodiment, a mechanism for monitoring the operation status of the video server 13 and a connection to the video server 13 according to the operation status of the video server 13 are provided. A mechanism for determining whether to register the video data in real time or at the time of mail transmission.

In a situation where the video server 13 is in full operation due to overlapping access to the video server 13,
3 may not be able to be written in real time. It may also interfere with other mail users' video display.

Therefore, when there is no margin in the operation status of the video server 13, the writing is executed at the time of mail transmission in order to securely store the video data in the video server 13. If the operation status of the video server 13 has room, the video server 13 saves the video in real time at the time of capturing the video.

(Fifth Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a model diagram of an electronic mail system according to a fifth embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a wide area network. In the e-mail system of this wide area network, a plurality of mail servers A and B and video servers A, B and C are connected to the wide area network, and a mail client is connected to at least one mail server and video server via a network.
It enables mail transfer between mail servers and video data transfer between video servers.

Further, the e-mail system of the wide area network shown in FIG.
It has a structure that is separated from the data network such as the mail body.

FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the mail servers A and B. The mail servers A and B have the same configuration, and are related to a mail management device 41 for managing mail, a communication mechanism 42 for communicating with other mail servers and video servers, and video data corresponding to mail. A video index data management device 43 for storing information, and a server list database 44 for storing information on other mail servers and video servers on the wide area network are provided.

The processing contents of the mail server in the e-mail system of the wide area network configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Mail client CL belonging to a certain network
Mail client C belonging to other network from 1
A description will be given of a process for mail transmission in the mail server A when transmitting an e-mail with video to L2. The mail server A manages the mail of the mail client CL1, and the video server A manages the video data corresponding to the mail. In the mail client CL2, the mail server B manages the mail, and the video server B manages the video data corresponding to the mail.

The mail client CL1 creates a mail to be sent to the destination mail client CL2, and creates index data of video data corresponding to the mail. The contents of the index data are the same as those described in the first embodiment. The video data to be added to the mail is stored in the video server A by designating a file name, and the mail client C as a transmission destination of the mail is transmitted.
The message is sent to the mail server A with the address of L2. Index data can be attached to emails in the form of attachments.

When the outgoing mail is received from the mail client CL1 in the mail server A (step Q
1), the mail management device 41 acquires the mail destination from the outgoing mail (step Q2). Then, the mail client CL2 of the transmission partner is read from the server list database 44.
Of the mail server B is specified. If the mail server of the mail client of the transmission partner is another mail server on the wide area network (step Q3), it is determined whether or not the partner mail server is an existing mail server (step Q4). The existing mail server is a server in which image files such as video data are uniformly attached to a mail body in the form of an attached file and downloaded to a mail client. The server other than the existing mail server is the mail server compatible with the video server described in the first embodiment.

If the other mail server is a video server compatible mail server, the server IDs of the other mail server B and the video server B are obtained from the server list database 44.
Are obtained (step Q5). Then, the file name of the video data is extracted from the index data added to the transmitted mail received by the mail server A (step Q6), and the video server A is designated by specifying the file name and the server ID of the other video server B. Is requested to transfer video data corresponding to the mail (step Q7).

The video data is transferred from the video server A which manages the video data of the mail client CL1 which is the transmission source to the video server B which manages the video data of the mail client CL2 which is the transmission destination. As a result, the video data attached to the outgoing mail is stored in the video server B that manages the video data of the mail client CL2 that is the transmission destination.

The video server B registers the video data received from the video server A with a file name. After issuing the video data transfer request in the process of step Q7, the mail server A accesses the video server B to which the video data is transferred, and obtains the file name of the video data in the video server B ( Step Q
8). Then, the file name registered in the index data of the outgoing mail managed by the mail server A is rewritten to the file name acquired from the video server B (step S9). At this time, not only the file name but also the server ID of the video server can be rewritten to correspond to the video server B.

However, if a single video server manages the video data of the mail client CL2,
Since the video server to be accessed is fixed, it is not necessary to refer to the video server ID in the video index, so that it is not necessary to rewrite the video server ID.

Finally, the mail data including the index data whose file name has been rewritten and the mail body is
The data is transferred to the mail server B based on the server ID acquired in the process of step Q5 (step Q10).

The mail server B manages the mail of the mail client CL2 which is the transmission partner. In the index data included in the mail data sent from the mail server A, the file name of the video data is rewritten to the file name used for actual management in the video server B. Therefore, the mail server B that has received the reception request from the mail client CL2 that is the transmission partner
Gives the video index data to the mail client CL2 together with the mail text, the video data is matched with the information of the video server (file name) and the mail information (the file name registered in the video index data). Can be restored.

Further, in the process of step Q4,
If the other mail server is not a video server-compatible mail server, the file name of the video data is extracted from the video index data, and the video server A specifies the file name and imports the video data corresponding to the mail. This video data is attached to the mail body in the form of an attached file so that it can be transmitted (step Q1).
1).

The server ID of the mail server corresponding to the client of the mail destination is obtained from the server list database 44 (step Q12), and attached to the transfer destination mail server B indicated by the server ID with mail data and video data. Transfer the file (step Q1
3).

According to this embodiment, the mail server is provided with the server list database 44 and the communication mechanism 42, and when the outgoing mail is another mail server on the wide area network, the file name of the video index data is transmitted. The mail data is transferred after being rewritten to the file name of the video server that manages the destination client, so that the client of the transmission destination can use the video server described in the video index data created by the source mail client. The video image can be displayed on the client side even when it is not possible to access. In addition, even if the video server described in the video index data created by the sender's mail client is located at a remote location from the viewpoint of the client of the transmission destination, the video data is not transmitted from the nearby video server when displaying the video. Since it is sent, real-time display becomes possible.

Also, it is determined whether or not the mail server that manages the mail of the client of the transmission destination is an existing mail server. If the mail server is an existing mail server, video data can be transmitted in the form of an attached file. Therefore, the display start time may be delayed, but the e-mail with video can be reliably transmitted to the client on the network where there is no mail server compatible with the video server.

Also, since the video display network and the data network such as mail body are separated,
It is possible to ensure the real-time display of the video image and to prevent the network from generating unnecessary traffic.

(Sixth Embodiment) In a wide area network electronic mail system, a plurality of video servers are provided for one mail server. The mail server basically has the system configuration shown in FIG. 12, and a video server most suitable for each mail client is set in the server list database 44. The best video server for a mail client is a server that is close to the client.

Therefore, the mail server of the transmission source selects the most suitable video server from the plurality of video servers accessible from the mail server of the client of the transmission destination from the server list database 44 and selects the video server as the transfer destination of the video data. decide. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the time required until the start of video display at the time of calling a mail, and to require a large storage capacity for storing video data in the client. Can provide an email system with no video.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an electronic mail system with video according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a structure of mail data stored in a mailbox in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of video index data according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a video image display operation according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for displaying a video image on a mail server according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for registering video data in a mail client according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a display screen displaying a mail list.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a display screen displaying a video title list.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a display screen displaying a video image.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram of an electronic mail system including a real-time decoder.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of a fifth embodiment in which an electronic mail system is applied to a wide area network.

FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram of a mail server according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of mail transfer according to the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional electronic mail system.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a structure of mail data in a conventional electronic mail system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... LAN 11-1 to 11-n ... Mail client 12 ... Mail server 13 ... Video server 14 ... Mail text 15 ... Video index data file 16 ... Mail management device 22 ... Index data analysis means 23 ... Video display means 24 ... Display Device 25: E-mail creation means 27: Video capture means

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device with a video, comprising: a plurality of mail clients; a mail server that manages the mails of the mail clients and distributes the mail to a destination mail client; and a video server that stores a video image attached to the mail. A mail system, in which the video client attaches a video image to be attached to an outgoing mail from the mail body and registers it in the video server, and attaches information on a storage location of the video image to the mail body and transmits the mail image to the mail server. Wherein the mail client receives information about the storage location of the video image together with the mail body of the received mail from the mail server, requests the video image attached to the received mail from the video server, and receives the video image. Featured e-mail system with video Beam. 2. An electronic device with a video, comprising: a plurality of mail clients; a mail server that manages the mails of the mail clients and distributes the mail to a destination mail client; and a video server that stores a video image attached to the mail. A mail system, wherein the mail client analyzes video index data included in the received mail received from the mail server, and obtains information regarding a storage location of a video image attached to the received mail; Means for accessing the video server based on the information on the storage location of the obtained video image and requesting transmission of the video image; and the video image transmitted from the video server is displayed on a display screen in real time. Means to control the display so that Means for registering a video image to be attached to an e-mail with the video server, creating video index data indicating a storage location of the video image, and transmitting the video index data to the e-mail server in association with the e-mail; A storage medium having a storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of video images; a video image requested by the mail client is taken out of the storage medium and sent to the requesting mail client at a constant rate corresponding to the rate of the mail client E-mail system with video. 3. A plurality of mail servers arranged on a wide area network having a function of transferring mail between mail servers, so that a mail client managed by a mail server different from a mail client of a transmission source can provide a wide area mail server. In an e-mail system in which e-mail can be transmitted via a network, a plurality of video servers for storing video images attached to e-mails are arranged on a wide area network by defining a jurisdiction of a mail client, and transmitted to the mail client. Means for separating the video image attached to the mail from the mail body and registering it with the video server under its jurisdiction; means for attaching the information on the storage location of the video image to the mail body to the mail server; and means for attaching the video attached to the received mail. Images to the responsible video server Means for judging whether or not a video image should be transferred to another video server from destination information of an outgoing mail, and a video under the jurisdiction of a mail client of a transmission destination from the destination information of the outgoing mail. Means for detecting a server, and means for instructing the video server storing the video image to transmit the video image to a video server under the jurisdiction of the mail client of the transmission destination; An e-mail system with video, comprising means for transferring the video image to another video server designated by the server. 4. An electronic mail system with a video according to claim 1, wherein information on a storage location of a video image attached to the mail is attached to the mail body in the form of an attached file. E-mail system with video. 5. The e-mail system with video according to claim 3, wherein the mail server has a function of determining a function of a transfer destination mail server, and the transfer destination mail server cooperates with the video server. Means for attaching the video image in the form of an attached file to the body of the e-mail when it is determined that the e-mail does not have the function, and transmitting the outgoing e-mail and the attached file to the transfer destination mail server. E-mail system with. 6. An e-mail system with video according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of video servers are allocated to one mail server, and a video most suitable for a mail client. An e-mail system with video, wherein a video image is transferred to a server. 7. The electronic mail system with video according to claim 3, wherein at least one mail client is connected to two networks of a video display network and a data network. An e-mail system with video, wherein mail data including a text is transferred through a data network, and video images are transferred through a video display network. 8. The electronic mail system with video according to claim 1, wherein said mail client includes means for monitoring an operation status of a video server, and means for taking in a video image to be attached to mail. Means for determining whether to register the fetched video image to the video server at the time of fetching an image or at the time of sending an e-mail according to the operation status of the video server.