JPH01270472A - video phone - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify the confirmation work of recorded contents to improve the operability by recording a voice and an image on a freely recordable disk recording medium in accordance with the classification of a received signal. CONSTITUTION:When an image transmission command is sent, the image following this command is received and is stored in a memory 18. A CPU 90 supplies the track number where image data should be recorded, the recording track number of corresponding voice data, information of the date of storage, and image data stored in the memory 18 to a data recording circuit 50 to record them on a magnetic sheet 48. Next, the transmitted voice is recorded and processed by a recording circuit 52 and is recorded on the magnetic sheet 48. When recorded contents on the magnetic sheet 48 will be reproduced, the recording track of image data is searched and they are written in the memory 18 and are displayed as an image on a video monitor 34. Simultaneously, a head 60 is moved to the audio track and the audio signal is reproduced and is applied to a speaker 79.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Graduation Field of Use] The present invention relates to a video telephone equipped with an answering machine function.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in a videophone system using a telephone line, when transmitting an image, an analog image signal is converted into a digital signal and temporarily stored in a digital memory, and this stored data is transmitted over the telephone line's band of 300 to 3,000 yen. 400H
It was modulated to z and transmitted analog. On the other hand, in the case of reception, the received analog signal is demodulated and converted into a digital signal.
The image data is converted into data and stored in a digital memory, and the stored image data is converted into, for example, a television signal and supplied to a TV monitor device. Furthermore, when image data is not being transmitted or received, voice calls are made in the same way as with conventional telephones.

It is desirable for such videophones to have a function similar to the answering machine function of conventional voice-only telephones. , the received audio is
Analog recording on magnetic tape is sufficient.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, if received images are simply stored in digital memory, the previous stored image will be erased when the next image is received.Also, when recording received images on magnetic tape, etc., it is difficult to confirm them. In this case, the audio must be first demodulated, stored in a digital memory, read out, and displayed on a TV monitor while playing back the magnetic tape on which the audio was recorded, which is extremely cumbersome in terms of time and operation. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a video telephone device that allows the user to check the contents of a voicemail message with a simple operation.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A video telephone according to the present invention includes a disk-shaped recording medium capable of recording audio and images, a recording/reproducing means for the recording medium, and a transmitting/receiving means, and transmits received signals. is recorded on the recording medium according to its type.

[Effect]

For disk-shaped recording media, recording formats for images and audio, as well as general data, are specified, and a method for recording images and audio by associating them with each other is also specified. Therefore, when confirming the contents of the absentee memory, it becomes possible to simultaneously reproduce and confirm the received image and audio with a simple operation, improving operability.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 10 is a video camera, 12 is an amplifier, 14 is an A/D converter that digitizes the output (analog signal) of the amplifier 12, and 16 is a serial output of the A/D converter 14 that converts it into a parallel signal. 11 serial/parallel (S/P) units for conversion, 18 a memory for temporarily storing data, 20 a memory control circuit for controlling writing and reading of the memory 18, and 22 an address for generating an address signal for the memory 18. Counter 28 is a P/S converter that serializes parallel image data from the memory 18 via the memory control circuit 20; 30 is a D/A converter that converts the output of the P/S converter 28 into analog; 32 is a video buffer, and 34 is a video monitor device.

36 is a modulator that modulates the analog signal of the D/A converter to a frequency of 300 to 3,400 Hz that is compatible with the telephone line, 38 is an NCU (network control unit 7)), and 39 is a conventional voice telephone. , 40 is a contact Vt terminal connected to the telephone line, 42 is a demodulator that demodulates the signal input manually from the telephone line, 44 is an A/D converter that digitizes the output of the demodulator 42, and 46 is an A/converter. This is an S/P converter that parallelizes 44 serial outputs.

48 is a still camera capable of recording images and sounds, for example.
A magnetic sheet 50 such as a video floppy adds a predetermined code to the image data in the memory 18 input through the memory control circuit 20 and converts it into a signal format compatible with the recording format of the magnetic sheet 48. The data recording circuit 52 performs time axis compression and FM on the audio signal from the telephone line.
This is an audio recording circuit that performs modulation and converts it into the recording format of the magnetic sheet 48. 54 is a selection switch for selecting either the output of the data recording circuit 50 or the output of the audio recording circuit 52; 56 is a recording amplifier; and 58 is a magnetic sheet 4.
8 is a switch connected to the A contact side during recording and connected to the B contact side during playback, and 60 is a recording/reproducing head.

62 is a motor that rotates the magnetic sheet 48; 64 is a servo circuit that keeps the rotation of the motor 62 constant; 66 is a motor that rotates the magnetic sheet 48;
This is a head drive circuit that drives the recording/reproducing head 60 to a designated track position on the magnetic sheet 48.

68 is a reproduction amplifier, 70 is a discrimination circuit for determining whether the reproduction signal from the magnetic sheet 48 is an audio signal or data, 72 is an audio processing circuit, 74 is a data processing circuit, and 76.78 is a discrimination circuit for determining the output of the reproduction amplifier 68. Circuit 70, audio processing circuit 72
79 is a speaker, 80 is an operating member consisting of a group of switches for instructing each desired operation, 82 is a display device that provides various visual displays, and 90 is a changeover switch for applying the voltage to any of the data processing circuits 74; CP that controls the whole
It is U.

Next, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be explained. When used as a normal video telephone, the image signal of the video camera 10 is sent to the amplifier 12, the A/D converter 14, the S/P converter 1
6 and the memory control circuit 20 to the P/S converter 28 . The output of P/S converter 28 is applied to video monitor device 34 via D/A converter 30 and video buffer 32. As a result, the image captured by the video camera 10 is displayed on the video monitor device 34.

When making a phone call, the telephone 39 is used to call the other party. The call signal is sent to the exchange via the NCU 38 and telephone line, and connection with the other subscriber is established.

When transmitting an image, a predetermined instruction signal is input from the operating member 80 to the CPU 90 . This instruction is sent to the memory control circuit 20 via the CPU 90, and the memory control circuit 20
temporarily stores the captured image signal of the video camera 10 in the memory 18. Of course, at this time, the memory control circuit 20
instructs address counter 22 to output a corresponding write address signal. The memory control circuit 20 is the memory 1
When writing to the memory 18 is completed, the data stored in the memory 18 is sequentially read out. The output of memory 18 is P/
The signal is supplied to a video monitor device 34 via an S converter 28, a D/A converter 30, and a video buffer 32. As a result, the image captured by the video camera 10 is displayed as a still image on the video monitor device 34.

Prior to transmitting the image data, the CPU 90 outputs a command indicating that the image data is image data to the output memory control circuit 20. The memory control circuit 20 adds the output image data of the memory 18 after the command and sends it to the P/S converter 2.
8. The signal serialized by the P/S converter 28 is applied to the modulator 36 via the D/A converter 30,
There, amplitude and phase modulation is performed. The output of the modulator 36 is the NCU
38 and terminal 40 to the telephone line.

Assuming that the video telephone on the receiving side has the same configuration as shown in FIG. 1, on the receiving side, commands and image data input from the telephone line are input from the terminal 40 to the NCU 38.
NCU 3B applies it to demodulator 42. Demodulator 4-
The signal demodulated in step 2 is applied to the memory control circuit 20 via the A/D converter 44 and the S/P converter 46, and the memory control circuit 20 transfers the command to the CPU 90. C.P.
In accordance with the command, U90 controls NCU 38 to disconnect the signal between the telephone line and telephone set 39.

This prevents image data from turning into unpleasant sound. The CPU 90 also controls the memory control circuit 20 to store the received image data in the memory 18. When the received image data is stored in the memory 18 in this way,
The memory control circuit 20 reads it and supplies it to the P/S converter 28.

The output of P/S converter 28 is applied to video monitor device 34 via D/A converter 30 and video buffer 32. As a result, the image of the other party is displayed on the video monitor device 34.
will be displayed. Further, the NCU 38 connects the telephone line to the telephone set 39 after receiving the image. This allows you to talk to the other party again.

Next, the operation in the absence mode will be explained with reference to FIG.

A predetermined instruction is input from the operating member 80 to set the absent mode (Sl), and in response, the CPU 90 positions the head 60 on an empty track using the head drive circuit 66 (S2). Whether a track is empty or not can be determined from the playback output of each track.

If there is no empty track, there is no room for recording, so a warning is issued and the process ends (53.4). After positioning the head 60 on the empty track, the process waits for a call signal from the other party (S5). When NCU3B detects a call signal,
Notify the other party that you are currently away and that images and sounds can be stored. Such a response message is recorded in advance on an appropriate track of the magnetic sheet 48.

Specifically, first, a message prompting the other party to input an image is sent (S6), a command is waited for (S7), and when an image transmission command is sent, subsequent images are received and stored in the memory 18. (S8.9).

After storing the image data, the CPU 90 rotates the motor 62 at a constant speed, and selects the track number where the image data is to be recorded,
The recording track number of the corresponding audio data, the date and time of storage, and the image data stored in the memory 18 are supplied to the data recording circuit 50 and recorded on the magnetic sheet 48 (S10
).

Next, send a message to the other party asking them to send a voice message.
l) The transmitted audio is recorded by the audio recording circuit 52 and recorded on the magnetic sheet 48 (S12.1
3).

After recording the received images and sounds, the CPU 90 shuts off the line 514) and displays on the display device 82 that there is an absence record (S15).

The above operations are continued until there are no more free tracks or until the absentee mode is released.

Next, referring to FIG. 3, the operation of reproducing the recorded contents of the magnetic sheet 48 will be explained. First, the user instructs the playback mode using the operating member 80 (520). In response to this, the CPU 90
A recording track on the magnetic sheet 48 is searched (S21). If there is no recording track, the display device 82 displays that fact and the process ends (S23). If there is a recording track, the image data recording track is searched for and played back, and the corresponding audio track and CPU9 stores date information, etc.
0 (525), and the image data is written into the memory 18 (S26, 27). The image data written in the memory 18 is read out and displayed as an image on the video monitor device 34.
(328) and play the audio (S29.3
0), the reproduced audio signal is applied to the speaker 79.

After the audio playback ends, if you want to play it again and listen to it again, instruct a repeat operation from the operating member 80 (S3
1). If repeat is not necessary, the process returns to S21 and the next recorded track is reproduced. When there are no more recording tracks, an end message is displayed and the process ends (S22.23).

In this embodiment, images and sounds are described as a pair, but the present invention is not limited to this. Only images or only sounds may be used, and furthermore, data such as programs rather than image data may be used. Good too.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As can be easily understood from the above explanation, according to the present invention, even if different types of signals are recorded, they are recorded on the disk-shaped recording medium according to each type, so that checking the recorded contents is easy and quick. and improves operability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart in the absentee mode of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the recording reproduction operation in the absentee mode.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A disk-shaped recording medium capable of freely recording audio and images, a recording/reproducing means for the recording medium, and a transmitting/receiving means,
A video telephone characterized in that a received signal is recorded on a recording medium according to its type.