JPH0367369A - Image retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable fast retrieval by reading specific pieces of image information out of an image file, which contains plural pieces of image information, in order by gradations according to a retrieval indication, developing them on a memory and also displaying them, and interrupting the development on the memory. CONSTITUTION:The image file 11 is retrieved under process control by a CPU 17 in response to a retrieval indication from a keyboard 12, and the specific pieces of image information are read out of the image file 11 in order by gradations, developed on the bit map memory 16, and displayed on a CRT display 21. A switch 13 is operated over a look at the display to interrupt the development of the image information on the memory 16 and next image information retrieval is performed similarly. This constitution speeds up the image information retrieval.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image search device that searches for desired image data from an image file storing a plurality of pieces of image information, and in particular, the present invention relates to an image search device that searches for desired image data from an image file that stores a plurality of pieces of image information, and in particular, the present invention relates to an image search device that searches for desired image data from an image file that stores a plurality of pieces of image information. This invention relates to an image search device that allows you to search while checking.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when searching for desired image information from an image file storing a plurality of pieces of color image information, the following method has been used.

(2) Sequentially develop the image data stored in the image file into a bitmap memory pixel by pixel. At this time,
For example, if each of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) branes has 256 gradations, ■R,
By reading a total of 24 bits from each of the G and B brains, developing them in the bitmap memory and displaying them,
Image data is being checked.

■Image data encoded and stored using a compression method suitable for the image file, such as the PC8 method, is sequentially read out from the image file, decoded, and developed into a bitmap memory to display the image. Check.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above conventional example has the following problems.

(2) In the former case, all RGB image data (24 bits) is read out and displayed for each pixel, so it takes a lot of time to display one screen, which increases the search time.

(2) In the latter case, a complex arithmetic unit is required to decode the code, resulting in a decrease in cost performance and an increase in circuit scale in order to develop and display image data at high speed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional example, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image search device that can quickly search for a desired image.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, an image transmission device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the image search device searches for desired image information from an image file storing a plurality of pieces of image information, and when a search is instructed, it sequentially reads out predetermined image information for each gradation from the image file. a display means for displaying the image information developed in the memory; an instruction means for instructing the expansion means to interrupt the expansion into the memory; and an instruction from the instruction means. and control means for controlling the expansion means to interrupt expansion of the image information into the memory by the expansion means, and to read the next image information from the image file and to cause it to be expanded by the expansion means.

[Operation] With the above configuration, when a search is instructed, predetermined image information is sequentially read out for each gradation from an image file, developed in the memory, and the developed image information is displayed. When this image file is expanded to the memory and displayed, if an instruction is given from the image file to interrupt the expansion to the memory, the expansion of the image information to the memory is interrupted. Then, the next image information is read out for each gradation from the image file, developed in memory, and displayed.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of the image file system (FIGS. 1 to 3)] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the image file system of this embodiment.

In the figure, 11 represents the RGB data of each pixel by 2
An image file stored in 56 gradations (8 bits),
For example, it is composed of an optical disc. The data format of one image data of this image file is shown in FIG. 2, and will be described in detail later. 12
is a keyboard which is operated by the operator and allows input of instructions for searching a plurality of image data stored in the image file 11 and various other function instructions. Reference numeral 13 denotes an interrupt switch. If the displayed image data is not the desired image data while searching for image data, pressing this switch 13 interrupts the current image display and starts searching for the next image data. You can instruct them to migrate. Note that this switch 13 may be provided on the keyboard 12.

14 is a DMA controller that controls I during DMA data transfer.
10 performs DMA transfer control together with the controller 15,
The image data read from the image file 11 is transferred to the bitmap memory 16 by DMA and stored. 15 is DM
I10 controller with A function, CPU17 and DMA
Under the control of the controller 14, image data can be read from the image file 11 and output to the bus 22.

The bitmap memory 16 is a memory for storing image data to be displayed on the CRT display 21.
B can store multivalued image data each consisting of 8 bits. 20 is a D/A converter that transfers RGB image data (8 bits) to bitmap memory 1.
6, is converted into an analog luminance signal with 256 gradations, and is output to the color CRT display 21.

17 is a CPU such as a microprocessor that controls the entire system, and performs various controls according to a control program stored in ROM 18. A RAM 19 is used as a work area for the CPU 17 and temporarily stores various data. Reference numeral 23 denotes an interrupt signal output from the switch 13, which instructs interruption and resumption of DMA transfer. 24 is D containing a DMA request signal, a DMA response signal, etc.
This is an MA control signal line.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the format of color image data stored in the image file 11 in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, as described above, the color image data has a configuration of 256 gradations (8 bits) for each of R, G, and B. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a management table for this image file, which stores the name, file length, creation date, etc. of the image data. R7 to BO are data areas for storing actual images, and R7 stores the most significant bit (bit 7) of red image data for one screen encoded using the run-length compression method.

Similarly, in G7, the most significant bit of the green image data is
In R7, the most significant bits of the blue image data are each encoded by the run-length compression method and stored. Similarly, R6 indicates the second pit data from the higher order of the red image data for one screen, and R◯ indicates the least significant bit data area for one screen of the red image data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data structure of red (R) image data in the bitmap memory 16 in an easy-to-understand manner.
The same applies to the case of blue, so the case of red image data will be explained here.

Here, it is composed of eight frame memories 30 corresponding to image data in which one pixel is composed of 8 bits.

Among the frame memories 30, the highest brain memory 1
01 stores the most significant bit of red pixel data for one screen, and the brain memory 102 stores the most significant bits of red pixel data for one screen.
The th bit is stored. Now, considering the data of the pixel 31, the data of the pixel 31 (8 bits) is represented by data 32 having a gradation depth in the direction from the brain memory 101 to the memory 108, and each bit of the data 32 is represented by each bit. It exists at a position corresponding to pixel 31 of the brain memory.

Therefore, when displaying the color image data currently stored in the bitmap memory 16 in 256 gradations, first the image data of the red (R) image data in the brain memory 101 is transferred to the bus width of the data bus 22 (for example, 32 bits). ). By performing this process ((screen size)/32) times, the image data (corresponding to gradation 128) in the brain memory 101 is displayed. By doing this a total of 8 times for brain memories 101 to 108, 25
Six-gradation red image data is displayed.

When the output of one screen's worth of red image data is completed in this way, the next step is to transfer green (G) image data. In this way R
All GB image data is read out from the bitmap memory 16 and output to the D/A converter 20, so that 256-gradation color image data is displayed on the CRT display 21.

In contrast, in this embodiment, when searching for an image stored in the image file 11, first the most significant bits (R7, G7, B7) of each color component of certain image data are read out from the image file 11 and a bit map is created. It is stored in the memory 16 and displayed on the CRT 21. As a result, pixels having a gradation of "128" or higher among RGB are displayed on the CRT 21 in colors corresponding to RGB. Next, image file 1
The second bit of the RGB data of 1 is read out, stored in the bitmap memory 16, and displayed on the CRT 21. As a result, pixels having a gradation of "64" or higher are displayed corresponding to RGB.

In this way, the gradation is gradually deepened and displayed, and the operator selects switch 1 to indicate that the image is not the desired image.
3, the display processing of the image currently being read and displayed from the image file 11 is stopped, and the next image data is read from the image file 11 and displayed in the same manner. In this way, the above-described search process is executed until the desired image data is searched from the image file 11.

In this way, when visually searching for image data, this embodiment does not display the image data at its maximum gradation from the beginning, but instead displays the image data to the extent that the general contents can be understood. , the time required to search for images can be reduced by shortening the time it takes to display image data.

[Description of Bitmap Memory (FIG. 4) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the bitmap memory 16 of the embodiment.

In the figure, numeral 30 is a frame memory for storing the red image data shown in Fig. 3, which has separate ports for input and output, and has a capacity equivalent to 8 bits x 1 screen as described above. . For example, one screen size is 768x1
280 and the width of the data bus 22 is 32 bits,
It can be configured with eight 256k x 4-bit memories. In addition,
The data width of the input/output ports of these frame memories is the same as the data width of the data bus 22. 33 is a data width conversion circuit that converts the data length (32 bits) of the data bus 22 into an 8-bit width, and 34 is an 8-bit wide input/output asynchronous FIFO type line buffer.

40 is a frame memory for green image data, and 50 is a frame memory for blue image data, both of which are configured in the same manner as the frame memory 30 for red image data, so a description of their configuration will be omitted. A data line 35 transfers data from the frame memory 30 to the data width conversion circuit 33. 36 is a data bus with an 8-bit data width for transferring data from the data width conversion circuit 33 to the line buffer 34.

The operation of the bitmap memory 16 regarding red image data will be explained with reference to FIG.

DMA is transferred from the data bus 22 to the frame memory 30.
The red image data stored in is converted to 8-bit width data and displayed on the display 21 in real time. The frame memory 30 stores red image data as shown in FIG. 3, and is sent to the data width conversion circuit 33 eight times in succession for each width of the data bus 22. In the data width conversion circuit 33, the bus width length (32 bits)
x8 data is held and transferred to the line buffer 34 multiple times as 8-bit data. At this time, the clock 37 is sent from the data width conversion circuit 33 to the line buffer 34.
is output. The line buffer 34 outputs data in synchronization with the horizontal synchronization clock of the CRT display 21. In this way, green (G), blue (B)
The image data in the frame memory 40.50 is output to the CRT 21 in real time and displayed.

[Operation Description (FIGS. 1 and 5)] Next, the control operation by the CPU 17 will be explained according to the flowchart in FIG. 5. Note that a control program that instructs execution of this control is stored in the ROM 18. This process is started by inputting an image data search instruction from the keyboard 12.

In step S1, the bitmap memory 16 is first cleared. At this point, nothing is displayed on the CRT display 21. In step S2, the image file name, image file data length, etc. to be displayed on the I10 controller 15 are set to prepare for DMA transfer. In step S3, initial settings such as file data length are performed in the DMA controller 14. In step S4, settings are made so that an interrupt signal from the switch 13 can be input, and settings are made so that the DMA transfer can be interrupted by the switch 13 at any time.

In step S5, the DMA controller 14 is activated to perform DM.
Instructs to start A transfer. As a result, the DMA controller 14 acquires the right to use the data bus 22 from the CPU 17, and uses the control line 24 to issue a data transfer request to the I10 controller 15.

In step S6, the I10 controller 14 reads image data from the large-capacity image file 11 and transfers the data to the bitmap memory 16 together with the control signal. By repeating these operations, the R7 frame of the image file 11 is sequentially DMA-transferred to the bitmap memory 16 from the upper left. These data transfers are performed collectively for each bus width of the data bus 22 to improve transfer efficiency.

In this way, while the DMA data from the R7 frame to the BO frame of the image file 11 is being transferred and being expanded to the bitmap memory 16, the CRT display 2
If the user viewing 1 determines that the material is not the desired search material, the switch 13 notifies the DAM controller 14 and the I10 controller 15. This allows DM
An external interrupt occurs in the A controller 14 and the I10 controller 15, and the external interrupt is masked in step S9.
DMA transfer is interrupted in step SIO.

The operations of step S9 and step SIO are executed by the DMA controller 14 and the I10 controller 15.

The DMA transfer is interrupted, and the CPU 17, which has regained the bus control right in step S1l, proceeds to wait for the key input from the keyboard 12. When the key instructing to resume image data transfer is pressed in step S12, the process advances to step S14.
External interrupts are enabled again, the process returns to step S6 at the time of the interrupt, and the DMA data transfer is continued.

On the other hand, when a search for the next image data is instructed in step S13, the process advances to step S1, where the bitmap memory 16 is cleared as described above, and the next image data is read, expanded, and displayed. When the transfer of all gradation data is completed, the DMA transfer is finished in step S7,
Control of the bus 22 is returned to the CPU 17. Then, as post-processing, external interrupts are masked in step S8, and the processing ends.

In this embodiment, the DMA transfer interrupt key and the next image data search instruction key are provided separately, but this interrupt key (switch 13) is provided with both functions, so that when the switch 13 is pressed, In this case, the search for the next image data may proceed unconditionally.

[Other Embodiments (Figure 6) Although the electronic file system described above is a stand-alone type, it is not limited to this. A filing device can also be realized using the same method.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an image file system according to another embodiment.

70 is a communication terminal connected to the communication line 65, and is composed of parts (60 to 62) described below. 60 is a communication controller on the search terminal side, which controls data transmission and reception through the network. 61 is an interrupt switch and an interrupt control section. This interrupt control section 61 can be used to interrupt data transfer in the same way as the switch 13 described above. 62 is a display unit, which includes a bitmap memory for storing bitmap-developed image data;
It consists of a color display that displays the contents of bitmap memory in real time.

63 is a large-capacity image file device in which a plurality of color image data such as search materials are stored.

64 is a communication controller on the large-capacity image file side, which manages the network and controls data transfer. Reference numeral 65 denotes a network line, which may be a dedicated line or a public line.

In FIG. 6, it is assumed that a plurality of terminals (70-1 to 7O-n) equivalent to the communication terminal 70 configured by 60, 61, and 62 are connected to the communication network 65. Now, when a search for color image data is started from the search terminal 7o, the image file 63 is
The color image data stored in is sequentially read out from the most significant bit frame (R7) of the red (R) frame, expanded to the bitmap memory of the communication terminal 70 through the communication network 65, and displayed on the display unit 62 in real time. be done.

If the user looking at the display of the communication terminal 70 determines that it is not the desired search material, the interrupt switch 61 can interrupt the current transfer of image data. Then, the next image data of the image file 63 is transferred through the network 65.

In this way, the present invention can also be applied to distributed color filing devices connected via a network.

As described above, according to this embodiment, color image data can be efficiently searched visually.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect that image data can be read out at high speed and it is possible to efficiently search whether the image is a desired image by visual inspection.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the image file system of this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the data format of color image data stored in an image file, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the red color image data ( Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the bitmap memory. Figure 5 shows the image search process in the image file system of this embodiment. The flowchart and FIG. 6 are block diagrams showing the configuration of an image file system according to another embodiment. In the figure, 11...Image file, 12...Keyboard, 13...Switch, 14...DMA controller, 15...I10 controller, 16...Bitmap memory, 17...CPU% 18...ROM,
19...RAM, 20...D/A converter, 21
...CRT display, 22...Data bus, 3
o...Red frame memory, 33...Data width conversion circuit, 34...Line buffer, 40...G frame memory, 50...B frame memory. Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) An image search device that searches for desired image information from an image file that stores a plurality of pieces of image information, and when a search is instructed, the device sequentially retrieves predetermined image information from the image file for each gradation. An expansion means for reading and expanding into the memory; a display means for displaying the image information expanded in the memory; an instruction means for instructing the expansion means to interrupt expansion into the memory; control means for controlling, in response to an instruction, to interrupt the expansion of the image information into the memory by the expansion means, and to read the next image information from the image file and to cause it to be expanded by the expansion means; An image search device comprising: (2) The image search device according to claim 1, wherein the image file stores image information encoded for each gradation. (3) The image file contains color image information of RGB 3
Primary color data is encoded and stored for each gradation, and the developing means reads three primary color data corresponding to one gradation,
2. The image retrieval device according to claim 1, wherein the image retrieval device is expanded into the memory for each color.