IMAGE RECORD APPARATUS AND IMAGE RECORD METHOD

• US 20110050936A1
• Filed: 02/24/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: I-Pro Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Sugimoto, Kenichiro, Haraguchi, Takayuki, Ohkawa, Kentaro
• Granted Patent: US 8,355,061 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/222.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/19676 Temporary storage, e.g. cyclic memory, buffer storage on pre-alarm
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/77 between a recording apparatus and a television camera

Abstract

An object of the invention is to provide an image record apparatus and an image record method that can improve the use efficiency of a record medium for recording a video image from a camera. A NW control section (141) acquires the image quality and the resolution set in a camera (10) performing pre-record and calculates the maximum image size that can be transmitted by the camera (10), and a file system (142) calculates the number of images from the preset pre-record rate and pre-record time and reserves an area corresponding to the maximum image size of one pre-record image calculated by the NW control section (141) in an HDD (146). The NW control section (141) records a pre-record image transmitted from the camera (10) in the area reserved by the file system (142). When it records as many pre-record images as the number of pre-record images, it returns to the beginning of the area reserved by the file system (142) and continues recording a pre-record image is continued. When an alarm occurs while a pre-record image is recorded, the NW control section 141 determines that the pre-record image at the point in time is pre-record data.

Claims

1. An image record apparatus, comprising:

a maximum image size acquisition section that acquires the maximum image size of one pre-record image which can be transmitted by a camera;

a number-of-images setting section that sets the number of pre-record images;

an area reserving section that reserves an area corresponding to the maximum image size of the one pre-record image acquired by the maximum image size acquisition section in a record medium;

a pre-record image record section that records the pre-record image transmitted from the camera in the area of the record medium reserved by the area reserving section; and

a record continuation section returns to the beginning of the area of the record medium reserved by the area reserving section and continues to record the pre-record image, when as many pre-record images transmitted from the camera as the number of the pre-record images set by the number-of-images setting section have been recorded.

2. The image record apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the number-of-images setting section calculates and sets the number of pre-record images based on a preset pre-record rate and a pre-record time of the camera.

3. The image record apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:

an alarm occurrence detection section that detects an occurrence of an alarm; and

a pre-record image determination section that determines the pre-record image recorded by the pre-record image record section as pre-record data when the alarm occurrence detection section detects the occurrence of the alarm.

4. An image record system, comprising:

a camera that transmits a pre-record image;

a maximum image size acquisition section that acquires the maximum image size of one pre-record image which can be transmitted by the camera;

a number-of-images setting section that sets the number of pre-record images;

an area reserving section that reserves an area corresponding to the maximum image size of the one pre-record image acquired by the maximum image size acquisition section in a record medium;

a pre-record image record section that records the pre-record image transmitted from the camera in the area of the record medium reserved by the area reserving section; and

a record continuation section returns to the beginning of the area of the record medium reserved by the area reserving section and continues to record the pre-record image, when as many pre-record images transmitted from the camera as the number of the pre-record images set by the number-of-images setting section have been recorded.

5. An image record method, comprising:

a maximum image size acquisition step of acquiring the maximum image size of one pre-record image which can be transmitted by a camera;

a number-of-images setting step of setting the number of pre-record images;

an area reserving step of reserving an area corresponding to the maximum image size of one pre-record image acquired in the maximum image size acquisition step in a record medium;

a pre-record image record step of recording the pre-record image transmitted from the camera in the area of the record medium reserved in the area reserving step; and

a record continuation step of returning to the beginning of the area of the record medium reserved by the area reserving section and continuing to record the pre-record image, when as many pre-record images transmitted from the camera as the number of the pre-record images set by the number-of-images setting section have been recorded.