Abstract: An aperture unit comprises a base plate, a cover, a plurality of movable blades, a drive ring, a drive motor, and rotation shafts. The movable blades are disposed between the base plate and the cover, and adjust the amount of light passing through by varying the size of the opening by opening and closing operations. The drive ring is disposed between the base plate and the cover, is rotationally driven when the movable blades are opened and closed, and has a plurality of cam pins that move along cam grooves in the movable blades. The cover has protrusions that protrude toward the movable blades along the optical axis direction and restrict the movement of the movable blades in the optical axis direction.

Abstract: Re-encoding information indicating whether or not an input moving picture has been compression-encoded is provided to a mode determining unit. The mode determining unit determines an optimal encoding mode for the input moving picture, out of a plurality of encoding modes. The mode determining operation is controlled by the re-encoding information. According to a mode determination result of the mode determining unit, a prediction error value corresponding to the determined mode is selected by a selection switch, and then, an encoding process is performed. As the re-encoding information, a pre-determined value, a bit rate, and a quantization parameter, etc., could be provided.

Abstract: A first buffer analyzer receives attribute information (a) of a video signal (A) from a stream buffer (A) to determine an encoded picture type after correction and a generated encoding amount after correction for a switch terminating measure. A second buffer analyzer receives attribute information (b) of a video signal (B) and final buffer-state information after the switch terminating measure from a stream buffer (B) to determine an encoded picture type after correction and a generated encoding amount after correction for a switch starting measure. A re-encoder/re-quantizer (A) and a re-encoder/re-quantizer (B) perform the switch terminating measure and the switch starting measure on the video signals (A) and (B), respectively, based on the correction information from the first and second buffer analyzers.

Abstract: The present invention improves the encoding efficiency, image quality, resolution, and the like of an input image having a special property, for example, an image input from a special camera. The input image is sliced according to a recognized shape and divided into blocks having a size according to a pixel density or an image resolution. Then, an object in the image is defined using a parameter including the numbers of the sliced images and the amounts of shift of the sliced images from a reference position, and the respective blocks are encoded using the movement of the object. Further, when a partial image is cut out from a base image, encoded, and then transmitted, a processing load in the encoding processing is reduced by encoding the partial image making use of preprocessing data.

Abstract: A transmitting device includes a first buffer for temporarily storing audio data, a second buffer for temporarily storing video data, a multiplexing unit for outputting audio data coming from the first buffer and video data coming from the second buffer onto a single signal channel, and a transmission buffer monitoring unit for monitoring the amount of first buffered data stored in the first buffer and, if the amount of the first buffered data exceeds a first threshold, instructing the second buffer to discard video data.

Abstract: An audio playback apparatus includes a playback section for playing audio back, a buffer section (13) for temporarily storing voice data to be played back, a switch (14) for on/off switching transmission of the voice data from the buffer section (13) to the playback section, at least one threshold judgment section (18) for judging whether an amount of voice data buffered in the buffer section (13) is equal to or smaller than at least one threshold value, the at least one threshold judgment section (18) providing a true output when the buffered voice data amount is equal to or smaller than the at least one threshold value, a timer (19) triggered by an output from the at least one threshold judgment section to output a trigger pulse with a predetermined duration of time, and a first control section (191) for controlling on/off of the switch (14) to prevent transmission of the voice data in the buffer section (13) to the playback section for the predetermined duration of time of the trigger pulse when the true o

Abstract: It is made possible to concretely estimate actual transmission bit rate in a frame of grasping a line state by using a report packet. Together with media packets encoded by a video encoder 1 and an audio encoder 2, a sender report packet generated by a sender report generation section 3 is sent to the transmission line. A receiver report packet is fed back from the receiver side. Each of the sender report packet and the receiver report packet includes report packets of two kinds differing in size. A rate estimation section 4 estimates transmission bit rate on the basis of round-trip delay time for the sender report packet and the receiver report packet each having a small size and round-trip delay time for the sender report packet and the receiver report packet each having a large size.

Abstract: A first buffer analyzer receives attribute information (a) of a video signal (A) from a stream buffer (A) to determine an encoded picture type after correction and a generated encoding amount after correction for a switch terminating measure. A second buffer analyzer receives attribute information (b) of a video signal (B) and final buffer-state information after the switch terminating measure from a stream buffer (B) to determine an encoded picture type after correction and a generated encoding amount after correction for a switch starting measure. A re-encoder/re-quantizer (A) and a re-encoder/re-quantizer (B) perform the switch terminating measure and the switch starting measure on the video signals (A) and (B), respectively, based on the correction information from the first and second buffer analyzers.

Abstract: Re-encoding information indicating whether or not an input moving picture has been compression-encoded is provided to a mode determining unit. The mode determining unit determines an optimal encoding mode for the input moving picture, out of a plurality of encoding modes. The mode determining operation is controlled by the re-encoding information. According to a mode determination result of the mode determining unit, a prediction error value corresponding to the determined mode is selected by a selection switch, and then, an encoding process is performed. As the re-encoding information, a predetermined value, a bit rate, and a quantization parameter, etc., could be provided.

Abstract: A transmitting device includes a first buffer for temporarily storing audio data, a second buffer for temporarily storing video data, a multiplexing unit for outputting audio data coming from the first buffer and video data coming from the second buffer onto a single signal channel, and a transmission buffer monitoring unit for monitoring the amount of first buffered data stored in the first buffer and, if the amount of the first buffered data exceeds a first threshold, instructing the second buffer to discard video data.

Abstract: An audio playback apparatus includes a playback section for playing audio back, a buffer section (13) for temporarily storing voice data to be played back, a switch (14) for on/off switching transmission of the voice data from the buffer section (13) to the playback section, at least one threshold judgment section (18) for judging whether an amount of voice data buffered in the buffer section (13) is equal to or smaller than at least one threshold value, the at least one threshold judgment section (18) providing a true output when the buffered voice data amount is equal to or smaller than the at least one threshold value, a timer (19) triggered by an output from the at least one threshold judgment section to output a trigger pulse with a predetermined duration of time, and a first control section (191) for controlling on/off of the switch (14) to prevent transmission of the voice data in the buffer section (13) to the playback section for the predetermined duration of time of the trigger pulse when the true o

Abstract: The present invention improves the encoding efficiency, image quality, resolution, and the like of an input image having a special property, for example, an image input from a special camera. The input image is sliced according to a recognized shape and divided into blocks having a size according to a pixel density or an image resolution. Then, an object in the image is defined using a parameter including the numbers of the sliced images and the amounts of shift of the sliced images from a reference position, and the respective blocks are encoded using the movement of the object. Further, when a partial image is cut out from a base image, encoded, and then transmitted, a processing load in the encoding processing is reduced by encoding the partial image making use of preprocessing data.

Abstract: It is made possible to concretely estimate actual transmission bit rate in a frame of grasping a line state by using a report packet.

Abstract: To provide a moving picture file distributing device capable of avoiding a failure due to competition between uploading and downloading in a real-time distribution of a moving picture file.

Abstract: A motion detecting device for enhancement of the image quality at ultra-low bit rates is disclosed, which permits quantization of the prediction error with the highest possible degree of accuracy, taking into account the amount of information which is generated by a motion vector generated by a motion vector generator. A difference vector corresponding to a difference between the motion vector and a motion vector of an already encoded reference pixel block located near the current pixel block to be encoded in said current frame is obtained. An output resulting from a motion detection of the difference vector so as to obtain the minimum step size from said difference vector, through the use of the number of generated bits and the number of bits of said difference vector, is encoded.

Abstract: This invention aims to provide a method and apparatus for detecting a synchronization shift in which the synchronization shift between an original image and a reproduced image can be accurately detected even if noises are generated by a video codec or the like. An original image sent out from an image source 1 has a sine wave for synchronization overwritten thereon in a frame memory. The image on which the sine wave has been overwritten is decoded in a codec and stored in another frame memory. The two images srored. in two frame memories are simultaneously started to be read out. From the image from the other frame memory, only the sine wave is extracted in a notch filter, subjected to an offset correction in an adder, and inputted to asynchronization shift detecting unit. The synchronization shift detecting unit uses the sine wave to detect line, frame and horizontal pixel shifts.

Abstract: A motion detecting device for enhancement of the image quality at ultra-low bit rates is disclosed, which permits quantization of the prediction error with the highest possible degree of accuracy, taking into account the amount of information which is generated by a motion vector generated by a motion vector generator. A difference vector corresponding to a difference between the motion vector and a motion vector of an already encoded reference pixel block located near the current pixel block to be encoded in said current frame is obtained. An output resulting from a motion detection of the difference vector so as to obtain the minimum step size from said difference vector, through the use of the number of generated bits and the number of bits of said difference vector, is encoded.

Abstract: An apparatus for evaluating digital picture quality, includes a SNR calculation module for calculating a SNR based upon differences between data of video picture to be evaluated and data of original video picture, a module for calculating a power of AC component of overall data of one of the video pictures in a frame, and a weighting module for weighting the calculated SNR based upon the calculated power of the AC component.

Abstract: When a selective decision of the field mode/frame mode for orthogonal transform is made for each macroblock composed of a plurality of blocks in a motion picture coding system wherein coding of an interlaced TV signal proceeds in the frame structure and an orthogonal transform is made in the unit of a block, the respective variances of the blocks within the macroblock are calculated, the calculated results are substituted respectively into an monotonously increasing and saturation tending nonlinear function to evaluate the sum of these functional values, and such a decision is made as to select the smaller mode in sum.

Abstract: A method for coding moving pictures using motion compensation for prediction has a step of producing motion vectors for a macroblock in a previous frame, the macroblock corresponding to a macroblock to be coded in a current frame, a step of motion-compensating the macroblock in the previous frame by using the produced motion vector to generate a motion compensated macroblock, a step of calculating a prediction error from the motion compensated macroblock and the macroblock to be coded in the current frame, a step of deciding whether the macroblock to be coded in the current frame is a significant macroblock or a non-significant macroblock by comparing the calculated prediction error with a threshold value, a step of coding the macroblock to be coded in the current frame when the macroblock is decided as the significant macroblock, and a step of transmitting only the produced motion vector when the macroblock is decided as the non-significant macroblock.