Abstract: In the transmission of a moving picture, when the user switches video sources (for example, switches channels or starts reproducing a recorded program), the selected video source can be swiftly started to display. Immediately after a delivery apparatus makes a video source be selected by switching, a receiving apparatus causes a selector to select the video packets transmitted not through an error corrector and to supply them to a decoder and it controls the decoder to generate a frozen frame from the video packets and to supply it to a display where it is displayed. The selector is controlled to produce the error-corrected video data after a counter counts a delay time that the video packets undergo in the error corrector. Thus, the moving picture can be seamlessly displayed, and the delay in the error corrector can be apparently eliminated.

Abstract: A video-phone call with a portable video-phone terminal is enabled for a cellular phone which has not video-phone service provided, by making use of cameras and display devices placed on the street. For a video-phone call to a portable video-phone terminal, a media converter in a service center distributes data so as to send video data to a public communication terminal on the street, and voice data to a cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability. A call agent in a service center issues an ID in response to a request from the cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability on voice call. This ID may be received by a service center via a detector such as a sensor deployed on the street, to provide a video-phone service by using a public communication terminal on the street in the vicinity of the detector.

Abstract: A data converting device which includes an input device which receives input information containing one or more kinds of data, a data analyzer which checks each kind of data constituting the input information and extracts data from the input information when the checked data are judged to be predetermined conversion target data to be subjected to a data conversion processing, and a controller which performs the conversion processing on an amount of the extracted data in accordance with a predetermined regulation for the kind of data. The invention further includes an information constructing device which replaces the non-converted data of the input information which converted extracted data, thereby reconstructing the input information, and an output device which outputs the reconstructed input information.

Abstract: When performing processing to embed electronic watermarks in video data constituting digital video content, audio types are discriminated using differences etc. in sampling characteristics for audio data reproduced synchronously with these video data, and the video data domains targeted for the process of embedding electronic watermarks are limited, depending on the audio type.

Abstract: In the transmission of a moving picture, when the user switches video sources (for example, switches channels or starts reproducing a recorded program), the selected video source can be swiftly started to display. Immediately after a delivery apparatus makes a video source be selected by switching, a receiving apparatus causes a selector to select the video packets transmitted not through an error corrector and to supply them to a decoder and it controls the decoder to generate a frozen frame from the video packets and to supply it to a display where it is displayed. The selector is controlled to produce the error-corrected video data after a counter counts a delay time that the video packets undergo in the error corrector. Thus, the moving picture can be seamlessly displayed, and the delay in the error corrector can be apparently eliminated.

Abstract: A communication terminal includes a display device configured to display an image on the display device according to image display parameters; a processor to process the images data; and a communication interface to transmit or receive data, the communication interface configured to be coupled to a remote image processing device via a network. Unnecessary data is prevented from being transmitted, and it becomes possible to reduce processing loads on the terminals to thereby display only the focused image data section in a shared fashion between the terminals during the communication. When a communication is conducted in real time, it can be explicitly indicated on what section of image data a user of a terminal which is to transmit the image data and a user of a terminal which is to receive the image data are to focus each other's attention during the communication.

Abstract: A video-phone call with a portable video-phone terminal is enabled for a cellular phone which has not video-phone service provided, by making use of cameras and display devices placed on the street. For a video-phone call to a portable video-phone terminal, a media converter in a service center distributes data so as to send video data to a public communication terminal on the street, and voice data to a cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability. A call agent in a service center issues an ID in response to a request from the cellular phone without video recording/reproducing capability on voice call. This ID may be received by a service center via a detector such as a sensor deployed on the street, to provide a video-phone service by using a public communication terminal on the street in the vicinity of the detector.

Abstract: A terminal device stores in a nonvolatile memory a video encoding method, a size expressed by pixels, a frame rate, a bit rate, and a key frame insertion interval suitable for reception. A receiving side terminal device notifies information to a sending side terminal. According to the information, the sending side terminal device encodes video data obtained by shooting an object and transmits encoded video data. Also, the sending side terminal device cuts, from the video data, video data of a size not exceeding a least size among a size of the video data obtained by the sending side terminal device, a size expressed by pixels suitable for transmission in the sending side terminal device, and a size expressed by pixels suitable for reception in the reception side terminal device. The sending side terminal device encodes and transmits the video data.

Abstract: A surveillance image is acquired from a surveillance camera. Supplement information (such as date and time, and surveillance camera number) relating to the surveillance image is acquired. By imaging the supplement information, supplement information image data is generated. A quantized discrete cosine transform coefficient block obtained by conducting discrete cosine transform and then quantization on surveillance image data of the surveillance image is added to a quantized discrete cosine transform coefficient block obtained by conducting discrete cosine transform and then quantization on the supplement information image data. A resultant sum is subjected to Huffman encoding. The result is recorded.

Abstract: An image pickup apparatus certifies unchanged image data by photographing a person using the image pickup apparatus. Two steps are carried out with the image pickup apparatus, coding image data and enciphering the coded image data, which includes changing the original data to encryption data. The enciphering also includes adding a watermark to the coded data. The coding of the image data and enciphering of the coded data are performed before the coded data is stored in a medium or is transferred to another device.

Abstract: An image pickup apparatus certifies unchanged image data by photographing a person using the image pickup apparatus. Two steps are carried out with the image pickup apparatus, coding image data and enciphering the coded image data, which includes changing the original data to encryption data. The enciphering also includes adding a watermark to the coded data. The coding of the image data and enciphering of the coded data are performed before the coded data is stored in a medium or is transferred to another device.

Abstract: A video stream decoder include: a demultiplexing unit for demultiplexing a video stream containing at least one or more object encoded visual or audio data and one or more scene descriptions which express scene contents by object encoded data; a decoder unit for decoding the object encoded visual data; a decoder unit for decoding the object encoded audio data; a visual synthesizing unit for synthesizing images corresponding to the object encoded visual data; an audio synthesizing unit for synthesizing sounds corresponding to the object encoded audio data; an analyzing unit for analyzing each scene description; a selector for selecting one of at least two or more scene descriptions contained in the video stream.

Abstract: A terminal device stores in a nonvolatile memory a video encoding method, a size expressed by pixels, a frame rate, a bit rate, and a key frame insertion interval suitable for reception. A receiving side terminal device notifies information to a sending side terminal. According to the information, the sending side terminal device encodes video data obtained by shooting an object and transmits encoded video data. Also, the sending side terminal device cuts, from the video data, video data of a size not exceeding a least size among a size of the video data obtained by the sending side terminal device, a size expressed by pixels suitable for transmission in the sending side terminal device, and a size expressed by pixels suitable for reception in the reception side terminal device. The sending side terminal device encodes and transmits the video data.

Abstract: A picture recording method for recording original picture data encodes the original picture so that the entirety of the original picture is displayed at its original resolution on a television monitor after being decoded. The method involves first scaling down an original picture image, then filling top, bottom, and left and right side regions around the scaled down picture image with pixels to attain a picture image that is of the same size and resolution as that of the original picture image. The scaled down and filled in image is then recorded by encoding and storing the picture data at the original resolution. The recorded picture data is then subsequently decoded for displaying all pixels of the original picture image at the original resolution on a television monitor.

Abstract: A data receiving apparatus has a tuner for receiving enciphered contents and an enciphered scramble key, a local CPU for deciphering the enciphered scramble key by using a work key in an IC card, a Ks encipher unit for generating an encipher key for re-enciphering the deciphered scramble key and a decipher key for re-deciphering the re-enciphered scramble key in accordance with an identification ID specific to the apparatus and an arbitrary random number and for re-enciphering the deciphered scramble key by using the encipher key, a key storage area for storing the decipher key, and a bus I/F unit for transferring the re-enciphered scramble key and enciphered contents to an external apparatus.

Abstract: A data receiving apparatus comprises a receiving unit which receives data, a storage unit which stores received data, and a CPU which secures in the storage unit an exclusive memory area exclusively usable by a service provider or a broadcasting provider.

Abstract: There is provided a device for forming, from original sound-attached moving-picture (video) data, sound-attached moving-picture data of a desired reproduction time which has a data amount smaller than that of the original sound-attached moving-picture data and are suitable to output the corresponding sounds and moving pictures at the same time. The original sound-attached moving-picture data are separated into moving-picture data and sound data. When the separated moving-picture data are moving-picture data which are encoded by orthogonal transform coding, for every frame, any portion representing high frequency components in the moving-picture data in each frame of the moving-picture data is deleted.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus for processing video data and video data with audio data includes a scene change detecting device for particularly detecting a scene change of video data. The video data scene change detecting device includes an intra-coded frame detecting device for detecting a scene change between an intra-coded frame contained in video data and an intra-coded frame preceding the frame and a scene change information recording device for recording scene change information detected by the intra-coded frame detecting device.

Abstract: According to a data amount reducing device for reducing the data amount of compressed video data in which the compressed video data has a format having a control information portion comprising control information which contains information on picture size and bit rate and is adapted to determine the characteristics of the compressed video data, and a data portion comprising compressed video data of plural frames, the data amount of intra-coded frames contained in the data portion in the compressed video data is reduced, and the control information is altered so as to match the compressed video data after the reduction processing.

Abstract: Compressed image data of a desired picture is read out from a memory having compressed image data of a sequential format stored therein and then subjected to an examination with respect to a plurality of frequency components of the read-out compressed image data. Part of the plurality of frequency components is deleted to obtain compressed image data of a quality lower than an original quality of the compressed image data. The obtained compressed image data of the lower quality is decoded and displayed on a display. The plurality of frequency components are deleted in a stepwise manner according to a traffic state of a transmission line through which the compressed image data is to be transmitted. For maintaining a picture frame rate to be constant, the plurality of frequency components may be deleted in a stepwise manner. For obtaining a desired decoding rate, the plurality of frequency components may be deleted in a stepwise manner.