JPH10320534A - Image processor, image storage method, image distribution method, and image distribution system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently obtain images having requested attributes. SOLUTION: When the attribute of the image to be requested is given from an instruction means 1, a storage position information selection means 2 compares image attribute information given from the instruction means 1 with the image attribute information held by an image attribute table 3 and selects the matching attribute. Then, the image corresponding to the attribute or the storage position information of the image is selected. When the one selected by the storage position information selection means 2 is the image, an image input means 4 inputs the image and turns it to an output image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image storage method, an image distribution method, and an image distribution system suitable for communicating, acquiring, and distributing images on a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Internet / Intranet WW
In an environment like W, output devices (display,
Printers, etc.) and uses (editing, browsing, etc.)
The same image is often transmitted. As an example, HTM used as a document description language in WWW
L will be described. RFC1866, which is the official specification of HTML 2.0, defines HTML as "a markup language for creating hypertext sentences that do not exist on the platform". Here, markup is a character that is grammatically distinguished in order to describe a sentence structure. In particular, markup for expressing constituent elements of a sentence is called a tag. A tag is composed of a start tag and an end tag, and the portion enclosed between them is an element. In this case, the elements are allowed to have specific attributes. For example, an image (image or icon) can be inserted into a sentence by the following description. <IMG SRC = "http: //machine/sample.gif>

[0003] "SRC" is an attribute of an "IMG" element, and is information (URL;
Uniform Resource Locator notation). An element called an anchor represents one end (called tail or source) of the piper link, and is logically connected to the anchor at the other end. This binding is represented by the address of the anchor (using the notation of URL), and the two anchors are associated by referring to the address. Thus, in HTML, UR is included in the text.
Since the image file is designated using L, it is possible to take in the image from the storage destination into the HTML text at the time of execution.

[0004] On the other hand, there is known browsing software in which the specification of an HTML image has expandability (for example, Netscape N
avigator1.1). In this software, an attribute called "LOWSRC" for temporarily displaying a low-resolution image before displaying an image designated by "SRC" is adopted. As a result, even when the image is large and the display takes a long time, the entire page can be “shown for the time being”, which is effective in reducing the stress on the user.

However, HTML does not have a function of switching image attributes depending on the type of output device. For this reason, if the image has a low resolution, the image quality will be poor when outputting the image from a high-resolution device such as a printer, while if the image has a high resolution, the image will have a low resolution such as a display. There is a problem that useless data must be transmitted when outputting from the device.

For this reason, as a technique for holding a plurality of images having different resolutions in a combined form and transmitting different images in accordance with different display devices and applications, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H8-208,
OPI (Open Pre-pre) disclosed in
ss Interface) is known. This technology is mainly
This is a technique that is widely used in the DTP field, and is a technique in which two types of images having different resolutions are prepared, and are selectively used according to purposes such as screen display and printing used for editing the layout of a sentence. In this case, the low-resolution image holds the following information to specify the corresponding high-resolution image. -Image display position x, y-Image display range w, h-Image resolution r-High resolution image specification File name

[0007] The correspondence between the low-resolution image and the high-resolution image is performed in the printer server at the time of output. Before the low resolution image is processed, it is replaced with a high resolution image using the above information.

A technique called FlashPix has been developed in which images of different sizes are stored in one image file, and images of a size required by a client are used. In FlashPix, a plurality of resolution images are stored in one file, and each image is divided into small area images called tiles. Further, by having an editing history for an image, browsing and editing of the image can be easily performed. For this reason, depending on a plurality of resolution images, it is possible to selectively use a low-resolution image for display display and a high-resolution image for printer output.

[0009]

By the way, in an environment such as the Internet / intranet, images are stored over many servers existing in a communication network, and an arbitrary client can be used according to a device or application. It is desired that an image having necessary attributes can be acquired. Further, it is convenient if special use conditions such as billing, use authentication, use restrictions, and the like can be set for each server when using images.

However, in the above-mentioned OPI, it is assumed that roles such as use and output of an image are assigned to a predetermined device.
Images stored across many servers could not be obtained by any client depending on the device or application. Furthermore, in the OPI, there is no need to set any special conditions when using images, so that images cannot be distributed according to the conditions, and are not suitable for use in a network environment.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned FlashPix, although a plurality of resolution images exist in one file, a function of independently transmitting these images has become available. For example, even when a client uses a low-resolution image for preview, when transmitting the image from the server to the client, it is necessary to transmit a high-resolution image for printing together with the image. Was. Therefore, there is a problem that useless communication is performed. Also, with FlashPix, there is a problem that the load cannot be distributed because a plurality of resolution images cannot be arranged at different sites on the network. In addition, FlashPix
Like PI, it was not possible to distribute or obtain an image according to special conditions, and thus it was not suitable for use in a network environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and has been made by an apparatus which can display an image of the same content intended for different display devices and uses at an arbitrary place on a network while maintaining the relationship between the images. In the method of communicating, acquiring, or distributing an image having the required attribute as necessary without generating an unnecessary load,
It is intended to provide devices and systems.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an instructing means for instructing an attribute of an image to be requested, and an image attribute based on the image attribute request instructed by the instructing means. Storage position information selecting means for selecting storage position information of an image having an attribute corresponding to the request,
Image input means for inputting an image based on the storage position information selected by the storage position information selection means.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A. First Embodiment 1. First Embodiment Configuration of First Embodiment Hereinafter, a configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1-1. Overall Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of the image distribution system according to the first embodiment. In the figure, 100-1, 10
.., 100-m are image requesting clients that select and acquire necessary images via a network in response to an image request of an internal program. Also, 200-
1, 200-2,..., 200-1 are image servers connected to a network, in which an image file and an image attribute table TBL for storing image storage positions and their attributes in association with each other are provided. ing. For example, if the attributes of one original image are converted and a plurality of images having the same image content but different attributes are generated, the newly generated image and the original image are stored in one image attribute table TBL. Is done. Also, 300-1, 300-2,... 300
An image storage server -n stores an image file. The image file is read out as needed, and is transferred to the image server 200 via a network.

1-2. Next, the internal configuration of each node will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image requesting client, an image server, and an image storage server according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 2, each image requesting client, image server, and image storage server are provided one by one for the sake of simplicity, but a plurality of these nodes may be provided as shown in FIG. Of course.

First, the image requesting client 100 will be described. Reference numeral 101 denotes an image requesting client program, which is executed by a CPU (not shown), whereby necessary images are obtained. In this case, the CPU specifies the attributes of the image according to the processing status, such as displaying a screen on a display or performing printing with a printer.

Here, the attributes of the image include, for example, the following. -Information about the size of the image. Number of pixels, physical size of image, resolution, etc. ・ Information on color space of image. Color space type, profile
(Data describing a conversion algorithm / parameter between the standard color space such as CIE XYZ, CIEL * a * b and the image color space), number of gradations, etc. Information on the image compression method. Information on the type of image format.・ Information on image usage conditions. User information, billing information, copyright information, rating information, etc. In the present embodiment, as an example of attribute information,
It is assumed that image size information, color space information and format information are handled. However, other information can be handled as attribute information in the same manner as in the present embodiment.

When the image request program 101 is executed and an image having a certain attribute is required, the CPU sets attribute specifying information indicating the attribute and image attribute table specifying information specifying the image attribute table TBL corresponding to the image. Are generated in accordance with the image request program 101, and these pieces of information are output as an image request.

Next, a request receiving unit 102 receives attribute designation information and image attribute table designation information, and outputs these information. Here, a method of designating the position of the image attribute table TBL includes, for example, a hierarchical structure such as a URL in which the position of the device where the file is stored on the network and the position where the file exists in the device are hierarchical. There is a way to specify. In this example, the position of the image attribute table TBL is specified by using the URL.

An image selection unit 103 includes an image attribute table request unit 104 and an image attribute table 10.
5, and appropriately communicates with the image server 200 via the network. The image selection unit 103
Is connected to the link destination image request unit 106, and appropriately communicates with the image storage server 300 via the network. Further, the image selection unit 103 determines the image attribute table T based on the table position information from the request reception unit 102.
The server in which the BL exists is specified, and the image attribute table TBL can be obtained from this server.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the contents of the image attribute table TBL. As shown in the drawing, the image attribute table TBL holds a plurality of sets, each of which includes image attribute information and image data or link information. The image attribute information in this example indicates the size, color space, and format of the image. The link information uniquely identifies the position where the image exists on the network, and describes the position in the file using the URL. In this case, the file location is "file: //
(Domain name) / (directory) / (file name) ".

For example, in the attribute of the image No. 1, the size is w1 × h1, the color space is RGB, and the format is GIF.
, And the format is image data. On the other hand, in the image No. 2, the position information of the link destination (link information)
Are stored in association with the image attribute information. Therefore, based on the image attribute information, the image attribute table T
By referring to the BL, the corresponding image data or the position of the link destination can be detected. In this example, one piece of image attribute information corresponds to one piece of image data or link information. However, depending on the type of attribute, a difference in attribute may have little effect on an image. In such a case, it is needless to say that image data and link information corresponding to a plurality of pieces of image attribute information may exist. It is.

In general, when an image file is designated, an image is specified using position information such as a directory and a file name. Since the image is uniquely specified by the specification of the image file, the position information and the file name simultaneously specify the semantic content of the image and its attribute. Here, the image attribute table designation information for designating the image attribute table TBL described above is described by using the URL with the position information and the file name. Therefore, the image attribute table TBL is also specified by the position information and the file name. However, since a series of images having different attributes are stored in the image attribute table TBL, the position information and the file name do not specify the attributes of the images, but designate semantic contents that are not affected by the attributes of the images. I do. As described above, since the image attribute table TBL has the same content and stores various images having different attributes, by using the image attribute table TBL, the semantic content of the image is made independent of the image attribute. Can be specified.

When acquiring the image attribute table TBL, the image selecting section 103 refers to the image attribute table TBL based on the attribute designation information. Then, when the image data corresponding to the attribute designation information is stored in the image attribute table TBL, this is output. Further, when link information corresponding to the attribute designation information is stored, the image storage server 300 based on the link information.
Communicates with Therefore, the image selection unit 103 compares the attribute designation information with the image attribute information in the image attribute table TBL.

Next, reference numeral 109 denotes an image distribution unit which, based on an instruction from the image requesting client program 101,
The image data is output to the image requesting client program 101 or the output unit 110. Here, the output unit 110 includes a display, a printer, and the like.

Next, the image server 200 will be described. The image server 200 includes an image attribute table request receiving unit 201, an image attribute table storage unit 202, and an image attribute table transmitting unit 203. The image attribute table request receiving unit 201 receives an image request (position information) from the image attribute table requesting unit 104 of the image requesting client 100. Image attribute table storage unit 20
2 stores various image attribute tables TBL.
Further, the image attribute table transmission unit 203 includes an image attribute table TB necessary for the image attribute table reception unit 105.
Send L.

Next, the image storage server 300 will be described. The image storage server 300 includes the image request receiving unit 3
01, an image storage unit 302, and an image transmission unit 303. The image request receiving unit 301 receives an image request (link information) from the link destination image request unit 106 of the image request client 100. The image storage unit 302 stores various image data. Further, the image attribute table transmission unit 303 transmits necessary image data to the link destination image reception unit 107.

2. Operation of First Embodiment Next, the operation of the image distribution system according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 2-1: Acquisition of Image Attribute Table First, an operation until the image requesting client 100 acquires the image attribute table TBL will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image distribution system (see FIG. 2) for acquiring the image attribute table. As shown in the figure, suppose that an image having an attribute that is the image requesting client program 101 is required (step S10).
0), the CPU executing the program 101 sends the attribute designation information and the image attribute table designation information to the request receiving unit 10
2 to request an image (step S101).

Thereafter, the request receiving unit 102 acquires the position information of the image attribute table based on the image attribute table designation information, and transmits the position information and the attribute designation information to the image selection unit 10.
3 (step S102), the image selection unit 10
3 specifies the server in which the image attribute table exists by referring to the position information (step S103).

Here, if the server specified in step S103 is the image server 200, the image attribute table requesting unit 104 requests the image server 200 to transmit the image attribute table and transfers the position information. (Step S104).

The position information in this example is described by a URL, and describes not only the address on the network of the device storing the image attribute table TBL but also the storage position inside the device. For this reason, based on the position information received by the image attribute table request receiving unit 201, the image server 200 extracts the corresponding image attribute table TBL from the image attribute table storage unit 202, and retrieves this via the image attribute table transmitting unit 203. To the image requesting client 100 (step S105).

As a result, the image requesting client 100
Is an image attribute table TBL existing on the network
Can be obtained. In this case, when the image attribute table receiving unit 105 receives the image attribute table TBL, it passes it to the image selecting unit 103. Step S
If the communication has failed in step S105 and in step S105, the image acquisition has failed, and error processing is performed.

2-2: Acquisition and Conversion of Image Data Next, acquisition and conversion of image data based on the image attribute table TBL will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts for explaining operations related to acquisition and conversion of image data. First, in step S107 shown in FIG.
Is attribute designation information received from the request receiving unit 102,
The received image attribute information is compared with the received image attribute information of the image attribute table TBL. Then, it is determined whether or not the image attribute information includes exactly the same information as the attribute designation information (Step S).
108). If there is exactly the same information, the judgment result is Y
The process proceeds to step S109, and the attribute information is selected.

On the other hand, if completely identical information does not exist, the determination result is NO, and the process proceeds to step S110, where the image selecting unit 103 determines whether there is attribute information that can be attribute-converted. If there is attribute information for which attribute conversion is possible, the process proceeds to step S111, where the image selection unit 10
3 selects one piece of attribute information having attributes as close as possible. In this case, the selection of the attribute information is selected so that the image quality degradation after conversion is minimized. Thereafter, the image selection unit 103 sets the image attribute conversion unit 108 to perform attribute conversion (step S112).

For example, the acquired image attribute table TBL
Is shown in FIG. 3, and the image designation information has a size w4
× h4, resolution d4, gradation 16, format JPEG, and when the color space indicates L * a * b *, NO.4 has the closest attribute. Here, if the image attribute conversion unit 108 can convert the color space L * a * b * to the color space RGB, the image selection unit 103 selects the image of No. 4 and the image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the color space L * a * b * to the color space RGB
Is set to convert to As the priority order for selecting attribute information, for example, format → color space →
It is conceivable that selection is made in the order of size reduction → size expansion, but the point is that the selection is performed in accordance with a predetermined priority order so that image quality deterioration is reduced.

If there is no attribute information that can be converted in the acquired image attribute table TBL, the result of the determination in step S110 is NO, and an error processing is performed as a failure in image acquisition.

Next, proceeding to step S113 shown in FIG. 6, the image selecting unit 103 determines whether the attribute corresponding to the selected attribute is image data or link information. If it is image data, the process proceeds to step S114, where the image selection unit 103 selects image data from the image attribute table TBL. On the other hand, if it is link information, the process proceeds to step S115, where the image selecting unit 103 acquires the corresponding link information from the image attribute table TBL. Thereafter, when the link information is supplied to the link destination image requesting unit 106, the link destination image requesting unit 106
Based on the link information, the image storage server storing the linked image is specified, and an image transmission is requested to the image storage server (step S116). In this example, it is assumed that the specified server is the image storage server 300 shown in FIG.

Next, the image storage server 300 fetches the requested image data from the image storage unit 302 based on the position information (link information) received by the image request reception unit 301 and sends it to the image transmission unit 303. The image is transmitted to the image requesting client 100 (step S117). Thereafter, the link destination image receiving unit 107 receives the image data (Step S118). As a result, even if the image server 200 does not store the required image data, the image
It is possible to acquire an image from 0. That is, according to the present system, it is not necessary to store all the image data having different attributes in one server, and the storage locations of the image data can be distributed on the network. In other words, the load on the server can be distributed.

Next, it is determined whether or not image attribute conversion is necessary (step S119).
The image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the attribute of the image data according to the attribute conversion setting in step S112 (step S120). As a result, required image data can be generated even if there is no image data having the completely matching attribute.

When there is no need for image attribute conversion, or when the image attribute conversion is completed, the image distribution unit 109 outputs an image to the output unit 110 according to an instruction from the image requesting client program 101, The processing is passed to the program 101 and the processing ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, image data can be distributed and held on a network.
Further, image data corresponding to required attributes can be easily obtained. For this reason, the output unit 110 of the image requesting client 100 acquires a high-resolution image when outputting an image to a printer, and acquires a low-resolution image when outputting an image to a display.
It is possible to acquire image data according to the purpose. further,
Since attribute conversion can be performed, even if image data of a required attribute does not exist, desired image data can be obtained by converting image data of an attribute close to this.

B. Second Embodiment Next, an image distribution system according to a second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 1. Configuration of Second Embodiment In the first embodiment described above, the image attribute table TBL is stored in the image attribute table storage unit 202 of the image server 200, and the image requesting client 100 transmits the image attribute table TBL via a network as necessary. Was obtained from the image server. On the other hand, in the image distribution system according to the second embodiment, the image attribute table TBL is held inside the client 100.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image distribution system according to the second embodiment. Note that the overall configuration of the system is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment. In FIG. 7, the image attribute table storage unit 111 stores
Image attribute table storage unit 202 according to the first embodiment described above
This is the same configuration as. However, in the first embodiment, this is provided in the image server, whereas in the second embodiment,
It is provided inside the image requesting client 100. The image attribute table storage unit 111 stores various image attribute tables TBL. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, the image server 200 is not required.

2. Operation of Second Embodiment Next, an operation of the image distribution system according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image distribution system (see FIG. 7) for acquiring the image attribute table. As shown in the figure, if an image having an attribute, which is the image requesting client program 101, becomes necessary (step S200), the CPU executing the program 101 sends the attribute designation information and the image attribute table designation information to the request receiving unit. Send to 102
An image is requested (step S201).

Thereafter, the request receiving unit 102 acquires the position information of the image attribute table based on the image attribute table designation information, and transmits the position information and the attribute designation information to the image selection unit 10.
3 (step S202), the image selection unit 10
Reference numeral 3 denotes an image attribute table storage unit 111 by referring to position information.
Retrieves the requested image attribute table TBL.
(Step S203).

The image attribute table TB thus obtained
Image data having the required attributes based on L,
Alternatively, link information is obtained. Step S20
The operations after step 3 are performed in steps S107 to S121 described above.
The description is omitted here.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the image requesting client 100 itself sets the image attribute table TB
Since L is held, the image server 200 can be omitted, and communication with the image server 200 can be omitted.

It is needless to say that the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be combined. In this case, the image server 200 and the image requesting client 100 are provided with an image attribute table storage unit, and the image selecting unit 103 determines whether or not the required image attribute table TBL exists on the image requesting client 100 side. It is determined that if it is on the client side, the image attribute table TBL is obtained from the image attribute table storage unit 111, while if it is not on the client side, the image attribute table TBL is obtained from the image server 200. Good. Further, when the image attribute table TBL exists in another server, after acquiring the image attribute table TBL, the image requesting client 100 stores the acquired image attribute table TBL in the memory, and uses it when it is needed again. It may be.

C. Third Embodiment Next, an image distribution system according to a third embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 1. Configuration of Third Embodiment The image distribution system according to the third embodiment includes an image storage unit 112
And the point that the image attribute table adding unit 113 is provided,
This is the same as the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image distribution system according to the third embodiment. Note that the overall configuration of the system is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 9, the image storage unit 112 caches (stores) the image data whose attributes have been converted. The image attribute table addition unit 113 acquires the link information of the cached image from the image storage unit 12, acquires the attribute information corresponding to the image from the image selection unit 103, and stores these information in the image attribute table TBL. Add. Therefore, the image attribute table TBL is updated each time the attribute-converted image data is stored in the image storage unit 112. Therefore, referring to the image attribute table TBL, the attribute conversion stored in the image storage unit 112 is performed. The storage position of the subsequent image data can be known.

With such a configuration, the image attribute table TB stored in the image attribute table storage unit 111
When the image data is read from L and the attribute is converted,
Since the converted image data is held, when image data having the same attribute is required again, the image data can be obtained immediately. Further, in a case where the attribute-converted original image is acquired from the image storage server 300, when image data having the same attribute is needed later,
Since there is no need to communicate with the image storage server 300,
The network can be used efficiently.

2. Operation of Third Embodiment Next, an operation of the image distribution system according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining an operation related to conversion of image data. The operation relating to the acquisition of the image data is from steps S200 to S203 shown in FIG. 8, and the operation relating to the conversion of the image data is from the steps S107 to S107 shown in FIGS.
Step S114 or S1
At the time point when step S18 ends, step S316 shown in FIG.
Move to First, in step S316, it is determined whether or not the acquired image data requires attribute conversion. If conversion is necessary, the image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the attribute of the image data according to the attribute conversion setting in step S112 (see FIG. 5) (step S112).
317). As a result, required image data can be generated even if there is no image data having the completely matching attribute.

Next, when the attribute-converted image data is supplied to the image storage unit 112, the image storage unit 112 stores the converted image data (step S318). After that, the image storage unit 112 generates link information indicating the storage position of the image data, and supplies this to the image attribute table addition unit 113. The image attribute table adding unit 1
13 is supplied with attribute information corresponding to the image data from the image selection unit 108. This attribute information is
It represents the attribute of the image data after the conversion, and the attribute conversion is performed so as to become the attribute specified by the attribute specification information (generated by the image requesting client program 101). Matches.

Then, the image attribute table adding unit 113
Receives the link information and the attribute designation information, sets the information, and adds the information to the image attribute table TBL selected in step S203 (see FIG. 8). When the image attribute conversion is not necessary or when the image attribute conversion is completed, the image distribution unit 109 outputs the image to the output unit 110 in accordance with the instruction of the image requesting client program 101, or outputs Pass to. Thus, a series of processing ends.

According to the third embodiment, since the image data after attribute conversion is held in the image requesting client 100, there is no need to perform attribute conversion again. As a result, there is an advantage that the processing time associated with the attribute conversion can be reduced, and for example, the waiting time when an image is printed by a printer can be reduced. When image data is obtained from the image storage server 300 and subjected to attribute conversion, if an image having the same attribute is needed later, communication with the image storage server 300 is performed again. Since it is not necessary, communication efficiency can be improved.

In the third embodiment, the image attribute table TBL is stored in the image server 2 as in the first embodiment.
00 is also applicable. In this case, the converted image data is held inside the image requesting client 100, and the link information and the image attribute information are stored in the image server 200.
To be added to the image attribute table TBL. Further, the image data itself is transferred to the image server 200 together with the image attribute information, and this is transferred to the image server 20.
0 may be added to the image attribute table TBL.

D. Fourth Embodiment In the above-described first to third embodiments, the image selection unit 103 for specifying the storage position of the image data is provided in the image requesting client 100, but the fourth to sixth embodiments described below will be described. In the embodiment, the image selection unit 103 is provided in the image server 200.

1. Configuration of Fourth Embodiment Hereinafter, an image distribution system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the overall configuration of the system is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment. As shown in the figure, the image requesting client 100 includes an image requesting client program 101, an output unit 110, an image requesting unit 120, and an image receiving unit 121.
The image requesting unit 120 transmits the image attribute table designation information and the attribute designation information specified by the image requesting client program to the image server 200 via the network.
The image receiving unit 121 receives image data transmitted from the image server 200 via a network.

Next, the image server 200 transmits a request receiving unit 220 and an image transmitting unit 221 for communicating with the image requesting client 100, and a link destination image request for communicating with the image storing server 300. Part 106
And a link destination image receiving unit 107. Thus, the image server 200 can communicate with various clients and the image storage server via the network. The image server 200 includes an image attribute table storage unit 202 in which various image attribute tables TBL are stored, and an image selection unit 1 connected thereto.
03, and an image attribute conversion unit 108.

Next, the image storage server 300 includes an image storage unit 302, an image request reception unit 301, and an image transmission unit 303. This point is the same as the above-described first to third embodiments, and thus the description is omitted.

With this configuration, when the image attribute table designation information and the attribute designation information are transferred from the image requesting client 100 to the image server 200, the image selecting unit 103 in the image server 200 , And sends it to the image requesting client 1
Transfer to 00. Thereby, the image requesting client 1
Since it is not necessary to provide the image selection unit 103 and the image attribute table storage unit 202 in 00, the configuration can be simplified. Therefore, it is suitable for portable equipment and the like.

2. Operation of Fourth Embodiment Next, an operation of the image distribution system according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 2-1: Acquisition of Image Attribute Table First, an operation until the image server 200 acquires the image attribute table TBL will be described. FIG. 12 shows an image distribution system for acquiring an image attribute table (see FIG. 11).
6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the first embodiment. As shown in the figure,
If the image requesting client program 101 needs an image having a certain attribute (step S400),
The CPU that executes the program 101 transfers the attribute designation information and the image attribute table designation information to the image requesting unit 120. Upon receiving the request, the image requesting unit 120 requests the image server 200 for an image. For this reason, the image requesting unit 120 transmits the image attribute table designation information and the attribute designation information to the request receiving unit 220 (Step S401).

Next, the request receiving unit 220 sends the position / name of the image attribute table TBL (image attribute table designation information) and attribute designation information to the image selection unit 103 (step S).
402), the image selection unit 103 reads out the required image attribute table TBL from the image attribute table storage unit 202 based on the image attribute table designation information (Step S403). In this example, it is assumed that the image selection unit 103 has obtained the image attribute table TBL shown in FIG.

2-2: Acquisition and Conversion of Image Data Next, acquisition and conversion of image data based on the image attribute table TBL will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 13 and 14 are flowcharts for explaining operations related to acquisition and conversion of image data.
First, in step S404 shown in FIG. 13, the image selection unit 103 compares the requested image attribute information (attribute designation information) with the image attribute information in the image attribute table TBL. Then, it is determined whether or not the image attribute information includes exactly the same information as the attribute designation information (step S40).
5). If there is exactly the same information, the determination result is YES
And the process proceeds to step S406 to select the attribute information.

On the other hand, if completely the same information does not exist, the determination result is NO, and the process proceeds to step S407, where the image selecting unit 103 determines whether there is attribute information that can be attribute-converted. If there is attribute information for which attribute conversion is possible, the process proceeds to step S408, where the image selection unit 10
3 selects one piece of attribute information having attributes as close as possible. Thereafter, the image selection unit 103 sets the image attribute conversion unit 10
8 is set to perform attribute conversion (step S11).
2). If there is no attribute information that can be converted in the acquired image attribute table TBL, step S
The determination result at 407 is NO, and error processing is performed as image acquisition failure.

Next, the image selecting unit 103 determines whether the attribute corresponding to the selected attribute is image data or link information (step S409). If it is image data, the process proceeds to step S410, where the image selection unit 10
3 acquires image data from the image attribute table TBL. On the other hand, if it is link information, step S411
The image selection unit 103 proceeds to the image attribute table TBL.
Get the corresponding link information from. Thereafter, when the link information is supplied to the link destination image requesting unit 106, the link destination image requesting unit 106 specifies the image storage server storing the image of the link destination based on the link information, and It requests the image storage server to send an image (step S412). In this example,
The specified server is the image storage server 3 shown in FIG.
00 is assumed.

Next, when the image request receiving section 301 receives the image transmission request, the image request receiving section 301 sends the position and name (link information) of the image data to the image storage section 302 (step S413). After that, the image storage unit 302
The specified image data is extracted based on the link information, and the extracted image data is transmitted to the image server 20 via the image transmission unit 303.
0 (step S414), the linked image receiving unit 107 of the image server 200 receives the image data. As a result, the image server 200 can acquire image data not held by the image server 200 itself. According to this system, it is not necessary to store all the image data having different attributes in one server, and the storage locations of the image data can be distributed on a network. In other words, the load on the image server can be distributed.

Next, the flow advances to step S416 shown in FIG. 14 to determine whether or not image attribute conversion is necessary. If so, the image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the image into the requested attribute. I do. The setting of the parameters of the image attribute conversion unit 108 may be performed immediately after step S408 described above. As a result, required image data can be generated even if there is no image data having the completely matching attribute.

When the image attribute conversion is not necessary or when the image attribute conversion is completed, the image data is transmitted to the image transmitting unit 2.
21. Thereafter, the image transmitting unit 221 transmits the image data to the image requesting client 100 (Step S418). When the image data is transmitted to the image requesting client 100 in this way, the image receiving unit 121 receives the image data, and the image receiving unit 121 outputs the image data in accordance with an instruction of the image requesting client program 101 to the output unit 110 or It is passed to the image request client program 101.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the image requesting client 110 sends the image request to the image server 200.
, The necessary image data can be obtained. As a result, the image requesting client 1
00 does not require the image selection unit 103 or the image attribute table TBL, so that the configuration can be simplified.

In the fourth embodiment, when the designated attribute information requested by the image requesting client 100 is not present in the image attribute table TBL, the attribute conversion is performed by the attribute conversion unit 108. The image requesting client 10 receives the image data and the image attribute information as they are.
It may be configured to return to 0. In this case, the image requesting client, based on the returned image attribute information,
The attribute of the image data can be known. For this reason,
The image requesting client 100 can perform attribute conversion and determine whether the image can be used as it is.

Further, if there is no image requested by the image requesting client 100, the request receiving unit 220 of the image server 200 and the image requesting unit 1 of the image requesting client 100
Negotiation is performed between the image requesting server 20 and the image attribute information stored in the image attribute table TBL to select an image that the image requesting client 100 can accept, and extract the image data from the image attribute table TBL or the image storage server 300. Then, the image data may be returned to the image requesting client 100.

E. Fifth Embodiment In the above-described fourth embodiment, when link information is selected by the image selection unit 103 of the image server 200, the link destination image data is stored in the image storage server 300 → network → image server 200 → network → image. The request is transferred in the order of the client 100. Therefore, the image data is communicated twice via the network and delivered to the image requesting client 100. On the other hand, in the fifth embodiment, image data is transmitted from the image storage server 200 to the image requesting client 100.

1. Configuration of Fifth Embodiment Hereinafter, an image distribution system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the overall configuration of the system is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment. The image distribution system shown in FIG. 15 differs from the image distribution system of the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 in that an image attribute conversion unit 304 is provided in the image storage server 300 and an image transmission unit of the image server 300 Reference numeral 303 denotes a point that the image receiving unit 121 of the image requesting client 100 is connected via a network, and that the linked image receiving unit 107 is deleted from the image server 200. Hereinafter, the differences will be described.

First, the reason why the link destination image receiving unit 107 is deleted from the image server 200 is that the image storage server 30
This is because no image data is transmitted to the image server 200 from 0. The image data is stored in the image server 30
0 from the image transmission unit 303 to the image requesting client 100
Is transmitted to the image receiving unit 121. For this purpose, the image storage server 300 needs to know the address of the image requesting client 100 on the network. Therefore, the image server 200 notifies the image storage server 300 of the address (client information) of the image requesting client.

In the fourth embodiment, if an image having the attribute indicated by the attribute designation information is not stored in the image attribute table TBL, it is necessary to perform attribute conversion on the image data closest to the attribute designation information. The image server 200 has the attribute conversion unit 108 so that the image data can be generated. On the other hand, in the fifth embodiment, the image data is directly transferred from the linked image storage server 300 to the image requesting client 100.
Therefore, even when attribute conversion is required, the attribute conversion unit 108 of the image server 200 cannot be used. Therefore, an image attribute conversion unit 304 is provided in the image storage server 300 so that the conversion of the image attribute can be performed inside the image storage server 300.

In this case, it is necessary to notify the image attribute conversion unit 304 of the attribute to be converted. For this reason, the image server 200 transmits image conversion information instructing the image storage server 300 to convert the image attribute.

With such a configuration, required image data can be directly transmitted from the image storage server 300 as a link destination to the image requesting client 100, and as a result, the network can be effectively utilized.

2. Operation of Fifth Embodiment Next, an operation of the image distribution system according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the image attribute table T
The operation related to the acquisition of the BL is described in steps S400 to S403 illustrated in FIG. 12 described in the fourth embodiment, and the operation related to the conversion of the image data is described in steps S407 to S407 illustrated in FIG.
It is the same as S409. Therefore, the description up to step S409 of determining whether the attribute corresponding to the attribute selected by the image selection unit 103 is image data or link information is omitted, and whether the determination result is image data or link information is omitted. The operation of the image distribution system will be described below.

2-1: Processing in the Case of Image Data FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the operation when the data corresponding to the selected attribute is image data. In this case, since the data corresponding to the attribute is stored as image data in the image attribute table TBL, the image selecting unit 103 acquires the image data corresponding to the attribute from the image attribute table TBL (step S500).

Next, the image selection unit 103 determines whether or not image conversion is necessary (step S501). If necessary, the image selection unit 103 supplies image data to the image attribute conversion unit 108 and converts the image data. Specify attributes. Thereafter, when the image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the image data into the requested attribute (Step S502), the image transmission unit 221
The image data is transmitted to the image requesting client 100 via the network (step S503). On the other hand, even when it is determined in step S501 that image conversion is not necessary, the image data is transmitted by the image transmission unit 221. In any case, the image data having a large amount of information is transferred to the image requesting client 100 via the network once.

Next, the image receiving section 121 of the image requesting client 100 receives the image data from the image server 200 (Step S504). Step S5
03, if the transmission or reception fails in step S504, the process proceeds to step S407 shown in FIG. Also,
The processing after step S504 will be described later as the description of step S513.

2-2: Processing in the Case of Link Information FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation when the information corresponding to the selected attribute is link information. In this case, since the information corresponding to the attribute is stored as the link information in the image attribute table TBL, the image selection unit 103 acquires the link information corresponding to the attribute from the image attribute table TBL (step). S505). Thereafter, when the link information is supplied to the link destination image requesting unit 106, the link destination image requesting unit 106 specifies the link destination in which the image data is stored based on the link information. In this example, the link destination is the image storage server 3
00 is assumed. In this case, the link destination image requesting unit 106 requests the image storage server 200 to transfer the image data to the image requesting client 100 (step S506). At this time, the link destination image request unit 106 sets the link information acquired from the image selection unit 103,
The image conversion information and the address of the image requesting client 100 are transmitted to the image storage server 300.

Here, the image conversion information is information describing what kind of attribute conversion should be performed before the image data is transmitted to the image requesting client 100, and the image conversion information is selected from the image attribute table TBL. It is composed of a set of attribute information (showing the attribute before conversion) and attribute designation information (showing the attribute after conversion) sent from the image requesting client 100. Thereby, the image storage server 300 can know the contents of the attribute conversion. If the attribute conversion is not required, the image conversion information is not transmitted.

When the image request receiving unit 301 receives these pieces of information, the image request receiving unit 301 specifies the position and name of the image based on the link information, and stores it in the image storage unit 302.
(Step S507). Thereafter, the image storage unit 302 retrieves the designated image data (Step S508).

Thereafter, whether or not image conversion is necessary is determined based on the presence or absence of image conversion information (step S5).
09). If there is image conversion information, it is necessary to perform conversion, so that determination is YES, and the process proceeds to step S510.
The image attribute conversion unit 304 converts the image data into the requested attribute, and transfers the image data to the image transmission unit 303. On the other hand, when there is no image conversion information and conversion is not necessary, the image storage unit 302 transmits the image data to the image transmission unit 303.
Transfer directly to.

When the image data is transferred to the image transmitting unit 303, the image transmitting unit 303 transmits the image data to the image requesting client 100 via the network (step S511).
The image receiving unit 121 receives image data (step S512). Thereafter, the image receiving unit 121 responds to an instruction from the image requesting client program 101 to output the
0 or the image data is passed to the image requesting client program 101 (step S513). According to this example, since the image data is directly transmitted from the image storage server 300 as the link destination to the image requesting client 100, the communication of the image data can be completed only once through the network.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, regardless of the type of the image data or the link information, the image requesting client 100 transmits the image data only once through the network, regardless of the type of the image data or the link information. Since it can be obtained, useless communication can be prevented and the network can be used effectively.

In the fifth embodiment, image data is returned to the image requesting client 100. However, it is needless to say that image data can be returned to other clients in the same manner. is there.

At the same time that the image server 200 requests the image storage server 300 to transmit an image, the client 100 is notified that the requested image data is transmitted from the image storage server 300. You may. In this case, the image requesting client 100 can prepare for reception. Furthermore, the same notification may be sent to other clients, and thereafter, the image data may be transmitted from the image storage server 300.

F. Sixth Embodiment Next, an image distribution system according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. 1. Configuration of Sixth Embodiment The image distribution system of the sixth embodiment is the same as the above-described fourth embodiment except that an image storage unit 112 and an image attribute table addition unit 113 are provided in the image server 200. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image distribution system according to the sixth embodiment. Note that the overall configuration of the system is the same as that of FIG. 1 described in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 18, the image storage unit 112 caches (stores) the image data whose attributes have been converted.
The image attribute table addition unit 113 acquires the link information of the cached image from the image storage unit 112, acquires the attribute information corresponding to the image from the image selection unit 103, and stores these information in the image attribute table TBL. Add.

According to such a configuration, the image attribute table TB stored in the image attribute table storage unit 111
When the image data is read from L and the attribute is converted, the converted image data is stored in the image storage unit 112. Therefore, when image data having the same attribute is required again, the image data can be immediately acquired. The original image whose attribute has been converted is stored in the image storage server 30.
Even when acquired from 0, the converted image data is stored in the image storage unit 112. Therefore, when image data having the same attribute is required again, the image storage server 3
Since there is no need to communicate with the network, the network can be used efficiently.

2. Operation of Sixth Embodiment Next, the operation of the image distribution system according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to conversion of image data. Note that the operation related to the acquisition of the image data is performed in steps S400 to S403 illustrated in FIG.
Step S410 or S4
At the time when step S15 is completed, step S616 shown in FIG.
Move to First, in step S616, it is determined whether the acquired image data requires attribute conversion. If conversion is necessary, the image attribute conversion unit 108 converts the attribute of the image data (step S6).
17). As a result, required image data can be generated even if there is no image data having the completely matching attribute.

Next, when the attribute-converted image data is supplied to the image storage unit 112, the image storage unit 112 stores the converted image data (step S618). After that, the image storage unit 112 generates link information indicating the storage position of the image data, and supplies this to the image attribute table addition unit 113. The image attribute table adding unit 1
13 is supplied with attribute information corresponding to the image data from the image selection unit 108. This attribute information is
It represents the attribute of the image data after the conversion, and the attribute conversion is performed so as to become the attribute specified by the attribute specification information (generated by the image requesting client program 101). Matches. And
Upon receiving the link information and the attribute designation information, the image attribute table adding unit 113 combines the information and adds the information to the image attribute table TBL selected in step S408 (see FIG. 12) (step S619).

When the image attribute conversion is not required, or when the image attribute conversion is completed, the image transmitting unit 221 transmits the image data to the image requesting client 100 (step S620). Thereafter, the image receiving unit 121 outputs the image data received from the image server 200 from the output unit 110 or passes the image data to the program 101 according to the instruction of the image requesting client program 101 (step S619). Thus, a series of processing ends.

According to the sixth embodiment, since image data after attribute conversion is held in the image server 200, it is not necessary to perform attribute conversion again. As a result, the processing time required for attribute conversion can be reduced. When image data is obtained from the image storage server 300 and subjected to attribute conversion, if an image having the same attribute is needed later, communication with the image storage server 300 is performed again. Since it is not necessary, communication efficiency can be improved.

In the sixth embodiment, instead of adding the link information of the image to the image attribute table TBL, the image itself may be added to the image attribute table TBL together with the image attribute information.

G. Functional Configuration Next, an example of a functional configuration grasped from the above-described first to sixth embodiments will be described. <Functional Configuration 1> FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration related to the image processing apparatus. This image processing device corresponds to the image requesting client 100 in the above-described first to third embodiments. In the figure, indicating means 1
Indicates an attribute of a requested image, and corresponds to the image request client program 100 described above. Here, the attributes of the image include, for example, the number of pixels, dimensions, resolution, type of color space, color conversion profile, number of gradations, compression method, storage format, and a user who can use the image of the image. Information, billing information, copyright information, rating information, and the like.

The storage position information selecting means 2 compares the image attribute information (attribute designation information) given from the instruction means 1 with the image attribute information held in the image attribute table 3,
A matching attribute is selected, and thereby an image or storage position information of the image corresponding to the required attribute is selected. Note that the above-described image selection unit 103 is an embodiment of the storage position information selection unit 2.

The image attribute table 3 holds a plurality of pieces of image attribute information and information on the attributes or storage positions of the images. The image or storage position information corresponding to the attribute information is held in association with each other. This image attribute table 3 corresponds to the image attribute table TBL of the embodiment described above. Here, the storage location information is represented by, for example, a combination of the location on the network of the device where the image is stored and the location where the image file is stored in the device. Is considered as one embodiment thereof.

When the storage position information selecting means 2 selects an image, the image input means 4 inputs the image,
On the other hand, when the storage position information of the image is selected, the information is received, and the image is input from the storage position. The above-described image selection unit 103 and the like are one mode of the image input unit 4.

The operation of this image processing apparatus is as follows. First, when an attribute of an image to be requested is instructed from the instructing unit 1, the storage position information selecting unit 2 compares the image attribute information given from the instructing unit 1 with the image attribute information held in the image attribute table 3. And select a matching attribute. Then, an image or storage position information of the image corresponding to the attribute is selected. Assuming that the storage position information selecting means 2
If the selected item is an image, the image input means 4 inputs the image and sets it as an output image.

<Functional Configuration 2> FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration relating to the image processing apparatus. This image processing device corresponds to the image requesting client 100 in the above-described first to third embodiments. FIG. 21 is FIG.
The difference is that the alternative image selecting means 5, the alternative image input means 6, and the attribute converting means 7 are newly added.
First, when there is no attribute in the image attribute table 3 that matches the image attribute information provided by the instruction unit 1, the alternative image selecting unit 5 holds the alternative image to be substituted in the image attribute table 3. Select from images or image storage location information. The image selection unit 103 is an example of the alternative image selection unit 5.

Next, when the alternative image selecting means 5 selects an image, the alternative image input means 6 inputs the image,
On the other hand, when the storage position of the image is selected, the information is received and the image is input from the storage position. The image selection unit 103 is an example of the alternative image selection unit 7.

Next, the attribute conversion means 7 converts the attribute of the image input by the alternative image input means 6 based on the image attribute request. The attribute conversion unit 108 described above is used for the attribute conversion unit 7.
Against

The operation of this image processing apparatus is as follows. When the image attribute information provided by the instruction unit 1 and the image attribute information in the image attribute table 3 match, it is the same as the case of the functional configuration 1. On the other hand, if the two are different, the alternative image selecting means 5 selects an alternative image instead.
The image is selected from the images stored in the image attribute table 3 or the storage position information of the images. The selection criterion is determined so as to select the one with the least image quality degradation when converting to the required attribute.

If the image selected by the alternative image selecting means 5 is an image, the alternative image input means 6 inputs the image. On the other hand, if the image selected by the alternative image selecting means 5 is the storage position of the image, the alternative image input means 6 receives the information and inputs the image from the storage position. Finally, the attribute conversion means 7 converts the attributes of the image input by the alternative image input means 6 into the attributes requested by the instruction means 1, and outputs the converted image.

<Functional Configuration 3> FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration related to the image processing apparatus. This image processing device corresponds to the image requesting client 100 in the third embodiment described above. FIG. 22 differs from FIG. 21 in that a storage unit 8 and an image table addition unit 9 are added. First, the storage unit 8 stores the attribute conversion unit 7
And stores the attribute-converted image created by the above, and corresponds to the image storage unit 112 described above.

Next, the image table adding means 9 adds the attribute information requested by the instruction means 1 and the information on the storage position stored by the storage means 8 to the image attribute table 3. The above-described image attribute table adding unit 113 corresponds to the image table adding unit 9.

The operation of this image processing apparatus is as follows. When the image attribute information provided by the instruction unit 1 and the image attribute information in the image attribute table 3 match, it is the same as the case of the functional configuration 1. On the other hand, if they are different,
This is the same as in the case of the functional configuration 2, and the image after the attribute conversion obtained thereby is stored in the storage unit 8. Thereafter, the image table adding unit 9 adds the attribute information requested by the instruction unit 1 and the information on the storage position stored by the storage unit 8 to the image attribute table 3 in association with each other.

In the functional configurations 1 to 3 described above, the image attribute table 3 does not need to be a single image attribute table, but may be plural. In this case, the instruction unit 1 sends information specifying the image attribute table 3 to the storage position information selecting unit 2 together with the image request, and selects the image attribute table 3 to be used from the information. I just need. Then, the image attribute information in the selected image attribute table 3 may be compared with the image attribute information provided from the instruction unit 1.

In this way, images having the same contents but different attributes, intended for different display devices and applications, can be transferred to an apparatus at an arbitrary location on the network while maintaining the relevancy using the image attribute table. Images that have the required attributes can be stored, communicated, acquired, and distributed as needed. In particular, in the functional configurations 2 and 3,
Even when the requested image does not exist, the required image can be obtained by appropriately performing attribute conversion. Further, in the functional configuration 3, since the image is converted once, but the image can be cached in the storage unit 8, when the same image is required again, communication and processing are not performed.
Images can be obtained immediately.

<Functional Configuration 4> FIG. 23 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image distribution system. This image distribution system corresponds to the fourth and sixth embodiments described above. The same components as those shown in FIG. 20 are denoted by the same reference numerals. FIG. 23 differs from FIG. 20 described in the functional configuration 1 in that a client is provided instead of the instruction unit 1 and an image storage server which is an image storage location is provided.

The operation of the image distribution system is as follows. First, when the client transmits required image attribute information (attribute designation information) to the image server as an image attribute request, the image attribute request input means 1 'of the image server inputs the image attribute request and stores it. It is sent to the position information selecting means 2. Thereafter, the storage position information selecting means 2
Compares the image attribute information from the client with the image attribute information in the image attribute table 3 and selects a matching attribute. Thereby, the image or the storage position information of the image corresponding to the attribute is selected. If the image selected by the storage position information selecting means 2 is an image, the image input means 4 sends the image back to the client. On the other hand, if the storage position information selecting means 2 selects the storage position information, the image input means 4 outputs an image required from the image storage server storing the image based on the storage position information. And return it to the client.

In this case, since the image attribute table 3 and the storage position information selecting means 2 are provided in the image server, the client does not need to acquire the image attribute table 3 via the network. In addition, since the storage location information selection 2 does not need to be provided on the client, the configuration of the client can be simplified.

<Functional Configuration 5> FIG. 24 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image distribution system. This image distribution system corresponds to the fourth and sixth embodiments described above. FIG. 24 differs from FIG. 23 described in the functional configuration 4 in that an alternative image selecting unit 5, a substitute image input unit 6, and an attribute converting unit 7 described in the functional configuration 2 are added. As a result, it becomes possible to obtain a substitute image in the image server, perform attribute conversion on the substitute image, generate a required image, and return the image to the client.

<Functional Configuration 6> FIG. 25 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image distribution system. This image distribution system corresponds to the above-described sixth embodiment.
FIG. 25 differs from FIG.
The difference is that the storage unit 10 and the image table adding unit 11 described in the functional configuration 3 are added. Thus, when the attribute conversion is performed in the image server, the converted image is stored in the storage unit 10 and the image table adding unit 9
Thereby, the storage location information of the image is added to the image attribute table 3. Therefore, when there is a transmission request from a client for an image having the same attribute, a required image can be immediately returned without performing attribute conversion. In particular, when the original image is stored in the image storage server, it is not necessary to transfer the original image from the image storage server to the image server, so that the communication efficiency can be improved.

<Functional Configuration 7> FIG. 26 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image distribution system. This image distribution system corresponds to the fifth embodiment described above.
FIG. 26 differs from FIG.
The point is that the image transfer means 10 is added to the image server, and the image storage server outputs the image directly to the client. In this example, the storage position information selecting means 2
In the case where the information corresponding to the attribute requested in the above is the storage position information of the image, the image transfer means 10 transfers the storage position information and the client information indicating the position of the client to the image storage server. The image storage server reads out the image based on the storage position information and transmits the image to the client specified by the client information. Therefore, the image stored in the image storage server is transmitted directly to the client without going through the image server. For this reason, the number of times of communication performed via the network can be reduced.

<Functional Configuration 8> FIG. 27 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the image distribution system. This image distribution system corresponds to the fifth embodiment described above.
FIG. 27 differs from FIG. 26 described in the functional configuration 7 in that
The point is that the attribute conversion means 7 'is added to the image server, and the alternative image transfer means 11 is added to the image server. In this example, what corresponds to the attribute requested by the storage position information selecting means 2 is the storage position information of the image, and if the attribute conversion is required, the storage position The information, client information, and attribute conversion information are transferred to the image storage server. The image storage server reads out the image based on the storage position information, converts its attribute, and transmits this to the client specified by the client information. Therefore, even when attribute conversion is required, the image stored in the image storage server can be subjected to attribute conversion, and the converted image can be directly transmitted to the client. For this reason, the number of times of communication performed via the network can be reduced.

In each of the above-described embodiments and functional configurations, it goes without saying that the image data may be a still image or a moving image. Also, the image server 20
0 indicates that image data having a small data amount among images generated by converting the attributes of the original image are stored as index image data in association with the image attribute table TBL. Before the is transmitted, the index image data may be sent to the image requesting client 100. In this case, the client can receive the index image data with a small data amount before receiving the formal image data, so that the client can output the index image data to a display or the like without waiting for the user. Further, when new image data is generated by attribute conversion or the like, by re-evaluating which image data is used as the index image data, a smaller data amount can be used as the index image data.

[0123]

As described above, according to the invention specifying matter of the present invention, images having the same contents are stored in a device at an arbitrary place on a network while maintaining their relations, and the required images are stored. An image having an attribute can be acquired as necessary without generating an unnecessary load.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of an image distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an image attribute table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation related to acquisition of an image attribute table in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to acquisition and conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to acquisition and conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image distribution system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation related to acquisition of an image attribute table in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an internal configuration of an image distribution system according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image distribution system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of the image distribution system regarding acquisition of an image attribute table according to the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining operations relating to acquisition and conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining operations related to acquisition and conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image distribution system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation in a case where image data corresponds to an attribute selected in the embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an operation in a case where the information corresponding to the attribute selected in the embodiment is link information.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image distribution system according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to conversion of image data in the image distribution system according to the embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing device having a functional configuration 1.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing apparatus having a functional configuration 2.

FIG. 22 is a block diagram illustrating an image processing device having a functional configuration 3.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an image distribution system having a functional configuration 4.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram illustrating an image distribution system having a functional configuration 5.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram illustrating an image distribution system having a functional configuration 6.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating an image distribution system having a functional configuration 7;

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an image distribution system having a functional configuration 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 instruction means 1 ′ image attribute request input means 3, TBL image attribute table 2 storage position information selection means (image selection means) 4 image input means 5 alternative image selection means (alternate attribute selection means) 7 attribute conversion means 8 storage means 9 Adding means (image attribute table adding means) 100 Image request client (client) 200 Image server 300 Image storage server

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI H04N 1/21 H04N 1/21 (72) Inventor Manabu Ushikubo 2274 Hongo, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (72) Invention Person Yoshiharu Hibi 2274 Hongo, Ebina City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. An instruction unit for instructing an attribute of an image to be requested, and storage position information of an image having an attribute corresponding to the image attribute request is selected based on the image attribute request instructed by the instruction unit. An image processing apparatus comprising: storage position information selecting means; and image input means for inputting an image based on the storage position information selected by the storage position information selecting means. 2. An image attribute table for storing attribute information indicating an attribute of an image in association with the storage position information, wherein the storage position information selecting means searches the image attribute table based on the image attribute request. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage location information of an image having an attribute corresponding to the image attribute request is selected. An image attribute table for storing attribute information indicating an attribute of the image in association with storage position information indicating the storage position of the image or image data; An image selection unit that searches the image attribute table based on the image attribute request instructed by the instruction unit, and selects the storage position information or the image data corresponding to the attribute indicated by the image attribute request; When the storage position information is selected by the image selection unit, an image is input from the storage position based on the storage position information, and when the image data is selected by the image selection unit, the image is selected. An image input device for inputting the image data. 4. An alternative attribute selecting means for selecting alternative attribute information from the image attribute table when the attribute information indicated by the image attribute request does not exist in the image attribute table; 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an alternative image selection unit that selects storage position information or image data of an alternative image corresponding to the attribute information selected by the alternative attribute selection unit from the image attribute table. Image processing device. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said alternative image selecting means selects
5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising: an attribute conversion unit configured to convert the attribute of the substitute image data input by the image input unit based on the image attribute request and create attribute conversion image data. Image processing device. 6. A storage unit for storing the attribute-converted image data created by the attribute conversion unit, and associating a storage position of the attribute-converted image data in the storage unit with attribute information of the attribute-converted image data.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: an adding unit configured to add to the image attribute table. 7. The storage location information of an image includes first location information indicating a location on the network of a device where the image is stored, and second location information indicating a storage location in the device.
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus comprises: 8. A file which stores a plurality of image data in a file, and stores storage position information of another image data which is different from one image data only in attribute information and represents an image having the same content, together with the one image data. An image storage method, wherein the image is stored in a storage device. 9. The image storage method according to claim 8, wherein attribute information of said another image data is stored in said file together with storage position information of said one image data and said another image data. . 10. The storage position information of an image includes first position information indicating a position on the network of a device storing the image and a second position indicating a storage position in the device. The image storage method according to claim 8, wherein the image storage method comprises information. 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the attribute information of the image indicates a color space of the image. 12. The image storage method according to claim 8, wherein the attribute information of the image indicates a size of the image. 13. An image attribute request inputting means for inputting an image attribute request from a client, and an image having an attribute corresponding to the image attribute request based on the image attribute request input by the image attribute request inputting means. Image processing, comprising: storage position information selecting means for selecting the storage position information; and image input means for inputting an image based on the storage position information selected by the storage position information selecting means. apparatus. 14. An image attribute request of a client is input, and based on the input image attribute request, storage position information of an image having an attribute corresponding to the image attribute request is specified, and the specified storage position information is specified. An image distribution method comprising: outputting an image based on an image. 15. An image server for specifying storage position information of an image having an attribute corresponding to the image attribute request based on an image attribute request from a client, and based on the storage position information specified by the image server. And an image storage server for transmitting stored image data. 16. The image storage server sends image data specified by the storage location information to the image server, and the image server inputs the image data sent from the image storage server. Transmitting the image data to the client.
6. The image distribution system according to 5. 17. The image server sends the image storage location information and client information for uniquely specifying the client to the image storage server, and the image storage server is specified by the client information. The image distribution system according to claim 15, wherein the image data specified by the storage location information is transmitted to a client. 18. The image server, further comprising: an image attribute table storing attribute information of the image and storage location information of the image in association with each other, wherein the image attribute request input and the image attribute table stored in the image attribute table are stored. The image distribution system according to any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the storage location information of the image is specified by comparing the attribute information with the attribute information. 19. The image attribute table, wherein a plurality of images specified from the storage location information stored in the image attribute table are generated by converting attributes of the same original image. 19. The image distribution system according to claim 18, wherein: 20. The image server, wherein image data of an index image having a small data amount among images generated by converting the attributes of the original image is stored in association with the image attribute table. 20. The image distribution system according to claim 19, wherein the image data of the index image is transmitted to a client before inputting the image attribute request.