1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable communication terminal with an image transmission function of transmitting an image such as a portable telephone set or a portable digital assistant (PDA).
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable telephone terminal utilizes a radio communication circuit. Therefore, the portable telephone terminal is superior in portability and can communicate even during movement. However, since the circuit quality varies depending upon the electric field situation, the portable telephone terminal displays a reception electric field level thereof to inform the carrying person of the situation of the electric field at the place of use. Further, when the circuit quality deteriorates during communication, the portable telephone terminal issues a communication quality alarm to notify the user that interruption of the communication may possibly occur.
However, with the conventional portable telephone terminal, information of the reception electric field intensity of it is not conveyed to the opposite party of communication. Therefore, the portable telephone terminal is disadvantageous in that, even if it is moving in a direction in which the reception electric field level thereof drops, it cannot urge this on an attention of the opposite party of communication. The portable telephone terminal is disadvantageous also in that, when a communication quality alarm is generated therein, this is not conveyed definitely to the opposite party of communication because the circuit quality is already in a deteriorated state. Particularly with a portable telephone terminal with a visual telephone function which communicates not only voice but also an image with the opposite party, interruption of an image or sudden deterioration of the picture quality provides a loss in information communication and a disagreeable feeling to the user much greater than where only communication of voice is involved.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable communication terminal capable of transmitting an image such as a portable communication terminal with a visual telephone function which can convey a reception electric field intensity state of and generation of a communication quality alarm in the portable communication terminal itself in the form of an image to the opposite party of communication.
In order to attain the object described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a portable communication terminal with an image transmission function for transmitting an image, comprising reception electric field intensity detection means for detecting a reception electric field intensity of the portable communication terminal, and reception electric field intensity image transmission means for transmitting a reception electric field intensity image representative of the detected reception electric field intensity to the opposite party of communication.
Where the portable communication terminal further comprises an image pickup section for picking up an image, preferably the reception electric field intensity image transmission means transmits the reception electric field intensity image together with an image picked up by the image pickup section.
Irrespective of whether or not the portable communication terminal comprises the image pickup section, preferably it further comprises reception electric field intensity transmission setting means for setting whether or not the reception electric field intensity image should be transmitted, communication quality alarm image transmission means for transmitting a communication quality alarm image to the opposite party of communication when a communication quality alarm is generated in the portable communication terminal, or communication quality alarm transmission setting means for setting whether or not a communication quality alarm image should be transmitted.
The image pickup section may be removably and externally provided on a body of the portable communication terminal or may alternatively be provided separately from a body of the portable communication terminal and includes a radio communication function section which communicates by radio with a radio communication function section of the body of the portable communication terminal.
Preferably, a body of the portable communication terminal has a visual telephone function and the image pickup section has a display section capable of displaying an image received from the opposite party by the body of the portable communication terminal when the visual telephone function is operative.
In the portable communication terminal with an image transmission function for transmitting an image such as a still image or a moving image, the reception electric field intensity detection means detects a reception electric field intensity of the portable communication terminal. Then, the reception electric field intensity image transmission means transmits a reception electric field intensity image representative of the detected reception electric field intensity to the opposite party of communication. In this instance, the reception electric field intensity image is transmitted solely or together with an image picked up by the image pickup section provided removably and externally on or provided separately from the body of the portable telephone set. Further, if a communication quality alarm is generated in the portable telephone set because of deterioration of the circuit quality, then the communication quality alarm image is transmitted together with or in place of the image picked up by the image pickup section.
Accordingly, with the portable communication terminal, since an image representative of an electric field intensity state of the portable communication terminal is transmitted as an image by itself or together with an image picked up by the portable communication terminal and besides an alarm image is transmitted if a communication quality alarm is generated in the portable communication terminal, the electric field intensity and the circuit quality state are transmitted automatically to the opposite party of communication. Consequently, a countermeasure for preventing expected disconnection of the circuit during communication can be taken, and the portable communication terminal can be used with improved convenience.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts or elements are denoted by like reference symbols.
Referring first to
Referring now to
Further, the control section 101 includes an image synthesis section 204 for producing a transmission image by synthesizing a still picture or a moving picture picked up by the image pickup section 104 built in the portable telephone terminal body and a reception electric field display or an image stored in the memory section 102. The control section 101 further includes a reception electric field intensity transmission setting section 205 for setting whether or not a reception electric field intensity image should be added to a transmission image in accordance with an operation of the operation section 106, and a communication quality alarm transmission setting section 206 for setting whether or not an alarm image should be used as a transmission image when a communication quality alarm is generated.
Now, operation of the portable telephone terminal is described in detail with reference to
First, operation upon normal communication is described.
The radio communication function section 103 measures a reception electric field intensity by means of the reception electric field intensity detection section thereof 201 during waiting or communication of the portable telephone terminal. A result of the measurement is displayed as a reception level display on the display section 106 by means of the reception electric field intensity display function section 202 of the control section 101 as in a conventional portable telephone terminal.
Communication by a video and an audio is performed in the following manner by control of the control section 101. In particular, an image picked up by the image pickup section 104 and sound inputted from the sound inputting section 107 are transmitted. On the other hand, a received video is displayed on the display section 105 and a received audio is outputted by the sound outputting section 108. Further, operation relating to the communication is performed by the operation section 106.
An image to be transmitted from the portable telephone terminal upon such communication by a video and an audio as described above is shown as a transmission image example 301 in
It is to be noted that such a transmission image example 301 as described above is displayed when the user operates the operation section 16 to set in advance to transmit the reception level display of the portable telephone terminal itself. However, if the user sets that the reception level display of the portable telephone terminal itself should not be transmitted, then the reception level display of the portable telephone terminal itself is not transmitted, but only the picked up image is transmitted. Such setting is performed by the reception electric field intensity transmission setting section 205 in the control section 101.
In the following, operation upon generation of a circuit quality alarm is described.
If the circuit quality during communication deteriorates lower than a prescribed value, then sound representing this is emitted from a receiver and a sounder of the sound outputting section 108 by the communication quality alarm function section 203 using a known technique.
An image transmitted from the portable telephone terminal upon generation of a communication quality alarm is shown as a transmission image example 302 in
A flow of the operation described above is illustrated in
A display screen of an opposite party terminal having received an image transmitted from the portable telephone terminal described above is shown in
A different transmission image may be transmitted from the portable telephone terminal and received by and displayed on the opposite party portable telephone terminal.
Referring to
On the other hand, on the opposite party portable telephone terminal, when the opposite portable telephone terminal is in a waiting state, a reception level display 704 of the opposite party portable telephone terminal is displayed as seen from a waiting screen example 701 similarly as in the waiting screen example 401 of
Referring now to
Referring now to
Generally, the size of a display section built in a portable telephone terminal is restricted such that the portability as a portable telephone set is not lost. Therefore, a conventional portable telephone terminal is small in size where it is used as a visual telephone set. Therefore, in the portable telephone terminal of
Referring now to
In the portable telephone terminals described above, a still image is used as the transmission image read out from the memory upon generation of a communication quality alarm. However, a moving image may be used as the transmission image. Where a moving image is used, a further attention of the other party of communication can be called visually.
Further, the present invention can be applied not only to a portable telephone terminal with a visual telephone function but also, for example, to a portable communication terminal which includes a built-in digital camera or can be connected to an external digital camera as an image pickup section and merely has a function of transmitting an image picked up by the digital camera to an opposite portable telephone terminal.
The portable telephone terminal described above is advantageous in that a countermeasure for preventing expected disconnection of the circuit during communication can be taken and the portable communication terminal can be used with improved convenience because an electric field intensity state of the portable communication terminal is transmitted as an image to the opposite party of image communication and besides the alarm image stored in the memory in advance is transmitted if a communication quality alarm is generated in the portable communication terminal.
The portable telephone terminal is advantageous also in that information of the electric field situation of it can be acquired by the opposite party of image communication irrespective of whether or not the opposite party of communication has a similar function to the unique function of the portable telephone terminal because the information is transmitted as an image.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2000-312472 | Oct 2000 | JP | national |
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