Abstract:
A camera apparatus having a communicating device for transmitting a video signal photographed and processed by a camera or a video signal temporarily recorded in a record medium to a remote location is disclosed, that comprises a connecting means for connecting a plurality of different communication lines, a setting and inputting means for designating one of the plurality of different communication lines and setting a transmission condition, a controlling means for determining whether or not the video signal is transmissible to the remote location with the transmission rate of the designated communication line corresponding to an output signal of the setting and inputting means and generating control information when the video signal is transmissible, and a signal processing means for processing a transmission signal for the designated communication line corresponding to the control information supplied from the controlling means.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a camera apparatus having a communicating device that performs a signal process for video data and audio data corresponding to the transmission capacity of a communication line suitable for a signal transmission of news materials and so forth to a broadcasting station and so forth. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Data rate of high definition video data of A the current television broadcasting systems (NTSC and PAL systems) is for example 270 Mbps (including a blanking portion). Thus, to transmit video data (and/or audio data) that is output from a camera, a communication line having a sufficient transmission capacity is required. When such a communication line is not used, the video data and audio data should be compressed on the transmitting side. The compressed video data and audio data should be decompressed on the receiving side. Examples of the data compressing standards are motion JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group), MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group), and MPEG-2. 
     When news materials photographed and recorded by a camera apparatus or the like at site are transmitted to a broadcasting station, a large scale relaying facility using for example a satellite line or a microwave line is required. Alternatively, a record medium on which news materials have been recorded should be removed from the camera and delivered to the broadcasting station. 
     However, when video data and audio data that are not compressed are transmitted using a communication line, since the line renting fee is expensive, this method is unpractical. Thus, it is difficult to directly transmit raw video data to the broadcasting station. On the other hand, when a record medium is delivered to the broadcasting station, the immediacy and mobility are insufficient. Whenever video data and audio data that are compressed are transmitted, if a transmission line is selected, the compression rate should be changed corresponding to the transmission capacity of the selected transmission line. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a camera apparatus having a communicating device that can be connected to a plurality of different communication lines and that can perform a signal process corresponding to the selected communication line and thereby quickly and effectively transmit data. 
     To solve the above-described problem, a first aspect of the present invention is a camera apparatus having a communicating device for transmitting a video signal photographed and processed by a camera or a video signal temporarily recorded in a record medium to a remote location, comprising a connecting means for connecting a plurality of different communication lines, a setting and inputting means for designating one of the plurality of different communication lines and setting a transmission condition, a controlling means for determining whether or not the video signal is transmissible to the remote location with the transmission rate of the designated communication line corresponding to an output signal of the setting and inputting means and generating control information when the video signal is transmissible, and a signal processing means for processing a transmission signal for the designated communication line corresponding to the control information supplied from the controlling means. 
     A second aspect of the present invention is a communicating method for transmitting a video signal photographed and processed by a camera or a video signal temporarily recorded in a record medium to a remote location, comprising the steps of (a) connecting a plurality of different communication lines, (b) designating one of the plurality of different communication lines and setting a transmission condition, (c) determining whether or not the video signal is transmissible to the remote location with the transmission rate of the designated communication line corresponding to an output signal that is output at step (b) and generating control information when the video signal is transmissible, and (d) processing a transmission signal for the designated communication line corresponding to the control information supplied at step (c). 
     According to the present invention, when the transmission condition has been set, the controlling means determines whether or not a desired signal can be transmitted at the transmission rate of a selected communication line. When the controlling means has determined that the desired signal cannot be transmitted, the controlling means generates information of the determined result and supplies it to the displaying means. When the controlling means has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the controlling means generates information for prompting the user to change the transmission condition and supplies it to the displaying means. When the controlling means has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted, the controlling means generates information of the determined result and supplies it to the displaying means. When the controlling means has determined that the desired signal can be more effectively transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the controlling portion generates information for prompting the user to change the transmission condition and supplies it to the displaying means. When the controlling means has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted and the user has performed a predetermined operation, the controlling means generates control information for controlling each portion so as to effectively perform the transmitting process corresponding to the transmission capacity of the selected communication line. Thus, the user can easily perform various settings corresponding to the information displayed on the displaying means. In addition, in the real transmitting process, the signal can be quickly and effectively transmitted. 
     These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of a best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIGS. 2A,  2 B,  2 C, and  2 D are schematic diagrams for explaining operations of the embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows the overall structure of the embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a camera portion  1  and a communicating portion  2  are integrated. 
     The camera portion  1  comprises an image pickup portion  11 , a camera signal processing portion  12 , a memory  13 , and a VCR porion  14 . An object image is photographed by the image pickup portion  11 . The photographed picture is converted into an electric signal by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device). The image pickup portion  11  generates an image signal corresponding to the electric signal and supplies the image signal to the camera signal processing portion  12 . 
     The camera signal processing portion  12 , the memory  13 , and the VCR portion  14  are connected through a bus (not shown) so that data can be exchanged thereamong. The camera signal processing portion  12  performs a white balance adjusting process, a contour emphasizing process, and a gamma compensating process for the image signal supplied from the image pickup portion  11 , performs a matrix converting process for the image signal, and generates a digital video signal and an analog video signal. When necessary, the camera signal processing portion  12  supplies the digital video signal and the analog video signal to the memory  13  or the VCR portion  14  so as to store or record these signals thereto. The analog video signal generated by the camera signal processing portion  12  or the analog video signal stored in the memory  13  or recorded in the VCR portion  14  is supplied to the communicating portion  2  through a terminal  3 . On the other hand, the digital video signal generated by the camera signal processing portion  12  or the digital video signal stored in the memory  13  or recorded in the VCR portion  14  is supplied to the communicating portion  2  through a terminal  4 . The camera portion  1  also has an audio signal processing portion (not shown). The audio signal processing portion supplies an analog audio signal to the communicating portion  2  through the terminal  3 . On the other hand, the audio signal processing portion supplies a digital audio signal to the communicating portion  2  through the terminal  4 . 
     The communicating portion  2  comprises an A/D converter  21 , a rate converter  22 , a compressing circuit  23 , a VCR compressing circuit  24 , a switching circuit  25 , a transmission signal processing portion  26 , a microcomputer  27 , a communication interface  28 , a displaying portion  29 , an operation inputting portion  30 , and three connectors  31 ,  32 , and  33 . The analog video (and/or audio) signal supplied through the terminal  3  is supplied to the A/D converter  21 . On the other hand, the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied through the terminal  4  is supplied to the rate converter  22  and the switching circuit  25 . 
     The A/D converter  21  samples the analog video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the camera portion  1 , quantizes the sampled signal, and converts the quantized signal into a digital video (and/or audio) signal corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27 . The resultant digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the A/D converter  21  is supplied to the compressing circuit  23 , the VCR compressing circuit  24 , and the switching circuit  25 . 
     The rate converter  22  converts the sampling rate of the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the camera portion  1  to that for the compressing circuit  23  and the VCR compressing circuit  24  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27 . The resultant digital video (and/or audio) signal with the predetermined sampling frequency supplied from the rate converter  22  is supplied to the compressing circuit  23 , the VCR compressing circuit  24 , and the switching circuit  25 . 
     The compressing circuit  23  compresses the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the A/D converter  21 , the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the rate converter  22 , or the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the terminal  4  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27  in such a manner that the compression rate is variable. Examples of the compressing process (standards) are motion JPEG. MPEG, and MPEG-2. The compressing circuit  23  generates a first compression signal and supplies it to the switching circuit  25 . 
     The VCR compressing circuit  24  compresses the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the A/D converter  21 , the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the rate converter  22 , or the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the terminal  4  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27  in the same compressing method as a digital VCR used on the receiving side (receiving device). Thus, the VCR compressing circuit  24  can use various compressing methods for conventional VCRs. A second compression signal generated by the VCR compressing circuit  24  is supplied to the switching circuit  25 . 
     The first compression signal generated through the compressing circuit  23 , the second compression signal generated through the VCR compressing circuit  24 , the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the A/D converter  21 , the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the rate converter  22 , and the digital video (and/or audio) signal directly supplied from the terminal  4  are supplied to the switching circuit  25 . The switching circuit  25  selects one of these digital video (and/or audio) signals corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27 . The signal selected by the switching circuit  25  is supplied as an output signal thereof to the transmission signal processing portion  26 . 
     The transmission signal processing portion  26  comprises a parallel/serial converting circuit, a scrambler, an encoder, and a modulating circuit. The transmission signal processing portion  26  performs an encoding process, a modulating process, and so forth corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27  in such a manner that these processes comply with the standard of a selected communication path and generates a transmission signal. In reality, the transmission signal processing portion  26  converts a parallel signal supplied from the switching circuit  25  into a serial signal, scrambles the serial signal, encodes the scrambled signal, and modulates the encoded signal. The transmission signal processing portion  26  supplies the generated transmission signal to the communication interface  28 . 
     The communication interface  28  has an output driver and so forth. The communication interface  28  converts the transmission signal supplied from the transmission signal processing portion  26  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27  in such a manner that an output waveform of the transmission signal complies with the standard of the selected communication line. The communication interface  28  supplies the converted signal to one of the three connectors  31 ,  32 , and  33  designated by the microcomputer  27 . In other words, the communication interface  28  converts the transmission signal into an output signal that complies with the electric specifications of the selected communication line. 
     The three connectors  31 ,  32 , and  33  comply with mechanical specifications corresponding to the standards of the connected communication lines. The connector  31  is connected to a line a. The connector  32  is connected to a line c. The connector  33  is connected to a line b. Thus, the transmission output signal supplied from the communication interface  28  is transmitted to one of the communication lines a, b, and c through one of the three connectors  31 ,  32 , and  33 . Examples of the communication lines are a telephone line, an ISDN line, an ATM line, a public line (such as Internet), and a dedicated line. 
     The displaying portion  29  and the operation inputting portion  30  are connected to the microcomputer  27  that controls each portion of the communicating portion  2 . The operation inputting portion  30  has a plurality of setup switches, a ten key pad, and so forth. When the user operates these setup switches and the ten key pad, the operation inputting portion  30  generates detection information corresponding to the operation state and supplies the detection information to the microcomputer  27 . The displaying portion  29  comprises for example an LED, an LCD panel, and a driving circuit. The displaying portion  29  displays various types of information corresponding to information supplied from the microcomputer  27 . 
     The microcomputer  27  has a memory (not shown). The microcomputer  27  monitors the operation state of the operation inputting portion  30  corresponding to the detection information. When necessary, the microcomputer  27  generates information and supplies it to the displaying portion  29 . When a transmission condition is set, the microcomputer  27  determines whether or not a desired video (and/or audio) signal can be transmitted with the transmission rate of the selected communication line. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal cannot be transmitted, the microcomputer  27  causes the displaying portion  29  to display the determined result. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the microcomputer  27  prompts the user for the change of the transmission condition. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted, the microcomputer  27  causes the displaying portion  29  to display the determined result. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be more effectively transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the microcomputer  27  prompts the user for a change of the transmission condition. When the user has performed a predetermined operation with the operation inputting portion  30  for starting the transmitting process, the microcomputer  27  reads various types of information from the memory corresponding to the detection information supplied from the operation inputting portion  30 , generates control information, and supplies the generated control information to each portion of the communicating portion  2 . In other words, the microcomputer  27  centrally controls each portion of the transmission portion  2  so that the transmitting process can be effectively performed corresponding to the transmission capacity of the selected communication line. Before the transmitting process is performed, the memory of the microcomputer  27  has stored setup information such as the transmission rate and error rate of the selected communication line. In addition, the memory has stored various types of information corresponding to the communication standard necessary for performing various determining processes and various types of information necessary for generating information displayed on the displaying portion  29 . 
     In FIG. 1, reference numeral  5  is a receiving device. The receiving device  5  comprises three connectors  51 ,  52 , and  53 , a communication interface  54 , a reception signal processing portion  55 , a microcomputer  56 , a displaying portion  57 , an operation inputting portion  58 , a VCR parallel interface  59 , a VCR serial interface  60 , a decompressing circuit  61 , a VCR decompressing circuit  62 , a switching circuit  63 , a D/A converter  64 , a rate converter  65 , and an external interface circuit  66 . 
     The three connectors  51 ,  52 , and  53  comply with mechanical specifications corresponding to standards of connected communication lines. The connector  51  is connected to the line a. The connector  52  is connected to the line c. The connector  53  is connected to the line b. A transmission signal transmitted from the communicating portion  2  is supplied to the communication interface  54  through one of the three connectors  51 ,  52 , and  53 . 
     The communication interface  54  has an input driver and so forth. The communication interface  54  performs an inverse waveform process of the transmitting side for the input transmission signal, converts the communication signal into a reception signal for the reception signal processing portion  55 , and supplies the reception signal to the reception signal processing portion  55  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . 
     The reception signal processing portion  55  comprises a demodulating circuit, a decoder, a descrambler, and a serial/parallel converting circuit. The reception signal processing portion  55  performs a demodulating process and a decoding process for the reception signal processed on the transmitting side corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56  and generates a first compression signal, a second compression signal, or a digital video (and/or audio) signal. In reality, the reception signal processing portion  55  demodulates the reception signal and then decodes the demodulated signal. Thereafter, the reception signal processing portion  55  descrambles the decoded signal and converts the descrambled signal as a serial signal into a parallel signal. The first compression signal restored by the reception signal processing portion  55  is supplied to the decompressing circuit  61 . The second compression signal restored by the reception signal processing portion  55  is supplied to the VCR decompressing circuit  62 , the VCR parallel interface  59 , and the VCR serial interface  60 . The non-compressed digital video (and/or audio) signal restored by the reception signal processing portion  55  is supplied to the switching circuit  63 . 
     The decompressing circuit  61  decompresses the first compression signal supplied from the reception signal processing portion  55  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56  in such a manner that the decompressing process complies with the compressing process performed on the transmitting side and outputs a digital video (and/or audio) signal. The digital video (and/or audio) signal decompressed by the decompressing circuit  61  is supplied to the switching circuit  63 . 
     The VCR decompressing circuit  62  decompresses the second compression signal supplied from the reception signal processing portion  55  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56  in such a manner that the decompressing process complies with the compressing process performed on the transmitting side and outputs a digital video (and/or audio) signal. The digital video (and/or audio) signal decompressed by the decompressing circuit  62  is supplied to the switching circuit  63 . 
     The digital video (and/or audio) signal is directly supplied from the reception signal processing portion  55  to the switching circuit  63 . The digital video (and/or audio) signal is supplied from the decompressing circuit  61  to the switching circuit  63 . The digital video (and/or audio) signal is supplied from the VCR decompressing circuit  62  is the switching circuit  63 . The switching circuit  63  selects one of the three input signals corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . The signal selected by the switching circuit  63  is supplied as an output signal thereof to the D/A converter  64 , the rate converter  65 , and the external interface circuit  66 . 
     When necessary, the D/A converter  64  converts the digital video (and/or audio) signal supplied from the switching circuit  63  as a digital signal into an analog signal corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . The analog video (and/or audio) signal converted by the D/A converter  64  is obtained through an output terminal  8 . 
     When necessary, the rate converter  65  converts the sampling rate of the digital video (and/or audio) signal into that for the signal process of a circuit connected to an output terminal  9  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  27 . The digital video (and/or audio) signal with the sampling frequency converted by the rate converter  22  is obtained through the output terminal  9 . 
     The external interface circuit  66  is a digital interface for transmitting a digital video (and/or audio) signal to an external device. The external interface circuit  66  performs a process corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . An output signal of the external circuit  66  is obtained through an output terminal  10  and supplied to an external device. 
     A first VCR that records a digital video (and/or audio) signal is connected to an output terminal  6 . The VCR parallel interface  59  performs an interfacing process for the second compression signal supplied from the reception signal processing portion  55  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . An output signal of the VCR parallel interface  59  is obtained through the output terminal  6  and supplied to the first VCR. A second VCR is connected to an output terminal  7 . The VCR serial interface  60  performs an interfacing process for the second compression signal supplied from the reception signal processing portion  55  corresponding to control information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . An output signal of the VCR serial interface  60  is obtained through the output terminal  7  and supplied to the second VCR. 
     The displaying portion  57  and the operation inputting portion  58  are connected to the microcomputer  56  that controls each portion of the receiving device  5 . The operation inputting portion  58  has a plurality of setup switches, a ten key pad, and so forth. When the user operates these setup switches and the ten key pad, the operation inputting portion  58  generates detection information corresponding to the operation state and supplies the detection information to the microcomputer  56 . The displaying portion  57  comprises for example an LED, an LCD panel, and a driving circuit. The displaying portion  57  displays various types of information corresponding to information supplied from the microcomputer  56 . 
     The microcomputer  56  has a memory (not shown). The microcomputer  56  monitors the operation state of the operation inputting portion  58  corresponding to the detection information. When the user performs a predetermined operation with the operation inputting portion  58 , the microcomputer  56  reads various types of information from the memory corresponding to the detection information supplied from the operation inputting portion  58 , generates control information for each portion of the receiving device  5 , and supplies the generated control information to each portion of the receiving device  5  so that the microcomputer  5  centrally manages each portion of the receiving portion  5 . In addition, the microcomputer  56  generates information displayed on the displaying portion  57 . The memory of the microcomputer  56  stores various types of information of communication standards. 
     According to the embodiment of the present invention, the communicating portion  2  has only the transmitting function. When the communicating portion  2  performs a bidirectional communication, the communicating portion  2  has the structure of the receiving device  5  so as to transmit and receive signals. 
     Next, a transmitting process for transmitting a video (and/or audio) signal according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. Before the signal is transmitted, one of the communication lines a, b, and c is selected. The selected line is connected to a relevant connector. Thereafter, the user operates the operation inputting portion  30  and input various types of data of the selected communication line. When the transmission capacity of the selected communication line is unknown, the structure of the receiving device  5  may be disposed in the communicating portion  2  so as to transmit and receive signals between the communicating portion  2  and the receiving device  5 . Thus, the transmission rate and error rate of the selected communication line will be automatically measured and obtained. 
     After various types of data of the selected communication line are input, all or part of the following items are input corresponding to information displayed on the displaying portion  29 . 
     (1) A direct transmission mode or an indirect transmission mode is selected. In the direct transmission mode, a signal that is supplied from the image pickup portion  11  is transmitted on real time basis. In the indirect transmission mode, a signal recorded in the VCR  14  or stored in the memory  13  is read and transmitted. 
     (2) When the indirect transmission mode (for reading a signal from the VCR portion  14  or the memory  13  and transmitting the signal) has been selected, a start point and an end point for transmitting a signal are input. 
     (3) When the indirect transmission mode (for reading a signal from the VCR portion  14  or the memory  13  and transmitting the signal) has been selected, a transmission time period is input. 
     (4) When a signal is compressed, a compression method is selected. 
     (5) The sampling rate of the digital video (and/or audio) signal is designated. The type of the picture signal, the number of frames to be transmitted, and so forth are input. 
     When the items (1) to (5) have been selected and input, the microcomputer  27  determines whether or not the desired signal can be transmitted with the transmission rate of the selected communication line. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal cannot be transmitted, the microcomputer  27  causes the displaying portion  29  to display the determined result. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the microcomputer  27  prompts the user for the change of the transmission condition. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be transmitted, the microcomputer  27  causes the displaying portion  29  to display the determined result. When the microcomputer  27  has determined that the desired signal can be more effectively transmitted with a partial change of the transmission condition, the microcomputer  27  prompts the user for a change of the transmission condition. After the user selects and inputs data corresponding to information displayed on the displaying portion  57  and then performs a predetermined operation for starting the transmitting process, the desired signal is transmitted. 
     When data of the above-described items (1) to (5) is selected and input, the transmitting process can be more effectively performed. In reality, when a signal of a news material is reproduced from a tape and transmitted, a portion that is not used in a broadcast program is designated with a time code and compressed with a high compression rate. A portion that is used in a broadcast program is designated with a time code and compressed with a low compression rate. Thus, a video signal with high quality can be transmitted from the site to the broadcasting station. Thus, the transmission line can be effectively used. 
     Next, real examples of the transmitting process according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2A,  2 B,  2 C, and  2 D. The data rate of high definition video data of the current television broadcasting systems (NTSC and PAL systems) is for example 270 Mbps (including a blanking portion). When a video signal that is output from the image pickup portion of the camera portion  1  is transmitted through a communication line with a transmission rate of 500 Mbps as shown in FIG. 2A, the microcomputer  27  controls each portion of the communicating portion  2  so that the communicating portion  2  transmits a non-compressed signal. Thus, the receiving device  5  does not need to perform the decompressing process for the received signal. 
     When a video signal that is output from the image pickup portion  1  is transmitted through a communication line with a transmission rate of 2 Mbps as shown in FIG. 2B, the microcomputer  27  controls each portion of the communicating portion  2  so that the communicating portion  2  compresses the video signal with a compression rate of {fraction (1/135)}. The receiving device  5  performs a decompressing process for the received signal. 
     When a VCR is connected to the receiving device  5  as shown in FIG. 2C and a video signal that is output from the image pickup portion of the camera portion  1  is transmitted through a communication line with a transmission rate of 50 Mbps, the microcomputer  27  controls each portion of the communicating portion  2  so that the communicating portion  2  compresses the video signal in a predetermined format for a VCR of the receiving device  5 . The VCR of the receiving device  5  records the received signal. 
     When a video (and/or audio) signal of a news material for three minutes is reproduced from a VCR or the like and transmitted through a communication line with a transmission rate of 50 kbps as shown in FIG. 2D, the video (and/or audio) signal is compressed with a large compression rate and then transmitted. In reality, when the video (and/or audio) signal is reproduced from the VCR, the transmission rate is 30 Mbps. The video (and/or audio) signal is compressed with a compression rate of {fraction (1/100)} and transmitted in 18 minutes. A required portion of the video (and/or audio) signal for three minutes is designated. The designated portion is not compressed. The non-compressed signal is transmitted. In reality, when only five seconds of the video (and/or audio) signal for three minutes are designated, data with a transmission rate of 30 Mbps reproduced from the VCR is transmitted in 50 minutes. 
     According to the present invention, when the transmission condition is set, the controlling means determines whether or not a desired signal can be transmitted with the transmission rate of the selected communication line. The displaying portion displays information corresponding to the determined result. When the transmitting process is actually performed, the controlling means generates control information and supplies each portion of the communicating portion so that each portion effectively performs the transmitting process. Thus, according to the present invention, the user can easily perform various settings with reference to information displayed on the displaying portion. In the real transmitting process, a signal can be quickly and effectively transmitted. In addition, according to the present invention, since communication lines can be effectively used and the compression rate can be partly changed, the cost of the signal transmission can be reduced. 
     Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to a best mode embodiment thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions, and additions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.