Patent ID: 8621088

Claim:
A communication system in which a communication apparatus, which belongs to a predetermined communication group formed by a plurality of communication apparatus connected to a network, transmits to another communication apparatus belonging to the communication group, video data according to an image shot by an image shooting means and audio data according to voice input from a sound input means, receives video data and audio data transmitted from the other communication apparatus, displays on a display means a video image represented by the video data, and outputs voice represented by audio data to an audio output means; said communication system comprising: determination means for determining the number of communication apparatus belonging to the communication group; decision means for determining transmission quality of the video data as an inverse function of the number determined by the determination means, such that as the number increases at least one characteristic of the transmission quality decreases, wherein such characteristics include a resolution of the video data and a frame rate of the video data, wherein the plurality of communication apparatus transmits the video data according to the transmission quality decided by the decision means; and display control means for controlling display sizes for displaying on the display means at least the video data transmitted from the other communication apparatus, wherein the display sizes are adjusted as a function of the number of communication apparatus belonging to the communication group, wherein each of the plurality of communication apparatus of the predetermined communication group has a processing environment and a connection environment, and the processing environment indicates at least one of CPU availability of the communication apparatus and consumable amount of memory of the communication apparatus, wherein the decision means operates to determine: (i) an environment factor indicating a comparison of a combination of the processing environment and the connection environment of the communication apparatus to a predetermined scale of possible combinations of the processing environment and the connection environment, and (ii) a least favorable environment factor of the processing environment and the connection environment among the plurality of communication apparatus of the predetermined communication group, wherein the decision means decides the transmission quality of the video data according to the least favorable environment factor and the number of communication apparatus belonging to the communication group, such that at least one of the resolution and the frame rate of the video data decreases when at least one of the least favorable environment factor and the number of communication apparatus worsens.