JP2008096748A - Display controller, display device, and multi-display system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce hardware resources needed to display an image on a large screen constituted by using a plurality of display devices. <P>SOLUTION: A display server 63 generates image data packets 90a for a plurality of divided drawing commands and transmits them to respective display units 71 to 79. The display server 63 stores in the respective data packets 90 coordinate data representing where objects designated to be drawn with the divided drawing commands are in image contents. The display units 71 to 79 receive image data packets 90 only when the coordinate data included in the image data packets 90 are included in coordinate ranges showing display in-charge areas thereof. Then rendering is carried out according to the drawing commands included in the received image data packets 90 to display the image contents 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device, a display device, and a multi-display system, and is particularly suitable for use in displaying a single screen by combining a plurality of display devices.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a multi-screen display device for business use is known as a display system that configures a large screen by combining a plurality of display units and displays an image on the large screen. This business-use multi-screen display device is realized in applications such as a super-large screen display device installed on the rooftop of a building, and displays various moving images such as corporate advertisements. Here, the method of constructing a large screen is roughly divided into a method of directly spreading pixels and a method of combining a plurality of display units described above.

A method for combining a plurality of display units will be further described.
The display panel is configured by stacking a plurality of display units of various types such as a projector and a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) adjacent to each other. The video content data is divided into images for each display area of each display unit after development. Thereby, display data of each display unit is generated. The generation of display data may be performed by providing a multi-display server or in each display unit.

  A case where display data is generated by a multi-display server will be described. The multi-display server is connected to a video content supply device and also connected to a plurality of display units. The video content data input from the supply device is developed in the multi-display server, divided into images for each display unit, and transmitted to the display unit responsible for each display. Each display unit can display a very large screen simply by displaying the received data as it is.

Conventional techniques for generating display data by a multi-display server and realizing display of an image based on the display data by a plurality of display units include the following.
(1) First, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1. In such a technique, the multi-display server converts the resolution of the image data so that the number of pixels that can be displayed on the display unit is obtained, and converts the resolution-enlarged image data to a plurality of display units constituting the multi-display. Cut out accordingly. Then, the multi-display server transmits the cut image data to the corresponding display unit. Each display unit displays image data transmitted from the multi-display server.

  (2) Further, there is a technique described in Patent Document 2. In such a technique, the multi-display server sends image data corresponding to each display unit with an ID. Each display unit captures the image data with its own ID into the frame memory and displays the captured image data.

  Next, a case where display data is generated in each display unit will be described. Each display unit inputs video content data, and cuts out the input data according to the display charge area. Thereafter, processing such as enlargement / reduction in accordance with the resolution of the display panel is performed on the cut-out data, and display is performed. As a configuration for generating display data in each display unit in this way, a configuration in which the server device performs decompression from the compressed data, and a configuration in which the server device generates and issues a control processing command. Various configurations have been proposed.

Technologies for generating display data on the display unit side to realize multi-display display include the following.
(3) First, there is a technique described in Patent Document 3. In such a technique, the multi-display server transmits an image data processing control signal including image display region setting data and display image enlargement / reduction processing data to each display unit. Each display unit generates image data to be displayed on its own device by applying a control signal received from the display unit.

(4) Further, there is a technique described in Patent Document 4. In such a technique, the display unit transmits image data and display range information to each display unit. Each display unit refers to the display range information, cuts out the image data of the portion included in the display area of the own screen and the adjacent area, converts the cut out image data into the coordinate system of the own screen, and displays it.
(5) Further, there is a technique described in Patent Document 5. In such a technique, each display unit receives a control command for displaying an image at an arbitrary position from the display unit, and sequentially executes a series of a plurality of control operations defined by the received control command.

  (6) Furthermore, there is a technique described in Patent Document 6. In such a technique, each display unit updates only the screen of the display unit that matches the identification ID by identifying a specific identification ID emitted from the display unit. Here, the display unit continuously transmits the packet of the drawing command instead of the image information itself after the identification ID for identifying each display unit.

JP-A-8-328519 JP 2003-316340 A JP 2003-280623 A JP 2001-350458 A JP 2000-330534 A JP 2000-132370 A

However, the above-described conventional technique has a problem that a large-scale hardware resource is required to display a large screen.
In the conventional techniques (1) to (2), the server device needs very high processing capacity. The server device is in charge of data expansion, drawing, image processing, layout, division, and transmission. The higher the image quality and resolution of the content, the heavier the server equipment.

  In the conventional techniques (3) to (6), the burden on the server device is reduced. However, there is a problem that a large-scale hardware resource is required for each display unit. Each display unit must receive a large-capacity drawing command in order to cut out an image of the display charge area of the own device. Therefore, each display unit has to have a large amount of buffer memory. In addition, each display unit has to perform rendering even for graphics that clearly do not need to be rendered. Therefore, there has been a problem that the processing speed when displaying an image on a large screen is reduced, or that a large amount of hardware resources are required to prevent the processing speed when displaying an image on a large screen. .

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to reduce hardware resources necessary for displaying an image on a large screen configured using a plurality of display devices. .

A display control apparatus according to the present invention includes a dividing unit that divides an image drawing command into a plurality of pieces, and a position identification that generates position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the dividing unit. A plurality of displays constituting one display screen by associating the information generation means, the drawing command divided by the dividing means, and the position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn according to the drawing command And a drawing command transmitting means for transmitting to each of the apparatuses.
The display device of the present invention identifies storage means for storing a display area for displaying a one-screen image in a storage medium, a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image, and a position of an object drawn according to the drawing command. And drawing command input means for inputting position identification information for display from the display control device, and drawing based on the drawing command input by the drawing command input means based on the position identification information input by the drawing command input means. An object to be drawn according to a drawing command input by the drawing command input means and a position determination means for determining whether or not the object to be included is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium. When it is determined by the position determination means that it is included in the stored display charge area, the input A drawing command receiving unit that receives the drawn drawing command, a drawing processing unit that performs a drawing process according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving unit, and the display person in charge based on a result of the drawing process performed by the drawing processing unit And display means for displaying an image of the area.
The multi-display system according to the present invention includes the display control device and a plurality of the display devices, and a plurality of the display devices constitute one display screen.

The display control method of the present invention includes a division step for dividing an image drawing command into a plurality of positions, and position identification for generating position identification information for identifying the position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the division step. A plurality of displays constituting one display screen by associating the information generation step, the drawing command divided by the dividing step, and the position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command And a drawing command transmission step for transmitting to each of the apparatuses.
In the display processing method of the present invention, a storage step of storing a display charge area of a one-screen image in a storage medium, a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image, and a position of an object drawn according to the drawing command are determined. A drawing command input step for inputting position identification information for identification from a display control device, and drawing according to the drawing command input by the drawing command input step based on the position identification information input by the drawing command input step A position determination step for determining whether or not an object to be displayed is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, and an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command input in the drawing command input step Is included in the display charge area stored in the position determination step A drawing command receiving step for receiving the input drawing command, a drawing processing step for performing a drawing process in accordance with the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving step, and a drawing process by the drawing processing step. And a display step of displaying an image of the display charge area on a display device based on the result.

A computer program according to the present invention includes a division step for dividing an image drawing command into a plurality of pieces, and position identification information for generating position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the division step A plurality of display devices constituting one display screen by associating the generation step, the drawing command divided by the dividing step, and position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command And a drawing command transmission step of transmitting to each of them.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a storage step of storing a display area for displaying a one-screen image in a storage medium, a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image, and an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command A drawing command input step for inputting position identification information for identifying a position from a display control device, and a drawing command input by the drawing command input step based on the position identification information input by the drawing command input step A position determination step for determining whether an object drawn according to the drawing is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, and an object drawn according to the drawing command input by the drawing command input step, The position determination step is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium. A drawing command receiving step for receiving the input drawing command, a drawing processing step for performing a drawing process according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving step, and a drawing process by the drawing processing step. Based on the result, the computer is caused to execute a display step of displaying an image of the display charge area on a display device.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can prevent that each display apparatus which comprises one display screen accepts an unnecessary drawing command, and can prevent performing an unnecessary drawing process. Therefore, it is possible to reduce hardware resources necessary for displaying an image on one screen configured using a plurality of display devices.
Further, since the display control device that transmits the drawing command to the display device does not need to distribute the drawing command transmission destination, the configuration (combination) of the display device can be easily changed.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
In this embodiment, the multi-display system includes a multi-display server that supplies a drawing command for image content, and a plurality of display units that each display a part of the image content and display all of the image content as a whole. Composed. The drawing command is divided into a plurality of pieces and supplied from the multi-display server to the display unit in the form of packet data. Each display unit determines whether or not the drawing command included in the packet data supplied from the multi-display server belongs to its own display area. Each display unit accepts only a drawing command of its own display charge area, performs rendering according to the accepted drawing command, and displays an image of its own display charge area on the screen. In this embodiment, such a multi-display system will be described.

<Description of configuration of multi-display system (FIG. 1)>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall schematic configuration of a multi-display system.
In FIG. 1, a multi-display system 61 inputs and displays image content data from an external content server. The display is performed on a screen in which display units (Disp11 to Disp33) 71 to 79 of 3 rows × 3 columns are combined.

  In the multi-display system 61, the display server 63 generates an image content drawing command, packetizes the generated drawing command, and supplies an image data packet including the packetized drawing command to the display units 71 to 79. The communication path 64 is a communication path for supplying image data packets to the display units 71 to 79. The communication path 64 is configured by a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide Area Network), or the Internet, for example.

  The display units 71 to 79 are supplied with image data packets including packetized drawing commands from the display server 63. At this time, each of the display units 71 to 79 accepts only an image data packet including a drawing command for its own display area. Each of the display units 71 to 79 performs rendering according to a drawing command included in the received image data packet and displays a part of the image content. The display units 71 to 79 include various types of display panels such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or a plasma display. Note that at least one of the display units 71 to 79 may be a display panel of a different type from the other display units. By increasing the display surface of the display units 71 to 79 or increasing the number of display units to be combined, display with a larger screen size becomes possible.

  There are various methods for setting the display charge area of each of the display units 71 to 79, and any method can be used. As the simplest method, there is a method in which the user explicitly sets it. When a user operates a switch or the like provided in each of the display units 71 to 79, a display charge area of the display unit provided with the switch can be set. In addition, information for instructing the display charge areas of the display units 71 to 79 is transmitted from, for example, an external client terminal device to the display server 63, and the display server 63 displays the display charge areas of the display units 71 to 79. May be set.

  Moreover, the display units 71-79 can be attached to a frame-shaped guide member. The user fits the display units 71 to 79 into a guide member that can support the display units 71 to 79 arranged in 3 × 3 (3 rows and 3 columns). Further, the user connects a power source and a signal line to these display units 71 to 79. Thereby, the large screen by the display units 71-79 is comprised. By assigning unique identifiers to the display units 71 to 79 according to the mounting positions of the display units 71 to 79, identification of the display units 71 to 79 and identification of the positions of the display units 71 to 79 can be performed. Yes. Further, a sensor may be provided on the coupling surface of each display unit 71 to 79 so that the position of each display unit 71 to 79 can be specified from the detection result of the sensor. For example, sensors are provided in four directions (for example, an upper surface, a lower surface, and both side surfaces) where the display units 71 to 79 can be coupled. When the display units 71 to 79 are coupled, the display units 71 to 79 exchange IDs with the coupling partner using sensors. Thus, by counting the IDs held by the display units 71 to 79, the positions of the display units 71 to 79 can be specified.

<Example of multi-display system display (Fig. 2)>
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example in the multi-display system 61 (display units 71 to 79).
FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of image content obtained by rendering a drawing command. The image content 50 is obtained by rendering a drawing command for drawing a rectangle and a drawing command for drawing a triangle. That is, the image content 50 includes a rectangular object and a triangular object.
FIG. 2B is a display example when the image content 50 is displayed on the display units 71 to 79. Display screens 51 to 59 are display screens of display units 71 to 79, respectively. In FIG. 2B, nine display units 71 to 79 are combined to form one display screen of 3 × 3 (3 rows and 3 columns).

FIG. 2B shows an example in which the image content 50 shown in FIG. 2A is displayed on the display screen configured by combining nine display units 71 to 79 in this way. Each of the display units 71 to 79 renders a drawing command corresponding to each display charge area, and displays a part of the original image content 50 based on the rendered result.
For example, the display unit 79 displays a rectangular lower right portion on the display screen 59. Since the display unit 73 does not include any drawing command in its own display charge area, the display unit 73 does not display a graphic on the display screen 53. By combining the display screens 51 to 59 of the display units 71 to 79 as shown in FIG. 2B, the entire drawing command of the original image content 50 can be rendered, and the entire original image content 50 can be rendered as one screen. Can be displayed.

<Configuration of image data packet (FIG. 3)>
A configuration of an image data packet used for transmission in the multi-display system 61 will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an image data packet.
FIG. 4A shows an image data packet 90. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing the configuration of the image data packet 90. As shown in FIG. 4B, the image data packet 90 has a packet header 91 and a drawing command 92.

FIG. 4C is a diagram showing the configuration of the packet header 91 and the drawing command 92. The packet identification information section 93 indicates the packet type. In this packet type information section 93, ID information for identifying whether or not it is a packetized drawing command, version information, and the like are stored. Further, information necessary for packet processing such as packet length and checksum may be stored in the packet type information section 93.
The synchronization data unit 94 stores various time stamps such as a time for displaying a result of rendering the drawing command 92.

  The drawing figure portion 95 stores the type of figure to be drawn. The drawing figure portion 95 stores, for example, the type of a line, triangle, rectangle, ellipse, or rectangle. The contour color data section 96 stores data relating to the contour color. The contour color is the color of the contour of the figure. The contour color data section 96 stores, for example, a total of 24 bits of data representing RGB in 8 bits.

  The fill color data portion 97 stores data related to the fill color. The fill color is the color of a closed region in a closed figure such as a triangle, rectangle, or ellipse. In the fill color data portion 97, for example, a total of 24 bits of data representing 8 bits of RGB are stored. The coordinate data section 98 stores coordinate data representing the position of the figure. For example, if the figure is a straight line, a triangle, or a rectangle, the coordinate data unit 98 stores the coordinates of the vertices (X coordinate, Y coordinate) by the number of vertices corresponding to the figure. If the figure is an ellipse, the coordinate data unit 98 stores, for example, the coordinates (X coordinate, Y coordinate) of the corresponding part of the rectangular area (bounding box) in contact with the ellipse.

  The bitmap data portion 99 stores bitmap data displayed in the rectangular area. In the present embodiment, for example, uncompressed bitmap data is stored in the bitmap data unit 99. However, the bitmap data may be compressed data or non-compressed pixel data.

<Internal Configuration and Operation of Display Server 63 (FIGS. 4 and 5)>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the multi-display system 61. The configuration of the display server 63 will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 4, the display server 63 generates a drawing command. Next, the display server 63 packetizes the generated drawing command. Further, the display server 63 transmits packetized drawing commands to the display units 71 to 79.

  The multi display control unit 1 controls the entire multi display system 61. The multi-display control unit 1 includes, for example, a CPU, a memory such as a ROM or a RAM, a bus, and various interfaces. The CPU performs overall control by executing a program recorded in the ROM by using the RAM. The display server control unit 2 controls each element constituting the display server 63.

  The drawing command generation unit 5 generates contents to be displayed on the display units 71 to 79 as drawing commands. The drawing command generation unit 5 also generates time stamp information indicating when to display an image based on the drawing command simultaneously with the generation of the drawing command or before and after the generation of the drawing command. The drawing command generation unit 5 supplies the generated time stamp information to the synchronization control unit 12.

  The packet transmission unit 6 divides the drawing command according to the data size (data amount) of the drawing command, packetizes the divided drawing command, and generates an image data packet 90. Details of the packet transmitter 6 will be described later. The transmission interface (transmission I / F) 7 transmits the image data packet 90 to the display units 71 to 79. The image data packet 90 is broadcast to the display units 71 to 79 interconnected with the display server 63. The transmission interface 7 also separately transmits various control data created by the multi-display control unit 1 to the display units 71 to 79.

  In the packet transmission unit 6, the data dividing unit 10 divides the drawing command into a plurality of pieces according to the data size (data amount) of the drawing command. The synchronization control unit 12 creates internal synchronization control data based on the time stamp information generated by the drawing command generation unit 5. The synchronization control data includes time information such as transmission times to the display units 71 to 79, processing start times of the display units 71 to 79, display times of the display units 71 to 79, and the like. The synchronization control data generated by the synchronization control unit 12 is stored as a time stamp in the synchronization data unit 94 shown in FIG. Note that the synchronization control data is not limited to the above-described data, and is time information that can specify the timing at which the display units 71 to 79 start processing, the timing at which the display units 71 to 79 perform display, and the like. Any information may be used as the synchronization control data.

The packet generation unit 11 generates the image data packet 90 having the structure shown in FIG. 3 using the time stamp generated by the synchronization control unit 12 for each drawing command divided by the data dividing unit 10.
By configuring the display server 63 as described above, a drawing command can be generated, the generated drawing command can be divided and packetized, and the packetized drawing command can be transmitted to the display units 71 to 79.

Next, an example of the operation of the display server 63 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S1, the drawing command generation unit 5 stands by until data of image content to be displayed is input from an external content server via the network, for example. When image content data is input, the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the drawing command generation unit 5 generates a drawing command based on the input image content data and time stamp information for the drawing command.

Next, in step S3, the data dividing unit 10 divides the drawing command into a plurality of pieces according to the data size (data amount) of the drawing command.
Next, in step S4, the synchronization control unit 12 creates internal synchronization control data based on the time stamp information generated by the drawing command generation unit 5 in step S2.

Next, in step S <b> 5, the packet generator 11 generates an image data packet 90 having the structure shown in FIG. 3 for each drawing command divided by the data divider 10. Here, based on the contents of the drawing command generated in step S2, the packet generation unit 11 draws a drawing figure portion 95, a contour color data portion 96, a fill color data portion 97, a coordinate data portion 98, and a bitmap data portion 99. Data to be stored in is generated. Furthermore, the packet generation unit 11 generates data to be stored in the synchronization data unit 94 based on the synchronization control data generated in step S4.
Next, in step S6, the server overall control unit 2 instructs the transmission interface 7 to transmit the image data packet 90 generated in step S5. Thereby, the image data packet 90 is transmitted to each display 71-79.

<Internal configuration and operation of display unit (FIGS. 4 and 6)>
Next, the configuration of the display units 71 to 79 will be described with reference to FIG. Since the configurations of the display units 71 to 79 are the same, only the configuration of the display unit 71 will be described here, and the description of the configurations of the other display units 72 to 79 will be omitted.

  In FIG. 4, the display unit 71 determines whether or not the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63 belongs to its own display area. Based on the result of this determination, the display unit 71 receives the image data packet 90 of its own display charge area and renders and displays the drawing command of its own display charge area.

  The display unit overall control unit 20 controls each element constituting the display unit 71. The display unit overall control unit 20 includes, for example, a CPU, a memory such as a ROM and a RAM, a bus, various interfaces, and the like. The CPU performs overall control by executing a program recorded in the ROM by using the RAM.

The reception interface (reception I / F) 21 inputs an image data packet 90 sent from the display server 63. The reception interface (reception I / F) 21 inputs not only the image packet 90 but also control data generated by the multi-display control unit 1.
The packet receiver 22 determines whether or not the image data packet 90 may be in its own display charge area, and if it is an image data packet that may be in its own display charge area. The image data packet 90 is stored in the buffer memory 23. Details of the packet receiver 22 will be described later.

  The buffer memory 23 temporarily stores the image data packet (packetized drawing command) 90 received by the packet receiver 22. The packet analysis unit 24 distributes processing according to information in the packet header 91 included in the image data packet 90 received by the packet reception unit 22.

  The renderer 115 performs rendering (rendering) according to the rendering command 92 included in the image data packet 90 received by the packet receiving unit 22, and generates display image data. The renderer 115 performs enlargement / reduction / parallel movement or the like of the drawing target graphic according to the deformation parameters stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116. The deformation parameter is set by the unit overall control 20 according to its own display area.

  In addition, the boundary of the display charge area of each display unit 71 to 79 is different from the boundary of the display image data drawn (rendered) according to the drawing command 92 included in the image data packet 90 received by the packet receiving unit 22. Occurs. That is, the renderer 115 may draw a portion outside the display charge area of each display unit 71 to 79. In this case, both of the two display units in contact with the boundary receive the image data packet 90 at the boundary portion of the display charge area. Therefore, in such a case, the renderer 115 of these two display units discards the portion of the display image data drawn (rendered) other than its own display area.

  The display control unit 26 performs drive control of the display panel 28. The display control unit 26 outputs the display image data generated by the renderer 115 to the display panel 28 in synchronization with a driving signal such as a horizontal synchronizing signal / vertical synchronizing signal or a data transfer clock, for example. The display image data is stored in a VRAM (not shown), read out in synchronization with the timing of the drive signal, and output to the display panel 28.

  The synchronization control unit 27 synchronizes control data (time stamp) stored in the synchronization data unit 94 in the image data packet 90 so that the display image data generated by the renderer 115 is displayed at the instructed time. The display control unit 26 is controlled based on the above. As described above, an arbitrary type of display device such as an LCD, a plasma display, or a projection display can be used as the display panel 28. The display panel 28 displays an image based on the display image data generated by the renderer 115 (part corresponding to its own display area in the image content). As described above, an arbitrary type of display device such as an LCD, a plasma display, or a projection display can be used as the display panel 28.

  Next, the configuration of the packet receiving unit 22 will be described in detail. As described above, the packet receiving unit 22 determines whether there is a possibility that the image data packet 90 is in its own display area. The packet receiving unit 22 accepts (receives) only the image data packet 90 that may be in its own display area and stores it in the buffer memory 23.

The assigned area storage unit 31 stores a coordinate range belonging to its own display charge area in order to identify its own display charge area. The display charge area can be set by any method as described above.
The header ID analysis unit 30 extracts the ID information stored in the packet header 91 from the arrived image data packet 90 and confirms the information of the packet header 91, and then the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data unit 98 is obtained. Take out.

In the charge area comparison unit 32, the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data part 98 of the arrived image data packet 90 is included in its own display charge area (coordinate range stored in the display charge area storage unit 31). Determine whether there is a possibility. If there is a possibility that the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data part 98 of the arrived image data packet 90 may be included in its own display charge area, the charge area comparison unit 32 captures the arrived image data packet 90. Instructs the capture control unit 33. On the other hand, if the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data portion 98 of the arrived image data packet 90 is not likely to be included in its own display charge area, the charge area comparison unit 32 displays the arrived image data packet 90. Discard without accepting.
The capture control unit 33 receives (captures) the image data packet 90 for which a write instruction has been issued from the display area comparison unit 32 and writes the image data packet 90 in the buffer memory 23.

  Next, a simple specific example of control in the display unit 71 will be described. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the multi-display system 61 is configured using nine display units 71 to 79. Then, as shown in FIG. 2B, it is assumed that the image content 50 is displayed on the 3 × 3 display screens 51 to 59 with the resolution of the high-definition image (1920 × 1080 pixels). That is, it is assumed that each display unit 71 to 79 can display a high-definition image (1920 × 1080 pixels).

Each display unit 71 to 79 displays nine regions each having (640 × 360) pixels.
The display charge area of the display unit 71 is a pixel area of (0, 0) or more and less than (640, 360). The display charge area of the display unit 72 is an area of pixels of (640,0) or more and less than (1280,360) of the image content 50. The display charge area of the display unit 75 is an area of pixels of (640, 360) or more and less than (1280, 720). The renderer 115 of each of the display units 71 to 79 draws (renders) the drawing command 92 for such a display charge area. For example, the assigned area storage unit 31 of the display unit 72 stores that the display assigned area is a pixel area of (640,0) or more and less than (1280,360). Further, the deformation parameter storage unit 116 of the display unit 72 stores a deformation parameter in which the x coordinate and the y coordinate are tripled after the x coordinate is −640.

  The display charge area storage unit 31 of the display unit 75 stores that the display charge area of the display unit 75 is a pixel area of (640, 360) or more and less than (1280, 720). In addition, the deformation parameter storage unit 116 of the display unit 75 stores a deformation parameter in which the x coordinate is −640, the y coordinate is −360, and then the x coordinate and the y coordinate are tripled.

  For example, the display charge area comparison unit 32 determines whether the bounding box coordinates calculated from the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data part 98 of the drawing command 92 overlap the display charge area stored in the charge area storage unit 31. Determine whether or not. Here, the bounding box is obtained as follows. That is, the minimum value on the X-axis, the maximum value on the X-axis, the minimum value on the Y-axis, and the maximum value on the Y-axis of the target graphic are obtained. From the coordinates obtained from the minimum value on the X-axis and the minimum value on the Y-axis (minimum value on the X-axis and minimum value on the Y-axis) thus obtained, the maximum value on the X-axis and the Y-axis A rectangular area up to the coordinates obtained from the maximum value (maximum value on the X axis, maximum value on the Y axis) is the bounding box.

  For example, if the coordinates of the vertices of a triangle included in the image content 50 are (600, 300), (200, 700), and (1000, 600), respectively, the bounding boxes are (200, 300) to (1000, 700). ). Therefore, the display charge area comparison unit 32 of the display units 72 and 75 determines that the triangle is included in its display target area.

  For example, if the upper left vertex coordinates and the lower right vertex coordinates of the rectangle included in the image content 50 are (800, 500) and (1600, 900), respectively, the bounding box is (800, 500). ) To (1600, 900). Therefore, at this time, the display charge area comparison unit 32 of the display unit 72 determines that the display target area does not include this rectangle. On the other hand, the display area comparison unit 32 of the display unit 75 determines that this display target area includes this rectangle.

  By configuring the display units 71 to 79 as described above, each of the display units 71 to 79 selects and draws (renders) the drawing command 92 corresponding to its own display area, and displays the image content 50. It can be restored and displayed.

Next, an example of the operation of the display unit 71 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
First, in step S <b> 11, the display unit overall control unit 20 waits until the reception interface 21 inputs the image data packet 90 sent from the display server 63. When the reception interface 21 receives the image data packet 90, the process proceeds to step S12. In step S12, the display area comparison unit 32 obtains a bounding box using the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data unit 98 of the image data packet 90 determined to be input in step S11.

  Next, in step S <b> 13, the display charge area comparison unit 32 determines whether or not the bounding box coordinates obtained in step S <b> 12 overlap the coordinate range stored in the charge area storage unit 31. As a result of this determination, the coordinates of the bounding box obtained in step S12 do not overlap with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31, and the input image data packet 90 is not in its own display assigned area. In this case, the process proceeds to step S19 described later. On the other hand, when the coordinates of the bounding box obtained in step S12 overlap with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31, and the input image data packet 90 belongs to its own display assigned area, Proceed to step S14.

In step S 14, the display area comparison unit 32 instructs the capture control unit 33 to capture the image data packet 90. Thereby, the capture control unit 33 captures the image data packet 90 determined to be input in step S11.
Next, in step S <b> 15, the capture control unit 33 temporarily stores the image data packet 90 captured in step S <b> 14 in the buffer memory 23.

  Next, in step S <b> 16, the display unit overall control unit 20 determines whether or not all the image data packets 90 belonging to its own display area have been captured by the capture control unit 33. As a result of this determination, if all the image data packets 90 belonging to its own display area are not captured by the capture control unit 33, the process returns to step S11 and waits until the image data packet 90 is input. .

  On the other hand, if all of the image data packets 90 belonging to the own display area are captured by the capture control unit 33, the process proceeds to step S17. The renderer 115 performs rendering (rendering) based on the rendering command 92 included in the image data packet 90 stored in the buffer memory 23 in step S15 according to the deformation parameter stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116. Thereby, display image data is generated. As described above, when a portion outside the display charge area of each display unit 71 to 79 is drawn (rendered), the renderer 115 discards the portion other than its own display charge area.

Next, in step S <b> 18, the display control unit 26 displays the display image data generated in step S <b> 17 on the display panel 28 in accordance with display timing control by the synchronization control unit 27.
In step S13, the bounding box coordinates obtained in step S12 do not overlap with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31, and the input image data packet 90 is not in the display assigned area of its own. The process proceeds to step S19. In step S19, the display charge area comparison unit 32 discards the image data packet 90 determined to have been input in step S11 without receiving (not receiving).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the display server 63 divides the drawing command into a plurality of pieces according to the data size of the drawing command, generates the image data packet 90 for each of the divided drawing commands, and displays the display units 71-71. 79. The display server 63 stores, in each image data packet 90, coordinate data indicating where in the image content the object instructed to be drawn by the divided drawing command is located. The display units 71 to 79 accept (receive) the image data packet 90 only when the coordinate data included in the image data packet 90 is included in the coordinate range indicating its own display area. The display units 71 to 79 perform rendering (rendering) according to the rendering command included in the received (received) image data packet 90 and display an image corresponding to the display charge area of the image content 50.

  As described above, each display unit 71 to 79 selects the drawing command 92 belonging to its own display area and performs rendering. Therefore, the display server 63 that is the transmission side device does not need to perform processing in consideration of the layout of the displays 71 to 79. Furthermore, since each display unit 71 to 79 does not need to cut out an image of its own display area from the entire image content, it is not necessary to receive a large-capacity drawing command. Therefore, a large screen can be displayed with fewer hardware resources than in the past. In addition, since it is not necessary to distribute the transmission destination of the drawing command by the display server 63 which is a transmission side device, the configuration (number and arrangement, etc.) of the display units 71 to 79 can be easily changed.

In this embodiment, the case where the communication path 64 that connects the display units 71 to 79 is a wired network has been described as an example. However, the communication path 64 connects the display units 71 to 79 in a bus format. It may be a form of connection to. The communication path 64 can adopt any transmission method. Furthermore, a wireless communication path may be used as the communication path 64 as long as a bandwidth necessary for displaying image content can be secured.
Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the display units 71 to 79 are physically coupled has been described as an example. However, these may not be physically coupled. The display units 71 to 79 may be installed in the vicinity, and the display units 71 to 79 may perform data transmission by wireless communication.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case where the drawing command is generated inside the display server 63 has been described as an example, but the drawing command may be input to the display server 63 from an external device. When the drawing command is input from the external device in this way, the display server 63 may convert the input drawing command into a drawing command that can be processed in the display units 71 to 79.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.
In the first embodiment described above, the case where the image content 50 rendered according to the drawing command is displayed on the entire display screens 51 to 59 of the display units 71 to 79 has been described. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, a case where the image content 50 is displayed on a part of the display screens 51 to 59 of each display unit 71 to 79 will be described. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the display server 63 specifies the layout of the image content. Each display unit 71 to 79 calculates its own display charge area using the designated layout, and determines whether or not the image data packet 90 belongs to the calculated display charge area. As described above, this embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above mainly in part of the software processing for displaying the image content. Therefore, in the description of the present embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS.

<Display example of multi-display system (FIG. 7)>
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example in the multi-display system 61 (display units 71 to 79). In the present embodiment, image content is laid out and displayed at a position designated by the multi-display server 63 based on an instruction from the user.
FIG. 7A illustrates an example of image content. Similar to FIG. 2A, the image content 50 is composed of a rectangular object and a triangular object.
FIG. 7B shows an arrangement example of the image content 50. In FIG. 8 (7), an example is shown in which the content window 101 obtained by reducing the image content 50 is arranged on the lower right side of the display screen 100.

  FIG. 7C is a display example when the image content 50 is displayed on the multi-display units 71 to 79. Display screens 51 to 59 are display screens of display units 71 to 79, respectively. Similarly to the first embodiment described above, in FIG. 7C, the display screens 51 to 59 of the nine display units 71 to 79 are combined to form one display screen of 3 × 3 (3 rows and 3 columns). Constitute. Each of the display units 71 to 79 displays a part of the original image content 50 in accordance with each display area. In this case, the display charge areas of the display units 71 to 79 change according to the layout designated by the multi-display server 63. For example, in FIG. 7C, only a part of the upper left corner of the content window 101 is a display charge area of the display unit 71. As described above, the display screens 51 to 59 of the display units 71 to 79 are combined as shown in FIG. 7C, and the image content 50 is arranged and displayed according to the layout, whereby the entire original image content 50 is displayed. Will be displayed.

<Internal Configuration and Operation of Display Server 63 (FIG. 8)>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the multi-display system 61. The configuration of the display server 63 will be described with reference to FIG.
The multi-display control unit 1 that controls the entire multi-display system 63 includes a layout control unit 110 in addition to the server general control unit 2 shown in FIG. The layout control unit 110 receives and stores image content layout instruction information (layout command) from a user (for example, an external client terminal device or content server). The layout control unit 110 uses the transmission interface 7 to transmit image content layout instruction information to the display units 71 to 79. As the instruction information for the layout of the image content, for example, the position coordinates of the area where the image content is arranged can be cited. In this case, the layout control unit 110 uses, for example, the upper left coordinates (Xmin, Ymin) and the lower right coordinates (Xmax, Ymax) of the reduced image 101 of the content window 101 displayed on the display screen 100 of FIG. The layout instruction information may be used. Further, the upper left coordinates of the content window 101 displayed on the display screen 100 of FIG. 7 and the size of the content window 101 may be used as the instruction information for the layout of the image content.

  When the image content 50 is arranged by being rotated or deformed, the layout control unit 110 uses the parameters necessary for the rotation or deformation as the layout instruction information of the image content 50, and displays the display units 71 to 79. Send to. When the image content 50 is rotated, for example, the rotation angle may be used as the instruction information for the layout of the image content. When the image content 50 is deformed, for example, the vertical and horizontal reduction ratios or the affine transformation matrix may be used as the layout instruction information of the image content 50.

As for the operation of the display server 63, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, the layout control unit 110 inputs the image content layout instruction information before the process of step S6 (for example, before the process of step S1). Remember. Then, the layout layout control unit 110 transmits the stored image content layout instruction information to each of the display units 71 to 79 before the process of step S6 (for example, before step S1). Other examples of the operation of the display server 63 are the same as those shown in FIG.
In the following description, the image content layout instruction information is referred to as layout instruction information as necessary.

<Internal configuration and operation of display units 71-79 (FIG. 8)>
Next, the configuration of the display units 71 to 79 will be described with reference to FIG. Since the configurations of the display units 71 to 79 are the same, only the configuration of the display unit 71 will be described here, and the description of the configurations of the other display units 72 to 79 will be omitted.

  In FIG. 8, the display unit 71 calculates a coordinate range of a drawing command serving as its own display area based on the layout instruction information transmitted from the display server 63. Thereafter, the display unit 71 determines whether or not the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data portion 98 of the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63 overlaps the calculated coordinate range. Based on this determination result, the display unit 71 accepts (receives) only what may be the image data packet 90 of its own display area. Then, drawing (rendering) is performed according to the drawing command 92 included in the received image data packet 90, and a part of the image content is restored and displayed.

The display unit overall control unit 20 newly includes a layout storage unit 111 and a responsible area calculation unit 112.
The layout storage unit 111 stores layout instruction information transmitted from the layout control unit 110 of the display server 63. The display charge area calculation unit 112 calculates a coordinate range indicating its own display charge area based on the layout instruction information stored in the layout storage unit 111, and writes the calculated coordinate range to the display charge area storage unit 31. As described above, the display charge area calculated by the display charge area calculation unit 112 is obtained by correcting the display charge area stored in the display charge area storage unit 31 in the first embodiment in accordance with the contents of the layout instruction information. It will be a thing.

  The packet receiving unit 22 determines whether there is a possibility that the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63 is in its own display charge area, using the coordinate range indicating its own display charge area. To do. This determination is performed using a bounding box as in the first embodiment. That is, the assigned area comparison unit 32 obtains the bounding box using the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data unit 98 of the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63. The assigned area comparison unit 32 determines whether or not the obtained bounding box coordinates overlap the coordinate range calculated by the display assigned area calculation unit 112 and stored in the assigned area storage unit 31.

  When the coordinates of the bounding box overlap with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31, and there is a possibility that the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63 is in its own display assigned area, the image Data packet 90 is accepted. On the other hand, there is a possibility that the coordinates of the bounding box do not overlap with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31, and the image data packet 90 transmitted from the display server 63 is in its own display assigned area. In that case, the image data packet 90 is discarded.

  The buffer memory 23 temporarily stores the image data packet 90 received by the packet receiving unit 22. The packet analysis unit 24 extracts the data (payload 92) of the image data having a rectangular tile shape from the image data packet 90. Then, the processing for the extracted rectangular tile image content data is distributed according to the information in the packet header 91.

  The renderer 115 performs rendering (rendering) according to the rendering command 92 included in the image data packet 90 received by the packet receiving unit 22, and generates display image data. It should be noted that the renderer 115 performs enlargement / reduction / parallel movement, etc., of the figure drawn according to its own display area in accordance with the deformation parameter stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116. The deformation parameter stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116 is set by the unit overall control 20 according to its own display area. In particular, in the present embodiment, a deformation parameter reflecting the contents of the layout based on the layout instruction information stored in the layout storage unit 111 is stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116.

  The display control unit 26 outputs display image data to the display panel 28 in accordance with the synchronization signal output from the synchronization control unit 27. Thus, the image rendered according to the drawing command is laid out and displayed based on the layout instruction information.

  In the operation of the display units 71 to 79, the layout storage unit 111 stores the layout instruction information transmitted from the display server 63 before step S13 in the flowchart shown in FIG. Further, prior to step S13, the display charge area calculation unit 112 calculates a coordinate range representing its own display charge area based on the layout instruction information stored in the layout storage unit 111, and displays the calculated result. The data is stored in the assigned area storage unit 31. In step S <b> 13, the display charge area comparison unit 32 determines whether or not the bounding box coordinates obtained in step S <b> 12 overlap the coordinate range calculated by the display charge area calculation unit 112.

In step S <b> 17, the renderer 115 performs rendering (rendering) based on the rendering command 92 included in the image data packet 90 stored in the buffer memory 23 according to the deformation parameter stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116. In the present embodiment, since the deformation parameters are set based on the layout instruction information stored in the layout storage unit 112, drawing (rendering) is performed with the layout based on the layout instruction information.
The other operations of the display units 71 to 79 are the same as those shown in FIG.

  By configuring the display units 71 to 79 as described above, only the image data packet 90 that may be located in the display charge area according to the layout designation is accepted, and the image content is restored and displayed according to the layout designation. can do.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the display server 63 generates layout instruction information for instructing the layout of the image content and transmits it to the display units 71 to 79. Each display unit 71 to 79 calculates a coordinate range representing its own display area based on the layout instruction information. The display units 71 to 79 accept (receive) the image data packet 90 only when the bounding box based on the coordinate data included in the image data packet 90 overlaps the calculated coordinate data. Then, the display units 71 to 79 perform rendering (rendering) according to the rendering command and layout instruction information included in the received (received) image data packet 90. Thereby, the image for the display charge area of the image content is displayed in a layout based on the layout instruction information.
Therefore, in addition to the effect described in the first embodiment, an effect that the layout for displaying the image content can be set more freely is obtained.
In the present embodiment, the case where one image content 50 is displayed has been described as an example. However, a plurality of image contents can be displayed simultaneously.
Also in this embodiment, various modifications described in the first embodiment can be adopted.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. In the above-described second embodiment, the case where the display units 71 to 79 perform image layout and display image content according to the layout instruction information transmitted from the display server 63 has been described as an example. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the case where the layout instruction information is also packetized and transmitted from the display server 63 to the display units 71 to 79 will be described as an example.

  Here, the layout command is stored in the payload of the layout command packet obtained by packetizing the layout instruction information. The packet header of the layout command packet has a field indicating the range of the area to which the layout command is applied.

  Each of the display units 71 to 79 determines whether or not the area to which the layout command packet transmitted from the display server 63 is applied is included in its own display charge area. Then, it accepts (receives) only a layout command packet targeted for application within its own display area, and performs image content layout based on the layout command packet.

  As described above, the present embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments described above mainly in a part of software processing for performing layout for image content. Therefore, in the description of the present embodiment, the same parts as those in the first and second embodiments described above are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. .

<Display example of multi-display system (FIG. 9)>
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example in the multi-display system 61 (display units 71 to 79). In the present embodiment, a plurality of image contents are laid out and displayed at specified positions.
FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are diagrams illustrating an example of image content. The image content 50 shown in FIG. 9A is composed of a triangular object and a rectangular object, as in the image content shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. triangle_and_rectangle.mpg ". On the other hand, the image content 120 shown in FIG. 9B is composed of a circle object, and the file name is “circle.mpg”.

FIG. 9C shows an arrangement example of the image contents 50 and 120. FIG. 9C shows an example in which content windows 122 and 123 obtained by reducing the image contents 50 and 120 are displayed on the display screen 121.
FIG. 9D is a display example when the image contents 50 and 120 are displayed on the multi-display units 71 to 79. Display screens 51 to 59 are display screens of display units 71 to 79, respectively. Similarly to the first and second embodiments described above, in FIG. 9D, nine display units 71 to 79 are combined to form one display screen of 3 × 3 (3 rows and 3 columns).

  In this case, the display charge area of each display unit 71 to 79 changes according to the layout specified by the multi-display server 63. For example, in FIG. 9D, in the display unit 71, only the upper left part of the content window 122 becomes the display charge area.

<Configuration of multi-display packet (FIG. 10)>
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a multi-display packet. Hereinafter, an example of a packet configuration used for transmission in the multi-display system 61 will be described with reference to FIG. The multi-display packet of this embodiment is composed of two types of image data packet and layout command packet. A layout command is stored in the payload 132 of the layout command packet. The packet header 131 has a field indicating a coordinate range in which layout is performed by a layout command.

  FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating the multi-display packet 130. FIG. 10B is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the multi-display packet 130. As shown in FIG. 10B, the multi-display packet 130 has a packet header 131 and a payload 132. The payload 132 stores drawing commands 95 to 99 or a layout command 136.

  FIG. 10C is a diagram illustrating an example of the header configuration of the image data packet. The contents of the packet identification information portion are different from the image data packet 90 described in the first and second embodiments. In FIG. 10C, the packet identification information unit 133 stores ID information for identifying whether or not it is a multi-display packet, version information, and the like. Further, the packet identification information unit 133 also stores ID information for identifying whether the packet is an image data packet or a layout command packet. Since FIG. 10C shows the header structure of the image data packet, ID information for identifying the image data packet is stored in the packet identification information section 133 shown in FIG. .

FIG. 10D shows an example of the header configuration of the layout command packet. ID information for identifying a layout command packet is stored in the packet identification information section 133 shown in FIG.
The synchronization data unit 134 stores various time stamps indicating time information such as processing start time and processing end time of the drawing command.

  FIG. 10E is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the coordinate range unit 135. As shown in FIG. 10E, the coordinate range unit 134 is composed of four fields of an Xmin coordinate 138, a Ymin coordinate 139, an Xmax coordinate 140, and a Ymax coordinate 141, and stores corresponding coordinates. In the present embodiment, the layout command packet is divided into a first layout command packet that includes the layout command for the content window 122 and a second layout command that includes the layout command for the content window 123.

  Therefore, the minimum value of the content window 122 in the X-axis direction is stored in the Xmin coordinate 138 of the first layout command packet, and the minimum value of the content window 122 in the Y-axis direction is stored in the Ymin coordinate 139. Further, the Xmax coordinate 140 of the first layout command packet stores the maximum value in the X-axis direction of the content window 122, and the Ymax coordinate 141 stores the maximum value in the Y-axis direction of the content window 122.

  Similarly, the minimum value in the X-axis direction of the content window 123 is stored in the Xmin coordinate 138 of the second layout command packet, and the minimum value in the Y-axis direction of the content window 123 is stored in the Ymin coordinate 139. . The Xmax coordinate 140 of the second layout command packet stores the maximum value in the X-axis direction of the content window 123, and the Ymax coordinate 141 stores the maximum value in the Y-axis direction of the content window 123.

  By configuring the layout command packet as described above, each display unit 71 to 79 can determine whether or not the layout command packet is in its own display area only by referring to the coordinate range portion 135. That is, each display unit 71 to 79 may receive only the layout command packet of its own display charge area and perform the layout process.

<Internal Configuration and Operation of Display Server 63 (FIG. 11)>
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of the multi-display system 61. The configuration of the display server 63 will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 11, the display server 63 packetizes and transmits layout instruction information (layout command). The operations of the layout control unit 150 and the packet generation unit 151 are different from those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. The layout control unit 150 outputs a layout command to the packet generation unit 151.

  The packet generator 151 generates the multi-display packet 130 having the configuration shown in FIG. The packet generator 151 generates an image data packet in the case of image content data, and a layout command packet in the case of a layout command. The packet transmission unit 6 is configured to process a plurality of image contents in parallel. However, the packet transmission unit 6 may process each image content in a time division manner, or may include a plurality of packet transmission units 6 to perform parallel processing.

  When the multi-display packet 130 is transmitted from the display server 63 to the display units 71 to 79, the multi-display packet 130 related to the layout command is first created and transmitted to the display units 71 to 79. Thereafter, after the layout setting is completed for each of the display units 71 to 79, transmission of the multi-display packet 130 relating to the data of the image content is started.

  The operation of the display server 63 performs the following process before the process of step S6 (for example, before the process of step S1) in the flowchart shown in FIG. First, the layout control unit 150 inputs a layout command for image content. The packet generator 151 packetizes the layout command and generates a multi-display packet 130 related to the layout command. Then, the transmission interface 7 transmits a multi-display packet 130 related to the layout command to each display unit 71 to 79. And the process of step S1-S6 of FIG. 5 is performed, and the multi display packet 130 regarding the data of an image content is transmitted to each display unit 71-79.

<Internal configuration and operation of display unit (FIG. 11)>
Next, the configuration of the display units 71 to 79 will be described with reference to FIG. Since the configurations of the display units 71 to 79 are the same, only the configuration of the display unit 71 will be described here, and the description of the configurations of the other display units 72 to 79 will be omitted.

  In FIG. 11, the display unit 71 inputs a layout instruction as a layout command packet, and performs layout processing of the display screen based on the input layout command packet. When the layout command packet is input, the display unit 71 determines whether or not the target area of the layout command packet is in its own display charge area, and accepts (receives) only the layout command packet in its own display charge area.

In FIG. 11, the operations of the display area comparison unit 152 and the packet analysis unit 153 are different from those of the display unit 71 of the second embodiment shown in FIG.
The display charge area comparison unit 152 determines whether the layout command packet and the image data packet are within the display charge area of the display charge area comparison unit 152. For the layout command packet, it is determined whether the area to which the layout command packet is applied is included in the display charge area assigned to itself. That is, it is determined whether or not the value of the coordinate range part 134 in the layout command packet overlaps the coordinate range set in the display area storage unit 31 as described in the first embodiment.

  On the other hand, the coordinates of the bounding box obtained based on the coordinate data stored in the coordinate data part 98 of the image data packet are the coordinate range calculated (corrected) by the display charge area calculation part 112 based on the layout command packet. It is determined whether or not they overlap. The bounding box coordinates can be obtained in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments.

  The packet analysis unit 153 takes out the data of the multi display packet 130 from the buffer memory 23. Then, the processing for the data of the extracted multi-display packet 130 is distributed according to the information in the packet header 131. When the multi display packet 130 is a layout command packet, the packet analysis unit 153 outputs the data of the multi display packet 130 to the layout storage unit 111. The layout storage unit 111 stores a layout command based on the layout command packet.

  On the other hand, when the multi-display packet 130 is an image data packet, the packet analysis unit 153 outputs the data of the multi-display packet 130 to the enlargement / reduction processing unit 113.

In addition, the renderer 115, the unit overall control unit 20, and the packet receiving unit 22 are configured to perform processing on the plurality of content windows 122 and 123 in parallel. However, the renderer 115, the unit overall control unit 20, and the packet receiving unit 22 may process the contents of the windows 122 and 123 in a time division manner. Furthermore, a plurality of renderers 115, unit overall control unit 20, and packet receiving unit 22 may be provided and processed in parallel.
With the configuration described above, each of the display units 71 to 79 receives only the layout command packet in its own display area, performs layout based on the received layout command packet, and displays the image content 50. be able to.

  In the operation of the display units 71 to 79, the reception interface 21 inputs a layout command packet before step S34 in the flowchart shown in FIG. Then, the display charge area comparison unit 152 determines whether the display charge area includes the area to which the input layout command packet is applied. This determination is made by comparing the coordinate range stored in the coordinate range part 135 of the layout command packet with the coordinate range stored in the assigned area storage unit 31.

  Then, the capture control unit 33 accepts (receives) only the layout command packet to which its own display area is applied, and discards other layout command packets. Thereafter, the packet analysis unit 153 analyzes the accepted (received) layout command packet, and stores the layout instruction information (layout command) in the layout storage unit 111 based on the analysis result. Further, the display charge area calculation unit 112 calculates its own display charge area based on the layout command stored in the layout storage part 111, and is stored in the display charge area storage part 31 based on the calculated result. Rewrite the coordinate range.

  In step S <b> 13, the display charge area comparison unit 32 determines whether or not the bounding box coordinates obtained in step S <b> 12 overlap the coordinate range calculated by the display charge area calculation unit 112.

In step S <b> 17, the renderer 115 performs rendering (rendering) based on the rendering command 92 included in the image data packet 90 stored in the buffer memory 23 according to the deformation parameter stored in the deformation parameter storage unit 116. In the present embodiment, since the deformation parameters are set based on the layout command stored in the layout storage unit 112, drawing (rendering) is performed with the layout based on the layout command.
The other operations of the display units 71 to 79 are the same as those shown in FIG.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the display server 63 generates a layout command packet obtained by packetizing layout instruction information (layout command) for instructing the layout of image content, and transmits the packet to each display unit 71 to 79. Each of the display units 71 to 79 calculates a coordinate range representing a display charge area of the image content based on the layout command packet. The display units 71 to 79 accept (receive) the image data packet 90 only when the bounding box based on the coordinate data included in the image data packet 90 overlaps the calculated coordinate data. Then, the display units 71 to 79 perform rendering (rendering) according to the rendering command and layout instruction information included in the received (received) image data packet 90. Thereby, the image for the display charge area of the image content is displayed in a layout based on the layout command.

  As described above, since the image content data and the layout command are transmitted by the packet communication of the same communication method, the image content data and the layout command can be handled by the same packet processing system. Therefore, in addition to the effect described in the second embodiment, an effect that the interface can be simplified can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the layout command packet is divided for each of the content windows 122 and 123, but may be packetized without being divided. In this case, each of the display units 71 to 79 may receive (receive) all the layout command packets and extract and process only the commands corresponding to its own display area.
Further, the image data packet may have a layout command. For example, a layout command command may be described in the other ID 96 in the image data packet. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the reception of the image data packet when the multi-display packet related to the layout command is delayed.
Also in this embodiment, various modifications described in the first and second embodiments can be adopted.

(Other embodiments of the present invention)
In order to operate various devices to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments are provided to an apparatus or a computer in the system connected to the various devices. You may supply. What was implemented by operating said various devices according to the program stored in the computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus is also included in the category of the present invention.

  In this case, the program code of the software itself realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment. The program code itself and means for supplying the program code to a computer, for example, a recording medium storing the program code constitute the present invention. As a recording medium for storing the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are not only realized by executing the program code supplied by the computer. It goes without saying that the program code is also included in the embodiment of the present invention even when the function of the above-described embodiment is realized in cooperation with an operating system or other application software running on the computer. Yes.

Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion board of the computer, the CPU provided in the function expansion board performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. Needless to say, the present invention includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.
Further, after the supplied program code is stored in the memory provided in the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. Do. Needless to say, the present invention includes the case where the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing.

  It should be noted that each of the above-described embodiments is merely a specific example for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. . That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of the schematic structure of the whole multi-display system. It is a figure which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention and shows the example of a display in a multi-display system (display unit). It is a figure which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a structure of an image data packet. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detailed configuration of a multi-display system according to a first embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention and demonstrates an example of operation | movement of a display server. It is a flowchart which shows the 1st Embodiment of this invention and demonstrates an example of operation | movement of a display unit. It is a figure which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention and shows the example of a display in a multi-display system (display unit). It is a figure which shows the 2nd Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a detailed structure of a multi-display system. It is a figure which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention and shows the example of a display in a multi-display system (display unit). It is a figure which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a structure of a multi-display packet. It is a figure which shows the 3rd Embodiment of this invention and shows an example of a detailed structure of a multi-display system.

Explanation of symbols

6 Packet transmission unit 10 Data division unit 11, 151 Packet generation unit 22 Packet reception unit 24, 153 Packet analysis unit 26 Display control unit 27 Synchronization control unit 28 Display panel 31 Display area storage unit 32, 152 Display area comparison unit 33 Capture control unit 50 Image object 51 to 59 Display screen 61 Multi display system 63 Display server 64 Communication path 71 to 79 Display unit 90 Image data packet 101, 122, 123 Content window 110, 150 Layout control unit 111 Layout storage unit 112 Area calculation unit 115 renderer 116 deformation parameter storage unit

Claims (21)

A dividing means for dividing an image drawing command into a plurality of parts;
Position identification information generating means for generating position identification information for identifying the position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the dividing means;
The drawing command divided by the dividing means and the position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn according to the drawing command are associated with each other and transmitted to each of the plurality of display devices constituting one display screen. A display command transmission means for performing display control. Processing time information generating means for generating time information related to drawing processing according to the drawing command divided by the dividing means;
The drawing command transmission means associates the drawing command divided by the dividing means, position identification information for identifying the position of the image data, and time information related to drawing processing according to the drawing command. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus transmits the information to each of the plurality of display apparatuses constituting the display screen.   The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dividing unit divides the drawing command into a plurality of pieces according to a data amount of the drawing command of the image.   The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising layout information transmission means for transmitting layout information relating to the layout of the image to each of the plurality of display apparatuses. Storage means for storing an image display area for one screen in a storage medium;
A drawing command input means for inputting, from a display control device, a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image and position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command;
Whether or not an object drawn according to the drawing command input by the drawing command input means is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium based on the position identification information input by the drawing command input means Position determining means for determining
When the position determination unit determines that an object drawn according to the drawing command input by the drawing command input unit is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, the input drawing Drawing command receiving means for receiving commands;
Drawing processing means for performing drawing processing according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving means;
A display unit configured to display an image in the display charge area based on a result of the drawing process performed by the drawing processing unit; The drawing command input means includes a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image, position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command, time information relating to drawing processing in accordance with the drawing command, Is input from the display control device,
The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display unit displays the image of the display charge area at a timing according to the time information based on a result of the drawing process performed by the drawing processing unit. Layout information input means for inputting layout information relating to the layout of the image from the display control device;
7. The display according to claim 5, wherein the drawing processing unit performs a drawing process according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving unit and the layout information input by the layout information input unit. apparatus. A display charge area calculation means for calculating a display charge area of the image of the one screen using the layout information input by the layout information input means;
Display charge area changing means for changing the display charge area stored in the storage medium by the storage means to the display charge area calculated by the display charge area calculation means,
The position determination means is a display charge area in which an object drawn according to the drawing command input by the drawing command input means is changed by the changing means based on the position identification information input by the drawing command input means. The display device according to claim 7, wherein it is determined whether or not it is included.   When the position determining unit determines that the drawing command input by the drawing command input unit is not included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, the input drawing command is discarded. The display device according to claim 5, further comprising a discarding unit. While having the display control apparatus of any one of the said Claims 1-4, having a plurality of the display apparatuses of any one of the said Claims 5-9,
A multi-display system characterized in that one display screen is constituted by the plurality of display devices. A dividing step for dividing the image drawing command into a plurality of parts,
A position identification information generating step for generating position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the dividing step;
The drawing command divided by the dividing step and the position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command are associated with each other and transmitted to each of the plurality of display devices constituting one display screen. A display command transmission step for performing a display control. A processing time information generating step for generating time information related to the drawing processing according to the drawing command divided by the dividing step;
The drawing command transmission step associates the drawing command divided by the dividing step, the position identification information for identifying the position of the image data, and the time information related to the drawing processing according to the drawing command. The display control method according to claim 11, wherein the display is transmitted to each of the plurality of display devices constituting the display screen.   The display control method according to claim 11, wherein the dividing step divides the drawing command into a plurality of pieces according to a data amount of the drawing command of the image.   The display control method according to claim 11, further comprising a layout information transmission step of transmitting layout information related to the layout of the image to each of the plurality of display devices. A storage step of storing in a storage medium an area in charge of displaying one screen image;
A drawing command input step of inputting, from a display control device, a drawing command of a part of the image of the one screen and position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command;
Whether or not an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command input in the drawing command input step is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium based on the position identification information input in the drawing command input step A position determination step for determining
When the position determination step determines that the object to be drawn according to the drawing command input in the drawing command input step is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, the input drawing A drawing command receiving step for receiving a command;
A drawing processing step for performing drawing processing according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving step;
A display processing method comprising: a display step of displaying an image of the display charge area on a display device based on the result of the drawing processing in the drawing processing step. The drawing command input step includes a drawing command for a part of the one-screen image, position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command, time information relating to drawing processing in accordance with the drawing command, Is input from the display control device,
The display processing method according to claim 15, wherein the display step displays an image of the display charge area at a timing according to the time information based on a result of the drawing process performed by the drawing process step. A layout information input step for inputting layout information related to the layout of the image from the display control device;
The display according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the drawing process step performs a drawing process according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving step and the layout information input by the layout information input step. Processing method. A display charge area calculation step of calculating a display charge area of the image of the one screen using the layout information input in the layout information input step;
A display charge area changing step for changing the display charge area stored in the storage medium by the storage step to the display charge area calculated by the display charge area calculation step;
In the position determination step, the display charge area in which the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command input in the drawing command input step is changed in the changing step based on the position identification information input in the drawing command input step. The display processing method according to claim 17, further comprising:   When the position determination step determines that the drawing command input by the drawing command input step is not included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, the input drawing command is discarded. The display processing method according to claim 15, further comprising a discarding step. A dividing step for dividing the image drawing command into a plurality of parts,
A position identification information generating step for generating position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command divided by the dividing step;
The drawing command divided by the dividing step and the position identification information for identifying the position of the object drawn in accordance with the drawing command are associated with each other and transmitted to each of the plurality of display devices constituting one display screen. A computer program causing a computer to execute a drawing command transmission step. A storage step of storing in a storage medium an area in charge of displaying one screen image;
A drawing command input step of inputting, from a display control device, a drawing command of a part of the image of the one screen and position identification information for identifying a position of an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command;
Whether or not an object drawn in accordance with the drawing command input in the drawing command input step is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium based on the position identification information input in the drawing command input step A position determination step for determining
When the position determination step determines that the object to be drawn according to the drawing command input in the drawing command input step is included in the display charge area stored in the storage medium, the input drawing A drawing command receiving step for receiving a command;
A drawing processing step for performing drawing processing according to the drawing command received by the drawing command receiving step;
A computer program for causing a computer to execute a display step of displaying an image of the display charge area on a display device based on a result of the drawing process in the drawing processing step.

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