JP3665811B2 - Image display system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Technical field to which the invention belongs]
The present invention relates to an image display system and method, and more particularly to an image display system and method for displaying images of a plurality of services in various display formats.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, various services such as terrestrial analog broadcasting, teletext broadcasting, cable television, and satellite broadcasting have been provided by various technologies.
[0003]
There is a demand for viewers not only to view only one of these services but also to view a plurality of services simultaneously. As one means for satisfying this requirement, a television having a function of displaying a small screen called a so-called double window is provided.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, this technology only displays different services (programs) on arbitrarily fixed sub-screens, and cannot be set to the user's preferred display format. It wasn't something to do.
[0005]
Therefore, the present invention has been invented in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to display images of a plurality of provided services in a free display format without being restricted by the screen display format. An object of the present invention is to provide an image display system and method.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A first invention for achieving the object of the present invention is an image system for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
A plurality of receiving means for receiving a plurality of different services;
A display device;
Means for selecting a desired service by a user among a plurality of services received by the plurality of receiving means;
Storage means for storing a plurality of selected services and a plurality of display areas defined by a user for displaying images of the selected services;
An extraction means for reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
A display screen of the display device is divided based on a plurality of display areas stored in the storage means and a service displayed in the display area, and an image of the service or the extracted text data is divided. And display control means for displaying in the area .
The second invention that achieves the object of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, further comprises means for displaying a plurality of services in one display area in a time-sharing manner.
[0007]
A third invention for achieving the object of the present invention is an image display method for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
A plurality of receiving steps for receiving different services;
Selecting a desired service by the user from among the plurality of services received in the plurality of receiving steps;
Storing the plurality of selected services and a plurality of display areas defined by a user for displaying images of the selected services on a display device;
An extraction step of reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
The display screen of the display device is divided based on the plurality of display areas stored in the storage step and the service displayed in the display area, and the image of the service or the extracted text data is divided into the display areas. Display control steps to be displayed on
It is characterized by having.
The fourth invention that achieves the object of the present invention is characterized in that, in the third invention, the method further comprises a step of displaying a plurality of services in one display area in a time division manner.
A fifth invention for achieving the object of the present invention is an image system for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
Identification information generating means for generating identification information indicating a display format of an image of a service to be provided, an encoder for encoding image data of a service for providing the identification information, and transmission for transmitting image data in which the identification information is encoded A plurality of transmitting stations having means;
The display device, a plurality of receiving means for receiving a plurality of different services, a service selecting means for selecting a desired service among the plurality of services, and decoding the identification information from the image data of the service selected by the service selecting means A decoder that stores the plurality of selected services, an extraction unit that reads out data types from the data of the selected services and extracts only text data from the data, and the decoded identification information And a display control unit that divides the display screen of the display device into display areas for displaying images of the respective services and displays the images of the selected services or the extracted text data in the respective display areas. When
It is characterized by having.
The sixth invention that achieves the object of the present invention is characterized in that, in the fifth invention, further comprises means for displaying a plurality of services in a time-division manner in one display area of the divided display areas. .
A seventh invention for achieving the object of the present invention is an image display method for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
Generating identification information indicating a display format of an image of a service to be provided;
Encoding the identification information into image data of a service to be provided;
Transmitting the image data encoded with the identification information;
Selecting and receiving a desired service among a plurality of services;
Decoding identification information from the image data of the selected service;
Storing a plurality of the selected services;
An extraction step of reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
Dividing the display screen into a plurality of display areas based on the decoded identification information, and displaying the selected service image or the extracted text data in the designated display area; and
It is characterized by having.
The eighth invention for achieving the object of the present invention is characterized in that, in the seventh invention, further comprising the step of displaying a plurality of services in a time-division manner in one display area of the divided display areas. .
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, reference numerals 1a to 1n denote receivers that receive a plurality of services. Reference numeral 2 denotes a service selection unit that selects a service desired by the user from among the services received by the receivers 1a to 1n. Reference numeral 3 denotes a display device for displaying service images. Reference numeral 4 denotes a display control unit. Then, the display screen of the display device 3 is divided into a plurality of display areas in accordance with user customization, and the display of the image of the service selected by the service selection unit 2 is controlled in each display area.
[0010]
The receivers 1a to 1n are tuners that receive various services, and are configured by existing receivers. The various services include services such as terrestrial analog broadcasting, terrestrial digital broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, text broadcasting, data broadcasting, and cable broadcasting.
[0011]
The service selection unit 2 is a switch that receives the service received by the receivers 1a to 1n and outputs the service selected by the user. Note that the number of services to be selected may be one or more, but it is preferable to select a plurality of services in order to obtain the effect of the present invention. The service selection unit 2 has a memory that stores and holds a service once selected by the user, and stores the selected service until the next power-on or user rewrite.
[0012]
The display device 3 is, for example, a high-precision display device (HD) capable of displaying 1920 × 1080 pixels. The display method may be a liquid crystal display, a CRT, a plasma display, or the like, but a display capable of high precision display is preferable.
[0013]
The display control unit 4 includes a display region control unit 5 that controls a display region for displaying service images according to user customization, and services received by the receivers 1 a to 1 n under the control of the display region control unit 5. And a memory unit 6 for storing the data.
[0014]
Next, a specific operation in the above configuration will be described.
First, the user selects a service he / she wants to watch using the service selection unit 2. Here, it is assumed that terrestrial analog broadcasting and text broadcasting are selected.
[0015]
Subsequently, it is determined in which area the display screen of the display device 3 is divided. Here, as shown in FIG. 2, consider a case where the display screen is divided into a rectangular area 21 of 720 × 480 pixels and another L-shaped area 22. Then, it is assumed that the terrestrial analog broadcast is displayed on the display area 21 and that the character broadcast is displayed on the display area 22 is selected.
[0016]
As a user division method (customization), a method for displaying a pointer for dividing an area on the display screen of the display device 3, and making the pointer go to a free place and determined by dividing the pointer. Can be considered. However, depending on the type of service, the shape of the display area may be limited due to the display format. For example, when a terrestrial analog broadcast (480i) is received, the shape of the display area is preferably a 4: 3 rectangle. In this case, for example, a precaution that alerts the user to a certain restriction is displayed so that a defect in the shape of the display area does not occur.
[0017]
When the above display area is prepared, the terrestrial analog broadcast is displayed on the display area 21 and the character broadcast is displayed on the display area 22 on the display screen of the display device 3 by the following operation.
[0018]
The image data of each service received by the receivers 1a to 1n is input to the data selection unit 2. The data selection unit 2 selects terrestrial analog broadcast data and teletext data from the input data and outputs the selected data to the display control unit 4. The image data input to the display control unit 4 is mapped to the memory unit 6 under the control of the display area control unit 5.
[0019]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing how the memory unit 6 is mapped.
In FIG. 3, 1 to 720 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction on display lines 1 to 480 as an area for storing image data of analog terrestrial broadcasting. As areas for storing text data of teletext, 721 to 1920 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction on display lines 1 to 480, and 1 to 1920 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction on display lines 481 to 1080. For character broadcasting, the display area 22 is divided into an area 22a of 1200 × 480 pixels and an area 22b of 1920 × 600, and 24 characters of one line of 60 characters are formed in the area 22a as one character 20 × 20 font. And 30 lines of characters of 96 characters per line are allocated to the area 22b.
[0020]
The display area control unit 5 sequentially reads the data mapped in the memory unit 6 and outputs it to the display device 3 for display.
[0021]
In this way, as shown in FIG. 4, the terrestrial analog broadcast image and the text broadcast image are displayed in the area designated by the user.
In the above description, the case where the display area is divided into the rectangular area 21 and the other L-shaped area 22 has been described. However, without being restricted by these shapes, for example, a circular display area or a triangular area is used. It may be a display area. In this case, it can be implemented by changing the configuration of the memory map described above.
[0022]
Further, the display control unit 4 may be provided with a memory unit for storing a plurality of display areas created by the user and services to be displayed there, and the screen can be arbitrarily switched according to the user's selection. is there. For example, screen type 1 is a screen that is divided in two by a rectangular region and an L-shaped region, and screen type 2 is a screen that is divided in two by a rectangular region and a circular region. It is configured to switch according to the user's selection. Furthermore, the service displayed in each display area may be changed every time.
[0023]
A second embodiment will be described.
In recent character broadcasting, not only characters (text) but also graphics such as characters are broadcast. However, if a special display form is performed as in the first embodiment, the graphic may not be displayed at a normal position and may be difficult to see. Therefore, the second embodiment is characterized in that the display control unit 4 is provided with a text data extraction unit 10 that extracts only text data (characters) from a predetermined service.
[0024]
Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the second embodiment.
The image data of each service received by the receivers 1a to 1n is input to the data selection unit 2. The data selection unit 2 selects terrestrial analog broadcast data and teletext data from the input data and outputs the selected data to the display control unit 4. Of the data input to the display control unit 4, the text broadcast data is input to the text data extraction unit 10, and only text data is extracted from the data.
[0025]
Here, a method of extracting text data will be described. Normally, text broadcast data has control data indicating what kind of data (for example, text or graphic) is added before the actual data. Therefore, the text data extraction unit 10 reads the control data from the teletext data, determines the type of the actual data, and extracts only the subsequent text data if the control data indicates text data.
[0026]
The text data extracted by the text data extraction unit 10 is mapped to the memory unit 6 under the control of the display area control unit 5 as described in the first embodiment.
[0027]
Subsequently, a third embodiment will be described.
The third embodiment is characterized in that a plurality of services are assigned to a certain display area, and the services are switched and displayed every predetermined time. For example, in the first embodiment, only one text broadcast is assigned to the area 22, but in the third embodiment, a plurality of text broadcasts (for example, weather forecast and stock price information, etc.) are assigned to the area 22. ).
In order to realize this, as shown in FIG. 6, a service time division selection unit 11 that stores a service selected by the user is provided in the service selection unit 2. The service time division selection unit 11 stores a plurality of services to be displayed in one area, selects one service from a plurality of services selected every predetermined time, and displays it in the display control unit 4. Output. For example, if it is selected to switch between displaying the weather forecast text broadcast and stock price information text broadcast every 10 minutes, the weather forecast text broadcast and stock price text broadcast from the services received by the receivers 1a to 1n. And the time is measured by its own timer, and is switched between the text broadcast of the weather forecast and the text broadcast of the stock price information every 10 minutes and output to the display control unit 4. The display control unit 4 displays the input teletext data by performing the same processing as in the first embodiment.
[0028]
In this way, the area 22 displays the weather forecast text broadcast and the stock price information text broadcast every 10 minutes. Needless to say, as described in the third embodiment, the configuration of the second embodiment may be added in addition to the combination with the first embodiment.
[0029]
A fourth embodiment will be described.
In the first embodiment, the user freely divides the display screen into a plurality of areas, and the service image is displayed in the divided areas. However, in the fourth embodiment, the service providing side is displayed. The display format of the image is determined in advance, and an image according to the display format is serviced.
[0030]
Hereinafter, description will be given with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
[0031]
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the fourth embodiment.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 50 denotes a broadcast station of a provider that provides a service. The broadcasting station 50 includes an identification information generating unit 51 that generates identification information indicating what display format the service image to be provided is in, and an encoder 52 that is embedded or added to the service image that provides the identification information. And a transmission unit 53 for transmitting data to be serviced.
[0032]
The display format indicated by the identification information described above is, for example, that the image is rectangular or L-shaped. In more detail, in the case of terrestrial analog broadcasting, a rectangular display format of 720 × 480 pixels, or for character broadcasting, not only the display format but also a specific font size may be indicated.
[0033]
On the other hand, on the receiving side, in addition to the first embodiment, the display control unit 4 includes a decoder 41 that decodes the identification information from the received service data, and a memory 6 for controlling the display area based on the identification information. A display area control unit 42 to be controlled.
[0034]
Next, the operation in the above configuration will be described. In this operation, the service to be provided is terrestrial analog broadcasting and text broadcasting, and identification information indicating that the display area is a rectangle of 720 × 480 pixels is used as identification information of terrestrial analog broadcasting. In the following description, it is assumed that identification information indicating that the display format is L-shaped is added. Note that font information of one character 20 × 20 may be added.
[0035]
First, in the broadcast station 50 (terrestrial analog broadcast, text broadcast), the identification information generation unit 51 generates identification information. As described above, the broadcasting station 50 for terrestrial analog broadcasting generates identification information indicating that the display area is a rectangle of 720 × 480 pixels. In addition, the broadcast station 50 for text broadcasting generates identification information indicating that the display format is L-shaped. Then, the encoder 52 encodes the generated identification information into a service image that provides the identification information. As an encoding method, the image data may be embedded in the image data itself by simply adding it to the top of the image data or by using a digital watermark.
[0036]
On the other hand, on the receiving side, the user selects a service that the user wants to watch using the service selection unit 2. Here, it is assumed that terrestrial analog broadcasting and text broadcasting are selected.
[0037]
The image data of each service received by the receivers 1a to 1n is input to the data selection unit 2. The data selection unit 2 selects terrestrial analog broadcast data and teletext data from the input data and outputs the selected data to the display control unit 4. Identification information of the image data input to the display control unit 4 is decoded by the decoder 41.
[0038]
The decoded identification information is input to the display area control unit 42 and analyzed. Here, the identification information of the terrestrial analog broadcast is identification information indicating that the display area is a rectangle of 720 × 480 pixels, and the identification information of the text broadcast is identification information indicating that the display format is L-shaped. . Therefore, the display area control unit 42 controls the mapping of the memory unit 6. Here, similarly to the above-described first embodiment, 1 to 720 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction in display lines 1 to 480 as an area for storing terrestrial analog broadcast image data. As areas for storing text data of teletext, 721 to 1920 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction on display lines 1 to 480, and 1 to 1920 pixels are secured in the horizontal direction on display lines 481 to 1080. For character broadcasting, the display area 22 is divided into an area 22a of 1200 × 480 pixels and an area 22b of 1920 × 600, and 24 characters of one line of 60 characters are formed in the area 22a as one character 20 × 20 font. And 30 lines of characters of 96 characters per line are allocated to the area 22b.
[0039]
The display area control unit 41 sequentially reads the data mapped in the memory unit 6 and outputs it to the display device 3 for display.
[0040]
In this way, as in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the terrestrial analog broadcast image and the text broadcast image are displayed in the area designated by the user.
[0041]
In the above-described embodiment, the display format identification information is identification information indicating that the display area is a rectangle of 720 × 480 pixels. For example, as another identification information method, (1920,1080) ((720,0) (720,480) (0,480) (0,1080) (1920,1080) (1920,0) (720,0)), the overall resolution of the screen displayed with the first parenthesis Identification information that designates coordinates for specifying the shape of the screen to be actually used is shown in the parentheses thereafter. In this case, the resolution of the entire screen is 1920 × 1080 pixels, of which the coordinate points (720,0), (720,480), (0,480), (0,1080), (1920,1080), (1920,0), ( 720,0) indicates that the L-shaped area specified by connecting the 720,0) is the display area.
[0042]
Further, the present invention can be similarly applied to digital data broadcasting in future digital broadcasting.
Further, in addition to the fourth embodiment, the first embodiment, the second embodiment, or the third embodiment described above may be added as appropriate.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to display images of a plurality of services to be provided in a free display format without being restricted by the display format of the screen.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment;
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining how a display screen is divided into a plurality of areas;
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining mapping of a memory unit 6;
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a case where a plurality of images are displayed on a display screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a second embodiment;
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a third embodiment;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a fourth embodiment;
[Explanation of symbols]
1a to 1n Receiver 2 Service selection unit 3 Display device 4 Display control unit 5 Display area control unit 6 Memory

Claims (8)

An image system for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
A plurality of receiving means for receiving a plurality of different services;
A display device;
Means for selecting a desired service by a user among a plurality of services received by the plurality of receiving means;
Storage means for storing a plurality of selected services and a plurality of display areas defined by a user for displaying images of the selected services;
An extraction means for reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
A display screen of the display device is divided based on a plurality of display areas stored in the storage means and a service displayed in the display area, and an image of the service or the extracted text data is divided. An image display system comprising display control means for displaying in an area . 2. The image display system according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a plurality of services in one display area in a time-sharing manner. An image display method for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
A plurality of receiving steps for receiving different services;
Selecting a desired service by the user from among the plurality of services received in the plurality of receiving steps;
Storing the plurality of selected services and a plurality of display areas defined by a user for displaying images of the selected services on a display device;
An extraction step of reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
The display screen of the display device is divided based on the plurality of display areas stored in the storage step and the service displayed in the display area, and the image of the service or the extracted text data is divided into the display areas. Display control steps to be displayed on
An image display method characterized by comprising: 4. The image display method according to claim 3, further comprising a step of displaying a plurality of services in one display area in a time-sharing manner. An image system for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
Identification information generating means for generating identification information indicating a display format of an image of a service to be provided, an encoder for encoding image data of a service for providing the identification information, and transmission for transmitting image data in which the identification information is encoded A plurality of transmitting stations having means;
The display device, a plurality of receiving means for receiving a plurality of different services, a service selecting means for selecting a desired service among the plurality of services, and decoding the identification information from the image data of the service selected by the service selecting means A decoder that stores the plurality of selected services, an extraction unit that reads out data types from the data of the selected services and extracts only text data from the data, and the decoded identification information And a display control unit that divides the display screen of the display device into display areas for displaying images of the respective services and displays the images of the selected services or the extracted text data in the respective display areas. When
An image display system comprising: 6. The image display system according to claim 5, further comprising means for displaying a plurality of services in a time division manner in one display area of the divided display areas. An image display method for receiving and displaying a plurality of different services,
Generating identification information indicating a display format of an image of a service to be provided;
Encoding the identification information into image data of a service to be provided;
Transmitting the image data encoded with the identification information;
Selecting and receiving a desired service among a plurality of services;
Decoding identification information from the image data of the selected service;
Storing a plurality of the selected services;
An extraction step of reading the type of data from the data of the selected service and extracting only text data from the data;
Dividing the display screen into a plurality of display areas based on the decoded identification information, and displaying the selected service image or the extracted text data in the designated display area; and
An image display method characterized by comprising: The image display method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of displaying a plurality of services in a time division manner in one display area of the divided display areas.

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