JPH07287559A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image display device which can display many kinds of image at a low cost. CONSTITUTION:A ROM 52 is provided with address input terminals Ar0 Ar19 and stores image data. An MPU (microprocessor unit) 42 detects the address (20-bit address data) of image data corresponding to an image to be displayed on a liquid crystal display 28, informs a VDP(video display processor) 50 of the low-order 19-bit value, and also outputs a signal of level corresponding to the high-order l-bit value to the ROM 52 through a signal input/output terminal S, an input/ output port 48, and the address input terminal Ar19. The VDP 50 outputs the address signal corresponding to the reported 19-bit value to the ROM 52 through the address input terminals Ar0-Ar18. Since the address space corresponding to the 20-bit address data can be accessed, a large amount of image data can be stored in the ROM 52 and many kinds of image can be displayed on a liquid crystal display 38.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device, and more particularly, to an image display section, which reads image data stored in a storage means and displays an image corresponding to the image data on the image display section. The present invention relates to an image display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various types of pachinko game machines, but as an example, an auxiliary game machine equipped with a display section and a variable winning machine that is opened a predetermined number of times in conjunction with this are provided on a game board. There is something. The display of the auxiliary game device
For example, a plurality of drums with numbers, pictures, etc. recorded on the outer circumference consist of slots arranged rotatably like a so-called slot machine, and when a ball hits a specific winning opening provided on the game board, the slots rotate. After that, the display is stopped and a three-digit number is displayed on the display unit. And when the three displayed numbers are aligned, the specific game state,
This is a so-called jackpot, and the variable winning device that has been kept in the closed state is intermittently opened, so that the winning rate of a hit ball is rapidly increased.

Further, recently, in order to improve the service to the player, there is also seen one using an image display device including a display such as a liquid crystal as a display portion of the auxiliary game device. The image display device includes a storage device such as a ROM in which a large number of frames of image data are stored in advance, and an image processing processor. The image processor selectively reads out image data corresponding to the image to be displayed on the display from the image data for a large number of frames stored in the ROM or the like, converts it into a display driving signal, and outputs it to the display. As a result, the image of the image data is displayed on the display. In the above configuration, various images can be displayed in addition to the image representing the slot as described above, so that the service to the player can be improved.

[0004]

However, in the pachinko gaming machine, there is always a demand for further improvement of the service to the player, and the image display device is also required to be able to display more kinds of images. In order to fulfill this request, it is essential to store a large amount of various types of image data in storage means such as a ROM, but the size of the address space accessible by the image processing processor can be handled by the image processing processor. It is limited by the number of bits of address data that can be generated, specifically, the number of address buses of the image processor (the number of address output terminals). Even if the storage capacity of the ROM is simply increased, the area outside the address space is The stored image data cannot be accessed. Therefore, there is a problem that the types of images that can be displayed are limited.

The above problem can be solved by using an image processor provided with a larger number of address buses. However, such an image processor is very expensive and the image display device has a large size. It leads to cost increase.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above facts, and an object thereof is to obtain an image display device capable of displaying a large number of types of images at low cost.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, an image display apparatus according to the present invention comprises an image display section, a plurality of main address input terminals and at least one auxiliary address input terminal, and the main address is provided. A storage unit that stores image data in advance in a storage area corresponding to each address that can be designated according to an address signal input to an input terminal and a level of a signal input to the auxiliary address input terminal; An address of image data corresponding to an image displayed on the image display unit, comprising a plurality of address output terminals each connected to an address input terminal and at least one signal output terminal connected to the auxiliary address input terminal. Of the plurality of addresses so that the detected addresses are designated through the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal. Display control means for outputting the address signal from the terminal, switching the level of the signal output from the signal output terminal to read the image data, and displaying the image represented by the read image data on the image display unit. is doing.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the storage means is provided with a plurality of main address input terminals and at least one auxiliary address input terminal, and image data is supplied to the address signal input to the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal. It is stored in a storage area corresponding to each address that can be designated according to the level of the input signal. On the other hand, the display control means detects the address of the image data corresponding to the image displayed on the image display unit, and the plurality of main addresses are specified so that the detected address is designated through the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal. The image data is read out by switching the level of the signal output from the signal output terminal connected to the auxiliary address input terminal while outputting the address signal from the plurality of address output terminals each connected to the address input terminal. The image represented by is displayed on the image display unit. The display control means can be configured to include the above-mentioned image processing processor.

As described above, in the present invention, the signal output terminal provided in the display control means in addition to the address output terminal is used,
Since the signal output terminal is connected to the auxiliary address input terminal to specify the address of the image data together with the address signal output from the address output terminal, the size of the address space accessible by the display control means increases. However, it is possible to use storage means having a larger number of address input terminals than the number of address output terminals provided in the display control means.

Therefore, it is possible to increase only the storage capacity of the storage means without using a high-cost display control means provided with a larger number of address output terminals as the display control means, and to display many kinds of images. An image display device that can be realized can be realized at low cost. The names of the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal of the present invention are given for the sake of convenience to distinguish the signals output by the display control means to the respective terminals, and the auxiliary address of the storage means. Note that the input terminals do not mean that they are special terminals.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following, a case where the image display device according to the present invention is applied to a pachinko gaming machine will be described as an example. Further, the following description will be given using numerical values that do not hinder the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the numerical values given below.

FIG. 1 shows a pachinko machine 10 according to this embodiment. The pachinko machine 10 is provided with a holding frame 12, and a game board 14 is fitted in an upper front position of the holding frame 12. Further, at a lower position on the front surface of the holding frame 12, a supply tray 16 for supplying pachinko balls and a tray 18 for storing the discharged balls are arranged. Furthermore, FIG.
A launching device 20 that launches a pachinko ball is arranged on the right side of the drawing. The firing device 20 includes an operation dial 22, and pachinko balls are continuously fired by rotating the operation dial 22 by a predetermined amount.

A variable winning device 24 is provided below the game board 14 and is configured to be intermittently opened only in a predetermined case. A variable display device 26 is arranged in the center of the game board 14. A first specific winning opening 28 is provided on each side of the variable display device 26. A second specific winning opening 30 is arranged below the variable display device 26.

FIG. 2 shows the variable display device 26 described above in an enlarged state. This variable display device 26 is
A display unit 32 having a color liquid crystal display 38 and a display unit 3 for counting the number of times the variable winning device 24 is opened.
4 and a winning ball display unit 36 for pooling and displaying the number of hit balls that have won the first specific winning opening 28 and the second specific winning opening 30 while the display content of the display unit 32 is being changed. I have it.

In the liquid crystal display 38, a pair of glass substrates each having a transparent electrode formed on one surface thereof are arranged so that the transparent electrodes face each other with a predetermined distance therebetween, and a liquid crystal is provided between the pair of glass substrates. It is filled and configured. When a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal through the electrodes, the light transmittance of the portion sandwiched between the electrodes changes according to the magnitude of the applied voltage. The arrangement is such that the light transmittance can be changed for each part corresponding to each dot when divided into a matrix as a unit.

As an example, each dot has B (blue) light, G (green) light or R as shown in FIG.
A filter that transmits (red) light is compatible. Figure 3
In the example shown in FIG. 6, 6 dots indicated by a thick line constitute one conceptual pixel, and the color and luminance of each pixel are the light transmittance of each dot, specifically, not shown in the figure disposed on the back surface of the liquid crystal display 38. It changes depending on the amount of light of B, G, or R color emitted from the backlight and transmitted through each dot.

As shown in FIG. 4, a liquid crystal display 38
Is connected to the display device 40. The display device 40 is MP
U (micro processing unit) 42, RAM4
4, ROM 46 and input / output port 48. M
A plurality of signal input / output terminals S of the PU 42 (only one is shown in the figure) are connected to a bus, and the RAM 4 is connected to the bus.
4, ROM 46 and input / output port 48 are also connected. Note that one of the signal input / output terminals S corresponds to the signal output terminal of the present invention.

A plurality of external circuits (not shown) are connected to the input / output port 48. The external circuit outputs a sensor that detects the state of each part of the pachinko machine 10 (for example, whether or not a hit ball has won a specific winning opening), and several bits of data (referred to as a command) indicating the detection result of the sensor. A control circuit and a command output from an external circuit are input to the MPU 42 via the input / output port 48.

A video display processor (hereinafter referred to as VDP) 50 is connected to the MPU 42, and the VDP 50 is an R serving as a storage means of the present invention.
The OM 52 is connected. In addition, VDP50 is MPU
Together with 42, they constitute the display control means of the present invention. In this embodiment, a ROM having a storage capacity of 8 megabits is used as the ROM 52, and the ROM 52 has D _{r0 to} D _r7.
8 data output terminals and 20 address input terminals A _{r0 to Ar} 19 are provided. The ROM 52 stores various image data corresponding to various images displayed on the liquid crystal display 38.

On the other hand, the VDP 50 has address terminals A _{v0 to} A _v18 (corresponding to the address output terminals of the present invention) connected to 19 address buses (not shown) and data terminals D _v0 to D _v0 connected to 8 data buses. D _v7 is provided, and these are connected to the address input terminals A _{r0 to} A _r18 and the data output terminals D _{r0 to} D _r7 of the ROM 52, respectively. ROM5
The second address input terminal A _r19 is connected to the input / output port 48. The address input terminal A _{r0 of the} ROM 52
_{.About.A r18} corresponds to the main address input terminal of the present invention, and the address input terminal A _r19 corresponds to the auxiliary address input terminal of the present invention. The signal output end of the VDP 50 is connected to the signal input end of the interface unit 54, and the output end of the interface unit 54 is connected to the liquid crystal display 38.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the power of the pachinko machine 10 is turned on, the address of the image data (20-bit address data) stored in the ROM 52 corresponding to the image displayed in the idle state in the MPU 42 (for example, the image showing the slot as shown in FIG. 5). (Represented by) is detected. The addresses of various image data are stored in advance in the ROM 46 as a table, and the MPU 42 detects the address of the image data.
This is done by reading the table from the ROM 46.

The MPU 42 notifies the lower 19 bits of the detected address to the VDP 50, and sends a signal of a level corresponding to the upper 1-bit data value through the signal input / output terminal S and the input / output port 48. To the address terminal A _{r19 of the} ROM 52. In VDP50, MPU
The level of the signal (address signal) output from the address output terminals A _{v0 to} A _v18 is changed according to the 19-bit address value notified from 42.

As a result, a part of the image data of the image displayed in the idle state is output from the ROM 52 to the VDP 50, and according to the information such as the address value and the display screen size notified from the MPU 42 to the VDP 50, the VDP 50.
Automatically increments or decrements the address value sequentially, so that the image data for one frame becomes R
It is sequentially read from the OM 52. Input / output port 4
8, a latch (not shown) is provided, and the ROM 52
The signal input to the address input terminal A _r19 of is held at the level of the signal output from the MPU 42 by this latch.

The VDP 50 sequentially converts the read image data into a video signal and outputs it to the interface section 54. The interface unit 54 shapes the waveform of the input video signal into a waveform suitable for the liquid crystal display 38 to perform amplitude adjustment, γ correction, contrast, bright adjustment, etc., and outputs it to the liquid crystal display 38. The liquid crystal display 38 judges the color and brightness of each dot based on the input video signal, and the liquid crystal display 3
The electrodes to which a voltage is applied among a large number of electrodes provided in 8 are sequentially switched, and the applied voltage is controlled according to the color and brightness of each dot determined above. As a result, an image as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 38 as an example. In the VDP 50, when the vertical blanking period of the video signal output to the interface unit 54 starts, the interrupt signal input terminal of the MPU 42 (see FIG. 4).
Signal is output as "INT").

By the way, when the player rotates the operation dial 22 by a predetermined amount, a pachinko ball is launched from the launching device 20 and the game is started. Along with this, commands indicating the states of the respective parts of the pachinko machine 10 are input to the MPU 42 from an external circuit. The MPU 42 determines a game state or the like of the pachinko machine 10 based on a command input from an external circuit, and controls the change of the image displayed on the liquid crystal display 38 and the operation of each part according to the determined game state or the like.

For example, when the hit ball wins either the first specific winning opening 28 or the second specific winning opening 30, the MPU
Reference numeral 42 displays a moving image (a so-called image, which is composed of images of a number of consecutive frames in a time series), which is an image that stops after the slot has rotated and the number has changed.
Further, when the numbers displayed on the liquid crystal display 38 are aligned, a specific game state, that is, a so-called jackpot is achieved. In this case, MPU4
2, the variable prize winning device 24 is intermittently opened, and the number of times display section 34 is controlled to display how many times the variable prize winning device 24 is currently open, and the player is displayed on the liquid crystal display 38. Display a fascinating video.

When the image to be displayed is changed as described above, the address of the image data corresponding to the image to be changed and displayed is detected and the same operation as described above is performed. However, when the value of the upper 1 bit of the detected address is different from the previous address, the MPU 42 sends a signal of a different level from the previous time when the interrupt signal is input from the VDP 50 to the address input terminal A of the ROM 52. Output to _r19 .

Therefore, the address input terminal A of the ROM 52 is
As described above, the level of the signal input to 19 is the vertical blanking period of the video signal, that is, the liquid crystal display 3
Since the image is switched during the period when the image is not displayed on 8, the signal level is switched and the address of the image data to be read is not switched while the image is being displayed and is displayed on the liquid crystal display 38. It is possible to prevent the image from being disturbed.

By the way, since the address signal output from the VDP 50 is 19 bits, the size of the address space accessible by the VDP 50 alone is about 4 Mbits. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the MPU 42 and the VDP 50 forming the display control means of the present invention can access the address space (about 8 Mbits) corresponding to the 20-bit address data. Therefore, since a large amount of various types of image data can be stored in the ROM 52, for example, different images are displayed according to the number of open states in the specific game state described above, or moving images composed of images of a larger number of frames are displayed. It is also possible. As a result, the playability of the pachinko gaming machine 10 can be improved, and the service to the player can be improved.

Since various images can be displayed on the liquid crystal display 38 of the display section 32 as described above, the versatility of the display section 32 is high. Therefore, by making the display unit 32 of this embodiment into a unit and changing the image data stored in the ROM 52, it is possible to commonly use it as the display unit of various types of pachinko machines. Along with this, the display unit 32 can be systematically produced irrespective of the order for the pachinko machine, so that the cost of the display unit and the cost of the pachinko machine can be suppressed to a low level.

Although an example using the color liquid crystal display 38 as the image display unit according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and a monochrome liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube, a plasma display panel, an electro display. Various display devices such as a luminescent panel can be applied.

Further, although an example using a ROM as the storage means according to the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other non-volatile semiconductor memory, for example, EP.
You may use ROM, EEPROM, etc.

Further, in the above, as the storage means, the number of address input terminals is one more than the number of address output terminals of VDP.
The case where a large number of ROMs are used, that is, the case where the number of auxiliary address input terminals of the present invention is single (address input terminal A _r19 ) has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to use a storage means having a larger capacity in which the number of input terminals is more than the number of address output terminals of VDP by a plurality or more.

In the above, the display control means is the MPU 42.
And the VDP 50, the present invention is not limited to this, and the display control means may be composed of a single processor.

Further, the case where the image display device according to the present invention is applied to the display portion of a pachinko machine has been described above as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the image data stored in the storage device is read out. It is needless to say that the invention can be applied to any display device that displays an image of the image data on the image display part, for example, can be applied to the display part of another game machine or can be used as a display for advertisement. Yes.

[0036]

As described above, the image display device according to the present invention is responsive to the address signal input to the plurality of main address input terminals and the level of the signal input to at least one auxiliary address input terminal. The image data is stored in advance in the storage area of the storage unit corresponding to each address that can be designated, and the display control unit detects the address of the image data corresponding to the image displayed on the image display unit, and the detected address is The image data is read out by outputting the address signal from the plurality of address output terminals as specified via the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal and switching the level of the signal output from the signal output terminal to read the image data. Since the image represented by is displayed on the image display unit, an image display device capable of displaying many types of images. Can be realized at a low cost, excellent effect can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a pachinko machine according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view showing a variable display device of a pachinko machine.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing an array of pixels of a color liquid crystal display.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an image representing a slot as an example of an image displayed on a liquid crystal display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Pachinko machine 32 Display unit 38 Liquid crystal display 40 Display device 42 MPU 50 VDP 52 ROM

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image display unit, a plurality of main address input terminals and at least one auxiliary address input terminal, wherein an address signal input to the main address input terminal and a signal input to the auxiliary address input terminal are provided. A storage unit that stores image data in advance in a storage area corresponding to each address that can be designated according to the level, a plurality of address output terminals that are respectively connected to the plurality of main address input terminals, and the auxiliary address input terminals. At least one signal output terminal connected to, and detecting the address of the image data corresponding to the image displayed on the image display unit, the detected address via the main address input terminal and the auxiliary address input terminal. Address signals are output from the plurality of address output terminals as specified and output from the signal output terminals. No. level reading the image data by switching the image display device including a display control means for displaying an image read-out image data represents the image display unit.