Patent Application
20100017744
The present application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-184885 filed on Jul. 16, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
When giving a presentation, there are some cases in which only an image field of a specific window rather than the entire screen displayed on a display device needs to be displayed on an external monitor. There is known a technology of outputting to an external monitor only the data of the window selected with a mouse pointer among a plurality of windows displayed on a display device (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-339130).
However, among other problems, when a plurality of image display devices are connected to an image supply device, it is difficult to display the same image on the plurality of image display devices, or to divide one image into divisional images and display the divisional images respectively on the image display devices.
Various embodiments of the disclosure have been developed in response to the current state of the art, and in response to problems, needs, and demands that have not been fully or completely solved by currently available systems, devices and methods. For example, various embodiments may solve at least a part of the problem described above, thereby improving convenience of operations of an image supply device.
At least one embodiment is directed to an image display control method in an image supply device adapted to supply at least one image to N (N is an integer equal to or greater than 2) image display devices including: (a) forming N display areas corresponding to the N image display devices in a display section different from the image display devices, and disposing the N display areas in the display section so that a one-on-one correspondence between N display images displayed by the image display devices and the N display areas is visually recognized, and (b) supplying images displayed in the respective display areas to the corresponding image display devices.
According to this embodiment, since it becomes possible to visually recognize the image displayed by the image display device using the image displayed in the display area of the display section of the image supply device, it becomes possible to enhance the convenience of operations of the image supply device.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of the previously described embodiment, wherein in step (a), movement of arrangement positions of the N display areas by a user is allowed.
According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to change the arrangement of the display area in accordance with the arrangement of the image displayed by the respective image display devices in response to change in the arrangement of the image displayed by the respective image display devices.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of at least one of the previously described embodiments, wherein in step (a), a miniature desktop area obtained by miniaturizing a desktop screen is formed in the display section.
According to this embodiment, it is possible to operate the image supply device using the desktop screen.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of the previously described embodiment, wherein step (a) includes (a1) forming one or more windows in the miniature desktop area, and (a2) displaying, when a correspondence between one window and the display area is designated on the display section, an image displayed on a selected window in a selected display area.
According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to display the image, which is displayed on the window, on the display area, and to supply the image display device with the image.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of any of the previously described embodiments, wherein in step (a), in response to selection of one of the display areas, a function operable to a screen displayed on the selected one of the display areas is displayed.
According to this embodiment, since the function operable to the screen displayed on the display area is displayed, it is possible to enhance the operability of the image supply device.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of at least one of the previously described embodiments, wherein in step (a), a cursor for selecting the display area is displayed, and in response to movement of the cursor onto one of the display areas, a function operable to a screen displayed on the one of the display areas is displayed.
According to this embodiment, since the operable function is displayed in response only to movement of the cursor onto the display area without selecting the display area, it is possible to enhance the operability of the image supply device.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of at least one of the previously described embodiments, wherein the operable function includes at least one of a mirroring function for displaying a screen, which is identical to a screen displayed on the display area, also on another display area, a multi-screen function for splitting the screen displayed on the display area to display the split screens respectively on the display area and another display area, and an edit function for editing the screen displayed on the display area.
According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to enhance the operability of the image supply device with these functions.
At least one embodiment is directed to the image display control method of at least one of the previously described embodiments, wherein in execution of the edit function, an edit screen for editing the screen displayed on the display area is formed and displayed.
According to this embodiment, it becomes easier to edit the screen.
It should be noted that the embodiments can be realized in various forms such as an image supply device, an image display control program product, or a storage medium storing the image display control program in addition to or instead of the image display control method.
Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numbers reference like elements.
In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the following description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present disclosure is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take at least the meanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The meanings identified below are not intended to limit the terms, but merely provide illustrative examples for use of the terms. The meaning of “a,” “an,” “one,” and “the” may include reference to both the singular and the plural. Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment, but it may.
Several embodiments will sequentially be described under corresponding section headings below. Section headings are merely employed to improve readability, and they are not to be construed to restrict or narrow the present disclosure. For example, the order of description headings should not necessarily be construed so as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent or to imply the relative importance of an embodiment. Moreover, the scope of a disclosure under one section heading should not be construed to restrict or to limit the disclosure to that particular embodiment, rather the disclosure should indicate that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with a section heading is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure, but it may also be used in connection with other embodiments.
The method or procedure is described in terms of firmware, software, and/or hardware with reference to the flowchart. Describing a method by reference to a flowchart enables one skilled in the art to develop programs, including instructions to carry out the processes and methods on suitably configured computer systems and processing devices. In various embodiments, portions of the operations to be performed by the image display control method may constitute circuits, general purpose processors (e.g., micro-processors, micro-controllers, an ASIC, or digital signal processors), special purpose processors (e.g., application specific integrated circuits or ASICs), firmware (e.g., firmware that is used by a processor such as a micro-processor, a micro-controller, and/or a digital signal processor), state machines, hardware arrays, reconfigurable hardware, and/or software made up of executable instructions. The executable instructions may be embodied in firmware logic, reconfigurable logic, a hardware description language, a state machine, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or combinations thereof.
With respect to various embodiments using a software implementation (e.g., a hardware simulator), at least one of the processors of a suitably configured processing device executes the instructions from a storage and/or recording medium. The computer-executable instructions may be written in a computer programming language or executable code. If written in a programming language conforming to a recognized standard, such instructions may be executed on a variety of hardware platforms and may interface with a variety of operating systems. Although the various embodiments are not described with reference to any particular programming language, it may be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the embodiments as described herein. Furthermore, it is common in the art to speak of software in one form or another (e.g., program, procedure, process, application, etc.) as taking an action or causing a result. Such expressions are merely a shorthand way of saying that execution of the software causes the processor to perform an action or to produce a result.
The CPU 200, which is a logic circuit for executing various kinds of arithmetic processing, expands various programs and modules, which are stored in, for example, the HDD 220, in the RAM 210, and then executes them. The RAM 210 is a volatile memory, and stores temporarily the operation results of the CPU 200, and the displaying image data to be supplied to the image display devices 30. The VRAM 230 is a memory device for expanding and then temporarily buffering the displaying image data drawn based on the data, and is generally capable of reading and writing the data faster than the RAM 210.
The HDD 220 is a magnetic disk storage device for storing an image supply program P1 and an identification image management program P2. It should be noted that a nonvolatile semiconductor memory can also be provided instead of the HDD 220. The image supply program P1 stored in the HDD 220 is provided with a window selection module M1, a display designation module M2, a storage control module M3, a displaying image data generation module M4, an image processing module M5, a communication control module M6, a display information acquisition module M7, a connected display management module M8, and a display control module M9. The identification image management program P2 is provided with an identification image management file F1 and an identification image file F2. It should be noted that the functions of the modules are realized by the CPU 200 executing the respective modules.
The image supply program P1 is a program for supplying the image display device(s) with the image displayed on the indication display 40 connected to the image supply device 20. More specifically, the image supply program P1 in the present embodiment is capable of supplying each of image display device(s) with a plurality of contents displayed on the indication display 40 content by content. Here, the content denotes a display screen provided application by application, and includes each of word processing screens in word processing software, each of presentation screens in presentation software, a replay screen for reproducing the moving image content, which is delivered by the stream, and an edit screen and a display screen of a still image. Further, a so-called desk-top screen displayed as a background of the indication display 40 is also included in the content. It should be noted that each of these contents is called a window in the case of using Windows (a registered trademark) as an operating system, and therefore, is hereinafter referred to also as a “window.”
The window selection module M1 is a module executed for selecting a desired window among a plurality of windows displayed on the indication display 40. Specifically, the window selection module M1 specifies the window selected by the operator via the input equipment 41 among the plurality of windows. For example, by attaching unique numbers respectively to the windows (the windows opened on the screen) displayed on the indication display 40, it is possible to identify the windows, and specify the selected window. It should be noted that although it is possible that only one window is displayed on the indication display 40, in this case, the window selection module M1 specifies the window determined by the operator via the input equipment 41.
The display designation module M2 is a module for designating the image display device 30 to which the window selected by the window selection module M1 is output.
The storage control module M3 is a module for storing the selected window and the designated image display device 30 into the RAM 210 or the HDD 220 so as to be correlated with each other. The storage control module M3 also allocates window storage areas (content storage areas) for storing the displaying image data of the windows and display supplying storage areas for storing the image data transmitted to the image display devices 30 previously on the RAM 210 in accordance with the number of windows at least a part of which is displayed on the indication display 40, the number of image display devices 30 connected to the image supply devices 20, and the maximum resolution of the indication display 40. It should be noted that it is sufficient to allocate either one of the corresponding number of window storage areas to the number of windows and the corresponding number of display supplying storage areas to the number of image display devices 30 in the RAM 210 or the HDD 220.
The displaying image data generation module M4 is a module for generating the displaying image data of each of the windows displayed on the indication display 40. The displaying image data generation module M4 is capable of generating the displaying image data with respect to the windows existing on the indication display 40, in other words, all of the windows including the window hidden by another window and the window a part of which runs off the display screen of the indication display 40 and is not displayed thereon. This process is realized by, for example, drawing the displaying image data once on the VRAM 230 with respect not only to the window (the active window) in operation but to other windows when the window is selected, and then storing the displaying image data, thus drawn, at a predetermined location in the RAM 210. In this case, the display of other windows than the active window can be updated by executing the drawing process with respect to the other windows every time the other windows are selected. Alternatively, in the case in which the capacity of the VRAM 230 is large enough, it is possible to store the displaying image data of a plurality of windows on the VRAM 230.
The image processing module M5 is a module for executing various image processing on the displaying image data to be supplied to the image display devices 30. The image processing executed by the image processing module M5 includes processes such as a resolution conversion process, a sharpness control process, a brightness control process, or a color balancing process. Further, in the present embodiment, the image processing module M5 executes a process of modifying the displaying image data to be transmitted to the image display devices 30 in accordance with various operations, such as movement operation or modification operation (resizing operation), to a layout display window, which is displayed within a layout displaying area on the indication display 40. Specifically, the image processing module M5 moves the projection position of the image to be projected by the image display device 30 in response to the movement operation to the layout display window, and modifies the image to be projected by the image display device 30 in response to the modification operation to the layout display window.
The communication control module M6 is a module for controlling the input/output interface 240 for controlling transmission of connection information to, connection establishment with, and transmission of the displaying image data to the image display device 30, or performing reception of display information I33 from the image display device 30.
The display information acquisition module M7 is a module for acquiring the display information I33 (see
The connected display management module M8 is a module for managing the number of image display devices 30 connected to the image supply device 20, namely connection and disconnection of the image display devices 30 to the image supply device 20.
The display control module M9 is a module for displaying an image on the indication display 40 using the displaying image data, and at the same time displaying the layout displaying area and the layout display window in a predetermined area on the indication display 40. The display control module M9 also modifies the display of the layout display window based on the operations, such as movement operation or modification operation (resizing operation), to the layout display window. The display control module M9 also modifies the size of the window displayed on the indication display 40 if the operation to the layout display window is the modification operation (resizing operation). Further, the display control module M9 displays a plurality of layout displaying areas with respect to the layout display window of the window running off the screen of the indication display 40, and displays the layout display window including the part thereof running off the screen of the indication display 40 through the plurality of layout displaying areas.
The identification image management program P2 manages the correspondence between the image display devices 30 and identification images using the identification image management file F1 and the identification image file F2. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a configuration of the identification image management file F1. The identification image management file F1 stores an identification image and correspondence with the identification color for each of the image display devices 30. The identification image file F2 stores the data of the identification images. Although in the present embodiment the identification image file F2 stores the image data of “a sunflower,” “an apple,” “broccoli,” and “grapes,” any images can be adopted providing the images can be distinguished from other images.
The input/output interface 240 shown in
A “device determination/selection section: is realized using, for example, the display designation module M2, the storage control module M3, the display information acquisition module M7, the connected display management module M8, the display control module M9, and the identification image management program P2. When making correspondence between the windows and the image display devices 30, the window selection module M1 is also used as the device determination/selection section in addition thereto. The “image supply section” is realized using, for example, the displaying image data generation module M4, the image processing module M5, and the communication control module M6.
The CPU 300, which is a logic circuit for executing various kinds of arithmetic processing, expands various programs and modules, which are stored in, for example, the EPROM 320, in the RAM 310, and then executes them. The RAM 310 is a volatile memory device, and temporarily stores the result of calculation by the CPU 300. The VRAM 330 is a memory device for temporarily buffers the drawing data drawn based on the displaying image data.
The EPROM 320 is a semiconductor memory device for storing a display information transmission module M31, a drawing module M32, the display information I33, the identification image management file F34, and the identification image file F35. It should be noted that a magnetic disk storage device can also be used instead of the EPROM 320.
The display information transmission module M31 is a module for transmitting the stored display information to the image supply device 20. For example, when the connection between the image display device 30 and the image supply device 20 is established, the display information transmission module M31 acquires the stored display information I33, and then transmits the display information I33 to the image supply device 20 via the input/output interface 360.
The drawing module M32 analyzes the displaying image data received from the image supply device 20 via the input/output interface 360, and draws an image on the VRAM 330. Specifically, the drawing module M32 analyzes the displaying image data thus received to obtain the information such as the number of colors, sizes (vertical, lateral), coordinates, and image format, and then disposes pixel values in, for example, a bitmap manner on the VRAM 330 using the information thus obtained.
The image display section 340 is used for generating the image for projection using the drawing data stored in the VRAM 330. As the image display section 340, an image display section for modulating light beams from an RGB light source using liquid crystal panels, an image display section for modulating the light beams using digital micromirror devices (DMD) or reflective liquid crystal devices, for example, can be used without regard to the type thereof.
The optical system 350 is composed of a plurality of lenses, and is used for projecting the image generated in the image display section 340 on the projection surface with a predetermined size.
The operation section 380 is used when operating the image display device 30 manually, or when setting/modifying various settings. Here, the various settings include, for example, setting of the network, and the setting of which identification image is set as the default identification image.
In step S150, the CPU 300 projects the identification image on a screen 50 using the image display section 340 and the optical system 350. Thus, the user understands which identification image corresponds to which image display device 30.
When receiving the display data from the image supply device 20 in step S160, the CPU 300 projects the display data on the screen using the image display section 340 and the optical system 350 in step S170. Further, when the image supply device 20 stops transmitting the display data in step S180, the CPU 300 projects the identification image on the screen using the image display section 340 and the optical system 350 in step S190.
The CPU 200 executes the connected display management module M8 to specify the number of image display devices 30 connected to the input/output interface 240, and then executes the storage control module M3 to allocate the corresponding number of display supplying storage areas to the number of image display devices 30 connected thereto on the RAM 210 or the HDD 220 (step S280). The CPU 200 executes the storage control module M3 to allocate the corresponding number of window storage areas to the number of windows on the RAM 210 (step S290).
For example, in Windows (a registered trademark), each of the windows is managed with a number called a handle, and the CPU 200 can obtain the handles of all of the windows displayed (opened) on the indication display 40 by executing the API function “EnumWindows.” Therefore, the CPU 200 allocates a plurality of window storage areas, which is necessary for storing all of the windows, in the RAM 210 in accordance with the number of handles thus obtained. It should be noted that as the capacity of each of the window storage areas, the capacity corresponding to the resolution of the desktop screen (the primary display) of the indication display is assured.
In step S300 shown in
The CPU 200 executes the displaying image data generation module M4 to generate (capture) the displaying image data with respect to all of the windows displayed on the indication display 40. In the example shown in
For example, in the case in which Windows (a registered trademark) is adopted as the operating system, by adopting a layered window, the displaying image data corresponding to all of the windows displayed on the indication display 40 is generated. The CPU 200 sequentially executes “GetWindowLong” as an API function for acquiring the setting values of the present window, an API function “SetWindowLong” for registering the present window style acquired in “GetWindowLong” after making OR with the layered setting API “WS_EX_LAYERED,” and an API function “SetLayeredWindowAttributes” for setting the layered parameters of the designated window, thereby making each of the windows a layered window. With respect to each of the windows made to be the layered window, the entire window is captured, in other words, the displaying image data corresponding to the entire window is generated.
The displaying image data generation module M4 develops (draws) the displaying image data based on the application programs corresponding respectively to the windows, thereby generating the displaying image data. The displaying image data thus generated is sequentially stored in the window storage area previously allocated on the RAM 210. In the example shown in
Returning to
In step S330 of
When the correspondence between the selected window and the designated image display device has been established, the CPU 200 executes the image processing module M5 to execute necessary image processing on the displaying image data. In the present embodiment, the image processing to the displaying image data is executed on the respective display supplying storage areas SPJ1 through SPJ3. As the image processing, there are executed using the display information I33, for example, a resolution conversion process, an image quality control process such as a sharpness control process, a brightness control process, or a color balance control process, and a composition process of the displaying image data. In the case in which it is required to project a plurality of windows on one image display device 30 using the composition process, it is possible to supply the image display device 30 with the displaying image data along the image displayed on the indication display 40.
The CPU 200 further executes the communication control module M6 to supply the corresponding image display devices 30 (PJ1 through PJ3) with the displaying image data, on which the image processing has been executed and which is stored in the respective display supplying storage areas SPJ1 through SPJ3. It should be noted that after the correspondence between the window and the image display device 30 has been made, generation of the displaying image data of the window on the indication display 40 and transmission of the displaying image data to the respective image display devices 30 (PJ1 through PJ3) are repeatedly executed at predetermined timing. Alternatively, in the case in which the content does not vary with time, it is possible to execute generation of the displaying image data of the corresponding window and transmission of the displaying image data to the respective image display devices 30 (PJ1 through PJ3) at the timing when the window becomes active. Thus, it is possible to project the image corresponding to the latest window at any time after the correspondence between the window and the image display device 30 has once been established.
As described above, according to the present embodiment, since it is possible to perform selection of the image display device 30 using the identification images, it becomes possible to make the determination or the selection of the image display device 30 easier, thereby enhancing convenience of operation of the image supply system 10. It should be noted that although in certain embodiments the identification image displayed by the image display device 30 is the same as the identification image displayed on the indication display 40 of the image supply device 20, it is possible to make the identification images different from each other providing the identification images correspond to each other.
Further, selection of the image display device to which an image is to be supplied and displayed may be performed by selecting the image display device from a list of possible destination image display devices, such as from a selection screen that includes a list of possible destination image display devices detected (see, e.g.,
In the present embodiment, since the image supply device 20 causes the image display 30 to change the corresponding identification image in the event the identification images corresponding to the image display devices 30 overlap (i.e. the identification images are the same or similar) with each other, the overlap of identification images may be prevented.
Further, in the present embodiment since the small screens 532, 534, 536 are arranged so that the one-to-one correspondence between the display images displayed by the image display devices 30 and the small screens 532, 534, 536 can visually be recognized, it is possible to assume appearance of the display image of the image display device from the appearance of the small screens 532, 534, 536, thus it becomes possible to enhance the convenience of operation of the image supply device 20.
Further, in the present embodiment, since the CPU 200 displays the desktop window 540, it becomes more easy to select the image to be supplied to the image display device using the window in the desktop window 540. As a result, it becomes possible to enhance the convenience of operations of the image supply device 20.
Although in the present embodiment the small screens 532, 534, 536 are arranged so that the one-to-one correspondence between the display images displayed by the image display devices 30 and the small screens 532, 534, 536 can visually be recognized, it is also possible to adopt the configuration in which when the position of the display image displayed by the image display device 30 varies, the position and the size can be changed in response to an operation such as a drag operation by the user.
In the edit screen 600, the CPU 200 allows the user to correct/modify the content. Since the edit screen 600 is larger than the small screens 532, 534, 536, it is easier to edit the content, thus the convenience of the operations of the image supply device 20 can be enhanced.
As described hereinabove, according to the second embodiment, since various functions such as the mirroring function, the multi-screen function, or the edit function are realized, the convenience of the image supply device can be enhanced. Further, since in the second embodiment the operable functions are visually indicated to allow the user to select these functions, it becomes possible to enhance the convenience of the image supply device 20.
Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure may be implemented in a very wide variety of ways.
For example,
Although the disclosure is hereinabove explained based on some specific examples, the embodiments of the disclosure described above are only for making it easier to understand the disclosure, but not for limiting the scope of the disclosure. It should be readily appreciated that the disclosure may be modified or improved without departing from the scope of the disclosure and the present disclosure should be limited only be the appended claims and the equivalents thereof.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-184885 | Jul 2008 | JP | national |
