JP2000115703A - Storage medium used for picture display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage medium used for picture display that permits or inhibits the display of a sub picture depending on the presence/absence of the effect to display the sub picture. SOLUTION: After a main picture is displayed (S1), the number of times of reproduction of the main picture is counted (S2, S3), all sub pictures are displayed at the same time as the display of the main picture (S11) while the number of times of reproduction exceeds a designated number of times (S7, NO). Thereafter, when the number of times of the reproduction exceeds the designated number of times (S7, YES), only a sub picture corresponding to an ID number coincident with a setting ID is displayed at the same time as the display of the main picture (S13, S11). Therefore, the sub pictures that are sufficiently recognized by a user are no longer displayed while they are repetitively displayed for any number of times so as not to disturb the appreciation of the main picture in vain.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an image display storage medium storing data of a main image to be displayed on a screen and a software program for controlling display of the image on the screen. The present invention relates to an image display storage medium capable of displaying an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an image display storage medium such as a DVD (Digital Video Disk), which stores data of an image to be displayed on a screen and a software program for controlling the display of the screen, has been considered. I have. Also,
In this type of image display storage medium, it is considered that a sub-image such as a commercial image or subtitle is inserted at one corner of a main image constituting the main part or before or after the start of the main part.

[0003]

However, in a conventional image display storage medium, main image data and sub image data are stored as a series of data, and are displayed on a screen by common display processing. Therefore, each time the main image is displayed on the screen, the sub-image is displayed in the same manner. For example, the same commercial image is repeatedly displayed each time the reproduction is performed. As a result, in the conventional image display storage medium, the sub-image continues to be displayed even after the effect of displaying the sub-image has almost disappeared, so that the main image cannot be easily viewed.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-108129, for example, it is conceivable to separate main image data and sub-image data such as subtitles and change the display position and size of the sub-image. However, also in this case, the sub-image is displayed every time the main image is displayed. Further, in this case, the display position and size of the sub-image are changed according to the setting of the user or the like regardless of whether or not there is an effect of displaying the sub-image.
Accordingly, there is a possibility that a sub-image having almost no display effect is displayed large and hinders viewing of the main image, or a sub-image having a sufficient display effect is disposed at a position that is not conspicuous.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an image display storage medium capable of permitting or prohibiting the display of a sub-image in accordance with the presence or absence of the effect of displaying the sub-image.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention The invention according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is used for a display device having a screen and control means for controlling display of the screen, An image display storage medium storing data of a main image to be displayed on the screen and a software program executed by the control means, wherein one or more sub-images are stored separately from the data of the main image. And a main image display process for displaying the main image on the screen, a sub image display process for displaying the sub image on the screen, and an execution state of the main image display process as the software program. A software program for executing a switching process for switching the permission / prohibition of the sub-image display process in accordance with the sub-image display process.

Therefore, if the control means executes the software program stored in the present invention, the main image is displayed on the screen by the main image display processing, and the sub-image is displayed on the screen by the sub-image display processing. Can be. Also,
By executing the switching process, the permission / prohibition of the sub image display process can be switched according to the execution state of the main image display process.

[0008] That is, the effect of displaying the sub-image depends on the execution state of the main image display processing (for example, the number of display times and the total display time described later, the time zone and season when the display is performed, the scene being displayed, and the like). May be changed). Therefore, in the switching process, the permission / prohibition of the sub-image display process is switched according to the execution state of the main image display process. Therefore, according to the present invention, display of the sub-image can be permitted or prohibited depending on whether or not the sub-image is displayed. Therefore, when the sub-image is displayed using the image display storage medium of the present invention, the sub-image can be displayed extremely effectively, and the display of the sub-image can prevent the main image from being obstructed unnecessarily. Can be prevented.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the software program further executes a counting process for counting the number of times the main image is displayed or the total display time of the main image. The switching process independently switches permission / prohibition of one or a plurality of the sub-image display processes according to the display count or the total display time counted by the counting process. .

According to the present invention, the number of display times of the main image or the total display time of the main image is counted by the counting process, and the switching process is performed in accordance with the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process. Permission / prohibition is switched. That is, in the present invention, the number of times the main image is displayed or the total display time of the main image is employed as the execution state of the main image display processing. The number of times the main image is displayed and the total display time of the main image correspond to the extent to which the user has recognized the sub-image displayed together with the main image, and has a very close relationship with the effect of displaying the sub-image. Have. Also,
The counting process for counting them can be easily executed by a relatively simple counter process or the like.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the display of the sub-image can be permitted or prohibited more effectively, and the processing can be simplified and the load applied to the control means can be reduced. Can be further reduced. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process is stored in a storage area provided in the control unit. I do.

In the present invention, the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process is stored in the storage area provided in the control means. Therefore, when the image data stored in the present invention is reproduced by another control means and displayed on the screen, the display count or the total display time is restarted from the beginning. An image display storage medium such as a DVD may be lent to an unspecified number of users by a rental shop or the like. In this case, the above-described counting process can be performed for each user.

Therefore, according to the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, display of a sub-image can be effectively permitted or prohibited even when used by an unspecified number of users. Such an effect is produced. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process is:
It is characterized by being stored in the image display storage medium itself.

In the present invention, the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process is stored in the image display storage medium itself. For this reason, it is possible to minimize the consumption of the storage area of the processing unit by the counting process. Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 2, there is an effect that the consumption of the storage area of the control means for controlling the display of the image stored in the image display storage medium can be suppressed. Occurs.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the sub-image display processing can display a plurality of types of sub-images, Permission / prohibition of the sub-image display process is switched for each type of sub-image. According to the present invention, a plurality of types of sub-images can be displayed by the sub-image display processing.
As described above, when a plurality of types of sub-images are displayed, the execution state of the main image display processing that has a large effect of displaying the sub-images is generally different for each sub-image. Therefore, in the switching process of the present invention, permission / prohibition of the sub-image display process is switched for each type of sub-image. For this reason, the display of each sub-image is individually switched so that the effect of displaying each sub-image is maximized.

Therefore, in the present invention, in addition to the effects of any one of the first to fourth aspects, the display of a plurality of sub-images is individually performed so that the effect of displaying each sub-image is maximized. There is an effect that permission or prohibition can be made.

[0017]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a reproducing apparatus for reproducing an image display storage medium 1 to which the present invention is applied. The image display storage medium 1 is a well-known DV.
D and the like, store data of the main image 3 (see FIG. 2) and a software program for controlling the display of the image, and also store data of sub-images 5 and 7, such as commercials, displayed simultaneously with the main image 3. And a software program for controlling the display of the image. The specific arrangement of each data will be described later in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the present reproducing apparatus includes a motor 12 for rotating the image display storage medium 1 and a pickup 13 for reading data from the image display storage medium 1. The motor 12 is driven by a servo circuit 14, and data read by the pickup 13 is input to a data extraction discrimination circuit 16 via a signal processing circuit 15. The data extraction discrimination circuit 16 includes the image display storage medium 1.
Then, audio data, video data corresponding to the main image 3, auxiliary data corresponding to the sub-images 5 and 7, program data, and reproduction control data are respectively extracted and discriminated from the data read from. Among them, the reproduction control data is input to the control circuit 17 and is provided for controlling the servo circuit 14 and the signal processing circuit 15.

The audio data, video data, attached data, and program data extracted by the data extraction discrimination circuit 16 are supplied to the audio decoder 18 and the video decoder 1.
9, the data decoder 20, and the program data temporary storage RAM 21. The audio data decoded (reproduced) by the audio decoder 18 is output to an audio output terminal 23, and the video data decoded by the video decoder 19 is output to a video output terminal 27 via an overlay circuit 25. Therefore, if the audio output terminal 23 and the video output terminal 27 are connected to the audio input terminal and the video input terminal of a general television receiver (not shown), the main image 3 (as shown in FIG. ) Can be displayed on the screen 9 of the television receiver or the like, and a sound corresponding to the sound data can be generated.

The auxiliary data decoded by the data decoder 20 is individually converted into a subtitle signal representing the sub-image 5 and a graphic signal representing the sub-image 7 by the graphic controller 29, and is converted by the overlay circuit 25 to the main image. 3 is superimposed on the signal of the video output terminal 2
7 is output. That is, the sub-image 5 is composed of subtitles displayed on the lower left of the screen 9 as shown in FIG. 2B, and the sub-image 7 is displayed on the screen 9 as shown in FIG.
Is composed of a picture displayed on the lower right of the image. Then, when these are superimposed on the main image 3 by the overlay circuit 25, the sub-images 5 and 7 are displayed at the lower left and lower right of the main image 3, respectively, as shown in FIG.

These audio decoder 18, video decoder 19, data decoder 20, overlay circuit 2
5, and the graphic controller 29 is a signal bus 31.
CPU 3 also connected to the signal bus 31
3, controlled by the ROM 35, the RAM 37, and the RAM 21 for temporarily storing the program data. That is, the CPU 33, the ROM 35, the RAM 37, and the program data temporary storage RAM 21 correspond to control means.

Next, the control executed by the CPU 33 and the like will be described. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific data array in the image display storage medium 1. That is,
The data 80 stored in the image display storage medium 1 is mainly composed of the ancillary data display control program data 81 as the above-described program data and the content data 83 as the content output as video or audio. I have. Further, the content data 83 includes the main image 3
Cell 89 comprising video data 85 corresponding to the sub-image 5, audio data 86 corresponding to the audio, ancillary data B87 corresponding to the sub-image 5, and ancillary data C88 corresponding to the sub-image 7.
Are arranged in chronological order. Further, each of the data 85, 86, 87, and 88 has an ID number 85a, 86a, 87 that indicates what data the data is.
a, 88a.

In the present embodiment, x (x = 1, 2,...)
XV as the ID number 85a in the video data 85 of the cell 89, and the ID number 8 in the audio data 86 of the cell 89.
6A, xDB is assigned to the attached data B87 of the cell 89 as ID number 87a, and xDC is assigned to the attached data C88 of the cell 89 as the ID number 88a.

When the data 80 is read from the display storage medium 1, the CPU 33 executes the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 based on the attached data display control program data 81 stored in the program data temporary storage RAM 21. . The CPU 33 executes this process each time one cell 89 is read from the display storage medium 1. In addition, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, processing relating to the audio data 86 is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the process starts, C
First, the PU 33 reproduces the video data 85 of the cell 89 and displays the main image 3 in S1 (S represents a step: the same applies hereinafter). In subsequent S3, the number of times of reproduction of the cell 89 is added by incrementing a counter configured in a predetermined storage area in the RAM 37, and the number of times of reproduction is determined in S5. In subsequent S7, it is determined whether or not the number of times of reproduction has exceeded a specified number of times set in advance.
If the number of times of reproduction is equal to or less than the specified number of times (S7: NO), S1
Move to 1. In S11, the attached data is displayed, and the process ends. In this case, in S11, all attached data included in the cell 89 (ie, attached data B86)
And the sub-images 5 and 7 corresponding to the associated data C88).

In this case, as shown in FIG. 2D, the main image 3 and the sub images 5 and 7 are simultaneously displayed on the screen 9.
Note that the processing of adding and determining the number of times of reproduction in S3 to S7 is performed only on the first cell 89 of the content data 83, and the subsequent cell 89 is replaced with the first cell 89.
May be used as it is.

As described above, when the reproduction processing for displaying the sub-images 5 and 7 simultaneously with the main image 3 is repeated, the number of reproductions added in S3 gradually increases, and eventually exceeds the designated number (S7: YES). . Then, the process proceeds to S13, where the ID numbers 87a, 88 assigned to the attached data 87, 88
It is determined whether or not a matches a preset setting ID. If there is no attached data having an ID number that matches the setting ID (S13: NO), the process ends. In this case, only the main image 3 is displayed.

On the other hand, if there is attached data having an ID number that matches the set ID (S13: YES), the attached data corresponding to the ID number is displayed in S11, and the process ends. For example, when xDC is set as the setting ID, only the sub-image 7 corresponding to the attached data C88 is displayed at the same time as the main image 3.

As described above, in the present embodiment,
Until the number of times of reproduction exceeds the specified number of times, all sub-images 5
And 7 are displayed at the same time as the main image 3, and thereafter, only some of the sub-images (for example, 7) can be displayed at the same time as the main image 3. The sub-images 5 and 7 such as commercials are sufficiently recognized by the user during the repeated display, and even if they are displayed more than that, there is no effect of displaying the sub-image 5 or 7 and the main image 3 is returned. There are things that hinder people from watching. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, by controlling according to the number of times of reproduction as described above, the display of the sub-image 5 or 7 can be permitted or prohibited in accordance with the presence or absence of the effect.

Therefore, the sub-images 5 and 7 can be displayed very effectively, and the display of the sub-images 5 and 7 can be satisfactorily prevented from obstructing the main image 3 from being viewed. Further, the above-described process of counting the number of times of reproduction can be easily executed by a simple counter process.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the processing is simplified and the CPU 3
The load imposed on the control means such as 3 can be reduced very favorably. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, since the program data for executing these processes is stored in the image display storage medium 1, only the image display storage medium 1 can be used without purchasing a new playback device. The above processing can be executed simply by purchasing.

In the above embodiment, the display of the sub-image 5 or 7 is permitted or prohibited according to the number of times of reproduction. However, the permission or prohibition may be performed according to the total display time of the main image 3. Good. Also in this case, the display of the sub-image 5 or 7 can be permitted or prohibited according to the degree of recognition of the user. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process of counting the elapsed time from the start of reproduction, that is, the total display time of the main image 3, and permitting or prohibiting the display of the sub-image 5 or 7 according to the counting result. is there. Note that, in FIG. 5, the blocks representing the same processes as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals used in FIG. Hereinafter, only the differences will be described.

After reproducing the video data 85 in S1, in S23, the elapsed time is recorded in a predetermined storage area in the RAM 37. In S25, the elapsed time is determined, and in S27, it is determined whether the elapsed time exceeds a specified time set in advance. If the elapsed time is equal to or shorter than the designated time (S27: NO), the process directly proceeds to S11 and displays all the sub-images 5 and 7, and if the elapsed time exceeds the designated time (S27: YES), the same as the setting ID is used. Only the sub-image 5 or 7 having the ID number is displayed.

Also in this case, display / non-display of the sub-images 5 and 7 is switched between permission and prohibition in accordance with the presence / absence of the effect of displaying the sub-images 5 and 7 (change according to the elapsed time), and the sub-images 5 and 7 are displayed very effectively. At the same time, the display of the sub-image 5 or 7 can be satisfactorily prevented from obstructing the viewing of the main image 3. Further, the elapsed time counting process can be easily executed by a simple counter process.
The load applied to the control means such as U33 can be reduced very favorably. Furthermore, in each of the above embodiments, whether to display the sub-image 5 or 7 is individually switched according to the ID number. For this reason, in any of the embodiments, display can be individually permitted or prohibited so that the effect of displaying each of the sub-images 5 and 7 is maximized.

In each of the above embodiments, S1 is for main image display processing, S11 is for sub image display processing, S7,
S13 and S27 correspond to the switching process, and S3 and S23 correspond to the counting process, respectively. Further, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in each of the above embodiments, the number of times of reproduction or the elapsed time is stored in the RAM 37 of the reproducing apparatus, but may be stored in the image display storage medium 1 itself. in this case,
The storage area of the RAM 37 can be suppressed from being consumed by the above processing, and the storage area can be suppressed from becoming full.

However, when the number of times of reproduction or the elapsed time is stored in the RAM 37 as in the above embodiments, the following effects are obtained. That is, the image display storage medium 1 such as a DVD may be lent to an unspecified number of users by a rental shop or the like. In the above embodiments, the number of times of reproduction is different for each reproduction apparatus of each user. Alternatively, the elapsed time can be counted. Therefore, the display of the sub-images 5 and 7 can be effectively permitted or prohibited even when used by an unspecified number of users. When such a process is adopted, when the number of times of reproduction or the elapsed time is stored in the RAM 37, the number of times of reproduction or the elapsed time related to the other image display storage medium 1 is stored in the RAM 37.
If the data has already been stored in M37, the data related to the other image display storage medium 1 may be deleted before storing the number of times of reproduction related to itself. in this case,
It is possible to prevent the storage area of the RAM 37 from being gradually consumed while several types of image display storage media 1 are being played back by the playback device, and to be finally filled up.

The sub-image may be displayed on the entire screen 9 before or after the start of the main part composed of the main image, or may be a Western-language subtitle or the like. Further, the execution state of the main image display process, which is referred to when the permission / prohibition of the sub image display process is switched, includes the number of times of reproduction, the elapsed time, the time zone and season in which display is performed, the scene being displayed, and the like. There may be. When the CPU 33 or the like has a clock function or the like, the time zone and season in which the display is performed can be read based on the function. In this case, a commercial image suitable for a time zone or a season can be displayed as a sub-image. In addition, it is possible to change the sub-image according to the scene even if the main image and the sub-image are configured as one piece of data as in the related art. When the sub-image is changed according to the attribute data or the like to be displayed, it is extremely easy to replace the sub-image and the like, and a more remarkable effect is obtained by combining the above-mentioned control with the number of reproductions and the elapsed time. Further, the sub-image may be displayed after the main image has been reproduced a predetermined number of times or after a predetermined time has elapsed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a reproducing apparatus for a storage medium for image display to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a main image and a sub image stored in the image display storage medium.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific data array in the image display storage medium.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the playback device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another mode of the process executed by the playback device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... storage medium for image display 3 ... main image 5
7 ... Sub-image 9 ... Screen 19 ... Video decoder 20 ... Data decoder 25 ... Overlay circuit 50 ... Television receiver
80 ... data 81 ... attached data display control program data 83 ...
Content data 85 ... Video data 86 ... Audio data 87 ...
Attached data B 88 ..Attached data C 85a, 86a, 87a, 88
a ... ID number

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Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A display device comprising a screen and control means for controlling display of the screen, comprising: data of a main image to be displayed on the screen; and a software program executed by the control means. A storage medium for storing an image, which stores data of one or more sub-images separately from the data of the main image, and displays the main image on the screen as the software program. A software program for executing a process, a sub-image display process for displaying the sub-image on the screen, and a switching process for permitting / prohibiting the sub-image display process in accordance with an execution state of the main image display process. A storage medium for image display, characterized by storing the following. 2. The software program further executes a counting process for counting the number of display times of the main image or the total display time of the main image, and the switching process includes the display process counted by the counting process. 2. The image display storage medium according to claim 1, wherein permission / prohibition of one or a plurality of the sub-image display processes is independently switched according to the number of times or the total display time. 3. The image display storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the number of display times or the total display time counted by the counting process is stored in a storage area provided in the control means. 4. The image display storage medium according to claim 2, wherein the display count or the total display time counted by the counting process is stored in the image display storage medium itself. 5. The sub-image display process is capable of displaying a plurality of types of sub-images, and the switching process switches permission / prohibition of the sub-image display process for each type of sub-image. Claim 1
5. The image display storage medium according to any one of 4.