JP2001154804A - Coordinate input and display system and coordinate controller and coordinate inputting device and coordinate input and display method and computer readable storage medium recording program for allowing computer to execute the method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coordinate input and display system having plural coordinate inputting devices in which the processing time of coordinate conversion can be made short, and operability can be made satisfactory. SOLUTION: This coordinate input and display system in provided with coordinate inputting devices 1A, 1B, and 1C and display devises 8A, 8B and 8C and coordinate controller 10 for assigning virtual coordinate to the respective coordinate inputting devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and for communicating the virtual coordinate information related with the assigned virtual coordinates to the coordinate inputting devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and for allowing the coordinate inputting device sides to convert the inputted physical coordinates into the virtual coordinates, and to output the virtual coordinate from the coordinate inputting devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and for controlling the display contents of the display devices 8A, 8B, and 8C.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a coordinate input / display device system, a coordinate control device, a coordinate input device, and a coordinate input / display device.
The present invention relates to a display method and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a plurality of monitors are connected to one personal computer (personal computer), and software supporting a so-called multi-monitor function (for example, Windows 9
Monitor connection is possible). For this purpose, each monitor is equipped with a coordinate input device such as a touch panel, tablet, or digitizer, and the personal computer controls and controls the coordinates input from each coordinate input device, and displays the results on each monitor. The system is being developed.

As such a coordinate input / display system, there is one described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-161426. In the coordinate input / display system described in JP-A-11-161426, physical coordinates (physical coordinates defined on an input surface of the coordinate input device) input to the coordinate input device are converted to the coordinate input device. From the computer, and converted into virtual coordinates (virtual coordinates defined in the processing of the personal computer) by a driver of a coordinate input device provided in the personal computer. Then, the personal computer detects the coordinates input to the coordinate input device based on the virtual coordinates, executes a process corresponding to the coordinates, and displays an execution result on a monitor.

In addition to the coordinate input / display system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-161426, a system capable of controlling a plurality of coordinate input devices with a personal computer in a general manner includes physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device. Some coordinate input devices convert the coordinates to virtual coordinates and output them to a personal computer.

In a coordinate input / display system for converting physical coordinates input to a coordinate input device into virtual coordinates on a personal computer, the physical coordinates are generally defined similarly regardless of the coordinate input device. For this reason, it is necessary to identify the coordinates (x1, y1) input to a certain coordinate input device and the coordinates (x1, y1) input to another coordinate input device. In the coordinate input / display device described in JP-A-11-161426, this identification is performed by using the serial port number to which the coordinate input device is connected or the device address assigned to the coordinate input device. I have.

On the other hand, in a coordinate input / display system for converting physical coordinates into virtual coordinates by a coordinate input device and outputting the converted coordinates to a personal computer, it is necessary for the coordinate input device to know a monitor environment such as the number of monitors. For this reason, the coordinate input device of such a coordinate input / display system is provided with a dip switch for operating the operator to input a monitor environment to the coordinate input device.

In general, a touch panel or the like has a variation in assembling accuracy between a coordinate input device and a monitor that is acceptable in terms of manufacturing yield. Such a variation is corrected in a process of detecting coordinates input by the touch panel. For this reason, the touch panel is provided with correction coordinates in advance, and information necessary for correction of each touch panel can be obtained by touching the coordinates by the operator.

[0008]

However, when the coordinate input device is identified and the input physical coordinates are converted into virtual coordinates in accordance with the identification result, the personal computer side transmits data indicating the coordinates and appends the data to the data. It is necessary to process the data such as the serial port number and the like as one set. In other words, the coordinate conversion device provided on the personal computer converts the physical coordinates input from the coordinate input device from which coordinate input device based on the serial port number assigned to each of the coordinates. They are identified and converted to different virtual coordinates according to the identification result.

As a matter of course, such a conversion process requires a longer processing time than a process of performing a coordinate conversion without being conscious of which coordinate input device the physical coordinates are input from. For this reason, a coordinate input / display system that is desired to minimize the time required from the coordinate input to the coordinate input device to the display on the monitor corresponding to the input and to prevent the operator from feeling uncomfortable with the pen input. However, such conversion processing leaves room for further improvement.

On the other hand, in a conventional coordinate input / display system for converting physical coordinates into virtual coordinates on each coordinate input device side, it is necessary to identify which coordinate input device has input the physical coordinates to be converted in the coordinate conversion. You don't have to
As described above, hardware (such as a dip switch) for knowing the monitor environment is required. Such addition of hardware to the coordinate input device is undesirable because it places restrictions on the layout of the coordinate input device. In addition, when the number of coordinate input devices of the coordinate input / display system or the number of monitors increases or decreases, it is necessary for the operator to switch the switch accordingly, and the operability of the coordinate input / display system is also improved. There is a risk of damage.

In a general coordinate input / display system, one monitor provided in a personal computer is used as a control panel for displaying a control screen such as a touch panel. Therefore, when performing the coordinate correction processing described above, a plurality of touch panels are controlled from one control panel, and a control screen displayed on a personal computer monitor according to the control screen of the touch panel to be controlled. Was switching. Such switching also impairs the operability of the coordinate input / display system, and still leaves room for improvement.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has been made in consideration of the above circumstances.
In the display system, there is no need to identify the coordinate input device to which the coordinates have been input, and there is no need to add hardware to the coordinate input device, thereby shortening the coordinate conversion processing time and operating An object of the present invention is to provide a coordinate input / display system, a coordinate control device, a coordinate input device, a coordinate input / display method, and a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute the method.

Further, according to the present invention, a control screen for controlling the coordinate input device is provided for each coordinate input device.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a coordinate input / display system having higher operability without having to switch control screens.

[0014]

The above objects can be attained by the following means. That is, the coordinate input / display system according to the first aspect is a coordinate input / display system that includes a plurality of coordinate input devices and a plurality of display devices, and displays processing contents based on the coordinates input to the coordinate input device on the display device. For each coordinate input device provided, a virtual coordinate allocating device that allocates virtual coordinates, and a coordinate notification device that notifies the corresponding coordinate input device of virtual coordinate information on virtual coordinates allocated by the virtual coordinate allocating device. ,
In the coordinate input device, a coordinate conversion output device that converts physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device into virtual coordinates based on virtual coordinate information notified by the coordinate notification device, and outputs from the coordinate input device; A display control device that controls display contents of the display device based on virtual coordinates output from the output device.

With this configuration, virtual coordinates can be assigned in advance to each coordinate input device provided by the virtual coordinate assignment device. Then, the coordinate notifying device notifies the corresponding coordinate input device of virtual coordinate information on the virtual coordinates allocated by the virtual coordinate allocating device, and the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device are based on the virtual coordinate information by the coordinate conversion output device. It can be converted and output from the coordinate input device as virtual coordinates.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the coordinate input / display system further includes an identifier storage device for storing an identifier unique to the connected coordinate input device, wherein the coordinate allocating device stores the identifier of the connected coordinate input device. In contrast to the identifier stored in the identifier storage device, when the identifier of the coordinate input device to be connected is not stored in the identifier storage device,
It is characterized in that virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinate input device.

With this configuration, the identifier stored in the identifier storage device is compared with the identifier unique to the connected coordinate input device, and whether the connected coordinate input device is assigned virtual coordinates to virtual coordinates is determined. Can be determined. If the identifier is not stored in the identifier storage device, that is, if virtual coordinates are not assigned to this coordinate input device, virtual coordinates are assigned to this coordinate input device, so that a new coordinate input / display system is provided. Even when a coordinate input device is provided, virtual coordinates can be assigned to the coordinate input device.

A coordinate input / display system according to a third aspect of the present invention further comprises a display device number storage device for storing the number of display devices connected to the coordinate input device, and the coordinate allocating device is connected. The number of the display devices and the number of the display devices stored in the display device number storage device are compared to detect an increase or decrease in the number of the connected display devices. Is characterized in that virtual coordinates are assigned to a connected coordinate input device.

With this configuration, the number of display devices connected to the coordinate input device can be stored in the display device number storage device. And the coordinate assigning device:
By comparing the number of connected display devices with the number of display devices stored in the display device number storage device, an increase or decrease in the number of display devices can be detected. Further, when the number of display devices increases or decreases, virtual coordinates are assigned to the connected coordinate input devices, so that an appropriate virtual Coordinates can be assigned.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the coordinate input / display system, the coordinate input device and the display device have a one-to-one correspondence, and the display devices control the corresponding coordinate input devices. A control screen is displayed.

With this configuration, the plurality of coordinate input devices and the display devices are made to correspond one-to-one, and the display devices can be used as control panels dedicated to the corresponding coordinate input devices.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordinate control device for controlling a display device to display processing contents based on the coordinates input to the coordinate input device. Virtual coordinate assigning means to assign;
The virtual coordinate information relating to the virtual coordinates allocated by the virtual coordinate allocating means is notified to a corresponding coordinate input device, and the virtual coordinates are notified based on the virtual coordinate information notified of the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device. It is characterized by having conversion control means for converting into coordinates, and display control means for controlling display contents of the display device based on virtual coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion control means.

With this configuration, virtual coordinates are assigned to each coordinate input device by the virtual coordinate assigning means, virtual coordinate information on the assigned virtual coordinates is notified to the corresponding coordinate input device, and the virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinate input device. The physical coordinates can be converted into virtual coordinates based on the notified virtual coordinate information, and the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device can be received as virtual coordinates.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the coordinate input device is a coordinate input device connected to a coordinate control device that controls processing contents based on the input coordinates to be displayed on a display device, wherein the virtual device allocated by the coordinate control device is provided. Virtual coordinate notification input means for inputting notification of virtual coordinate information on coordinates, and based on the virtual coordinate information input by the virtual coordinate notification input means,
It is characterized by having coordinate conversion means for converting the input physical coordinates into virtual coordinates, and virtual coordinate output means for outputting the virtual coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion means to the coordinate control device.

With this configuration, the notification of the virtual coordinate information relating to the virtual coordinates allocated by the coordinate control device is input by the virtual coordinate notification input means, and the input physical coordinates are coordinated based on the input virtual coordinates. The input device can convert the coordinates to virtual coordinates.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coordinate input / display method for displaying processing contents based on coordinates input by a coordinate input device on a display device. A virtual coordinate allocating step of allocating virtual coordinates, virtual coordinate information based on the virtual coordinates allocated in the virtual coordinate allocating step, a coordinate notifying step of notifying a corresponding coordinate input device, and a physical coordinate input to the coordinate input device. Converting the coordinates into virtual coordinates based on the virtual coordinate information notified in the coordinate notification step, outputting the coordinates from the coordinate input device, and displaying the display device based on the virtual coordinates output in the coordinate conversion output step. And a display control step of controlling display contents.

With this configuration, virtual coordinates can be assigned in advance to each coordinate input device. Then, virtual coordinate information regarding the virtual coordinates assigned in the virtual coordinate assignment step is notified to the corresponding coordinate input device, and the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device are converted based on the virtual coordinate information in the coordinate conversion output step, and The coordinates can be output from a coordinate input device.

The computer-readable recording medium according to claim 8 records a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 7, so that the program can be machine-readable. And
The operation according to the method described in claim 7 can be realized by a computer.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. A coordinate input / display system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of coordinate input devices and a plurality of display devices (monitors), and displays on a monitor processing contents based on physical coordinates input to the coordinate input devices. It is.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a coordinate input / display system according to the present embodiment. The coordinate input / display system of FIG. 1 includes a plurality of coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and a plurality of monitors 8A, 8B, and 8C. FIG.
The coordinate input / display system of each of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1
B, 1C, and assigns virtual coordinates information on the assigned virtual coordinates to the corresponding coordinate input device 1.
A, 1B and 1C are notified, and the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B and 1 are notified.
C has a coordinate control device 10 that converts the input physical coordinates into virtual coordinates based on the notified virtual coordinates, and controls the display contents of the monitors 8A, 8B, and 8C based on the converted virtual coordinates. .

The coordinate control device 10 assigns virtual coordinates to the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C to perform the above-described control, and assigns the assigned virtual coordinates to the communication control unit 2A.
Device drivers 7A, 7 that notify the corresponding one of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C via 2B, 2C and further input the coordinates converted to virtual coordinates.
B, 7C (shown as blocks in the figure for convenience)
And monitors 8A, 8B, 8 based on the input virtual coordinates.
A display control unit 4 for controlling the display content of C;
The image data created as a result of the control of
Image memory 6 for storing temporarily before output to B, 8C
And

On the other hand, the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C
Communication control units 5A, 5B, and 5C for inputting notification of virtual coordinates allocated by the coordinate control device 10;
B and 5C have coordinate conversion units 3A, 3B and 3C for converting the input physical coordinates based on the input virtual coordinates. In the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C of the present embodiment, the communication control units 5A, 5B, and 5C use the coordinate control unit 10 to convert the virtual coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion units 3A, 3B, and 3C.
Is also controlled.

In this embodiment, the monitors 8A, 8B, 8
The coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are attached to C in a one-to-one manner, and constitute a coordinate input / display device such as a so-called touch panel or tablet. As the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, either a device that optically detects input coordinates or a device that detects input coordinates by an electrical change generated between an input pen and a monitor. It may be.

The monitors 8A, 8B,
8C has a CRT (Cathode
Ray Tube display, LCD (Liquid Crystal Dev)
It is conceivable to use a configuration such as an ice) display or a plasma display. Further, in the present embodiment, a personal computer is used as the coordinate control device 10.

In the present embodiment, the monitors 8A, 8B, 8
C are coordinate input devices 1A, 1
It is operated as a control panel for displaying a control screen for controlling B and 1C. The correspondence between the monitors 8A, 8B, 8C and the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C is determined by the operator. More detailed processing for this will be described later.

Control screens displayed on the monitors 8A, 8B and 8C are shown in FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). In this example, only one of the monitors 8A, 8B, and 8C displays the icon of "MEDIAsite" as shown in the upper diagram of FIG. Do not display anything. When the operator clicks the icon, the control screens shown in (a) and (b) are displayed on both the monitor shown in (a) and the monitor shown in (b).

With this processing, the present embodiment provides
By simply clicking the icon displayed on one monitor, the control screen can be displayed on all monitors. Therefore, higher operability can be obtained than in a configuration in which an instruction to display a control screen on each monitor is input.

In the coordinate input / display system according to the present embodiment, each coordinate input device can be controlled from a monitor corresponding to each coordinate input device. Therefore, it is not necessary to switch the coordinate input device to be controlled by one control panel as in the related art, and the operability of the coordinate input / display system can be improved. Further, it is not necessary for the control screen to move back and forth between the control panel and each monitor, and an effect of reducing the processing time required for control can be obtained.

Next, processing performed by the coordinate input / display system of the present embodiment will be described. When the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are connected to the coordinate control device 10, device drivers 7A, 7B, and 7C corresponding to each of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C are installed in the coordinate control device 10. Then, control panel information for each of the device drivers 7A, 7B, and 7C is created by this installation.

FIG. 3 illustrates this control panel information. Control panel information stores information necessary for controlling the coordinate input / display system.
API (Applicat) provided by OS (Operating System)
Also, information on the origin of the x-axis and y-axis of the monitor connected to the coordinate control device 10 and resolution information in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction obtained through the ion program interface are stored. The number of monitors connected to the coordinate control device 10 can be detected based on the number of information stored in the control panel information.

The communication control units 2A, 2A of the coordinate control device 10
B, 2C and the communication control units 5A, 5B, 5C of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C are connected to the RS232C or USB (univ
ersalSerial Bus). Generally, each of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C has a unique I
The communication control units 2A, 2B,
2C is a coordinate input device 1A, 1
The ID numbers of the respective coordinate input devices are input to the coordinate control device 10 from B and 1C.

Each of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C outputs its own ID number to the coordinate control device 10 when the coordinate input device needs to be initialized, such as when power is turned on or a USB cable is connected. Note that, since the ID number of the coordinate input device is usually assigned a number of 1 or more, when the input ID number is 0, the coordinate control device 10 initializes the control panel information.

The device drivers 7A, 7B, 7C
Is the I of the coordinate input device to which the input ID number is currently connected.
Compared with the ID number stored in the control panel information as the D number, and when the ID number of the coordinate input device to be connected is different from that stored in the control panel information, the coordinate control device 10 It operates to assign virtual coordinates to.

Further, as described above, the number of monitors connected to the coordinate control device 10 and the like can be obtained from the control panel information through the API. Coordinate control device 10
Refers to the control panel information, compares the number of monitors currently connected to the number of monitors stored in the control panel information, and detects an increase or decrease in monitors.
When the number of monitors increases or decreases, virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinate input device.

In this embodiment, prior to the process of assigning virtual coordinates, a process of associating a coordinate input device with a monitor is performed. Hereinafter, this processing will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. For example, the coordinate control device 10 controls the monitor 8A of the monitors 8A, 8B, and 8C as shown in FIG.
Set the coordinates of the coordinate input device as shown in (a)
Please enter coordinates. Is displayed.

At this time, a coordinate input device (coordinate input device 1) used by the operator to input coordinates to the monitor 8A.
A), an arbitrary point on a surface area (coordinate input surface) in which coordinates can be input from the coordinate input device 1 is input, the coordinate control device 10 identifies the input coordinate input device by its ID.
Identify from the number and associate it with the monitor that displayed the message. On the other hand, when the operator does not input coordinates, the coordinate control device 10 displays a similar message on another monitor, for example, the monitor 8B, as shown in FIG. 4B.

When the coordinates are input by the operator, the coordinate control device 10 displays a message "Setting of virtual coordinates is completed. Do you want to save the settings?" As shown in FIG. 4C. Then, when the operator selects any of "Retry", "OK", and "Cancel" for this message, the process of associating the monitor with the coordinate input device in accordance with the selection is completed.

Next, the process of assigning virtual coordinates used in the coordinate input / display system of this embodiment will be described. FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams for explaining virtual coordinates of the coordinate input / display system according to the present embodiment. The illustrated virtual coordinates are managed by the device drivers 7A, 7B, and 7C of the coordinate control device 10 according to the present embodiment, and as illustrated in FIG.
The axis) and the vertical axis (y-axis) are both managed with a value of 65536. Such virtual coordinates are referred to herein as (0,
0) to (65536, 65536). This virtual coordinate space is allocated to each coordinate input device according to the number of monitors provided in the coordinate input / display system, the resolution of the monitors, or the connection method of the monitors.

That is, the device drivers 7A, 7B, 7C of the coordinate control device 10 detect the number of monitors based on the control panel information. Then, as a result of this detection, when it is determined that the coordinate input / display system has only one monitor 8A, (0, 0) to (6553) are applied to the coordinate input device 1A attached to the monitor 8A.
6,65536).

As shown in FIG. 5B, the coordinate input / display system has two monitors 8A and 8B (both resolution 1024 in the x-axis direction and resolution 768 in the y-axis direction).
Is provided, the coordinate input devices 1A and 1B attached to the monitors 8A and 8B respectively have (0, 0) to
(32767,65535), (32768,0) ~
A virtual coordinate space of (65535, 65535) is allocated.

In FIG. 5, the origin of each monitor is (0, 0). However, in the present embodiment, the origin of each monitor in the entire monitor is separately determined according to the resolution of the monitor, as described later. A more specific method of assigning virtual coordinates to each monitor and coordinate input device will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the coordinate input / display system is composed of three monitors 8A, 8B, 8B.
When C (resolution 1024 in the x-axis direction, resolution 768 in the y-axis direction) is provided, the coordinate input device 1A attached to the monitor 8A, the coordinate input device 1B attached to the monitor 8B, and the monitor 8C are attached. The coordinates (0,0) to (21844,655) are input to the coordinate input device 1C, respectively.
35), (21845, 0) to (43689,6553)
5), (43690,0) to (65536,6553)
The virtual coordinate space of 6) is allocated.

Further, in the assignment of the virtual coordinates, the virtual coordinates may be divided only in the x-axis direction, or the virtual coordinates may be similarly divided in the y-axis direction. In this case, it is possible to configure a coordinate input / display system including nine monitors as shown in FIG.

Here, the process of calculating the coordinate space allocated to the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C will be specifically described. When the device drivers 7A, 7B, and 7C obtain the number of monitors and the resolution from the control panel information, first, for all the monitors 8A, 8B, and 8C, add the x-coordinate of the origin of each monitor and the resolution in the x-axis direction. Then, a value (YS) obtained by adding the value (XS) and the y-coordinate of the origin of each monitor and the resolution in the y-axis direction is calculated.

The monitors 8A, 8B, 8 shown in FIG.
XS and YS of C are as follows: XS = (0 + 10237) (1) YS = (0 + 767) (2)

Next, the device drivers 7A, 7B, 7
C is the monitor 8A XS (XS _A), 8B of XS (XS _B),
All 8C of XS the (XS _C) plus the combined XL, monitor 8
A YS (YS _A ), 8B YS (YS _B ), 8C YS (YS
YL is calculated by adding all of _C ). _{XL = XS A + XS B +} XS C ... (3) YL = YS A + YS B + YS C ... (4)

Next, the display controller 4 obtains the origins of the monitors 8A and 8B in the whole monitor. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A, 8B, and 8C are arranged in the x-axis direction, and virtual coordinates are assigned to the entirety. From this, as shown in FIG. 7, the origin (0,0) of the monitor 8A is set to the coordinates (0,0) of the whole monitor, and the origin of the monitor 8B is set to the coordinates (1023,0,0) of the whole monitor. ), And the origin (0,0) of the monitor 8C is set to the coordinates (2046,
0). By such processing, in the present embodiment, different virtual coordinates can be assigned to points having the same coordinates in each monitor.

Assuming that the x-coordinate of the origin of each monitor determined as described above and the y-coordinate of the entire monitor are Px and Py, the X of the origin of the virtual coordinate space assigned to each monitor is X.
The coordinates Ox, Oy can be expressed as follows: Ox = resolution in the x-axis direction of virtual coordinates × Px / XL (5) Oy = resolution in the y-axis direction of virtual coordinates × Py / YL (6)

If the above equations (5) and (6) are applied to the example described with reference to FIG. 5C, the origin (0,0) of the virtual coordinates allocated to the monitor 8A and the virtual coordinates allocated to the monitor 8B The origin (21845,0) of the coordinates and the origin (43690,0) of the virtual coordinates assigned to the monitor 8C can be obtained.

The resolution Qx in the x-axis direction and the resolution Q in the y-axis direction at the virtual coordinates assigned to each monitor.
y is: Qx = resolution of virtual coordinates in x-axis direction × (resolution of each monitor in x-axis direction / XL) (7) Qy = resolution of virtual coordinates in y-axis direction × (resolution of each monitor in y-axis direction) / YL) (8) The above equations (7) and (8) are converted into FIG.
If applied to the example described in (c), the resolution 2184 in the x-axis direction at the virtual coordinates assigned to each monitor
5. A resolution of 65535 in the Y-axis direction can be obtained.

By the above processing, (0,0) to (21844,655) for the coordinate input device 1A of the present embodiment.
The assignment of the virtual coordinate space in (35) is also performed for the coordinate input device 1B from (21845, 0) to (43689, 6).
5535) are assigned to the coordinate input device 1C from (43690, 0) to (65536, 65).
The allocation of the virtual coordinate space in 536) is completed.

The coordinate control device 10 sends the origin (Ox, Oy) of the corresponding virtual coordinate to each coordinate input device through the communication control units 2A, 2B, 2C and the device drivers 7A, 7B, 7C, and the X-axis direction. The resolution Qx and the resolution Qy in the y-axis direction are notified. Therefore, the origin (Ox, Oy) of the virtual coordinates, the resolution Qx in the X-axis direction, and the resolution Qy in the y-axis direction become virtual coordinate information in the present embodiment.

In the coordinate conversion unit of each coordinate input device, the following equation (9) is obtained based on the notified virtual coordinate information.
The physical coordinates input to the coordinate input surface are converted into virtual coordinates by (10). The x coordinate of the virtual coordinate is Ix, the y coordinate of the virtual coordinate is Iy, the x coordinate of the physical coordinate is Rx, the y coordinate of the physical coordinate is Ry, the resolution of the physical coordinate in the x-axis direction is Sx, and the resolution of the physical coordinate in the y-axis direction is Sy, Ix = Ox + Qx (Rx / Sx) (9) Iy = Oy + Qy (Ry / Sy) (10)

The virtual coordinates converted using the equations (9) and (10) are output to the coordinate control device 10 again via the communication control units 5A, 5B and 5C. The coordinate control device 10 inputs virtual coordinates from the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and performs processing assigned to the virtual coordinates (display of a dialog box, page switching, etc.) or the previously input virtual coordinates and the current The display control unit 4 executes a drawing process of connecting the input virtual coordinates with a line, a cursor moving process, and the like. The image data obtained by such processing is temporarily stored in the image memory 6, and is further stored in the monitors 8A and 8A.
B and 8C for display.

Next, the processing performed by the coordinate input / display system according to the present embodiment described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows a coordinate control device 1 of the coordinate control system according to the present embodiment.
9 is a flowchart for describing processing of automatic virtual coordinate assignment performed at 0. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a control process for the control panel performed by the coordinate control device 10.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 show processing performed for each device driver of the coordinate control device 10. And this process,
Since all the device drivers are the same, FIGS. 8 and 9 show the device driver 7A among them.
Will be described.

In the flowchart of FIG. 8, the coordinate control device 10 activates the device driver 7A immediately after the start of the processing (switch-on) (S1). Device driver 7A
Is activated, the coordinate input device 1A driven by the device driver 7A is initialized (S2).

The device driver 7A includes the coordinate input device 1
An ID number is obtained from A (S3). The device driver 7A also determines the x-axis and y-axis origins (monitor X-axis coordinate origin, monitor Y-axis coordinate origin) and resolutions in the x-axis and y-axis directions (monitor X-axis resolution, monitor Y (Axis resolution) is acquired from the API and stored as control panel information (S4). In the present embodiment, it is possible to detect an increase or decrease in the number of monitors by comparing the number of monitors acquired this time later without erasing the record of the number of monitors stored at this time. I do.

Next, the coordinate control device 10 resets the numerical value N counted by the counter to 0 for the subsequent processing (S5). Note that this numerical value N is the coordinate control device 1
This is a value indicating the number of monitors connected to 0. Coordinate control device 1
0 is N after resetting the counter, that is, the number of monitors is 1
Is determined (S6).

If the result of this determination is that the number of monitors is not 1 (S6: No), the device driver 7A inputs the new coordinate not stored in the control panel information at this time with the ID number obtained in step S3. It is determined whether it is the ID number of the device (S7). Also, if the number of monitors is 1
If (S6: Yes), the input ID number of the coordinate input device is stored in the control panel information (S17).

As a result of the determination in step S7, the input ID
If the number is not new (S7: No),
The device driver 7A determines whether the number of currently connected monitors has decreased based on the control panel information (S8). On the other hand, if there is a new ID number (S7: Yes), the process proceeds to the subsequent process of setting the correspondence between the coordinate input device and the monitor without determining the decrease in the number of monitors.

If the result of determination in step S8 is that the number of monitors has decreased (S8: Yes), the following correspondence setting between monitors and coordinate input devices, and processing of virtual coordinates for each coordinate input device are performed. Execute. That is, in the present embodiment, connection of a new coordinate input device to the coordinate control device 10 or increase or decrease in the number of connected monitors is a condition for virtual coordinate allocation. If there is neither increase nor decrease in the number of monitors (S8: No), each coordinate input device is notified without changing the virtual coordinates already assigned to each coordinate input device (S19).

When the virtual coordinate allocation condition occurs, in this flowchart, the process first waits until the monitor screen is first touched (S9), (S9: No). In this process, since the coordinate input is controlled by a so-called time-out process, the following process is started before the coordinate input device is ready for the coordinate input, and the correspondence between the coordinate input device and the monitor is set. This is done in order to prevent retrying the processing to be performed.

When the monitor screen is touched (S9: Y
es), the coordinate control device 10 issues a dialogue for instructing the screen of the Nth monitor among the connected monitors to input coordinates, for example, as shown in FIG.
A box is displayed (S10). Thereafter, the device driver 7A determines whether or not there has been a coordinate input from the coordinate input device 1A (S11). The coordinate input to the control screen of the monitor is not performed within a predetermined time (S11:
(No), if a timeout occurs (S12: Ye)
s) The coordinate control device 10 deletes the dialog box on the control screen (S13).

Then, the value of N is counted up by one (S14), and it is determined whether or not the counted value N is equal to the number of monitors (S15). If the result of the determination in step S15 is that N is different from the number of monitors (S15: N
o), a dialog box for instructing coordinate input is displayed on the N-th monitor after counting up (S10), and the process of displaying the dialog box of FIG.
Repeat N while counting up one by one ((S1
0) to (S15)).

At this time, when N becomes equal to the number of monitors without inputting coordinates from the coordinate input device 1A (S1).
5: Yes), N is reset to 0 (S16), and the process of displaying the dialog box on the monitor is continued until coordinates are input ((S10) to (S16)).

On the other hand, if there is a coordinate input by the coordinate input device 1A to the monitor on which the dialog box is displayed during the processing of steps S10 to S15 (S11: Yes), the device driver 7A sends the coordinates to the monitor. The ID number of the input device 1A is stored in the control panel information in association with the monitor (monitor 8A) on which the dialog box is displayed (S17). At this time, the creation of the control panel information is completed.

When the correspondence between the coordinate input device 1A and the monitor 8A is established by the above processing, the device driver 7A
Based on the control panel information on the monitor 8A,
Virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinate input device 1A by the method described above (S18).

Next, the device driver 7A notifies the coordinate input device 1A of the allocated virtual coordinates via the communication control unit 2A (S19). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not virtual coordinates have been input from the coordinate input device 1A (S2).
0), when the virtual coordinates are not input (S20: N
o) Wait for input. When the virtual coordinates are input from the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C (S20: Yes), the virtual coordinates are notified to the APL (S21). By this process, the process assigned to the virtual coordinates is executed, and the image data obtained as a result is stored in the image memory 6.

The control device 10 determines whether the input of the virtual coordinates from the coordinate input device 1A by the device driver 7A has been completed (S22). As a result of this decision,
If the input has not been completed (S22: No), the process prepares for the next virtual coordinate input (S20), and if the input has been completed (S22: Yes), all the processing ends.

The coordinate control device 10 controls a control panel as shown in FIG. That is, the coordinate control device 10 starts an application of the control panel by, for example, clicking an icon as shown in the upper part of FIG. 2A (S31). Then, the number of monitors to be connected is obtained from the control panel information (S32), and the counter for counting the number of monitors N is reset to 0 (S33). Subsequently, while displaying the control screen on the Nth monitor (S34), the value of N is set to 1
It counts up one by one (S35), and determines whether N is equal to the number of monitors (S36).

If the result of determination in step S36 is that N is different from the number of monitors (S36: No), processing for displaying a control screen on the Nth monitor is executed again (S34). On the other hand, if N is equal to the number of monitors as a result of the determination in step S36 (S36: Yes),
All the monitors 8A, 8B and 8C display the control screen and can operate as a control panel.

Next, the coordinate control device 10 determines whether or not the device driver 7A has input coordinates (S37) from the coordinate input device 1A. As a result of this determination, when it is determined that coordinate input has been performed (S37: Ye
s) The control panel (monitor 8A) on which the coordinates have been input is selected immediately (S39), and the control panel is controlled (S40). Then, step S40
After this control, it is determined whether this control has been completed (S41).
If the control has not been completed (S41: No), the process returns to step S37 to prepare for the next coordinate input.

If the result of determination in step S37 is that coordinates have not been input (S37: No), the device driver 7A subsequently performs key inputs using a numeric keypad provided in the coordinate input device 1A. It is determined whether or not it has been (S38). If it is determined that a key input has been made (S38: Yes), the control panel (monitor 8A) on which the key input was made is selected (S39), and the control panel is controlled (S38).
40). Then, after the control in step S40, it is determined whether this control has been completed (S41). If the control has not been completed (S41: No), the process returns to step S37 to prepare for the next coordinate input.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S41 that the control on the control panel has been completed (S41: Yes), the control panel is closed (S42) and it is determined whether there is an instruction to open the control panel. A determination is made (S43). If the result of this determination is that there is no open instruction, the process ends (S43: N
o), when there is an open instruction (S43: Ye)
s), returning to the process of step S37 to prepare for the next coordinate input.

The process of assigning virtual coordinates according to the present embodiment is not limited to the example of the automatic assignment shown in the flowchart of FIG. 8, and can be performed manually from the control panel. Such manual virtual coordinate assignment processing is performed by, for example, the coordinate control device 10.
This is applied when the number of monitors and the ID number of the coordinate input device are not changed just by changing the connection connector between the coordinate input device and the monitor.

Such another virtual coordinate assignment process is as follows.
This will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. In addition,
This flowchart also illustrates the processing performed for the device driver 7A. According to the flowchart of FIG. 10, the coordinate control device 10 first activates the application of the control panel of the monitor 8A (S51). Then, it is determined whether to set virtual coordinates (S52). If the result of this determination is that virtual coordinates are not to be set (S52: No), the previously set virtual coordinate space is notified to the coordinate input device 1A (S65).

On the other hand, when setting virtual coordinates (S5
2: Yes), the device driver 7A acquires the number of monitors to be connected from the control panel information (S53),
In addition, for all of this monitor,
Obtain monitor information such as resolution in the y-axis direction (S5)
4). Then, the counter for counting the number of monitors N is set to 0.
(S55), and waits until the monitor screen is first touched to prevent retry of the processing (S56), (S56: No).

When the monitor screen is touched (S56:
Yes), the coordinate control device 10 displays a dialog box instructing to input coordinates on the screen of the Nth monitor among the connected monitors (S5).
7). Thereafter, the device driver 7A determines whether or not a coordinate has been input from the coordinate input device 1A (S58).
As a result of this determination, if the coordinate input is not performed within the predetermined time (S58: No) and a timeout occurs (S59: Yes), the coordinate control device 10 deletes the dialog box of the monitor (S59: Yes). S60).

Then, the value of N is counted up by one (S61), and it is determined whether or not the value N after counting is equal to the number of monitors (S62). If the result of the determination in step S62 is that N is different from the number of monitors (S62: N
o) A process of displaying a dialog box for instructing coordinate input on the N-th monitor after the count-up,
Repeat while counting up one by one ((S57)
-(S62)).

At this time, when N is equal to the number of monitors without any coordinate input from the coordinate input device 1A (S6).
2: Yes), N is reset to 0 (S55), and the process of displaying a dialog box on the monitor is continued until coordinates are input ((S57) to (S62)).

On the other hand, if there is a coordinate input by the coordinate input device 1A on the monitor on which the dialog box is displayed during the processing of steps S57 to S62 (S58: Yes), the device driver 7A sends the coordinates to the monitor. The ID number of the input device 1A is stored in the control panel information in association with the monitor (monitor 8A) displaying the dialog box (S67).

When the correspondence between the coordinate input device 1A and the monitor 8A is established by the above processing, the device driver 7A
Based on the control panel information on the monitor 8A,
The process of allocating virtual coordinates to the coordinate input device 1A is performed by the method described above (S64).

Next, the device driver 7A notifies the coordinate input device 1A of the assigned virtual coordinates via the communication control unit 2A (S65). Thereafter, the coordinate control device 1
0 displays a dialog box indicating the end of virtual coordinate assignment on the monitor 8A (S66). Then, it is determined whether or not the process of assigning virtual coordinates has been completed (S67).
If the result of this determination is that the virtual coordinate assignment processing has not been completed (S67: No), preparation is made for the next virtual coordinate assignment (S55). If the virtual coordinate assignment processing has been completed (S67: Yes), all Is completed.

According to the present embodiment described above, the conversion process from the physical coordinates to the virtual coordinates is performed by each coordinate input device. Therefore, it is not necessary to be aware of which coordinate input device the physical coordinates have been input to when converting the coordinates, and the physical coordinates can be converted into the virtual coordinates in a shorter time. In addition, the virtual coordinate space previously allocated to each coordinate input device is stored in the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, 1C.
, It is not necessary to provide hardware for setting the monitor environment on the coordinate input device side. Therefore, there is no new restriction on the layout of the coordinate input devices 1A, 1B, and 1C, and the operability of the coordinate input device is not impaired.

Further, according to the present invention, a monitor corresponding to the coordinate input device can be used as a control panel of each coordinate input device. Therefore, a control panel dedicated to each coordinate input device can be provided without adding members, and it is not necessary to switch control of each coordinate input device with one control panel.
According to the present invention, the operability of the coordinate input / display system can be further improved.

Also, the coordinate input / output described in the present embodiment is performed.
The display method can be realized by executing a prepared program on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program includes a hard disk,
Floppy (registered trademark) disk, CD-ROM, M
The program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as O and DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. This program can be distributed via a network such as the Internet via the recording medium.

[0098] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in this embodiment,
Monitors 8A and 8 having the same resolution for the coordinate control device 10
B and 8C are connected, and a virtual coordinate space of the same scale is allocated to the coordinate input device attached to each monitor. However, according to the present invention, it is also possible to allocate a virtual coordinate space corresponding to each resolution to a plurality of monitors having different resolutions.

[0099]

The present invention described above has the following effects. That is, according to the first and seventh aspects of the present invention, the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device are converted by the coordinate conversion output device based on the virtual coordinate information,
The coordinates can be output from the coordinate input device as virtual coordinates. Therefore, in the conversion process from the physical coordinates to the virtual coordinates, it is not necessary to identify the coordinate input device that has input the physical coordinates, and the time for the conversion process into the virtual coordinates can be reduced.

According to the first and seventh aspects of the present invention, the coordinate input device can convert physical coordinates into virtual coordinates without knowing the environment of the display device, and add hardware to the coordinate input device. No need to do. Therefore, the operability of the coordinate input / display system can be further improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, even when a new coordinate input device is provided in the coordinate input / display system, virtual coordinates can be allocated to the coordinate input device. For this reason, a virtual coordinate table can be automatically allocated to each coordinate input device regardless of replacement or addition of the coordinate input device, and the operation of the coordinate input / display system can be simplified.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, appropriate virtual coordinates can be assigned to the coordinate input device regardless of the increase or decrease in the number of display devices. For this reason, a virtual coordinate table can be automatically assigned to each coordinate input device regardless of whether the coordinate input device is added or removed, and the operation of the coordinate input / display system can be simplified.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the display device can be used as a control panel dedicated to the corresponding coordinate input device. Therefore, it is not necessary to switch one control screen according to a plurality of coordinate input devices, and a coordinate input / display system with higher operability can be provided.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device can be received as virtual coordinates. For this reason, the received coordinates can be used for subsequent processing without identifying which coordinate input device has been input, and the subsequent processing time can be reduced.

According to the present invention, the input physical coordinates can be converted into virtual coordinates on the coordinate input device side.
For this reason, the physical coordinates input for each coordinate input device can be converted into virtual coordinates, and there is no need to identify the coordinate input device to which the physical coordinates have been input. Therefore, the processing time for converting the physical coordinates into the virtual coordinates can be reduced.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, since a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to the seventh aspect is recorded, the program can be machine-readable. Therefore, an effect is obtained that the operation according to the method described in claim 7 can be realized by a computer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a coordinate input / display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a control screen displayed on a monitor shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing control panel information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a process of associating a coordinate input device with a monitor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining virtual coordinates of the coordinate input / display system according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a coordinate input / display system including nine monitors according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the origin of each monitor in the entire monitor according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing of automatic virtual coordinate assignment performed by the coordinate control device in the coordinate control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a monitor control process performed by the coordinate control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another process of automatic virtual coordinate assignment performed by the coordinate control device in the coordinate control system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B, 1C Coordinate input device 2A, 2B, 2C Communication control unit 3A, 3B, 3C Coordinate conversion unit 4 Display control unit 6 Image memory 5A, 5B, 5C Communication control unit 7A, 7B, 7C Device driver 8A, 8B, 8C monitor 10 coordinate control device

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A coordinate input / display system comprising a plurality of coordinate input devices and a plurality of display devices, wherein a processing content based on the coordinates input to the coordinate input device is displayed on the display device. A virtual coordinate allocating device that allocates virtual coordinates; a virtual coordinate information device that notifies virtual coordinate information about virtual coordinates allocated by the virtual coordinate allocating device to a corresponding coordinate input device; A coordinate conversion output device that converts the physical coordinates input to the device into virtual coordinates based on the virtual coordinate information notified by the coordinate notification device, and outputs from the coordinate input device; and a virtual coordinate output from the coordinate conversion output device. And a display control device for controlling display contents of the display device based on the coordinate input / display system. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an identifier storage device for storing an identifier unique to the connected coordinate input device, wherein the coordinate allocating device stores an identifier of the connected coordinate input device as an identifier stored in the identifier storage device. Contrast
2. The coordinate input / display system according to claim 1, wherein when the identifier of the coordinate input device to be connected is not stored in the identifier storage device, virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinate input device. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display device number storage device for storing the number of display devices connected to the coordinate input device, wherein the coordinate allocating device includes the number of the display devices connected and the number of the display devices. Detecting an increase or decrease in the number of display devices connected in comparison with the number of display devices stored in the storage device, and if there is an increase or decrease in the number of display devices, the connected coordinate input device 2. The coordinate input / display system according to claim 1, wherein virtual coordinates are assigned to the coordinates. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate input device and the display device are one.
The coordinate input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display device displays a control screen for controlling the corresponding coordinate input device. Display system. 5. A coordinate control device for controlling processing contents based on coordinates input to a coordinate input device to be displayed on a display device, wherein virtual coordinate allocating means for allocating virtual coordinates for each coordinate input device; Notifying the corresponding coordinate input device of virtual coordinate information on the virtual coordinates assigned by the virtual coordinate allocating means, and the coordinate input device converts the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input device into virtual coordinates based on the notified virtual coordinate information. A coordinate control device comprising: conversion control means for performing conversion; and display control means for controlling display contents of the display device based on virtual coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion control means. 6. A coordinate input device connected to a coordinate control device that controls processing contents based on input coordinates to be displayed on a display device, wherein the coordinate input device notifies virtual coordinate information about virtual coordinates allocated by the coordinate control device. Virtual coordinate notification input means for inputting, coordinate conversion means for converting input physical coordinates into virtual coordinates based on virtual coordinate information input by the virtual coordinate notification input means, and virtual coordinates converted by the coordinate conversion means. A coordinate input device, comprising: virtual coordinate output means for outputting to the coordinate control device. 7. A coordinate input / display method for displaying processing contents based on coordinates input by a coordinate input device on a display device, comprising: a virtual coordinate assigning step of assigning virtual coordinates to each connected coordinate input device; A coordinate notification step of notifying virtual coordinate information relating to the virtual coordinates allocated in the virtual coordinate allocation step to a corresponding coordinate input device; and virtual coordinate information notified of the physical coordinates input to the coordinate input apparatus in the coordinate notification step. Into virtual coordinates based on
A coordinate conversion output step of outputting from the coordinate input device; and a display control step of controlling display contents of the display device based on virtual coordinates output in the coordinate conversion output step. Input / display method. 8. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 7 is recorded.