JP2001209364A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device having a font control function which enables easiness of seeing and reading character display to be improved. SOLUTION: Brightness is detected in the environment where a display 101 is placed, by means of an illuminance sensor 102 provided in he display 101. The illuminance information detected by the sensor 102 is outputted from it and inputted in a display controller 103. In the display controller 103, on the basis of the illuminance information, a control table 105 is referred to in which illuminance and a spatial frequency are correlated, a spatial frequency is selected suitable for the display in the present display installation environment, and a line width is determined. Then, the display controller 103 selects, from a font memory 104, a font corresponding to the line width so determined.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device used for a computer, a communication terminal, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Electronic displays, which are display devices as human interfaces for computers and communication terminals, are becoming increasingly diversified and widely used. Also, the display contents of this electronic display are becoming various contents such as characters, figures, photographs, and moving images, and the electronic display is required to have display performance and display quality corresponding to these display contents. I have. Above all, there is a strong demand for easy-to-read and easy-to-read characters in character display that handles words, which is also important in the development of electronic displays.

Conventionally, in order to ensure the legibility of characters on an electronic display, the number of points of the characters is increased, that is, the characters are displayed larger, the contrast between the characters and the background is increased, and the brightness or brightness of the character background is increased. Although such functions have been incorporated into electronic displays, satisfactory results have not yet been obtained.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of improving legibility and legibility in character display.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a display device comprising: display information output means for outputting display information to be displayed in a predetermined display form of a symbol; display form storage means for storing a plurality of the display forms; Environment detecting means for detecting a situation around a display environment, and display form selecting means for selecting the display form stored in the display form storing means in accordance with the surrounding environment situation detected by the environment detecting means. The display information output means outputs display information in which the symbol is set to the display form selected by the display form selection means.

According to this configuration, the display mode is controlled according to the state of the display means, so that a display with a high contrast feeling can be realized, and the legibility and readability of the character can be improved.

[0007] The display device of the present invention has the above structure,
The display form storing means includes a display form generating means for generating a display form having a different spatial frequency, and the display form generating means generates a display form of a spatial frequency corresponding to the environment detecting means.

[0008] The display device of the present invention has the above structure,
The environment detecting means is configured to detect illuminance around the display environment.

According to these configurations, the display mode is controlled in accordance with the state of the display means, so that a display with a high contrast feeling can be realized, and the legibility and readability of the character can be improved. In addition, since characters are automatically generated according to the determined line width, it is possible to control and generate the line width of the font without having to prepare a font for each line width of the character, and to reduce the memory capacity. Is possible. Therefore, the memory of the device can be used efficiently.

[0010] The display device of the present invention has the above structure,
The display mode selection means selects a display mode so that the spatial frequency decreases as the illuminance decreases.

According to these constructions, the illuminance in the installation environment of the display means is detected, and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is controlled. The readability and readability can be improved.

[0012] The display device of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration,
A display unit for displaying the display information is provided, and the environment detecting unit detects a state of an environment around the display unit.

[0013] The display device of the present invention has the above structure,
The environment detecting means detects the luminance of the display means, and the display form selecting means selects a display form according to the luminance.

[0014] The display device of the present invention has the above structure,
A configuration is adopted in which the display mode is selected such that the spatial frequency decreases as the luminance decreases.

According to these arrangements, since the brightness of the display means is detected and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is controlled, a display with a high contrast feeling is made possible and the character is easily viewed. , Readability can be improved.

In the display device according to the present invention,
The display mode selection means adopts a configuration in which the display mode is selected such that the spatial frequency decreases as the illuminance or luminance decreases.

In the display device according to the present invention,
The display information output means switches the display polarity in the display information in accordance with the surrounding environment situation detected by the environment detection means.

According to this configuration, the display information output means switches the display polarity in the display information in accordance with the surrounding environment situation detected by the environment detection means.
Since it is possible to select a display polarity that enhances visibility in the brightness of the environment, a character display environment that is easy to read and easy to read can be realized.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present inventors have focused on the spatial frequency and the location and balance of a character as factors that improve the legibility and readability of a character. -It has been found that by controlling the balance, the legibility and readability of the character display are improved, leading to the present invention.

The gist of the present invention is a line of an optimum display polarity and a display form (for example, a font which is a typeface) in accordance with the contrast sensitivity characteristic of the visual sense of the user, the environmental illuminance, and the display luminance (including the display contrast). The purpose is to select and display a width to improve legibility and readability in character display.

In the present invention, the display mode selection means to select and control the spatial frequency of a symbol including a character (changing the line width of a character, changing a font to a thick line),
Select and control easy-to-read display styles according to the surrounding environment (change the center of gravity and center of characters, change the balance of radicals, widen the space between lines of characters, widen the spaces, and evenly open the spaces To).

The spatial frequency can be defined as follows. Refers to the number of lines in a predetermined range.
When the brightness (brightness) of a television screen or a printed image with respect to the distance measured along the screen is changed, the frequency of the luminance with respect to the distance is the same as the wave of the frequency with respect to the time in the case of sound. Can be decomposed into Instead of distance, you can also measure with a viewing angle centered on the person looking at the screen. Such viewing angles and distances are collectively called space. Therefore, such a wave is called a spatial frequency, and the wave number per unit is called a spatial frequency.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

The display device shown in FIG. 1 includes a display 101 for displaying various contents such as characters and images, an illuminance sensor 102 provided on the display 101 for detecting brightness in an environment where the device is placed, Display control unit 10 for performing display control on display 101
3, a font memory 104 for storing fonts of characters to be displayed on the display 101, and a management table 105 for managing the relationship between the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor 102 and the spatial frequency.

Next, the operation of the display device having the above configuration will be described. An illuminance sensor 102 provided on the display 101 detects the brightness of the environment where the display 101 is placed. Here, the illuminance sensor 102
Is not particularly limited as long as the brightness in the installation environment of the display 101 can be detected.
The illuminance sensor 102 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect brightness.

The illuminance information detected by the illuminance sensor 102 is output from the illuminance sensor
Is input to The display control unit 103 manages the illuminance and the spatial frequency based on the illuminance information.
05, a spatial frequency suitable for display in the current display installation environment is selected, and the line width is determined. This management table includes, as shown in FIG.
The illuminance detected in step 2 is associated with a spatial frequency that provides sufficient visibility at the illuminance and a line width of a character corresponding to the spatial frequency. As can be seen from FIG. 2, in the management table, as the illuminance decreases,
In the character display, the correspondence is made such that the spatial frequency is low and the line width of the character is wide.

Next, the display control unit 103 selects a font corresponding to the determined line width from the font memory 104. For example, in the font memory 104, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, fonts having different line widths are stored, and the display control unit 103 selects a font having the specified line width.

Therefore, as the illuminance decreases, the fonts are selected in the order of the font shown in FIG. 3A, the font shown in FIG. 3B, and the font shown in FIG.

In the subsequent character display, the selected font is used. Then, the display control unit 103 controls the character display on the display 101 using a font (selected font) suitable for display in the current display installation environment.

As described above, the illuminance in the current display installation environment is detected, and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is selected to determine the line width of the character. Is low, the spatial frequency in the character display is lowered, that is, the thickness of the character line is increased (using a font with a thick line), so that the contrast sensitivity in the display can be increased, and the legibility of the character can be improved. , Readability can be improved.

This embodiment is particularly effective for a reflective display which is affected by the brightness of the surrounding environment.

In this embodiment, the case where the spatial frequency of a character is controlled according to the illuminance has been described. However, in the present invention, the display may be changed to a display mode that is easy to see according to the illuminance. . That is, when the illuminance becomes low, the display mode is changed to a display mode in which the display characters are easy to see even in a dark place. When changing to a display form that is easy to see, for example, a method of associating illuminance with a display form having different visibility and selecting a display form according to the illuminance can be cited.

The display form that is easy to see even in a dark place includes, for example, a display form having a wide line width, a line thickness, a center of gravity and a center of characters, and a radical balance. This means a display mode that satisfies the following conditions: widening the corners (widening between lines, uniform opening of the corners).

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

The display device shown in FIG. 4 is provided on the display 401 for displaying various contents such as characters and images, and is provided on the display 401.
1 and a display control unit 403 that controls display of the display 401.
A font memory 404 for storing fonts of characters to be displayed on the display 401; and a management table 405 for managing the relationship between the luminance detected by the luminance sensor 402 and the spatial frequency.

Next, the operation of the display device having the above configuration will be described. The display luminance of the display 401 is detected by a luminance sensor 402 provided in the display 401. Here, the location where the luminance sensor 402 is installed is not particularly limited as long as the display luminance of the display 401 can be detected. The brightness sensor 402 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect display brightness.

The luminance information detected by the luminance sensor 402 is output from the luminance sensor 402 and is output from the display control unit 403.
Is input to The display control unit 403 manages the management table 4 in which the brightness and the spatial frequency are associated based on the brightness information.
With reference to FIG. 05, a spatial frequency suitable for display at the current display luminance of the display is selected, and the line width is determined.
This management table includes, as shown in FIG.
In this example, the luminance detected in step 02 is associated with a spatial frequency that provides sufficient visibility at the luminance and a line width of a character corresponding to the spatial frequency. As can be seen from FIG. 5, in the management table, as the luminance becomes lower, the spatial frequency is lower in the character display and the line width of the character is made wider.

Next, the display control unit 403 selects a font corresponding to the determined line width from the font memory 404. For example, in the font memory 404, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, fonts having different line widths are stored, and the display control unit 403 selects a font having the specified line width.

Therefore, as the luminance decreases, the font is selected in the order of the font shown in FIG. 3A, the font shown in FIG. 3B, and the font shown in FIG. 3C.

In the subsequent character display, the selected font is used. Then, the display control unit 403 controls the character display on the display 401 using a font (selected font) suitable for display at the current luminance of the display.

As described above, since the display luminance of the current display is detected and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is selected to determine the line width of the character, for example, the display luminance is low. In this case, the spatial frequency in the character display is lowered, that is, the thickness of the character line is increased (using a font with a thick line), so that a display with a high contrast feeling is possible, and the legibility and readability of the character are improved. Can be improved.

This embodiment relates to a transmission type display, a backlight type display, a cathode ray tube display,
It is particularly effective for self-luminous displays such as plasma displays and field emission displays and projection displays.

In this embodiment, the case where the spatial frequency of a character is controlled in accordance with the luminance has been described. However, in the present invention, the display form may be changed to an easy-to-read display in accordance with the luminance. . That is, as the luminance decreases, the display character is changed to a display mode in which the display characters are easy to see. When changing to a display form that is easy to see, for example, there is a method of associating a display form with different brightness with a display form with different visibility and selecting a display form according to the brightness.

The easy-to-see display forms include, for example, that the center of gravity and the center of the characters are aligned, that the radicals are balanced, and that the width is widened (widening between lines, opening of the width of the space). Uniform).

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

The display device shown in FIG. 6 includes a display 601 for displaying various contents such as characters and images, an illuminance sensor 602 provided on the display 601, for detecting brightness in an environment where the device is placed, The display 601 is provided on the display 601.
Brightness sensor 603 for detecting the brightness of the
01, a display control unit 604 that controls display, a font memory 605 that stores fonts of characters to be displayed on the display 601, and a relationship between illuminance and luminance detected by the illuminance sensor 602 and the luminance sensor 603 and a spatial frequency. And a management table 606.

Next, the operation of the display device having the above configuration will be described. An illuminance sensor 602 provided on the display 601 detects the brightness of the environment where the display 601 is placed. Here, the illuminance sensor 102
Is not particularly limited as long as the brightness in the installation environment of the display 101 can be detected.
The illuminance sensor 102 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect brightness.

The display luminance of the display 601 is detected by a luminance sensor 603 provided on the display 601. Here, regarding the place where the luminance sensor 603 is installed, if the display luminance of the display 601 can be detected,
There is no particular limitation. The brightness sensor 603 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect display brightness.

The illuminance information detected by the illuminance sensor 602 is output from the illuminance sensor 602 and is output from the display control unit 604.
Is input to The luminance information detected by the luminance sensor 603 is output from the luminance sensor 603 and is displayed on the display control unit 604.
Is input to In the display control unit 604, the illuminance information and / or
Alternatively, referring to the management table 606 that associates the illuminance and the luminance with the spatial frequency based on the luminance information, selects a spatial frequency suitable for display in the current display installation environment or the display luminance of the display, and determines the line width. I do. This management table includes, as shown in FIG.
The illuminance detected in Step 2 and the luminance information detected by the luminance sensor 603 are associated with a spatial frequency and a line width of a character corresponding to the spatial frequency so as to exhibit sufficient visibility at the illuminance and luminance. is there. As can be seen from FIG. 7, in the management table, as the illuminance and the luminance decrease, the correspondence is made such that the spatial frequency is lower in the character display and the line width of the character is wider.

Next, the display control unit 604 selects a font corresponding to the determined line width from the font memory 605. For example, in the font memory 605, FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, fonts having different line widths are stored, and the display control unit 604 selects a font having the specified line width.

Therefore, as the illuminance and the luminance decrease, the font is selected in the order of the font shown in FIG. 3A, the font shown in FIG. 3B, and the font shown in FIG. Become.

When a font is selected in the display control unit 604, a font having a low spatial frequency of a character may be selected when the illuminance is low. A font having a low frequency may be selected. Further, when both the illuminance and the luminance are low, a font having a low spatial frequency of the character may be selected.

The subsequent character display is performed using the selected font. Then, the display control unit 604 controls the character display on the display 601 using a font (selected font) suitable for display in the current display installation environment.

As described above, the illuminance and the luminance of the display in the current display installation environment are detected, and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is selected to determine the line width of the character. For example, when the surrounding brightness or the brightness of the display is low, the spatial frequency in the character display is lowered, that is, the thickness of the character line is increased (using a font with a thick line). The legibility and readability of characters can be improved.

In this embodiment, the case where the spatial frequency of a character is controlled in accordance with the illuminance and luminance is described. However, in the present invention, the display mode is changed to an easy-to-view display mode in accordance with the illuminance and luminance. You may do it. That is,
As the illuminance and the luminance decrease, the display characters are changed to a display form that is easy to see. When changing to a display format that is easy to see,
For example, there is a method in which illuminance and luminance are associated with display forms having different visibility, and the display form is selected according to the illuminance and luminance.

The easy-to-read display forms include, for example, that the center of gravity and the center of the characters are aligned, that the radicals are balanced, and that the width is widened (widening between lines, widening of the width of the space). Uniform).

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

The display device shown in FIG. 9 includes a display 901 for displaying various contents such as characters and images, an illuminance sensor 902 provided on the display 901 for detecting brightness in an environment where the device is placed, and Display control unit 90 for performing display control on display 901
3, a font memory 904 for storing fonts of characters to be displayed on the display 901, a management table 906 for managing the relationship between the illuminance detected by the illuminance sensor 902 and the spatial frequency, and a line width determined according to the illuminance. A character automatic creation unit 905 for creating a character.

Next, the operation of the display device having the above configuration will be described. An illuminance sensor 902 provided on the display 901 detects the brightness of the environment where the display 901 is placed. Here, the illuminance sensor 902
Is not particularly limited as long as the brightness in the installation environment of the display 901 can be detected.
The illuminance sensor 902 is not particularly limited as long as it can detect brightness.

The illuminance information detected by the illuminance sensor 902 is output from the illuminance sensor 902 and displayed by the display control unit 903.
Is input to The display control unit 903 manages the illuminance and the spatial frequency based on the illuminance information.
With reference to 06, a spatial frequency suitable for display in the current display installation environment is selected, and the line width is determined. This management table includes, as shown in FIG.
The illuminance detected in step 2 is associated with a spatial frequency that provides sufficient visibility at the illuminance and a line width of a character corresponding to the spatial frequency. As can be seen from FIG. 2, in the management table, as the illuminance decreases,
In the character display, the correspondence is made such that the spatial frequency is low and the line width of the character is wide.

Next, the display control unit 903 sends information on the determined line width to the automatic character generation unit 905. The character automatic generation unit 905 automatically generates a character having the determined line width by performing processing to increase the line width of the basic font according to the information on the line width. Therefore, as the illuminance decreases, the characters shown in FIG.
The character shown in FIG. 3 and the character shown in FIG. 3C are generated. The process of increasing the line width is not particularly limited. There is no particular limitation on the algorithm for character generation. Therefore, dot type character generation or vector type character generation may be used. .

In the subsequent character display, the font is automatically generated. Then, the display control unit 903
Performs character display control on the display 901 using a font (automatically generated font) suitable for display in the current display installation environment.

As described above, the illuminance in the current display installation environment is detected, and the spatial frequency in the character display suitable for the display at that time is selected to determine the line width of the character. Is low, the spatial frequency in the character display is lowered, that is, the thickness of the character line is increased (using a font with a thick line), so that the contrast sensitivity in the display can be increased, and the legibility of the character can be improved. , Readability can be improved.

In this embodiment, since characters are automatically generated according to the determined line width, it is not necessary to prepare a font for each character line width, and the memory capacity can be reduced. It is. Therefore, the memory of the device can be used efficiently.

In this embodiment, the case where the spatial frequency of a character is controlled in accordance with the illuminance has been described. However, in the present invention, a display form which is easy to see according to the illuminance is automatically generated. Is also good. That is, as the illuminance decreases, a display form in which the display characters are easy to see may be automatically generated.

The easy-to-read display forms include, for example, that the center of gravity and the center of the characters are aligned, that the radicals are balanced, and that the width of the line is widened (widening between lines, opening of the line, etc.). Uniform).

In this embodiment, a case is described in which a character whose line width is changed according to the illuminance is automatically generated. However, the present invention automatically converts a character whose line width is changed according to the luminance of the display. It can be applied to the case of generating.

In general, in an environment where the light condition is not very good, for example, in a dark situation such as at night, the adaptation level of the eyes is low, so that the visibility of the negative image display is higher. In the present specification, the display polarity indicates a positive image and a negative image. In the first to fourth embodiments, a positive image (low brightness character is displayed on a high brightness background, for example, black text is displayed on a white background, as shown in FIG.
Although the case of displaying a character of black character 802) in 01 is described, the present invention displays a negative image (a character of low brightness on a background of high brightness, for example, a black background) as shown in FIG. The present invention can also be applied to the case of displaying white characters and the case of displaying white characters 804) on a black background 803.

In the case of a negative image, the legibility and readability of the character are the same as those of the positive image. However, by making the line width of the character slightly smaller than that of the positive image, the optimality of the readability of the character is improved. It is known experimentally that it can be obtained. In addition, the legibility of characters,
From the viewpoint of readability, it is desirable that the negative image be thinner than the positive image. When these principles are applied to Embodiments 1 to 4, when the illuminance or the display brightness in the display installation environment is reduced, the thickness of the character in the negative image is thinner than the thickness of the character in the positive image, Display control is performed to increase the thickness in accordance with the illuminance and luminance.

In this case as well, in the first to third embodiments,
As in the case of No. 4, the contrast sensitivity in display can be increased, and the legibility and readability of characters can be improved. The display polarity of the positive image and the negative image may be switched by the user, or may be switched automatically by detecting the brightness. That is, when the illuminance becomes lower than the predetermined illuminance, the display polarity is switched from the positive image to the negative image. This switching can be performed by, for example, threshold control for the illuminance.

As described above, by switching the display polarity in accordance with the illuminance (brightness) in the display installation environment, it is possible to select a display polarity that enhances visibility in the environment brightness. Thus, a character display environment that is easy to see and read can be realized.

In the first to fourth embodiments, the case where the apparatus automatically controls the display mode according to the installation environment (brightness) of the display and the display luminance has been described. The display device may be configured so that the user can appropriately adjust (manually adjust) it according to the installation environment (brightness) of the display, the display luminance of the display, and the state of adaptation of the eyes.

As a result, it is possible to select the character which is most easy to read and read under a certain light environment, and it is possible to perform display setting suitable for the person in accordance with the spatial frequency characteristics and the adaptation state. As a result, the best visual condition can be obtained in response to changes in environmental factors, changes in physiological factors and psychological factors.

Further, in the first to fourth embodiments, an example is described in which three types of fonts having different line widths are selected and displayed as shown in FIG. Alternatively, two types of fonts may be selected.

The present invention is not limited to the first to fourth embodiments, but can be implemented with various modifications. The first to fourth embodiments can be implemented in appropriate combinations.

[0076]

As described above, the display device of the present invention controls the display mode in accordance with the environment (eg, brightness) in which the display device is placed. Can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a management table of the display device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing characters when the spatial frequency is changed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a management table of the display device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a management table of the display device according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a character display mode;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a display device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101, 401, 601, 901 Display 102, 602, 902 Illuminance sensor 103, 403, 604, 903 Display control unit 104, 404, 605, 904 Font memory 402, 603 Luminance sensor 105, 405, 606, 906 Management table 905 characters Automatic generation unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A display information output means for outputting display information to be displayed in a predetermined display form of a symbol, a display form storage means storing a plurality of the display forms, and an environment detection for detecting a situation around a display environment. Means, and display form selection means for selecting the display form stored in the display form storage means according to the surrounding environment situation detected by the environment detection means, the display information output means, the display information output means, A display device for outputting display information in a display mode selected by the display mode selection means. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the display form storing means includes a display form generating means for generating display forms having different spatial frequencies, and wherein the display form generating means generates a display form of a spatial frequency corresponding to the environment detecting means. The display device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the environment detection unit detects illuminance around the display environment. 4. The display device according to claim 3, wherein said display mode selection means selects a display mode such that a spatial frequency decreases as said illuminance decreases. 5. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a display unit that displays the display information, wherein the environment detection unit detects a state of an environment around the display unit. Display device. 6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein said environment detecting means detects the luminance of said display means, and said display form selecting means selects a display form according to said luminance. 7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the display mode selection means selects a display mode such that the spatial frequency decreases as the luminance decreases. 8. The display device according to claim 4, wherein the display mode selection unit selects a display mode in which the line width is widened as the illuminance or the luminance decreases. 9. The display information output device according to claim 1, wherein the display information output device switches the display polarity of the display information in accordance with a surrounding environment condition detected by the environment detection device. The display device according to claim 1.