JP2001238146A - Video display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the operation keys of a side in a thin display device and the display of the key easy to understand. SOLUTION: When the hand 60 of an operator is brought close to an operation part 300 constituted as shown in drawing (b), a non-contact sensor part 40 installed adjacent to the key input operation part 300 detects the man's hand 60. While the man's hand 60 is detected, a not illustrated control part outputs a guidance signal from a not illustrated guidance signal generation circuit, overlaps it with a video signal and displays it on a display part 01 as a guidance display 50 as shown in drawing (a). Since the guidance display part 50 gives the instruction of the installation places of each key in the key input operation part 300, it is not necessary to directly search the positions of each of the keys arranged in a side and the names of the keys. Thus, the desired key can be selected by viewing only the guidance display 50 appeared in the display part 01 and moving fingers in accordance with the display (arrows).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of operating a video display device such as a television receiver, a personal computer, and a computer display, and more particularly to a video display device suitable as a guide display when operating a thin display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a general television receiver,
2. Description of the Related Art In a video display device such as a personal computer or a workstation, the following method is known as an operation method of the device, that is, an operation input unit. Commonly used key input operation is to input by key operation,
Trackball input operation to turn a rotatable ball by hand,
There are methods such as a jog shuttle input operation in which the rotating plate is turned by hand, and a joystick input operation in which the stick is moved back and forth and left and right.

[0003] Among these operation methods, a key input operation is mostly used as an operation input means of a television receiver or a computer display. For example,
FIG. 6 shows an example of a video display device of a television receiver.
(A) is a perspective view schematically showing the entire display device, (b)
FIG. 3 is a detailed diagram showing the arrangement of keys and key names of the key input operation unit 300. As shown in FIG. 6A, a key input operation unit 300 is provided on a right side of a housing 900 in which a display unit 901 which is a television screen is accommodated. There is a power switch 20 thereon, and the display of "power" is displayed. Speakers 10 and 11 are built in left and right of the display unit 901. The key input operation unit 30 shown in FIG.
0 includes various keys (302, 304, 305, 307,
308, 310) are indicated by small circles, and the names of these keys are displayed (301, 303, 306, 309), and the display of increase / decrease in the channel and volume (311, 312, 313, 31)
4) is filled in.

In a general television, switching of input, selection of a broadcasting station, volume level, selection of various adjustment functions, etc.
Several or more keys are required. For example, to select a channel, the user selects a channel selection key (304, 30) on the side while watching the station name (channel number) displayed on the display unit 901 which is a television screen.
It is necessary to operate 5). Since the operation is performed while comparing the display of the screen and the keys, the keys may be arranged on the side as shown in FIG. 6, and particularly when the keys are on the back side, the operation may be difficult due to the long distance between the screen and the keys. Is big.
In addition, the adoption of the thin display unit 901 makes the width (depth) of the side surface of the housing 900 accommodating the display unit 901 considerably smaller than that of a normal CRT type. Accordingly, the width of the key input operation unit 300 provided on the side surface is also small, and the size of circular keys and engraved characters is smaller than usual.

[0005]

In recent years, a flat and thin image display device using a flat display panel such as a plasma display panel or a liquid crystal display panel has become widespread in consideration of an installation space that can be prepared at home. ing. As described above, in such a video display device, the operation keys tend to be reduced in size and thickness in order to promote the reduction in thickness. Have been. Therefore, it is difficult to read these names, and it is also difficult to select a key to be operated.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a video display means for converting a video signal to display a video, an operation input means for controlling the video display means, Detecting means for detecting that a part of the body approaches for operation, and generating a signal for guidance display of the operation input by a signal from the detecting means when the part of the body approaches the image display means; Accordingly, the present invention provides a video display device provided with control means for performing guidance display on a part or the whole of the display screen of the video display means.

[0007] In the above image display device, the operation input means includes:
It is provided on the side or upper and lower surfaces of the image display means. Further, the operation input means is a key operation input that is input by a key operation. In addition, a non-contact sensor is used as a detecting means, and an infrared sensor is used as the non-contact sensor. In addition, the guidance display of the video display device displays the position of the operation input means, and the guidance display highlights the key touched by the finger.

When the user approaches the operation input means or touches the operation input means to perform an input operation, the detection means detects a human hand and a guidance display as a guidance display is displayed on the video display means. Done. The key of the operation input means can be searched while looking at the guidance display on the video display means, and the key being operated is also highlighted in the guidance display, so that the small keys and small displays of the operation input means can be displayed. It can be operated without direct identification and interpretation.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As an example of an image display device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a case where the present invention is applied to a thin television receiver will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration mainly of a video circuit of a thin television receiver for performing guidance display. First, a television broadcast wave input from an antenna connected to a television receiver is input to the receiving circuit 70 as a video signal S0. Receiving circuit 7
The video signal S1 of the specific channel output through the tuner and the amplification circuit within 0 is supplied to the video signal processing circuit 71, subjected to signal processing based on the control signal C1 from the control section 75, and transmitted to the switching circuit 72 by the video signal. It is supplied as S2.

The switching circuit 72 switches between the video signal S2 and a guidance signal S5, which will be described later, or superimposes the guidance signal S5 on the video signal S2 based on the control signal C2 from the control section 75, and forms the video signal S3. Output to the output circuit 73. The video output circuit 73 includes a color demodulation circuit and the like, and mainly performs processing for color display. Further, in the video output circuit 73, the control signal C3 supplied from the control unit 75 and the switching circuit 7
Drive signal S based on the video signal S3 supplied from
4 is formed, and the drive signal S4 is displayed as an image on the display unit 01. The receiving circuit 70, the video signal processing circuit 71, the switching circuit 72, the video output circuit 73, and
The display unit 01 forms an image display unit.

The control unit 75 controls the whole of the television receiver, and includes a CPU and a memory circuit for various processes. As one of the functions of the control unit 75, as described above, the control signal C1 controls the video signal S
1 is subjected to signal processing in the video signal processing circuit 71, and the video signal S3 becomes a drive signal S4 in the video output circuit 73 by the control signal C3, and controls the video as a television receiver.

Further, the functions of the second control unit 75 include the control unit 75 and the guidance signal generation circuit 7.
4 constitutes control means for performing guidance display. That is, the guidance signal creation circuit 74 is
A guidance signal S5, which is a guidance display, is created based on the control signal C6 from the controller, and is supplied to the switching circuit 72. The switching circuit 72 switches between the video signal S2 and a later-described guidance signal S5 based on the control signal C2 from the control unit 75, or switches the guidance signal S5 to the video signal S5.
2 and output to the video output circuit 73 as the video signal S3 has already been described.

Further, adjacent to the key input operation unit 300,
A non-contact type sensor unit 40 serving as a detecting unit is provided to detect a hand of a person approaching the key input unit 300. The non-contact sensor unit 40 is configured to detect a hand of a person who enters the front and side of the key input operation unit 300, for example, within a range of about 3 cm, and controls the control unit via a control line CL5. Tell 75 if a human hand has been detected. In addition,
As a method of detecting the approach of a human hand by the non-contact sensor unit 40, various existing technologies such as an infrared sensor and an optical sensor can be adopted. Further, the key input operation unit 3
When a finger touches an input key provided at 00, the name of the key is transmitted from the key input operation unit 300 to the control unit 75 via the control line CL4.

Operation of non-contact type sensor unit 40 and display unit 0
The relationship between the images displayed in 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 2A to 4A are perspective views schematically showing a display device of a television receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3B is a detailed diagram showing the key arrangement and key names of the key input operation unit 300. Here, the key input operation unit 300 has almost the same arrangement as the operation unit of the television receiver already described with reference to FIG. 6, and FIG. 2 to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 2, the appearance of the present television receiver will be described. As shown in FIG. 2A, a display unit 01 serving as an image display unit is housed in a housing 00, and speakers 10 and 11 are installed on the left and right sides of the display unit 01. Display unit 01
, A power switch 20 is provided in the upper part on the right side, and the indication of "power" is written. Below this, a key input operation unit 300 as operation input means is provided. In addition, a non-contact sensor unit 40 that is close to the key input operation unit 300 and detects that a part of the body of the operator approaches for operation is provided as a detection unit.

As an example of the arrangement, as shown in FIG. 2B, various keys (an input switching key 302, tuning keys 304 and 305, a volume key 30)
7, 308, selection keys 310) are indicated by small circles, and the names of these keys are displayed (“input switching” 301, “tuning”).
303, “volume” 306, “selection” 309), channel and volume increase / decrease display (“▲” 311, “▼” 312,
“↑” 313 and “↓” 314) are entered by engraving, printing, or the like. The depth of the housing 00 is made as thin as possible in accordance with the thickness of the display unit 01. Therefore, as described above, the size of the key, the display of the name, and the like are formed much smaller than the conventional CRT display unit. The arrangement of the key input operation unit 300 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the present invention is not limited to the right side, but may be the left side, the upper and lower sides, or the back side.

As shown in FIG. 2, if there is no need to operate the television receiver, no human hand is near the key input operation unit 300. At this time, although not shown, the display unit 01 displays only an image based on the image signal S2. If a human hand is not near the key input operation unit 300,
Naturally, the non-contact sensor 40 does not detect a human hand. In the block diagram of FIG. 1, the detection result 1 is output to the control unit 75 through the control line CL5. Detection result 1
Is supplied to the control unit 75, the control unit 75 sends the control signal C2 based on the detection result 1 to the switching circuit 72, and outputs only the video signal S2 from the switching circuit 72. At this time, the control signal C6 is not transmitted, and the guidance signal generation circuit 74 does not transmit the guidance signal S5.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the television receiver.
A part of the operator's body (human hand 60) is
Indicates a state approaching zero. FIGS. 3 and 4 also show the same television receiver as that shown in FIG. 2 and a state in which various kinds of guidance are displayed on the display unit 01. Returning to the block diagram of FIG. 1, the human hand 60
When the non-contact type sensor unit 40 disposed adjacent to the key input operation unit 300 detects the human hand 60 when approaching 00, the detection result 2 is supplied to the control unit 75 via the control line CL5. Is done. While this detection result 2 is supplied to the control unit 75, the control unit 75
Sends the control signal C6 to the guidance signal generation circuit 74, and the guidance signal S
5 is output. On the other hand, the control unit 75 sends a control signal C2 based on the detection result 2 to the switching circuit 72, and superimposes the guidance signal S5 on the video signal S2 to output.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the guidance signal S5 is displayed on the display unit 01 as a guidance display 50, superimposed on the video based on the video signal S2. The guidance display 50 displays the name of each key on the display unit 01.
Of the key input operation unit 300 is indicated by a large arrow. Therefore, the operator does not need to directly search for the head of each key on the side surface or the name of the key, and only looks at the guidance display 50 that appears on the display unit 01 and moves the finger horizontally according to the displayed arrow. The user can easily touch a desired key. In the guidance display 50, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a horizontal arrow is provided equal to the height of each key (from the bottom surface of the display device), and the names of the keys are more than the names of the keys on the side. It is displayed large. Since the display is made on the display unit 01 that can use a large area, the position of the key can be confirmed very easily in combination with the fact that the key can be seen from the front. Also, for example,
When selecting a channel, the channel number indicating the broadcast station is displayed on the display unit 01, so that it is not necessary to keep an eye on the display unit 01. Similar to the display of the channel number, many functions are displayed on the display unit 01, so that most operations can be performed while keeping the display unit gazing. Although the guidance display 50 uses a part of the display unit 01 in FIG. 3, it may be displayed using the entire surface of the display unit 01.

Next, when a desired key is selected in accordance with the guidance display arrow and a finger is touched, the key name corresponding to the key touched by the finger in the guidance display 50 changes color or is highlighted. , Blinking, etc. are displayed.
Returning to the block diagram of FIG. 1, information on the pressed key is output to the control unit 75 via the control line CL4. While this information is being output to the control unit 75, the control unit 75 controls the guidance signal generation circuit 74 via the control line C6, and highlights the portion of the guidance display 50 that indicates the pressed key position. . As shown in FIG. 4A, for example, the top key 302 (input switching) is pressed, and the guidance display 51 indicating the key touched by a finger is highlighted. As described above, the specific method of highlighting can be color change, inversion, blinking and other various methods, but any method can be used as long as it is emphasized so that it is different from the others. is there. With this highlighted display, it is possible to confirm whether or not the touched key is the desired key only by looking at the display unit 01.

In the above, an example in which the present invention is applied to a thin television receiver has been described. Next, as another embodiment of the present invention, a case in which the present invention is applied to a display device such as a personal computer or a workstation will be described. I do. Devices using a thin liquid crystal panel or the like as a display unit are widely used in personal computers and the like as in television receivers, and are expected to increase in the future. Each adjustment item on the display unit of the personal computer is displayed on the screen as software, and the item is often selected with a mouse etc.However, the method of operating various control keys arranged on the side and bottom is also straightforward It is popular because it can perform various operations.

FIG. 5 schematically shows a display section 401 for a personal computer. FIG. 5A is a perspective view of a housing 400 containing the display section 401 in which a key input operation section 500 is arranged on the side. (B) is an operation unit 5 arranged on the side surface
It is the schematic diagram which expanded and showed 00. In FIG. 5A, a key input operation unit 500 is arranged on a side surface of the housing 400 in which the display unit 401 is accommodated, and a non-contact type sensor unit 440 is arranged adjacent to the key input operation unit 500. The display unit 401 displays the hand 6 of a person approaching the key input operation unit 401.
The guidance display 450 is displayed by a signal from the non-contact type sensor 440 that has detected 0, and a guidance display 451 indicating a key touched by a finger is displayed by a signal from a key pressed by a finger (in this case, a hue key 507). It is highlighted.

The details of the key input display section 500 are shown in FIG.
Is shown in The keys are an up key 502, a down key 503, a left key 504, a right key 50 from the top.
5, a hue key 507, a contrast key 509, and a luminance key 511 are arranged, and as a display such as a name, a movement 501, a hue 506, a controller 508, a luminance 510, and a triangle display 512 (upper), 513 (lower) indicating an image moving direction. , 514
(Left) and 515 (right) are displayed, and the key input display section 5
Since the width (thickness) of 00 is narrow, the size of both the key and the display is kept small. Especially, the displayed characters are not easy to read.

The block diagram of the circuit portion is the same as that of FIG. 1 showing the example of the television receiver, but there is almost no change except that the receiving circuit 70 is omitted, and the video signal S1 is directly input to the video signal processing circuit 71. You can think. The human hand 60 is the operation unit 5
00, the detection result 1 from the non-contact sensor 440 is transmitted to the control unit 75 through the control line CL5.
Is output to While the detection result 1 is supplied to the control unit 75, the control unit 75 outputs the control signal C2.
To the switching circuit 72, the video signal S2 becomes the video signal S3 as it is, and the drive signal S4 is output via the video output circuit 73.
Is displayed on the display unit 401 (corresponding to the display unit 01 in FIG. 1).

When the human hand 60 approaches the non-contact sensor 440 to operate the keys, the key input operation unit 500
The non-contact type sensor unit 440 arranged adjacent to detects the human hand 60, and the detection result 2 is supplied to the control unit 75 via the control line CL5. While this detection result 2 is supplied to the control unit 75, the control unit 75 sends the control signal C6 to the guidance signal creation circuit 74, and causes the guidance signal creation circuit 74 to output the guidance signal S5. On the other hand, the control unit 75 sends the control signal C2 to the switching circuit 72, and outputs the guidance signal S2.
5 is superimposed on the video signal S2 and output. As shown in FIG. 5A, a guidance display 450 is superimposed on the video signal S3 and displayed on the display unit 401.

The guidance display 450 indicates the name of each key on a part of the display unit 401 in a size that is easy to read, and further indicates the location of each key of the key input operation unit 500 with a large arrow. Therefore, the operator does not need to directly search for the head of each key on the side or the name of the key, but only looks at the guidance display 450 that appears on the display unit 401 and moves his finger according to the displayed arrow. Key can be selected. Similar to the previous example of the television receiver, the guidance display 450 is provided with horizontal arrows equally at the horizontal position of each key, and the names of the keys are displayed larger than the names of the keys on the side surface. Positioning becomes very easy. It is possible to operate while keeping the line of sight fixed on the display,
Same as the previous example.

When the finger presses the selected key, the key type is transmitted from the key input operation unit 500 (corresponding to the operation unit 300 in FIG. 1) to the control unit 75 via the control line CL4. The guidance signal creation circuit 74 is controlled to change the color of the key position (in this case, the hue key 507) indicating the pressed key position in the guidance display 50, highlight the display such as inversion display, blinking, and so on. A guidance display 451 showing the touched key is shown. FIG.
Returning to the block diagram, information on the type of the key pressed by the finger is output to the control unit 75 via the control line CL4. While this information is being output to the control unit 75, the control unit 75
Is displayed, and a portion indicating the key position pressed in the guidance display 450 is highlighted. By this highlighting, whether or not the touched key is a desired key is also determined by the display unit 4.
It is the same as in the previous example that it can be confirmed only by looking at 01.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, an input operation unit provided on the side, bottom or top surface of a thin display device such as a television receiver, a personal computer, or a workstation is inevitable. It is possible to confirm the key position and select the necessary key according to the large and clear guidance display on the display unit without directly looking at the small operation keys and the display of their names and functions. . For this reason, from the normal position, even if a name display or an operation key having a size equal to or less than the visible limit is adopted, no inconvenience is felt in operation. Further, it is possible to pursue the ultimate thickness required by the thickness of the display unit main body without worrying about the size of the display or the like in terms of design. This is a great advantage in sales strategy because it can strongly appeal users to the attractive product value of thinness.

When the hand is brought close to the key for the operation, the guidance is automatically displayed, so that there is no need to be particularly conscious of displaying the guidance on the screen. It is troublesome to operate specific keys etc. to display the display on the screen, but as in the present invention, if the guidance display is made without particular awareness, the operator may even feel a kind of pleasure This is a major contributor to the improvement of commercial value. Further, since the guidance is displayed on the screen of the display device, there is ample display space, so that not only the names of the keys are displayed, but also some usage procedures, function explanations, and the like can be additionally displayed. Furthermore, since the display contents can be incorporated in software, one of the advantages of this method is that the display style and display contents can be changed relatively easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram mainly showing a video circuit of a television receiver for displaying guidance, which is an embodiment of a video display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a television receiver and an enlarged view of a key input operation unit for explaining an example of an embodiment of the video display device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a guidance display appearing on a display unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a display example of guidance in which a key touched by a person is emphasized.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a display device for explaining another embodiment of the present invention, and an enlarged view of a key input operation unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a key input operation unit provided on a side surface of a conventional thin display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

00 housing, 01 display unit, 300 key input operation unit,
301 Name of "input switching", 302 Input switching key, 303 Name of "tuning", 304 Tuning key, 3
05 Tuning key, 306 "Volume" name, 307,
308 Volume key, 309 "Select" name, 310
Selection keys, 311 frequency increase symbol, 312 frequency decrease symbol, 313 volume increase symbol, 314 volume decrease symbol, 40 non-contact sensor unit, 50, 450 guidance display, 51, 451 key touched Guidance display, 60 hands, S0 received radio wave input, S1, S
2, S3 video signal, S4 drive signal, S5 guidance signal, C2, C3, C6 control signal, CL4, CL5
Control line, 71 video signal processing circuit, 72 switching circuit, 7
3 Video output circuit, 74 Guidance signal creation circuit, 7
5 control unit, 400 housing, 401 display unit,
500 Key input operation unit, 501 Name of “move”, 5
02, 503, 504, 505 Movement key, 506
“Hue” name, 507 hue key, 508 “Contrast” name, 509 contrast key, 510 “Brightness” name, 511 Brightness key, 5
12, 513, 514, 515 Image movement direction symbol,
440 non-contact sensor unit,

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An image display means for converting an image signal to display an image, an operation input means for controlling the image display means, and a detection means for sensing that a part of a body approaches for operation. When a part of the body approaches the image display means, a signal for guidance display of an operation input is generated by a signal from the detection means, and a signal is displayed on a part or the entire display screen of the image display means. A video display device comprising: a control unit for performing display. 2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the operation input means is provided on a side surface or upper and lower surfaces of the image display means. 3. The video display device according to claim 1, wherein said operation input means is a key operation input input by a key operation. 4. The video display device according to claim 1, wherein said detection means is a non-contact type sensor. 5. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact sensor is an infrared sensor. 6. The video display device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance display indicates a position of an operation input unit. 7. The video display device according to claim 1, wherein the guidance display highlights the key touched by a finger.