JP2002014664A - Picture processing device, picture processing method, and storage medium therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to optimally display a picture related to plural input picture signals. SOLUTION: The picture processing device is constituted by being provided with an input means for inputting plural systems of picture signals from outside of the device, a picture processing means for processing the plural systems of the picture signals, an output means for outputting the plural systems of the picture signals outputted from the picture processing means to a display device, a storage means for making the plural systems of the picture signals correspond to the processing control information and storing them therein, and a control means for controlling an operation of the picture processing means for processing the plural systems of the picture signals based on the processing control information stored in the storage means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a storage medium, and more particularly, to processing of a plurality of systems of image signals.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of communication technology, networking in offices has progressed, and various devices centering on PCs have been interconnected to share functions. Further, the standardization of communication between devices using IEEE 1394, USB, or wireless interfaces, as represented by the HAVi and Jini standards, is establishing a basis for networking all devices in the home.

[0003] On the other hand, a television (TV) receiver and a display of a personal computer (PC) were completely different things before, but the fusion of the two has progressed, and a TV capable of displaying a PC image and a TV signal have been developed. The display of the PC which can input a PC has appeared.

Further, large-screen display devices such as wide-screen TVs and plasma displays, rear projection TVs and projection-type projectors, etc.
The use of various video sources such as V broadcast, home video, presentation, TV conference, and display of various materials in offices and homes is increasing.

[0005] With the progress of networking between such devices and the diversification of input sources, the display divides images of a plurality of different image signal sources into one screen and displays the images. There is a demand for a multi-screen display function to be performed.

[0006] Such a trend of networking for home use is progressing not only for AV devices but also for all devices in the home. For example, home electric devices such as refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners and the like, and personal computer peripherals. Devices (faxes, printers, digital cameras, etc.), mobile terminals, and the like are also in view.

In such a movement, it is conceivable that image information output from these devices is directly exchanged on a network to perform multi-display on a display.

At present, video signals from AV devices are mainly displayed on a display via a network, but in the future, control images of home electric devices will be displayed and controlled on the same display. It is expected that application images from personal computer peripherals will be transmitted directly to the display for display.

[0009] Recently, with the trend toward color display and multi-functionality of portable telephones and the enhancement of the performance of portable information terminals called PDAs (personal data assistants), such portable terminals communicate with the Internet and PCs. The opportunity to acquire images via is increasing, but in the future,
By transmitting the images of these mobile terminals directly to a display via a network and displaying the images, the use of the mobile terminals in homes and offices is expected to dramatically expand.

[0010]

However, the current display has the following problems in directly exchanging various image data via a network.

First, when images from a plurality of devices having originally different viewing distances and different applications are mixedly displayed on the same screen, there is a disadvantage that display quality such as display characters and image sizes varies. .

For example, a display device for a PC has a display pixel number of XGA (1024 × 768) and SXGA (128
0 × 1024) to UGA (1600 × 1200), Q
XGA (2048 x 1536) is the direction to increase the display quality of characters and images by increasing the definition. While the display density is high, the screens of devices such as PDAs and mobile phones are limited by the required performance and restrictions of terminals. The display density is relatively low because the image of the display area is handled with a limited number of pixels.

[0013] Also, the viewing distance is as follows.
While it is common to see at a distance of more than a centimeter,
Mobile terminals are very different, such as viewing at about 20-40 cm.

[0014] For this reason, if an image of a portable device having such a relatively coarse pixel density is transferred to a high-definition display device and displayed per pixel as it is, the image is too small to be suitable for viewing information. It becomes size.

Further, the current PC display device is configured to convert the resolution based on the ratio of the resolution (number of pixels) of the input signal to the resolution of the display screen (number of pixels). If the image is converted to the resolution of the display image, the image is too large for the amount of information, resulting in a coarse screen. In this case, the image becomes inappropriate.

Further, since such portable terminals have various forms and specifications, the display attributes such as the size and resolution of the transmitted image are not unified, and as a result, the size of characters and images on the display screen, The display quality varies.

As a second problem, there is a problem that it is not possible to flexibly cope with a new image input or a change in a signal attribute from the same signal source in a many-to-one or many-to-many connection unique to a network.

For example, the size and position of a window suitable for each application image (for example, an image of a TV phone, a character communication (chat) via a network, an image display of a digital camera, etc.) on one PC are displayed on the screen. It is possible to set the display attribute for such an application, but in the case of displaying a new input, you have to set the size and position of the window on the screen by yourself each time you display a new input . Further, once set, even if the output of the signal source changes, the display continues to be displayed with the same setting.

There is also a method of setting the size and position of a window suitable for each input system or channel on a screen, such as a set-top box (STB) or a multi-screen TV. Similarly, in the method of setting the display attribute for the channel, the new image input and the output of the signal source cannot cope with the change, and the user setting is constantly required.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0021] Another object of the present invention is to enable an image relating to a plurality of input image signals to be optimally displayed.

[0022]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there are provided input means for inputting a plurality of image signals from outside the apparatus, and image processing means for processing the plurality of image signals. An output unit that outputs a plurality of systems of image signals output from the image processing unit to a display device; a storage unit that stores the plurality of systems of image signals and processing control information in association with each other; And control means for controlling the processing operation of the image signals of the plurality of systems by the image processing means based on the stored processing control information.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows, as a first embodiment of the present invention, two image signal source devices connected to a network and one image signal source device.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration diagram of one image display device. Here, for the sake of simplicity, only the configuration of three devices out of a plurality of devices connected to the network is shown.

Reference numeral 100 denotes a display as an image display device, and 200 and 300 denote PCs and DVs as image signal sources.
D, a device for outputting images such as a digital TV tuner and a portable device. In the system shown in FIG. 1, an image signal and an audio signal are transmitted as digital signals.

First, in the devices 200 and 300, 20
Reference numeral 1,301 denotes a CPU (central processing unit);
A bus control unit 302 transmits control signals of the CPUs 201 and 301 to each unit of the apparatus and controls the entire data bus and control bus. Reference numerals 211 and 311 denote system bus wiring including a data bus and a control bus for connecting each unit. 212 and 312 are CPUs 201 and 30
1 and a bus wiring between the bus control units 202 and 302. 203 and 303 are main memory units of each PC, and 204 and 304 are recording media units such as a hard disk (HDD). 205 and 305 are display 1
A graphic drawing unit that creates an image signal for the image processing unit 100. Here, the output image attributes (resolution, pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristic, number of gradations, The processing is performed according to the color characteristics.

Reference numerals 206 and 306 denote the graphic drawing unit 20
5,305 is an image memory unit used at the time of image processing. 213 and 313 are graphic drawing units 205 and 30
5 and a data bus and a control bus between the image memory units 206 and 306.

Reference numerals 207 and 307 denote communication units. here,
As for communication between the display 100 and the devices 200 and 300, there is a standard called DDC (Display Data Channel). DDC stands for Video Electronic Standard Associative (VESA), a standardization organization related to displays.
ation), a standard for interaction for computers to recognize and control display devices. According to this communication method, EDIA standardized by VESA
Display attribute information of a display in the form of (Extended Display Identification Data) is transmitted from the display to the PC.

The communication units 207 and 307 receive an information amount control signal from the display 100 together with image attribute information such as EDID information and an error signal. 20
Reference numerals 8 and 308 denote storage units that store EDID information as image attribute information, and are units that store the EDID information of the display 100 acquired by the communication units 207 and 307.

Reference numerals 209 and 309 denote identification signal adding sections for adding an image signal identification signal to the image signal and the audio signal transmitted to the display 100. Here, the identification signal is a communication address or identification number (ID) independently given to each device on the network, or a communication address or identification number (ID) given to the image signal itself.
This signal notifies the display device or the image receiving device on the network of the destination of the image signal. This identification signal is a signal source,
Alternatively, it has a different value according to an output mode described later.

Reference numerals 210 and 310 denote the graphic drawing unit 20
An image / sound transmission unit for transmitting the image signal created in 5,305 and the audio signal created by the sound source unit (not shown) to the display 100. Specifically, the display standardization organization DDWG (Digital Display Working
Group) DVI (Digital Video Interface)
Examples include a transmission element of the TMDS standard that adopts the standard, an encoding element that compresses and encodes an image signal and an audio signal by the MPEG method and creates a partial rewrite signal, and an IEEE 1394 transmission element that transmits a protocol signal.

Reference numerals 201a and 301a denote image control units.
Upon receiving the EDID information received from the display 100, the graphic controller 205 controls the graphic drawing units 205 and 305. Reference numerals 201b and 301b denote image attribute information creating units.
This is a part for creating image attribute information of an image to be transmitted. Here, the image attribute information includes the resolution of the image, the size of the image, the size of the character font used, the screen update cycle, the number of gradations, the color, the aspect ratio, the transmission method, the compression method, the compression rate,
For example, a rewrite cycle.

The processing by the image control units 201a and 301a and the image attribute creation units 201b and 301b is C
This is realized by software processing by the PU 201.

Next, in the display 100, 10
Reference numeral 1 denotes a microcomputer unit that controls the processing of the display 100, and 115 denotes a wiring group including a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer unit 101. Bus wiring group 11
5, as shown in the figure, each processing circuit of the display 100 is connected to each other to enable data exchange.

Reference numeral 102 denotes an image / audio receiving unit that receives image / audio signals transmitted from the image / audio transmitting units 210 and 310 of the devices 200 and 300, decodes TMDS and IEEE 1394 format signals, and expands compressed data. Department.

Reference numeral 103 denotes an image processing unit for performing resolution conversion for adjusting the number of pixels of images from the devices 200 and 300 to the number of display pixels of the display 100 and conversion of a screen update frequency (frame rate). Reference numeral 104 denotes an image memory used for processing of the image processing unit 103;
Is a wiring group consisting of a data bus and a control bus of this memory.

A display processing unit 105 converts gamma characteristics and color characteristics according to characteristics of liquid crystal and CRT used in the image display unit 106, and displays characters on an on-screen display or the like. 106 is a liquid crystal or CRT,
It is an image display unit composed of elements such as PDP, EL, and LED. 118, 119 and 120 are image data buses.

Reference numeral 107 denotes an audio processing unit for converting or amplifying the received audio signal into a signal to be reproduced by a speaker, and reference numeral 108 denotes a speaker. Reference numeral 117 denotes a wiring therebetween.

Reference numeral 109 denotes an EDID unique to this display.
An EDID information storage unit for storing information;
0 is the EDI stored in the EDID information storage unit 109.
Image attribute information such as D information and an error signal are transmitted to the device 200,
Send to 300.

Reference numeral 111 denotes an operation unit of the main body for performing various settings of the display 100, a mouse, a keyboard,
It is a user input unit such as a remote controller. Reference numeral 112 denotes a storage unit that stores a display state set by a user or the like through the input unit 111 or the like. In the display 100 of the present embodiment,
The size of the display area can be set for each of the plurality of input images, and the display setting storage unit 112 stores the display setting state of each input image in association with the type of each display image.

In the microcomputer 101, 101a
Is an identification signal acquisition unit that acquires an identification signal attached to each input image signal output from the image / audio reception unit 102,
Reference numeral 101b denotes an attribute acquisition unit that acquires an attribute signal attached to each input image signal output from the image / audio receiving unit 102, or extracts an attribute signal from image information from the image / audio receiving unit 102 by calculation. The attribute information obtained by the attribute obtaining unit 101b is stored in the attribute storage unit 113 in association with the identification signal obtained by the identification signal obtaining unit 101a.

Reference numeral 101c denotes an image processing unit 103 based on the display setting information stored in the display setting storage unit 112, the input signal attribute information obtained by the attribute obtaining unit 101b, and the EDID information stored in the EDID information storage unit 109. And an image conversion information creating section for creating image conversion information for converting an input image signal into a state suitable for display. An image conversion information storage unit 114 stores the image conversion information in association with the identification signal of the input signal.

Here, the identification signal acquisition unit 101a, the attribute acquisition unit 101b, and the image conversion information creation unit 101c schematically represent processing realized inside the microcomputer.
These processes are realized by software processing in the microcomputer 101.

Reference numeral 121 denotes a transmission line for transmitting an image signal and an audio signal between the devices 200 and 300 and the display 100, and reference numeral 122 denotes a transmission line for DDC communication and the like between the devices 200 and 300 and the display 100. .

Here, although the signals 121 and 122 are shown as signals of different systems, the same transmission / reception means are provided on the same network communication line in which signal lines such as TMDS and IEEE 1394 are cascade-connected or tree-connected. Is realized by:

Here, an example of an image signal transmitted from the devices 200 and 300 is shown in FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 401 denotes a communication address of a reception destination. For example, a communication address or an identification number (ID) given to the display 100, or a channel of the display 100 or a window screen to be displayed. The information includes a given communication address and an identification number (ID). The destination address 401 is an a-byte signal and has a size of, for example, about 4 bytes.

Reference numeral 402 denotes a communication address of a transmission source, for example, the device 200 or 30 as a signal source.
Communication address and identification number (ID) given to 0,
Alternatively, it is a communication address or an identification number (ID) given to the image signal itself. The source address 402 is a b-byte signal and has a size of, for example, about 4 bytes. The input identification signal detected in the display 100 described above corresponds to this part of the data.

Reference numeral 406 denotes an image information portion.
3 and 404. Here, reference numeral 403 denotes attribute information of an image signal, and 404 denotes image data. The above-described attribute information of the input image is information obtained by detecting the attribute information 403 or information extracted by a predetermined operation from the image data 404 itself. Here, the attribute information 403 is c bytes, and the image data is d bytes. However, the actual amount of data greatly differs depending on the image transmission method and compression method, and can be set arbitrarily.

Reference numeral 405 denotes a portion indicating the end of data, for example, a checksum portion. In this embodiment, the number of bytes is e. However, the number is actually about 1 byte.

FIG. 3 shows a display example on the display 100 of FIG. Here, the two devices 200, shown in FIG.
An example is shown in which images from two other signal sources connected to the network other than 300 are displayed.

In FIG. 3A, the display 100
Is a 20-inch display device having the number of pixels of QXGA, and 501 indicates the entire display area. Also, 5
02 denotes a display image of the PC 200 as the image signal source 1 connected to the display 100. Where PC
100 images are displayed on the entire screen 501 by QXGA. In addition, as the image content, the PC 200
Is displayed as it is.

The child screen area 503 shows a display image of another PC (not shown in FIG. 1) connected to the display 100 via a network. Here, this other P
The screen of resolution XGA transmitted by C is displayed at the same resolution.

A small screen area 504 is an HDTV (1920) received by a digital television tuner (not shown in FIG. 1) connected to the display 100 via a network.
The image of the movie (× 1080 pixels) is reduced and converted to a resolution of 720 × 480 pixels for display.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which image 601 of PDA 600 as a portable information device shown in FIG. 4 is transmitted to display 100 on which an image is displayed as shown in FIG.
(B) and FIG. 3 (c). Here, the PDA as the portable information device corresponds to the device 300 in FIG. Here, the screen of the PDA 600 is 4 inches, 320 × 24
0 pixels.

The PDA 60 on which the display 505 of FIG. 3B and the display 506 of FIG.
It is a display image transmitted from 0. Here, FIG.
FIG. 3C shows a display screen when the image conversion according to the configuration of the present invention is not performed on the input signal of the PDA 600 on the display 100. FIG. It is a display screen in the case of having performed.

In FIG. 3B, the characters on the image 505 of the PDA 600 are too small compared to the characters in the other images of 502, 503, and 504 to be difficult to read, whereas FIG. In, the image of the PDA 600 is enlarged and converted to an appropriate value, and the character is legible.

This is because when the enlargement conversion is not performed, the PDA 60 is displayed at a ratio of the number of pixels to the entire display screen of 20 inches.
When the image of 0 is displayed, the image of the PDA 600 becomes 320/2048 = 0.156 times, so that the image of the PDA 600 is displayed as small as 3.1 inches. This is because, in the case of the 20-inch display 100, the viewing distance becomes long, such as viewing from a distance several times larger than that, and the size of the displayed characters is inappropriate.

For example, if a point (1 point = 1/72 inch), which is a standard of the character size in the printing industry, is expressed, in the PDA 600, a character suitable to be displayed at about 10 dots, which is close to 8 points, This is because it is desired that the display 100 be displayed with a larger number of points (for example, 10 points).

This embodiment exemplifies a display device that flexibly and optimally displays an image of a plurality of signal sources connected to a network in accordance with such signal characteristics of each device.

Next, processing related to such display control by the display 100 of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

When an image or audio signal is input to the display 100, the identification signal acquisition unit 101a acquires an identification signal from the input signal (S701). Also, the attribute information is acquired from the input signal by the input attribute signal acquiring unit 101b as described above (S702).

Then, in S703, whether the identification signal obtained from the image and audio signals just input is new,
That is, it is determined whether or not the identification signal has been received and the identification signal is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 114. If the identification signal is new, the process proceeds to S710, and if not, the process proceeds to S704.

If the signal has already been received in S703, the input signal attribute information stored in the input signal attribute storage unit 113 in association with the identification signal is read out, and the input attribute acquisition unit 101a is read in S702.
By comparing with the input attribute information acquired in the above, it is determined whether or not the input attribute information has changed from the previous reception.

If the input attribute has not changed, the display setting corresponding to the input identification signal is read from the display setting storage unit 112 (S706), and a display setting confirmation routine is performed (S707).

Thereafter, in S708, image conversion information corresponding to the input identification signal is read from the image conversion information storage unit 114. Then, according to the image conversion information thus obtained, the image processing unit 103 is controlled to process the input image signal, and the processing is terminated (S709).

If the input signal is a new input signal in S703 or if the input attribute is changed in S705, the new input signal attribute information is stored in the input signal attribute storage unit 113 in S710 in association with the identification signal. Is stored. Next, in step S711, a display setting confirmation routine is performed. Then, in the next step S712, image conversion information is created using the display setting information for the input image stored in the display setting storage unit 112, the display attribute information in the EDID information storage unit 109, and the input attribute information described above. I do.

The image conversion information created in this way is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 114 in association with the input identification signal (S713). Then, in accordance with the image conversion information, the image processing unit 103 is controlled to perform input image signal processing, and the processing is terminated (S709).

Here, the display setting confirmation routine S707,
S711 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

In FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not to change the display setting using the user input unit 111 and a menu screen displayed on the screen (S801). If the display settings are not changed, it is determined whether the display settings are appropriate (S802), and if appropriate, the display setting confirmation routine is terminated.

Here, the input identification signal is transmitted to the display setting storage unit 112, but unlike the input signal attribute storage unit 113 and the image conversion information storage unit 114, the input identification signal is stored on a one-to-one basis. Not necessarily.

For example, display setting values are stored for input signals in the format of the PC and the format of the portable device, respectively, or in the case of image input via the IEEE 1394 and the case of image input via the wireless interface. For example, by storing each display setting value in a different way, the image conversion information can be automatically set for new input signals other than known input signals by setting the classification according to the input identification signal and the input attribute signal. Can be created.

If the display setting is changed in S801 and if the display setting is inappropriate in S802, a message to that effect is displayed in S803 to urge the user to be alerted and displayed on the user input unit 111 and the screen. The display setting is newly changed using the menu screen display or the like, and is stored in the display setting storage unit 112 (S804).

FIG. 7 shows an example of a processing flow of the microcomputer unit 101 in the display 100 when a picture of a PDA is newly connected as the apparatus 300 of FIG. 1 and displayed as shown in FIG. 3C.

In FIG. 7, a PDA 600 (device 30
When the image and the audio signal are input from 0), the communication address of the PDA 600 is obtained as the identification signal of the input signal by the identification signal obtaining unit 101a in S901. This communication address corresponds to the source address 402 in FIG.
In this case, it is assumed that “xxx.yyy.zzz.003”.

Next, in step S903, the input attribute information is obtained by the input attribute signal obtaining unit 101b. Here, the fact that the character size included in the image is the number of character dots = 10 dots is read from the image attribute unit (403 in FIG. 2) attached to the image data, or the input signal attribute of the display device is read from the image data itself. It is extracted by arithmetic processing by the acquisition means.

Further, in S903, the display setting information in the display setting storage unit 112 corresponding to the display of the PDA 600 is read. Here, for the input of the mobile device, the setting for displaying the character size on the display screen at 10 points or more is set, and for the input of the mobile device, the start point of the display position on the display screen is set to (b , D).

In step S904, the display attribute information in the EDID information storage unit 109 is read. Here, information such as that the screen resolution of the display unit is QXGA and the screen size is 20 inches is obtained.

In step S905, image conversion information is automatically created from the input attribute information, display setting information, and EDID information thus obtained.

Hereinafter, the process of creating the image conversion information will be described.

When the characters of the PDA 600 are displayed as they are on the display screen of the QXGA, the size of the 10-dot characters is 1 pixel in the vertical direction = 12 inches / 1536 = 0.00
It becomes 0.078 inches from 87 inches.

On the other hand, a 10-point character (1
When a character corresponding to (point = 0.0139 inches) is displayed on the screen, the size of the character is 0.139 inches.

Therefore, the enlargement ratio is 0.139 / 0.078.
Is calculated as 1.78 times.

The coordinates (X1, Y1) after image conversion with respect to the coordinates (X0, Y0) of the original signal, the coordinates of the starting point on the display screen are (b, d), and the enlargement ratio of the horizontal and vertical signals. Are a and b, the coordinates of the input signal are converted into the coordinates of the output image by the following two equations: X1 = aX0 + b (1) Y1 = cY0 + d (2) Where a = c
= 1.78. In this way, the image conversion information is automatically created.

The image conversion information thus obtained is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 114 in correspondence with the communication address of the PDA 600 as the input identification signal (S906). In step S907, the image processing unit 103 is controlled according to the image conversion information to process the input image signal, and the process ends (S907).

Next, the image processing section 103 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of the image processing unit 103 and the memory unit 104.

As shown in FIG. 8, the image processing section 103 mainly includes an address decoder 103a and a data switch section 10.
3b and an enlargement / reduction interpolation calculation unit 103c.

In FIG. 8, address decoder 103a
Receives a horizontal synchronizing signal, a vertical synchronizing signal and a clock synchronized with the input image signal. Address decoder 103a
Generates a write address signal and a read address signal for memory control based on the synchronization signal and the clock in accordance with the image conversion information s103 output from the microcomputer unit 101.

At the same time, a switch control signal for the data switch section 103b is also generated, and the memory section 10b is controlled according to the write address signal and the read address signal.
A process for switching the data on the data bus 103d between the image processing unit 4 and the image processing unit 103 into data to be written into the memory unit 104 and data to be read from the memory unit 104 to the enlargement / reduction interpolation calculation unit 103c.

In the example of FIG. 3C, (X0, Y0) is stored in the memory unit 104 when writing the image data.
The write address is controlled so as to write the image data from the coordinates, and at the time of reading from the memory unit 104, the address control by the address decoder 103a is performed so as to read from the (X1, Y1) coordinates.

Further, the image data read from the memory unit 104 is subjected to an interpolation process accompanying the enlargement / reduction conversion of the image data in the enlargement / reduction interpolation calculation unit 103c.

In the example of FIG. 3C, an interpolation coefficient is selected according to the magnification (horizontal a, vertical c) calculated as described above, and an output signal is generated by the calculation.

FIG. 9 shows an input identification signal for each input signal, input attribute information, display settings, and display section attributes for realizing a multi-screen image on the display device shown in FIG. An example of each information of the image conversion information will be shown. Input is PC1
And two PCs, and a tuner for HDTV,
It is a PDA as a portable device.

The identification signals of the input signals are as follows: PC1, PDA are the communication addresses given to the respective devices, and PC2 is the PC address.
Identification number (ID) given to the signal itself output from 2
It is. In the tuner, a communication address is given to an output channel of the tuner, and the tuner main body and the channel can be identified. The identification signal includes HDTV and SDTV (720 × 48) in addition to the identification number and communication address given to the signal source, its channel, or the signal itself.
As in 0), it is conceivable to assign an identification number for each output mode, or to assign an identification number to each partial area of a screen such as a window. In addition, anything may be used as long as the source of the signal can be specified, such as an identification number or a communication address given to the user.

As input attributes, as shown in FIG. 9, the format, the resolution, the image size, the number of dots of characters, and the like corresponding to each signal are obtained. In addition to the display area, the update frequency, compression ratio, color characteristics, gradation characteristics (gamma characteristics), aspect ratio, and the like of the image are acquired.
In the present embodiment, for simplification, a portion relating to the size and position of an image display area will be exemplified as an example of creating image conversion information.

In the display setting, the PC1 sets the rearmost position on the entire screen with respect to the identification signal of the PC1, but in other devices, the display setting is not directly applied to the input identification signal, and the new input is set. For this purpose, flexible automatic generation of image conversion information is enabled. For example, for a signal in the PC format other than the identification signal of the PC1, the display position is designated as 1 / 4QXGA for the size of the display area.

In accordance with this, the input of the PC 2 is set, and when another PC input is received, the PC 2 is displayed in the same size and superimposed on the display position. In addition, the range of the display area is specified in 1 / 4QXGA and the display position is specified for the address of the tuner body. According to this display setting, the display of each channel of the tuner is displayed at substantially the same size at the same display position. Also, unlike the other inputs, the size and range of the display area are not specified for the format of the mobile device, but the size and display position of the character in the image are specified.
Images containing character information from a PDA or other mobile phone follow this display setting.

As described above, even when a new signal source is connected or the input attribute of a signal from a conventional device is changed, image conversion information is automatically created in accordance with these display settings.

Here, the display settings are not limited to the size and position of the display area of each video signal, but also the layout relationship of each screen area, the rate of screen update, color characteristics, gradation characteristics (gamma characteristics), An aspect ratio is assumed.

The display section attribute depends on the display section and does not depend on the signal source. In addition to the resolution and the screen size, there are a screen update frequency of the display unit, color characteristics, gradation characteristics (gamma characteristics), aspect ratio, and the like.

The image conversion information created according to each of these information is as follows.

Since the PC1 signal is displayed at the same resolution, the resolution conversion magnification is 1, and the display position is not changed. Display area 1 / 4Q for PC2 signal
Since the resolution is XGA and the number of pixels is the same as XGA, the resolution conversion magnification is also 1 and only the display coordinates are converted.

Since the HDTV image cannot be contained in the range of 1/4 QXGA for the tuner signal, the format conversion (resolution conversion) is performed to SDTV. In addition, in order to display the PDA signal with a size of 10 points as described above, the display coordinate is also converted by setting the resolution conversion magnification to 1.78.

FIG. 9 exemplifies only items related to the display area, and these image conversions are controlled by the image processing unit 103 in FIG. 8. However, in actuality, the screen update frequency, color characteristics, Since various image conversions such as a tone characteristic (gamma characteristic) and an aspect ratio are performed, the configuration of FIG. 8 of the actual image conversion unit exemplifies only a part of the circuit.

In this manner, image conversion from images from four signal sources is automatically performed on one image display device based on the attributes of the input signals, and optimized multi-screen display is performed.

Next, an environment in which the display 100 shown in FIG. 1 is used will be described.

FIG. 10 shows the HA currently being formulated.
An example of a connection form between devices in a communication standard between devices connected to a network in a home, such as Vi and Jini, will be described.

In FIG. 10, reference numerals 1001 and 1013 denote digital television receivers capable of receiving digital television broadcasts. Here, the DTV 1001 is connected to a network such as IEEE 1394 via a set-top box 1002, and is connected to the STB 1002 by a dedicated image cable such as a D terminal 1019. Also,
The DTV 1013 has a built-in IEEE 1394 interface and is therefore directly connected to a network.

Reference numeral 1004 denotes a PC; 1003, a display; and 1018a, a dedicated image cable. Similarly, 1010 is a PC, 1009 is its display, and 1018b is its dedicated image cable.
Here, both PC1004 and PC1010 are IEEE13
It is connected to a network 94, which is used to transmit other signals, not image signals to the displays 1003 and 1009.

In addition, reference numeral 1005 denotes a tuner for a digital TV of another system, and 1006 denotes a digital VTR, 1
Reference numeral 011 denotes a DVD player and 1012 denotes a server composed of a hard disk for recording a program. These AV devices are connected via an IEEE 1394 network and mutually connected to exchange image signals. Reference numeral 1014 denotes a modem connected to the public network 1015, and reference numeral 1016 denotes a telephone line connected to the public network.

Numerals 1007 and 1008 denote hubs for branching and connecting signals on the IEEE 1394 network.
1017a to 1017j are communication lines of the IEEE 1394 standard.

In the home network connected in this way, the user can use DTVs 1001 and 1013 to access various sources (tuner 1005, digital VTR 1006, DV
An environment in which the D player 1011 and the HDD 1012) can be used from a remote place is realized.

The display 100 of the present embodiment is, for example,
It can be applied as a display monitor of the DTV 1001 or 1013.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, when a plurality of image signals are input simultaneously and images related to the plurality of input image signals are displayed on the same screen, the identification signals of the respective input image signals correspond to the identification signals. In addition, image conversion information necessary for optimal display of an input image signal is stored, and when an image signal is input, optimal processing according to the input signal can be quickly performed.

Therefore, even when a plurality of image signals are input, good image display can always be realized.

Further, image conversion information is automatically generated according to the attribute information added to the input image signal, the display attribute information of the display device itself, and the display setting information by the user, and this is converted into the identification information of the input image signal. When the attribute of the input image signal is changed, the change can be detected quickly, and quick and optimal image display can be performed according to the change of the input image signal.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In this embodiment, an image signal from a PC via the IEEE 1394 and a JPE from a digital camera via the wireless I / F are connected on a network including a plurality of transmission systems such as an IEEE 1394 and a wireless interface (I / F).
An example in which the present invention is applied to an image processing apparatus that displays signals of different formats such as G-compressed signals on a single display on multiple screens will be described.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration of a network to which the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied.

In FIG. 11, 1101 and 1113
Is a display that performs multi-screen display. Here, the display 1101 is connected to a network such as IEEE 1394 via the set-top box 1102,
The STB 1102 is connected by a cable 1119 dedicated to an image such as a TMDS transmission method. Display 1
113 has a built-in IEEE 1394 I / F,
Directly connected to the network.

Here, STB 1102 and display 1
The display control processing of the present invention is applied to 113.

Further, reference numeral 1104 denotes a PC (PC1);
Reference numeral 1106 denotes a PC (PC2). The image data of the PCs 1104 and 1106 are also transmitted to the displays 1101 and 1113 via the network and displayed.

In addition, reference numeral 1105 denotes a digital TV tuner, reference numeral 1111 denotes a DVD player, and reference numeral 1112 denotes a server comprising a hard disk for recording a program. These AV devices are connected via an IEEE 1394 network, and mutually connect to exchange image signals.

[0124] 1103 is a home electric appliance such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner, and a microwave oven. 1114 is a public network 1115
And a telephone line 1116 connected to a public network. 1107 and 1108 are IEEE1
It is a hub for branch connection of data flowing through the 394 network. 1117a to 1117j are IEEE1
This is a 394 standard communication line.

Further, reference numeral 1109 denotes a digital camera,
Reference numeral 1110 denotes a portable device such as a PDA. Reference numerals 1118a and 1118b denote wireless communication I / Fs based on the wireless communication standard.

In the home network connected in this way, the user can use the displays 1101 and 1113 to
Various sources (PC 1104, PC 1106, tuner 1105, DVD player 1111, HDD 1112,
The digital camera 1109, the PDA 1110, etc.) realize an environment in which images in various communication forms can be used from a remote place. Control of the home appliance 1103 can also be performed on the same displays 1101 and 1113.

Although operation input means such as a keyboard and a mouse of the PC 1104 and PC 1106 are not shown,
It is possible to perform an operation from near each of the displays 1101 and 1113 via a network.

Next, a display image realized in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1201 denotes a screen of a display having the number of pixels of QXGA. Q2 of PC1, in which the reference numeral 1202 is displayed as a parent screen over the entire screen.
It is a display image of XGA resolution. Reference numeral 1203 denotes an image of the PC 2 which is displayed as a child screen in an area of 1/4 of the parent screen at a resolution of XGA. 1204 converts the 720 × 1080 pixel HDTV video to 720 × 48.
It is an image of a digital television tuner whose resolution is converted to 0 pixel and displayed in a quarter area of the main screen.

At 1205, the display is set as an area to be displayed when a compressed image is received by the wireless I / F.
This is a display area of 0 × 600 pixels.

Now, the QSXGA (2) shown in FIG.
It is assumed that a compressed image of (560 × 2048 pixels) is transmitted from the digital camera via the wireless I / F.

When an image of QSXGA is displayed as it is, the screen becomes as shown in FIG. 12 (c), and not only an image partially overlapped but also other images cannot be displayed.

Thus, the image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment
As in the first embodiment, 800 × 600 is obtained from the identification number given to the image of the digital camera which is a new signal received from the wireless I / F, the compression format which is the input attribute, and the number of pixels of the image. Information of resolution conversion magnification and display coordinate conversion for performing image conversion to the display area 1205 of pixels is automatically created. As a result, the multi-screen display shown in FIG.

Next, the image processing apparatus of this embodiment and its peripheral devices will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of the image processing device 1500 and the display 1600 and peripheral devices 1300 and 1400 according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 13, reference numeral 1300 denotes PC2, which corresponds to PC1106 in FIG. Also, 1400
Denotes a digital camera (DC), which corresponds to the digital camera 1109 in FIG. Also, reference numeral 1500 denotes a set-top box as an image processing apparatus for synthesizing an image signal from each signal source via a network and converting the image signal into a signal in a format suitable for display on the display 1600. STB1102. A display 1600 corresponds to the display 1101 in FIG. In FIG. 13, only blocks related to processing of a display image in each device are described and described, and other configurations, for example, DC14
In 00, description of the configuration of the imaging unit, the recording / reproducing unit, and the like is omitted.

In PC 1300 and DC 1400, CPUs 1301 and 1401 are CPUs.
A bus control unit 402 transmits control signals of the CPUs 1301 and 1401 to each unit of the apparatus and controls the entire data bus and control bus. 1303,140
Reference numeral 3 denotes a system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus for connecting each unit. 1304 and 1404 are CPUs
1301, 1401 and bus control unit 1302, 1
This is a bus wiring with the reference numeral 402.

Reference numerals 1305 and 1405 denote main memory units of the respective devices, and reference numerals 1306 and 1406 denote recording medium units such as a hard disk and a flash memory. 13
07 and 1407 are graphic drawing units for creating image signals for display on the display 1600;
Output according to the output image attributes (resolution, pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristics, number of gradations, color characteristics, etc.) to the display 1600 is performed.

Reference numerals 1308 and 1408 denote image memories used at the time of image processing by the graphic drawing units 1307 and 1407, and are connected to the graphic drawing units 1307 and 1407 by data buses 1309 and 1409. 13
10 and 1410 are graphic creation units 1307 and 140
7 is displayed on the display 1600 (S
TB1500) is an image encoding unit for converting and compressing into a partially rewritten signal or a compressed signal for transmission to the TB1500).
Data is exchanged between the graphic rendering units 1307 and 1407 via the buses 1311 and 1411, respectively.

Reference numeral 1312 denotes an IEEE 1394 communication unit that converts an image signal generated by the image encoding unit 1310 into a format defined by IEEE 1394 and performs communication. Reference numeral 1412 denotes an image encoding unit 14
A wireless I / F unit that converts the image signal generated by the communication unit 10 into a communication signal in a format defined by the wireless I / F standard and performs communication. Reference numeral 1313 denotes a display 16.
00 (STB 1500).

Also, in the CPU 1301, 1301
a is an image control unit of the PC 1300, and the STB 1500
The graphic controller 1307 receives the EDID information of the display received from the PC and controls the graphic drawing unit 1307. Reference numeral 1301b denotes an image attribute information creating unit which creates image attribute information of an image transmitted from the PC 1300. Here, the image attribute information includes the resolution of the image, the size of the image, the size of the character font used, the screen update cycle, the number of gradations, the color, the aspect ratio, the transmission method, the compression method, the compression rate, and the rewrite cycle. And so on.

Similarly, in the CPU 1401, the 14
Reference numeral 01a denotes an image control unit and reference numeral 1401b denotes an image attribute information creation unit. Unlike the PC 1300, the DC 1400 does not perform EDID communication, and stores a plurality of still image data recorded in the recording medium unit 1406 into the graphic drawing unit 1407. The image control unit 1401a controls the process of converting the image into a signal suitable for display. Since the image signal to be transmitted is a still image, the image attribute information generating unit 1401b generates the image resolution, the image size, the number of gradations, the aspect ratio, the transmission method, the compression method, the compression ratio, and the like as attribute information. I do.

The image control units 1301a and 1401a
The processing of the image attribute information creating units 1301b and 1401b is actually realized by software processing inside the CPUs 1301 and 1401.

Next, in STB 1500, 1501
Is a microcomputer that controls the STB 1500.
Reference numeral 02 denotes a wiring group including a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer 1501.

An IEEE 1394 communication unit 1503 transmits and receives image data and other data to and from the PC 1300 and other connected devices via the IEEE 1394 network 1517. 1504 is wireless I
/ F, and transmits and receives data 1518 with the DC 1400 according to the wireless I / F standard.

Reference numeral 1505 denotes the IEEE 1394 communication unit 150
In addition to decoding the image data output from 3 and converting it to the original image data, it extracts the identification information and attribute information added to the image data, and sends them to the image synthesizing unit 1507.
Similarly, 1506 decodes the image data output from the wireless I / F 1504, converts the decoded image data into the original image data, detects the identification signal and the attribute information added to the image data, and sends it to the image synthesizing unit 1507. Output.

The reference numeral 1507 designates these decoders 1505, 1
An image synthesizing unit for synthesizing the output from 506 using the image memory unit 1508. The image synthesizing unit 1507 is connected to the microcomputer 1501 via the bus 1502.
An identification signal and attribute information of each input image data output from the decoders 1505 and 1506 are output to the microcomputer 1501 via the bus 1502.

[0147] Reference numeral 1509 denotes a gamma characteristic and a color characteristic conversion of the image signal synthesized by the image synthesizing unit 1507 according to the characteristics of the liquid crystal or CRT used for the display 1600, and displays the character on an on-screen display. This is an image display processing unit to be performed. Reference numeral 1510 denotes a VGA for converting the image signal output from the image signal processing unit 1509 to a VGA.
The display 160 is processed according to the standard or the DVI standard.
This is an image transmission unit that outputs 0.

[0148] Reference numeral 1511 denotes a DDC communication unit for communicating EDID information with the display 1600. The DDC communication unit 1511 stores the received EDID information in the EDID information storage unit 1512 via the bus 1502.

In the CPU section 1501, the 150
1a is decoded by decoders 1505 and 1506,
An identification signal acquisition unit that acquires an identification signal attached to each input image signal output via the image synthesis unit 1507;
An attribute information acquisition unit 1501b similarly acquires an attribute signal attached to the input image signal.

Reference numeral 1513 denotes an attribute information acquisition unit 1501
Reference numeral 1514 denotes an attribute information storage unit which stores the attribute information obtained by b in association with the type of the input signal lacking, and 1514 associates the display setting information set by the user operation unit 1515 with the identification signal of each input image signal. This is a display setting storage unit that stores the information.

Also, 1501 in the microcomputer 1501
c, from the display setting information, the input signal attribute information, and the EDID information as the image display attribute,
Reference numeral 7 denotes an image conversion information creation unit for creating image conversion information which is a control signal for converting an input image signal into a display signal suitable for display. The image conversion information created here is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 1516 in association with the identification signal of each input image signal.

The identification signal acquiring section 1501a, the attribute information acquiring section 1501b, and the image conversion information creating section 1501c
Is realized by the microcomputer 1501 by software processing.

Next, on the display 1600, 1
A microcomputer unit 601 controls the display 1600, and a wiring group 1602 includes a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer 1601.

Reference numeral 1603 denotes an image receiving unit,
This is an image receiving unit that receives image data transmitted from the image transmitting unit 1510 and converts it into a format suitable for signal processing such as a digital signal of 8 bits for each color of RGB.
1604, an image receiving unit 1603 using the memory 1605;
The number of pixels of the image data output from the
7 is a resolution conversion unit for performing resolution conversion to match the number of display pixels and conversion of the screen update frequency.

Reference numeral 1606 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal or a CRT used for the image display unit 1607.
An image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics, color characteristics, and the like, and displays characters on an on-screen display or the like. Reference numeral 1607 denotes an image display unit including elements such as a liquid crystal and a CRT. Reference numeral 1608 denotes a display 160
The EDID information which is the display attribute information of STB1500
Is a DDC communication unit that communicates with.

In this embodiment, the STB 1500 controls the acquisition processing of the identification signal and the attribute information, the generation processing of the image conversion information, and the image processing using the image conversion information, which were performed by the display 100 in the first embodiment. The image signal thus processed is transmitted to the display 1600 by the image transmission unit 1510. Therefore, the display 1600 may have a function of receiving and displaying the image data of the DVI standard or the VGA standard as in the related art.

Next, the processing related to such display control by STB 1500 in FIG. 13 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. The processing in FIG. 14 is basically the same as the processing in FIG.

When an image signal and a sound signal are input to STB 1500, identification signal in the input signal is obtained by identification signal obtaining section 1501a (S1701). The attribute information is acquired from the input signal by the input attribute signal acquiring unit 1501b as described above (S1702).

At S1703, it is determined whether or not the identification signal obtained from the input image and audio signal is new, that is, whether the identification signal has not been received and is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 114. It is determined whether it is new or not, and the process proceeds to S1704 if not, and to S1704 if not new.

If the signal has already been received in S1703, the input signal attribute information stored in the input signal attribute storage section 1513 in association with the identification signal is read out.
By comparing with the input attribute information acquired in 501a, it is determined whether or not the input attribute information has changed from the previous reception.

If the input attribute has not changed, the display setting corresponding to the input identification signal is read from the display setting storage unit 1514 (S1706), and a display setting confirmation routine is performed (S1707).

Thereafter, in step S1708, image conversion information corresponding to the input identification signal is read from the image conversion information storage unit 1516. Then, according to the image conversion information obtained in this way, the image synthesizing unit 1507 is controlled to process the input image signal, and the process ends (S1709).

If the input signal is a new input signal in S1703, or if the input attribute is changed in S1705, the new input signal attribute information is stored in the input signal attribute storage unit 1513 in S1710 in association with the identification signal. Is stored. Next, in S1711, a display setting confirmation routine is performed. In the next step S1712, the display setting information and the EDID information storage unit 1512 for the input image stored in the display setting storage unit 1514 are stored.
The image conversion information is created by using the display attribute information in the above and the input attribute information described above.

The image conversion information created in this way is stored in the image conversion information storage unit 1516 in association with the input identification signal (S1713). Then, according to the image conversion information, the image synthesizing unit 1503 is controlled to process the input image signal, and the processing is terminated (S1709).

FIG. 15 shows examples of identification information, attribute information, display settings, and image conversion information for each image signal input in FIG. PC1, PC2, and the TV tuner are the same as those in FIG. In this embodiment, DC1400 is newly added.
Receiving the image signal from the. When a new image from the DC 1400 is displayed as shown in FIG. 12D, the identification ID of the output image from the DC 1400 and the input attribute information are acquired as the identification signal of the new input image signal, and this attribute is obtained. Information and display setting information for DC images, and ED
Image conversion information is newly generated according to the ID information. Figure 1
In the example of No. 5, the attribute of the DC image is 2560 × 2048 pixels, whereas the display setting is 800 × 600 pixels, so that the obtained resolution conversion magnification is 0.3.

Then, the image conversion information creation unit 1501c determines the resolution conversion rate and the DC defined by the display setting information.
Based on the display address of the image, image conversion information is created in accordance with the above equations (1) and (2).

As described above, also in the present embodiment, when a plurality of image signals are simultaneously input and the images related to the plurality of input image signals are displayed on the same screen on the display, the identification signals of the respective input image signals are used. Image conversion information necessary for optimal display of an input image signal is stored in association with the image signal, and when an image signal is input, optimal processing according to the input signal can be quickly performed.

Therefore, even when a plurality of image signals are input, it is possible to always realize good image display.

Also, image conversion information is automatically generated in accordance with the attribute information added to the input image signal, the display attribute information of the display device itself, and the display setting information by the user, and this is used as the identification information of the input image signal. When the attribute of the input image signal is changed, the change can be detected quickly, and quick and optimal image display can be performed according to the change of the input image signal.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the input identification signal and the input signal attribute are obtained for various input image signals, and are obtained in accordance with the corresponding predetermined display settings. A display device that automatically processes image conversion for display on a screen is realized. This allows
Display attributes of multiple video signals (image area (image size,
Position), character size, resolution, screen update cycle, number of gradations, color, aspect ratio, etc.), and a multi-screen display that realizes easy-to-see and display characteristics according to the application. Equipment can be provided.

In addition, in contrast to the prior art where image display information is set for each application or each window or channel of a display device, there is provided a means for automatically creating and storing image conversion information for an identification signal of an input signal. By providing,
A display device capable of automatically responding to a new image input or a change in signal attribute from the same signal source is realized. This makes it possible to provide a network-type display device that can flexibly cope with a new image input or a change in signal attribute from the same signal source in a many-to-one or many-to-many connection unique to a network, and that can be easily handled by a user.

In each of the above embodiments, the microcomputer or the CPU controls the apparatus. However, a storage medium such as a ROM or an HDD storing a program used for the control is also used in the present invention. Is configured.

[0173]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a plurality of image signals are input and images related to these image signals are displayed, optimal display can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a display system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of data handled by the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example on the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display image of a PDA.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a display setting confirmation routine of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining specific display processing by the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image processing unit in the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of various types of information handled by the display of FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of a network to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state of another network to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another display example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of a display system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining processing by the STB in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of various types of information handled by the STB of FIG. 14;

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Claims (28)

[Claims] An input unit configured to input a plurality of image signals from outside the apparatus; an image processing unit configured to process the plurality of image signals; and a display device configured to display the plurality of image signals output from the image processing unit. An output unit that outputs the plurality of systems of image signals and processing control information in association with each other; and a storage unit that stores the plurality of systems of image signals based on the processing control information stored in the storage unit. An image processing apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to control an operation of processing an image signal. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means has an identification means for identifying a plurality of image signals input from said input means, and selectively processes said processing control information stored in said storage means based on said identification result. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is read out. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the identification unit identifies the image signal based on identification information added to each of the plurality of systems of image signals. 4. The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identification information has a different value for each of the image signals of the plurality of systems. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the image processing unit to convert a resolution of the image signal based on the processing control information. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the image processing unit to change a display area of the image signal on the display device based on the processing control information. . 7. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image signals of the plurality of systems have different signal sources. 8. The image signal of the plurality of systems has a different output mode from a signal source.
The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 9. An image processing apparatus, comprising: identification means for identifying an image signal input from the input means; and generation means for generating the processing control information for the input image signal based on an identification result of the identification means. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores the image signal identified by the identification unit and the processing control information generated by the generation unit in association with each other. 10. An image processing apparatus further comprising: attribute information detecting means for detecting attribute information on the plurality of image signals added to the plurality of image signals, wherein the generating means further comprises: an identification result of the identifying means; 10. The processing control information is generated based on attribute information detected by attribute information detecting means.
The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 11. Attribute information detecting means for detecting attribute information relating to the plurality of image signals added to the plurality of image signals, and a plurality of images relating to the plurality of image signals in the display device. Setting means for setting a display state of the information processing apparatus, wherein the generating means further comprises: the identification result of the identification means, the attribute information detected by the attribute information detecting means, and the display state set by the setting means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein processing control information is generated. 12. An image according to claim 1, wherein said image processing means processes said plurality of image signals so that a plurality of images related to said plurality of image signals are displayed on the same screen. Processing equipment. 13. An input device for inputting a plurality of image signals from outside the apparatus, an image processing device for processing the plurality of image signals, and a display device for displaying the plurality of image signals output from the image processing device. Output means for outputting to the plurality of image signals, image attribute detecting means for detecting image attribute information relating to the plurality of image signals, and the plurality of image signals based on the display attribute information and the image attribute information relating to the display device. Image processing comprising: generating means for generating processing control information corresponding to image processing; and control means for controlling a processing operation of the plurality of systems of image signals by the image processing means based on the processing control information generated by the generating means. apparatus. 14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the image attribute information includes information on a resolution of the image signal, and the display attribute information includes information on a display resolution of the display device. 15. An image processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said image processing means converts the resolution of said image signal based on said processing control information. 16. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said image attribute detecting means detects said image attribute information by using additional information added to said plurality of streams of image signals. 17. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said image attribute detecting means detects the image attribute information by performing a predetermined operation on the image signals of the plurality of systems. 18. A storage unit for storing the image attribute information and the processing control information, wherein the generation unit includes an image attribute information stored in the storage unit and an image newly detected by the image attribute detection unit. 14. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein when the attribute information is different, the processing control information is newly generated based on the newly detected image attribute information and stored in the storage unit. 19. When the image attribute information stored in the storage unit is already stored in the storage unit, the control unit reads out the processing control information corresponding to the image attribute information from the storage unit, and reads the processing control information. 19. The image processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the image processing unit is controlled based on the output processing control information. 20. An image according to claim 13, wherein said image processing means processes said plurality of systems of image signals so that a plurality of images related to said plurality of systems of image signals are displayed on the same screen. Processing equipment. 21. Setting means for setting display areas of the plurality of images on the display screen, wherein the generating means further generates the processing control information based on the display area set by the setting means. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein: 22. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising: a receiving unit that receives the display attribute information from the display device; and a display attribute storage unit that stores the received display attribute information. apparatus. 23. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the display attribute information is information in an EDID format. 24. The image processing apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a transmission unit configured to transmit the display attribute information to an external device, wherein the image signals of the plurality of systems are output from the external device. 25. A method of inputting a plurality of systems of image signals from outside the device, processing the plurality of systems of image signals, and outputting the processed signals to a display device, wherein the plurality of systems of image signals correspond to processing control information. And an image processing method for controlling the processing of the image signals of the plurality of systems based on the stored processing control information. 26. A method of inputting a plurality of systems of image signals from outside the apparatus, processing the plurality of systems of image signals, and outputting the processed signals to a display device, wherein image attribute information relating to the plurality of systems of image signals is detected. And generating processing control information corresponding to the image signals of the plurality of systems based on the display attribute information and the image attribute information related to the display device, and generating the plurality of processing control information based on the processing control information generated by the generation unit. An image processing apparatus for controlling a processing operation of a system image signal. 27. A process for inputting a plurality of systems of image signals from outside the device, processing the plurality of systems of image signals, and outputting the processed signals to a display device, wherein the plurality of systems of image signals are associated with processing control information. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing processing for controlling processing operations of the plurality of systems of image signals based on the stored processing control information. 28. A process of inputting a plurality of systems of image signals from outside the apparatus, processing the plurality of systems of image signals, and outputting the processed signals to a display device, wherein image attribute information relating to the plurality of systems of image signals is detected. Generating processing control information corresponding to the image signals of the plurality of systems based on the display attribute information and the image attribute information according to the display device, and processing the plurality of systems based on the processing control information generated by the generation unit. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing a process of controlling an image signal processing operation.