JP2002023719A - Device and method for image processing, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processor which can control the amount of signals being received. SOLUTION: The image processor has at least one video signal inputting means into which video signals of a plurality of systems are inputted, a transmitted information amount controlling means which determines the amount of changes of each transmitted information amount and the changing method in order to make the total sum of the transmitted information amounts of a plurality of video signals inputted to the video signal inputting means an arbitrary value, an information amount control signal generating means which generates information amount control signals that specify the changing method of each transmitted information amount; an information amount control signal communication means which communicates the information amount control signals to the video signal sources of the plurality of systems inputting signals to the video signal inputting means; and a control means which controls the total sum of the transmitted information amount inputted to the video signal inputting means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image processing technique, and more particularly to an image processing technique for controlling the amount of transmitted information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of communication technology, networking in offices has progressed, and various devices centering on personal computers (PCs) have been interconnected to share functions. In recent years, IEEE1394 and US
Standardization of communication between home devices such as HAVi and Jini at B etc. is also progressing, and networking of devices at home is also progressing.

[0003] On the other hand, in the past, TV sets and personal computer (PC) displays were completely different things,
TVs that can display PC images and TVs
A PC display to which a V signal can be input has appeared.

[0004] Furthermore, large-screen display devices such as wide-screen TVs, plasma displays, rear projection TVs, and projection type projectors are not suitable for movies and T-screens.
The use of various video sources, such as V, home videos, presentations, video conferences, and display of various materials, in offices and homes is increasing. Under such circumstances, there is a demand for a display having a multi-screen display function of dividing and displaying images of a plurality of different image signal sources in one screen.

FIG. 14 shows a configuration of a display for a personal computer (PC) as an example of a conventional general display. C1 is a PC as an image signal source, and C15 is a PC display as a display device. Here, a display that transmits image signals digitally is illustrated.

[0006] In C1, C2 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and C3 is a bus control unit that transmits control signals of the CPU to each unit and controls the entire data bus and control bus. C11a is a system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus connecting the respective units. C11b and C2
This is the bus wiring between C3. C4 is a main memory of the PC, and C5 is a recording medium such as a hard disk. C6
Is a graphic drawing unit that creates an image signal for a display. Here, the graphic drawing unit is adapted to output image attributes to the display (resolution, pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristics, number of gradations, color characteristics, etc.). Output is performed.

[0007] C7 is an image memory used at the time of image processing of C6. C11e is a data bus and a control bus between C6 and C7. C8 is an image transmission unit for transmitting the image signal created by the graphic creation unit to the display. Specifically, the display standardization organization DDWG (Di
gital Display Working Group)
l video interface) is a transmission element of the TMDS standard adopted such as the standard, and a transmission element that transmits only a part that compresses an image or partially rewrites a part.

C9 and C10 are parts for communication between the display and the PC. Here, there is a standard called DDC (Display Data Channel) for communication between a display and a PC. DDC stands for VESA (Video / Electronic / Standard / Assoc)
iation), a standard for interaction for computers to recognize and control display devices. In accordance with this communication method, VESA standardized EDID (Extend
ed Display Identification Data) display information is transmitted from the display side to the PC side.

The above-mentioned DVI standard also employs this DDC communication to perform communication between a display and a PC, as well as a hot plug function (to detect when a display is connected to a PC and to provide a DDC communication).
Communication function). C10 is a DDC communication unit that performs the DDC communication, and C9 is a connection detection unit for realizing the hot plug function. For example, when the display is not connected, C9 is pulled up or pulled down by a resistor, and the connection changes the potential to GND or a power supply potential to detect display connection. C11c is a wiring group for transmitting signals from C9 and C10 to C6. Alternatively, the control of C9 and C10 may be controlled by the CPU.

In C15, C17 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the display, and C25a is a group of wires composed of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. C18 is an image receiving unit that receives an image signal of the TMDS standard or the like transmitted from C8 and converts the signal into a format suitable for signal processing such as 8 bits for each color of RGB. C19 is a resolution conversion unit for performing resolution conversion for adjusting the number of pixels of the image from the PC to the number of display pixels of the display and conversion of the screen update frequency, and C20 is an image memory unit. C25e is a data bus and a control bus of the image memory. C21 is an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics, color characteristics, and the like, and performs character display such as an on-screen display, in accordance with the characteristics of the liquid crystal, CRT, and the like used in the image display unit. C2
Reference numeral 2 denotes an image display unit including elements such as liquid crystal, CRT, PDP, EL, and LED.

C24 is a DDC communication unit for performing the aforementioned DDC communication,
Reference numeral 23 denotes a connection signal supply unit that supplies a bias voltage or the like for recognizing the connection. C25b to C25d are
An image data bus.

C14a to C14c are wires for connecting the PC and the display, C14a is a wire for image signals, C14b is a wire for DDC communication, and C14c is a wire for connection detection. Usually C
14a to 14c are combined into one image-specific cable.

As shown in this example, a conventional display for a PC has basically been connected one-to-one with a PC for outputting an image. The resolution of the display screen has been determined by sending and receiving EDID data by DDC communication when the PC is started or when the connection between the PC and the display is detected.

FIG. 15 shows HAVi currently being formulated.
1 shows an example of a connection form between devices in a communication standard between devices in a home, such as Jini and Jini.

In FIG. 15, D1 and D13 are digital televisions (DTV # A, DTV # B) capable of receiving digital broadcasting. Here, D1 is connected to a network such as IEEE1394 via a set-top box D2, and D2 is D
It is connected by an image-specific cable such as a D terminal indicated by 19. Also, D13 has a built-in IEEE1394 decoder and is therefore directly connected to the network. D4
Is a PC (PC # A) and D3 is its display (PCDisplay_
A) and D18a are the dedicated image cables, which correspond to the configuration diagram described in FIG. Similarly, D10
PC (PC # B), D9 is its display (PCDisplay_B),
D18b is the dedicated image cable. Here, both D4 and D10 are connected to IEEE1394, which is used not for transmitting image signals to the display but for transmitting other signals. In addition, D5 is a digital TV tuner of another system (DT
V TUNER), D6 is digital video (DV), D11 is DV
D disk player (DVD), server (HDD) in which D12 is a hard disk for recording programs, AV
The devices are connected by IEEE1394, and are mutually connected to exchange image signals. D14 is a modem (mo
dem), where D16 is a telephone line connected to a public network. D7 and D8 are hubs for branch connection of IEEE1394 signals. D17a to D17j are communication lines of the IEEE1394 standard.

In the home network connected in this way, the user can use D1 and D13 televisions and various sources (DTV).
TUNER, DV, DVD, HDD) can be used from a distance.

[0017]

However, in the conventional home network configuration, since the output image of the PC is connected to the dedicated display one-to-one with a dedicated cable, a digital TV or the like is used like other AV equipment. There was a drawback that PC images could not be referenced via a network. Also,
Dedicated cable is relatively thick and cannot extend transmission distance
The PC and the display had to be placed in close proximity.

This is due to the following reasons. First,
In the current display transmission system, there is a problem that the transmission speed limit is exceeded when different image signals are transmitted on the same line. For example, in the case of XGA resolution (1024 pixels x 7
68 pixels, 60Hz update cycle, pixel frequency 65MHz, 8 bits for each color) Information volume is 1.56Gbit / sec, IEEE1394 transmission speed 400M
Originally, there are more PC image signals than bit / sec. For this reason, a special cable for special transmission by TMDS or the like had to be used. If image compression is performed, this data amount can be reduced, but other problems unique to the network remain.

By performing image compression such as the MPEG standard or partial rewriting, the amount of information can be transmitted by itself, but the same wiring is required when trying to refer to it from an arbitrary location in a home network configuration. Since a plurality of image signals are transmitted above, there is a possibility that the transmission speed exceeds the allowable amount. In particular, when multiple screens are displayed in a multi-screen display, the number of image signals occupying the line increases, and not only in PCs, but also in digital TVs that are currently assumed to be transmitted over a network, Is considered to have the following problem.

Second, the current PC and display resolution determination method does not support a network-specific many-to-many system due to the concept of one-to-one assumption. EDID data transferred from the display to the PC via DDC communication (currently Ver.1.
3) shows only a list of displayable resolutions, and the actual resolution is selected by the graphic drawing unit of the PC that referred to this, and the signal output of the corresponding resolution is sent unilaterally to the display. . Therefore, the display merely estimates the resolution at which the signal is transmitted from the PC by determining the resolution from the transmitted image signal. Therefore, even if a problem occurs such that an image signal having a large amount of information is transmitted from a plurality of signal sources and exceeds the processing capability of a transmission line or a display, and a correct display cannot be performed, the display cannot cope with the problem. .

A signal source such as a PC, which originally plays a role of a host, can grasp the display capability of a display connected to the signal source, but does not understand the information amount of another signal source connected to the display. Since the configuration is not comprehensible, such a problem cannot be prevented as a system.

Third, the current PC resolution determination method cannot support the network-specific many-to-many correspondence because of the conventional one-to-one premise, and can use any display device for any signal source. Cannot be set to an appropriate display attribute. This is because the DDC standard uses EDID to determine the resolution of the display screen.
This is because data transmission and reception are limited to when the PC is started or when connection between the PC and the display is detected. further,
From the display, EDID data is transferred to the PC via DDC communication, but this EDID data (currently Ver.1.3) only shows a list of displayable resolutions, and the actual resolution is the graphic drawing of the PC referred to this. This is a configuration in which a signal output of a corresponding resolution is unilaterally sent to the display after the determination is made. Therefore, the display merely estimates the resolution at which the signal is transmitted from the PC by determining the resolution from the transmitted image signal. For this reason, an incorrect resolution may or may not be displayed between the PC and the display. In such a situation, it is possible to exchange resolutions in a many-to-one or many-to-many system, and to display multiple screens mixed with home AV (AUDIO / VIDEO) equipment using MPEG on the same signal line. Did not.

An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a recording medium that can control the amount of received signals.

[0024]

According to one aspect of the present invention, at least one video signal input means to which a plurality of video signals are input, and transmission of a plurality of video signals to be input to the video signal input means. In order to set the total amount of information to an arbitrary value, a transmission information amount management unit that determines a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount, and an information amount control signal that specifies a change method of each transmission information amount is created. Information amount control signal creating means,
An information amount control signal communication unit that communicates the information amount control signal to a plurality of video signal sources input to the image signal input unit, and a total amount of transmission information input to the image signal input unit is controlled. An image processing apparatus comprising:

According to another aspect of the present invention, at least one video signal input means to which a plurality of streams of video signals are input, and a transmission information amount of the plurality of video signals to be input to the video signal input means are obtained. Transmission information amount acquisition means, transmission information amount management means for determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount in order to make the total of the acquired transmission information amounts an arbitrary value, and a change method of each transmission information amount Information amount control signal creating means for creating an information amount control signal designating the information amount, and an information amount control signal communication for communicating the information amount control signal to a plurality of video signal sources input to the video signal input means. Means and control means for controlling the total amount of transmission information input to the video signal input means.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, at least one image signal input means to which a plurality of streams of video signals are input, and the plurality of streams of input video signals are processed and synthesized into one screen. At least one first image processing means, and image attribute information of a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen, first image attribute information communication means for communicating with a signal source of a corresponding input video signal; An image processing apparatus, comprising: a first control unit for adjusting an image attribute of each video signal input to the image signal input unit using the first image attribute information communication unit. Is done.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, at least one image signal input means to which a plurality of video signals are input, and the plurality of input video signals are processed and synthesized into one screen. At least one first image processing unit, and a signal notifying that setting or changing of an image attribute of a video signal in a screen area to be displayed on a display screen is communicated to a signal source of a corresponding video signal. First image attribute change signal communication means, and first image attribute information communication means for communicating image attribute information of a video signal in a small screen area to be displayed on a display screen to a signal source of a corresponding input video signal And, by the first image attribute change signal communication means and the first image attribute information communication means, by specifying the image attribute information of the video signal to be input to the image signal input means, the signal source of each video signal Between Was carried out, the image processing apparatus characterized by having a first control means for controlling the total amount of image information to be input to the image signal input means.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, at least one image signal output means, a second image processing means for changing a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal output from the image signal output means, A second image attribute information communication unit that receives the information of the image attribute to be transmitted and transmits the information of the image attribute that can be output by the second image processing unit,
An image processing apparatus comprising: a second control unit that adjusts an image attribute of a video signal output from the image signal output unit using the second image attribute information communication unit. .

According to still another aspect of the present invention, at least one image signal output means, and second image processing for changing image attributes such as resolution and compression ratio of a video signal output from the image signal output means. Means, a second image attribute change signal communication means for receiving an image attribute change signal of an image output from the image signal output means, and a second image processing means for receiving required image attribute information, A second image attribute information communication means for transmitting information of image attributes that can be output, using the second image attribute information communication means,
An image processing apparatus comprising: a second control unit that adjusts an image attribute of a video signal output from the image signal output unit.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Inputting video signals of a plurality of systems; and (b) determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount so that the total transmission information amount of the input plurality of video signals is an arbitrary value. (C) generating an information amount control signal specifying a method of changing each transmission information amount, and (d) communicating the information amount control signal to the plurality of input video signal sources. And (e) controlling the total amount of the input transmission information amount.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) obtaining transmission information amounts of the input video signals, and (c) setting a total of the obtained transmission information amounts to an arbitrary value. Deciding the change amount and change method of each transmission information amount; (d) creating an information amount control signal designating the change method of each transmission information amount; And (f) controlling the total amount of the input transmission information to the video signal source.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Inputting a plurality of streams of video signals, (b) processing the input plurality of streams of video signals and combining them into one screen, and (c) a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen. And (d) adjusting the image attribute of each of the input video signals. Is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Inputting a plurality of streams of video signals, (b) processing the input plurality of streams of video signals and combining them into one screen, and (c) a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen. Communicating a signal notifying that the image attribute is to be set or changed to the signal source of the corresponding video signal; and (d) image attribute information of the video signal in the sub-screen area to be displayed on the display screen Communicating with a signal source of a corresponding input video signal; and (e) specifying image attribute information of the input video signal, performing adjustment with each video signal source, Controlling the total amount of image information to be input.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Changing image attributes such as resolution and compression ratio of a video signal to be output; (b) receiving required image attribute information and transmitting outputable image attribute information; and (c). Adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
Changing the image attributes such as the resolution and compression ratio of the video signal to be output, (b) receiving the image attribute change signal of the image to be output, and (c) receiving the required image attribute information Transmitting information on image attributes that can be output, and (d) adjusting the image attributes of the video signal to be output.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A procedure of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, and (b) determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount in order to set the total of the transmission information amounts of the input video signals to an arbitrary value. (C) creating an information amount control signal designating a method of changing each transmission information amount; and (d) communicating the information amount control signal to the plurality of input video signal sources. And a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute (e) the step of controlling the total amount of input transmission information is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A step of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems; and (b) a step of acquiring transmission information amounts of the input plurality of video signals;
(C) a procedure for determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount in order to set the total of the acquired transmission information amounts to an arbitrary value; and (d) information specifying a change method of each transmission information amount. Creating an amount control signal; (e) communicating the information amount control signal to the plurality of input video signal sources; and (f) controlling the total amount of input transmission information. And a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the procedure is recorded.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A procedure of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a procedure of processing the input video signals of the plurality of systems and combining them into one screen, and (c) a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen Recording a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for communicating the image attribute information of the input video signal to the signal source of the corresponding input video signal and a procedure for adjusting the image attribute of each input video signal. Computer-readable recording medium is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A procedure of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a procedure of processing the input video signals of the plurality of systems and combining them into one screen, and (c) a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen And (d) image attribute information of a video signal in a sub-screen area to be displayed on a display screen. Communicating with a signal source of a corresponding input video signal, and (e) specifying image attribute information of the input video signal, performing adjustment between the video signal sources, and A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of controlling the total amount of image information to be input is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A procedure for changing image attributes such as a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal to be output, (b) a procedure for receiving required image attribute information and transmitting outputable image attribute information, and (c). A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output and a computer is provided.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, (a)
A procedure for changing image attributes such as a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal to be output, (b) a procedure for receiving an image attribute change signal of an image to be output, and (c) receiving information on required image attributes. And a computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of transmitting outputable image attribute information and a procedure of (d) adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output. You.

According to the present invention, when an image processing apparatus connected to a plurality of signal sources via a network or the like receives a plurality of video signals, the display areas, arrangement relationships, uses, types, and contents of the plurality of video signals are provided. , The video attributes (resolution, image area, screen update period,
The number of gradations, colors, aspect ratio, etc.) and transmission method (transmission method,
By sending a signal to the signal source to control the amount of information other than the image (such as the compression method, compression ratio, and rewrite cycle) or information other than the image (such as audio information and control signals from an external control device such as a mouse) communicated with the image. By controlling the total number of received signals, unnecessary information can be reduced.

[0043]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below along with examples with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows two PCs (personal computers) and this PC as a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. A1a and A1b are:
Two PCs are used as image output devices, and A30 is a PC display as a display device. Here, a display for digitally transmitting an image signal and an audio signal is illustrated.

In each of A1a and A1b, A2
a and A2b are CPUs (central processing units);
A3b transmits the control signal of the CPU to each unit,
A bus control unit that controls the entire data bus and control bus. A20a and A20b are system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus for connecting each unit. A21a and A21b are bus lines between A2a and A3a, and A2b and A3b. A4a and A4b are main memory units of each PC, and A5a and A5b are recording medium units such as hard disks. A6a and A6b are graphic drawing units that create image signals for the display, and here, output image attributes (resolution,
Pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristic, number of gradations,
Output according to the color characteristics).

A7a and A7b are image memories used for A6a and A6b image processing. A22a, A2
2b is a data bus and a control bus between A6a and A7a and between A6b and A7b. A8a and A8b are sound source units for creating an audio signal from a recording medium such as a CD or a microphone. A9a and A9b are image / audio transmission units for transmitting the image signal generated by the graphic drawing unit and the audio signal generated by the sound source unit to the display. Here, the part to convert to TMDS signal or MPEG signal,
A part that converts the signal into an EEE1394 signal and performs communication corresponds to the part. A9a and A9b also perform compression conversion of an image and conversion to a partially rewritten signal.

A23 is a transmission line for image signals and audio signals between the PC and the display, and A24 is a transmission line for control signals between the PC and the display. Where A
10a, A11a, A12a, A13a and A10b,
A11b, A12b, and A13b are parts for communication with the display.

A10a and A10b are communication units, and ED
An information amount control signal from the display is received together with image attribute information such as ID information and an error signal. A
Reference numerals 11a and A11b denote EDID information storage units which store the acquired display EDID information.

Reference numerals A12a and A12b denote image information amount control units which control the graphic drawing unit in response to the information amount control signal received from the display. A13
Reference numerals a and A13b denote audio information amount control units, which are units that receive an information amount control signal received from a display and control a sound source.

A12a, A12b, A13a, A13b
Schematically shows processing realized inside the CPU. A25a and A25b show the flow of signals received by the information amount control signals to the image and sound information amount control units, respectively.
A26a and A26b show the flow of the information amount control signal from the image information control unit to the graphic drawing unit. Also,
A27a and A27b show the flow of the information amount control signal from the audio information control unit to the sound source.

In A30, A31 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the display, and A50 is a group of wires composed of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. A
Reference numeral 32 denotes an image / audio receiving unit that receives the image signal and the audio signal transmitted from the A9a and A9b, decodes the TMDS or IEEE 1394 format signal, and decompresses the compressed data. Here, the transmission amount of the image signal and the audio signal from each input system is detected, and information on the transmission amount is sent to the microcomputer unit.

A33 is a resolution converter for converting the number of pixels of the image from the PC to the number of display pixels of the display and for converting the screen update frequency.
A34 is an image memory used for the signal processing of A33, and A51 is a wiring group including a data bus and a control bus of this memory. A35 is an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics and color characteristics according to characteristics of a liquid crystal or a CRT used for the image display unit, and displays characters on an on-screen display. A36 is
It is an image display unit composed of elements such as liquid crystal, CRT, PDP, EL, and LED. A52, A53, A54 are
An image data bus. A37 is an audio processing unit that converts and amplifies the received audio signal into a signal to be reproduced by a speaker, and A38 is a speaker. Also, A
55 is the wiring between them.

Here, A40, A41, A42, A43
Is a part for communication between PCs. A 40 is a communication unit that transmits an information amount control signal to the PC together with conventional image attribute information such as EDID information and an error signal. A41 is a storage unit for the EDID information unique to the display. A42 derives the total transmission amount received from the transmission amount of each human system detected in A32, and comprehensively judges from the use and purpose of each transmission signal, the type and image attribute of the image, the transmission format, etc. , Calculate the appropriate signal distribution,
The transmission information amount management unit instructs the information amount control signal generation unit to generate a control signal for reducing the amount of transmission information to each signal source.

Reference numeral A43 denotes an information amount control signal creator for creating a control signal of the amount of transmission information for each signal source from the control request of the transmission signal of the transmission information amount manager A42. A4
2 and A43 schematically represent processing realized inside the microcomputer.

A56 shows the flow of the detection signal of the amount of transmission information detected in A32. A57 indicates the flow of instructions from the transmission information amount management unit A42 to the information amount control signal creation unit. A58 indicates a flow of the information amount control signal from the information amount control signal creation unit A43 to the communication unit A40.

A23 is a transmission line for transmitting image / audio signals, and A23 is a transmission line for control signals. Here, A23 and A24 are shown separately, but actually, the same transmission / reception is performed between the devices on the same network communication line in which signal lines such as TMDS and IEEE1394 are cascaded or tree-connected. Communication may be performed by means.

FIG. 4A shows a display example on the image display device of A30 in FIG. Here, the image display device is QXGA
This is a display device having a pixel number of (2048 × 1536 pixels), and F1 indicates the entire display area. Also,
F2 indicates a display image of the PC A1a as the image signal source 1 connected to the image display device. Here, the image of A1a is QXGA (2048 × 1536 pixels) and is displayed on the entire screen of F1. Also,
As the image content, an image of a homepage on the Internet is displayed, and a live broadcast pattern of the singer received via the network is reproduced with video information and audio information. The small screen area of F3 shows a display image of A1b, which is a PC as the image signal source 2 connected to the image display device. Here, the HDT reproduced in the DVD reproducing unit, which is one of the recording media A5b in FIG.
V (1920 × 1080 pixels) movie image into 102
The image is displayed after being reduced and converted to a resolution of 4 × 576.

FIG. 4D shows an image of only A1a.
In particular, F4 is a moving image portion displaying video information indicating a live broadcast pattern of the singer in the information of the homepage.
FIG. 4C shows an image of only A2a. Always movie because of movie images. Thus, the number of pixels is QXGA
In a display where a video signal having a large amount of information is input, such as an image via the Internet including a part of a moving image and an image of a HDTV which always has a large amount of information like a moving image, if both are input as they are, However, even if the amount of image information is reduced by partial rewriting, compression, etc., both still have a large amount of transmission information, exceeding the transmission allowable amount,
There is a possibility that image quality deterioration such as dropped frames or discontinuity of moving images may occur.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG.
The image signal from a sends a control signal to the image signal source A1a so as to transmit the image signal except for the image of the sub-screen F3. In addition, the image shown in FIG. 4C is not transmitted as it is with the number of HDTV pixels (1920 × 1080 pixels), but is transmitted as an image signal so as to transmit a reduced signal after being converted to 1024 × 576 pixels by A1b. Send a control signal to source A1b. In addition, the audio signal accompanying the image is not transmitted through both systems as in the past, but the priority of the display contents (for example, the user can set the live audio to be prioritized, , Etc.), an audio control signal is sent to the corresponding signal source so that unused audio data is not sent as one audio is output from the speaker. As a result, the amount of transmission information input to the image display device is controlled to prevent deterioration in image quality and communication problems, thereby realizing good multi-screen display.

The operation of controlling the amount of transmission information in the configuration of FIG. 1 and setting the display of each input system as shown in FIG. 4A will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In B1, the input connection of the PC is selected by a user input unit (not shown) of the image display device A30 in FIG. Here, the signal source A1 of FIG. 1 is used as a parent screen in a display area of the entire display of QXGA (2048 × 1536 pixels).
As for the input of the image a, the input of the image of the signal source A1b is selected in the small screen area of 1024 × 576 pixels.

Accordingly, in B2 and B3,
The display setting operation of each screen of the signal sources A1a and A1b is performed.
Also, in B4, the audio signal from A1a is selected and output from the speaker according to the user setting that gives priority to the main screen. At this stage, the signal amount is not yet controlled, and the signal sent from the signal source is received as it is to perform image display and audio output.

Next, at B5, the receiving unit A32 shown in FIG.
Then, the amount of transmission information from each input system is detected, and the image information amount management unit A42 acquires it. In B6, the image information amount management unit A42 calculates an appropriate signal distribution from the use and purpose of each transmission signal, the type and image attribute of the image, the transmission format, and the like.

At B7, the information amount control signal creation unit of A43 creates an information amount control signal for the image signal source 1 (A1a). Here, a request signal for transmitting only the image signal of the region excluding the child screen region is created by designating the child screen region.

In B8, the information amount control signal generator of A43 generates an information amount control signal for the image signal source 2 (A1b). Here, a request signal for transmitting an image signal whose resolution has been converted in accordance with the number of pixels of a screen area of a 1024 × 576 pixel small screen area and a request signal for stopping transmission of an audio signal of this system are created.

At B9, each information amount control signal is transmitted to each signal source via the communication unit A40 of FIG. The information amount control signals received by the receiving units A10a and A10b of each signal source are processed by the information amount control unit in the CPU of each signal source, and control the graphic drawing unit and the sound source unit according to the request.
As a result, the signal changed according to the request is output by the image / sound transmission units A9a and A9b of each signal source.

The image display attribute of the image display device A30 has been communicated to each signal source in advance as EDID information and stored in A11a and A11b. C
The PU units A2a and A2b refer to both the EDID information of the display and the content of the received information amount control signal.
Further, the format of the output signal is reset by referring to the drawing capability such as the resolution and update frequency of the graphic drawing unit and the capability of the sound source.

At B10, the receiving unit A32 of FIG.
Then, the transmission information amount after the change from each input system is detected and acquired by the image information amount management unit A42. In B11, the image information amount management unit A42 determines whether the detection result of each input signal and the total amount of input information are appropriate. If not, the process returns to step B6. If it is determined to be appropriate, the process proceeds to step B12, and the input setting operation ends.

As a method of obtaining the information on the display by the image output device, exchange of EDID data (currently Ver. 3.0) by conventional DDC communication and HAVi (H
ome Audio / Video Interoperer
availability) standard (currently Ver1.0)
In each case, only communication of information (the number of display pixels, the aspect ratio, the transmission of the MPEG compression format, etc.) of the entire display area is assumed. For this reason, when transmitting a plurality of video signals to an arbitrary screen display area set on the display, the output from each video signal source transmits the same signal as that for the entire display area even for a small screen. Inevitably, there is a possibility that the upper limit of the information amount of the transmission line of the video signal is exceeded.

As described above, in the DDC communication, since the EDID information is one-way from the display to the signal source, the resolution of the image signal input to the display cannot be accurately grasped, and the timing of the communication is also required. PC
Since it is limited to the time of startup and when the display and the signal source are physically connected, it is possible to change the attributes of the image and audio information (display area, resolution, compression ratio, transmission format, etc.) while displaying. Control the amount of information (selection, stop, start,
Communication such as changing the compression ratio).

Further, if a signal source such as a PC merely grasps a video signal on a network as a host, the mutual image information amount between a plurality of signal sources is unknown, so that the same display input system is used. Even if there is a problem that the total amount of input image signals exceeds the allowable amount, the problem cannot be detected or the amount of information cannot be reduced by mutual control.

In the present embodiment, the information side control signal generating means and the means for communicating with each signal source are provided on the display side, so that the transmission information change request signal is transmitted according to the display mode as described above. Thus, the information amount of the output signal from each video signal source can be controlled.

Further, by providing the transmission side with the transmission amount detecting means and the transmission information amount managing means on the display side, the display side controls the signal source so that the information amount on the signal transmission line does not exceed the upper limit value. A possible system can be realized.

Thus, even if a signal source such as a PC manages a video signal on the network as a host, the display side notifies the control signal of the information amount by
Since the relative relationship with the information amount from other signal sources can be grasped, the information amount of the entire network can be grasped simply.

Here, as a control method applicable as a means for suppressing the communication amount, the limitation of the image display area (non-display of the sub-screen area) and the number of pixels (resolution) of the screen shown in the first embodiment are described. Changes, the amount of audio data received, and the image attributes (screen update cycle, number of tones,
For example, there is a change in a color, an aspect ratio, and the like, and a change in a transmission method (a transmission method, a compression method, a compression ratio, a rewrite cycle, and the like). In addition to controlling the amount of audio data received from the signal source as information other than the image communicated with the image, it also controls the amount of data transmitted from the microphone attached to the display and controls external control devices such as a mouse. Signal restriction is also effective.

Further, the signal processing section of the image display device transmits a signal whose magnification has been changed at the output of the signal source of the video signal, instead of changing the display magnification of each sub-screen, thereby providing It is also possible to suppress the amount of information.
In this sense, the display magnification (enlargement ratio, reduction ratio) of the video signal is also considered as one of the image attributes applicable in the present embodiment.

The distribution of the amount of transmission information performed by the image information amount management unit is not limited to user settings such as giving priority to the audio of the main screen or the size of the display area of each video signal as shown in the first embodiment. In accordance with the layout relationship of each screen area, the purpose, the type and content of each image signal, the proportion of moving images, the priority information attached to the image, the copyright information, etc. And an optimum display is realized.

The communication of the control signal of the transmission information amount according to the present embodiment is performed not only when the input system is set but also when the size or position of each image display area is changed or when the position of each display area is changed. Always control the amount of information transmitted on the network to the optimal value by changing the relationship, changing the content or use of the video signal, or applying control signals other than images from the signal source or user operation. Becomes possible.

In this embodiment, the transmission amount detecting means and the communication section of the image / audio receiving section are described in hardware in FIG. 1, but these are controlled by the control means such as the CPU of A2, for example. It is needless to say that, similarly to the section and the information amount control signal creating section, a function executed by software by a computer program is one of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, a medium including these programs is one embodiment of the present invention.

(Second Embodiment) As a second embodiment of the present invention, a display by image transmission on a network is applied, and an image compression signal from a PC by partial rewriting and DT
An example is shown in which signals of different formats, such as MPEG2 compressed signals from a V tuner, are transmitted over the same image transmission line such as IEEE1394.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration diagram of a network in this embodiment. In FIG. 3, E1 and E13 are displays that perform multi-screen display. Here, E1 is connected to a network such as IEEE 1394 via a set-top box E2, and E2 is connected to a cable dedicated to an image such as a TMDS transmission system indicated by E19. Also, E13 has a built-in IEEE 1394 decoder and is therefore directly connected to the network. Here, E2 and E13 correspond to the image processing device and the image display device.

E4 is PC (PC_A), and E4
Reference numeral 10 denotes a PC (PC_B). The display of E4 and E10 is also performed at E1 and E13 via the network. In addition, E5 is a tuner (DTV TUNER) of another type of digital television, E6 is a digital video (DV), E11 is a DVD disc player (D
VD), E12 is a server (HDD) composed of a hard disk for recording programs, and these AV devices are IEEE
They are connected by 1394 and mutually connected to exchange image signals. E14 is a modem (m) connected to the public network E15.
Odem), and E16 is a telephone line connected to a public network. E7 and E8 are hubs for branch connection of IEEE 1394 signals. E17a to E17j are I
It is a communication line of the EEE1394 standard.

In the home network connected in this way, the user can use various sources (PC_A, PC_B, DTV TUNER, DV, D
VD, HDD) can be used from a remote place. Incidentally, operation input means such as a keyboard and a mouse of PC_A and PC_B are not shown, but like the images,
An operation is performed from the vicinity of each display via EEE1394 or the like.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a display image realized in this embodiment. In FIG. 5, F5 is QXGA (2048
It is a screen of a display device having the number of pixels of (× 1536 pixels). F6 is a display image of the PC's QXGA resolution displayed as a parent screen over the entire screen. F7,
It is an image of another PC displayed at a resolution of XGA (1024 × 768 pixels) as a child screen in a quarter area of the main screen. F8 is an image of a digital television tuner in which an HDTV 1920 × 1080 pixel video is converted to 1024 × 576 pixels and displayed in a quarter area of the main screen.

Here, when the area of the parent screen F5 having a large number of pixels is divided and images of a plurality of devices on the network are displayed, the image is displayed on the network in accordance with the purpose and type of the image and the compression method. The feature of this embodiment is to manage the information amount of the video signal input to the display by transmitting the control signal from the display side so that the information amount of the video signal sent above is minimized. is there.

Here, a case where the corresponding device in FIG. 3 is set as follows on the screen in FIG. 5 will be exemplified. F
A display having a screen of No. 5 is E1 and a PC for transmitting the image of the parent screen of F6 is E1, a PC for transmitting the image of F7 is E4, and a tuner for transmitting the image of F8 is E5. Further, the image processing apparatus STB (set-top box) that synthesizes these images and performs display on E1 is connected to E2.
And

FIG. 6 shows a configuration diagram of each device as a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 6, G1 is a PC,
This corresponds to E4 in FIG. G37 is a DTV tuner, which corresponds to E5 in FIG. G15 is a set-top box as an image processing device for synthesizing image signals from respective signal sources via a network and converting the image signals into display outputs of a display, and corresponds to E2 in FIG. G28 is a display and corresponds to E1 in FIG.

In the PC of G1, G2 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and G3 is a bus control unit that transmits control signals of the CPU to each unit and controls the entire data bus and control bus. G11a is a system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus for connecting each unit. G11b is a bus line between G2 and G3. G4 is a main memory unit of the PC, and G5 is a recording medium unit such as a hard disk. G6 is a graphic drawing unit that creates an image signal for a display, and here, an output image attribute (resolution,
Pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristic, number of gradations,
Output according to the color characteristics).

G7 is an image memory used at the time of image processing of G6. G11e is a data bus and a control bus between G6 and G7. G8 is an image encoding unit for converting and compressing the image signal created by the graphic creation unit into a partially rewritten signal for transmission to a display.

G9 converts the compressed partial rewrite signal into IE
IEEE 1394 for communication by converting to IEEE 1394 signals
Communication part. G12 is an information amount control unit that controls a graphic drawing unit and the like in response to the information amount control signal received from the display, and G13 is a storage unit for EDID information transmitted from the display.

In the tuner G37, G38 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the tuner, and G45a is a group of wires consisting of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. G39 receives a signal from the antenna and
A tuner section for outputting an EG signal, G40 is an MPEG decoding section for decoding this MPEG signal and outputting it as a signal for video output, and G45b is a signal output line thereof. Here, G41 is a compression format conversion unit, which converts the read MPEG signal into a compression signal having an arbitrary resolution and a screen update frequency. G42
Is an IEEE 1394 communication part that converts a compressed image signal into an IEEE 1394 signal and performs communication. G
A storage unit 43 stores EDID information transmitted from the display. G44 is an information amount control unit that controls the graphic drawing unit and the like in response to the information amount control signal received from the display.

In the STB of G15, G16 is a user operation section for a user to perform an input operation, G17 is a microcomputer section for controlling the STB, and G25a is a wiring group comprising a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. is there. G18 is an IEEE1394 communication part.
G19a decodes the G1 partially rewritten image signal and the like among the compressed images input from IEEE 1394,
G19b is a decoder for converting into RGB 24-bit signals or the like that can be used for image synthesis operations.
Is G3 of the compressed image input from IEEE1394.
7 is a decoder for decoding an MPEG-based compressed signal or the like and converting it into a signal of 24 bits of RGB or the like which can be used for an operation for image synthesis. G25b, G25
c is a data bus of the decoded image signal.

G20 is an image synthesizing unit for synthesizing outputs from the plurality of decoders, G21 is a memory unit for synthesizing this image, and G25d is a control bus and data bus for this memory. This is a wiring group. G
Reference numeral 22 denotes an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics and color characteristics in accordance with characteristics of a synthesized image signal such as liquid crystal and a CRT used in an image display unit, and displays characters on an on-screen display. . G23 is an image transmission unit such as a VGA standard or a DVI standard for outputting a signal to an image display device including a liquid crystal, an element such as a CRT, a PDP, an EL, and an LED. G25e and
G25f is a data bus for image signals.

G24 is connected to the display by ED.
A DDC communication unit for communicating ID information. Here, G27 is a transmission information amount management unit, and G26 is an information amount control signal creation unit. In the display of G28, G29 is a microcomputer unit for controlling this display, and G36a is a group of wires including a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. G31 is S of G15
An image receiving unit that receives an image signal such as a VGA standard or a DVI standard transmitted from a TB or the like and converts the image signal into a format suitable for signal processing such as 8 bits for each color of RGB. G
Reference numeral 32 denotes a resolution conversion unit for performing resolution conversion for adjusting the number of pixels of the received image to the number of display pixels of the display and conversion of the screen update frequency. G33 is an image memory used in the processing of G32. G36b is a wiring group consisting of a control bus and a data bus of this memory.

G34 is an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics and color characteristics according to characteristics of liquid crystal and CRT used in the image display unit, and displays characters on an on-screen display. G35 is a liquid crystal or C
It is an image display unit composed of elements such as RT, PDP, EL, and LED.

G36c to G36e are data buses for image signals. G30 is a DDC communication unit for communicating EDID information with a signal source of an image signal such as a PC or STB.

Further, G14a and
G14b represents a communication line such as IEEE1394, and communication of image signals of different compression systems according to the same transmission protocol is performed by this wiring. Also, the information amount control signal is communicated on the same transmission path.

G45 indicates a conventional image signal wiring connected by a dedicated image cable such as the VGA standard or DVI standard, and G46 indicates a conventional DDC.
The communication line of communication is shown.

In G15, G47a is the decoder A
(G19a) shows the flow of the detection signal of the amount of image information detected by G47b, and G47b shows the flow of the detection signal of the amount of image information detected by the decoder B (G19b).

G47c is a flow of the EDID information of the display G28 obtained by the DDC communication. G47d is an information amount control signal creation unit G from the transmission information management unit G27.
26 is a flow of an instruction signal such as distribution of an information amount to
47e is a flow to the communication unit G18 of the control signal created by the information amount control signal creation unit G26.

In G1, G48a shows the flow of the information amount control signal out of the received IEEE 1394 signal, and G48b shows the flow of the EDID information of the display read from the EDID information storage unit. G
Reference numeral 48c denotes a flow of a control signal to the graphic drawing unit.

In G37, G49a shows the flow of the information amount control signal in the received IEEE 1394 signal, and G49b shows the flow of the EDID information of the display read from the EDID information storage unit.
G49c is the flow of the control signal to the MPEG decoder unit and the compression conversion unit.

In the present embodiment, the display of G28 is a display device similar to the conventional one. However, here, the G15 set-top box (STB) controls the amount of transmission information of the present embodiment to control the STB. The configuration is such that the combined image is displayed above. Therefore, G15 is G
With reference to the EDID information obtained by the DDC communication with the display device 28, the image arrangement to be output is determined, and similarly to the first embodiment, the generation of the information amount control signal for controlling the transmission information amount is performed. Then, transmission signals of devices such as G1 and G37 are controlled via IEEE1394 communication.

In the second embodiment, similarly to the flow of the first embodiment, the amount of transmission information is controlled. When the STB of G15 and the display of G28 are connected or the power is turned on, the EDID information of the display G28 is communicated from the DDC communication unit of G30 to the DDC communication unit of G24 and stored in G24.

G15 transmits the synthesized image signal from G23 to G31 at a resolution according to the EDID information. Thereby, an image is displayed on the image display unit of G35 via the G32 and G34 units.

As shown in FIG. 5, QXGA (2048 ×
PC in the display area of the entire display (1536 pixels)
An image of (E10 in FIG. 3) is set (E10 is not shown in FIG. 6), and an image of the signal source
The STB (G15) is set so that the image of the signal source G37 is displayed in the area F7 of A (1024 × 768 pixels) and in the area F8 of 1024 × 576 pixels as the child screen 2.

Here, an image of a homepage on the Internet is displayed on the screen of F7, and a moving image of an HDTV movie is displayed on F8. A work screen of the desktop of the PC is displayed in F6.

When the power of the display G28 and the set top box G15 is turned on, the EDI of the display G28
The D information is transferred from G30 to G24, and then transferred to the EDID information storage units of the signal sources G1 and G37. As a result, the HDTV image is output at the original HDTV resolution (1920 × 1080 pixels) from G37, and the PC image is output at the QXGA resolution (2048 × 1536 pixels) from G1.

In the set-top box G15, G
Among the image signals received at 18, the partial rewriting signal from G1 is decompressed by the decoder A (G19a), and the MPEG compressed signal from G37 is decompressed by the decoder B (G19b). At this time, G19a and G19b
, G47a, G4
As shown in 7b, a detection signal is sent to the image information amount management unit G27.

The image information amount management unit G27 includes a purpose and purpose of each transmission signal, an image type and image attributes (screen update frequency, resolution, gamma characteristics, color characteristics, aspect ratio, etc.),
The transmission format, the priority information of the signal source, etc., and the EDID information (G47) of the display G28 obtained by the DDC communication.
From c), an appropriate signal distribution for each signal source is calculated, and an instruction is sent to the information amount control signal generator (G47d).

The information amount control signal generator of G26 is a PC (G
1) Create each information amount control signal for the DTV tuner (G37) and transfer it to the communication unit (G47e).
Each information amount control signal is transmitted to each signal source via the IEEE 1394 communication unit G18.

In this case, the information amount of the input signal is excessive compared with the transmission capability of the IEEE1394 communication unit G18 of the STB and the transmission line. The image information amount management unit G27 determines that the image quality is expected to deteriorate. Therefore, according to the image area of the display screen, G3
7, the resolution of the HDTV image is converted to 1024 × 576 pixels, and for G1, the PC image is converted to XGA.
The information amount control signal for converting the resolution to the resolution (1024 × 768 pixels) is created.

In addition, with this alone, it is determined that the amount of information is still too large, and the screen update cycle is also adjusted. The image from G37 is a movie screen as shown at F8 in FIG. 5, and mainly includes moving images. On the other hand, the image from G1 is an image centered on an article on the homepage of the Internet, and the ratio of moving images is relatively small. Also, smooth updating of the video is not required as much as a movie.

As described above, the image information amount management unit judges from the purpose and contents of the transmission signal, and here, the information amount control signal for giving an instruction to thin the update cycle of the G1 PC screen to one third. Create

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of thinning out the update of the partial rewrite screen. H1 to H4 are four consecutive images when the homepage of the Internet is operated by the browser. H5 is a cursor,
The user is moving on the screen with a mouse or other control means.

At this time, the image encoding unit G8 for creating the partial rewrite signal G1 in FIG. 6 creates image differences H6 to H8 between the screens in FIG. 7, and outputs only this difference signal from G9. . The information amount control signal for instructing the screen update cycle to be thinned to one-third is output from G1 by reducing the work of taking this difference to once every four sheets and outputting only the difference information of H9 from G9. Reduce the amount of transmitted image signals.

The information amount control signals received by the receiving units G9 and G42 of each signal source are transferred to the CPU of each signal source and the information amount control units G12 and G44 in the microcomputer (G48a, G48).
49a). The information amount control units G12 and G44 refer to the stored EDID information (G48b and G49b),
Reference is made to a format that can be output by the graphic drawing unit G6, the MPEG decoder unit G40, and the compression conversion unit G41, and the graphic drawing unit G6, the MPEG decoder unit G40, and the compression conversion unit G are formatted in a format suitable for the requested control signal.
An instruction (G48c, G49c) for controlling 41 is issued. As a result, the reset image signal is transferred to the IEEE of each signal source.
The E1394 communication units G9 and G42 output.

G15 re-detects the changed transmission information amount of each signal source set in this way, and sends the image information amount management unit G
27 is acquired. The image information amount management unit G27 determines whether the detection result of each input signal and the total amount of input information are appropriate. If it is not appropriate, the transmission information amount is adjusted again. If it is determined to be valid, the input setting operation ends.

On the other hand, such an image information amount control signal can also output an instruction to increase the information amount (increase the resolution, decrease the compression rate, increase the screen update rate, etc.). Configuration. This makes it possible not only to set the screen area in multi-screen display when the display is turned on, but also to change the priority of each screen by connecting an arbitrary input system, Even when the (size or arrangement) is changed, the amount of information is flexibly allocated and each image quality can be controlled.

If a signal source cannot change to an image signal of the requested information amount, it sends an information amount control signal to another signal source that has already been agreed on, or displays the display attributes (resolution, By changing the screen update frequency, etc., flexible adjustment is possible between many-to-many network devices.

As described above, the display detects the communication amount of the image corresponding to the plurality of inputs, and sends the control signal of the information amount to the signal source. Transmission. Also, since the signal source side of the image signal can indirectly know the priority of the amount of information with another signal source via the display, it is easy to perform arbitration work between devices in a many-to-many device connection. In addition, the present invention realizes an image display system that flexibly responds to a user's screen area change in a multi-screen.

By employing such a configuration, not only the image signal and other control signals can be transmitted on the same network, but also a relatively thick cable such as a conventional VGA or DVI TMDS standard cable. Therefore, it is not necessary to use a dedicated cable having a transmission distance of 10 m or less, so that it is not overlooked that the PC main body and the display can be set apart from each other.

Further, there is a great merit that the image of the PC can be integrated with the home network of the AV system such as DVD, digital broadcast, DV and the like, and can be controlled by the same control means on the same display device.

As described above, the display detects the amount of communication of the image in response to the plurality of inputs, and sends the control signal of the amount of information to the signal source. Enables image transmission. This easily realizes a multi-screen display system that can display an image of a PC connected with a dedicated cable in the past on the same display via the same network as an image of another AV home appliance.

Further, not only when the display is connected to and disconnected from the network, but also at an arbitrary timing, the display transmits a signal for controlling the image signal to the signal source, and the image signal source can output the signal. By adopting a system configuration for transmitting a signal, arbitration between devices in a many-to-many device connection can be easily performed. In particular, 1
If agreement cannot be reached on arbitration between the paired devices, the display attributes of the multi-screen can be changed by re-adjusting the output image attributes of other signal sources and the display resolution settings of the display device that have already been agreed. To realize an image display system that flexibly responds to

In addition to the change of the screen area by the user, the display area and arrangement relation of a plurality of video signals, the use, the type, the content, the ratio of the moving image, the priority, the user setting, the priority information attached to the image, and the like are included. Accordingly, the image attributes (resolution, image area, screen update cycle, number of gradations, color,
The aspect ratio, etc.), the transmission method (transmission method, compression method, compression ratio, rewrite cycle, etc.) or the amount of information other than the image communicated with the image (sound information, control signals of external control devices such as a mouse, etc.). A multi-function display system that controls and manages the amount of communication on the communication path, thereby preventing the display image from deteriorating due to the limitation of the amount of communication and ensuring image quality according to the purpose while having a multi-screen. To achieve.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 8 shows a configuration of a PC (personal computer) and a display for the PC as a third embodiment of the present invention. A1 is a PC as an image output device, and A15 is a PC as a display device
Display. Here, a display that transmits image signals digitally is illustrated.

In A1, A2 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and A3 is a bus control unit for transmitting a control signal of the CPU to each unit and controlling the entire data bus and control bus. A11a is a system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus for connecting each unit. A11b and A2
Bus wiring between A3. A4 is a main memory unit of the PC, and A5 is a recording medium unit such as a hard disk. A6
Is a graphic drawing unit that creates an image signal for a display. Here, the graphic drawing unit is adapted to output image attributes to the display (resolution, pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristics, number of gradations, color characteristics, etc.). Output is performed.

A7 is an image memory used at the time of image processing of A6. A11e is a data bus and a control bus between A6 and A7. A8 is an image transmission unit for transmitting the image signal created by the graphic creation unit to the display. Here, the part to convert to TMDS signal and MPEG signal,
A part that converts the data into an IEEE1394 signal and performs communication corresponds thereto.
A8 also performs compression conversion of images and conversion to partial rewrite signals.

In A15, A17 is a microcomputer section for controlling the display, and A25a is a group of wires consisting of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. A18 is an image receiving unit that receives the image signal transmitted from A8 and converts it into a format suitable for signal processing, such as 8 bits for each color of RGB. A19 is a resolution conversion unit for performing resolution conversion for adjusting the number of pixels of the image from the PC to the number of display pixels of the display and conversion of the screen update frequency. A20 is A19
A25e is a wiring group including a data bus and a control bus of this memory. A21 is an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics, color characteristics, and the like, and performs character display such as an on-screen display, in accordance with characteristics of a liquid crystal, a CRT, and the like used in the image display unit. A22 is an image display unit composed of elements such as liquid crystal, CRT, PDP, EL, and LED. A25b to A25d
Is an image data bus.

Here, A9, A10, A12, A13 and A23,
A24, A26, and A27 are portions for performing communication other than image signals between the display and the PC.

A9 and A23 are communication sections for connection signals, and are sections for detecting that they are connected. This recognition may be performed not by hardware but by software.

A10 and A24 are EDID information communication units. In addition to the conventional DDC communication method, when necessary, the EDID information of the image display device of A15 is read into the image output device of A1.

A12 and A26 are communication sections for setting and changing signals of the image attribute of the screen area. When the image display device changes the size of the multi-screen sub-screen area, changes in usage, or changes image attributes such as setting a new image output device as an input, the image display device and the image output The notification and the information of the propriety are communicated between the devices.

A13 and A27 are communication units for image attribute information such as the size of the screen area and the update frequency. The image attribute information set corresponding to each screen area of the multi-screen of the display is transmitted to the image output device, and the image output device transmits information indicating whether the image is compatible or not and the image attribute information that can be output to the image display device. By doing so, the image attributes that can be communicated between the two are adjusted.

A14a is a transmission line for transmitting an image signal, and A14b to A14e are transmission lines for other signals. Here, A14a to A14e are illustrated separately, but actually
Communication is performed by the same transmission / reception means on the same network communication line such as EEE1394.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show flowcharts for setting image attributes according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG.

In B1, in the image display device,
Then, the setting of the screen attribute of the PC is changed by a user input unit (not shown). For example, consider a case where a small screen is displayed with 1024 × 576 pixels in the entire display area of a QXGA (2048 × 1536 pixels) display. First, an area change signal is sent from A26 to A12 in B2 and B3. A12 transmits the change notification to the CPU of A2 via the graphic drawing unit of A6. In B4, the CPU of the PC determines whether or not this is possible, and transmits the result from A12 to A26.

For example, if another user does not approve the change when another user is using the same image signal on another display device, the rejection of the change is indicated from A12 to A26 as shown in B5 to B6.
Notify to

At B7, a message indicating that the display could not be changed is displayed on the screen as an error display, and the setting operation is terminated at B8.

On the other hand, when the change is approved, a change approval signal is sent from A12 to A26 as shown in B9 to B10. In response, as shown in B11, display A15
In the microcomputer part of A17, B1 refers to the information of the image transmission signal from another device input to this display, and B1
As shown in FIG. 2, an allowable image information amount of the communication path of the input image signal is calculated. Further, in A17, B13
As shown in the figure, the current setting information of the entire screen (display resolution, number of sub-screens, arrangement, update frequency, etc.) and the priority (video, still image, Image output attributes (number of pixels, compression ratio, update, etc.) required for image signal source such as PC of A1 as shown in B14 by referring to the size of sub-screen, arrangement of each sub-screen, user-specified mode, etc. Frequency, compression method, information of parent screen or child screen, etc.)
The process proceeds to the communication of the setting of the image attribute of B21.

In B22 to B23, the requested image output attribute is transmitted from the image attribute information communication unit A27 of the display to the image attribute information communication unit A13 of the PC.

In B24, the CPU unit A2 or the graphic drawing unit A6 sends a signal from the EDID information communication unit A24 of the display to the PC.
Reference is made to both the EDID information communicated between the EDID information communication units A10 and the received image attribute information. Further, in B25, the drawing capability such as the corresponding resolution and the update frequency of the graphic drawing unit of A6 is referred to. In B26, A8
Of the image transmission unit, a transmission rate, a compression ratio, an update frequency, a compression method, and other outputable formats.

Based on the information, the CPU unit A2 or the graphic drawing unit A6 sends the requested image output attributes (number of pixels, compression ratio, update frequency, compression method, parent screen or child screen to B27) in B27. ), The image output attributes (number of pixels, compression ratio, update frequency, compression method, information of parent screen or child screen, etc.) that can be output are determined. For example, in response to a display request of 1024 x 576 pixels and an update cycle of 40 Hz or less with MPEG2 compression, the PC output only supports MPEG2 30 Hz and 60 Hz and the number of pixels is 1280 x 720 or 704 x 480 If not, the PC determines an attribute that can be output, such as 1280 × 720 pixels, MPEG2 30 Hz.

From B28 to B29, the image attribute information communication unit A13 of the PC transmits the image attribute information communication unit A27 of the display.
Outputtable image attributes are communicated.

In response to this, in B30, the microcomputer unit A17 of the display determines whether or not the received attribute is acceptable. For example, in the above example, since the number of pixels 1280 × 720 is larger than 1024 × 576 requested by the display, if there is a possibility that the communication amount input to the display may exceed the And retransmits the attribute information requesting the number of pixels of 1024 × 576 or less again by B22.

[0145] Even with 1280 x 720 pixels, there is some margin in limiting the amount of communication input to the display.
In some cases, the resolution can be converted to 1024 × 576 pixels by the resolution conversion of A19, and the image quality is a small screen, so that the image quality deterioration due to the resolution conversion is not so noticeable. In this way, if acceptable, a decision is made in B30 to approve, and in B31 to B32, a signal to approve is transmitted from the image attribute information communication unit A27 of the display to the image attribute information communication unit A13 of the PC.

In response to this, in B33, the PC starts outputting a signal having the corresponding image signal attribute from A8. In B34, the setting is completed.

[0147] Methods of obtaining display information by the image output apparatus include exchange of EDID data (currently Ver.1.3) by conventional DDC communication and HAVi (Home Audio / Video).
Interoperability) standards (currently Ver1.0), but all only assume communication of information (display pixel count, aspect ratio, transmission of MPEG compression format, etc.) of the entire display area. For this reason, when transmitting a plurality of video signals to an arbitrary screen display area set on the display, the output from each video signal source transmits the same signal as that for the entire display area even for a small screen. Inevitably, there is a possibility that the upper limit of the information amount of the transmission line of the video signal is exceeded. Also, as described above, in DDC communication, since the EDID information from the display to the signal source is one-way, the resolution of the image signal input to the display cannot be accurately grasped. Since it is limited at the time of startup and when the display and the signal source are physically connected, it cannot cope with a case where a plurality of signals are input from the same signal line in a network.

In this embodiment, as described above, by transmitting the image attribute corresponding to the sub-screen, the output from each video signal source can be transmitted as a video signal having an attribute suitable for the sub-screen area. Reduce the amount of information on the track.

Further, by providing an adjustment function for finally forming an agreement between the display and the signal source, it is possible to control the display and the signal source so that the information amount on the signal transmission line does not exceed the upper limit. The system can be realized.

Further, as described in the present embodiment, the upper limit of the signal attribute such as the number of pixels and the screen update frequency is exchanged between the display and the signal source, thereby simplifying the agreement forming procedure between the two. .

Further, as described in the present embodiment, the image attribute change signal is notified from the display to the signal source to change the image attribute in conjunction with the setting or change of the screen area of the small screen. This makes it possible to control each signal source to a transmission signal suitable for each display area by the control means on the same display without much awareness of the user even on multiple platforms and devices with different OS. I have.

Further, as described in this embodiment, when the video signal source outputs an image to another display device, the image attribute change signal notified from the display is rejected. , Or presenting an output attribute that is compatible with the output of another display device in the image output attribute on the display, thereby ensuring the flexibility of the image display system in a many-to-many network.

Here, image attributes applicable as means for suppressing the communication amount include, in addition to the number of pixels (resolution) of the screen and the update frequency of the screen, the aspect ratio of the screen, the image compression ratio and compression method, and the like. There are the number of gradations (the number of colors) on the screen.

Further, the signal processing section of the image display device transmits a signal whose magnification has been changed at the output of the signal source of the video signal, instead of changing the display magnification of each sub-screen, thereby providing It is also possible to suppress the amount of information.
In this sense, the display magnification (enlargement ratio, reduction ratio) of the video signal is also considered as one of the image attributes applicable in the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, in FIG. 8, the image attribute change signal communication section and the image attribute information communication section are described in hardware, but these are controlled by software in a control means such as A2 CPU by a program. Needless to say, even if the function is executed, this is one of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, a medium including these programs is one embodiment of the present invention.

(Fourth Embodiment) As a fourth embodiment, the display by image transmission according to the present embodiment is applied on a network, and an image compression signal from a PC by partial rewriting and an MPEG2 compression signal from a DTV tuner are used. An example is shown in which signals of different compression formats are transmitted over the same image transmission line such as IEEE1394.

The structure of the network in this embodiment is as follows.
As in the second embodiment, in FIG.
Is a display that performs multi-screen display. Where E1
Is connected to a network such as IEEE1394 via a set-top box E2, and is connected to E2 by a cable dedicated to images such as the TMDS transmission method indicated by E19. Also, E1
3 has a built-in IEEE1394 decoder and is therefore directly connected to the network. Here, E2 and E13 correspond to the image processing device and the image display device.

E4 is PC (PC # A), and E10 is PC
(PC # B). The display of E4 and D10 is also performed on E1 and E13 via the network.

In addition, E5 is a tuner (DTV TUNER) of another type of digital television, E6 is a digital video (DV), E11 is a DVD disc player (DVD), and E12 is a server comprising a hard disk for recording programs. (HD
D), These AV devices are connected by IEEE1394, and mutually connected to exchange image signals. E14 is a modem connected to the public network E15, and E16 is a telephone line connected to the public network. E7 and E8 are hubs for branch connection of IEEE1394 signals. E17a to E17j are communication lines of the IEEE1394 standard.

[0160] In the home network connected in this way, the user can use various sources (PCs) on the E1 or E13 television.
#A, PC # B, DTV TUNER, DV, DVD, HDD) can be used from a remote place. Incidentally, operation input means such as a keyboard and a mouse of the PC # A and PC # B are not shown, but are operated from the vicinity of each display via IEEE1394 or the like, similarly to the image.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a display image realized in this embodiment. In FIG. 11, F1 is QXGA (2048 × 1536).
3 is a screen of a display device having the number of pixels (pixels). F2,
QXGA of PC displayed as parent screen on the entire screen
Is a display image of the resolution of FIG. F3 is an image of another PC displayed as a child screen in a quarter area of the main screen at a resolution of XGA (1024 × 768 pixels). F4 is HDTV 1920x
This is a digital TV tuner image in which a video with a resolution of 1080 pixels is converted into a resolution of 1024 × 576 pixels and displayed in a quarter area of the main screen.

As described above, when the area of the main screen F1 having a large number of pixels is divided and images of a plurality of devices on the network are displayed, an image signal transmitted on the network is converted into a signal corresponding to the resolution of F1. Rather, it is a feature of the present embodiment that the equipment is converted in advance to a resolution close to a quarter image area and transmitted as in F3 and F4.

Here, a case where the corresponding device of FIG. 3 is set as follows on the screen of FIG. 11 will be exemplified.
The display with the screen of F1 is E1, the PC that sends the image of the main screen of F2 is E10, and the PC that sends the image of F3 is E4, F4.
The tuner that sends out the image is E5. In addition, the image processing device STB that synthesizes these images and displays the images on E1.
(Set-top box) is E2. In this configuration, E1
0 PC is not turned on, E1 display and E2 STB
Is turned on and the screen is displayed as a blue-back display when there is no signal. After that, it is connected to the PC of E4, and the setting for transmitting the image of the resolution XGA to the small screen area F3 as the compressed signal of the partial rewriting method is performed. Next, HDTV from E5 DTV tuner
A setting is made to transmit an image as a compressed signal of 1024 × 576 pixels in the area of the small screen.

FIG. 12 shows a configuration diagram of each device as the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 13 shows a flowchart in the case where the above-mentioned setting is performed.

In FIG. 12, G1 is PC, and E4 in FIG.
Is equivalent to G37 is a DTV tuner.
It corresponds to E5. G15 is a set-top box as an image processing device that synthesizes image signals from respective signal sources via a network and converts the image signals into display outputs of a display, and corresponds to E2 in FIG. Also, G28
Is a display and corresponds to E1 in FIG.

In the PC of G1, G2 is a CPU (central processing unit).
G3 is a bus control unit that transmits a control signal of the CPU to each unit and controls the entire data bus and control bus. G11a is a system bus wiring composed of a data bus and a control bus connecting each unit. G11b
Is the bus wiring between G2 and G3. G4 is a main memory unit of the PC, and G5 is a recording medium unit such as a hard disk. G6 is a graphic drawing unit that creates an image signal for the display, where it matches the attributes of the output image to the display (resolution, pixel frequency, screen update frequency, gamma characteristics, number of gradations, color characteristics, etc.). Output is performed.

G7 is an image memory used at the time of image processing of G6. G11e is a data bus and a control bus between G6 and G7. G8 is an image encoding unit for converting and compressing the image signal created by the graphic creation unit into a partially rewritten signal for transmission to a display. G9
Is an IEEE 1394 communication part that converts a compressed image signal into an IEEE 1394 signal and performs communication. G12 is an image attribute change signal communication unit, and G13 is an image attribute information communication unit.

In the tuner G37, G38 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the tuner, and G45a is a group of wires composed of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer.
G39 is a tuner unit that receives a signal from an antenna and outputs an MPEG signal, G40 is an MPEG decoding unit for decoding this MPEG signal and outputting it as a signal for video output, and G45b is a signal output Line. here,
G41 is a compression format converter, and converts the read MPEG signal into a compressed signal having an arbitrary resolution and a screen update frequency. G42 is an IEEE1394 communication part that converts a compressed image signal into an IEEE1394 signal and performs communication. G43 is an image attribute change signal communication unit, and G44 is an image attribute information communication unit.

In the STB of G15, G16 is a user operation unit for a user to perform an input operation, G17 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the STB, and G25a is a wiring group including a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. is there. G18 is IEE
This is the E1394 communication part. G19a is a decoder for decoding a partially rewritten image signal of G1 among the compressed images input from IEEE1394, and converting it into a signal such as RGB 24 bits that can be used for an operation for image synthesis.
Is a decoder for decoding a G37 MPEG compressed signal or the like from a compressed image input from IEEE1394 and converting it into a signal such as RGB 24 bits that can be used for an operation for image synthesis. G25b and G25c are data buses of the decoded image signal. G20 is an image combining unit that combines outputs from the plurality of decoders, and G21
Is a memory unit for synthesizing the image, and G25d is a wiring group consisting of a control bus and a data bus for this memory. G22 is an image display processing unit that converts gamma characteristics and color characteristics according to characteristics of a synthesized image signal according to characteristics of a liquid crystal or a CRT used in an image display unit, and performs character display such as an on-screen display. . G23 is an image transmission unit conforming to the VGA standard or the DVI standard for outputting a signal to an image display device including elements such as a liquid crystal, a CRT, a PDP, an EL, and an LED. G25e and G25f are data buses for image signals.

G26 is an image attribute change signal communication unit, and G27 is an image attribute information communication unit. G24 is a DDC communication unit for communicating EDID information with the display.

In the display of G28, G29 is a microcomputer unit for controlling the display, and G36a is a group of wires consisting of a control bus and a data bus from the microcomputer. G31 is VGA standard or DV transmitted from G15 STB etc.
An image receiving unit that receives an image signal such as the I standard and converts it into a format suitable for signal processing such as 8 bits for each color of RGB. G32 is a resolution conversion unit for performing resolution conversion for adjusting the number of pixels of the received image to the number of display pixels of the display and conversion of the screen update frequency. G33 is G32
Is an image memory used in the processing of FIG. G36b is a wiring group consisting of a control bus and a data bus for this memory. G34 is 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, in accordance with the characteristics of the liquid crystal or CRT used for the image display unit. G35, LCD, CRT, PDP, EL, LED
It is an image display unit composed of elements such as. G36c-G36e
Is a data bus for image signals. G30 communicates EDID information with a signal source such as a PC or STB.
DDC communication unit.

Also, G14a and G14b
Represents a communication line such as IEEE1394, and by this wiring, communication of image signals of different compression systems according to the same transmission protocol is performed.

G45 indicates a conventional image signal wiring connected by a dedicated image cable such as VGA standard or DVI standard, and G46 indicates a conventional communication line for DDC communication.

In this embodiment, as the signal source of the image signal,
It illustrates a G1 PC and a G37 DTV tuner. As in the third embodiment, the image attribute change signal communication unit and the image attribute information communication unit determine the image output attribute according to the screen area between the display and G1, and G1 outputs the partially rewritable compressed signal. , G37 output a compressed signal converted from MPEG.

The display of the G28 is a display device similar to the conventional one, but here, by performing the adjustment function in the set-top box (STB) of the G15,
It is configured to display the synthesized image on the TB. For this reason, the G15 refers to the EDID information obtained by the DDC communication with the display of the G28, determines the image arrangement to be output, and similarly to the third embodiment, the image attribute change signal communication unit and the image attribute change signal communication unit. G via IEEE1394 communication by the information communication section
1. Work to determine the image output attribute according to the screen area with devices such as G37.

FIG. 13 shows an example of the image display setting procedure in the fourth embodiment. Here, Gxx indicates each unit in FIG. Turn on the power of the G28 display and the G15 STB, and set the screen to a blue-back display when there is no signal. Then, connect to the PC of G1 and set the resolution to the sub-screen area F3 in FIG.
Make settings to transmit XGA images as compressed signals of the partial rewrite method. Subsequently, a setting is made to transmit an HDTV image from the G37 DTV tuner as a compressed signal of 1024 × 576 pixels in the area of F4 in FIG.

At H1, the display of G28 (Display
#A) and power on the G15 set-top box (STB). At this time, as indicated by H2, EDID data is transmitted from G30 to G24 according to the procedure of the DDC standard. In H3, the EDID data is read, and the STB determines the resolution of the image output from G2 in G17, and since there is no input from the signal source to the STB at present, the G20 image synthesis unit or the G22 image signal processing The unit internally generates and outputs a so-called blue-back display image in which the red and green signals are set to 0 and the blue signal is set to a constant value for the entire screen.

At H4, the user operates the user operation system G16 of the STB to enter the area F3 (child screen 1) of FIG.
The display of the PC of G1 (PC # A) is selected.

At H5, the CPU section G17 of the STB obtains the EDID information obtained from the display and the image attribute information (currently nothing is connected) inputted from other devices connected to the STB. Calculate the traffic of the G18 image communication unit and calculate P
The image output attribute required for C is determined, and communication relating to the image output attribute is performed with PC_A of G1 via G14b in H8.

In H7, the PC_A of G1 determines whether or not the drawing capability of the graphic part of G6 and the image attribute for which the partial rewrite format of G8 is required can be handled. Determines the output attributes that can be agreed upon. If no agreement is formed, the process returns to H5 again and repeats the communication as in the third embodiment.

As shown in H9, when the resolution of the display G28 needs to be changed in the process of consensus formation, the setting is changed to another resolution that can be supported by the display while referring to the EDID data.

In this way, as shown at H10, the output image of PC_A is set so as to fit in the area of the small screen 1 of F3.

Next, in H11, the user operation system of the STB
By the operation of the user of G16, the display of the DTV tuner (TUNER) of G37 is selected in the area of F4 (small screen 2) in FIG.

At H12, the CPU unit G17 of the STB has the EDID information obtained from the display and the image attribute information input from other devices connected to the STB (currently, only PC_A).
Then, the communication amount of the image communication unit of G18 is calculated, the image output attribute requested to TUNER is determined, and the communication regarding the image output attribute is performed with the TUNER of G37 via G14a via G14b in H13 via G14b.

In H14, G37 TUNER uses G40 MPEG
Refers to the decode format of the G41 and the output format that can be converted by the G41 compression format converter, determines whether the requested image attribute can be handled, and agrees between TUNER and STB in H15. Determine output attributes.
If no agreement is formed, the process returns to H12 again and repeats the communication, as in the third embodiment.

As shown in H16, when it is necessary to change the resolution of the display G28 in the process of consensus building, EDID
Change the setting to another display compatible resolution while referring to the data. If it is necessary to change the image output attribute of PC # A, the process returns to H5 to set PC_A again.

In this way, as shown in H17, the output image of TUNER is set so as to fit in the area of the child screen 2 of F4.

While the image is being displayed, for example, screen F3
In addition to expanding the PC image area from XGA to SXGA (1280 x 1024 pixels), the F4 HDTV image area (704
If you want to change the entire screen so that it is displayed at the center of the PC screen with the size reduced to (× 480), it becomes possible by going through the same procedure again from H4 to H18.

Alternatively, even if the same screen area is allocated, in the mode in which the user works while viewing the F3 PC screen, the F3 screen is updated at 60 frames per second and the F4 television image is set at 30 frames per second. However, in the mode that mainly focuses on F4 TV images, the F3 screen is updated to 15 images per second, and the F4 screen is updated to 60 images per second. An image display system that changes the image display attribute according to the application and display contents can be realized by the same procedure from H4 to H18 according to the automatic determination of the moving image or the still image. In such a case, the input communication traffic after the change increases the number of image signals from one device, but decreases the number of image signals from the other device, so that appropriate management can be performed.

Further, when the image attribute is changed, the communication packet having such an image output attribute can be transmitted between the image signal packets. Therefore, the display is performed in the current image arrangement until the change of the image attribute is determined. When the screen is formed, the arrangement is changed, and the screen is changed smoothly as if the resolution of each child screen was changed and displayed in STB without showing the user the screen disorder when changing the screen Becomes possible.

As described above, by managing the communication amount of the image between the devices corresponding to the screen area, it is possible to transmit a plurality of images even on the network where the communication amount is limited. In addition, by adopting a system configuration in which the output side and the input side of an image signal mutually recognize image attributes such as resolution, arbitration work between devices in a many-to-many device connection is facilitated, and a user in a multi-screen is provided. An image display system that flexibly responds to the change of the screen area is realized.

By adopting such a configuration, not only the image signal and other control signals can be transmitted on the same network, but also the conventional VGA standard and DVI standard TM
Relatively thick like DS cable, transmission distance is 10
m, it is not necessary to use a dedicated cable
You can't overlook the fact that the C main unit and the display can be set apart from each other.

[0193] Furthermore, AV such as DVD, digital broadcasting, DV, etc.
There is a great merit that the image of the PC can be integrated with the home appliance network of the system and can be controlled by the same control means on the same display device.

As described above, by managing the communication amount of the image between the devices corresponding to the screen area, it is possible to transmit a plurality of images even on a network where the communication amount is limited. This makes it easy to realize a multi-screen display system that can display images of a PC connected with a dedicated cable in the past on the same display via the same network as images of other AV home appliances.

Further, the system is configured such that the output side and the input side of the image signal mutually transmit and grasp the image attributes such as resolution at an arbitrary timing, not only when the display is connected to and disconnected from the network. This facilitates arbitration between devices in a many-to-many device connection. In particular, when agreement cannot be reached on arbitration between a pair of devices, the display image attributes on other devices that have already been agreed on and the display resolution setting of the display device can be readjusted, allowing display on a multi-screen. An image display system that flexibly responds to attribute changes is realized.

In addition to the change of the screen area by the user, the attribute of each image signal is changed in accordance with the content of the display image and the priority of the connected device, and the information amount of each signal is increased or decreased to perform communication on the communication path. By managing the amount, it is possible to prevent the display image from deteriorating due to the limitation of the communication amount, and to realize a multi-function display system capable of securing image quality according to the purpose while having a multi-screen.

The present invention can also be implemented by supplying a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiment and operating it according to a program stored in a computer (CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus. It is included in the category.

In this case, the program code itself of the software realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program code itself and means for supplying the program code to the computer, for example, storing the program code The recorded recording medium constitutes the present invention. As a recording medium for storing such a program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-RO
M, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

It should be noted that each of the above-mentioned embodiments is merely an example of the embodiment for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted in a limited manner. It is. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features.

[0200]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an image display device connected to a plurality of signal sources via a network or the like receives a plurality of video signals, a display area or an arrangement of a plurality of video signals is received. Image attributes of each transmission signal (resolution, image area, screen update cycle, number of gradations, etc.) according to the relationship, usage and type, content, ratio of video, priority, user setting, priority information attached to the image, etc. , Color, aspect ratio, etc.)
Or a signal for controlling the amount of information such as transmission method (transmission method, compression method, compression ratio, rewrite cycle, etc.) or information other than image (such as audio information, control signal of external control device such as mouse, etc.) communicated with image. By sending to the signal source side,
By controlling the total number of received signals, unnecessary information can be reduced. As a result, the image display device itself can manage the information amount of the transmission signal input from the network to the image display device. Multi-screen display can be performed.

When displaying a plurality of screens on an image display device connected to the network, the video signals transmitted on the network may be changed according to the purpose and type of screens in the plurality of screens, the number of display pixels, the update frequency, and the like. The amount of information such as the format, compression ratio, and rewrite cycle can be individually controlled for each video signal source. This eliminates the need to send unnecessary information, and makes it possible to reduce the traffic of the entire network.

Also, the resolution notification by DDC communication, which was one-way from the display to the PC in the past, can be performed by communicating and adjusting between each image output device and each image display device or the image processing device, and the mutually determined image can be determined. By having the attribute information, an accurate display is realized according to the purpose of the screen.

In particular, by transmitting the attribute information of the display area of the child screen instead of the attribute of the entire screen of the display and transmitting the signal of the image attribute of the child screen, the communication amount can be greatly reduced. The PC image information can be used on the network of AV images. Furthermore, by setting the image attribute of each signal not only when starting up the PC and connecting the display, but also when setting up multiple screens, changing the arrangement, changing the purpose of use, etc., the screen display A more flexible image display system can be realized on a network because the communication amount can be managed according to the purpose.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an image display system to which a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration example of an image display system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of image display according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of image display according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of an image display system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of an image display system to which a third embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the operation in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of image display according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a configuration diagram of an image display system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the operation in the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a configuration diagram of an image display system in a conventional example.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a network configuration example of an image display system in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A1a, A1b Image signal source A2a, A2b CPU A3a, A3b Bus control unit A4a, A4b Main memory unit A5a, A5b Recording medium unit A6a, A6b Graphic drawing unit A7a, A7b Image memory unit A8a, A8b Sound source A9a, A9b Transmission unit A10a, A10b Communication unit A11a, A11b EDID information storage unit A12a, A12b Image information amount control unit A13a, A13b Audio information amount control unit A30 Image display device A31 Microcomputer unit A32 Image / audio reception unit A33 Resolution conversion unit A34 Image memory Unit A35 image display processing unit A36 image display unit A37 audio processing unit A38 speaker A40 communication unit A41 EDID information storage unit A42 transmission information amount management unit A43 information amount control signal creation unit E1 display E2 set Top box E4 Personal computer E5 DTV tuner E6 DV E7, E8 1394 hub E10 Personal computer E11 DVD E12 HDD E13 Display E14 Modem E15 Public network G1 Personal computer G2 CPU G3 Bus controller G4 Main memory section G5 Graphic medium section G6 Graphic medium section G7 Image memory unit G8 Image encoding unit G9 1394 communication unit G12 Information amount control unit G13 EDID information storage unit G15 Set top box G16 User operation unit G17 CPU unit G18 1394 communication unit G19a, G19b Decoder G20 Image synthesis unit G21 Image memory unit G22 Image signal processing unit G23 Image transmission unit G24 DDC communication unit G26 Information amount control signal creation unit G27 Transmission information Management section G28 Display G29 Microcomputer section G30 DDC communication section G31 Image receiving section G32 Resolution conversion section G33 Image memory section G34 Image display processing section G35 Image display section G37 DTV tuner G39 Tuner section G40 MPEG decoder section G41 Compression conversion section G42 1394 communication Unit G43 EDID information storage unit G44 information amount control unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04L 12/40 G09G 5/00 555D H04N 5/44 555A 7/24 H04L 11/00 320 H04N 7/13 Z F-term (reference) 5C025 BA25 CA03 CA10 CA11 CA12 CA16 DA01 DA05 DA08 5C059 KK34 LB05 LB15 PP04 RA01 RA08 RB01 RB10 RC12 RC28 RC32 RE20 SS02 SS20 SS26 TA06 TA08 TA46 TC38 UA39 5C082 AA01 BA02 BA12 BB01 CB44 5K032 AA05 BA01 BA16 CC05 DA02

Claims (78)

[Claims] At least one video signal input unit to which a plurality of video signals are input, and in order to make the total amount of transmission information of the plurality of video signals input to the video signal input unit an arbitrary value, Transmission information amount management means for determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount; an information amount control signal creating means for creating an information amount control signal designating a change method of each transmission information amount; and the video signal input means An information amount control signal communication unit that communicates the information amount control signal to a plurality of systems of video signal sources that are input to the control unit; and a control unit that controls the total amount of transmission information that is input to the video signal input unit. An image processing apparatus comprising: 2. At least one video signal input means to which a plurality of video signals are input, transmission information amount obtaining means for obtaining the transmission information amount of a plurality of video signals input to the video signal input means, In order to set the total amount of transmitted information to an arbitrary value, a transmission information amount management means for determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount, and an information amount control signal designating each transmission information amount change method are provided. Information amount control signal creation means to be created; information amount control signal communication means for communicating the information amount control signal to a plurality of video signal sources to be input to the video signal input means; and the video signal input means Control means for controlling the total amount of transmission information input to the image processing apparatus. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising image display means for displaying an image. 4. The transmission information amount management unit refers to an image attribute information group of a plurality of video signals input to the video signal input unit and EDID information of an image display unit, and determines a change amount of each transmission information amount. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a change method is determined. 5. The image according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in resolution according to the number of pixels in a display area. Processing equipment. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the change of the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is performed so as to transmit an image signal only in an area displayed on a screen.
The image processing device according to any one of the above. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the change of the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is performed by designating the coordinates of a small screen area on which an image of another input system is displayed, and excluding the area except for the area. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein designation is made to transmit the image data. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change of the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is a change of a screen update cycle. 9. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in a rewrite cycle of the partial rewrite signal. 10. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in a compression ratio of an input signal. 11. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in a compression method of an input signal. 12. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in a transmission method of an input signal. 13. The image according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in the number of gradations or the number of colors of the input signal. Processing equipment. 14. The image according to claim 1, wherein the change of the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is a change of an aspect ratio indicating an aspect ratio of the input signal. Processing equipment. 15. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the change in the amount of transmission information indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in a magnification of an input signal. 16. The information processing method according to claim 1, wherein the change in the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in the communication amount of information other than the image communicated with the image. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 17. The method according to claim 1, wherein the change in the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in the communication amount of audio information communicated with the image. Image processing device. 18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the change in the transmission information amount indicated by the information amount control signal is a change in the communication amount of control information of an external device communicated according to an image.
5. The image processing device according to any one of 4. 19. The image processing apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the external device is a mouse. 20. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by the transmission information amount management means is performed according to the size and position of a display area on a display screen. Image processing device. 21. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by said transmission information amount management means is performed according to the use of a screen area of a display screen. . 22. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by said transmission information amount management means is performed according to the content of each image input to said image input means. Image processing device. 23. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission information amount distribution by the transmission information amount management means is performed in accordance with an arrangement relationship between a plurality of child screens on a display screen. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 24. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by said transmission information amount management means is performed in conjunction with a ratio of a moving image of each image input to said image input means. An image processing device according to any one of the above. 25. The transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmission information amount distribution by the transmission information amount management means is performed according to a preset priority of each signal source. Image processing device. 26. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by said transmission information amount management means is performed according to a user setting stored in advance. 27. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information amount by the transmission information amount management means is performed in accordance with priority information attached to the input video signal. Image processing device. 28. The method according to claim 1, wherein the distribution of the transmission information by the transmission information amount management means is performed in accordance with copyright information attached to the input video signal. Image processing device. 29. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in an input system of the video signal input unit. . 30. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication means is performed in conjunction with a change in a size or a position of a display area on a display screen. Image processing device. 31. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in use of a screen area of a display screen. . 32. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in the content of each image input to the image input unit. Image processing device. 33. The communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in an arrangement relationship between a plurality of child screens on a display screen. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 34. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed according to a signal from an image signal source. 35. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication by the information amount control signal communication unit is performed by a user operation. 36. A video signal input from said image signal input means communicates with a signal source of said video signal through the same transmission line as an information amount control signal by said information amount control signal communication means. Item 36. The image processing device according to any one of Items 1 to 35. 37. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus for displaying an image of a computer. 38. At least one image signal input means to which a plurality of systems of video signals are inputted, and at least one first image processing means for processing the inputted plurality of systems of video signals and combining them into one screen A first image attribute information communication means for communicating image attribute information of a video signal of a screen area displayed on a display screen to a signal source of a corresponding input video signal; and the first image attribute information communication An image processing apparatus comprising: a first control unit that adjusts an image attribute of each video signal input to the image signal input unit by using a unit. 39. At least one image signal input means to which a plurality of systems of video signals are inputted, and at least one first image processing means for processing the inputted plurality of systems of video signals and combining them into one screen And a first image attribute change signal communication means for communicating, to a signal source of a corresponding video signal, a signal notifying that an image attribute of a video signal in a screen area to be displayed on a display screen is to be set or changed. First image attribute information communication means for communicating image attribute information of a video signal of a sub-screen area to be displayed on a display screen to a signal source of a corresponding input video signal; and changing the first image attribute. The signal communication means and the first image attribute information communication means, by specifying the image attribute information of the video signal to be input to the image signal input means, to adjust between the signal source of each video signal, the image Signal input The image processing apparatus characterized by having a first control means for controlling the total amount of image information to be input to the stage. 40. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, further comprising image display means for displaying a synthesized image. 41. The first control means refers to a group of image attribute information of a plurality of video signals input to the image signal input means and EDID information of the image display means to display on the image display means. 41. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein an image attribute of an arbitrary video signal is changed. 42. The first control means determines whether or not to approve based on image attribute information which can be output by a signal source of a video signal received via the first image attribute information communication means. 39. The apparatus according to claim 38, further comprising a function of judging the effect.
42. The image processing device according to any one of -41. 43. The first control means transmits an upper limit value of a displayable image attribute to a signal source of the video signal via the first image attribute information communication means. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 38 to 42. 44. The video signal input from the image signal input means communicates with a signal source of the video signal through the same transmission line as communication data by the first image attribute information communication means. Item 44. The image processing device according to any one of Items 38 to 43. 45. The communication according to claim 38, wherein the communication by the first image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with a change in the size or position of the small screen display area on the display screen.
45. The image processing apparatus according to any one of-44. 46. The communication method according to claim 38, wherein the communication by the first image attribute information communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in use of a screen area on a display screen. Image processing device. 47. The communication method according to claim 38, wherein the communication by the first image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with the contents of an image in a screen area on a display screen. Image processing device. 48. The communication according to claim 38, wherein the communication by the first image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with a ratio of a moving image of an image in a screen area on a display screen.
The image processing device according to any one of the above. 49. The communication method according to claim 38, wherein the communication by the first image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with an arrangement relationship between a plurality of child screens on a display screen. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 50. At least one image signal output unit, a second image processing unit for changing a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal output from the image signal output unit, and receiving information of a requested image attribute. And a second image attribute information communication unit for transmitting information of an image attribute that can be output by the second image processing unit; and outputting from the image signal output unit using the second image attribute information communication unit. A second control unit for adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be processed. 51. At least one image signal output unit, a second image processing unit for changing a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal output from the image signal output unit, and an image output from the image signal output unit A second image attribute change signal communication unit that receives an image attribute change signal, and a second image attribute information receiving unit that receives the requested image attribute information and transmits image attribute information that can be output by the second image processing unit. Image attribute information communication means, and using the second image attribute information communication means, the second control means for adjusting the image attribute of the video signal output from the image signal output means, Image processing device. 52. The second control means determines whether or not to approve the change of the attribute of the image to be output in response to the image attribute change signal received via the second image attribute change signal communication means. 52. The image processing apparatus according to claim 50, wherein the image processing apparatus determines whether the image attribute has been changed, and notifies the second image attribute change signal communication unit whether the image attribute can be changed. 53. The video signal output from the image signal output means is communicated with the outside via the same transmission line as communication data by the second image attribute information communication means. An image processing device according to any one of the above. 54. A communication method according to claim 50, wherein the communication by the second image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with a change in the size or position of the small screen display area on the display screen.
54. The image processing apparatus according to any one of claims 53. 55. The communication method according to claim 50, wherein the communication by the second image attribute information communication unit is performed in conjunction with a change in use of a screen area on a display screen. Image processing device. 56. The communication method according to claim 50, wherein the communication by the second image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with the contents of an image in a screen area on a display screen. Image processing device. 57. The communication by the second image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with the ratio of the moving image of the image in the screen area on the display screen.
The image processing device according to any one of the above. 58. The communication according to claim 50, wherein communication by said second image attribute information communication means is performed in conjunction with an arrangement relationship between a plurality of child screens on a display screen. The image processing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims. 59. An image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is the number of display pixels in a child screen area. 60. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is a screen update cycle. 61. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is a compression ratio of an input video signal. 62. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is a compression method of an input video signal. 63. The image attribute information according to claim 38, wherein the image attribute information is an aspect ratio indicating an aspect ratio of a screen.
58. The image processing device according to any one of 58. 64. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is a number of gradations or a number of colors. 65. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image attribute information is a display magnification. 66. The image processing apparatus according to claim 38, wherein said image processing apparatus is an image processing apparatus for displaying an image of a computer. 67. (a) a step of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems; and (b) a step of inputting the amount of transmission information of each of the plurality of input video signals so that the total amount of transmission information of the plurality of input video signals is an arbitrary value. Determining a change amount and a change method; (c) generating an information amount control signal designating a change method of each transmission information amount; and (d) for the plurality of input video signal sources. ,
An image processing method comprising: communicating the information amount control signal; and (e) controlling a total amount of the input transmission information amount. 68. (a) a step of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a step of acquiring transmission information amounts of the input video signals, and (c) a step of obtaining the acquired transmission information amounts. Determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount in order to set the total to an arbitrary value; (d) creating an information amount control signal specifying the change method of each transmission information amount; e) For the plurality of input video signal sources,
An image processing method comprising: communicating the information amount control signal; and (f) controlling a total amount of the input transmission information amount. 69. A step of (a) inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a step of processing the input video signals of a plurality of systems and synthesizing them into one screen, and (c) displaying on a display screen. Communicating the image attribute information of the video signal of the screen area to be displayed to the signal source of the corresponding input video signal; and (d) adjusting the image attribute of each input video signal. An image processing method comprising: 70. (a) a step of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a step of processing the input video signals of the plurality of systems and combining them on one screen, and (c) displaying on a display screen. Communicating a signal notifying that an image attribute of a video signal of a video area of a screen area to be set or changed is displayed to a signal source of a corresponding video signal; and (d) a sub-screen displayed on a display screen. Communicating the image attribute information of the video signal of the area to the signal source of the corresponding input video signal; and (e) specifying the image attribute information of the input video signal, And controlling the total image information amount to be input. 71. (a) changing image attributes such as resolution and compression ratio of a video signal to be output; and (b) receiving information on required image attributes.
An image processing method, comprising: transmitting information on an image attribute that can be output; and (c) adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output. 72. (a) a step of changing image attributes such as a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal to be output; (b) a step of receiving an image attribute change signal of an image to be output; and (c) required. While receiving the image attribute information,
An image processing method, comprising: transmitting information on an image attribute that can be output; and (d) adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output. 73. (a) a step of inputting video signals of a plurality of systems; and (b) a step of inputting the amount of transmission information of each of the plurality of input video signals so that the total amount of transmission information of the input plurality of video signals is an arbitrary value. (C) a procedure for creating an information amount control signal designating a method of changing each transmission information amount; and (d) a procedure for the input plurality of video signal sources. ,
A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure for communicating the information amount control signal and (e) a procedure for controlling the total amount of input transmission information. 74. (a) a step of inputting a plurality of streams of video signals; (b) a step of acquiring transmission information amounts of the input plurality of video signals; and (c) a step of acquiring the transmission information amounts. (D) a procedure for determining a change amount and a change method of each transmission information amount in order to set the total to an arbitrary value; (d) a step of creating an information amount control signal designating the change method of each transmission information amount; e) For the plurality of input video signal sources,
A computer-readable recording medium that records a program for causing a computer to execute the procedure of communicating the information amount control signal and the procedure of (f) controlling the total amount of input transmission information. 75. A procedure for inputting video signals of a plurality of systems, (b) a procedure for processing the video signals of the plurality of systems that have been input and combining them on one screen, and And (d) adjusting the image attribute of each of the input video signals by transmitting the image attribute information of the video signal of the screen area displayed on the screen area to the corresponding signal source of the input video signal. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program to be executed by a computer is recorded. 76. (a) a procedure for inputting a plurality of streams of video signals, (b) a procedure for processing the input plurality of streams of video signals and synthesizing them into one screen, and (c) a display screen. And (d) a sub-screen to be displayed on the display screen, wherein a signal notifying that the image attribute of the video signal in the screen area to be displayed is set or changed is transmitted to the signal source of the corresponding video signal. Communicating the image attribute information of the video signal of the area to the corresponding signal source of the input video signal; and (e) specifying the image attribute information of the input video signal, And a computer-readable recording medium for recording a program for causing a computer to execute the procedure for adjusting the total amount of image information to be input. 77. (a) a procedure for changing an image attribute such as a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal to be output; and (b) receiving information on a required image attribute.
A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of transmitting image attribute information that can be output, and a procedure of (c) adjusting image attribute of a video signal to be output. 78. (a) a procedure for changing an image attribute such as a resolution and a compression ratio of a video signal to be output; (b) a procedure for receiving an image attribute change signal of an image to be output; While receiving the image attribute information,
A computer-readable recording medium that stores a program for causing a computer to execute a procedure of transmitting image attribute information that can be output and a procedure of (d) adjusting an image attribute of a video signal to be output.