JP4016914B2 - Movie display control system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a moving image display control system, apparatus or method, and more particularly, to a moving image display control apparatus or method using a multi-display.

A multi-display device is a device that controls a plurality of display devices and displays information such as images and character data, and is used as a single high-resolution display or as a plurality of displays.
In order to display an image in a multi-display device, an image output device is required in which a graphics card capable of outputting a plurality of screens is inserted into one PC or a plurality of graphics cards are inserted.
Further, in order to use a multi-display device as a single high-resolution display, it is necessary to seamlessly connect the displays. For example, a system described in Patent Document 1 is known.
This conventional multi-projection system is limited to a multi-display system using multi-projection, but can perform display and control as a single-sided display by blending joints between the displays.
In such a system, in order to display a moving image, it is necessary to use a dedicated image output device such as a DVD or a laser disc player having a synchronization signal input / output.

JP 2000-241876

  Such a conventional method has the following problems.

  In a multi-display system using one PC, there is a limit to the number of slots in which boards for function expansion such as image output can be inserted, and usually about 3 to 5 boards. Also, the number of screens that can be output on a single board is usually around four.

  Also, if the driver for controlling the board is not made for such a purpose, it will not operate normally, and if a board for another purpose such as a network board or a sound board is introduced, the number of slots will be reduced. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of usable displays is limited even when trying to display a moving image with a large screen and high definition. Furthermore, when playing back moving images on a single PC, there is a problem that the moving image playback load increases to the number of displays and the moving image playback speed decreases.

  On the other hand, the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) format, which is standard moving image data, does not have a constant processing load for each frame, and even if you try to play a movie at a certain frame rate, Cause a slight difference in playback speed. Therefore, the multi-display apparatus has a problem that it is difficult to display a moving image in synchronization between displays.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a synchronized moving image display without limiting the number of displays and without reducing the playback speed.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, in a multi-display apparatus including a plurality of displays, the image display unit displays and reproduces a moving image using a synchronization signal broadcast from the control unit via a network. It has a video display synchronization mechanism that synchronizes.

  According to another feature of the present invention, in the above-described multi-display control apparatus, a moving image is reproduced by the image display unit to measure a moving image display speed, and then the reproduction speed is adjusted based on the measured moving image display speed. Thus, the image display unit has a moving image display synchronization mechanism that synchronizes display and reproduction of moving images.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, in the above-described multi-display control device, the image display unit has a texture memory therein, and the moving image is once transferred to the texture memory so that the image display unit displays the moving image. Has a video display synchronization mechanism that synchronizes playback.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, the above-described multi-display control apparatus has a mechanism for performing fragment processing in the texture memory.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reproduce a moving image synchronized with a multi-display system.
In addition, it is possible to reproduce a moving image without limitation on the number of displays by a multi-display.

  Hereinafter, embodiments using the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the display system.

  The control unit 20, the image display unit 30, and the sound reproduction unit 60 are connected via a network. The control unit 20 is connected to the input device 10 as necessary, and the input device 10 serves as an interface with the operator. Usually, the input device 10 is an input device using a joystick or a position sensor in addition to a mouse or a keyboard, or may be a combination of these devices. Further, the input device 10 may not be directly connected to the control unit 20, but may be connected via a network.

  The control unit 20 incorporates the reference time broadcast unit 80 or is connected to both, and broadcasts the reference time on the network. As a result, the image display unit 30 can display an image based on the reference time in accordance with the reference time received by the reference time adjustment unit 90.

  The control unit 20 instructs the image display unit 30 to load moving image data, obtain a profile, start reproduction of the moving image, and stop processing, and the sound reproduction unit 60 loads the sound data. And instructing processing such as start and stop of sound reproduction.

  Each of the image display units 30 is connected to the display 40 and functions as a multi-display 50.

  In FIG. 1, the image display unit 30 and the display 40 are connected one-to-one, but a plurality of displays 40 may be connected to one image display unit 30. For example, in the case of the display 40 using the projection method, the display 40 can display the display areas so as to overlap each other, and the adjacent display areas are projected so as to overlap each other. If the image has a function of blending the images, seamless image display is possible, and such a function may be provided.

  The display 40 may be a CRT, liquid crystal, projector, or the like. For example, the screen and the display device may not be physically connected as in the rear projection type projection display or the front projection type projection display.

The image display unit acquires moving image data instructed by the control unit, and expands and draws the moving image.
Video data is normally stored in a compressed state in the image display unit 30, but it must be stored in another device on the network, a file server, or a device having equivalent functions. Accordingly, the image display unit 30 may acquire the information via a network.

  The sound reproducing unit 60 has a function of reproducing sound data.

The reference time is normally broadcast from the reference time broadcast unit 80 corresponding to the control unit 20.
However, when the sound playback unit 60 has the built-in reference time broadcast unit 80 or is connected to both, and the sound is played back simultaneously with the moving image, the sound data played by the sound playback unit 60 is used as the reference time. It may be broadcast from a reference time broadcast unit 80 connected to or built in the playback unit 60. This is because the sound changes in frequency when the playback speed is changed, and the user feels very uncomfortable, so the sound playback time needs to be used as the reference time.

The presence or absence of sound data reproduction or presence is determined by the control unit 20, and it is determined whether the reference time of the control unit 20 or the reference time of the sound reproduction unit 60 is used as the reference time.
When the sound data is reproduced, the control unit 20 uses the reference time broadcast unit 80 connected to or built in the sound reproduction unit 60. When the sound data is not reproduced, the control unit 20 is connected to the control unit 20. A built-in reference time broadcast unit 80 is used. In the case where the sound is not reproduced, the sound reproducing unit 60 may not be present.

As long as each image display unit 30 is accessible, one storage unit 70 may be provided, but one storage unit 70 is built in or connected to each image display unit 30 as necessary. A storage unit 70 is also built in or connected to the control unit 20 and holds profiles and moving image playback speed data. A profile is created for each image display unit 30 according to an instruction from the control unit 20, and is recorded together with the image display unit number in a storage unit 70 built in or connected to each image display unit 30.
The moving image playback speed data is generated from the profile of the storage unit 70 of each image display unit 30 by the control unit 20 and stored in the storage unit 70 of each image display unit 30 or each image display unit 30 transfers each other's profile. Each moving image reproduction speed data is generated and stored in the storage unit 70.

  In order to obtain the moving image playback speed data from the profile, for example, if the playback speed of the image display section 30 having the slowest playback speed is adopted for all the image display sections 30 for each frame, any image display section 30 is delayed in processing. It is possible to obtain moving image display speed data that can be reproduced without any problem.

  That is, in all the image display units 30, the moving image reproduction process is performed once, a profile of the reproduction speed for each frame is created and held in the storage unit 70, and each frame is calculated from each profile of all the image display units 30. The lower limit frame rate is obtained and created as an overall profile. An image is displayed at the timing of the obtained lower limit frame rate.

  The lower limit frame rate is moving image reproduction speed data that can be reproduced without any processing omission of any image display unit 30.

The reference time adjustment unit 90 performs a process of advancing its own time in accordance with the reference time broadcast by the reference time broadcast unit 80. In broadcast communication, there is a possibility of packet loss, and packet loss occurs when the network load increases or the line quality of the network is poor.
Therefore, the reference time adjustment unit 80 has a function of advancing the time at the count speed of the built-in clock when packet loss occurs, thereby minimizing a reference time shift.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the flow of processing in the present invention.

  First, the moving image data to be displayed is input by inputting a direct address or selecting from a menu by an operation of the input device 10 connected to the control unit 20 by the operator (step 201).

The control unit 20 transmits the instructed address to the image display unit 30. The image display unit 30 acquires the moving image data, and once reproduces the moving image data, the actual reproduction speed in each moving image display unit 30. Is stored in the storage unit 70 as a profile (step 202).
From each profile worthy of the performance of each image display unit 30, moving image reproduction speed data that can be reproduced without any processing delay by any image display unit 30 is obtained and stored in the storage unit 70 (step 203).
A moving image is reproduced by the image display unit 30 using the moving image reproduction speed data (step 204).

The moving image reproduction speed is usually measured for each frame of the moving image, and even during moving image reproduction, synchronized moving image display can be performed by adjusting the reproduction speed for each frame.
Adjustment of the moving image reproduction speed can be easily performed by transferring the expanded moving image data to the texture memory in the image display unit 30 and controlling the texture display speed.

  As an example, the image display unit 30 stores a moving image frame to be displayed once as a texture in an internal memory of the image display unit, for example, an internal memory of a graphics card, and displays it at the timing of the calculated lower limit frame rate.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the user interface screen in the present invention.
The moving image file designation box 310 is an input unit for designating moving image data to be played back, and corresponds to the processing of S1 in FIG. 2, and is a file selection by menu format, file selection by button method, file name It may be a file selection by inputting. By pressing the profile acquisition button 320, the processing from S202 to S203 in FIG. 2 is performed. When the playback button 330 is pressed, the process of S204 in FIG. 2 is performed to play back the moving image. The user interface screen in FIG. 3 may include a stop button, a fast forward button, and a rewind button as necessary.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a profile data format.

Three units of data, ie, a moving image number representing a continuous number for each frame, an image display unit number for specifying the image display unit 30, and a frame reproduction speed representing the reproduction speed for each frame are used as one unit.
Each moving image number corresponds to the frame playback speed for each image display number.

  The data format may be numeric data in which text data is separated by an arbitrary delimiter as in FIG. 4, or data equivalent to or better than that in FIG. 4, such as binary data in which the length per data is determined. I just need it.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data format of the moving image playback speed data. In the moving image reproduction speed obtained from the profile of FIG. 4, two data of the moving image number and the frame reproduction speed are set as one unit.

  The data format may be numeric data in which text data is separated by an arbitrary delimiter in the same way as in FIG. 5, or data equivalent to or better than that in FIG. 4, such as binary data in which the length per data is determined. If it is.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of fragment processing in the present invention.

  The fragment processing is an example of processing in S204 of FIG.

  First, the image data to be displayed from the moving image file is developed in the texture memory in the image display unit 30 (step S401).

Next, fragment processing is performed on the texture memory (step S402).
If the texture memory has a mechanism for performing fragment processing, it is possible to easily convert colors sequentially and apply an image processing filter. Finally, a moving image is reproduced by the image display unit 30 (step S403).

Overall configuration of display system Processing flowchart User interface screen configuration diagram Profile data format diagram Movie playback speed data format diagram Fragment processing flowchart

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Input device 20 Control part 30 Image display part 40 Display 50 Multi display 60 Sound reproduction part 70 Storage part 80 Reference time broadcast part 90 Reference time adjustment part

Claims (5)

A moving image display control system used to display moving image data on a plurality of displays, wherein the image display unit synchronizes the display / playback of moving images using a synchronization signal broadcast via the network from the control unit. Chi lifting video display synchronization mechanism performed,
The moving image display synchronization mechanism reproduces a moving image on the image display unit to measure a moving image display speed, and then adjusts the reproduction speed based on the measured moving image display speed, and the image display unit displays and reproduces the moving image. moving image display control systems that characterized the synchronization with line TURMERIC a. A moving image display control system having a storage unit, a plurality of image display units, and a display for displaying an image output from the image display unit, wherein each of the plurality of image display units can reproduce moving image data. A process for calculating the reproduction speed data for reproducing the moving image data based on the reproducible speed data stored by a plurality of image display sections, And a process for reproducing the moving image data based on the reproduction speed data. 3. The moving image display control system according to claim 2, wherein the calculated reproduction speed data indicates data having the slowest reproduction possible speed among the reproduction possible speed data for each of the stored image display units. The moving image display control system according to claim 2, wherein: The moving image display control system according to claim 2, further comprising a process of advancing the time for each image display unit, and the process of reproducing the moving image data is performed based on the time and the reproduction speed data. The moving image display control system according to claim 2. 5. The moving image display control system according to claim 4, further comprising a process of sending a reference time to each of a plurality of image display units, wherein the image display unit further includes a process of receiving the reference time and adjusting the time. The moving image display control system according to claim 7.

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