JP5315083B2 - Display device, method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress a state where devices conforming to the HDMI standard can not be individually controlled by a CEC. <P>SOLUTION: A video display device, which has a selection means selecting any one of input terminals conforming to the HDMI standard as an input source of multimedia data, has a storage means for associating a Logical address which a device connected to any one of input terminals has tried to acquire with a Physical address of the device and storing the same in a memory, and a control means for specifying the Logical address which the first device has tried to acquire with reference to the memory when the first device connected to the input terminal selected by the selection means does not have acquired a unique Logical address, for changing the Logical address to the acquired Logical address of the second device, and for allowing the first device to acquire the Logical address acquired prior to the change. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a display device and the like .

  The HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) standard is known as a digital video / audio transmission standard for connecting a video display device such as a television and a video supply device such as an HDD recorder (Non-patent Document 1). If HDMI is used, a video signal and an audio signal can be transmitted from a video supply device (source device) to a video display device (sink device) using a single cable. A video display device having a plurality of HDMI terminals is also known, and the video display device can receive video from a desired video supply device by switching the HDMI terminal of the input source.

  In addition, a standard related to CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) for inter-device control is defined in HDMI. If the CEC function is used, it is possible to remotely operate the other device connected with the HDMI cable from one device. For example, when a playback button of a recorder connected to a television apparatus (television) with an HDMI cable is pressed, the television is turned on and the input source of the television is switched to the HDMI terminal to which the recorder is connected. Is possible. Conversely, the recorder can be operated from the television. For example, by displaying a list of content (content list) of a recorder using a television remote controller and selecting a desired content from the content list, it is possible to perform a playback operation of the recorder.

  When a device is connected by HDMI, the source device supplies 5V power to the sink device. When the sink device detects the 5V power supply, it makes the EDID-ROM of the sink device readable and asserts the HPD (Hot Plug Detect) line. As a result, the sink device informs the source device that the EDID-ROM is in a readable state.

  The EDID-ROM stores information related to the video format that can be displayed by the sink device, and a physical address that is information for grasping the physical connection position of the source device. For example, the physical address can be used to appropriately switch the input of the sink device when displaying the video of the source device on the sink device. In general, the sink device can know the physical connection position of the source device by transmitting its physical address to the sink device using the CEC command.

  Patent Document 1 is known as an example of device cooperation operation using a CEC command and a physical address. Patent Document 1 discloses a control method for displaying an appropriate video on a video display device even when a large number of devices are connected by effectively using a physical address.

  When the source device connected to the sink device via HDMI is CEC compatible, the source device reads the EDID-ROM as described above and determines its own physical address. After that, the source device needs to acquire a logical address. The Logical address is an address used for communication by CEC, and communication by CEC cannot be performed unless the source device acquires this address.

  There are 16 types of logical addresses, 0-15. Among these addresses, 0 to 14 cannot be acquired by a plurality of devices in one CEC bus. The address 15 is defined as an unregistered address, and when the source device cannot acquire addresses 0 to 14, this address is acquired. As for the address 15, a plurality of devices are permitted to have the same address. However, the address 15 is defined as a broadcast address on the receiving side of the CEC command, and the CEC command corresponding to the address 15 is similarly received by a device that has already acquired a logical address of 0 to 14. A device having a logical address of 0 to 14 also behaves according to the contents of the command. Therefore, the device that has acquired the address 15 cannot perform one-to-one CEC communication with other devices, and cannot control these devices individually.

  For the addresses 0 to 14, a unique device type is set for each address. For example, one type of “0” is prepared for a television (TV), one type of “5” is provided for an audio device, and three types of logical addresses “1”, “2”, and “9” are provided for a recording device. ing.

  Next, a procedure for acquiring a logical address will be described. For example, when the HDD recorder is connected to the TV, the HDD recorder reads the EDID-ROM of the TV and acquires the physical address. Thereafter, the HDD recorder transmits a “Polling Message” of CEC to the logical address to be acquired. This “Polling Message” is a command including only a header that designates only an initiator address (transmission source address) and a destination address (transmission destination address).

  In this example, since the HDD recorder is a recording device, it is necessary to acquire “1”, “2”, or “9” as the logical address. Which logical address is acquired when there are a plurality of logical addresses that can be acquired is arbitrary, but here, description will be made on the assumption that acquisition is performed with priority in ascending order of numbers.

  The HDD recorder transmits a polling message to Logical address = “1”. If there is no ACK reply to this polling message, it means that Logical address = “1” is not used by another device, so the HDD recorder acquires “1” as the logical address. If there is an ACK response to this polling message, it means that Logical address = "1" is being used by another device. Therefore, the HDD recorder tries to acquire the logical address by transmitting the polling message again in the order of “2” and “9”. If none of the addresses can be acquired, the HDD recorder acquires “15” as the logical address (or the logical address may be “undefined” without performing acquisition).

JP 2008-54300 A

High-Definition Multimedia Interface Specification Version 1.3a

  When the device acquires “15” as the logical address, communication by CEC is possible, but as described above, this device cannot be individually controlled. Further, when the device does not acquire the logical address, communication by CEC is impossible. Therefore, when devices of the same device type are connected more than the number of logical addresses prepared in advance, the devices connected later cannot be individually controlled from other devices. Specifically, for example, such a situation occurs when four or more recording devices are connected or two or more audio devices are connected.

  In such a situation, when the user selects a certain HDMI terminal using the remote controller of the video display device, the user cannot operate the device connected to the terminal using the remote controller of the video display device or the like. . Therefore, the user cannot fully enjoy the convenience of HDMI and CEC.

The present invention aims to ensure that the device connected to the display device pieces may separately controlled.

The display device according to the present invention is a display device, and includes a first communication unit that communicates with a first device, a second communication unit that communicates with a second device, and the first device. If you do not have a luer dress to respond to the device type of the first device, determining means for determining whether said display device and said second device are connected without passing through the external device the by determining means, if said display device and said second device is determined to be connected without passing through the external device, wherein a luer dress is acquired on the second instrument first and having a is allowed Ru control means acquires the first device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to make a device connected to a display device pieces may separately controlled.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a video display device 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the HDMI line which connects the video display apparatus 100 and a source device. 6 is a diagram illustrating a connection example of source devices in Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a logical address reassignment process executed by a control unit 101 in the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the continuation of FIG. 3A. 10 is a diagram illustrating a connection example of source devices in Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a part of a logical address reallocation process executed by a control unit 101 according to the second embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating management table update processing executed by the control unit 101 according to the first exemplary embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a management table.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The individual embodiments described below will help to understand various concepts from the superordinate concept to the subordinate concept of the present invention.

  The technical scope of the present invention is determined by the scope of the claims, and is not limited by the following individual embodiments. In addition, all combinations of features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the present invention.

  FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the video display apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The video display device 100 includes a control unit 101, a plurality of HDMI transmission / reception units 102, 103, 104, and 105, a TMDS switching unit 106, a broadcast wave tuner / decoder 107, a video switching unit 108, and a video display unit 109. The HDMI transmission / reception units 102 to 105 are connected to the control unit 101 via the control line 110 and to the TMDS switching unit 106 via the TMDS line 111. The HDMI transmitting / receiving units 102, 103, 104, and 105 include input terminals corresponding to the HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) standard.

  The video display device 100 can be connected to an external device (source device) that outputs a video signal by the HDMI transmission / reception units 102 to 105. The HDMI transmission / reception units 102 to 105 are transmission / reception units for transmitting / receiving signals to / from an external device. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the video display apparatus 100 has four HDMI transmission / reception units, but the number of HDMI transmission / reception units may be more or less than four.

  FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an HDMI line that connects the video display apparatus 100 and a source device. In FIG. 1B, the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102 will be described as an example, but the same applies to other HDMI transmission / reception units.

  The HDMI line includes a TMDS line, a DDC line, a 5V power supply line, an HPD line, and a CEC line. A TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) line is a line for transmitting a video signal and an audio signal (multimedia data). The DDC (Display Data Channel) line is a line for transmitting product information data (EDID (Extended Display Identification Data)) of the video display device 100 and the source device. The EDID is stored in the EDID-ROM 112.

  A CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) line is a line for transmitting a signal (CEC command) for inter-device control. The 5V power supply line is a line used for the source device to notify the sink device (video display device 100) that the source device is connected. The HPD (Hot Plug Detect) line is a line that informs the source device that it is ready to read the EDID-ROM upon detection of the 5V power supply. In FIG. 1A, the 5V power supply line, the HPD line, and the CEC line are collectively shown as a control line 110.

  Referring to FIG. 1A again, the control unit 101 decodes and encodes a signal transmitted from the CEC line and analyzes a CEC command. The TMDS switching unit 106 and the video switching unit 108 are switching units for switching (selecting) an input source of video to be displayed on the video display unit 109. In this embodiment, the video switching unit 108 can select the TMDS switching unit 106 or the broadcast wave tuner / decoder 107 as an input source. The TMDS switching unit 106 selects the HDMI transmitting / receiving unit 102, 103, 104, or 105 as an input source when the TMDS switching unit 106 is selected in the video switching unit 108. The video signal is input to the video display unit 109 from the input source selected by the TMDS switching unit 106 and the video switching unit 108. For example, when the video switching unit 108 selects the TMDS switching unit 106 and the TMDS switching unit 106 selects the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102, a video corresponding to the video signal input from the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102 is displayed on the video display unit 109. Is displayed. Note that the video switching unit 108 may be able to select an input source (for example, a DVI terminal or the like) other than that shown in FIG. 1A.

  The video display unit 109 is a display unit that displays video. Specifically, a video (input video) corresponding to a video signal (including video data) input to the video display unit 109 is displayed on the video display unit 109.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a connection example of source devices in the first embodiment. 2, the same components as those in FIG. 1A are denoted by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 2, recording devices classified into the same type in the CEC device type can communicate with a larger number (four) than the prepared logical addresses (three, “1”, “2”, “9”). It is connected to the. In this case, as described above, the recording device connected last cannot acquire the logical address. When the recording devices 202, 203, 204, and 205 are connected in this order, as shown in FIG. 2, the recording device 205 cannot acquire the logical address unique to the recording device, and instead acquires “15 (0x0F)”. . Alternatively, the logical address of the recording device 205 may be “undefined”, but in this embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the logical address is “15”.

  In the situation illustrated in FIG. 2, the user cannot individually control the recording device 205 using the video display device 100. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the TMDS switching unit 106 selects the HDMI transmission / reception unit 105 (that is, the HDMI transmission / reception unit to which a source device having no logical address corresponding to the device type) is selected, the TMDS switching unit 106 is shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. A reallocation process is performed.

  In order to enable the reallocation processing, the video display apparatus 100 stores a management table (not shown) for specifying the logical address that the source device whose logical address = “15” originally wanted to acquire. RAM). The video display device 100 executes the management table update process shown in FIG. 6 every time a source device is connected to the HDMI transmitting / receiving units 102 to 105.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating management table update processing executed by the control unit 101 in the first embodiment. Unless otherwise specified, the processing of each step in this flowchart is realized by the control unit 101 executing a control program stored in a ROM (not shown) or the like (FIGS. 3A, 3B, 5A, and 5B). The same applies to FIG. 8). When the control unit 101 detects that power is newly supplied to any of the 5V power supply lines of the HDMI transmitting / receiving units 102 to 105, the process of this flowchart starts.

  In step S601, the control unit 101 asserts the HPD line of the HDMI transmission / reception unit that has newly detected power in the 5V power supply line. In step S602, the control unit 101 adds an entry to the management table.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the management table. Each entry in the management table holds three items: a logical address, a physical address, and an acquisition desired address. Note that, at the time of S602 in FIG. 6, each item of the added entry does not have a value.

  In step S <b> 603, the control unit 101 waits for a “Polling Message” in which the initiator address and the destination address are the same to be transmitted on the CEC line. If sent, the process proceeds to S604.

  In step S604, the control unit 101 determines whether an ACK (Acknowledgement message) is returned in response to the “Polling Message” in step S603. If ACK is returned, the process proceeds to S605. In this case, the newly connected source device has not acquired the desired logical address. In step S <b> 605, the control unit 101 registers the logical address in the entry “desired acquisition address”.

  In step S606, the control unit 101 determines whether a logical address for the same type of source device as the logical address registered in step S605 remains. If it remains, it returns to S603 and repeats the same processing. If not, the process proceeds to S607.

  In step S <b> 607, the control unit 101 registers 15 in the entry “Logical address”. In addition, the physical address of the HDMI transmitting / receiving unit in which the HPD line is asserted in S602 is registered in the item “Physical address”.

  When ACK is not returned in S604, the control unit 101 deletes the value of the entry item “desired acquisition address” in S608. Next, in step S609, the control unit 101 acquires the physical address of the newly connected source device in accordance with the standard (for example, using a “Give Physical address” message).

  In step S610, the control unit 101 registers the value of the newly connected source device in the entry items “Logical address” and “Physical address”.

  By the above processing, for example, when the recording devices 202, 203, 204, and 205 are connected in this order as shown in FIG. 2, the management table shown in FIG. 7 is created. From the management table of FIG. 7, the source device connected to the HDMI transmitting / receiving unit 105 (the source device with Physical address = “4.0.0.0”) is “1”, “2”, or “ I understand that I wanted 9 ”.

  3A and 3B are flowcharts illustrating a flow of a logical address reassignment process executed by the control unit 101 in the first embodiment. When the TMDS switching unit 106 selects a new HDMI transmission / reception unit according to the user's instruction, the processing of this flowchart starts.

  In step S302, the control unit 101 determines whether the source device (first device) connected to the newly selected HDMI transmission / reception unit has acquired a logical address unique to the device. If it has been acquired, there is no need for reassignment, and the process is terminated. Otherwise, the process proceeds to S303.

  In step S303, the control unit 101 refers to the management table (see FIG. 7) and determines whether or not there is an empty logical address that the source device has requested to acquire. If there is a vacancy, the vacant logical address may be allocated, and the process jumps to S310. Otherwise, since it is necessary to pick up the logical address from one of the source devices, the process proceeds to S304.

  In step S304, the control unit 101 selects a logical address to be given to the source device connected to the newly selected HDMI transmission / reception unit. When all other source devices are connected directly below the video display device 100 as in this embodiment (see FIGS. 2 and 7), the logical address can be taken from any device. Accordingly, the logical address can be picked up from an arbitrary source device (second device) having an address for the recording device. In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that logical address numbers are picked up in ascending order. In addition, in order to determine which HDMI transmission / reception unit is connected to the source device that has acquired the desired logical address, a CEC command asking the physical address is transmitted to each source device. From the response command to this, it is possible to determine the HDMI transmission / reception unit to which the source device is connected (may be determined directly from the management table of FIG. 7). In the present embodiment, since the recording device 202 having acquired Logical address = “1” is connected to the HDMI transmitting / receiving unit 102, it is considered that the logical address of the recording device 202 is taken up.

  In step S305, the control unit 101 deasserts the HPD line of the selected port (that is, the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102). By this operation, the recording device 202 determines that “the HDMI terminal has been removed”.

  In step S <b> 306, the control unit 101 asserts the HPD line of the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102 again. As a result, the recording device 202 determines that the HDMI connection has been made again, first reads the EDID-ROM, and performs the logical address acquisition operation again after the physical address is determined. According to the CEC standard, when a device acquires a logical address, it is recommended to preferentially acquire an address held until the previous time. Accordingly, in order to acquire the logical address “1” again, the recording device 202 transmits “Polling Message” to the logical address “1”. The control unit 101 waits for the reception of the CEC command in step S307 and proceeds to step S308. If the control unit 101 determines that the same logical address is requested again by “Polling Message”, the control unit 101 proceeds to step S309.

  In step S309, the control unit 101 returns an ACK to the “Polling Message” received in step S307. Then, the recording device 202 cannot actually acquire a free logical address “1”. The recording device 202 tries to acquire other logical addresses in the same manner, but the recording device 203 and the recording device 204 each return ACK, so that their logical addresses cannot be acquired. Eventually, the logical address of the recording device 202 is changed to “15” (or “undefined”). In this state, the logical address “1” has not been acquired by any device (when viewed from another device, the video display device 100 appears to have acquired). Therefore, the logical address “1” is reserved, and the recording device 205 may be reacquired at this time.

  Therefore, the control unit 101 deasserts the HPD line of the newly selected HDMI transmission / reception unit (in this example, the HDMI transmission / reception unit 105) in S310, and asserts it again in S311.

  In step S312, the control unit 101 waits for reception of a CEC command and proceeds to step S313. If the control unit 101 determines in step S313 that acquisition of the logical address reserved in step S309 is requested by “Polling Message”, the process ends. In this case, since ACK is not returned, the recording device 205 can acquire the requested logical address (ie, “1”).

  If the CEC command is addressed to the TV logical address, the process proceeds to S315 via S314, and the control unit 101 returns ACK.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the video display device 100 reassigns a logical address when the source device connected to the newly selected HDMI transmission / reception unit does not have a unique logical address. I do.

  As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a situation in which a video display device compliant with the HDMI standard cannot be individually controlled by the CEC.

  In the first embodiment, all source devices (recording devices 202 to 205) are directly connected to the HDMI transmission / reception units 102 to 105. In contrast, in the second embodiment, a case where some source devices are connected to the HDMI transmission / reception units 102 to 105 via other source devices will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a connection example of source devices in the second embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same components as those in FIG. In this embodiment, the recording device 202 is connected to the HDMI transmission / reception unit 102 via the AV amplifier 402, and the recording device 203 is connected to the HDMI transmission / reception unit 103 via the STB 403. Therefore, the video display apparatus 100 cannot operate the HPD lines of the recording devices 202 and 203. Therefore, in this embodiment, the video display device 100 preferentially picks up the logical address of the source device directly connected thereto.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a part of the logical address reallocation process executed by the control unit 101 in the second embodiment. S501 to S503 in FIG. 5 replace S304 in FIG. 3A, and the processes other than the portions shown in FIG. 5 are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In step S <b> 501, the control unit 101 has other devices that have acquired the logical address that the source device (here, the recording device 205) that is connected to the newly selected HDMI transmission / reception unit desires to acquire. It is determined whether or not to do. As is apparent from FIG. 7, since there are recording devices that have acquired the desired acquisition addresses “1”, “2”, and “9”, it is first determined that “exists” and the process proceeds to S502.

  In step S502, the control unit 101 selects one of the devices determined to exist in step S501. As in the first embodiment, when the acquisition is attempted in ascending order of the logical address, the recording device 202 that has acquired the logical address “1” is selected first.

  In step S503, the control unit 101 determines whether the second digit of the physical address of the device selected in step S502 is “0”. The physical address of the recording device 202 is “1.1.0.0” (the control unit 101 may acquire this information from the management table or inquire using the CEC command). That the second digit of the physical address is other than “0” means that the physical address is not connected directly below the video display device 100. Therefore, the video display apparatus 100 cannot directly operate the HPD line of the recording device 202 and cannot take up the logical address. Therefore, returning to S501, another device that has not yet been selected is selected.

  If it is determined in S501 that there is no device that has not yet been selected, the control unit 101 ends the process. In this case, the logical address is not reassigned.

  In S503, when it is determined that the second digit of the physical address of the selected device is “0”, the process proceeds to S305 in FIG. 3A, and the control unit 101 continues the reassignment process as in the first embodiment. In the case of the connection configuration illustrated in FIG. 4, the control unit 101 reassigns the logical address of the recording device 204.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the video display apparatus 100 performs reallocation of the logical address after determining whether or not a device that should take up the logical address is connected immediately below. This reduces the possibility that the reallocation process will fail.

[Other Examples]
In order to realize the functions of the above-described embodiments, a recording medium in which a program code of software embodying each function is recorded may be provided to the system or apparatus. Then, the function of each embodiment described above is realized by the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the recording medium on which the program code is recorded constitutes the present invention. As a recording medium for supplying such a program code, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like can be used. Alternatively, a CD-ROM, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, or the like can be used.

  The configuration for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is not limited to executing the program code read by the computer. Including the case where the OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. It is.

  Further, the program code read from the recording medium may be written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Thereafter, the CPU of the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code, and the functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized by the processing. Is included.

Claims (8)

A display device,
First communication means for communicating with a first device;
A second communication means for communicating with a second device;
If the first device does not acquire the luer dress to respond to the device type of the first device, whether said display device and said second device are connected without passing through the external device Determining means for determining
Wherein the determining means, the display device and the case where the second device and is determined to be connected without passing through the external device, the second said obtained which do luer dress preparative the device first display device characterized by having an are allowed Ru control means acquiring the equipment. It said control means, a luer dress is acquired on the second instrument in order to get to the first device, the display device and connected to the control via the HPD line and the second device The display device according to claim 1. The second to acquisition which do luer dress equipment display device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that corresponding to the device type of the first device.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is compatible with HDMI. The determination means determines whether or not the display device and the second device are connected without passing through the external device, using a physical address corresponding to the second device. The display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the address corresponding to the device type of the first device is an address corresponding to a recording device. Communicating with a first device;
Communicating with a second device;
If the first device has not acquired an address corresponding to the device type of the first device, it is determined whether or not the display device and the second device are connected without an external device. Steps,
A step of causing the first device to acquire an address acquired by the second device when it is determined that the display device and the second device are connected without passing through the external device; A method comprising the steps of : Communicating with a first device;
Communicating with a second device;
If the first device has not acquired an address corresponding to the device type of the first device, it is determined whether or not the display device and the second device are connected without an external device. Steps,
A step of causing the first device to acquire an address acquired by the second device when it is determined that the display device and the second device are connected without passing through the external device;
A program that causes a computer to execute.

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