JPH06274155A - Composing display device for picture - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the picture composing display device which can easily compose a picture of a computer graphic picture and a moving picture without increasing the load on a computer. CONSTITUTION:This picture composing display device is a device which specifies an area and a picture on a display device 8 and provided with plural frame memories 4 and 14 which store plural picture data, a switching memory 6 which stores specification information on the picture, a synchronous control means 1 which reads the picture data out of the frame memories 4 and 14 in synchronism with display timing, and a video signal selecting means 7 which selects and sends out one of the picture data read out of the frame memories to the display device 8 in synchronism with display timing according to the specification information from the switching memory 6. Plural pictures can freely be put together into one in an optional area by rewriting the specification information in the switching memory 6. The picture data are updated by a means which writes pictures in the frame memories asynchronously with the read timing and various pictures are easily put together into one on one screen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image synthesizing display device for synthesizing and displaying an image on each region by designating an area and an image of the display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transferring a moving image to a frame memory by a CPU or a DMAC, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transferring to a frame memory by hardware using a port memory, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a method of using a combiner.

In order to display a moving image (for example, an image that changes in real time such as a TV image or an SEM image) on a screen output by a computer, the following methods (1) to (3) have been conventionally adopted.

.. As shown in FIG. 3, the moving image obtained by the moving image input device 22 such as a camera is digitized by the A / D converter 23 and directly by the CPU or the DMA controller 21.
The method of transferring to the frame memory 24 used for display in the computer and displaying the moving image on the display 25 together with the computer output.

.. As shown in FIG. 4, the moving image obtained by the moving image input device 32 such as a camera is digitized by the A / D converter 33, and similarly transferred to the frame memory 34 used for display in the computer. A method of displaying a moving image on the display 35 together with a computer output. However, the transfer is performed by using a 3-port memory or the like, and is performed by hardware without using the CPU or the DMA controller.

[0006] As shown in FIG. 5, an image synthesizer is installed in the middle of a cable connecting a computer to the display 49, and a computer image and a moving image are synthesized and displayed. In synthesizing, the CPU 41 displays a special color that is not used in the system in a rectangular area in which a moving image is to be displayed, and in the synthesizing device, at the moment when the special color is detected by the comparator 44, the moving image is displayed from the video signal of the computer. Switch to the video signal and display the point of the moving image corresponding to that position. This allows the CPU 41 to display a moving image in a rectangular area filled with a special color.

[0007]

With the development of window technology in recent years, moving images are being displayed in windows. When displaying moving images in windows,
The following problems occur.

As in the method of (a), CPU and DMA
If the controller 21 transfers the moving image to the window area of the frame memory 24, the CPU and the system bus are occupied for the transfer, and the original processing of the CPU becomes difficult. Further, in order to display a moving image of 30 frames or more per second, an extremely high speed CPU, DMA controller and high performance bus are required. Otherwise, it can only display awkward moving images.

(B) A method is used to make up for the shortcomings of that method. Since this method uses a 3-port memory, it is ideal for hardware implementation without consuming CPU power. However, the method (1) essentially requires the function to be built into the CPU system, but generally, the built-in method requires modification of the window system software. Appropriate information from the computer manufacturer or the developer of the window system software is necessary for this development or modification, but it is often not disclosed. For this reason, it is generally extremely difficult for a user other than the manufacturer to develop a system for displaying a moving image by the method of.

The method (c) is used to avoid the problem (b). According to this method, the number of hardware parts is increased, but the CPU is hardly burdened and a moving image can be displayed, and it is sufficient that the computer system hardware information and the window system software information are publicly available. Therefore, it is possible to easily develop software for displaying a moving image. The disadvantage is that the number of hardware components is large and the analog circuit detects a color that is not used in the system, so that it has a certain width and, therefore, may react to a close color. Therefore, when trying to create full-color compatible application software, there arises a problem that a moving image is displayed in an area that is not originally displayed.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides an image synthesizing display device capable of easily synthesizing and displaying a computer graphic image and a moving image without increasing the load on the computer. The purpose is to do.

[0012]

To this end, the present invention is an image synthesizing display device for synthesizing and displaying an image in each region by designating an area and an image of the display device. Multiple frame memories to store image data,
A switching memory that stores the designation information of the image to be displayed for each area, a synchronization control unit that reads the image data of each frame memory in synchronization with the display timing, and a synchronization control unit that reads the designation information of the image of the switching memory in synchronization with the display timing. It is characterized by comprising a video signal selection means for selecting one of the image data read from each frame memory according to the image designation information and sending it to the display device.

[0013]

In the image synthesizing and displaying apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of frame memories for storing a plurality of image data to be synthesized and displayed in each area, a switching memory for storing designation information of an image to be displayed for each area, and a frame memory for each frame memory. Synchronization control means for reading out image data in synchronization with display timing, and reading out image designation information in the switching memory in synchronization with display timing and selecting one of the image data read out from each frame memory according to the image designation information. Since the video signal selecting means for sending to the display device is provided, a plurality of images can be freely combined in any area by rewriting the designation information in the switching memory. Moreover, the image data is updated by the means for writing the image asynchronously with the reading timing of the frame memory, so that various images such as moving images and computer graphic images can be easily combined on one screen. You can do it.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of an image synthesizing display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the image synthesizing display device according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the CPU 12, the I / O 13,
The computer including the graphics frame memory 14 stores the computer video signal in the graphics frame memory 14, sends out the video signal from the graphics frame memory 14 in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal and the vertical synchronizing signal for display, and The image designation information is written in the switching memory 6 of the composite display device through the I / O 13. The moving image input device 11 such as a camera is composed of, for example, a video camera, an analysis device, or the like and takes in a video signal of a moving image.

The A / D converter 3 is for A / D converting a video signal of a moving image captured by the moving image input device 11 such as a camera. The moving image frame memory 4 stores video data obtained by A / D converting a video signal of a moving image, and outputs the video data to the D / A converter 5 at a display timing. The D / A converter 5 D / A converts the video data output from the moving image frame memory 4 into a video signal for display. The display horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit 1 reads the switching memory 6 in synchronization with the display horizontal synchronizing signal and the vertical synchronizing signal output from the computer, and the moving image frame memory 4
To generate the timing for reading the video data from the video signal and converting it to the video signal. The horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit 2 for inputting a moving image is for A / D converting the video signal by the A / D converter 3 in synchronization with the horizontal synchronizing signal and the vertical synchronizing signal of the moving image and storing it in the moving image frame memory 4. The timing is generated. The video switch 7 uses the contents of the read switching memory 6 to read the graphics frame memory 14
The computer video signal read from the video data or the video video signal read from the video frame memory 4 is selected, and the selected signal is output to the display unit 8. Switching memory 6
Is for writing image designation information corresponding to each display area according to an instruction from an external computer such as the CPU 12 through the I / O 13, and switches the video switch 7 according to the written designation information. Is. In this manner, the computer image and the moving image are combined and displayed on the display 8 according to the designation information written in the switching memory 6.

Next, the operation will be described. The size of the moving image frame memory 4 may be a size required for capturing a moving image (the number of vertical pixels × the number of horizontal pixels), but in the following, it is assumed to be the same as the display area size of the computer for the sake of simplicity. A moving image signal from the moving image input device 11 such as a camera includes a horizontal / vertical synchronizing signal and a video signal. Among them, the synchronizing signal is input to the horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit 2 for inputting a moving image, and is used for the timing of A / D conversion of the video signal and the timing of storing the video signal in the frame memory 4 for moving images and the generation of addresses.

The contents of the switching memory 6 are written from the I / O 13 of the computer as described above.
In the example shown in, when the content of the switching memory 6 is “0”, the computer image is selected by the video switch 7 and output to the display unit 8, and when the content is “1”, the moving image is output to the display unit 8. It was done. The size of the switching memory 6 is
It should be the same size as the display area of the computer, so that it completely overlaps the display screen of the computer.

When synthesizing windows,
As shown in FIG. 2C, “1” is written in the switching memory 6 in the area where the moving image window is desired to be displayed, and “0” is written in the switching memory 6 in the other areas. For example, in FIG.
As shown in (E), "1" is not written in the area where a window is further displayed on the moving image. Note that it is also possible to extract the contour of a moving person or the like and fill the inside of the contour with “1” to synthesize only the person on the window.

In the CPU 12, an image is created using the computer graphics function and stored in the graphics frame memory 14. Further, the image designation information is written in the switching memory 6 through the I / O 13.

On the other hand, the video signal of the moving picture taken in from the moving picture input device 11 such as a camera is A / D converted under appropriate control of the horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit 2 for moving picture input to A / D.
The D-converted video data is written in a rectangular area of an arbitrary size starting from an arbitrary position in the moving picture frame memory 4, as shown in FIG.

The contents of the moving picture frame memory 4 are controlled by the display horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit 1 in synchronization with the video signal output from the graphics frame memory 14 of the computer, and are D / A converted by the D / A converter 5. A converted,
It is output to the video switch 7. The D / A converted video signal is output at exactly the same timing as the video signal output from the computer. Therefore, if the video switch 7 is left at "1", the moving image that has already been captured is displayed on the display unit 8 as shown in FIG. 2B.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which a moving image is combined with a computer graphics image has been described, but the same applies to combining moving images, computer graphic images, and not only two images but also a plurality of these images. Can be processed. In this case, a plurality of moving images may be designated by using, for example, a switching memory having a plurality of bits. Stereo display may be performed by simultaneously displaying two moving images on the left and right,
The contents of the switching memory may be dynamically changed and displayed. For example, the head could be a turtle and the body could be a rabbit. The moving image data is transferred to the moving image frame memory according to the display position, but may be transferred to a fixed address of the moving image frame memory and moved to an arbitrary position in the display area at the time of display. Also, instead of the video switch, the same operation can be performed by adding with an operational amplifier or the like.

The contents of the switching memory may be rewritten by firmware based on a command from the computer. In this way, it is possible to synthesize with a simple communication protocol without sacrificing computer performance.
For example, the computer may send I / O polygonal vertex coordinates as contour information, and the synthesis display device of the present invention may rewrite the switching memory based on the contour information. By doing so, it is possible to easily deal with overlapping windows and deformation.

When a network is used for I / O, it becomes possible to control moving images from various computers.
Further, by using standardized hardware (for example, Ethernet), it is possible to control a moving image from a computer (for example, EWS, PC, general-purpose machine) having various specifications.

By performing real-time image processing on the moving image captured in the moving image frame memory and writing it in the moving image frame memory, a real-time image processed image can be combined and displayed.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the designation information of the image to be displayed for each area is stored in the switching memory, and the video signal selecting means synchronizes with the display timing of the switching memory. Since the image designation information is read and one of the image data read from each frame memory is selected according to the image designation information and sent to the display device,
The moving picture synthesizer can be realized independently of the computer system. Moreover, it is possible to easily connect to various computer systems to display moving images, and at that time, the software can be changed at a minimum without modifying the window system itself. Further, a plurality of moving images and a plurality of computer images can be combined on the same display device in various formats, and real-time image processing can be performed by the combination display device of the present invention to combine the results.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining one embodiment of an image compositing display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the image synthesis display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transferring a moving image to a frame memory by a CPU or a DMAC.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a method of transferring to a frame memory by hardware using a 3-port memory.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a system using a combiner.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit for display, 2 ... Horizontal / vertical synchronizing circuit for inputting moving images, 3 ... A / D converter, 4 ... Frame memory for moving images, 5 ... D / A converter, 6 ... Switching memory, 7 ... Video switch, 8 ... Display, 11 ... Movie input device such as camera, 12 ... CPU, 13 ... I / O, 14 ... Graphics frame memory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A composite image display device for compositely displaying an image in each area by designating an area and an image of a display device, and a plurality of frame memories storing a plurality of image data to be compositely displayed in each area, A switching memory that stores the designation information of the image to be displayed for each area, a synchronization control unit that reads the image data of each frame memory in synchronization with the display timing, and a synchronization control unit that reads the designation information of the image of the switching memory in synchronization with the display timing. An image synthesizing display device comprising video signal selecting means for selecting one of image data read from each frame memory according to image designation information and sending the selected image data to a display device. 2. The image synthesizing display device according to claim 1, wherein in each frame memory, image data is updated by means for writing an image asynchronously with a read timing.