JPH11109983A - Karaoke sing-along machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the contours of characters soft and the zigzag (jaggy) of the diagonal lines by dot patterns obscure by group character body patterns opaquely to background video and display contour patterns translucently to the background video. SOLUTION: A characteristic display section 21 generates video signals displaying the character patterns of text. A CPU 10 reads the patterns of the characters assigned by text display data out of a font data file and develops the same in an assigned position. A superimposing circuit changes over the video signals of the inputted text and the video signals of the background video and outputs the same to a monitor 26. This circuit forms the video signals formed by blending both video signals and outputs the same to the monitor 26. When the character patterns of the text are displayed, the character patterns are displayed opaquely by concealing the background video. The intermediate colors of the colors of the contours and the colors of the background video are displayed in the contour parts. The video of the translucent contours is thus displayed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a karaoke apparatus which makes it easy to see the characters of lyrics displayed on a screen as the karaoke music progresses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a general karaoke apparatus, a background image is displayed on a monitor in parallel with the performance of a karaoke song, and lyrics are displayed in a superimposed manner on the background image. In a conventional karaoke apparatus using an optical disk, the characters of the lyrics are burned into the background video, and this character is generated by a high-end device at the time of video production and is synthesized with the background video,
The letters were smooth and beautiful with no jaggies.

On the other hand, in a communication karaoke apparatus which has been widely used in recent years, lyrics data is included in music data as code data, and character pattern data (font data) is used.
Are stored in the karaoke apparatus main body. Then, the character pattern data is read out based on the code data during the karaoke performance, and is superimposed and displayed on a background video reproduced by another device.

[0004]

However, the character pattern stored in the communication karaoke apparatus is binary data of a dot pattern. When the binary data is displayed on a monitor, a step-like jagged line in a diagonal line of the character or the like is displayed. (Jaggy)
And it was not necessarily a beautiful character.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a karaoke apparatus which displays lyrics by synthesizing a built-in character pattern with a background image and displays lyrics.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a karaoke apparatus for reading a character pattern based on lyrics display data included in music data for performing a karaoke performance and displaying the character pattern on a background image. Character pattern storage means for storing the character body pattern and the outline pattern in combination, and means for displaying the character body pattern opaquely to the background image and displaying the outline pattern semi-transparently to the background image. It is characterized by having.

According to the present invention, when the lyrics display data is read from the music data during the performance of the karaoke song, the character pattern corresponding to the lyrics display data is read. This character pattern is composed of a character body pattern and a contour pattern. The character body pattern is displayed opaquely (without passing through the background image). The outline pattern is displayed translucently (lightly transmitting the background image). As a result, the outline of the character is softened, and the jaggies of oblique lines due to the dot pattern can be made inconspicuous.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. This karaoke apparatus displays a background image of a moving image on a monitor during a karaoke performance, and superimposes the background image on the background image to display lyrics.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the karaoke apparatus. The CPU 10 that controls the operation of the entire apparatus includes a ROM 11, a RAM 12, a hard disk storage device (HDD) 13, a communication control unit 14, an infrared signal receiving unit 15, a display panel 16, a panel switch 17, and a sound source 1 via a bus.
8, ADPCM decoder 19, character display unit 21, CD-
The ROM changer 24 and the display control unit 25 are connected.

The ROM 11 stores a startup program, and the HDD 13 stores a system program and an application program. When the power of the karaoke apparatus is turned on, the startup program of the ROM 11 is executed, and the system program is read from the HDD 13. The system program is a program that controls the basic operation of the device and data transmission / reception with peripheral devices. The application program is a peripheral device control program, a sequence program, or the like. During a karaoke performance, a sequence program is executed by the CPU 10 to generate musical tones and reproduce images based on music data. In the RAM 12, a work area is set. In addition to the above programs, the HDD 13
Music data for karaoke performance and font data which is a character pattern of a character group used as lyrics are stored. The music data has a configuration as shown in FIG. 3, and the character pattern of the font data is composed of a character body pattern and an outline pattern as shown in FIG. Details of these will be described later.

The communication control unit 14 is a controller for communicating with a host station via a telephone line.
The music data and the like are downloaded from the host station. Downloaded music data is stored on HDD
Thirteen music data storage areas.

The commander 30 has a command switch such as a music selection switch, a numeric key switch, and the like. When the user operates these switches, the commander 30 transmits an infrared signal modulated with a code corresponding to the operation. The infrared signal receiving unit 15 receives the infrared signal sent from the commander 30 to restore the data, and inputs the data to the CPU 10. CP
U10 selects music data according to this data and executes a karaoke performance.

The display panel 16 is provided on the front of the karaoke apparatus, and displays the currently playing music code and the number of reserved music. The panel switch 16 is provided on a front operation unit of the karaoke apparatus, and includes a music code input switch, a key change switch, and the like.

The sound source 18 forms a tone signal based on music data input from the CPU 10. The ADPCM decoder 19 forms an audio signal having a specified length and a specified pitch based on audio data included in the music data. The audio data is the ADPCM as it is with the audio signal waveform such as the back chorus which is hardly generated electronically by the sound source 18.
It is data.

A tone signal formed by the sound source 18, ADPCM
The audio signal reproduced by the decoder 19 is input to an amplifier 22 connected to the apparatus main body. A singing microphone 27 is connected to the amplifier 22. A singing voice signal of the singer is input from the microphone 27. The amplifier 22 amplifies the input audio signal and musical sound signal by adding effects such as reverb and echo. The amplified signal is input to the speaker 23 and output as sound.

The character display section 21 is a circuit for generating a video signal for displaying the character pattern of the lyrics. The lyrics display data is read from the music data in parallel with the performance of the karaoke song. The CPU 10 reads the character pattern specified by the lyrics display data from the font data file and expands it at the specified position. This expansion is performed on a frame memory such as a VRAM. This frame memory may use a part of the RAM 12,
As M12, a memory may be incorporated in the character display unit 21 and used. The character display unit 21 converts the developed character pattern into a video signal and outputs it in synchronization with the video signal of the background video reproduced by the CD-ROM changer 24. The character pattern is composed of a character body pattern and a contour pattern. The CPU 10 stores data indicating where the developed character pattern is in the character body and where the contour is in the same matrix configuration as the character pattern developing frame memory. Write to flag memory. Generally, the number of pixels (line resolution) of a television monitor is about 400 × 400, and both the frame memory and the flag memory are configured in a matrix of this size. In the frame memory, one dot is composed of 8 to 16 bits, and in the flag memory, one dot is composed of 2 bits.

Two bits corresponding to each dot of the flag memory include a value of a Ys flag indicating whether or not a dot of a lyric character pattern exists at the dot, and a character pattern dot when a character pattern dot exists. An AT flag value indicating whether the dot is a character body dot or a contour dot is stored. In the display control unit 25, Y
The s flag indicates the video signal of the character pattern (monitor 26
Function as a flag to switch whether or not to
The AT flag functions as a flag for switching whether or not the character pattern is made translucent and the background image is lightly transmitted.

The CD-ROM changer 24 has a maximum of 6
A set of CD-ROMs can be set, and background video (BGV) of about 100 scenes can be reproduced. C
The video selection data determined based on the genre data of the music is input to the D-ROM changer 24. CD
The ROM changer 24 selects and reproduces one background video from the background video data of about 100 scenes based on the video selection data, and outputs it as video data. The video signal of the character pattern generated by the character display unit 21 and the video signal of the background video reproduced by the CD-ROM 24 are input to the display control unit 25. The display controller 25 superimposes these video signals in a superimposed manner and
To be displayed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the superimpose circuit 40 included in the display control section 25. The superimpose circuit 40 has two video signal input terminals, and one terminal is connected to the CD-ROM changer 24.
The background video (BGV) video signal output by
The video signal of the character pattern of the lyrics output by the character display unit 21 is input to the other terminal. Both video signals are read out in synchronization. The values of the Ys flag and the AT flag stored in the flag memory are also converted into continuous time signals (Ys signal and AT signal) synchronized with the video signal and input to the superimpose circuit 40. In the superimpose circuit 40, the Ys signal functions as a signal for instructing whether to display lyrics or a background image. When this signal is "1", the background image is displayed unconditionally. On the other hand, when this signal is “0”, the character pattern of the lyrics is displayed over the background video. When the character pattern of the lyrics is displayed, if the AT signal is "0", the character pattern hides the background image and is displayed opaque, and if the AT signal is "1", the character pattern makes the background image lightly transmitted. Displayed translucently.

That is, the superimpose circuit 40
Has a function of switching between the video signal of the input lyrics and the video signal of the background video and outputting the video signal to the monitor 26, generating a video signal by blending both video signals, and outputting this to the monitor 26. I have. Thereby, in the outline portion of the character pattern of the lyrics, an intermediate color between the outline color and the background image color is displayed, and an image in which the outline becomes translucent is displayed. Thereby, the contour of the character pattern can be softened.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of music data stored in the HDD 13 of the karaoke apparatus. FIG. 7B is a detailed view of the lyrics display data track.

The music data includes a header, a performance data track, a guide melody data track, a lyrics display data track, an audio track, and audio data. The header is a portion in which bibliographic data of the music data such as the music title, genre data, release date, and music performance time (length) are written. Each data track is composed of sequence data including event data and duration data indicating a time interval between the event data. The performance data track is a track in which data for forming a musical tone of a karaoke performance is stored, and is composed of a plurality of tone tracks that generate melody and rhythm sounds. The data of this track is supplied to the sound source 18.

The lyrics display data track is a track for storing data for displaying lyrics on the monitor 26. The lyrics are displayed on the lower side of the monitor 26 and are rewritten for each phrase. Then, the display color is switched from the first color to the second color in accordance with the singing timing. The lyrics display data includes, as shown in FIG. 3B, event data such as character string data P of lyrics for one phrase, color change instruction data CC for instructing a color change of each character of the character string data, and the like. It consists of duration data ΔT indicating the time interval of event data. In the character string data P, data indicating the code of the character to be displayed, the display position of each character, and the display color of the body and outline of each character are written.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of character patterns stored in the font data file of the HDD 13 and a display example thereof. This figure shows the katakana "me" pattern. Each character pattern is composed of a character body pattern shown in FIG. 7A and a contour pattern shown in FIG. Since each dot is displayed as a square, the diagonal lines are stair-like in dot units. Also, the outline pattern is a pattern whose periphery is slightly larger (1-2 dots in the figure) than the character body pattern. When the lyrics are displayed, the color of the character body pattern and the outline pattern are changed, and the character body pattern is superimposed on the outline pattern and displayed as shown in FIG. By changing the colors of the character body pattern and the outline pattern, the characters can be easily read regardless of the background video color. Then, as described above, the superimpose circuit 40 of this apparatus makes the outline pattern semi-transparent and displays the background image as if it is lightly transmitted. As a result, the outline of the character can be softened, and even if there is a step-like jagged (jagged) diagonal line, it can be made inconspicuous.

FIG. 5 shows the superimpose circuit 40.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing signals of respective parts of FIG. This figure shows a signal at a portion indicated by an arrow S in FIG. 5A shows the configuration of a character pattern, FIG. 5B shows a Ys signal synchronized with the character pattern, and FIG. 5C shows an AT signal synchronized with the character pattern. D) shows an example of the video signal of the character pattern, (E) shows an example of a BGV video signal input in a section synchronized with the character pattern, and (F) shows the Ys signal, This shows a combination of the video signal of the character pattern and the video signal of the background video based on the AT signal.

The dot arrangement of the character pattern in this section is such that the outline is one dot, the character body is four dots, and the outline is one dot. The superimpose circuit 4 synchronizes with the character pattern portion of this video signal (FIG. 3D).
The Ys signal of “1” is input to 0 as shown in FIG. In the section where the contour (only the contour) is displayed, an AT signal of "1" is input as shown in FIG.

The video signal (FIG. 4F) synthesized by these signals is used in a section where the character body is displayed, that is, in a section where the Ys signal is "1" and the AT signal is "0". Only the video signal of the character pattern is output. Also,
In the section where Ys is “0”, only the background video signal is output. In a section where both the Ys signal and the AT signal are "1", the video signal of the character pattern and the video signal of the background video are blended, and the color of the character pattern (including the luminance) and the intermediate color of the color of the background video are displayed. Such video signals are synthesized. In the case of a video composite signal, a composite signal may be generated by mixing the luminance signal and the chroma signal so as to take an intermediate value between the video signal of the character pattern and the video signal of the BGV signal. This generation processing may be performed by an analog circuit, or the video signal may be temporarily converted to digital data, synthesized by digital processing, and then converted back to an analog signal.

In this way, it is possible to display lyric characters in which only the character body is opaque and the outline is translucent.

FIG. 6 shows that the CPU 10 has a character display unit 21.
9 is a flowchart showing an operation when writing the values of Ys and AT into the flag memory of FIG. This operation is performed by the CPU 1
0 is executed in parallel when a character pattern is generated based on the character string data of the lyrics display data and this character pattern is written in the frame memory. Then, an analog Ys signal and an AT signal are generated based on the data written in the flag memory.

Here, the following processing is performed for each dot of the frame. It is determined whether the dot currently being processed has a character body pattern (s1). Since the pattern of the character body is opaquely displayed, the Ys flag corresponding to this dot is set to "1" (s5) and the AT flag is set to "0" (s6). If there is an outline pattern, the Ys flag is set to "1" (s7) and the AT flag is also set to "1" (s8) in order to display the outline translucently. If there is neither a character body pattern nor an outline pattern, the Ys flag is set to "0" to display only the background image (s9). If the Ys signal is "0" in the superimpose circuit 40, the AT signal is ignored, so that it is not necessary to set the AT flag in s9.

The superimpose circuit inputs a video composite signal.
The B component signal may be input.

The size of the character pattern may be any size (any number of dots), and the difference between the size of the outline pattern and the size of the character body pattern may be any number of dots.
When the outline of the character body has a sufficient number of dots, such as about 6 dots, the entire outline may not be uniformly translucent, but only the peripheral portion of the outline may be translucent. By doing so, the jaggies of the character pattern can be made less noticeable. In this case, a semi-transparent pattern may be separately stored in the peripheral portion of the contour pattern, and the translucent portion may be obtained by calculation when the pattern is developed and displayed. In the case of obtaining by calculation, the peripheral portion can be simply made translucent by making one or two dots at the end in the scanning line direction of the contour pattern semitransparent.

In the superimpose circuit 40 of the above embodiment, the video signal of the contour pattern and the video signal of BGV are mixed on a one-to-one basis, but the mixing ratio is not limited to this. Further, the mixture ratio may be changed between the inside of the contour and the periphery of the contour.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, the outline of the character pattern of the lyrics displayed during the performance of the karaoke is made semi-transparent, so that the outline of the character can be softened. Can be displayed clearly without being noticeable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a karaoke apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a superimpose circuit of the karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of music data used in the karaoke apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing character pattern data used in the karaoke apparatus and a display example thereof.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of waveforms of various signals input to and output from the superimpose circuit.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the CPU of the karaoke apparatus;

[Explanation of symbols]

10 CPU, 13 HDD, 21 Character display unit, 25
... Display control unit, 26 ... Monitor, 40 ... Superimpose circuit Ys ... Lyrics / background switching signal, AT ... Opaque / translucent switching signal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A karaoke apparatus for reading a character pattern based on lyrics display data included in music data for performing a karaoke performance and superimposing the character pattern on a background image, wherein the character pattern includes a character body pattern and a contour pattern. Character pattern storage means for storing a combination of a character pattern and a character body pattern opaquely displayed with respect to a background image
Means for displaying the contour pattern translucently with respect to the background video, a karaoke apparatus comprising: