JP2000181441A - Image display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a device which does not require the need for deciding priority even when displaying plural sprite images and is capable of executing sprite display at a high speed by writing stored small images in the sequence based on the priority in assigned display positions when displaying a screen synthesized with the small images on a background image. SOLUTION: When the screen synthesized with the small images is displayed on the background image, the small images stored in a small image storing section are successively written in the sequence based on the priority in the display positions assigned by a display memory control section. With the device, the sprite processing can be executed by directly writing the image data to a display area 11 according to the addresses assigned by a sprite data area 12. Sprite image numbers are allocated in the priority order to the sprite images and the sprite images are synthesized with the background image in the sequence of these sprite image numbers. Then, when the sprite images overlap, the sprite images are rewritten by the sprite images having the higher priority.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device suitable for displaying a sprite image on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to display small images such as game characters and mouse pointers on a screen at high speed, an image to be displayed at high speed is created in advance and registered as a sprite image, and the position of the sprite image is determined. There is known a sprite display in which a designated sprite image is combined with a background image and displayed at a designated position. Such a sprite image is usually stored in a memory different from a frame memory for display. When displaying a sprite image, various determination processes such as a priority determination of each display data, a transparency determination, and a translucency determination are performed.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional sprite display, various determination processes such as a priority determination of display data, a transparency determination, and a translucency determination are performed.
The priority determination process is a process of determining which of the sprite images is displayed with priority when the sprite images overlap. These determination processes increase as the number of sprite images increases. When a plurality of sprite images overlap, the processing becomes very heavy, and there is a problem that high-speed display cannot be performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an image display device which does not require priority determination processing even when displaying a plurality of sprite images and can perform sprite display at high speed.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a small image storage unit for storing a plurality of small images to be synthesized on a background image in a priority order, and a display position storage for storing display positions of the plurality of small images, respectively. And a display screen storage unit in which an image of the display screen is stored, and when displaying a screen in which the plurality of small images are combined on a background image, the display position is specified by the display position storage unit. An image display apparatus characterized in that small images stored in a small image storage unit are written in an order based on a priority order.

According to the present invention, there is further provided a protection data storage unit for saving a background image in an area where a small image is to be synthesized, and a screen in which a plurality of small images are synthesized on the background image is displayed. In the meantime, the background image is restored with the previous protection data from the protection data storage unit, and before the small image stored in the small image storage unit is written to the display position specified by the display position storage unit, the display position is restored. The background image at the display position specified in the storage unit is saved as the current protection data in the protected data storage unit.

[0007] Sprite data is stored in the sprite data area with an image number corresponding to the priority order. Then, when combining a plurality of sprite images on the background screen, the sprite data stored in the sprite data area is written in the display position specified by the sprite address area in the order of the image numbers. In this way, when a plurality of sprite images are overlapped, the sprite image that has been written is rewritten by the sprite image that is subjected to sprite processing later, so that the priority determination process is unnecessary, and hardware The size of the hardware can be reduced, power consumption can be reduced, and high-speed operation can be performed.

A display area, a sprite data area, a sprite address area, and a protection area are provided on the RAM. When the sprite image is moved, the background image saved in the protection area is displayed. Then, the sprite image is written to the position where it was displayed, the background image previously hidden by the sprite image is restored, and then the current sprite image is specified by the display address specified in the sprite address area. The display area to be displayed is determined, then the background image data of the part where the sprite image is to be superimposed is saved to the protection area, and then the sprite data is read from the sprite data area, and the sprite data is read. Address where data is specified in the sprite address area It is written to the display area in accordance with. As described above, since the sprite image is directly written in the display area, high-speed operation is possible.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a graphic device to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a graphic device to which the present invention is applied includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1 and a RAM.
(Random Access Memory) 2 and RAM controller 3
, A background controller 4, a sprite controller 5, and a drawing controller 6.

The CPU 1 controls the whole operation of the graphic processing. A RAM controller 3 is provided between the CPU 1 and the RAM 2. Reading / writing of data from the CPU 1 to the RAM 2 is performed by the RAM controller 3.

In the RAM 2, a display area 11 for storing display data displayed on the display 9, a sprite data area 12 for storing data of a sprite image displayed on a background image, and a sprite image are displayed. There is provided a sprite address area 13 for storing a display position on the screen at the time of execution, and a protection area 14 for saving and protecting data of a background image in a portion where a sprite image is superimposed.

The background controller 4 is for processing a background image. The background controller 4 receives background image data. As the background image data, for example, image data from an image input device 7 such as a digital camera is used. Also, as background image data, a semiconductor memory, a magnetic disk,
Image data recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disk may be used. Further, a graphic image created by a computer may be used as data of a background image. The background controller 4
The background image data captured in this way is
The data is sent to M2 and stored in the display area 11 on the RAM2.

The sprite controller 5 is a controller for controlling drawing of a sprite image displayed on a background image. The sprite image data is an image to be superimposed and displayed as a sprite image on a background image. The original sprite image data is stored in, for example, the sprite memory 8. When displaying sprite image data on a background image, the sprite image data is stored in the sprite data area 12 on the RAM 2. At this time, when using a plurality of sprite images, the sprite images are stored in the sprite data area 12 in the order of priority.

The sprite controller 5 performs a sprite image display process when displaying a sprite image on a background image. In sprite image display processing, different processing is performed when the background image is a still image and when the background image is a moving image.

When the background image is a still image, the background image data of the portion where the sprite is
A process of retreating to the protection area 14 of M2, writing the sprite image directly to the specified address on the display area 11, and displaying the sprite image is performed.

When the background image is a moving image, the background image is rewritten, and there is no need to save the background image data of the portion where the sprite is superimposed. Therefore, when the background image is a moving image, a process of writing the sprite image directly to the designated address on the display area 11 and displaying the sprite image is performed.

The drawing controller 6 displays image data on the display area 11 of the RAM 2 on the display 9. That is, the display area 11 on the RAM 2 stores image data of an image to be drawn on the display 9. This image data is sent to the drawing controller 6. The output of the drawing controller 6 is displayed on the display 9
And the output of the drawing controller 6 is supplied to the display 9. As a result, a screen corresponding to the image data in the display area 11 is displayed on the display 9.

As described above, in the graphic apparatus to which the present invention is applied, the sprite controller 5 is provided. When the background image is a still image, the sprite controller 5 causes the background of the portion where the sprite is superimposed. The image data is saved in the protection area 14 of the memory 2 in advance, and the sprite image is displayed by directly writing the sprite image to the specified address on the display area 11. When the background image is a moving image, a process of directly writing the sprite image at a specified address on the display area 11 and displaying the sprite image is performed. This sprite image processing will be described in more detail.

As described above, the RAM 2 is provided with the display area 11, the sprite data area 12, the sprite address area 13, and the protection area 14.
In the display area 11, as shown in FIG. 2, image data corresponding to an image displayed on the display 9 is stored.
In FIG. 2, the sprite image SP is added to the background image BCK1.
An image in which 1, SP2, and SP3 are superimposed is shown.

As shown in FIG. 3, sprite image data SPD1, SPD2, SPD3,... Are stored in sprite data area 12 for each of image numbers # 1, # 2, # 3,. As a sprite image, for example, FIG.
A, images SP1, SP2, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C,
SP3 is used. Sprite image data SP1, S
P2 and SP3 are sprite images SP1 and SP, respectively.
2, SP3.

The image numbers # 1, # 2, # 3,...
This shows the priority order of sprite images. Image number # 1,
The higher the # 2, # 3,..., The higher the priority, and when displaying a plurality of sprite images in a superimposed manner, the sprite images with a lower priority are hidden by the sprite images with a higher priority.

For example, if the image number of the sprite image SP1 is # 1 and the image number of the sprite image SP3 is # 3, the image number of the sprite image SP3 is higher than the image number of the sprite image SP1. Therefore, the sprite image SP3 has a higher priority than the sprite image SP1, and if the sprite image SP1 and the sprite image SP3 overlap, the sprite image SP3
Is displayed on the sprite image SP1.

In the sprite address area 13, addresses on the screen where the sprite images SP1, SP2, SP3,... Are displayed are stored. The sprite address area 13 includes a current address storage unit (FIG. 5A) for storing the address of the current sprite image and a previous address storage unit (FIG. 5B) for storing the address of the previous sprite image.
Consists of For example, when the sprite images SP1, SP2, and SP3 are moved as shown in FIG. 6, the current address storage unit stores the current sprite images SP1, SP2, and SP3 as shown in FIG. 5A. Display addresses A1_NEW, A2_NEW, A3_NEW,... Are stored corresponding to sprite image numbers # 1, # 2, # 3. As shown in FIG. 5B, the display addresses A1_OLD, A2_OLD, A3_OLD,... Of the previous sprite images SP1, SP2, SP3 are stored in the previous address storage unit corresponding to the sprite image numbers # 1, # 2, # 3. Is done.

In the protected area 14, as shown in FIG.
Protected image data PTD1, PTD2, PTD3,... Are stored corresponding to image numbers # 1, # 2, # 3,. This protected image data is, as shown in FIG. 8, data of a background image hidden by the sprite images SP1, SP2, SP3.

FIGS. 9 to 11 are flowcharts showing the display processing of the sprite image. In FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the vertical blanking period has been reached (Step S).
1) When the vertical blanking period starts, it is determined whether the background image is a moving image or a still image (step S).
2). If the background image is a still image, sprite processing of the still image is performed (step S3), and step S1 is performed.
Is returned to If the background image is a moving image, a sprite process for the moving image is performed (step S4), and the process returns to step S1.

FIG. 10 shows the still picture sprite processing in step S3 described above. In the still image sprite process, first, the image number n is initialized to “# 1” (step S11). Then, the display address A1_OLD of the previous sprite image SP1 of the image number # 1 is referred to by the sprite address area 13 (FIG. 5B), and the data of the background image at the address A1_OLD of the display area 11 is protected by the image number # 1. Image data PTD1
(FIG. 7) (step S12). Thereby, the background image is restored.

After the background image is restored, the display address A1_NE of the current sprite image SP1 of image number # 1
W is referenced by the sprite address area 13 (FIG. 5A). In order to protect the background image of the portion where the current sprite image is to be displayed, the background image data previously written at the display address A1_NEW is stored in the protection area 14 as the protection data PTD1 ( Step S13).

Then, the display address A1_NEW of the current sprite image SP1 of image number # 1 is referred to by the sprite address area 13 (FIG. 5A), and the sprite image data SPD1 of image number # 1 is added to the address A1_NEW of the display area 11 (FIG. 5A). 3) is written (step S14).

Thus, the splice image SP1 of the image number # 1 is combined with the background image BCK1. When the processing of the image number # 1 is completed, the image number is incremented to “2” (step S15). Then, it is determined whether or not this image number is the final value (step S).
16) If not the final value, the process returns to step S12.

Then, in steps S12 to S16,
The same processing as described above is performed, and the splice image SP2 of the image number # 2 is combined with the background image BCK1. Hereinafter, the same processing is repeated up to the final value of the image number.

If it is determined in step S16 that the final value of the image number has been reached, the image in the display area 11 is sent to the drawing controller 6, and the image data in the display area 11 is displayed on the display 9 (step S17). . When the display of one screen is performed, the current sprite address An_NEW is replaced with the previous sprite address An.
_OLD and the current sprite address An_NE
A new sprite address is written as W (step S15).

This completes the still image sprite processing. Then, the process enters step S1 in FIG. 9, and when the vertical blanking period is reached, if the background image is a still image, the process shown in FIG. 10 is repeated again. By such processing, the sprite image can be moved at high speed.

For example, consider the case where the sprite image SP1 is moved from the position shown in FIG. 12A to the position shown in FIG. 12D as shown in FIG. In this case, first, as shown in FIG. 12B, the protection data PT which has been protected until now is protected from the protection area 14 by the previous display address A1_OLD specified in the sprite address area 13.
D1 is read, and the protection data PT1 is written to the display address A1_OLD by the protection data PTD1. As a result, as shown in FIG. 12B, the background image data that has been lost due to the sprite image data is repaired.

Then, the sprite address area 13
The display area in which the sprite image is to be displayed next is determined based on the current display address A1_NEW specified by (1), and as shown in FIG. 12C, the background image data of the portion where the sprite image is to be superimposed Is saved in the protection area 14 as the protection data PT1. Then, as shown in FIG. 12D, the sprite image data SPD1 is read from the sprite data area 12, and
The sprite image data SPD1 is written to the address A1_NEW of the display area 11 from the present display address A1_NEW specified in the sprite address area 13.

As a result, the sprite image SP1 is
It will be moved from the position of 2A to the position of FIG. 12D.

Further, when the sprite image SP1 is moved, the background image evacuated to the protection area 14 is written at the position where the sprite image was displayed, and is hidden by the sprite image. After the background image is restored, the display area where the next sprite image is to be displayed is determined based on the current display address specified in the sprite address area 13, and then the sprite image is superimposed. The data of the background image is saved in the protection area 14, then sprite data is read from the sprite data area 12, and the sprite data is written to the display area 11 according to the address specified by the sprite address area 13.

When the background image is a moving image, the background image is always rewritten. Therefore, as described above, it is not necessary to save the background image data of the sprite image portion in the protection area 14 of the memory 2 in advance. It is. For this reason,
If the background image is a moving image, the sprite image data is read from the sprite data area 12 on the RAM 2, and the sprite image data is stored in the display area 1 according to the address specified by the sprite address area 13.
It is sufficient to perform a process of writing data to "1".

FIG. 11 shows the moving picture sprite processing in step S4 in FIG. In the moving image sprite processing, first, the image number n is initialized to “# 1” (step S31). Then, the display address A1_NEW of the current sprite image SP1 of the image number # 1 is referred to by the sprite address area 13, and the sprite image data SPD1 of the image number # 1 is written to the address A1_NEW of the display area 11 (step S32).
Thus, the splice image SP1 of the image number # 1 is combined with the background image.

After the processing of image number # 1 is completed,
The image number is incremented to “2” (step S
33). Then, it is determined whether or not this image number is the final value (step S34). If not, the process returns to step S32.

If it is determined in step S34 that the final value of the image number has been reached, the image in the display area 11 is sent to the drawing controller 6, and the image data in the display area 11 is displayed on the display 9 (step S35). . When the display of one screen is performed, the current sprite address An_NEW is replaced with the previous sprite address An.
_OLD and the current sprite address An_NE
As W, a new sprite address is written (step S36).

Thus, the sprite processing for the moving image ends. Then, the process proceeds to step S1 in FIG. 9, and when the vertical blanking period is reached, if the background image is a moving image, the process illustrated in FIG. 11 is repeated again.

As described above, in the graphic processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, image data can be directly written in the display area 11 in accordance with the address specified by the sprite data area 12, and the splice processing can be performed.
Then, for the sprite images SP1, SP2, SP3, ..., the sprite image numbers # 1, # 2, #
.. Are assigned, and these sprite image numbers # 1, #
The sprite images are combined with the background image in the order of 2, # 3,. Therefore, when a plurality of sprite images overlap, a sprite image which has been written up to that point is rewritten by a sprite image having a higher priority for which sprite processing is performed later. Therefore, the priority determination process is not required.

As described above, in the graphic processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, a sprite image can be synthesized only by rewriting data at a designated address, and a sprite image can be displayed at high speed.

When the sprite image is translucent, when the data of the sprite image from the sprite data area 12 is written to the display area 11, the data of the protection area 14 or the data of the display area 11 at that position is written. , And the data of the sprite image may be added by changing the ratio.

In the above example, the sprite image synthesis processing is performed during the vertical blanking period. However, two display areas 11 are prepared, and while the display is performed in one of the display areas, The above-described processing may be performed in the other display area.

[0046]

According to the present invention, sprite data is stored in the sprite data area with an image number corresponding to the priority order. Then, when combining a plurality of sprite images on the background screen, the sprite data stored in the sprite data area is written in the display position specified by the sprite address area in the order of the image numbers. In this way, when a plurality of sprite images overlap, the priority order is high, and the sprite image that has been written is rewritten by the sprite image that is subjected to sprite processing later. This is unnecessary, the scale of hardware is reduced, power consumption can be reduced, and high-speed operation can be performed.

Further, according to the present invention, a display area, a sprite data area, a sprite address area, and a protection area are provided on the RAM, and when a sprite image is moved, it is evacuated to the protection area. The background image that was previously written is written to the position where the sprite image was displayed, the background image that was hidden by the sprite image was restored, and then the current display address specified in the sprite address area Then, the display area where the sprite image will be displayed next is determined, the data of the background image of the part where the sprite image is to be superimposed next is evacuated to the protection area, and then the sprite data area is removed from the sprite data area. Is read, and this sprite data is stored in the sprite address area. It is written to the display area in accordance with the address specified. As described above, since the sprite image is directly written in the display area, high-speed operation is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram used to explain a display area in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram used to explain a sprite data area in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram used for describing sprite data in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram used to explain a sprite address area in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram used to explain a sprite address in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram used to explain a protected area in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram used for describing addresses of protected areas in a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart used to describe a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart used to describe a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart used to describe a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram used for describing a graphic device to which the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... CPU, 2 ... RAM, 5 ... Sprite controller, 11 ... Display area, 12 ... Sprite data area, 13 ... Sprite address area, 14 ... Protected area

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Eiichiro Morinaga 6-35, Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Inside Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Yasunori Kamada 6-35, Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo No. Sony Corporation F term (reference) 5C082 AA06 BA43 BB15 BB32 CA55 DA54 DA87 MM02 MM04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A small image storage unit in which a plurality of small images to be synthesized on a background image are stored in priority order, a display position storage unit in which display positions of the plurality of small images are respectively stored, and an image of a display screen A display screen storage unit in which the small image is stored at a display position designated by the display position storage unit when displaying a screen in which the plurality of small images are combined on the background image. An image display device, wherein small images stored in a unit are written in an order based on the priority order. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a protection data storage unit for saving the background image in an area where the small image is to be combined, and displaying a screen on which the plurality of small images are combined on the background image. In doing so, the background image is restored with the previous protection data from the protection data storage unit, and the small image stored in the small image storage unit is displayed at the display position specified by the display position storage unit. 2. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein a background image at a display position specified by the display position storage unit is saved in the protected data storage unit as current protection data before writing. 3. The display position storage section includes a current display position storage section in which display positions of the plurality of small images are stored each time, and a display position storage section in which previous display positions of the plurality of small images are stored. The image display device according to claim 2, further comprising a display position storage unit.