JP2001056728A - Computer system and control method for program and moving image reproducing processing in the system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively utilize a computer resource such as CPU or memory by controlling a running state of a program or moving image reproducing processing corresponding to the state of a window. SOLUTION: When it is detected by a display state monitoring part 129 at least one part of a moving image reproducing window is hidden by the window of another application program(AP) or the like, a manager 121 of a moving image reproducing AP 12 performs control such as the image data of the hidden part are not transferred to a VRAM 21 (1), the video data of the hidden part are not decoded (2), the decoded audio data are down sampled and a data size is reduced (3) and only audio is reproduced by decoding only the audio without decoding the image data (video and sub-picture) (4) so that load of the CPU can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer system equipped with a window system and a method for controlling a program and a moving image reproducing process in the computer system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of computers and multimedia technology, various personal computers compatible with multimedia have been developed. This type of personal computer is provided with a function for reproducing moving image data recorded on a DVD medium or the like, in addition to reproducing text data and graphics data.

[0003] The moving image data recorded on the DVD is MPE.
G2. When reproducing this moving image data on a personal computer, first, under the control of a moving image reproducing application program, a DV
The encoded stream of the moving image data is read from the D drive device into the main memory of the personal computer, and is transferred to an MPEG2 decoder realized by software or hardware. In the MPEG2 decoder, a decoding process for expanding the encoded stream is performed. The decoded video data is stored in the OS
As in the case of ordinary graphics data provided by an application program or the like, the data is once written in an image memory and then displayed on a display monitor.

In a personal computer equipped with a window system, a window is allocated for each application program. A moving image playback window is also assigned to the moving image data, and the decoded moving image data is displayed on the moving image playback window.

[0005]

However, in the related art, once a moving image reproducing application program is started, a part or the whole of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by another application program window. However, the processing for reproducing the moving image was performed as usual. For this reason, there has been a problem in that CPU resources and memory resources are wasted by processing for reproducing a portion that is invisible to the user.

In particular, when moving image data is decoded by software, a large amount of CPU resources and memory resources are required for the decoding process.
As for the processing for reproducing the part invisible to the user, the amount of resources used thereby becomes enormous. For this reason, the capacity of the CPU that can be assigned to other application programs other than the moving image reproduction application program is greatly limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to control the execution state of a program and a moving image reproduction process in accordance with the state of a window, and to make effective use of computer resources such as a CPU and a memory. It is an object of the present invention to provide a computer system capable of performing the above and a control method of a program and a moving image reproduction process in the computer system.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to a computer system equipped with a window system, wherein at least a part of a window of an application program is hidden by another window. Detecting means for detecting whether or not at least a part of a window of the application program is hidden by the detecting means, at least a part of processing executed by the application program is omitted Operation state control means for controlling the operation state of the application program itself.

In this computer system, when a window of an application program is hidden by another window, at least a part of a process executed by the application program is omitted. Therefore, when the operation reproduction window of the moving image reproduction application program is hidden by the window of the other application program, a part of the operation reproduction process is omitted, so that more resources are allocated to the other application program. It becomes possible.

[0010] In particular, for the moving image data of the hidden part, by omitting the transfer processing to the image memory, it is possible to reduce the amount of unnecessary data transfer in an area that cannot be seen by the user. Become.

If the decoding of the moving image data is performed by software, it is preferable to omit the decoding of the moving image data in the hidden portion.
As a result, many resources can be released from the moving image data reproduction processing.

In a system for decoding and reproducing an encoded stream in which audio data and moving image data are multiplexed, if at least a part of a moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, By downsampling the decoded audio data, the amount of audio data to be reproduced can be reduced,
Alternatively, it is preferable to determine that the user has not watched the moving image data, omit decoding of the moving image data, and perform control such that only the audio data is reproduced.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a software and hardware configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This computer system is a personal computer (PC) equipped with a window system that assigns a window to each application program. This personal computer (P
In C) 11, the decoding and reproduction processing of the encoded moving image data is executed and controlled by the moving image reproduction application program 12.

This moving image reproduction application program 12 has, like other application programs,
One window (moving image playback window) is allocated by the window manager 131 of the operating system (OS) 13. Window manager 1
Reference numeral 31 assigns a window to each application program. By the window control function of the window manager 131, windows of a plurality of application programs can be displayed on the desktop screen of the PC 11 at the same time.

The PC 11 includes a DVD drive 17, a sound coat roller 18, an audio amplifier 19, a VGA controller 20, and a video RAM as main hardware necessary for reproducing multimedia data such as moving images and sounds. (VRAM) 21 and the like.

The DVD drive 17 stores DVD media or C
This is for accessing a D-ROM medium or the like, and reading of a DVD video title from the DVD drive 17 is performed via the file driver 14. On a DVD medium, for example, a movie of about 135 minutes on one side can be recorded. The movie information can include moving picture data (video) as a main picture, sub-picture data (sub-picture) up to 16 channels, and audio data (audio) up to 32 channels.

In this case, these videos, sub-pictures,
The audio and the audio are recorded after being digitally compressed and encoded according to the MPEG2 standard. According to the MPEG2 standard, other encoded data can be included in data encoded by MPEG2, and the encoded data is treated as one MPEG2 program stream.

MPEG2 is used for video encoding.
Run-length coding and DOLBY AC3 are used for sub-picture and audio coding, respectively. Even in this case, the encoded video, sub-picture, and audio are treated as one MPEG2 program stream.

Moving picture reproduction application program 12
The video and subpictures decoded by
VR via the OS 13 and the display driver 16
The data is transferred to the AM 21 and is written to a moving image display area (off-screen surface) provided on the VRAM 21. The VGA controller 20 is for controlling the display monitor 22 and has a VRAM 21
And display the data on the display monitor 22. The video and sub-picture written on the off-screen surface are displayed on the moving image reproduction window assigned to the moving image reproduction application program 12 by the window manager 131.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
The audio data decoded by the OS 13
And to the sound controller 18 through the sound driver 18. Then, like the other audio data, the sound data is reproduced from the speaker by the sound controller 18 and the audio controller 19.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
Has a function of dynamically changing the execution state of the playback control process according to whether or not the moving image playback window is hidden by a window of another application program or the like. That is, when the moving image reproduction window is hidden by a window of another application program or the like, a part of the reproduction control processing is automatically omitted. This makes it possible to increase the CPU resources and memory resources of the PC 11 that can be allocated to other application programs and the like.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
As its functional modules, as shown in the figure, a manager 121, a file reading unit 122, a splitter 1
23, audio decoder 124, video decoder 12
5, the sub-picture decoder 126, the image synthesizing unit 127,
Image data transfer unit 128 and display state monitoring unit 129
It has.

The manager 121 controls the operation of each module in the moving picture reproducing application program 12. At least a part of the moving picture reproducing window is hidden by the display state monitor 129 by a window of another application program or the like. If it is detected that the reproduction control process has been performed, control is performed to omit a part of the reproduction control process in order to reduce the load on the CPU of the PC 11. Specifically, the following control is performed.

(1) When a part of the moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, the processing is reduced by not transferring the image data of the hidden part to the VRAM 21. (2) Moving image reproduction If a part of the window is hidden by another window, the processing is reduced by not decoding the video data of the hidden part.

(3) If a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window, the processing is reduced by down-sampling the decoded audio data to reduce its data size. If a part of the playback window is hidden by another window, it is determined that the user is not watching the DVD video, and only the audio is decoded without decoding the image data (video and sub-picture). The file reading unit 122, which reduces processing by playing back only the video data, reads the moving image data file to be played back, which is composed of the MPEG2 program stream, into the OS.
13 or read from the DVD medium via the file driver 14 and load it onto the main memory of the PC 11.
The splitter 123 performs a separation process for separating video, sub-picture, and audio multiplexed in the MPEG2 program stream. The audio decoder 124, the video decoder 125, and the sub-picture decoder 126 execute decoding processing for expanding the encoded audio, video, and sub-picture on the main memory. The image synthesizing unit 127 performs a process for synthesizing a decoded sub-picture composed of character data on a frame of the decoded video data. Thus, display image data is prepared on the main memory. The image data transfer unit 128
The image data prepared on the main memory is transferred to the VRAM 21 and written to the off-screen surface. The transfer and writing of the image data from the main memory to the VRAM 21 are executed under a control of the OS 13 and the display driver 16 via a system bus or a video port dedicated to image transfer such as AGP.

The display state monitoring unit 129 determines whether or not the moving image playback window of the moving image playback application program 12 is hidden by a window of another application program, a hidden area, presence or absence of iconization (minimization), and the like. To detect. Since the state of each application window is managed by the window manager 131, the display state monitoring unit 129 periodically inquires of the window manager 131 about the current state of the moving image playback window when detecting the state of the moving image playback window. Or by using a mechanism that causes the window manager 131 to notify the display state monitor 129 each time the state of the moving image playback window changes.

(Moving Picture Reproduction Control Method 1) Next, a first moving picture reproduction control method used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. This method detects whether a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window, and reduces the processing by not transferring the image data of the hidden part to the VRAM 21. is there.

First, the overall processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.

The DVD video title (MPEG2 program stream) stored on the DVD medium is:
File driver 14 and file reading unit 122
To the splitter 123, where it is separated into audio, video, and sub-pictures. After the audio is decoded by the audio decoder 124, the sound is transmitted to the sound controller 1 via the sound driver 15.
8 and reproduced and output from a speaker via an audio amplifier 19.

The video and the sub-picture are video decoder 125 and sub-picture decoder 126, respectively.
After being decoded, the image data is sent to the image synthesizing unit 127, where it is synthesized. The display image data obtained by the synthesis is transferred to the VRAM 21 under the control of the image data transfer unit 128 and the display driver 16, and is written to the VRAM 21 on the off-screen surface. The image data written to the off-screen surface of the VRAM 21 is
Under the control of 0, the graphics data drawn on the VRAM 21 is overlaid on the screen. This is shown in FIG.

The area of the VRAM 21 is used by dividing the area as shown in FIG. The VGA controller 20 automatically switches between the primary surface and the secondary surface and displays the graphics data on the screen. The primary surface and the secondary surface are used alternately, and while the graphics data is read from the primary surface and output to the screen, a screen image of new graphics data is written to the secondary surface. As a result, it is possible to prevent the screen being rewritten from being displayed, so that the window can be moved smoothly.

The moving image data drawn on the off-screen surface is synthesized and displayed on the current display screen as an overlay window (moving image reproduction window). The VGA controller 20 calculates the size of the overlay window (moving image reproduction window), and combines the image of the off-screen surface with the image of the primary surface or the secondary surface while changing the size of the image to be displayed. By doing so, it is possible to perform writing without worrying about the actual display timing and the size of the overlay window (moving image playback window) when writing an image on the off-screen surface.

When the window is moved or the active window is switched, a part or the whole of the overlay window may be hidden by the window of the graphics data drawn on the primary surface or the secondary surface. Display state monitoring unit 12
9, the image data transfer unit 128 does not transfer the image data for the hidden portion, and the image data for the visible portion of the overlay window (moving image playback window) is not displayed. Transfer only for.

When the entire overlay window (moving image playback window) is hidden by another window, the transfer of image data in all areas is stopped.
When the moving image playback window is iconified, it is treated in the same state as when the entire moving image playback window is hidden by another window, and the transfer of image data in all areas is stopped.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, a series of flow of the moving image reproduction control will be described.

1. A user of the PC 11 activates a moving image reproduction application program 12 which is software for reproducing a moving image.

2. The reproduced image is displayed in one window (moving image reproduction window). At this time, the moving image playback window is displayed so as to be entirely visible.

3. The user activates another application such as a spreadsheet program during reproduction of the moving image, and superimposes a window unrelated to the reproduction of the moving image on the reproduction window.

4. The video playback application program 12 senses that the windows have been superimposed, and
In order to reduce the load on the PU, data of a portion hidden by another window is not transferred to the VRAM 21.

5. When the entire moving image playback window is displayed, the original playback method is restored.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
A specific procedure of the data transfer control process will be described.

Video playback application program 12
The manager 121 obtains the current state of the moving image playback window from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S101), and determines whether another window is superimposed on the moving image playback window. (Step S102). If no other window is superimposed on the video playback window, that is, if the entire video playback window is visible (NO in step S102), the manager 121 controls the image data transfer unit 128 to control all The image data of the area is transferred to the off-screen surface of the VRAM 21 (Step S105).

On the other hand, when another window is superimposed on the moving image reproducing window, that is, when at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by the other window (YES in step S102), the manager 121 The coordinate information of a portion hidden by another window is acquired from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S10).
3). Then, the manager 121 detects the hidden area from the acquired coordinate information, and stops the image data transfer unit 128 so as to stop the data transfer of the hidden area.
Is controlled (step S104).

As a result, it is possible to omit useless data transfer in an area that cannot be seen by the user, and it is possible to allocate more resources to another application program. Also, since the image data in the visible region is transferred as usual, it can be displayed normally.

(Moving Picture Reproduction Control Method 2) Next, a second moving picture reproduction control method used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. This method detects whether a part of a moving image playback window is hidden by another window, and reduces processing by not decoding video data of the hidden part.

First, the flow of the entire process will be described with reference to FIG.

The DVD video title (MPEG2 program stream) stored in the DVD medium is
File driver 14 and file reading unit 122
To the splitter 123, where it is separated into audio, video, and sub-pictures. After the audio is decoded by the audio decoder 124, the sound is transmitted to the sound controller 1 via the sound driver 15.
8 and reproduced and output from a speaker via an audio amplifier 19.

The video and the sub-picture are video decoder 125 and sub-picture decoder 126, respectively.
After being decoded, the image data is sent to the image synthesizing unit 127, where it is synthesized. The display image data obtained by the synthesis is transferred to the VRAM 21 under the control of the image data transfer unit 128 and the display driver 16, and is written to the VRAM 21 on the off-screen surface. The image data written to the off-screen surface of the VRAM 21 is
Under the control of 0, the graphics data drawn on the VRAM 21 is overlaid on the screen.

However, when the display state monitoring unit 129 detects that a part or the whole of the moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, the video decoder 125 determines whether the hidden part is hidden. The video data is not decoded, and only the visible portion is decoded. If the entire moving image playback window is hidden by another window, decoding of video in all areas is stopped. When the moving image playback window is iconified, it is treated as if the entire moving image playback window is hidden by another window, and decoding of all areas is stopped.

Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a series of flow of the moving image reproduction control will be described.

1. A user of the PC 11 activates a moving image reproduction application program 12 which is software for reproducing a moving image.

2. The reproduced image is displayed in one window (moving image reproduction window). At this time, the moving image playback window is displayed so as to be entirely visible.

3. The user activates another application such as a spreadsheet program during reproduction of the moving image, and superimposes a window unrelated to the reproduction of the moving image on the reproduction window.

4. The video playback application program 12 senses that the windows have been superimposed, and
In order to reduce the load on the PU, decoding is not performed on data in a portion hidden by another window.

5. When the entire moving image playback window is displayed, the original playback method is restored.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
A specific decoding control procedure will be described.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
The manager 121 acquires the current state of the moving image playback window from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S111), and determines whether another window is superimposed on the moving image playback window. (Step S112). If no other window is superimposed on the video playback window, that is, if the entire video playback window is visible (NO in step S112), the manager 121 controls the video decoder 125 to transfer the entire video data. The decoding is performed (step S115).

On the other hand, when another window is superimposed on the moving image reproducing window, that is, when at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by the other window (YES in step S112), the manager 121 The coordinate information of a portion hidden by another window is acquired from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S11).
3). Then, the manager 121 detects a hidden area from the acquired coordinate information, and controls the video decoder 125 to stop decoding the video data in the hidden area (step S114).

As a result, it is possible to omit unnecessary decoding processing for an area that cannot be seen by the user, and it is possible to allocate more resources to another application program. Also, the video data in the visible region is decoded as usual, so that it can be displayed normally.

When the entire moving image playback window is displayed, the process is returned to the normal decoding method for decoding the entire video data. However, the first few frames may not be decoded normally. Conceivable. In other words, the encoded video data is composed of an I-picture that has been intra-frame coded, a P-picture that has been coded inter-frame by forward prediction, and a B-picture that has been coded inter-frame by bidirectional prediction. For a P picture for forward prediction and a B picture for bidirectional prediction, there is only information on the prediction error between other temporally different frame images. Can't decode.

In order to avoid such a situation, an I picture or a P picture used as a reference picture by another picture is decoded even in a part hidden by another window, and the other picture is used for decoding. Decoding may not be performed only for a B picture that is not used as a reference image. FIG. 9 shows an example of this case.

That is, the manager 121 of the moving picture reproduction application program 12
9 to obtain the current state of the video playback window from the window manager 131 (step S121),
It is determined whether or not another window is superimposed on the moving image reproduction window (step S122). If no other window is superimposed on the video playback window, that is, if the entire video playback window is visible (NO in step S122), the manager 121
Controls the video decoder 125 to decode the entire video data (step S115). in this case,
As usual, decoding processing is performed on all picture types.

On the other hand, when another window is superimposed on the moving image reproducing window, that is, when at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by the other window (YES in step S122), the manager 121 The coordinate information of the part hidden by another window is acquired from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S12).
3). Then, the manager 121 detects the hidden area from the acquired coordinate information, and controls the video decoder 125 so as to stop decoding the video data of the hidden area only for the B picture (step S124). ). In this case, decoding of all areas is performed for the I picture and the P picture.

This makes it possible to reduce the load on the CPU required for the decoding process without affecting the reproduced image.

(Moving Picture Reproduction Control Method 3) Next, a third moving picture reproduction control method used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The method detects whether a portion of the video playback window is hidden by another window, and if so, downsamples the decoded audio data to reduce its data size, This is to reduce the processing.

First, the flow of the entire process will be described with reference to FIG.

The DVD video title (MPEG2 program stream) stored in the DVD medium is
File driver 14 and file reading unit 122
To the splitter 123, where it is separated into audio, video, and sub-pictures. The video and the sub-picture are decoded by the video decoder 125 and the sub-picture decoder 126, respectively, sent to the image synthesizing unit 127, and synthesized there. The display image data obtained by the synthesis is transferred to the VRAM 21 under the control of the image data transfer unit 128 and the display driver 16, and is written to the VRAM 21 on the off-screen surface. VRAM21
Image data written on the off-screen surface of the VRAM 2 under the control of the VGA controller 20.
1 is overlaid on the screen of the graphics data drawn in FIG.

After the audio is decoded by the audio decoder 124, the audio is sent to the sound controller 18 via the sound driver 15 and reproduced and output from the speaker via the audio amplifier 19.

However, when the display state monitoring unit 129 detects that a part or the whole of the moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, the data size of the audio data decoded by the audio decoder 124 is changed. To reduce the number, the decoded audio data is downsampled by the downsampling unit 201 and then sent to the sound driver 15. As a result, the reproduction frequency of the audio data is reduced, so that the amount of data that needs to be handled by the sound driver 15 decreases, and the load on the CPU can be reduced. The downsampling can be performed by thinning out the decoded audio data or reducing the quantization bit width.

Next, with reference to FIG. 11, a sequence of the moving image reproduction control will be described.

1. A user of the PC 11 activates a moving image reproduction application program 12 which is software for reproducing a moving image.

2. The reproduced image is displayed in one window (moving image reproduction window). At this time, the moving image playback window is displayed so as to be entirely visible.

3. The user activates another application such as a spreadsheet program during reproduction of the moving image, and superimposes a window unrelated to the reproduction of the moving image on the reproduction window.

4. The video playback application program 12 senses that the windows have been superimposed, and
In order to reduce the load on the PU, the decoded audio data is down-sampled to reduce its data size.

5. When the entire moving image playback window is displayed, the original playback method is restored.

Next, a specific procedure of audio control processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
The manager 121 acquires the current state of the moving image playback window from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S131), and determines whether another window is superimposed on the moving image playback window. (Step S132). If no other window is superimposed on the video playback window, that is, if the entire video playback window is visible (NO in step S132), the manager 121 sets the downsampling unit 201 to a disabled state,
The decoded audio data is directly output to the sound controller 18 via the sound driver 15 (step S134).

On the other hand, when another window is superimposed on the moving image reproducing window, that is, when at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by the other window (YES in step S132), the manager 121 By setting the downsampling unit 201 to the enable state, the decoded audio data is downsampled and output (step S133).

Thus, when the moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, the reproduction frequency of the audio data can be reduced, so that the data processing amount by the sound driver 15 is reduced and the load on the CPU is reduced. It becomes possible.

(Moving Picture Reproduction Control Method 4) Next, a fourth moving picture reproduction control method used in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The method detects whether a portion of the video playback window is hidden by another window, and if so, the user can use the DV
It is determined that the user is not watching the D-video and only the audio is decoded without decoding the image data (video and sub-picture) and only the audio is reproduced, thereby reducing the processing.

First, the overall processing flow will be described with reference to FIG.

The DVD video title (MPEG2 program stream) stored in the DVD medium is
File driver 14 and file reading unit 122
To the splitter 123, where it is separated into audio, video, and sub-pictures. After the audio is decoded by the audio decoder 124, the sound is transmitted to the sound controller 1 via the sound driver 15.
8 and reproduced and output from a speaker via an audio amplifier 19.

The video and the sub-picture are video decoder 125 and sub-picture decoder 126, respectively.
After being decoded, the image data is sent to the image synthesizing unit 127, where it is synthesized. The display image data obtained by the synthesis is transferred to the VRAM 21 under the control of the image data transfer unit 128 and the display driver 16, and is written to the VRAM 21 on the off-screen surface. The image data written to the off-screen surface of the VRAM 21 is
Under the control of 0, the graphics data drawn on the VRAM 21 is overlaid on the screen.

However, when the display state monitoring unit 129 detects that a part or the whole of the moving image reproduction window is hidden by another window, it is determined that the user is not watching the DVD video, and The decoding processing of the video data and the sub-picture data by the decoder 125 and the sub-picture decoder 126 is stopped, and decoding and reproduction of only the audio data are performed. In this case, nothing is displayed in the moving image window, or a pause display state is displayed in which image data already written on the off-screen surface of the VRAM 21 is repeatedly displayed.

Next, referring to FIG. 14, a series of flow of the moving image reproduction control will be described.

1. A user of the PC 11 activates a moving image reproduction application program 12 which is software for reproducing a moving image.

2. The reproduced image is displayed in one window (moving image reproduction window). At this time, the moving image playback window is displayed so as to be entirely visible.

3. The user activates another application such as a spreadsheet program during reproduction of the moving image, and superimposes a window unrelated to the reproduction of the moving image on the reproduction window.

4. The video playback application program 12 senses that the windows have been superimposed, and
In order to reduce the load on the PU, only the audio is decoded without decoding the image (video and sub-picture).

5. When the entire moving image playback window is displayed, the original playback method is restored.

Next, a specific procedure of the decoding control process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

Moving image reproduction application program 12
The manager 121 obtains the current state of the moving image playback window from the window manager 131 using the display state monitoring unit 129 (step S141), and determines whether another window is superimposed on the moving image playback window. (Step S142). If no other window is superimposed on the video playback window, that is, if the entire video playback window is in a visible state (NO in step S142), the manager 121 sends the audio decoder 124, the video decoder 125, and the sub-picture decoder 126 By operating each
The decoding process for each of the audio, video, and sub-picture is executed as usual (step S144).

On the other hand, when another window is superimposed on the moving image reproducing window, that is, when at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by the other window (YES in step S142), the manager 121 Stop the decoding process of each of the video decoder 125 and the sub-picture decoder 126,
Control is performed so that only audio is decoded (step S143).

Thus, the CP required for further reproducing the moving image
U load can be greatly reduced.

The above-mentioned methods can be executed in appropriate combinations. For example, together with stopping the decoding of the video data of the portion hidden by another window or the stopping of the transfer of the image data, the method of the audio data may be stopped. Downsampling may be performed.

In the above description, the case where all the reproduction control including the decoding process is performed by software is exemplified. However, in the moving image reproduction control method according to the present embodiment, a part or all of the decoding process is executed by hardware. The present invention can also be applied to such a configuration.

Further, by recording the moving image reproducing application program 12 on a computer-readable recording medium, the present embodiment can be implemented by simply introducing the moving image reproducing application program 12 to a normal computer through the recording medium and executing it. The same effect as described above can be easily obtained.

Further, not only the moving picture reproducing software but also various other application programs are provided with the same mechanism as the moving picture reproducing application program 12 of the present embodiment, so that the window of the application program is iconified. When it is detected, or when it is detected that the entire display area of a window is hidden by another window,
Alternatively, it is possible to realize a control of omitting at least a part of the processing executed by the application program when it is detected that a display area of a part of the window is hidden by another window.

[0100]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the window of the application program is hidden by another window, at least a part of the processing executed by the application program is omitted, so that the operation playback window of the moving image playback application program is changed to another application program. In this case, by omitting a part of the operation reproduction processing, more resources can be allocated to other application programs. As described above, by controlling the execution state of the program and the moving image reproduction processing according to the state of the window, it is possible to effectively use computer resources such as a CPU and a memory.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating the principle of a first moving image reproduction control method used in the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view for explaining a relationship between a moving image reproduction window and other windows in the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view for explaining a playback control operation when the first moving image playback control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart showing a procedure of a data transfer control process executed when the first moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating the principle of a second moving image reproduction control method used in the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary view for explaining a playback control operation when the second moving image playback control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating a procedure of a decoding control process executed when the second moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating another example of the decoding control process performed when the second moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating the principle of a third moving image reproduction control method used in the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary view for explaining a reproduction control operation when a third moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedure of an audio control process executed when a third moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating the principle of a fourth moving image reproduction control method used in the computer system of the embodiment.

FIG. 14 is an exemplary view for explaining a playback control operation when the fourth moving image playback control method is used in the embodiment.

FIG. 15 is an exemplary flowchart showing the procedure of a decoding control process executed when a fourth moving image reproduction control method is used in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12: Movie playback application program 13: Operating system (OS) 14: File driver 15: Sound driver 16: Display driver 17: DVD drive 18: Sound controller 19: Audio amplifier 20: VGA controller 21: VRAM 124: Audio decoder 125 Video decoder 126 Sub-picture decoder 129 Display state monitoring unit 131 Window manager

Claims (19)

[Claims] 1. A computer system equipped with a window system, comprising: a detection unit that detects whether at least a part of a window of an application program is hidden by another window; and the detection unit detects the application program. Operating state controlling the operating state of the application program itself such that at least a part of the processing executed by the application program is detected when it is detected that at least a part of the window is hidden. A computer system comprising control means. 2. The operation state control means, when the detection means detects that the window of the application program is iconified, or when all display areas of the window of the application program are changed to other windows. When it is detected that the application program is hidden, or when it is detected that the display area of a part of the window of the application program is hidden by another window, at least one of the processes executed by the application program is executed. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein an operation state of the application program itself is controlled so that a part of the application program is omitted. 3. The operation program according to claim 1, wherein the application program is a program for reproducing a moving image, and the operation state control unit is configured to execute the operation program when at least a part of a moving image reproduction window of the application program is hidden by another window. 2. The computer system according to claim 1, wherein the computer system controls an operation state of the application program such that a part of a process for reproducing the moving image by the application program is omitted. 4. A computer system equipped with a window system, comprising: decoding encoded moving image data; and transferring the decoded moving image data to an image memory to display a moving image on a moving image reproducing window. Moving image reproducing means for reproducing an image; detecting means for detecting whether at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by another window; and at least a part of the moving image reproducing window by the detecting means. Means for controlling the moving image reproducing means when it is detected that the moving image data is hidden by another window so as to omit the transfer processing of the moving image data of the hidden part to the image memory. A computer system characterized by the following: 5. A computer system equipped with a window system, comprising: moving image reproducing means for decoding encoded moving image data and reproducing the decoded moving image data on a moving image reproducing window; Detecting means for detecting whether or not at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window; and detecting that at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window. A computer system, comprising: control means for controlling the moving picture reproducing means when detected, so as to omit decoding of the moving picture data of the hidden part. 6. The encoded moving image data includes an I picture, a P picture, and a B picture, and the control unit determines that the decoding processing of the moving image data of the hidden portion is an I picture and a P picture. 6. The computer system according to claim 5, wherein said moving image reproducing means is controlled so that the processing is performed only for a picture and a decoding process for a B picture is omitted. 7. A computer system equipped with a window system, comprising decoding a coded stream in which audio data and moving image data are multiplexed, and reproducing the decoded audio data and moving image data. Reproducing means; detecting means for detecting whether at least a part of a moving image reproducing window for displaying the decoded moving image data is hidden by another window; and detecting the moving image by the detecting means. Means for reducing a data amount of audio data to be reproduced by down-sampling the decoded audio data when it is detected that at least a part of the window is hidden by another window. A computer system characterized by the above-mentioned. 8. A computer system equipped with a window system, comprising decoding a coded stream in which audio data and moving image data are multiplexed, and reproducing the decoded audio data and moving image data. Reproducing means; detecting means for detecting whether at least a part of a moving image reproducing window for displaying the decoded moving image data is hidden by another window; and detecting the moving image by the detecting means. Means for controlling the moving picture reproducing means so as to omit decoding processing of the moving picture data so as to reproduce only the audio data when it is detected that at least a part of the window is hidden by another window. A computer system comprising: 9. A control method for controlling an operation state of an application program executed on a computer system equipped with a window system, wherein at least a part of a window of the application program is hidden by another window. Detecting whether or not at least a part of a window of the application program is hidden, so that at least a part of a process executed by the application program is omitted. Controlling the operation state of the application program itself. 10. The application program is a program for reproducing a moving image, and the step of controlling an operation state of the application program itself includes a part of a process for reproducing the moving image by the application program. 9. The control method according to claim 8, wherein the control method is omitted. 11. A control method for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system, comprising decoding encoded moving image data, and decoding the decoded moving image. Reproducing a moving image on a moving image reproducing window by transferring data to an image memory; detecting whether at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by another window; Omitting the transfer of the moving image data of the hidden part to the image memory when it is detected that at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window. Characteristic control method. 12. A control method for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system, comprising: decoding encoded moving image data; and decoding the decoded moving image. Reproducing data on the video playback window; detecting whether at least a part of the video playback window is hidden by another window; and A step of omitting the decoding of the moving image data of the hidden portion when it is detected that the moving image data is hidden by the window. 13. A control method for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system, comprising: decoding an encoded stream in which audio data and moving image data are multiplexed; Reproducing the decoded audio data and moving image data; and determining whether at least a part of a moving image reproduction window for displaying the decoded moving image data is hidden by another window. Detecting, when it is detected that at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window, by downsampling the decoded audio data, the data of the audio data to be reproduced. Reducing the amount. 14. A control method for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system, comprising decoding an encoded stream in which audio data and moving image data are multiplexed. Reproducing the decoded audio data and moving image data; and determining whether at least a part of a moving image reproduction window for displaying the decoded moving image data is hidden by another window. Detecting, when detecting that at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window, omitting decoding of the moving image data so that only the audio data is played back; A control method comprising: 15. A recording medium on which a program for controlling a moving image reproduction process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system is recorded, wherein the program is at least a part of a window of the program. Detecting whether or not is hidden by another window; and detecting that at least a part of a window of the program is hidden, for reproducing the moving image by the program. A step of omitting a part of the processing. 16. A recording medium on which a program for controlling a moving image reproduction process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system is recorded, the program comprising: Decoding, and reproducing the moving image on the moving image reproducing window by transferring the decoded moving image data to the image memory; and at least a part of the moving image reproducing window is hidden by another window. Detecting whether or not at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window, and transferring the moving image data of the hidden part to the image memory. A recording medium, comprising: 17. A recording medium on which a program for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system is recorded, wherein the program stores encoded moving image data. Decoding and reproducing the decoded moving image data on a video playback window; detecting whether at least a part of the video playback window is hidden by another window; When it is detected that at least a part of the playback window is hidden by another window, a step of omitting a decoding process of the moving image data of the hidden part is recorded. Medium. 18. A recording medium on which a program for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system is recorded, the program comprising: audio data and moving image data; Decoding the multiplexed coded stream and playing back the decoded audio data and moving image data; and at least a part of the moving image playback window for displaying the decoded moving image data has another Detecting whether the window is hidden by a window; and down-sampling the decoded audio data when it is detected that at least a part of the moving image playback window is hidden by another window. Reducing the data amount of audio data to be reproduced by Recording medium characterized by comprising. 19. A recording medium on which a program for controlling a moving image reproducing process executed on a computer system equipped with a window system is recorded, the program comprising: audio data and moving image data; Decoding the multiplexed coded stream and playing back the decoded audio data and moving image data; and at least a part of the moving image playback window for displaying the decoded moving image data has another Detecting whether or not the video is hidden by a window; and detecting that at least a part of the video playback window is hidden by another window, so that only the audio data is played back. Omitting decoding of image data.