JP2001236519A - Device and method for reproducing moving image and information recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a moving image reproducing device for synthesizing frames for every unit of sprite, more simplifying entire control and improving the performance of image processing. SOLUTION: This device is provided with an image processing means 35a and 35b for performing image processing before plotting while omitting overlapped processing to common sprites 71 and 91 concerning sprites 71, 81, 82 and 91 comprising plural frames A and B adjacent in the direction of time base, a plotting processing means 35c for plotting the frames A and B within plotting time matching with the display time of sprites comprising the next quick moving image having the reproducing speed of ranking after second among plural moving images, a frame storage means 37 for separately storing the plotted frames A and B, and a frame display means 35d for displaying these frames.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a moving image reproducing apparatus, a moving image reproducing method, and an information recording medium for efficiently reproducing a plurality of moving images having different reproduction speeds.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a moving image is processed by (1) input of coded data, (2) decoding of input data, (3) output of a decoding result to a memory, and (4) operation of a decoding result. , (5) calculation processing, (6) output of the calculation result to the frame memory, and (7) output of the frame in the frame memory to the display unit.

[0003] Here, since most of the input moving image data is encoded, the process (2) decoding is performed. Further, the arithmetic processing of (5) refers to enlargement, reduction, rotation, deformation, filtering (blur, mosaic, etc.) of an image (which is called a sprite) which is a display unit at each predetermined time constituting a moving image. ). A moving image refers to an aggregate of a plurality of sprites that move along the time axis when focusing on the type of image. On the other hand, a frame refers to an aggregate of a plurality of types of sprites that are reproduced at a certain time when attention is paid to that time.

Therefore, when an animation in which a car and a person operate is played for 5 minutes, a set of sprites that operate over the 5 minutes and are displayed along the time axis of the car or the human is a set of sprites. This is a moving image. Furthermore, at a certain moment (for example, one minute after the start of reproduction), a set of both automobile and human sprites reproduced for a predetermined time (for example, 20 msec) becomes a frame at that time. By switching such frames at predetermined time intervals and displaying a plurality of frames continuously, an animation can be reproduced.

Conventionally, a plurality of moving images having different playback speeds are subjected to image processing such as decoding to synthesize frames,
The following two techniques are known as techniques for displaying each frame for each time.

One is a technique of preparing a buffer memory for each moving image and performing dedicated image processing in each buffer memory. This is called a moving image unit buffer method for convenience. FIG. 10 shows one vehicle (81, 82,
83, 84, 85, 86) and another car (7
1, 72, 73). This animation is based on the reference time X
From the frame (A) played back at every 20 msec,
Frame (B), frame (C), frame (D), frame (E), and frame (F) are reproduced in this order.

[0007] Actually, in FIG.
Although the animation 0 cannot be reproduced, the moving image unit buffer method will be described with reference to FIG. 10 for convenience of explanation. As shown in FIG.
1, 72, 73) and moving images (81, 82, 83, 8)
4,85,86), according to each playback speed,
The dedicated buffer memories 70 and 80 are prepared through processes such as decoding. The background moving image 91 is subjected to image processing in the buffer memory 90.

Although the moving image 91 of the background is a moving image that can change, the frame (A) of this animation
The description will be made on the assumption that there is no change between the frame and the frame (F). Therefore, the background moving image 91 can be regarded as one still image. Each moving image 71 to 73, 8
When 1 to 86 and 91 are prepared, sprites are respectively drawn from the buffer memories 70, 80 and 90 in accordance with the display timing. Subsequently, in the frame memory 100, each frame (A) to
(F) are synthesized and displayed in order.

On the other hand, another technique for displaying each frame at every time is a technique of preparing only one buffer memory common to each moving image and processing the moving image. this,
For convenience, it is called a moving image common buffer method. FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a moving image common buffer method in an example of displaying a part of the animation shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, in the buffer memory 99, among the three types of moving images (71 to 73, 81 to 86, and 91), the number of sprites of the moving images 81 to 86 having the highest reproduction speed is adjusted according to the number of sprites. Image processing such as decoding of the moving images 71 to 73 and 91 is performed. Subsequent to such image processing, synthesis and display of frames are performed.

[0010]

However, the above two types of prior art have the following problems, respectively.

First, the moving image unit buffer method has two problems. One is that sprites can be combined only on a plane basis and cannot be combined on a sprite basis. This will be specifically described based on FIGS. 10 and 11. In the case of the moving image unit buffer method, three types of moving images (71 to 73, 81 to 86, 9
1) is a dedicated buffer memory 70, 80, 9
At 0, image processing is performed. Therefore, the moving images 81 to 8
6, a plurality of sprites 81, 82, 83, 8
The sprites 71, 72, 73 of the other moving images 71 to 73 cannot enter between 4, 85, 86.

In the animation of FIG. 10, the moving images 71 to 73 and the moving images 81 to 86 excluding the background do not always have the same context. That is, frame (A)
In FIG. 7, the sprite 71 is located before the sprite 81, but in the frame (D), the sprite 84 is
It is before two. Thus, the two types of moving images 71 to 7
In the case of an animation in which the sprite 3 and the moving images 81 to 86 change the order of the sprites, a method of performing image processing for each moving image and storing the moving image cannot be adopted.

Another problem of the moving picture unit buffer method is that control becomes complicated. In this method, two types of moving images 71 to 73 and 81 to 86 having a reproduction speed of 25 frames per second and 50 frames per second are image-processed independently. Therefore, one buffer memory 70 does not know the processing status of the other buffer memory 80. Therefore, in each of the buffer memories 70 and 80, general control for smoothly reproducing the animation is required separately. This complicates the processing for playing back the animation, and causes an increase in cost due to the provision of control means for performing overall control.

On the other hand, in the case of the moving image common buffer system, there are two problems as in the above moving image unit buffer system, but there is another problem. It is a problem that causes a decrease in overall performance. Processing a moving image with a slower reproduction speed in accordance with a moving image with the highest reproduction speed means processing sprites that are originally unnecessary. As shown in FIG. 12, according to the number of sprites (so-called six) of the moving images 81 to 86 whose reproduction speed is 50 frames per second, other moving images 71 to 7 are set.
3, 91 are processed. Therefore, the burden of image processing increases, and overall control decreases. C with large processing capacity
If a PU or the like is mounted, the burden of the image processing can be eliminated. However, it is not possible to reproduce animation with higher precision with limited hardware resources.

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems of the conventional system, that is, it enables synthesis of frames in sprite units, simplifies overall control, reduces cost, and improves image processing performance. It is an object of the present invention to provide a moving image reproducing apparatus and a moving image reproducing method, and an information recording medium.

[0016]

In order to achieve the above object, a moving picture reproducing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: A moving image reproducing apparatus that displays and reproduces an animation, wherein a sprite that configures a plurality of frames adjacent in a time axis direction,
Image processing means for performing image processing on common sprites common to a plurality of adjacent frames without duplicating processing before drawing, and, among a plurality of moving images, a next-speed moving image whose reproduction speed is second or higher Drawing processing means for drawing a plurality of adjacent frames within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite constituting an image, and a plurality of drawing means for separately storing the plurality of adjacent frames drawn by the drawing processing means A frame storage means having an area and a frame display means for displaying a frame in the frame storage means are provided. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform each image processing before drawing for each moving image constituting a frame.
A moving image in a frame to be displayed first can be used in a frame to be displayed next. Therefore, only the display processing needs to be performed for each frame. Also,
Since adjacent frames are drawn in one drawing bank, there is no need to control the drawing time of each moving image.

Further, another invention comprises a plurality of frame storage means, and the frame display means switches between the plurality of frame storage means for drawing and display, and provides the fastest moving image having the fastest reproduction speed among the moving images. The image is displayed according to the image. For this reason, in addition to the above operation, the reproduction of the frame becomes smooth without interruption.

In another invention, the drawing time is set to the reproduction time per sprite constituting the slowest moving image having the slowest reproducing speed among the moving images. For this reason, the drawing control of the moving image becomes easier.

In another aspect of the invention, the drawing processing means performs drawing processing in parallel with frames in at least two drawing areas in the frame storage means.
For this reason, it is not necessary to save the moving image data of a certain drawing area until drawing in another drawing area is completed. Therefore, the memory capacity can be secured.

In another aspect of the invention, the drawing processing means sequentially draws the frames in at least two drawing areas in the frame storage means. For this reason, if the rendering of the next frame is not completed at the time when the previously drawn frame is reproduced, a flag is set to notify that the rendering is not completed, and when the flag is detected, the frame is reproduced before. By playing back the frame again, drawbacks such as drawing an incomplete frame or stopping the playback process do not occur.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the frame display means includes:
When the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed, the frame displayed immediately before that is displayed again. Therefore, a drawback such as drawing of an unfinished frame or stopping of the reproduction process does not occur.

Further, another invention further comprises a decoding means for decoding the data of the encoded moving image. Therefore, when the moving image data is compressed, the decoding process can be performed as a common operation in each drawing area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an arithmetic means for performing arithmetic processing on the sprite. Therefore, drawing processing can be performed after performing arithmetic processing as a common task for each sprite.

Further, the moving picture reproducing method according to the present invention is a moving picture reproducing method for displaying, along a time axis, a frame obtained by synthesizing various sprites constituting a plurality of moving pictures having different reproducing speeds to reproduce an animation. And an image processing step of performing image processing on a common sprite common to a plurality of adjacent frames with respect to a sprite constituting each of a plurality of frames adjacent in the time axis direction without duplicating processing before drawing. And, among multiple moving images,
A drawing processing step of drawing a plurality of adjacent frames within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite constituting a next-speed moving image of the second or later order in the reproduction speed, and an adjacent drawing performed by the drawing processing step The method includes a frame storing step having a plurality of drawing areas for separately storing a plurality of frames, and a frame displaying step of displaying a frame that has passed through the frame storing step. For this reason, it is not necessary to perform each image processing before drawing for each moving image constituting a frame, and a moving image in a frame to be displayed first can be used in a frame to be displayed next. Therefore, only the display processing needs to be performed for each frame. Further, since adjacent frames are drawn in one drawing bank, there is no need to control the drawing time of each moving image.

According to another aspect of the present invention, in the frame storing step, a plurality of frame storage locations are switched between drawing and display, and the frames are displayed in accordance with the fastest moving image having the fastest reproduction speed among the moving images. I have to. For this reason, in addition to the above operation, the reproduction of the frame becomes smooth without interruption.

In another invention, the drawing time is set to the reproduction time per sprite constituting the slowest moving image having the slowest reproducing speed among the moving images. For this reason, the drawing control of the moving image becomes easier.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the drawing processing step comprises:
In at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations, a frame is drawn in parallel. For this reason, it is not necessary to save the moving image data of a certain drawing area until drawing in another drawing area is completed. Therefore, the memory capacity can be secured.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the drawing processing step includes:
In at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations, frames are sequentially drawn. For this reason, if the rendering of the next frame is not completed at the time when the previously drawn frame is reproduced, a flag is set to notify that the rendering is not completed, and when the flag is detected, the frame is reproduced before. Frame
By performing reproduction again, there is no problem such as drawing an incomplete frame or stopping reproduction processing.

According to another aspect of the invention, in the frame display step, when the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed, the frame displayed immediately before that is displayed again. Therefore, a drawback such as drawing of an unfinished frame or stopping of the reproduction process does not occur.

Further, another invention further comprises a decoding step of decoding the data of the encoded moving image. Therefore, when the moving image data is compressed, the decoding process can be performed as a common operation in each drawing area.

Further, another invention further includes an operation step of performing an operation process on the sprite. Therefore, drawing processing can be performed after performing arithmetic processing as a common task for each sprite.

Further, the information recording medium according to the present invention stores information storing a program for displaying a frame in which various sprites constituting a plurality of moving images having different reproduction speeds are synthesized along a time axis to reproduce an animation. An image on a recording medium on which image processing is performed on a common sprite common to a plurality of adjacent frames with respect to a sprite configuring each of a plurality of frames adjacent in the time axis direction, without overlapping processing before drawing. A processing step of drawing a plurality of frames adjacent to each other within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite constituting a next-speed moving image having a reproduction speed of the second or later rank among a plurality of moving images. And a frame having a plurality of drawing areas for separately storing adjacent frames drawn by the drawing step. A storage step, and so as to store a program including the frame display step of displaying the frame through the frame memory step. Therefore, by executing the program of the information recording medium, it is not necessary to perform each image processing before drawing for each moving image constituting the frame, and the moving image in the frame to be displayed first can be replaced by the next. Can be used in the frame to be displayed. Therefore, only the display processing needs to be performed for each frame. Further, since adjacent frames are drawn in one area, it is not necessary to control the drawing time of each moving image.

In another aspect of the present invention, in the frame storing step, a plurality of frame storage locations are switched between drawing and display, and displayed in accordance with the fastest moving image having the fastest reproduction speed among the moving images. I have to. Therefore, by executing the program of the information recording medium, the drawing control of the moving image is further simplified.

In another invention, the drawing time is set to the reproduction time per sprite constituting the slowest moving image having the slowest reproducing speed among the moving images. Therefore, by executing the program of the information recording medium, the drawing control of the moving image is further simplified.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the drawing step includes:
In at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations, a frame is drawn in parallel. For this reason, by executing the program of the information recording medium, it is not necessary to save the moving image data of a certain drawing area until drawing in another drawing area is completed. Therefore, the memory capacity can be secured.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the drawing processing step includes:
In at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations, frames are sequentially drawn. For this reason, by executing the program of the information recording medium, at the time when the previously drawn frame is reproduced, if the drawing of the next frame is not completed, a flag indicating that the drawing is not completed is provided. When the flag is detected, the previously reproduced frame is reproduced again, so that there is no problem that an incomplete frame is drawn or reproduction processing is stopped.

In another aspect of the invention, in the frame display step, when the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed, the frame displayed immediately before that is displayed again. For this reason, by executing the program of the information recording medium, a drawback such as drawing an unfinished frame or stopping the reproduction process does not occur.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a program further including a decoding step of decoding encoded video data is stored. For this reason, by executing the program of the information recording medium, when the moving image data is compressed, the decoding process can be performed as a common operation in each drawing area.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a program further including an operation step of performing an operation process on a sprite is stored. For this reason, by executing the program of the information recording medium, it is possible to perform the arithmetic processing as a common operation for each sprite and then perform the drawing processing.

[0040]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a moving image reproducing apparatus, a moving image reproducing method and an information recording medium according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing each component in a moving image reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The moving image reproducing apparatus includes a main controller 1 and a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as L
CD device).

The main control device 1 is a device that controls the reproduction of the animation globally, performs bidirectional communication with the LCD device 2, and reproduces the animation according to the schedule on the LCD device 2.

The LCD device 2 includes a display unit 20 and a display unit control device 30. The display unit 20 is a unit that reproduces a frame synthesized through a predetermined process in the display unit control device 30 along a time axis. In addition, in this embodiment, the display unit 20 is a liquid crystal display, but is not limited to this. Other forms such as a cathode ray tube and a plasma display may be used.

The display controller 30 is a main controller 1
Is a device that performs various processes on the moving image data based on the control described above and controls the display unit 20 to display an animation. Further, the display unit control device 30 includes:
The memory card 50 can be inserted. The memory card 50 is a recording medium that can record and reproduce moving image data, and can input moving image data to the display control device 30 and record moving image data from the display control device 30. Note that the memory card 50 may be a read-only recording medium.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of the display unit control device 30. As shown in FIG.
Is a memory card interface circuit 31, a communication circuit 32, a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 33.
, A memory 34, an image processing large-scale integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as an image processing LSI) 35, and a video memory 36,
It is mainly composed.

The memory card interface circuit 31
Moving image data stored in the memory card 50 inserted from the outside is input into the display control device 30, and moving image data inside the display control device 30 is stored in the memory card 50.
Is a circuit for recording the information. The communication circuit 32 is a circuit for mutually communicating control signals with the main control device 1. The CPU 33 is a part that controls the components of the display control device 30.

The memory 34 is a part for taking in and storing moving image data of the memory card 50 in addition to the control program of the CPU 33. The memory 34 is a part for temporarily storing not only moving image data taken from outside, but also each image data subjected to decoding processing or arithmetic processing inside.

The image processing LSI 35 performs various kinds of processing on the moving image data, and
6 is a part for drawing a frame and displaying the drawn frame. Also, the image processing LSI 35
It has a decoding unit 35a for decoding the compressed data. Therefore, the image processing LSI 35 can fetch the moving image data compressed from the outside and decode it.

After decoding the moving image data, the image processing LSI 35 performs an operation on an image (which is referred to as a sprite) which constitutes the moving image.
have. The arithmetic processing includes, for example, processing for enlarging or reducing a sprite, processing for rotating a sprite, processing for deforming a sprite, and filter processing for mosaicing or blurring a sprite. Also,
The image processing LSI 35 includes a drawing processing unit 35c for drawing a frame, and a display processing unit 35d for displaying the drawn frame on the display unit 20.

The video memory 36 includes an image processing LSI 35
This is a part for storing a frame to be drawn based on the above command. As shown in FIG. 3, the video memory 36 is roughly composed of two types of banks, a first bank 37 and a second bank 38, which are frame storage means. The first bank 37 includes a first area 37a and a second area 37a.
And an area 37b. The second bank 38 includes a third area 38a and a fourth area 38b. That is, the video memory 36 has a multiplex structure including the banks 37 and 38 having a plurality of areas 37a, 37b, 38a and 38b divided into two sets.

The first bank 37 and the second bank 37 of the video memory 36
The bank 38 is alternately switched between a drawing bank and a display bank based on a command of the image processing LSI 35. That is, while a frame is being drawn in the first bank 37, the frame drawn in the second bank 38 is displayed. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time, the first bank 37 is switched to the display bank and the second bank 38 is switched to the drawing bank, and the frame drawn by the first bank 37 is displayed. During that time, the second bank 38 draws the frame to be displayed next. In this way, by performing frame rendering and display in parallel, seamless reproduction of animation can be realized.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the flow of basic moving image processing inside the display control device 30. The encoded data (= compressed data) input to the memory 34 is decoded by the decoding unit 35a. Next, the decoded moving image data is temporarily input to the memory 34 and sent to the calculation unit 35b. The arithmetic unit 35b performs arithmetic processing such as rotation. However, for sprites that do not require arithmetic processing, the processing shifts to the processing of the drawing processing unit 35c. Note that both the decoding and the arithmetic processing are called image processing, and are distinguished from the next drawing processing. The calculation result is temporarily input to the memory 34 and sent to the drawing processing unit 35c. The drawing processing unit 35c draws a frame in a predetermined area of the video memory 36. Here, the drawing processing refers to processing such as transparent color processing and blending in addition to image transfer.

After the drawing process is completed, the display processing unit 35d
Causes the display unit 20 to display the drawn frame. The processes of the drawing processing unit 35c and the display processing unit 35d are performed in parallel in separate banks in the video memory 36, respectively. Note that this series of data processing is performed based on the control of the CPU 33.

As described above, the drawing processing section 35c as the drawing processing means and the first bank 3 as the frame storage means
7 and a second bank 38, a moving image including a display processing unit 35d as a frame display unit, a decoding unit 35a of a decoding unit as one of the image processing units, and a calculation unit 35b of a calculation unit as one of the image processing units Instead of an image reproducing apparatus, the personal computer reads an information recording medium storing a program including the above-described drawing processing step, frame storing step, frame displaying step, decoding step, and calculating step, and reads the moving image reproducing apparatus The same function may be provided. The flow of each of these steps will be described later.

Next, a process until an animation is reproduced by each operation of the image processing LSI 35 and the video memory 36 will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition,
The animation is the same animation as the animation shown in FIG. The moving images 71 and 72 of the car
The vehicle S is displayed at 25 frames per second, that is, 40 msec per frame. On the other hand, the moving images 81 to 84 of the automobile are the automobile T and are displayed at 50 frames per second, that is, at 20 msec per frame.

The image processing LSI 35 decodes the data of each sprite necessary for the frame (A) to be displayed at the predetermined time X and the frame (B) to be displayed at the time X + 20 msec, and performs arithmetic processing as required. . Here, the sprites required for the frame (A) and the frame (B) are a sprite 91 for the background, a sprite 71 for the car S, a sprite 81 for the car T, and a sprite 82 for the car T.
, A total of four sprites. Image processing LSI35
Is 40 msec and these four sprites 91 and 7
1, 81 and 82 are sequentially drawn on the screen from the back to complete the frame (A) and the frame (B).

Here, 40 msec is the reproduction time per sprite of the moving images 71 and 72 of the automobile S.
Therefore, in the first bank 37, only the sprite 71 needs to be decoded and operated for the sprite of the automobile S. Also, the processing of the background sprite 91 may be only one. This is because it can be regarded as a still image in this animation. The sprites 81 and 82 of the automobile T at 50 frames per second have different drawing areas 3
7a and 37b are drawn. On the other hand, the sprite 71 of the automobile S and the sprite 91 of the background at 25 frames per second
Are drawn in both the drawing areas 37a and 37b. As shown on the left side of FIG. 6, the frame (A) is drawn and stored in the drawing area 37a during the drawing time of 40 msec. At the same time, the frame (B) is drawn and stored in the drawing area 37b.

The frames are drawn by being synthesized in sprite units. Therefore, each sprite has a predetermined time X
Alternatively, the state is adapted to the context at time X + 20 msec. Therefore, even an animation in which the order of sprites changes along the time axis can be reproduced without any problem. Here, the sprite 8
Sprites 91 and 71 other than 1 and 82 are frames common to the frame (A) and the frame (B). Therefore, for the sprites 91 and 71, only one decoding and calculation process is required. Therefore, there is no need to perform unnecessary processing that does not require reproduction.

When the drawing in the drawing area 37a is completed, the memory area storing the decoding results and the calculation results of the sprites 71 and 91, which are common sprites, is discarded. The drawing process of the drawing area 37b is performed in the drawing area 3
This is because it is performed in parallel with 7a and need not be stored. On the other hand, in the case of serial drawing processing, storage is necessary. This will be described later.

As described above, when the frame (A) is drawn in the drawing area 37a and the frame (B) is drawn in the drawing area 37b, the first bank 37 as the frame storage means is switched to the display bank. At the same time, the second
The bank 38 is switched to a drawing bank. In the first bank 37 serving as the display bank, the frame (A) drawn in the drawing area 37a is displayed at a predetermined time X.
Subsequently, the frame (B) drawn in the drawing area 37b
Is displayed at time X + 20 msec.

On the other hand, the image processing LSI 35 operates at time X + 4
Frame (C) to be displayed at 0 msec, and time X + 6
The data of each sprite necessary for the frame (D) to be displayed at 0 msec is decoded, and arithmetic processing is performed as necessary. Here, the sprites required for the frame (C) and the frame (D) are a total of four sprites: a background sprite 91, a car S sprite 72, a car T sprite 83, and a car T sprite 84. is there.
The image processing LSI 35 uses these four sprites 91,
72, 83, 84, a predetermined time X to a time X + 4
The frame (C) and the frame (D) as shown on the right side of FIG. 6 are drawn for 40 msec up to 0 msec.

At time X + 40 msec, the first bank 37 becomes the drawing bank again, and the second bank 38 becomes the display bank. Then, at time X + 40 msec,
The drawn frame (C) is displayed in the drawing area 38a, and subsequently, at time X + 60 msec, the drawing area 38b is displayed.
Is displayed on the frame (D). During this time, the drawing work of the next frame is performed in the first bank 37. Switching between the drawing bank and the display bank is as follows:
This is performed every 40 msec.

The number of drawing areas can be set to two or more according to the type of moving image. FIG.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a process of drawing each frame in each of the drawing areas 37a, 37b, 37c, and 37d when there is a moving image of the car U having a higher reproduction speed in addition to the moving picture of the car T and the moving picture of the car T. is there. Car U is 100 per second
It is assumed that the moving image has a frame reproduction speed. Then, 40ms
Since it is necessary to draw four sprites 61, 62, 63 and 64 by ec, four drawing areas are required. However, the sprite 71 of the car S and the car T
Of the four drawing areas 37a,
In 37b, 37c, 37d, some or all are used in common. Therefore, the decoding and arithmetic processing
It is reduced by what is common.

As described above, in addition to the case where the drawing processing is performed in parallel in the drawing area 37a and the drawing area 37b, the drawing processing can be performed in the two drawing areas 37a and 37b in series. is there.

Specifically, the serial drawing processing is performed by
During msec, the drawing process is first performed in the drawing area 37a, and when the drawing is completed, the next drawing area 37b
And the like. This method has the following advantages. If it is 4
Even if the drawing process in all the drawing areas in the drawing bank is not completed within 0 msec, the frame dropping display can be performed. Note that, even in the case of serial drawing processing, decoding and calculation processing of a common sprite is one.
It is performed only once, and is deleted as much as it is common.

Now, it is assumed that the first bank 37 is composed of two drawing areas 37a and 37b as shown in FIG. When the drawing processing is performed in series, the drawing in the drawing area 37a that has been previously subjected to the drawing processing has been completed. Therefore, the frame in the drawing area 37a can be displayed normally. However, the drawing process of the frame in the drawing area 37b may not be completed during the period in which the frame in the drawing area 37 is displayed. In that case, the frame of the drawing area 37b cannot be displayed. This is because if displayed, an incomplete state of the image will be displayed. In such a case, the frame of the drawing area 37a can be displayed again to fill the display time of 20 msec.

Specifically, the image processing LSI 35 checks a flag indicating that the frame of the drawing area 37b is not completely drawn. Then, the frame in the drawing area 37a storing the immediately preceding frame is displayed again. Then, the unfinished frame in the drawing area 37b is discarded without being displayed. Thereafter, the second bank 38, which has been the drawing bank, is switched to the display bank, and the normal playback is resumed.

As described above, by performing the serial drawing processing, the frames for which the drawing is completed are displayed, and the frames for which the drawing is not completed are substituted by the previously displayed frame. Drop-down display is possible. However, in the case of serial drawing processing, the decoding result and the calculation result cannot be immediately discarded from the memory even if the drawing processing of the frame in the previous drawing area ends. This is because it is necessary to use the next drawing area.

That is, the parallel drawing process and the serial drawing process have a relationship in which the advantages and disadvantages are reversed.
Therefore, it is preferable to adopt a serial drawing process or a parallel drawing process according to the use conditions. If there is a possibility that drawing of a moving image may not be completed, reproduction of dropped frames is permitted, and if there is some memory space, it is better to adopt serial drawing processing. on the other hand,
If it is unlikely that the drawing of a moving image will be completed, but rather it is necessary to always secure a memory area, it is preferable to employ parallel drawing processing.

When there are at least four drawing areas, parallel drawing processing is performed for some of the drawing areas, and serial drawing processing is performed for the remaining drawing areas. Is also good. This makes it possible to perform frame-drop playback in situations where display is not possible, and to secure a certain amount of memory area.

Next, a program used for reading out sprite data from the memory 34 and performing a series of processing until one frame is displayed will be described.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. This program is stored in the memory 34 as an information recording medium, or is read into the memory 34 by a CD-ROM or data communication. Such an information recording medium stores a program including the following steps.

First, the image processing LSI 35 includes a CPU 33
Based on this control, encoded sprite data constituting a plurality of frames adjacent in the time axis direction is read from the memory 34 (step S101). Next, the decoding unit 35a in the image processing LSI 35 performs a decoding process on the encoded sprite data (step S10).
2). Next, the image processing LSI 35 stores the decoded sprite data in the memory 34 under the control of the CPU 33.
(Step S103).

The CPU 33 determines whether the data is sprite data that requires arithmetic processing (step S104).
As a result, the process proceeds to step S107 for sprite data that does not require arithmetic processing. On the other hand, for sprite data requiring arithmetic processing, the image processing LSI 35
Are read from the memory 34 into the arithmetic processing unit 35b, and the arithmetic processing is performed (step S105). Next, the image processing LSI 35 outputs the result of the arithmetic processing to the memory 34 based on the control of the CPU 33 (step S10).
6).

Next, the image processing LSI 35 is
Based on this control, the sprite data that has been subjected to the decoding processing or the subsequent arithmetic processing is read from the memory 34 (step S107). At this time, a required number of sprites common to a plurality of frames are read. next,
The drawing processing unit 35c of the image processing LSI 35
Based on the control of (1), the sprites are synthesized in order from the back, and a frame drawing process is performed (step S10).
8). In this drawing process, as described above, when performed in a plurality of drawing areas in parallel, when performed in series,
One of the three cases in which both the parallel and the series are performed in a mixed manner is performed according to the conditions.

Next, when the drawing of the frame is completed, the image processing LSI 35 stores the frame in the drawing bank under the control of the CPU 33 (step S109). Then, the display processing unit 35 d of the image processing LSI 35 switches the drawing bank to the display bank, and switches the frame to the display unit 2.
0 and display (step S110). With this, the process of displaying one frame is completed. In this way, the animation is realized by repeating the frame display every predetermined time.

The frame-dropping reproduction when the drawing processing is performed in series is performed following the above flowchart.
The flow shown in FIG. 9 is executed. First, the CPU 33
It is confirmed whether or not the display prohibition flag is set (step S111). As a result, if the display prohibition flag has not been set, the process ends as in FIG. On the other hand, when the flag is set, the display processing unit 35d of the image processing LSI 35 displays the frame displayed immediately before again (step S112). Then, the first bank 37 of the image processing LSI 35 discards the unfinished frame that should be originally displayed (step S113). With such a series of flows, the reproduction of the frame ends. Step S113 may be performed before step S112, or may be performed simultaneously with step S112.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the moving picture reproducing apparatus provided with the video memory 36 having the first bank 37 and the second bank 38 as the frame storing means has been described. It may be. In this case, the drawing areas 37a and 37b constitute a double buffer, and continuous reproduction is performed by adopting the serial drawing method. Further, a multi-buffer method with three or more frame storage means may be adopted.

Further, the memory 34 and the video memory 36 may be the same memory instead of separate components. Further, the drawing processing LSI 35 includes a decoding unit 3 serving as a decoding unit.
5a, the processing unit is not limited to a configuration including the calculation unit 35b as the calculation unit, the drawing processing unit 35c as the drawing processing unit, and the display processing unit 35d as the frame display unit. Each of these means may be arranged separately. Further, the rendering time may not be the reproduction time of each sprite of the slowest moving image, but may be the reproduction time of each sprite of the moving image between the fastest moving image and the slowest moving image. However, in such a case, control for confirming the presence of a sprite of a moving image having a reproduction speed slower than the drawing time is required. Therefore, ideally, the sprite reproduction time of the slowest moving image is preferably set as the drawing time.

In the case where the drawing processing is performed in series, it is preferable to display the immediately preceding frame when the drawing processing is not completed, but it is not always necessary to display the immediately preceding frame. That is, nothing may be displayed. Alternatively, an incomplete frame may be displayed. If the frame playback speed is extremely fast and you cannot see each frame with the naked eye,
This is because there is no major problem even if the immediately preceding frame is not displayed.

In the above-described embodiment, the encoded moving image data is read into the memory 34 and the decoding process is performed therefrom. However, in the case of unencoded moving image data, the decoding is performed. No action is required. Therefore, the decoding means is not always an essential component. Furthermore, a case where drawing processing is performed immediately after decoding processing without performing arithmetic processing may be considered. Therefore, the calculation means is not an essential component.

Further, the frame display means switches between the drawing bank and the display bank to enable continuous reproduction of the moving image. However, when there is little danger of interruption, the switching is not performed. Alternatively, the drawn image may be displayed immediately by the single buffer method.

[0083]

According to the present invention, a moving picture reproducing apparatus and a moving picture reproducing method which enable synthesis of frames in sprite units, further simplify the overall control, reduce the cost and improve the performance of image processing, In addition, an information recording medium can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing each component in a moving image reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a display unit control device in the moving image reproducing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a main configuration of a video memory in the display unit control device shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a schematic diagram showing a flow of basic moving image processing inside a display control device in the moving image reproducing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for specifically explaining an operation in which the drawing processing LSI of the display unit control device shown in FIG. 2 draws each sprite in a video memory, and shows a relationship between the image processing LSI and the video memory; It is.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing frames drawn in respective drawing areas in the video memory of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a structure of another video memory in which a drawing area is increased from the video memory shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a main flow of a program for performing a series of processes from the reading of sprite data from the memory to the display of one frame by the moving image reproducing apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation of performing frame dropping display, following the flowchart of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a part of an animation displaying a situation in which one car overtakes another car in the present invention and the conventional moving picture reproducing apparatus.

11 is a diagram showing processing of a moving image by the conventional moving image unit buffer method in the animation of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing processing of a moving image by the conventional moving image common buffer method in the animation of FIG. 10;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 Main control device (part of moving image reproducing device) 2 LCD device (part of moving image reproducing device) 35a Decoding unit (one of decoding unit and image processing unit) 35b Operation unit (of operation unit and image processing unit) 35c Drawing processing unit (drawing processing means) 35d Display processing unit (frame display means) 37 First bank (frame storage means) 38 Second bank (frame storage means)

Claims (24)

[Claims] 1. A moving image reproducing apparatus for reproducing an animation by displaying a frame in which various sprites composing a plurality of moving images having different reproduction speeds are synthesized along a time axis, and adjacent to each other in a time axis direction. Image processing means for performing image processing on common sprites common to the plurality of adjacent frames with respect to the sprites constituting the plurality of frames, respectively, without duplicating processing before drawing; Drawing processing means for drawing the plurality of adjacent frames within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite constituting a next-speed moving image having a reproduction speed of the second or later order in the image; A frame storage means having a plurality of drawing areas for separately storing the plurality of adjacent frames which have been drawn by the processing means; Moving picture reproducing apparatus characterized by comprising: a frame display means for displaying the frame in the over memoryless means. 2. The fastest moving image having the fastest playback speed among the moving images, wherein a plurality of the frame storing means are provided, and the frame displaying means switches the plurality of the frame storing means between drawing and displaying. 2. The moving image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the moving image is displayed in accordance with the moving image. 3. The moving image according to claim 1, wherein the drawing time is a reproduction time per sprite constituting a slowest moving image having a slowest reproducing speed among the moving images. Image reproduction device. 4. The drawing processing means, wherein at least two drawing areas in the frame storage means,
4. The moving image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing processing is performed in parallel with the frames. 5. The drawing processing means, wherein at least two drawing areas in the frame storage means,
5. The moving image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the frames are sequentially rendered. 6. The moving picture according to claim 5, wherein said frame display means re-displays the frame displayed immediately before the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed. Image reproduction device. 7. The moving picture reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising decoding means for decoding the encoded data of the moving picture. 8. The moving image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an operation unit that performs an operation process on the sprite. 9. A moving picture reproducing method for reproducing an animation by displaying along a time axis a frame obtained by combining various sprites constituting a plurality of moving pictures having different reproduction speeds, wherein the method is adjacent to the moving picture in a time axis direction. An image processing step of performing image processing on the common sprite common to the plurality of adjacent frames without performing overlapping processing before drawing, for the sprites respectively configuring the plurality of frames; A drawing processing step of drawing the plurality of adjacent frames within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite that constitutes a next-speed moving image having a reproduction speed of second or later in an image; A frame storing step having a plurality of drawing areas for separately storing the plurality of adjacent frames drawn by the processing step; And a frame displaying step of displaying the frame after the frame storing step. 10. The frame storing step switches a plurality of frame storage locations for drawing and display, and displays the frames in accordance with the fastest moving image having the fastest playback speed among the moving images. The moving image reproducing method according to claim 9, wherein 11. The drawing time is a reproduction time per sprite constituting a slowest moving image having the slowest reproducing speed among the moving images.
Or the moving image reproducing method according to 10. 12. The drawing processing step according to claim 9, wherein the drawing processing is performed in parallel with the frames in at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations. The moving image reproducing method described in the section. 13. The image processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the drawing processing step sequentially draws the frames in at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations. The moving image reproducing method described in the above. 14. The moving image according to claim 13, wherein, in the frame display step, when the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed, the frame displayed immediately before that is displayed again. Image reproduction method. 15. The moving image reproducing method according to claim 9, further comprising a decoding step of decoding the encoded data of the moving image. 16. The moving image reproducing method according to claim 9, further comprising an operation step of performing an operation process on the sprite. 17. An information recording medium storing a program for displaying a frame in which various sprites composing a plurality of moving images having different reproduction speeds are synthesized along a time axis and reproducing an animation, the program comprising: An image processing step of performing image processing on the common sprite common to the plurality of adjacent frames with respect to the sprites respectively configuring the plurality of adjacent frames; A drawing processing step of drawing the plurality of adjacent frames within a drawing time corresponding to a display time of a sprite constituting a next-speed moving image whose reproduction speed is second or higher in the plurality of moving images; A plurality of drawing areas for separately storing the adjacent frames subjected to the drawing processing in the drawing processing step; An information recording medium storing a program comprising: a frame storing step of performing a frame storing step; 18. The method according to claim 18, wherein, in the frame storing step, a plurality of frame storage locations are switched between drawing and display, and are displayed in accordance with the fastest moving image having the fastest reproduction speed among the moving images. The information recording medium according to claim 17, wherein 19. The rendering time according to claim 1, wherein the rendering time is a reproduction time per sprite constituting a slowest moving image having a slowest reproducing speed among the moving images.
19. The information recording medium according to 7 or 18. 20. The drawing processing step according to claim 17, wherein the drawing processing step performs the drawing processing in parallel with the frames in at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations. Information recording medium described in the section. 21. The drawing process according to claim 17, wherein the drawing process step sequentially draws the frames in at least two drawing areas of one or more frame storage locations. Information recording medium as described. 22. The information according to claim 21, wherein in the frame displaying step, when the drawing processing of the frame to be displayed is not completed, the frame displayed immediately before that is displayed again. recoding media. 23. The information recording medium according to claim 17, wherein a program further comprising a decoding step of decoding the encoded data of the moving image is stored. 24. The information recording medium according to claim 17, wherein a program further comprising an operation step of performing an operation process on the sprite is stored.