JP2003108077A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device whose impression is fresh capable of changing finely emission luminance in accordance with contents of a message to be displayed while keeping visibility according to surrounding brightness. SOLUTION: This display device is provided with a display part displaying characters, pictorial symbols or the like by turning light emitting elements which are arranged in a matrix shape on and off properly and when contents of a display content are to be displayed on the display part, the emission luminance is made to be specified for every display contents or every the identification code given to display contents.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for arranging a plurality of light emitting elements on a printed circuit board and causing each light emitting element to emit light to display a predetermined character, figure, symbol, pattern or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been known a device in which a light emitting element such as an LED is arranged on a printed circuit board, and the light emitting element is driven to blink so that a display pattern of characters, sentences, symbols and the like is displayed by light emission. This type of device is mainly installed in an outdoor environment such as the entrance of a store, and advertisements and guidance messages for attracting customers are displayed from the opening time to the closing time, including the meaning of informing that it is in business. Therefore, it is required to secure the visibility while the brightness of the surroundings changes, and the brightness switching operation is performed so that the light emitting brightness is increased when the surroundings are bright and the brightness is reduced when the surroundings are dark. Specifically, a brightness sensor such as CdS is provided, and the ambient brightness is judged based on the output value of the sensor (in many cases, daytime / nighttime is discriminated).

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional device, the emission brightness changes according to the change in ambient brightness. However, there were some people who wanted to change the emission brightness more finely depending on the place where the device is installed and the display contents. For example, the surroundings are dark and the brightness is one step lower, but we would like to further reduce the brightness to obtain a calm atmosphere. Alternatively, there is a demand for a particular display message to be emitted with brightness equivalent to that in the daytime because there are products that are particularly appealing. However, as described above, in the conventional device, if the output value of the brightness sensor is within the range corresponding to daytime, the fixed brightness for daytime is maintained, and if it is nighttime, the fixed brightness for nighttime is maintained. Because it was a thing, it was not possible to make detailed expressions such as changing the emission brightness according to the type of message. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a display device with a fresh impression in which the light emission luminance can be finely changed according to the content of the displayed message while ensuring the visibility according to the ambient brightness. is there.

[0004]

(1) In order to solve such problems, according to the present invention, a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged on a printed board, and each light emitting element is selectively made to emit light. In a display device that displays pictograms and the like, a display content storage unit that stores a plurality of display contents that are combinations of characters and pictograms, and a display schedule that specifies display timing for each display content stored in the display content storage unit A display device, comprising: a display schedule storage unit for storing data; providing display schedule data with light emission luminance information of a light emitting element, and displaying display content corresponding to the display schedule data at a desired light emission luminance. suggest.

(2) Further, in a display device in which a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged on a printed circuit board and each light emitting element is selectively made to emit light, a character, a pictorial symbol or the like is displayed in a light emitting manner. An arbitrary identification code is given to the display content consisting of, and a display content storage unit that stores a plurality of display contents together with this identification code, and a display that specifies the display timing for each display code stored in the display content storage unit A display schedule storage unit for storing schedule data,
A display device is provided, which is characterized in that display schedule data is provided with light emission luminance information of a light emitting element, and display contents of an identification code corresponding to the display schedule data are emitted and displayed at a desired light emission luminance.

(3) In the display device proposed above, the display surface for light emission display is arranged in a dot matrix by vertically and horizontally arranging a plurality of light emitting elements on a printed circuit board, and the display content is a character that fits on one screen of the display surface.・ Propose a display device that is characterized by a combination of pictograms.

(4) Further, in the above proposed display device, the display surface for light emission display is arranged in a dot matrix by vertically and horizontally arranging a plurality of light emitting elements on a printed circuit board, and the display content exceeds one screen of the display surface. We propose a display device that is composed of a combination of characters and pictograms across multiple screens.

[0008]

According to the proposal of (1), when the contents of the display contents are displayed by emitting light by selectively emitting the light-emitting elements arranged on the printed circuit board, a display corresponding to various stored display contents is displayed. Light emission brightness information is given to the schedule data. Therefore, it is possible to display each display content with a desired light emission brightness according to the content.

According to the proposal of (2), when the contents of the display contents are displayed by emitting light by selectively emitting the light emitting elements arranged on the printed circuit board, it is possible to arbitrarily discriminate among the various display contents stored. A code is given, and light emission luminance information is given to the display schedule data corresponding to this identification code. Therefore, by classifying a plurality of display contents according to the contents and giving a common identification code to the display contents of the same category, it is possible to collectively display the related display contents with a desired light emission brightness.

According to the proposal of (3), the display surface is formed by arranging the light emitting elements in a dot matrix, and the display content consisting of a combination of characters and pictorial symbols that fits on one screen of the display surface is displayed by light emission. As a result, for example, it becomes possible to specify the emission brightness for each character, for each line, or for each screen, and to display moving images by continuously switching the display images for one screen one after another. In addition, it is possible to obtain a fresh impression and display effect which has not been obtained in the conventional display device in which the brightness is increased momentarily or partly for display.

According to the proposal of (4), the display surface is configured by arranging the light emitting elements in a dot matrix, and the display content consisting of a combination of characters and pictorial symbols that exceeds one screen of the display screen is displayed by light emission. As a result, even a sentence that does not fit on one screen can be specified for the entire sentence without specifying the emission brightness for each screen.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a display unit, which is configured by arranging LEDs in a dot matrix on a printed circuit board.
It is possible to display a plurality of characters on the display unit 1. In this embodiment, three full-size characters represented by a 16 × 16 dot matrix are arranged in the horizontal direction and in the vertical direction by two characters.
The matrix is composed of 48 × 32 dots so that a total of 6 characters can be displayed. Reference numeral 2 denotes a display driving unit, which is composed of a shift register circuit, a transistor array circuit, etc., receives display control data from a control unit, which will be described later, and dynamically drives the LEDs arranged in the display unit 1 to display characters, figures, and characters on a matrix. The symbols and the like are displayed by light emission.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a CPU which is a control unit, and performs a display processing procedure according to a program stored in the memory 4. Memory 4
Is a ROM 4a in which an operation program related to the movement of the entire display device is stored, and a font ROM 4b in which characters and symbols replaced by codes are stored in a dot pattern.
And a display content storage unit 4c in which a plurality of display contents to be displayed on the display unit 1 are stored, and a schedule for defining display timings such as when, in what order, and for how long the stored display contents are displayed. The display schedule storage unit 4d stores data.

1 stored in the display content storage section 4c
Each display content is composed of characters, words, sentences, and pictograms to be displayed individually or in a series, and an identification code is given and stored in association with this identification code (FIG. 2). For example, if you want to display "Opening" on the upper part of the display surface of the display unit 1 and "Welcome" on the lower part at the same time or continuously,
And a set of "Welcome" are configured as one display content A, and the identification code 001 is given. Also,
When it is desired to display "business in progress" and "welcome" at completely different timings, "business in progress" is designated as display content B and "welcome" is designated as display content C, and an identification code is given to each. Then, display mode information giving how to display the message is added to each display content. This display mode is a display mode, and it is possible to set a plurality of known display operations such as scrolling vertically and horizontally, reverse display, spin display, and curtain scroll. In addition to display operation settings, display brightness can be set for each content. In this embodiment, 100%, 50%, 25%,
"No brightness specified" for 4 levels of brightness such as 12.5%
It is possible to select and set from the five items added with. If you select "Brightness not specified" here, the standard emission brightness is applied to the display as in the conventional device, and in this case, the daytime and nighttime are based on the detection results of the illuminance sensor described later. Brightness switching operation for
Alternatively, when the fixed brightness is set so that the brightness is always constant regardless of day and night, the set brightness is followed.

Reference numeral 4d denotes a display schedule storage unit, which stores the selected display in the desired order by storing the display schedule storage unit 4d in the order in which the identification code given to the display contents is designated and displayed. Can be displayed. It is also possible to set the selected display contents to be automatically displayed at the designated date or time. In this case, the date / time data to be displayed is added to the identification code to store the schedule information. To do so.

Reference numeral 5 is a VRAM, which expands the display contents read from the storage unit 4 into the storage area as bit information,
It is output as an LED drive signal to the display drive unit 2 via the brightness adjustment unit 6. The brightness adjusting unit 6 is a known brightness adjusting circuit that changes the light emission brightness by changing the duty ratio of the ON / OFF signal for turning on / off the LED, and changes the ratio of the ON time to the cycle of the ON / OFF signal. Adjust the brightness. That is, when the emission luminance is 25%, the ratio of the on time occupied in one cycle of the on / off signal is 25%, the remaining 75% is the off time, and when the emission luminance is 100%, the entire one cycle is turned on. . As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to set four levels of brightness of 100%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5%.
Receives an instruction from the CPU, and according to the instructed brightness, VR
The LED on time of the LED drive signal output from the AM 5 is changed and output to the display drive unit 2. A real time clock IC 7 receives a request from the CPU 3 at an arbitrary timing and outputs the current time and year / date / day of the week. Reference numeral 8 denotes an illuminance sensor (CdS or the like), which is connected to the CPU 3 via the illuminance sensor interface 10a and gives information on the ambient brightness. The CPU 3 compares the output value received from the illuminance sensor 8 with a preset threshold value,
If the output value is higher than the threshold value, it is determined that the surroundings are in the daytime, and the brightness adjusting unit 6 is instructed to perform 100% brightness. If the output value is lower than the threshold value, it is determined that the surroundings are at night,
The brightness adjustment unit 6 is instructed of a preset night-time emission brightness (for example, brightness 50%). Reference numeral 9 denotes an infrared remote controller for input, including a remote controller light receiving section 9a and a remote controller interface 9
Create display content and set display mode via b
It is possible to change or set the display schedule and perform various operations. As shown in FIG. 3, the remote controller 9 includes a power key 10 for turning on / off the display device, a menu key 11 for performing various settings, and a direction key 12 for designating a cursor position relating to the setting. Arranged are a ◯ / × key 13 for switching settings, a ten key 14 for inputting numbers, alphabets, and kana, and a decision key 15 for deciding a selected item.

Next, an operation method for creating display contents using the remote controller 9 will be described with reference to FIG. When the display unit 1 is performing a normal display operation, the identification code (0
01) is input with the ten keys 14, a data input screen appears (a). In this screen, the character
It is possible to input numbers, symbols, etc., and input desired contents from the ten-key pad 14 (b). When the display data for one line (three characters in this embodiment) is input, the menu key 1
When the display operation key 1 is pressed, a display mode input screen for the input data for one line appears (c). You can enter the display operation and display brightness from this screen.
By operating the direction keys 12 and the numeric keypad 14, the type of display operation (here "scroll"), operation parameter (here "speed 1""time0"), display brightness (here "brightness 50%"), respectively. Input (d). In addition, in the state of the screens (c) and (d), it is possible to select whether to apply the display mode to each line or all lines. If "all lines" is selected, a plurality of lines to be input will be displayed. One display operation can be given to the entire data (the entire display content to which the identification code 001 is added). Here, "each line" is selected, and the Enter key 15
By pressing, the data for one line entered up to this point can be confirmed. At this time, a selection screen for confirming the data for one line and saving and ending the creation of the display content to which the identification code 001 is given appears (e). To continue, press the next screen key of the menu key 11.
Since we will continue to create here, press the next screen key,
The screen moves to the data input screen on the second line (f). When the data for the desired number of lines is created by the same operation as the input of the first line (here, two lines of “lunch” and “time”), the identification code 001
Save the data as and exit.

Next, an operation method for setting the light emission luminance for each identification code will be described with reference to FIG. Display 1
While the normal display operation is being performed, the menu screen (h) is displayed when the menu key 11 of the remote controller 9 is pressed. On this menu screen (h), various setting items can be selected, and the setting related to the identification code can be performed by "CH.". When the direction key 12 is operated to align the reverse mark on the screen with "CH." And the enter key 15 is pressed, the setting screen (i) regarding the identification code appears. On this screen, it is possible to set the number representing the identification code and the light emission brightness. Place the reversal mark at the place where the identification code is designated, enter the identification code number with the ten-key pad 14, and then press the enter key 15. The inversion mark is aligned with the light emission luminance input point (j). If you operate the direction keys 12 in this state, "No designation", "100%", "5"
The display will change to 0%, 25%, 12.5%.
The brightness is set by pressing the enter key 15 while the desired brightness is displayed. The screen j shows a state in which the identification code 001 is set to be displayed with a light emission luminance of 100%. According to this setting, when the identification code 001 is displayed, all the display contents to which 001 is added are always displayed with the light emission brightness of 100%, and the surroundings of the device are darkened and switched to the night brightness of 50%. Even in this case, the display content of the identification code 001 is displayed with the same 100% brightness as in the daytime.

FIG. 6 shows an image displayed on the display unit 1 in accordance with the stored contents of the display content data created as described above in the display schedule storage unit 4d. The figure shows a state in which the identification codes are stored in the order in which they are to be displayed without specifying the date and time, and it is assumed that the display device has a fixed brightness of 25%. According to this, the identification code 002 "Welcome ...
Is displayed, and then the identification code 007 "O
"PEN" is displayed, and then the identification code 00 is displayed at a brightness of 100%.
3. Display "Today's service ..."
Display the identification code 011 "Course ..." with%.
Finally, with the brightness of 25%, the identification code 005 "Please slowly ...
・ ・ ”Is displayed, the display returns to the first identification code 002 and is displayed again in the same order. As described above, even if the display device is set to the fixed brightness of 25%, the emission brightness can be changed according to the message content to be transmitted.

Next, the main part of the display operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 3 reads the display content data to be displayed from the display content storage section 4c in the order given by the display schedule storage section 4d (S1), and based on the pattern data given by the font ROM 4b, reads the read display content from the VRAM 5.
To bit information (S2). Next, based on the display mode information given to the expanded data, output data is created in which only the portion to be output to the display unit 1 is extracted in accordance with the display operation (S3). Next, it is judged whether or not the information regarding the display brightness is set in the created output data, that is, whether or not the display content (identification code) from which the output data is created has the setting of the light emission brightness (S4). If not, the display data is output to the display drive unit 2 as an LED drive signal (S5). Then, the steps (S3) to (S5) are repeated until the display data is completely displayed in the designated display mode, and the set display is performed. If the display content includes the setting of the emission brightness in S4, the brightness adjusting unit 6 is instructed to adjust the brightness based on the setting content (S7). When the display of a series of display data is completed in this way (S6),
Returning to S1, the next display content data is read out,
The display operation is repeated in the same manner as above.

The present invention is configured as described above, and various other implementations are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, in this embodiment, three characters in the horizontal direction and two characters in the vertical direction, six characters in total, can be displayed.
Although a matrix of × 32 dots is formed on the display unit, the number of characters that can be displayed and the size of the dot matrix are not limited to this. The light emission brightness that can be set is not limited to 100%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5%, and can be set arbitrarily. Further, the display content is not limited to characters, symbols, and numbers, and may be bitmap image data corresponding to the dot matrix of the display unit.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to the standard brightness set as a basic function for the entire display device, information about brightness at the time of light-emission display according to the content to be displayed is given and set. It can be displayed with brightness. Therefore, even when the surroundings are dark and the brightness of the display unit is lowered by one step, or when the low brightness is fixedly set regardless of day or night,
It is possible to display only the content (characters, words, sentences, pictograms, screens, etc.) that is particularly strongly desired to be appealed with high emission brightness, and it is possible to obtain a fresh display effect and a high attention effect which are not available in conventional devices.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing stored contents regarding display contents.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a key arrangement of a remote controller.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation method when creating display content.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation method for setting the light emission brightness in the identification code of the display content.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an image in which the display content stored in the display schedule storage unit is displayed.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a main part of a display operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Display 2 Display drive CPU which is 3 control parts 4c display content storage unit 4d display schedule storage unit 5 VRAM 6 Brightness control section 8 Illuminance sensor 9 remote control

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) // G09G 5/00 510 G09G 5/00 510B 550 550B 5/10 5/10 Z

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A display device in which a plurality of light-emitting elements are arranged on a printed circuit board, and each light-emitting element is selectively caused to emit light to display characters, pictorial symbols, etc. A display content storage unit that stores a plurality of contents and a display schedule storage unit that stores display schedule data that specifies display timing for each display content stored in the display content storage unit are included. A display device which gives information and displays a display content corresponding to display schedule data with a desired light emission brightness. 2. A display device, wherein a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged on a printed circuit board, and each of the light emitting elements is selectively caused to emit light to display characters / pictorial symbols, etc. An arbitrary identification code is given to the content, and display schedule data that specifies the display timing for each identification code for each display content stored in the display content storage unit that stores a plurality of display contents together with this identification code. A display device, comprising: a display schedule storage unit for storing the display schedule data; . 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged vertically and horizontally on a printed circuit board to form a dot matrix display surface, and the display content fits on one screen of the display surface. A display device characterized by comprising a combination of characters and pictograms. 4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged vertically and horizontally on a printed circuit board to form a dot matrix display surface, and the display content exceeds one screen of the display surface. A display device characterized by being composed of a combination of characters and pictograms across multiple screens.