JP2004170501A - Method and device for display control and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display control method capable of smoothly displaying a multicolored display image of high picture quality. <P>SOLUTION: Image data DG are constituted including a plurality of data blocks DB in which palette numbers specifying color information of one of pieces of color palette data DP are recorded as pixel value information, grouped by pixel value information specifying color information in the same color palette data DP and related with respective pieces of color palette data DP. With reference to the respective pieces of color palette data DP related to the respective data blocks DB (step 26), respective pieces of pixel value information in the respective data blocks DB are decoded and the decoded data are added to data having been decoded (step 27) to generate decoded image data DD. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention decodes original image data in index color format with reference to color palette data to generate decoded image data, and generates and outputs display image data based on the generated decoded image data for display. The present invention relates to a display control method and a display control device for causing a display unit to display a display image, and a display device configured to display a display image according to the display control method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a display device (for example, a variable display device 12 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-244444) mounted on a game machine such as a pachinko machine and displaying various display images, an external device (for example, a personal computer) is used. By generating display image data based on a large number of image data generated in advance using, moving and displaying a still image based on the display image data or switching a plurality of still images at a predetermined display position at high speed. For example, a moving image-like display image (hereinafter, also referred to as an “animation image”) is displayed on the display unit. In this case, when displaying an animation image, it is necessary to perform high-speed switching display of several tens of frames per second. Therefore, in this type of display device, image data in the index color format is used in order to be able to execute reading processing from the storage unit and the like in a short time. In this index color format image data, since a pallet number designating one of the color information recorded in the color pallet data is recorded as each pixel value information, a direct color information is recorded for each pixel. The data capacity is smaller than that of color image data.
[0003]
When displaying an animation image on the display unit by this display device, first, scenario data in which a display procedure (scenario) of the animation image is recorded is read from the storage unit. Next, in accordance with the read scenario data, the image data used in the first frame and the color pallet data referred to when decoding the image data are read from the storage unit. Next, according to the pallet number of each pixel recorded in the data block (pixel value information block) in the image data, the color information of the corresponding pallet number is developed (stored) in the decode cache (decoding the image data). Then, the decoded image data is generated. Similarly, for other image data used in the first frame, the corresponding color palette data is read out and sequentially decoded. Next, display image data is generated in the screen buffer by transferring each of the generated decoded image data to the screen buffer. At this time, image processing (image enlargement processing, image reduction processing, image rotation processing, etc.) specified by the scenario data is performed on the image corresponding to each decoded image data. Next, the generated display image data is output to the display unit. Thereby, the still image (display image) of the first frame in the animation image is displayed on the display unit. By executing this series of image processing sequentially for each frame according to the scenario data also for the second and subsequent frames, an animation image as if various characters are moving is displayed on the display unit.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-244444 (pages 3-6)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional display device has the following problems. That is, in the conventional display device, the image data of the index color format is used in order to be able to read out the image data in a short time. In this case, the color pallet data referred to when decoding the image data in the index color format is generally configured by recording color information of 256 colors, and a different 8-bit pallet number is assigned to each color information. Have been. On the other hand, today's image display devices display high-quality display images such as characters represented by gradation images having a smooth color change, natural images (for example, images of a player's face), and the like. There is a demand for a high degree of interest displayed at a frame rate. However, in order to display a highly attractive gradation image or natural image (hereinafter also referred to as a “multicolor image”), it is necessary to adopt a configuration in which 256 or more colors can be used in one image data. There is. However, when such a configuration is adopted, the pallet number given to each color information in the color pallet data is necessarily 8 bits or more (16 bits as an example). Therefore, since the data capacity of the entire image data increases due to the increase in the data length of the pixel value information (pallet number) for each pixel, it takes time to read the image data. For this reason, the conventional display control method has a problem that it is difficult to display a multicolor image at a high frame rate.
[0006]
In this case, a display control method for displaying one multicolor image by synthesizing a plurality of image data in which the number of colors is set to 256 colors or less can be considered. However, in this display control method, it is necessary to execute image processing for each image data to be image-combined when generating display image data. For this reason, as a result of increasing the number of image processing processes to be executed in one frame, it takes time to generate display image data, and as a result, images to be displayed are dropped, resulting in a smooth display image ( It is difficult to display an animation image).
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and has as its main object to provide a display control method, a display control device, and a display device capable of smoothly displaying a multi-color, high-quality display image.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, a display control method according to the present invention is directed to a method for converting original image data in an index color format in which a pallet number designating any color information in color pallet data is recorded as pixel value information for each pixel. Display control for generating decoded image data by decoding with reference to the color palette data and generating and outputting display image data based on the generated decoded image data to display a display image on a display unit The method according to claim 1, wherein the original image data has the pallet number specifying one of the color information of the plurality of color pallet data recorded as the respective pixel value information, and includes the same color pallet data. Are grouped by the pixel value information that specifies the color information of The plurality of pixel value information blocks associated with the respective pixel value information blocks, and the respective pixel value information in the respective pixel value information blocks with reference to the respective color palette data associated with the respective pixel value information blocks. And the decoded image data is generated by appending the decoded data to the already decoded data.
[0009]
Further, in the display control method according to the present invention, in the display control method described above, the display image data is generated by virtually superimposing images corresponding to a plurality of the decoded image data.
[0010]
Furthermore, in the display control method according to the present invention, in the display control method described above, the generated display image data is output to the display unit at predetermined time intervals to display an animation image on the display unit.
[0011]
Further, in the display control method according to the present invention, in the display control method described above, the generated decoded image data is stored in a storage unit, and the original image data corresponding to the decoded image data stored in the storage unit is stored. When the display image is displayed, the decoded image data is read from the storage unit to generate the display image data.
[0012]
The display control device according to the present invention may further include a first storage unit that stores color pallet data in which a plurality of pieces of color information are recorded, and a pallet number that designates any one of the pieces of color information in the color pallet data. A second storage unit for storing original image data in an index color format recorded as pixel value information for each pixel; and generating decoded image data by decoding the original image data with reference to the color palette data. A display control unit for generating a display image data based on the generated decoded image data and outputting the display image data to display a display image on a display unit; The unit stores a plurality of the color palette data, and the second storage unit stores any one of the plurality of color palette data. The pallet numbers specifying the color information are recorded as the respective pixel value information, and are grouped by the pixel value information specifying the color information in the same color pallet data, and the respective color pallet data are Stores the original image data including a plurality of pixel value information blocks associated with the, the display control unit refers to the respective color palette data associated with each of the respective pixel value information blocks The decoded image data is generated by decoding the pixel value information in each pixel value information block and adding the decoded data to the already decoded data.
[0013]
Further, in the display control device according to the present invention, in the display control device described above, the display control unit generates the display image data by virtually superimposing images corresponding to a plurality of the decoded image data. .
[0014]
Furthermore, in the display control device according to the present invention, in the display control device described above, the display control unit outputs the generated display image data to the display unit at predetermined time intervals to thereby display an animation image on the display unit. Is displayed.
[0015]
Further, the display control device according to the present invention is the display control device described above, further comprising a third storage unit that stores the decoded image data, wherein the display control unit stores the generated decoded image data in the third storage device. When the display image using the original image data corresponding to the decoded image data stored in the third storage unit is displayed in the third storage unit, the decoded image data is stored in the third storage unit. The display image data is read out from the unit.
[0016]
Further, a display device according to the present invention includes the above-described display control device and a display unit.
[0017]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a display control method, a display control device, and a display device according to the present invention will be described.
[0018]
First, the configuration of the image display device 1 configured to display various display images according to the display control method according to the present invention and the data structure of each data used when displaying the display images will be described with reference to the drawings. I do.
[0019]
The image display device 1 is a display device that is mounted on a game machine, a display for advertising, and displays various animation images and the like, and includes a display control device and a display unit according to the present invention. I have. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the image display device 1 includes a scenario data storage unit 2, a character data storage unit 3, a control unit 4, a VDP 5, a decode data management unit 6, a decode data storage unit 7, a screen buffer 8a and 8b and a display unit 9, and includes scenario data DS, a plurality of image data DG1, DG2 (hereinafter, also referred to as "image data DG" when not distinguished), and a plurality of color pallet data DP1, DP2. Hereinafter, when no distinction is made, an animation image can be displayed based on “color palette data DP”.
[0020]
In this case, the scenario data DS is data for specifying a display procedure for an animation image displayed by the image display device 1 and is generated in advance using an external device (not shown) (for example, a personal computer). As shown in FIG. 2, the scenario data DS includes layer number information DL and image data designation information DR, DR... Recorded for each frame from frame 1 (first frame) to frame N (Nth frame). It consists of multiple records. The number-of-layers information DL includes information indicating the number (that is, the number of layers) of the images G (for example, the images G1 to G3 illustrated in FIG. 7) constituting the display image GI (see FIG. 7) to be displayed in the frame. Have been. The image data designation information DR is recorded in one record by the number indicated by the above-mentioned layer number information DL, and each is constituted by information capable of specifying predetermined image data DG.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 3, the color pallet data DP is composed of, for example, color information DC, DC,... For 256 colors, and a palette number PN from 000th to 255th is individually assigned to each color information DC. Is granted. Further, the color pallet data DP used in the image display device 1 is configured by, for example, information indicating that the color information DC with the pallet number 255 is “transparent color”. The image data DG is index color format image data corresponding to the original image data in the present invention, and pixel value information (palette) for each pixel in the image G of 257 colors or more (the image G1 shown in FIG. 6 as an example). No.) can be recorded in 8 bits. In this case, in order to record the pixel value information in 8 bits, as described above, the number of color information DC in one color pallet data DP needs to be 256 or less. Therefore, in the image data DG used in the image display device 1, 257 or more colors can be designated by 8-bit information (pallet number) by referring to two or more color palette data DP described above. I have. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the image data DG includes a header section DH and a plurality of data blocks DB1, DB2,... DBN (data block DB).
[0022]
The header DH includes image size information indicating the image size of the image G corresponding to the image data DG, and information on the number of pallets used indicating the number of color pallet data DP to be referred to when decoding (decoding) the image data DG. Various information is recorded. In the data block DB (“pixel value information block” in the present invention), pallet information to be used and a pallet number PN (pixel value information) for specifying a color of each pixel constituting the image G are recorded. I have. In this case, for example, when the number of colors used in the image G is 257 or more and 512 or less, pixel value information of each pixel is recorded using the color pallet data DP1 and DP2. In this case, the data block DB1 in which the pixel value information of the pixel specifying the pallet number PN of the color pallet data DP1 is grouped, and the pixel value information of the pixel specifying the pallet number PN of the color pallet data DP2 are The image data DG is configured to include the grouped data blocks DB2.
[0023]
When the number of colors used in the image G is 513 or more and 768 or less, pixel value information of each pixel is recorded using the color pallet data DP1 to DP3. In this case, the data block DB1 in which the pixel value information of the pixel specifying the pallet number PN of the color pallet data DP1 is grouped, and the pixel value information of the pixel specifying the pallet number PN of the color pallet data DP2 are The image data DG is configured to include the grouped data block DB2 and the data block DB3 in which the pixel value information of the pixel specifying the pallet number PN of the color pallet data DP3 is grouped. Note that the data structure of the image data DG is not limited to the above example. For example, when the colors used in the image G are 300 colors, a color palette in which color information for 100 colors is recorded. The image data DG including the data blocks DB1 to DB3 can also be configured using the data DP1 to DP3.
[0024]
On the other hand, the scenario data storage unit 2 stores the above-described scenario data DS. The character data storage unit 3 corresponds to the first and second storage units in the present invention, and stores a plurality of color pallet data DP, DP,... And a plurality of image data DG, DG,. The control unit 4 constitutes a display control unit according to the present invention in cooperation with the VDP 5 and the decode data management unit 6, and executes various display controls for displaying an animation image. Specifically, the control unit 4 reads the data DS, DG, and DP, specifies the image data DG based on the read scenario data DS, specifies the color palette data DP used in the image data DG, and The transfer processing of the image data DG and the color palette data DP to the VDP 5 is executed. As shown in FIG. 1, the VDP 5 includes a pallet data storage unit 5a that stores the color pallet data DP transferred by the control unit 4. The VDP 5 generates the decoded image data DD by decoding the image data DG with reference to the color pallet data DP transferred by the control unit 4, and transmits the generated decoded image data DD via the decode data management unit 6. And store it in the decoded data storage unit 7. Further, the VDP 5 transfers the decoded image data DD, DD,... Read out via the decoded data management unit 6 to one of the screen buffers 8a, 8b (hereinafter, also referred to as “screen buffer 8” when no distinction is made) ( By rendering an image corresponding to the decoded image data DD virtually), display image data DI for each frame is generated in the screen buffer 8.
[0025]
The decode data management unit 6 stores the decode image data DD output by the VDP 5 in the decode data storage unit 7, and reads the decode image data DD specified by the VDP 5 from the decode data storage unit 7 and outputs the read decode image data DD to the VDP 5. The decoded data storage unit 7 corresponds to a third storage unit in the present invention, and stores the decoded image data DD decoded by the VDP 5 under the control of the decoded data management unit 6. The screen buffer 8 is a video memory for generating the display image data DI, and stores the decoded image data DD, DD,... (Display image data DI) transferred by the VDP 5. In this case, the screen buffer 8a stores the decoded image data DD, DD... (Display image data DI) for the odd-numbered frames, and the screen buffer 8b stores the decoded image data DD, DD. Image data DI). Although not particularly limited, the display unit 9 is configured by a liquid crystal panel capable of color display as an example, and displays various animation images based on the display image data DI generated in the screen buffer 8.
[0026]
Next, a method of displaying a display image by the image display device 1 will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0027]
In the image display device 1, when a power switch (not shown) is turned on, the image display processing 20 shown in FIG. 5 is started by the control unit 4, the VDP 5, and the decode data management unit 6. In the image display process 20, first, the control unit 4 reads the scenario data DS from the scenario data storage unit 2 (Step 21). Next, based on the layer number information DL in the read scenario data DS, the control unit 4 determines the number of layers of the display image data DI to be generated in the frame (that is, the image required for generating the display image data DI). The number of data DG) is specified (step 22). Next, the control unit 4 specifies the image data DG to be decoded first based on the image data designation information DR in the scenario data DS (Step 23). Next, the control unit 4 causes the decoded data management unit 6 to check whether or not the decoded image data DD obtained by decoding the specified image data DG exists in the decoded data storage unit 7 (Step 24). At this time, the decoded image data DD is not stored in the decoded data storage unit 7 at the beginning of the image display processing 20. For this reason, the control unit 4 determines that the decoded image data DD does not exist based on the notification result of the decoded data management unit 6, reads the image data DG specified in step 23 from the character data storage unit 3, and stores the read image data DG in the VDP 5. Transfer (step 25).
[0028]
On the other hand, the VDP 5 specifies the image size of the image data DG and the number of pallets used (that is, the number of data blocks DB) based on the information recorded in the header portion DH of the transferred image data DG. I do. Next, the VDP 5 decodes the image data DG according to the specified information. Specifically, when the image data DG transferred by the control unit 4 is configured by three data blocks DB of data blocks DB1 to DB3 like, for example, the image data DG1 shown in FIG. The decoding of the pixel value information recorded in the data block DB1 is executed. At this time, the VDP 5 specifies the color pallet data DP specified by the pixel value information in the data block DB1, based on the pallet information used in the data block DB1, and specifies the specified color pallet data DP (for example, color The pallet data DP1) is loaded into the pallet data storage unit 5a (step 26). Specifically, the VDP 5 requests the control unit 4 to transfer the specified color pallet data DP1. In response, the control unit 4 reads out the requested color pallet data DP1 from the character data storage unit 3 and transfers it to the pallet data storage unit 5a of the VDP 5.
[0029]
Next, the VDP 5 decodes each pixel value information (palette number PN) in the data block DB1 with reference to the color pallet data DP stored in the pallet data storage unit 5a (Step 27). At this time, the predetermined color information DC in the color pallet data DP is specified based on the pallet number PN recorded for each pixel as the pixel value information, and the specified color information DC is determined as the pixel value of the pixel. Then, it is stored in the decoded data storage unit 7. This process is sequentially performed for each pixel based on all the pixel value information in the data block DB1, so that the decoded data storage unit 7 stores the pixel value information in the data block DB1 as shown in FIG. The decoded image data Dx1 (a part of the decoded image data DD1) is generated. Note that the decoded image data Dx1 to Dx3 in the drawing conceptually illustrate the positions of the pixels where the pallet numbers PN (pixel value information) are recorded in the corresponding data blocks. In this case, in the decoded image data Dx1, any one of the color information DC, DC,... Of the palette information 1 to 256 of the color information DC, DC,. The color corresponding to DC is specified. Further, at this stage, no color information DC has been determined for the pixel corresponding to the portion shown in white, and the pixel is in an undetermined state. That is, in the data block DB1, not one of the pallet numbers PN is recorded for all the pixels, but pixel value information is recorded only for the pixels specifying the color information DC in the pallet number PN1. I have. In the data block DB2, the color information DC2 in the color pallet data DP2 for pixels other than the pixels for which any of the color information DC is designated by the data block DB1 (pixels in the portion indicated by the hatched lines in FIG. Is recorded. Similarly, the lock DB3 includes color pallet data DP3 for pixels (pixels indicated by oblique lines falling to the lower right in FIG. 3) excluding pixels for which one of the color information DC is designated by the data blocks DB1 and DB2. A pallet number PN for designating the color information DC in the area is recorded. Therefore, by decoding all of the data blocks DB1 to DB3 as described later, the color information DC for all the pixels constituting the image G1 is specified.
[0030]
Subsequently, the VDP 5 determines whether decoding of the pixel value information in all the data blocks DB (in this case, the data blocks DB1 to DB3) in the image data DG1 is completed (Step 28). At this time, the VDP 5 determines that decoding of the data blocks DB2 and DB3 has not been completed and executes Step 26. Specifically, the VDP 5 specifies the color pallet data DP2 to be referred to when decoding the pixel value information in the data block DB2 based on the pallet information used in the data block DB2, and stores the specified color pallet data DP2 in the palette data. The data is loaded into the storage unit 5a. Next, the VDP 5 decodes the pixel value information in the data block DB2 with reference to the loaded color pallet data DP2 (Step 27). At this time, the VDP 5 converts the color information DC of the pixel corresponding to the portion indicated by the shaded line in the decoded image data Dx2 shown in FIG. 6 into the corresponding pixel of the decoded image data Dx1 (the pixel whose color information DC is undetermined). (Combined decoded image data Dx1 and Dx2). Next, the VDP 5 decodes the pixel value information in the data block DB3 in the same manner as the decoding of the data blocks DB1 and DB2. As a result, the decoded data storage unit 7 includes a decoded image data Dx1 obtained by decoding the data block DB1, a decoded image data Dx2 obtained by decoding the data block DB2, and a decoded image data Dx3 obtained by decoding the data block DB3. Image data DD1 (data obtained by decoding the image data DG1) is generated. In this case, since the decoded image data Dx1 to Dx3 are decoded with reference to different color palette data DP1 to DP3, if different color information DC is used for each color palette data DP, the image data One of 766 colors (because the 256th color of each color pallet data DP is a common transparent color) is decoded in each pixel constituting the DD1.
[0031]
Next, when the VDP 5 determines in step 28 that decoding of all the data blocks DB is completed, the VDP 5 causes the decoded data management unit 6 to read out the decoded image data DD1 from the decoded data storage unit 7, The decoded image data DD1 is transferred to the screen buffer 8a (step 29). At this time, the VDP 5 performs a predetermined image processing process (such as an image enlargement process, an image reduction process, or an image rotation process) on the decoded image data DD1 as necessary (according to an instruction recorded in the scenario data DS). Execute. At the same time, the VDP 5 notifies the control unit 4 that the transfer of the image data DG1 to the screen buffer 8a has been completed. In response, the control section 4 determines whether or not the decoded image data DD for all the layers constituting the frame 1 has been transferred to the screen buffer 8a (Step 30). At this time, for example, the control unit 4 determines that the transfer of the decoded image data DD2 and DD3 for the image data DG2 and DG3 has not been completed, and the image data DG to be decoded next (in this case, the image data DG2) Is specified (step 23). Thereafter, steps 23 to 29 are repeated by the number specified by the layer number information DL in the scenario data DS, so that the decoded image data DD1 to DD3 are stored in the screen buffer 8a in a predetermined order as shown in FIG. Superimposed display image data DI is generated.
[0032]
Next, when the controller 4 determines in step 30 that the decoded image data DD for all the layers constituting the frame 1 has been transferred to the screen buffer 8a, the controller 4 displays the display image GI (see FIG. 7) for the frame 1. It waits until the display timing comes (monitors the arrival of the timing) (step 31). When the display timing has arrived, the control section 4 causes the display section 9 to display the display image GI based on the display image data DI in the screen buffer 8a (step 32), and displays the display image data on the VDP 5 (step 32). The buffer for generating DI is switched from the screen buffer 8a to the screen buffer 8b (step 33). Thereafter, steps 22 to 33 are sequentially executed for frame 2 to frame N in the same manner as the above-described series of processing for frame 1, so that display image data DI, DI. Are displayed, for example, at a frame rate of 48 frames per second (an example of a predetermined time interval in the present invention). At this time, when the control unit 4 uses the image data DG decoded in any of the frames again (when the decoded image data DD obtained by decoding the image data DG exists in the decoded data storage unit 7), In step 24), the corresponding decoded image data DD is read from the decoded data storage unit 7 and output to the VDP 5 (step 29). As a result, the execution of the redundant decoding process for the same image data DG is avoided. When the control unit 4 has finished displaying the display images GI for all the frames (step 34), the image display processing 20 ends.
[0033]
As described above, according to the image display device 1, the color pallet data DP, DP,... Associated with each of the data blocks DB, DB,. By adopting the display control method of generating the decoded image data DD by decoding each pixel value information and adding the decoded data to the already decoded data, it is defined in one color palette data DP. A display image GI having more colors than the number of colors can be displayed. In this case, by displaying the display image GI according to this display control method, the pixel value information (pallet number) is compared with a display control method using general image data recorded with, for example, 16 bits, so that the pixel value information is displayed. Since the time required to read out the image data DG in which information (pallet number PN) is recorded in 8 bits is short, a high-quality display image GI can be displayed smoothly without dropping. In the method of displaying a multi-color display image by a plurality of image data DG, DG,..., Image processing must be performed on each decoded image data DD obtained by decoding each image data DG. On the other hand, according to this display control method, it is only necessary to execute one image processing for one piece of decoded image data DD, so that an animation image can be displayed at a high frame rate.
[0034]
Further, according to the image display device 1, a display control method for generating display image data DI by virtually superimposing images G, G,... Corresponding to a plurality of decoded image data DD, DD,. By adopting, compared to displaying the display image GI based on the display image data DI including only one decoded image data DD, for example, a highly attractive display image GI in which a plurality of characters appear can be displayed. Can be displayed. Further, according to the image display device 1, a display control method of outputting the generated display image data DI to the display unit 9 at predetermined time intervals to display an animation image is employed, thereby avoiding the dropping of frames. It is possible to display a multi-colored high-quality animated image composed of high-quality display images without restricting the number of colors or reducing the frame rate. Further, according to the image display device 1, when displaying the display image GI using the image data DG corresponding to the decoded image data DD stored in the decoded data storage unit 7, the decoded image data DD is converted to the decoded data. By generating the display image data DI by reading from the storage unit 7, it is possible to avoid duplicate decoding processing for the same image data DG. Therefore, the display control unit (in this case, the control unit 4 and the VDP 5) can be reduced. As a result, an animation image can be displayed more smoothly.
[0035]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment of the present invention. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, various display images GI are displayed based on image data DG in the index color format using color pallet data DP in which color information DC of 256 colors is recorded. Although an example has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and is based on image data DG of an index color format using color pallet data in which color information DC, DC,... Of 255 colors or less or 257 colors or more is recorded. Various display images GI can be displayed.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the display control method, the display control device, and the display device according to the present invention, each of the pixel value information blocks is referred to by referring to each of the color palette data associated with each of the pixel value information blocks. By generating decoded image data by decoding pixel value information and adding the decoded data to the already decoded data, a display image of more colors than the number of colors specified in one color palette data Can be displayed. In this case, by displaying the display image according to this display control method, the pixel value information (pallet number) is compared with a display control method using general original image data recorded with, for example, 16 bits, so that the pixel value information is displayed. Since the time required to read the original image data in which the information (pallet number) is recorded in, for example, 8 bits is short, a high-quality display image can be smoothly displayed without being dropped. In the method of displaying a multi-color display image using a plurality of original image data, image processing must be performed on each of the decoded image data obtained by decoding each of the original image data. According to the method, it is only necessary to execute one image processing for one piece of decoded image data, so that an animation image can be displayed at a high frame rate.
[0037]
According to the display control method, the display control device, and the display device according to the present invention, one image corresponding to a plurality of decoded image data is virtually superimposed to generate display image data. Compared to displaying a display image based on display image data consisting only of image data, for example, a highly attractive display image in which a plurality of characters appear can be displayed. Further, according to the display control method, the display control device, and the display device according to the present invention, the generated display image data is output to the display unit at predetermined time intervals to display the animation image, thereby avoiding the dropping of frames. For this reason, it is possible to display a multi-color, high-quality animated high-quality display image without limiting the number of colors or reducing the frame rate. Further, according to the display control method, the display control device, and the display device according to the present invention, a display image using original image data corresponding to decoded image data stored in a storage unit (third storage unit) is displayed. In this case, by reading the decoded image data from the storage unit and generating the display image data, it is possible to avoid redundant decoding processing for the same original image data. Can be reduced. As a result, an animation image can be displayed more smoothly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a data structure diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of scenario data DS.
FIG. 3 is a data structure diagram showing an example of a data structure of color pallet data DP.
FIG. 4 is a data structure diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of image data DG.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an image display process 20 executed by the image display device 1.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for describing a procedure for generating decoded image data DD1.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for describing a procedure for generating display image data DI.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Image display device
2 Scenario data storage
3 Character data storage
4 control unit
5 VDP
5a Pallet data storage
6 Decode data management unit
7 Decoding data storage unit
8a, 8b screen buffer
9 Display
20 Image display processing
DB1 to DBN data block
DC color information
DD decoded image data
DG image data
DH header part
DI display image data
DL layer number information
DP color palette data
DR image data designation information
DS scenario data
Dx decoded image data
G image
GI display image
PN pallet number

Claims (9)

The decoded image data is obtained by decoding the original image data in the index color format in which the pallet number specifying any color information in the color pallet data is recorded as pixel value information for each pixel with reference to the color pallet data. And a display control method for displaying a display image on a display unit by generating and outputting display image data based on the generated decoded image data,
In the original image data, the pallet number designating any one of the plurality of color pallet data is recorded as the pixel value information, and the color information in the same color pallet data is It is configured to include a plurality of pixel value information blocks that are grouped for each of the specified pixel value information and are associated with each of the color palette data,
The respective pixel value information in the respective pixel value information block is decoded by referring to the respective color palette data associated with each of the respective pixel value information blocks, and the decoded data is converted to data which has already been decoded. A display control method for generating the decoded image data by additionally writing. 2. The display control method according to claim 1, wherein the display image data is generated by virtually superimposing images corresponding to the plurality of decoded image data. The display control method according to claim 1, wherein the generated display image data is output to the display unit at predetermined time intervals to display an animation image on the display unit. When the generated decoded image data is stored in the storage unit, and when the display image using the original image data corresponding to the decoded image data stored in the storage unit is displayed, the decoded image data is stored in the storage unit. 4. The display control method according to claim 3, wherein the display image data is generated by reading from the storage unit. A first storage unit for storing color pallet data in which a plurality of pieces of color information are recorded, and a pallet number specifying one of the color information in the color pallet data is recorded as pixel value information for each pixel A second storage unit that stores the original image data in the index color format, and generates decoded image data by decoding the original image data with reference to the color pallet data, and based on the generated decoded image data. A display control unit comprising: a display control unit that displays a display image on a display unit by generating and outputting display image data.
The first storage unit stores a plurality of the color pallet data,
The second storage unit stores the pallet number specifying one of the color information of the plurality of color pallet data as the pixel value information, and stores the color in the same color pallet data. Storing the original image data configured to include a plurality of pixel value information blocks associated with each of the color pallet data and grouped for each of the pixel value information specifying information;
The display control unit decodes each of the pixel value information in each of the pixel value information blocks by referring to each of the color pallet data associated with each of the pixel value information blocks, and already outputs the decoded data. A display control device that generates the decoded image data by appending to the data being decoded. The display control device according to claim 5, wherein the display control unit generates the display image data by virtually superimposing images corresponding to the plurality of decoded image data. The display control device according to claim 5, wherein the display control unit displays the animation image on the display unit by outputting the generated display image data to the display unit at predetermined time intervals. A third storage unit that stores the decoded image data;
The display control unit stores the generated decoded image data in the third storage unit and uses the original image data corresponding to the decoded image data stored in the third storage unit. The display control device according to claim 7, wherein when displaying an image, the decoded image data is read from the third storage unit to generate the display image data. A display device, comprising: the display control device according to claim 5; and the display unit.

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