JP2005078470A - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor for selecting a display unit in the optimal state from a plurality of electronic apparatuses and making the selected display unit display the information transmitted from the electronic apparatus when an arbitrary electronic apparatus issues an intention to transmit information to another electronic apparatus in a state that a plurality of electronic apparatuses are connected through a home network to each other. <P>SOLUTION: This information processor is provided with: an interface part for transmitting/receiving data between the plurality of display units which are respectively equipped with display parts which display information; and an output means for discriminating the operating states of the plurality of display units through the interface part and outputting a predetermined display signal through the interface part to the display unit whose operating state is discriminated as a predetermined state (power ON) among the plurality of display units. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a display method for displaying various display data output from a digital camera or a home electronic device on another electronic device having a display screen connected via a home network.

  Conventionally, image data shot or reproduced by a digital camera has been confirmed on a small LCD monitor provided in the digital camera. Furthermore, in order to confirm on a larger screen, an analog or digital video signal can be output from a digital camera and confirmed on a large screen of a normal home television. In recent years, various wireless LAN systems have been proposed. Among them, UWB (Ultra Wideband) and IEEE802.11g, which are one of the standards for short-range wireless communication systems, realize a data transfer rate of 100 Mbps. As a result, the waiting time associated with large-capacity data transfer is greatly reduced. It has become possible to construct a new home network that has not been heretofore by incorporating these functions into home devices and connecting each device with such a wireless LAN. As a configuration form of this home network, it is possible to easily exchange data from other various electronic devices by using a personal computer as a management server with the personal computer placed at the center of the network. Alternatively, data can be exchanged by directly connecting two or more types of electronic devices without using the management server described above.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-266378 discloses a function that is connected to one or two or more devices via a network, selects a displayed executable function, and activates a specific device corresponding to the selected function. A digital camera is disclosed. In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-315129, specific image processing conditions are set for a peripheral device, and image editing processing is executed on image information input from the peripheral device based on the image processing conditions. A data processing apparatus is disclosed that outputs the image information obtained to any peripheral device. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-315182 discloses a data processing apparatus that acquires the status of peripheral devices and displays the system configuration as a virtual network with an identifiable icon. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-358207 discloses an image information processing apparatus that detects attachment of an information medium and turns on an external device. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-169198 discloses a signal transmission device that notifies a viewer of a television receiver of information emitted from any of the information devices by a television receiver connected to a plurality of information devices. ing. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-49539 discloses a network connection device that searches for a device having a display function among devices connected on a network and transmits information to be displayed. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-199324 discloses a playback device that knows the types of a plurality of electronic devices constituting a network and determines electronic devices to be subjected to data communication based on the obtained type information of the electronic devices. It is disclosed.

  In the above-described prior art, a device having a specific function such as a display function or a print function is selected and displayed or a predetermined operation is performed, or information from other devices is displayed on a specific device. It is a simple system.

In the present invention, in a state where a plurality of electronic devices are connected to each other through a home network, if an intention to transmit information from another electronic device to another electronic device is issued, the user is informed accordingly. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus that can select a display device in an optimal state from a plurality of electronic devices and display information transmitted from the electronic device using the display device.

  In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 1 is directed to an interface unit that transmits and receives data to and from a plurality of display devices including a display unit that displays information, and the plurality of the plurality of display devices via the interface unit. A discriminating unit for discriminating an operating state of the display device; and a predetermined display signal via the interface unit for the display device which the discriminating unit has determined that the operating state is a predetermined state among the plurality of display devices Output means for outputting. That is, when outputting data from an electronic device such as a digital camera, the digital camera detects a display device in a predetermined operation state, and automatically outputs data to the detected display device, so that the user can There is no need to select a display device. The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that the operation state is a predetermined state is a state in which the display device is operable, and according to the invention of claim 3, the operation state is the operation state. Is characterized in that the power of the display unit of the display device is on.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the output unit further selects a predetermined display device from the plurality of display devices when the determination unit determines that there are a plurality of display devices whose operation states are in a predetermined state. A selection means is provided. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the selecting means selects all display devices in which the operation state is a predetermined state. In the sixth aspect of the invention, the selection means further displays the information. Setting means for presetting the priority order of display devices is provided, wherein the selection means selects the display device based on the priority order. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating an elapsed state during an operation in which the electronic device is performing a predetermined operation. According to the eighth aspect of the invention, the predetermined display signal The signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has started a predetermined operation. According to the invention of claim 9, the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has ended a predetermined operation. It is characterized by being. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, the output means outputs the predetermined display signal for a predetermined period. The invention according to claim 11 further includes a display unit for displaying information, and the output unit outputs the predetermined display signal to a display device in which the operation state is in a predetermined state, and at the same time, the display unit is not displayed. It is characterized by having an instruction means for instructing to enter the state of FIG.

  According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, an interface unit that transmits / receives data to / from a plurality of display devices including a display unit that displays information, and a determination that determines an operation state of the plurality of display devices via the interface unit. And control means for controlling the predetermined display device among the plurality of display devices to be in an operable state based on the determination result of the determination device. Yes. In other words, an electronic device such as a digital camera automatically controls a predetermined display device so that it can be operated, so that the user does not need to select the display device. The invention of claim 13 is characterized in that the operable state is a state in which a power source of a display unit of the display device is turned on. The invention of claim 14 further includes a display unit for displaying information, and the control unit controls the predetermined display device among the plurality of display devices to be operable, and at the same time, the display unit is not displayed. Since there is an instruction means for instructing to enter the state, there is a power saving effect on the digital camera side.

According to the invention of claim 15, if the determining means determines that the predetermined display device is a mobile phone and none of the plurality of display devices is operable, the control means The mobile phone is controlled to be in an operable state. According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the control means controls the display device to be operable for all the display devices that are determined to be inoperable among the plurality of display devices. It is characterized by. The invention of claim 17 further includes setting means for presetting the priority order of display devices for displaying the information, and the control means is in a state in which the display device can be operated based on the priority order. It is characterized by controlling as follows. The invention of claim 18 is characterized by further comprising output means for outputting a predetermined display signal to the display device in the operable state via the interface unit.

  According to a nineteenth aspect of the invention, the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating an elapsed state during an operation in which the electronic device is performing a predetermined operation. In the twenty-second aspect of the invention, the predetermined display signal is The signal indicating that the electronic device has started a predetermined operation. In the invention of claim 21, the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has ended a predetermined operation. It is said. Further, according to the invention of claim 22, the output means outputs the predetermined display signal for a predetermined period. The invention of claim 23 is characterized in that the control means puts the predetermined display device in an inoperable state after the fixed period.

  The invention of claim 24 is characterized in that the interface unit transmits and receives the data to and from the plurality of display devices via a network. In the invention of claim 25, the information includes image information and graphic information. Or it is characterized by including at least one of character information.

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

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a home display system using an information processing apparatus of the present invention. In the figure, a home network is configured with a personal computer as the management server 101. The network includes a digital camera 102, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) 103, an interphone 104, a battery charging adapter 105, a stationary phone 106, a mobile phone 107, a shave 108, a monitoring camera 109, a gas alarm 110, Broadcasting TV monitor 111, personal computer 112, cooker 113, microwave oven 114, washing machine 115, refrigerator 116, rice cooker 117, dryer 118, kettle 119, etc. You can do it. The connection form from these devices to this network may be either wireless or wired connection as described above. Also, a plurality of digital cameras 102, mobile phones 107, TV monitors 111, etc. are usually provided at home, and are often carried for each individual or in each person's room. Among these home appliances, signals from home appliances capable of taking images such as the digital camera 102, home appliances equipped with various timers and sensors such as the washing machine 115, or alarm devices via the network It is sent to the management server 101. The management server 101 creates a display signal based on these received signals, and sends the display signal to a home appliance having a display means for displaying other images or character information such as the TV monitor 111. Here, the display form of the display means is not limited to a large pixel screen that can display image data and graphic data, but a small pixel LCD panel that displays only character information that simply sets a timer time. It may be something like Therefore, almost all of the home appliances listed here are data output devices and data display devices for other home appliances. Furthermore, it is possible to notify the end of the timer, a warning at the time of abnormality, or the like by voice as a display form. As a result, for example, even when the user is away from the washing machine, the end of the washing timer can be known by the buzzer sounding from the display device near him.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the management server 101 described above. In the figure, a CPU 21 reads a necessary program from a hard disk 22 in which various programs for processing information from the personal computer itself operating as a management server and the above-described various home appliances input from the interface 23 are stored. Control is performed so that the data subjected to the predetermined processing is output to various home appliances including the display unit described above via the interface 23. The operation buttons 24 such as a keyboard and a mouse are used not only to perform operations as a normal personal computer but also to set priorities for selecting display devices to be described later. The monitor 25 displays items necessary for these various operations. The buffer memory 26 records various input image data and character information, and records graphic data such as a bar display indicating an elapsed state of the timer created as necessary.

  FIG. 3 shows a schematic internal configuration of the digital camera 102 which is one of the data output devices described above. The CPU 31 reads out a predetermined program from a ROM 32 in which a program for operating as a camera is stored, captures a subject with an imaging unit 34 in accordance with an instruction from an operation button 33 such as a shutter button, and converts it into digital data. Then, after processing such as gamma correction and white balance, control is performed so that the image data is compressed and recorded in the memory card 37 as necessary. The buffer memory 35 is used for temporarily recording image data before and after processing. The LCD monitor 37 is used for confirming the angle of view before photographing, confirming image data after photographing, or confirming image data reproduced from the memory card 36. In addition to displaying an image on the LCD monitor 37, when it is desired to display an image on a normal home TV having a large screen, the operation button 33 is operated to send image data to the management server 101 via the interface 38. Thereafter, the management server 101 selects a predetermined display device and controls to display an image from the digital camera 102 on the display unit. Details of this sequence will be described later.

  FIG. 4 shows a schematic internal configuration of a home TV monitor 111 that receives a normal broadcast, which is one of the display devices described above. The CPU 41 reads out a predetermined program from the ROM 42 in which a program for receiving a normal TV broadcast is stored, and receives the normal TV broadcast received by the TV broadcast receiving unit 44 according to the setting of the operation button 43 for channel and volume setting. Control is performed so that the sound is displayed on the large monitor 45 and the speaker 46 reproduces sound. The buffer memory 47 temporarily stores image, graphic or character data from the electronic device input from the interface 48 in addition to normal TV broadcast data.

  The operation of the management server 101 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a schematic operation flow of the management server 101. First, in step S <b> 101, the management server 101 detects a home appliance that issues a data transfer instruction to the management server 101 from a peripheral device connected to the management server 101, and reads data from the home appliance. In step S102, a display device for displaying the read data is selected. In step S103, display data is sent to the selected display device. Details of the above three steps will be described individually.

FIG. 6 is a flow for explaining data reading from the home appliance connected to the management server 101. In step S201, first, a home appliance connected to the management server 101 is detected. This connected state refers to a state in which data can be transmitted and received between the home appliance and the management server 101. Specifically, this state also includes a standby mode in which only a part of the power is turned on, in addition to the case where the home appliance is operating normally. Of course, in the case of connection using a cable, the cable needs to be connected in advance. In step S202, it is determined whether or not an instruction signal for starting transfer of some data to the management server 101 is output from the connected home appliance. When this home appliance is the digital camera 102, this corresponds to the case where the user operates the operation button 33 of the digital camera 102 to set the digital camera 102 to the external output mode. In the case where the home appliance is the washing machine 115, the cooker 113, or the like, this corresponds to a case where a predetermined operation corresponding to each home appliance such as start of washing is started or a case where a timer starts operating. When the home appliance is the alarm device 110, the monitoring camera 109, or the like, this corresponds to a case where some abnormality is detected. Usually, since a plurality of home appliances are connected to the Internet, if a data transfer instruction is issued from one of the home appliances, in step S203, the presence of transfer data is confirmed with respect to the other home appliances. And instructing home appliances that have been confirmed to have data for transfer to transfer the data. In step S206, the data from the home appliance instructed to transfer data is read. As a result, data from home appliances that need to be displayed is received by the management server 101 without omission, and a display corresponding to a plurality of received data can be displayed on the display device described later.

  If there is no data transfer instruction from one home appliance in step S202, the process proceeds to step S204 to determine whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed. The fixed time is set in advance in the management server 101 in accordance with the home appliances for an interval of 1 minute to 1 hour. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S202 to wait for a data transfer instruction signal from the connected device. If it is determined in step S204 that the fixed time has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S205, where the presence or absence of transfer data is confirmed with respect to the connected home appliance, and the home appliance that has been confirmed to have transfer data is checked. Instructs to transfer data. Thereafter, the data is read from the home appliance instructed to transfer data in step S206.

  Here, data transferred from these home appliances differs depending on the home appliance. Specifically, when the home appliance is a device capable of outputting image data such as the digital camera 102, the PDA 103, the mobile phone 107, and the monitoring camera 109, the output image data. If the household appliance is a timer-operating device such as cooker 113, microwave oven 114, washing machine 115, rice cooker 117, dryer 118, kettle pot 119, timer start, set timer time, timer elapsed time It is the data which shows etc. When the home appliance is a gas alarm device 110, a refrigerator 116, or the like, it is data explaining abnormality detection and abnormality content. When the home appliance is a device that performs a charging operation such as the digital camera 102, the PDA 103, the battery charging adapter 105, the shaving 108, etc., it is data for displaying the charging end or the remaining charging time.

  A TV monitor 111 is usually used as a display device for displaying these data. As described above, since each home usually has a plurality of TV monitors 111, for example, when there is a TV in a living room where many families usually gather, the highest priority is given to data display on the TV. The management server 101 is set. On the other hand, the digital camera image taken by the child may be set to be preferentially reproduced on a certain TV in the child room if the child seems to reproduce more frequently. In this way, it may be better to select the display device according to the home appliance, so it is better to include the data specifying the priority when selecting the display device in the data from each home appliance. Good. If the priority order of the display devices is set in advance using the operation button 24 of the management server 101, the priority order is set in advance even if the priority order is not designated for the plurality of detected display devices. The display device can be selected according to the priority order. In step S203 described above, all home appliances with transfer data are instructed to transfer data, but this is instructed to transfer data only to home appliances in which the data transfer instruction signal is detected. Also good.

A method for selecting a display device by the management server 101 will be described with reference to FIG. In step S301, it is determined whether or not the above-mentioned display device designation data is included in the read data. If the display device is not specified, the process proceeds to step S303, and if it is specified, the process proceeds to step S302. In step S302, it is determined whether or not the power of the designated display device is turned on. If it is determined that the display device is turned on, this flow ends. If it is determined that it is turned off, the process proceeds to step S306. To send a power-on instruction signal to the designated display device. If it is determined in step S301 that no display device is specified, it is determined in step S303 whether the display device connected to the network is turned on and there is a display device. If none of the connected display devices are powered on, the process proceeds to step S304, and the display device to be selected with the highest priority is selected based on the priority order set in advance in the management server 101 as described above. In step S306, a power-on instruction signal for the selected display device is transmitted. If the mobile phone 107 is set as the highest priority display device in this case, the probability that the user is carrying the device is high, which is effective in an emergency.

  If it is determined in step S303 that at least one display device is turned on, the process proceeds to step S305, where it is determined whether or not a plurality of display devices are turned on. If only one device is on, that display device is selected and this flow is terminated. If the power of a plurality of display devices has been turned on, the process proceeds to step S307 where a display device for displaying data is selected. If the management server 101 has been set to select all display devices in advance, it is selected to output data to all display devices that are turned on, and this flow is terminated. If it is set to output data only to the selected display device, the process proceeds to step S308, and in the same manner as described in step S304, the display devices that are turned on according to the preset priority order are selected. One display device is selected from the above to end this flow. Alternatively, since the management server 101 constantly monitors the power on / off of each display device and there is a high probability that someone is near the display device having the shortest elapsed time since the power is turned on, this display device is given priority in this step S308. You may make it select as a display apparatus.

  A flow for sending display data to the display device selected based on FIG. 8 will be described. If the display device is already displaying a normal program, etc., it is necessary to display a multi-display on a small screen on a part of the screen, or to superimpose it with character data, etc. Is also sent simultaneously with the display data. First, in step S401, data to be displayed on the display device is created based on the data received from the home appliance. As the data to be created here, if the received data is image data from the digital camera 102, the data amount of the output image is adjusted by thinning or interpolation processing according to the size of the display unit of the display device. . As a result, the image data necessary for display can be transmitted. Alternatively, when the display device is monochrome display, the color image is converted into a monochrome image, or the gamma characteristic is changed in accordance with the monitor characteristic to create optimum output data. When the data received from the home appliance is data indicating the elapsed state of the timer device, display data is appropriately created in accordance with the data. FIG. 9 shows a case where these data are displayed on a sub-screen in normal TV broadcasting. In the figure, data sent from the washing machine 115, the microwave oven 114, and the charging adapter 105 are converted into a predetermined display form in step S401 in FIG. 8 and displayed. In addition to the display mode, if the image data is sent from the digital camera 102 or the like, the operation of the digital camera 102 is performed so that the sent image data is not only displayed in the sub-screen but also displayed in the full screen. If a display switching instruction signal generated by operating the button 33 is also added, the display screen can be switched at an arbitrary timing. In addition, as described above, characters may be simply superimposed on the screen, or if the data is from the timer device, the progress state may be displayed in a graphic display such as a bar graph. In recent years, the refrigerator 116, the microwave oven 114, and the like may be equipped with a considerably large LCD panel. In these LCD panels, it is possible to display at least a character display and a timer progress status or an abnormal warning. Thus, a device provided with some display means can be used as a display device. As a matter of course, as described above, since voice display such as a speaker and a buzzer is included in the display form, voice data may be created for such a display device.

In step S402, display data created in accordance with the display device is transmitted to the selected display device for a predetermined period, and in step S403, it is determined whether or not the transmission of this data is completed. If the data transmission has been completed, the process proceeds to step S404. If not, the process proceeds to step S405. Here, a predetermined period for sending data will be described. When the transmission data is image data, the period until the management server 101 detects that the image data is no longer transmitted from the digital camera 102 is a predetermined period. The case where the image is not transmitted is, for example, a case where the user turns off the digital camera 102. In the case of data from a timer device, an alarm device, etc., the transmitted data is character or graphic data. In this case, display data is displayed on the display device for a predetermined time based on data received from each home appliance at the time of timer start, timer end, alarm generation, etc., or at the time intervals of the fixed time explained in step S204 in FIG. To do. The display period is suitably about 30 seconds to 2 minutes, and this display time can also be set by the management server 101 in advance.

  If the display period corresponding to the transmission data is completed in step S403, the process proceeds to step S404, where it is determined whether or not the display device has previously been turned off, as determined in step S303 of FIG. To do. If the power is on, this sequence is terminated. If the power of the display device is off, a power-off signal for the display device is transmitted in step S406 and the sequence is terminated. If the transmission to the display device is not completed in step S403, the process proceeds to step S405, where it is determined whether the power of the other display device is turned on during the data transmission. If the power of the other display device is not turned on, the process returns to step S402, and if it is turned on, the process proceeds to step S407. In step S407, it is determined whether or not the newly turned on display device is a display device that needs to be displayed with priority over the display device that is currently displaying data. If it is not a priority display device, the process returns to step S402. If it is a priority display device, the transmission data is changed to this priority display device in step S408, and the process returns to step S402. Of course, if the display device is set to display on all display devices in advance, the setting is followed. When image data from the digital camera 102 is output to the display device in step S402, an instruction signal is simultaneously sent from the management server 101 to the digital camera 102 to turn off the LCD monitor 37 of the digital camera 102. If the transmission is performed, power consumption in the digital camera 102 is reduced.

Next, the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 differs from the case of FIG. 1 in that each home appliance is connected to a USB (Universal Serial) without going through the management server 101.
Bus), Bluetooth, IrDA (Infrared Data Association), wireless LAN and other inter-device data transmission / reception standards. 10 are the same as those in FIG. 1 except that the management server 101 is not provided, and are denoted by the same reference numerals. Also in this case, the connection form may be either wireless or wired. These home electric appliances detect IDs (identification information) of other home electric appliances, and transmit and receive data in accordance with preset operation procedures. At this time, if it is detected that a plurality of display devices are connected, data is transmitted / received according to a predetermined priority order.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a method in which a home appliance that operates as a timer, such as the microwave oven 114, the washing machine 115, and the charging adapter 105, selects another display device and displays the progress of the timer operation. In FIG. 11, in step S501, it is determined whether a timer operation or the like has been set and the timer operation has started. If the user selects a timer device to be operated and gives an instruction to start the timer of the device, the timer operation of the selected timer device starts from the display devices connected on the network in step S502. Select another display device to display. The method for selecting the display device is the same as the flow described when the management server 11 selects the display device in FIG. In step S503, display data is sent to the selected display device. This data transmission method is also the same as that in the case where the management server 101 transmits display data in FIG. However, in the case of FIG. 8, the management server 101 first created data corresponding to the display device according to the received data in step S401. In this case, however, the timer device itself displays data according to the start of the timer operation. Output data corresponding to is created.

  In step S504, it is determined whether the timer operation is continuing or has ended. If the timer operation is completed, the process proceeds to step S506, and if the timer operation is continuing, the process proceeds to step S505. In step S505, as in step S204 of FIG. 6, it is determined whether or not a certain time has elapsed since the display data was displayed on the previous display device. If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S504. During this time, the display device operates in the same manner as steps S404 to S408 in FIG. If the fixed time has elapsed, the process returns to step S502. If it is determined in step S504 that the timer operation has ended, the process proceeds to step S506, where it is determined whether display data indicating the end of the timer operation has been output to the display device. If it has not been output yet, the process returns to step S502, and if it has been output, this flow ends.

  Although FIG. 11 illustrates the home appliance that operates as a timer, image data from the monitoring camera 109 or the like can be periodically displayed on another display device in the same manner. When the home appliance is the digital camera 102 or the like and the recorded image on the memory card 36 is reproduced on another display device, the operations in steps S504 to S506 in FIG. 11 are not necessary. Further, as in the first embodiment, voice display may be performed instead of displaying images and characters on the display device.

It is a block diagram which shows the household appliances which comprise the home network by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the management server by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the digital camera by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the TV monitor by this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of the management server by this invention controlling a home network. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of the management server by this invention controlling a home network. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of the management server by this invention controlling a home network. It is a flowchart explaining the operation | movement at the time of the management server by this invention controlling a home network. It is a figure which shows an example of the display form of the display apparatus by this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the household appliances which comprise the home network of 2nd Example by this invention. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the home network of 2nd Example by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101 management server 102 digital camera 103 PDA
104 Intercom 105 Charging Adapter 106 Stationary Phone 107 Mobile Phone 108 Shaving 109 Monitoring Camera 110 Gas Alarm 111 TV Monitor 112 Personal Computer 113 Cooker 114 Microwave 115 Washing Machine 116 Refrigerator 117 Rice Cooker 118 Dryer 119 Kettle Pot 21 CPU
22 HD
23 Interface 24 Operation Button 25 Monitor 26 Buffer Memory 31 CPU
32 ROM
33 Operation Button 34 Imaging Unit 35 Buffer Memory 36 Memory Card 37 LCD Monitor 38 Interface 41 CPU
42 ROM
43 Operation buttons 44 TV broadcast receiver 45 Large monitor 46 Speaker 47 Buffer memory 48 Interface

Claims (25)

An interface unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a plurality of display devices including a display unit for displaying information;
A discriminating means for discriminating operating states of the plurality of display devices via the interface unit;
Output means for outputting a predetermined display signal via the interface unit to the display device determined by the determining means that the operating state is a predetermined state among the plurality of display devices. And electronic equipment. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the operation state is a state in which the display device is operable. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the operable state is a state where a power source of a display unit of the display device is turned on. The output means further comprises selection means for selecting a predetermined display device from the plurality of display devices when the determination means determines that there are a plurality of display devices whose operation states are in a predetermined state. The electronic device according to claim 1. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the selection unit selects all display devices in which the operation state is a predetermined state. Furthermore, it comprises setting means for presetting the priority order of the display devices for displaying the information,
The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the selection unit selects the display device based on the priority order. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating an elapsed state during the operation in which the electronic device is performing a predetermined operation. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has started a predetermined operation. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has finished a predetermined operation. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the output unit outputs the predetermined display signal for a predetermined period. A display unit for displaying information;
The output unit includes an instruction unit that outputs the predetermined display signal to a display device in which the operation state is in a predetermined state, and instructs the display unit to be in a non-display state at the same time. The electronic device according to claim 1. An interface unit for transmitting and receiving data to and from a plurality of display devices including a display unit for displaying information;
A discriminating means for discriminating operating states of the plurality of display devices via the interface unit;
An electronic apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to control a predetermined display device among the plurality of display devices to be operable through the interface unit based on a determination result of the determination unit. . The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the operable state is a state in which a power source of a display unit of the display device is turned on. A display unit for displaying information;
Instructing means for instructing the display unit to be in a non-display state at the same time that the control unit controls the predetermined display device among the plurality of display devices to be operable. The electronic device according to claim 12. The predetermined display device is a mobile phone, and if the determining means determines that none of the plurality of display devices is operable, the control means is operable to operate the mobile phone. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the electronic device is controlled to be 13. The control unit performs control so that all the display devices determined by the determination unit as being inoperable among the plurality of display devices are in an operable state. The electronic device as described in. Furthermore, it comprises setting means for presetting the priority order of the display devices for displaying the information,
The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the control unit controls the display device to be operable based on the priority. The electronic device according to claim 12, further comprising an output unit that outputs a predetermined display signal to the display device in the operable state via the interface unit. 19. The electronic apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating a progress state during the operation in which the electronic apparatus is performing a predetermined operation. 19. The electronic apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic apparatus has started a predetermined operation. 19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein the predetermined display signal is a signal indicating that the electronic device has finished a predetermined operation. 19. The electronic apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the output unit outputs the predetermined display signal for a predetermined period. 23. The electronic device according to claim 22, wherein the control unit makes the predetermined display device inoperable after the predetermined period. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the interface unit transmits and receives the data to and from the plurality of display devices via a network. The information includes at least one of image information, graphic information, and character information, wherein any one of claims 1, 6, 11, 12, 14, or 17. The electronic device according to Crab.

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