JP2005140871A - Image processing apparatus and image processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image processing apparatus which appropriately changes over colors and combination of the colors of image data in two ways of choices, displays the image data, and reduces capacity consumption of memory section by image data. <P>SOLUTION: In displaying a screen of a menu or the like by using a color pallet, two kinds of windows 304 and 304b varying in the combinations of the colors of characters and backgrounds at the time of a focus and at the time of a non-focus are displayed. More specifically, the two kinds of the windows varying in the combinations of the colors of the characters and the backgrounds at the time of the focus and at the time of the non-focus are respectively displayed by controlling whether pixel data 112a of the windows is used as it is or is used after the binary values of the pixel data are inverted. The color pallet is determined in the allocations of pallet numbers with respect to respective pieces of the color data in such a manner that the relations of the light and darkness of the colors of the characters and backgrounds in the windows invert at the time of the focusing and at the time of the non-focusing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method for converting pixel-unit data of an image into color data for display using a color palette.

A color palette is used to represent the color of a bitmap image in units of pixels with a smaller data length. The color palette is, for example, a table that expresses 256 colors in 8 bits and 16 colors in 4 bits and assigns a unique number (pallet number) to each color (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By representing the color of the bitmap image in units of pixels with the palette number of this color palette, the data in pixel units can be expressed with a small number of bits (for example, 8 bits, 4 bits), and the file size of the bitmap image is reduced. It is supposed to be able to plan. When displaying a bitmap image, the color data corresponding to the pixel unit data represented by the palette number is obtained from the color palette, and this color data is converted into a color signal in a format suitable for the display device. Output to the device.
JP 2000-287129 A (paragraphs 0024, 0029)

  By the way, in the display of the menu screen, a mechanism is adopted in which the display mode of the currently selected item is changed so that the user can easily recognize the item currently selected among the plurality of selected items on the menu screen. ing. For example, there is a method of generating a visual difference from other items by changing the color of the item or the background color of the item.

  In this case, the two bitmap images of the item for selection and the item for non-selection are displayed for every item placed on the menu screen, even though the pattern of the characters of the item is common. It is necessary to prepare it, and the capacity of the device that stores the image is consumed accordingly. This problem is not limited to the items on the menu screen, but is common to all display objects that change in color during selection and non-selection while having the same pattern.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and can display the color and color combination of image data by appropriately switching between two choices, and consumes the capacity of the storage unit based on the image data. An object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method capable of reducing the amount.

  In order to achieve this object, an image processing apparatus according to the present invention has an image composed of pixel unit data represented by the palette number of a color palette configured by assigning a palette number to a plurality of color data. A stored storage unit; a conversion unit that converts pixel unit data of the image into color data using the color palette; and reading the image data from the storage unit, and reading the binary value of the read pixel unit data And a control unit that controls whether to invert and transfer to the conversion unit or to transfer to the conversion unit without inversion.

  According to the image processing apparatus of the present invention, by reversing the binary value of the palette number, which is data in pixel units of the image, it is possible to acquire color data different from the color data acquired from the color palette without being inverted. it can. In other words, the color of the image and the combination of colors can be displayed by appropriately switching between the two options in the control unit. This makes it possible to display twice as many types of images without changing the number of image data prepared in the storage unit, thereby reducing the capacity consumption of the storage unit due to the image data.

  In the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image can take two states, a state selected by the user on the display screen and a non-selected state, and the control unit can select / deselect the image. Accordingly, it is controlled whether the binary value of the pixel unit data read from the storage unit is inverted and transferred to the conversion unit or transferred to the conversion unit without being inverted. As a result, an image whose color or color combination changes between selection and non-selection, such as a selection item on a menu screen, can be displayed using one image data.

  Furthermore, in the image processing apparatus of the present invention, the image is composed of characters and backgrounds having different colors, and the color palette is a relationship between the color and darkness of the characters and background in the image when the image is selected and when it is not selected. Is assigned so that the palette number is assigned to each color data. Thereby, the visual difference between the selected image and the unselected image is strengthened, and the selection operability is improved.

  An image processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes a step of reading an image composed of pixel unit data represented by the palette number of a color palette configured by assigning a palette number to a plurality of color data; Converting the read pixel unit data into color data using the color palette; inverting the read pixel unit data; and inverting the inverted pixel unit data using the color palette. Converting to color data.

  According to the image processing method of the present invention, by reversing the binary value of the palette number, which is data in pixel units of the image, color data different from the color data acquired from the color palette can be acquired without being inverted. it can. In other words, the color of the image and the combination of colors can be displayed by appropriately switching between the two options in the control unit. This makes it possible to display twice as many types of images without changing the number of image data prepared in the storage unit, thereby reducing the capacity consumption of the storage unit due to the image data.

  The image processing method of the present invention can take two states, that is, the state where the image is selected by the user on the display screen and the state where the image is not selected. Thus, whether or not to invert the binary value of the pixel unit data is switched. As a result, an image whose color or color combination changes between selection and non-selection, such as a selection item on a menu screen, can be displayed using one image data. Further, according to the image processing method of the present invention, the image is composed of characters and backgrounds having different colors, and the color palette is used to change the brightness and darkness of the characters and background in the image when the image is selected and when it is not selected. It is assumed that the palette number is assigned to each color data so that the relationship is reversed. Thereby, the visual difference between the selected image and the unselected image is strengthened, and the selection operability is improved.

  According to the image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately switch and display an image color or a combination of colors in two options. This makes it possible to display twice as many types of images without changing the number of image data prepared in the storage unit, thereby reducing the capacity consumption of the storage unit due to the image data.

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

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of a portable HDD video playback apparatus employing an image processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the same portable HDD video playback apparatus 100 from the front. 3 is a sectional view of the portable HDD video reproducing apparatus, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the portable HDD video reproducing apparatus as viewed from above.

  The portable HDD video playback device 100 has a housing 1 that is sized to be held with one hand. On the front side of the housing 1, an LCD screen portion 2, a key operation portion 3, operation buttons 4, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) display portion 5 for displaying various states are provided.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the key operation unit 3 includes three keys 31, 32, and 33 that are arranged concentrically with each other and can be individually operated. The key at the center is an ENTER key 31 for designating selection / execution. The keys outside the ENTER key 31 are menu selection-related keys 32 that are used when a menu is selected. Further, the outer keys are reproduction-related keys 33 used at the time of reproduction.

  Each of the menu selection related key 32 and the reproduction related key 33 is configured such that a corresponding key command is generated by pressing each of the upper, lower, left and right positions around the ENTER key 31. The key command generated by the menu selection related key 32 is, for example, shifting the focus position up / down / left / right to select an item on various menu screens to be described later. Key commands generated by the reproduction-related key 33 are fast-forwarding, rewinding, and increasing / decreasing the audio volume.

  The operation buttons 4 include a SETUP button 41 for calling up various setting screens, a DISPLAY button 42 for displaying the elapsed playback time (remaining time) of the video stream, and a playback button for instructing playback start and pause. 43, and a stop button 44 for instructing to stop the reproduction.

  The LED display unit 5 includes a power-on display unit 51 that displays a power-on state, a charge display unit 52 that displays that the battery is being charged, and a busy display unit 53 that displays a busy state such as during stream transfer.

  On one side surface of the housing 1, a DCIN jack 6 for connecting a DC power source, a USB connector 7 for connecting a USB (Universal Serial Bus), and an AVOUT jack 8 for AV output are provided in this order from the top. . A strap attaching portion 9 is also provided. A PWR key (not shown) for ON / OFF operation of the main power source is provided on the other side surface portion of the housing 1. As shown in FIG. 4, a headphone jack 10 and a number of slit-shaped exhaust holes 11 are provided side by side on the upper surface of the housing 1. A number of slit-shaped intake holes 12 are arranged in the lower portion of the housing 1.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing only the housing 1 in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. As shown in the figure, the casing 1 is composed of a casing part 1A on the front side, an intermediate casing part 1B, and a casing part 1C on the back side. The front-side casing component 1A and the back-side casing component 1C are casing components that mainly form the front and the back of the outer shape of the portable HDD video playback device 100, respectively. The intermediate housing part 1B has a portion which becomes the upper side surface and the left and right side surfaces of the outer shape of the portable HDD video playback device 100, and the portion which becomes the upper side surface of the housing 1 is as shown in FIG. The exhaust hole 11 is provided in the above. The front housing part 1A and the rear housing part 1C are joined to each other with the intermediate housing part 1B interposed therebetween. A semicircular cross-sectional shape portion 15 is formed in the lower portion of the housing 1, and the front-side housing component 1 </ b> A and the rear-side housing component 1 </ b> C are directly butted to each other. Yes. Further, the intake hole 12 is provided on the housing part 1 </ b> A side on the front side of the semicircular cross-section 15. The lower part of the intermediate casing part 1B is bent into a U-shaped cross section following the semicircular cross-sectional shape part 15 at the lower part of the casing 1. This portion is referred to as a bent portion 14 of the intermediate casing component 1B.

  A transparent acrylic cover 35 that can cover the LCD screen portion 2 and the operation buttons 4 can be attached to and detached from the front side of the housing 1, and the acrylic cover 35 allows the LCD screen portion 2 to be removed. It protects against scratches and dust. The acrylic cover 35 is provided with an opening 36 for exposing a portion of the key operation unit 3, and the key operation unit 3 can be operated with the acrylic cover 35 attached.

  Next, the internal structure of the portable HDD video playback device 100 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the components in the housing 1 are divided into a component group housed in an upper position and a component group housed in a lower position in the height direction of the portable HDD video playback device 100. It is divided in arrangement. The component group housed in the upper position includes the LCD 21 with backlight, the main board 22, the HDD board 23, the HDD 24, the cooling fan 25, and the like, and the component group housed in the lower position includes the composite inverter board. 26, battery pack 27, and the like. The LCD 21, the main board 22, and the HDD 24 housed in the upper position are main heat sources in the portable HDD video playback device 100. When comparing the heat generation amounts, the order of LCD 21> main board 22> HDD 24 is given. It is common to become.

  In this portable HDD video playback device 100, these main heat source components are arranged in order from the one with the highest heat generation from the front side to the back side. By selecting such an arrangement, the heating of the casing component 1C on the back side can be suppressed to the lowest level compared to other arrangement orders. The portable HDD video playback device 100 is designed so that a user can enjoy watching a video by holding it in his / her hand, and the user's hand is in contact with the housing part 1C on the rear side on the widest surface during viewing. Thus, the degree of temperature discomfort due to heat can be reduced by minimizing the temperature rise of the housing component 1C on the back side.

  Further, the heat in the housing 1 is generated from an intake hole 12 provided in a lower portion of the housing 1 which is generated by a cooling fan 25 disposed at the uppermost portion in the housing 1. The air is discharged to the outside by an air flow through the exhaust hole 11. Thereby, since the heat generating source in the housing 1 is efficiently air-cooled, the heat problem for the user is further reduced.

  A battery pack 27 for power supply is disposed inside the U-shaped bent portion 14 of the intermediate casing component 1B so as to be surrounded by the bent portion 14. Further, a composite inverter board 26 is supported on the front side (screen side) of the flat surface on the tip side of the bent portion 14. That is, the battery pack 27 and the composite inverter board 26 are separated by the bent portion 14 of the intermediate casing component 1B. Here, the composite inverter board 26 is a board on which components related to the operation of the operation buttons 4 and the key operation unit 3 and an inverter for driving the backlight of the LCD 21 are mounted. As described above, since the battery pack 27 and the composite inverter board 26 are separated by the bent portion 14 of the intermediate casing component 1B, the influence on the composite inverter board 26 due to the liquid leakage from the battery pack 27 can be avoided. In addition, it is possible to protect the battery pack 27 by avoiding that the pressure when the key operation unit 3 is operated is directly applied to the battery pack 27.

  Since the battery pack 27 does not serve as a large heat source, there is no problem even if the battery pack 27 is disposed near the lower back where the user's hand most frequently touches. In addition, since the battery pack 27 has the highest specific gravity among the components in the housing 1 and the weight is large, the battery pack 27 is arranged at the bottom of the housing 1 so that the user can hold the portable HDD video playback device 100 during viewing. The feeling of stability when held with is improved.

  In the portable HDD video playback device 100 of this embodiment, the air intake hole 12 is provided in the lower part of the housing 1 as shown in FIG. 3, but as shown in FIG. The intake hole 12 may be provided at a position immediately above the battery pack 27.

  FIG. 13 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the portable HDD video playback device 100 for each layer. The backlight of the LCD 21 is connected to the connector 132 fixed to the screen side surface of the composite inverter board 26 through the connection wiring 131, and signals necessary for lighting and control are transmitted from the composite inverter board 26 to the backlight of the LCD 21 through the connection wiring 131. Supplied. The LCD 21 is connected to a connector 134 fixed to the opposite side of the screen of the main board 22 through the connection wiring 133, and necessary signals are supplied from the main board 22 to the LCD 21 through the connection wiring 133. The main board 22 and the composite inverter board 26 are electrically connected through connectors 135 and 136 fixed to the side surfaces of the respective screens and connection wires 137 connected between the connectors 135 and 136, so that necessary signals can be communicated with each other. Do. Further, two connectors 140 and 141 to which one ends of connection wirings 138 and 139 for supplying drive signals to the two cooling fans 25 and 25 are respectively connected are provided on the screen side surface of the main board 22. The main board 22 and the HDD board 23 communicate with each other by a connection wiring 144 that connects between a connector 142 provided on the opposite side of the screen of the main board 22 and a connector 143 provided on the side of the screen of the HDD board 23. It can be done. The main board 22 is provided with a DC (direct current) IN jack 6, a USB connector 7, an AVOUT jack 8 for AV output, and a headphone jack 10. The HDD board 23 is provided with a switch 145 for resetting the system. The connection wiring 146 drawn out from the battery pack 27 is connected to a connector 147 provided on the side surface of the main board 22. The HDD 24 is electrically connected to the HDD substrate 23 through a connector 148 provided on the opposite side of the screen of the HDD substrate 23.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the portable HDD video playback device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The figure mainly shows the configuration of a circuit mounted on the main board 22.

  In the figure, the system controller 61 includes various operation keys 3 and 4, operation of the PWR key 62, connection of AC (alternating current) power (AC detection) 63, output of the reset IC 64, voltage of the battery 65, The temperature sensor 66 and the like are monitored, and processing corresponding to the monitoring result is executed. The reset IC 64 is an IC that generates a reset operation signal when the reset SW 67 is operated.

  When the system controller 61 detects that the PWR key 62 has been pressed, the system controller 61 performs system startup processing and initializes each device to an operable state. Further, control is performed so that the power-on display unit 51 is lit. When it is detected that the PWR key 62 has been pressed while the system is operating, a system termination process is performed.

  When the system controller 61 receives a reset operation signal from the reset IC 64, the system controller 61 performs a startup process following a reset process, that is, an end process.

  When the system controller 61 detects connection of AC power (AC detection) 63, the system controller 61 controls the power circuit 68 and controls charging of the battery 65. The power supply circuit 68 is automatically turned off when, for example, a high temperature equal to or higher than a set temperature is detected based on the output of a temperature sensor 69 disposed in the vicinity thereof.

  The system controller 61 calculates the remaining amount of the battery 65 based on the monitoring result of the battery voltage and controls the battery remaining amount display on the screen.

  The system controller 61 controls the rotation speed of the cooling fan 25 based on the output of the temperature sensor 66. That is, control is performed to increase the cooling capacity in proportion to the temperature.

  Further, the system controller 61 monitors key operations of the key operation unit 3 and the operation buttons 4 and performs event processing according to the type of the operated key.

  The system controller 61 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 71, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 72, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 73, an A / D conversion circuit 74, a serial PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control control circuit 75, and the like. These are connected through a bus 76. The CPU 71 executes various arithmetic processes and controls using the RAM 72 as a work area by firmware stored in the ROM 73. The A / D conversion circuit 74 operates the above-described various keys 3 and 4, operation of the PWR key 62, connection of AC power (AC detection) 63, output of the reset IC 64, voltage of the battery 65, temperature sensor 66 This is a part that converts an analog value, which is a monitoring result, into a digital value. The serial PWM control circuit 75 supplies a mute control for the headphone 81 and a PWM signal for controlling the luminance of the backlight 82 of the LCD 21 to the inverter 83.

  The USB bridge 86, HDD 24, and DMA (Direct Memory Access) transfer circuit 87 to which the USB terminal 85 is connected are connected to each other through an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) bus 88 and transferred from a PC connected to the USB terminal 85. Data such as a video stream is recorded in the HDD 24 from the USB bridge 86 through the IDE bus 88.

The DMA transfer circuit 87 is a circuit that transfers data read from the HDD 24 to the MPEG2 decoder 89. The DMA transfer circuit 87 has four selectors 90, 91, 92, 93 and a DMA controller 94. The first selector 90 is a selector for selecting data on the IDE bus 88, and connects the DMA transfer circuit 87 to the IDE bus 88 based on an ATA (AT Attachment) command for the system controller 61 to access the HDD 24. Put it in a state. The first selector 90 is connected to the second selector 91 connected to the buffer memory 95 by the first DMA transmission path 96. Therefore, the data extracted from the IDE bus 88 by the first selector 90 is transferred to the buffer memory 95 through the first DMA transmission path 96 and the second selector 91.

  In the data transfer from the HDD 24 to the buffer memory 95, the system controller 61 controls the issuance timing of the ATA command output to the first selector 90 so that the data reading from the HDD 24 is performed intermittently. . Specifically, for example, data is read from the HDD 24 in units of a video stream for a predetermined playback time and transferred to the buffer memory 95. When the data in the buffer memory 95 becomes empty, the next playback time is read from the HDD 24. An ATA command is issued from the system controller 61 to the first selector 90 so as to read the video stream. As a result, access to the HDD 24 is intermittently performed, and the amount of heat generated by the HDD 24 and power consumption can be reduced.

  Data such as video stored in the buffer memory 95 is read out by the second selector 91 when a video stream for a predetermined reproduction time is stored in the buffer memory 95, and the second selector 91, the MPEG2 decoder 89, Are transferred to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the second DMA transmission path 97 connecting the two. The MPEG2 decoder 89 is a circuit that decodes a video stream encoded by MPEG2 by hardware. The SDRAM 98 is a randomly accessible memory used as a work area of the MPEG2 decoder 89.

  Of the output of the MPEG2 decoder 89, the video data is sent to the LCD controller 99, and the LCD controller 99 controls the driving of the LCD 21 to reproduce the video. On the other hand, the audio data output from the MPEG2 decoder 89 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 101 and then sent to the headphones connected to the headphone terminal 10. Also, an external television or the like can be connected to the AVOUT terminal 102. When an external television is connected to the AVOUT terminal 102, the analog signal of the D / A converter 101 is output from the linear amplifier 103. It is amplified to the required level.

  The third selector 92 of the DMA transfer circuit 87 performs communication between the system controller 61 and the bus 105 to which the flash ROM 104 is connected. The third selector 92 extracts the ATA command generated from the system controller 61 from the bus 105 and notifies the first selector 90 through the control line 106.

  The HDD 24 stores, as read-only data, data such as bitmaps and character codes, which are components such as a title list, menu, and setting screen. When the system controller 61 reads out this bitmap and character code from the HDD 24, it notifies the DMA controller 94 through the third selector 92. Upon receiving this notification, the DMA controller 94 enables the DMA transmission path 96 between the third selector 92 and the second selector 91 and controls the fourth selector 93 to control the second selector 91 and The third DMA transmission path 107 connecting the MPEG2 decoder 89 is made valid.

  The character code read from the HDD 24 and held in the buffer memory 95 together with the bit map is sent to the system controller 61 through the second selector 91, the third selector 92, and the bus 105. The system controller 61 reads bitmap data corresponding to this character code from the flash ROM 104 and returns it to the third selector 92. The flash ROM 104 stores color palette data in addition to bitmap data corresponding to character codes. The DMA controller 94 sends bitmap data corresponding to the character code returned from the system controller 61 from the third selector 92 to the fourth selector 93, and the bitmap read out from the buffer memory 95 through the second selector 91. Then, control is performed so that the data is transferred to the SDRAM 98 connected to the MPEG2 decoder 89. The MPEG2 decoder 89 converts individual pixel data constituting the bitmap data held in the SDRAM 98 into color data for display using a color palette registered in the MPEG2 decoder 89, and converts the color data to the LCD controller 99. Supply.

  The third DMA transmission path 107 has a wider bus width than the second DMA transmission path 97 for bitmap transmission. For example, the second DMA transmission line 97 is composed of 8 data lines and 4 control lines, whereas the third DMA transmission line 107 is 16 data lines, 24 address lines, It consists of three control lines. This prevents a great difference in the user's perceived speed between the playback of the video stream and the playback of the bitmap.

  Next, a transfer application applied to a PC (Personal Computer) in order to use the portable HDD video playback device 100 will be described.

  FIG. 7 shows a recording content display window 201 displayed on the PC by this transfer application. In the recorded content display window 201, a list of names, creation dates and times of recording, etc. of the video streams recorded on the PC or reserved for recording are displayed in the order of recording / recording reservation, for example. Is displayed below.

  When it is desired to transfer a desired video stream to the portable HDD video playback device 100, the transfer window 202 is called, and the desired video stream in the recorded content display window 201 is dragged and dropped with a mouse. The transfer video stream list display box 203 in the transfer window 202 is dropped. As a result, information on the video stream is displayed in the transfer video stream list display box 203. Thereafter, by clicking the transfer button 204 in the transfer window 202 with a mouse, if the portable HDD video playback device 100 is connected to the PC, the video stream from the PC to the portable HDD video playback device 100 is displayed. The transfer starts immediately. If the portable HDD video playback device 100 is not connected to the PC when the transfer button 204 is clicked with the mouse, the transfer of the video stream is started as soon as the portable HDD video playback device 100 is connected. It has become.

Here, various formats such as AVI (Audio Video Interleaved) and WMV (Windows (registered trademark) Media Video) are known for the video stream stored in the PC. Portable H
Since the DD video playback device 100 is designed to decode and play back a video stream in the MPEG2 format, the transfer application must format the video stream before transferring the video stream from the PC to the portable HDD video playback device 100. Are automatically converted to MPEG2, and the video stream converted to MPEG2 is automatically transferred from the PC to the portable HDD video playback apparatus 100.

  The above is the operation when the user manually transfers a desired video stream. This video content has a capacity of several G (giga), and a considerable time is expected for data transfer. Therefore, this transfer application is provided with a transfer reservation function. When this transfer reservation function is used, the automatic transfer button 205 in the transfer window 202 is clicked with the mouse. Then, a window for designating the time for starting the automatic transfer is displayed, and the transfer start time desired by the user can be entered and determined here. The transfer application stores the transfer start time designated by the user, and when the designated time is compared with the clock time, the transfer application is displayed in the transfer video stream list display box 203 of the transfer window 202. One video stream at a time is transferred from the PC to the portable HDD video playback apparatus 100 through format conversion.

  Note that the video streams displayed in the transfer video stream list display box 203 in the transfer window 202 are transferred in order from the top. The display order of the video stream can be freely changed by clicking the order change buttons 206 and 207 with a mouse. That is, after selecting the video stream whose order is to be changed with the mouse, the order change button 206 is clicked once to move the order of the selected video stream one place, and conversely, the order change button 207 is clicked once. As a result, the order of the selected video stream is moved down by one. Further, by selecting the selected video stream to be deleted with the mouse and clicking the delete button 208, the selected video stream can be deleted from the transfer video stream list display box 203 and removed from the transfer target.

  Next, operations and operation screens of the portable HDD video playback device 100 will be described. FIG. 14 shows a processing procedure from power-on to video playback start.

  When the user presses the PWR key of the portable HDD video playback device 100, this is detected by the system controller 61, and the system controller 61 initializes each device in accordance with the firmware stored in the ROM 73 (step 1401). ). Thereafter, the built-in timer is started (step 1402). Subsequently, transfer of the video stream is started from the PC connected via USB to the portable HDD video playback device 100. When the transfer is completed, the portable HDD video playback device 100 receives a transfer completion notification from the PC as an external interrupt. (Step 1403). When the portable HDD video playback device 100 receives an external interrupt, it starts menu processing for creating and displaying a menu to be displayed on the screen (step 1404).

  First, an action menu 301 as shown in FIG. 8 is created and displayed. The action menu 301 includes information 302 relating to the video stream such as the title name, creation date and time, and recording time of the last played video stream, and items (hereinafter referred to as windows) 303 to indicate selectable action types. 307 is displayed. Action types include “return to title list display”, “play from continuation”, “play from the beginning”, “delete”, “fold claw”, and the like. The focus 308 is located in one of these windows 303 to 307, and the user can freely shift the position of the focus 308 up and down by operating the menu selection related key 32 of the key operation unit 3. it can. The item to which the focus 308 is applied (the window 304 in FIG. 8) allows the user to recognize the item in the focus state at a glance by changing the colors of the characters and the background from the non-focus state. . The initial position of the focus 308 is always in the item “play from continuation”, and the viewing of the video stream from the time when the previous playback was interrupted can be started immediately without the focus 308 shifting operation. That is, after the action menu 301 is displayed immediately after the system is started, the user can watch the video stream from the time when playback was interrupted by pressing the ENTER key 31 of the key operation unit 3 as it is.

  When the focus is shifted to the item “return to title list display” and the ENTER key 31 of the key operation unit 3 is pressed, a title list 401 as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed instead of the action menu 301. . In the title list 401, title items 402 to 408 of all video streams recorded in the HDD 24 of the portable HDD video playback device 100 are displayed. The focus 409 is positioned in one of the title items 402 to 408, and the user freely moves the position of the focus 409 up and down by operating the menu selection related key 32 of the key operation unit 3. be able to. The initial position of the focus 409 is always in the item of the last reproduced title, so that the user can recognize the last viewed title. The user can view another title by moving the focus to the title item to be viewed from the title list 401 by operating the menu selection related key 32 and pressing the ENTER key 31.

  Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 14, when the user selects a title to be viewed as described above (step 1405), reading of the title video stream from the HDD 24 is started (step 1406). Then, playback processing of the video stream read from the HDD 24 is performed (step 1407). That is, the video stream read from the HDD 24 is DMA-transferred to the buffer memory 95 and buffered, and then DMA-transferred to the MPEG2 decoder 89 for decoding. The LCD controller 99 drives the LCD 21 based on the video data output from the MPEG2 decoder 89, whereby the video is displayed on the screen of the LCD 21. On the other hand, the audio data decoded by the MPEG2 decoder 89 is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter 101 and then sent to the headphones connected to the headphone terminal 10 (step 1407).

  When the “play from the beginning” window 305 is selected by the user in the action menu 301, the video stream of the title played last is played from the beginning.

  When the “delete” window 306 is selected by the user from the action menu 301, the HDD 24 is deleted from the video stream of the title reproduced last. That is, a video stream of a title that has been viewed can be deleted from the HDD 24 with a few operations.

  When the “fold” tab 307 in the action menu 301 is selected by the user, the corresponding video stream recorded in the HDD 24 is protected from deletion prohibition.

  Next, the environment setting screen will be described. FIG. 10 shows a screen 501 for setting the environment. This environment setting screen 501 can be called by pressing the SETUP button 41, for example. On the environment setting screen 501, various settings relating to display, various settings relating to audio, and the like can be performed. This environment setting screen 501 displays a display setting icon 502, an audio setting uncon 503, other icons 504, etc., and one of the icons 502 to 504 is selected as a menu selection-related key. The focus can be moved by the operation 32 and can be designated by the ENTER key 31. Display settings include backlight brightness adjustment 505, hue 506, color density 507, picture 508, contrast 509, alarm 510, and the like. Selection of each setting item can also be performed by moving the focus by operating the menu selection related key 32 and the ENTER key 31.

  Here, the alarm 510 sets a remaining time arbitrarily set by the user in a timer, and as shown in FIG. 11, the remaining time 511 is always displayed on a part of the screen during playback of a video stream. When the remaining time becomes zero, for example, the alarm audio is synthesized with the audio during video playback and output. Since characters at the time of broadcasting may be inserted in television broadcasting or the like, it is easy for the user to make a mistake in the current time when watching on the portable HDD video playback device 100, and to pass over on a train or the like. Conceivable. By using the alarm function described above, the user can learn about the passage of the set time from the alarm while immersing himself / herself in viewing the video content, and can prevent overtime on a train or the like.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of a screen 602 that displays the playback elapsed (remaining) time 601 of the video stream. The playback elapsed (remaining) time 601 of the video stream is displayed as a numerical value 602 and an image 603 on the video stream being played, for example, by pressing the DISPLAY button 42.

  During playback of the video stream, the playback-related key 33 can be operated to fast-forward playback, rewind, increase / decrease the audio volume, and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the playback-related key 33 performs fast-forward playback by pressing the right position, and performs rewind playback by pressing the left position. When the position on the right side of the playback-related key 33 is pressed once, fast-forward playback for a predetermined time (for example, 15 seconds) is executed, and the key is pressed while being pressed for a predetermined time. Continuous fast-forward playback is performed. Further, when the continuous fast-forward playback is started and further pressed for a certain time, the fast-forward speed is increased. Specifically, the speed of the first continuous fast-forward playback is set to 15 times speed, and then switched to 60 times speed.

  When the position on the left side of the playback-related key 33 is pressed once, rewind playback is performed for a predetermined time (for example, 15 seconds), and the key is pressed by continuing to press it for a predetermined time. During this time, continuous rewind playback is performed. Furthermore, the rewind speed is increased when the button is continuously pressed for a certain time after the continuous rewind playback is started. Specifically, the speed of the first continuous rewind playback is set to 15 times speed, and then switched to 60 times speed.

  Next, in the portable HDD video playback device 100 of this embodiment, when a screen such as a menu is displayed using a color palette, the same pixel data is used to display characters and backgrounds when focused and when not focused. A mechanism for displaying two types of windows with different color combinations will be described.

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of data necessary for displaying one window. As shown in the figure, the data necessary to display one window includes a window header 110, a color palette 111, and pixel data 112. The window header 110 includes, for example, parameters such as the size and position of the window and information specifying the color palette 111 and pixel data 112 to be used. The window header 110 is prepared for even and odd lines. The color palette 111 is a table in which unique palette numbers are assigned to individual color information. In the color palette 111, for example, those expressing 256 colors in 8 bits and those expressing 16 colors in 4 bits are prepared. The pixel data 112 is image data in which data in units of pixels is expressed using palette numbers. This pixel data 112 is prepared for even and odd lines.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing details of a 4-bit (16 colors) color palette 111 and pixel data 112. The color information 118 assigned to the palette number 113 of the color palette 111 is composed of YUV data 114, 115, 116 and LBF 117 (transparency: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%). YUV is, for example, a format that expresses a color with three pieces of information: a 6-bit luminance signal (Y), a 4-bit luminance signal and a red component difference (U), and a 4-bit luminance signal and a blue component difference (V). . The pixel data 112 is composed of a set of palette numbers of the color palette 111.

  The color palette 111 is more specific so that the relationship between the colors corresponding to the respective palette numbers whose binary values are in an inverted relationship with each other is optimal as the relationship between the focused window and the unfocused window. In this case, the palette number is assigned to each color so that the light / dark relationship between the characters and the background in one window is reversed between the focused state and the unfocused state.

  FIG. 17 shows an example of each display of the windows 304a and 304b at the time of non-focus and at the time of use of the 4-bit (16 colors) color palette, and the result of inverting the binary value of the pixel data 112a at the time of non-focus. It is a figure which shows each example of 111b. Note that the window 304 shown in FIG. 17 is an example of the window 304 in the action menu 301 of FIG. Further, in this example, in the window 304 that has changed from the non-focus state to the focus state, the characters are shown as being changed from black to white and the background is changed from black to white, but the relationship between these colors is 16 colors. Any combination can be selected from the above, and the combination is not necessarily limited to white and black.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the 4-bit binary value “0010b (0002h)” corresponding to the background color of the pixel data 112a at the time of non-focusing is inverted to “1101b (0013h)”, and the 4-bit binary value “0001b” corresponding to the character color is “0001”. (0001h) "is converted into" 1110b (0014h) "by inversion. FIG. 18 is a diagram representing the conversion by binary value inversion on the 4-bit (16 colors) color palette 111A.

  FIG. 19 shows an example of each display of the windows 304c and 304d at the time of non-focus and at the time of focus when using the 8-bit (256 colors) color palette, and the binary value of the pixel data 112c at the time of non-focus of the window 304c is inverted. It is a figure which shows each example of the result 112d.

  As shown in the figure, the 8-bit binary value “00000010b (0002h)” corresponding to the background color of the pixel data 112 at the time of non-focusing is inverted to “11111101b (0253h)”, and the 8-bit binary value “00000001” corresponding to the character color is inverted. (0001h) "is converted into" 11111110b (0254h) "by inversion. FIG. 20 is a diagram representing the conversion by binary value inversion on the 8-bit (256 colors) color palette 111B.

  Next, an operation in the case where a screen such as a menu having a window as a display element is displayed using the above mechanism will be described.

  FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a flow from initialization of the MPEG2 decoder 89 to screen display.

  First, the initialization process of the color palette 111 is performed in the MPEG2 decoder 89 (step 2101), and then the process of transferring the pixel data 112 of a plurality of windows constituting the screen to the MPEG2 decoder 89 (step 2102). The process of registering the header 110 in the MPEG2 decoder 89 is performed in order (step 2103). Thus, the initialization process of the MPEG2 decoder 89 is completed, and thereafter, a screen display command is given from the system controller 61 to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87 (step 2104). Upon receiving the screen display command, the MPEG2 decoder 89 converts the transferred pixel data 112 of the window into color data using the color palette 111 registered in the MPEG2 decoder 89, and this color data is sent to the LCD controller 99. Supply. Thereby, the display of the screen is executed. When the next screen is displayed, the processing returns to step 2102 and the subsequent processing is repeated from the processing for transferring the data of the next screen to the MPEG2 decoder 89.

  Next, the details of the color palette 111 initialization process in step 2101, the screen data transfer process in step 2102, and the window header 110 registration process in step 2103 will be described.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart of the initialization process for the color palette 111. The system controller 61 reads the data of the color palette 111 stored in the flash ROM 104 into the buffer memory 95 via the DMA transfer circuit 87 (step 2201). Subsequently, the system controller 61 transfers the color palette 111 held in the buffer memory 95 to the SDRAM 98 connected to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87 (step 2202). Then, the system controller 61 instructs the MPEG2 decoder 89 to register the color palette 111 through the DMA transfer circuit 87, whereby the color palette 111 is registered in the MPEG2 decoder 89 (step 2203). A plurality of color palettes 111 such as a 4-bit (16 colors) color palette and an 8-bit (256 colors) color palette can be registered. When displaying a window, the color palette 111 described in the window header 110 is displayed. The color palette 111 to be used is designated by the designation information.

  FIG. 23 is a flowchart of a screen data transfer process. The system controller 61 reads the pixel data 112 of a plurality of windows constituting one screen one by one from the HDD 24 or the flash ROM 104 in the order determined between the windows, and transfers them to the MPEG2 decoder 89 (step 2301). ). This data transfer is repeated until the transfer of the pixel data 112 of a plurality of windows constituting the screen is completed.

  FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the window data transfer processing procedure in step 2301 of FIG. The system controller 61 determines whether the binary value of the pixel data 112 is inverted and transferred for each window or transferred without being inverted (step 2401). For example, a window that is focused (selected) by the user is determined as a window to be transferred by inverting the binary value of the pixel data 112 of the window, and other windows that are not focused. The pixel data 112 is determined as a window to be transferred as it is without inverting the binary value. Based on the determination result, the system controller 61 performs processing to invert and transfer the binary value of the pixel data 112 (step 2402), or processing to transfer without inversion (step 2403).

  FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the process of inverting and transferring the binary value of the individual pixel data 112 in the window in step 2402 of FIG. In this case, the system controller 61 first reads the pixel data 112 of the window to be displayed from the HDD 24 or the flash ROM 104 into the RAM 72 (step 2501), and inverts the binary value of the window pixel data 112 read into the RAM 72. (Step 2502), the pixel data 112 of the window composed of the inverted binary value is transferred to the buffer memory 95 through the DMA transfer circuit 87 (Step 2503). When the pixel data 112 of all windows is held in the buffer memory 95, the system controller 61 connects the window pixel data 112 held in the buffer memory 95 to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87. The data is transferred to the SDRAM 98 (step 2504).

  FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for transferring the pixel data 112 of the window in step 2403 of FIG. 24 as it is. In this case, the system controller 61 first reads the pixel data 112 of the window to be displayed from the HDD 24 or the flash ROM 104 into the RAM 72 (step 2601), and the DMA data transfer circuit 87 reads the window pixel data 112 read into the RAM 72. Through the buffer memory 95 (step 2602). When the pixel data 112 of all windows is held in the buffer memory 95, the system controller 61 connects the window pixel data 112 held in the buffer memory 95 to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87. The data is transferred to the SDRAM 98 (step 2603).

  FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a procedure of processing for registering the window header 110 in step 2103 of FIG. The system controller 61 generates a window header 110 corresponding to the transferred window pixel data 112 in accordance with a window header generation program. The window header 110 includes information specifying the color palette 111 used for displaying the window and information specifying the pixel data 112 of the window to be displayed, as well as information such as the size and layout of each window. (Step 2701). Subsequently, the system controller 61 transfers the generated window header 110 to the SDRAM 98 connected to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87 (step 2702). When the MPEG2 decoder 89 knows that the window header 110 has been transferred, it registers the contents of the window header 110 written in the SDRAM 98 in its setting unit (step 2703).

  After the contents of the window header 110 are registered in the MPEG2 decoder 89 in this way, a screen display command is given from the system controller 61 to the MPEG2 decoder 89 through the DMA transfer circuit 87 as shown in step 2104 of FIG. When this is done, the MPEG2 decoder 89 reads the pixel data 112 of the window specified by the window header 110 from the SDRAM 98, and the palette number which is data in units of pixels of this window is specified by the window header 110. Display color data is read from the color palette 111.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the color combination of the character and the background differs depending on whether the palette number, which is data in pixel units of the window, is used as it is, or the binary value of the palette number is inverted. Two types of windows can be displayed. That is, it is possible to selectively switch and display two types of windows having different combinations of characters and background colors in one window data. As a result, it is not necessary to prepare two pieces of data with different color combinations of characters and background for one window, and the amount of storage capacity consumed by the window data can be reduced.

  The color palette 111 is assigned with a palette number for each color data so that the relationship between the color of the character and the background in the window is reversed between when the window is focused and when it is not focused. Yes. Thereby, the visual difference between the selected window and the unselected window is strengthened, and the selection operability is improved.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, characters and backgrounds are displayed depending on whether the palette number, which is data in pixel units, is used as it is or when the binary value is inverted in the display when the window data is focused and not focused. Although the case where two types of windows having different color combinations are displayed has been described, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to display various images and objects other than windows. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to characters and backgrounds but also to simply changing the color of a rectangular area or changing the color of a graphic image.

  Further, although the present invention has been described with respect to the case where it is applied to the portable HDD video playback device 100, the present invention can be applied to various types of devices as long as the device has a function of displaying an image such as a menu. For example, application to a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, a digital camera, a video camera recorder, a television set, a car navigation system, a computer, etc. can be considered.

1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a portable HDD video playback device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the portable HDD video playback device of FIG. 1 from the front. It is sectional drawing of the portable HDD video reproducing apparatus of FIG. It is the top view which looked at the portable HDD video playback apparatus of FIG. 1 from the top. It is the figure which showed the housing | casing 1 in sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structure of the circuit mounted in the main board | substrate. It is a figure which shows the display window and transfer window of the recording content displayed on PC by the transfer application. It is a figure which shows an action menu. It is a figure which shows a title list. It is a figure which shows an environment setting screen. It is a figure which shows the screen which displays the reproduction | regeneration progress (remaining) time of a video stream. It is sectional drawing which shows other embodiment of the portable HDD video playback apparatus of this invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the internal structure of the portable HDD video playback device of FIG. 1 for each layer. It is a figure which shows the process sequence from the power-on of the portable HDD video reproduction apparatus of FIG. 1 to a video reproduction start. It is a figure which shows the structure of the data required in order to display a window. It is a figure which shows the detail of a 4-bit (16 colors) color palette and pixel data. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing examples of window display during non-focusing and focusing when using a 4-bit (16 color) color palette, and examples of results obtained by inverting the binary value of pixel data when the window is not focused. is there. FIG. 18 is a diagram expressing conversion by binary value inversion of FIG. 17 on a color palette. The figure which shows each example of each example of the result of having inverted the binary value of the pixel data at the time of the non-focusing at the time of using a 8-bit (256 colors) color palette at the time of non-focusing and a window It is. FIG. 20 is a diagram expressing the conversion by binary value inversion of FIG. 19 on a color palette. It is a flowchart which shows the flow from initialization of an MPEG2 decoder to the display of a screen. It is a flowchart of the initialization process of a color palette. It is a flowchart of a transfer process of screen data. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the window data transfer of step 2301 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which inverts and transfers the binary value of the pixel data of the window of step 2402 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which transfers the data of the window of step 2403 of FIG. 24 as it is. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the process which registers the window header of step 2103 of FIG. 21 into an MPEG2 decoder.

Explanation of symbols

24 HDD
61 system controller 87 DMA transfer circuit 89 MPEG2 decoder 95 buffer memory 100 portable HDD video playback device 110 window header 111 color palette 112 pixel data 113 palette number 118 color information 304 window

Claims (6)

A storage unit storing an image composed of data in pixel units expressed by the palette number of a color palette configured by assigning a palette number to a plurality of color data;
A conversion unit that converts pixel-unit data of an image into color data using the color palette;
A control unit that reads the image data from the storage unit and controls whether the binary value of the read pixel unit data is inverted and transferred to the conversion unit or transferred to the conversion unit without being inverted; and An image processing apparatus comprising: The image can take two states, a state selected by the user on the display screen and a non-selected state,
The control unit inverts the binary value of the pixel unit data read from the storage unit according to the selection / non-selection state of the image and transfers the inverted value to the conversion unit or without the conversion, the conversion unit The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: The image is composed of characters and backgrounds of different colors,
The color palette is assigned with a palette number for each color data so that the relationship between the color of the character and the background in the image is reversed between when the image is selected and when the image is not selected. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2. Reading an image composed of pixel unit data expressed by the palette number of a color palette configured by assigning a palette number to a plurality of color data;
Converting the read pixel unit data into color data using the color palette;
Inverting the read pixel unit data;
And converting the inverted pixel unit data into color data using the color palette. The image can take two states, a state selected by the user on the display screen and a non-selected state,
The image processing method according to claim 4, wherein whether or not to invert a binary value of the data in pixel units is switched according to a selection / non-selection state of the image. The image is composed of characters and backgrounds of different colors,
The color palette is assigned with a palette number for each color data so that the relationship between the color of the character and the background in the image is reversed between when the image is selected and when the image is not selected. The image processing method according to claim 5.

Images