JP2005202752A - Display device and information providing medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the weight of a display device in dependence on the size of digital content, in a display device and information providing medium with a nonvolatile memory. <P>SOLUTION: When a memory card 10 of a battery size and weight different depending on the number of pages of digital content is inserted into a memory card slot 20, a battery 12 in the memory card 10 is connected to a power control circuit 90 of the display device 1 to supply necessary power to each part and thus start the display of the digital content. The weight of the memory card 10 depends on the volume of the digital content information, and for a small volume, the memory card can be light to reduce the weight of the display device 1 accordingly. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device and an information providing medium including a nonvolatile memory.

Conventionally, as a technique related to this type of display device, for example, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses, for example, an electronic book displaying book information as digital content display, and a power source (battery) for operating the main body is built in the main body. Digital contents are recorded on a memory card (electronic book card) and inserted into the main body for use.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-075925

However, the technique described in Patent Document 1 has the following problems.
That is, in the conventional configuration, since the non-memory display body is used as the display means, it is not possible to calculate the battery capacity necessary for reading out one digital content (hereinafter also simply referred to as content). Therefore, a battery with a sufficient capacity must be built in the main body regardless of the number of pages of content to be read, and the same battery is used for digital contents of 10 pages or 10000 pages. Was. For this reason, there has been a problem that the weight of the apparatus becomes heavy regardless of the number of content pages to be read.

Also, when using multiple digital contents (memory cards, etc.) while replacing them, you can concentrate on reading the contents because the battery runs out while you are reading certain digital contents, and there is an interruption to charge or replace batteries. There was a problem of disappearing.
In addition, if a secondary battery is used, it must be fully charged (until full charge) regardless of the size of the digital content, and the minimum time required to read through the digital content. There was a problem that charging could not be completed.

As described above, in the conventional display device, it is not possible to secure electric power in accordance with the data amount of the content to be displayed.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display device and an information providing medium capable of securing electric power corresponding to the data amount of content to be displayed. There is.

  In order to achieve the above object, the information providing medium (for example, the memory card 10 in FIG. 4) of the present invention has a display device (for example, the display panel 75 in FIG. 4) that holds a display state in a nonvolatile manner. For example, it is an information providing medium that can be browsed on the display device when the information stored in the nonvolatile memory (for example, the nonvolatile memory 11 in FIG. 4) is attached to the display device 1) of FIG. In addition, a battery having a predetermined capacity (for example, the battery 12 in FIG. 4) is provided, and when the information stored in the nonvolatile memory is browsed, the power stored in the battery can be supplied to the display device. It is characterized by being.

According to the present invention, the non-volatile memory storing the content and the battery storing the electric power for browsing the content constitute the information providing medium in an integrated form. Therefore, it is possible to secure power corresponding to the data amount of the content.
In the information providing medium of the present invention, the battery has a power capacity corresponding to a data amount of content data stored in the nonvolatile memory.

According to the present invention, since the information providing medium includes a battery having a capacity corresponding to the content data amount, the weight of the display device can be reduced in correspondence with the content data amount.
The display device of the present invention is a display device having a display (for example, the display panel 75 in FIG. 4) that holds the display state in a nonvolatile manner, and is a nonvolatile memory (for example, the nonvolatile memory 11 in FIG. 4). Medium connecting means (for example, memory card slot 20 in FIG. 4) capable of connecting an information storage medium (for example, memory card 10 in FIG. 4) having a predetermined capacity and a battery (for example, battery 12 in FIG. 4); And display control means (for example, the display driving unit 70 and the graphic accelerator 60 in FIG. 4) for displaying the content data stored in the nonvolatile memory on the display using the power stored in the battery. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the content and power are supplied to the display device by the information medium including the nonvolatile memory for storing the content and the battery having the power for browsing the content. It is possible to secure power corresponding to the amount of data. Further, by providing a battery having a capacity corresponding to the content data amount, the weight of the apparatus can be optimized. That is, it is possible to prevent the apparatus from becoming heavy despite the fact that the content is a small amount of data. In addition, the user can feel the amount of content as a touch.

  The display device of the present invention is a display device having a display (for example, the display panel 75 in FIG. 5) that holds the display state in a nonvolatile manner, and includes a communication interface (for example, a diagram) including a data and power supply line. 5) and the power required to view the content data using the power supply line in the interface when downloading the content data via the data supply line in the communication interface. It includes a power control means for storing (for example, the charging circuit 120, the secondary battery 110, and the charge amount monitoring unit 100 in FIG. 5).

According to the present invention, since the power required for browsing the content data is stored in the display device, it is possible to secure the power corresponding to the data amount of the content to be displayed.
In the display device of the present invention, the power control unit stores power corresponding to the data amount of the content data.

According to the present invention, since the amount of charge of the secondary battery is changed according to the amount of data of the downloaded content, the user can charge the battery without spending more time than necessary. You can view downloaded content without worrying about it.
In the display device of the present invention, the power control unit stores power corresponding to the data amount of content data stored in the display device and content data downloaded through the power supply line. It is characterized by.

According to the present invention, the charge amount of the secondary battery is changed according to the total data amount of the content data already stored in the display device and the newly downloaded content data. Therefore, the optimal amount of charge can be secured in the secondary battery without spending the time.
Further, the display device of the present invention displays the number of times of displaying information (for example, the indicator 15 in FIG. 8) indicating the relationship between the power stored in the device itself and the number of times the content data can be browsed by the power. It further includes display means (for example, a charge amount monitoring unit 100, a CPU 30, a display driving unit 70, and a display panel 75 in FIG. 5).

  According to the present invention, the number of times the content data stored in the display device can be browsed is displayed by the power stored in the display device, so that the user does not have to worry about running out of the battery. You can watch content with confidence.

Embodiments of a display device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The external appearance of the display device is shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity of explanation, but is not limited to this. In the following description (including other embodiments), a digital book will be described as an example of content.

1, the display device 1 according to the present invention includes a display panel 75, a memory card slot 20, and an operation key group 80 for performing operations such as turning pages.
The display panel 75 uses, for example, a memory-type display body such as a cholesteric liquid crystal display body or a capsule electrophoretic display body, that is, a display body that maintains a display without continuing to supply power. ) Is displayed, the power can be made as close to zero as possible.

The memory card slot 20 is a slot (insertion slot) for inserting the memory card 10 containing digital contents.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the memory card 10 used in the present embodiment. The memory interface (the non-volatile memory 11 that stores the digital content, the battery 12, and the memory interface that sends data (content) to the display device 1. I / F) 13 and an electrode 14.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a type of memory card in which a memory and a battery are integrated. The capacity of the battery is an optimum configuration according to the number of pages of content, for example, the battery capacity required to read all the content stored in the nonvolatile memory 11. That is, the memory card 10a is a memory card for 100 pages of content and is provided with a battery of about 10 mAh, and the memory card 10b is a memory card for 1000 pages of content and is provided with a battery of about 100 mAh. The memory card 10c is a memory card for 10000 pages of content, and is provided with a battery of about 1000 mAh. The size and weight of the battery differ depending on the number of content pages.

The battery may be a primary battery or a secondary battery, and preferably contains about 1 to 3 times the power required to display all pages in consideration of operations such as reading back pages. Double is considered more suitable. It should be noted that the required power capacity stored in the battery generally differs depending on the characteristics of the content (whether it is a mysterious novel or pure literature).
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display device according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the display device 1 includes a memory card 10, a memory card slot 20, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 30, a program storage unit 40, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 50, and a graphic accelerator (GA) 60. A display drive unit 70, a display panel 75, an operation key group 80, and a power supply control circuit 90.
The memory card 10 includes a nonvolatile memory 11 that stores content and a battery 12 that stores power for browsing the content.

The memory card slot 20 is an interface through which data can be input from the nonvolatile memory 11 of the memory card 10, and transmits power supplied from the battery 12 of the memory card 10 to the power supply control circuit 90.
The CPU 30 controls the entire display device 1 and reads and executes programs related to various processes stored in the program storage unit 40 in accordance with various instruction signals input from the operation key group 80. Further, the CPU 30 performs processing for displaying content data stored in the memory card 10 inserted into the memory card slot 20 on the display panel 75. Then, the CPU 30 stores various processing results in a RAM 50 described later.

The program storage unit 40 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, and stores various programs for controlling the display device 1.
The RAM 50 is configured by a memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), an FeRAM / FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory), an MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory), and the CPU 30 executes a processing result. At the same time, a work area is formed and the processing result is stored.

As the RAM 50, an SRAM or the like that can hold data with low power consumption is desirable, and a nonvolatile FeRAM / FRAM or MRAM is more desirable.
The graphic accelerator 60 is hardware that can perform drawing processing of an image displayed on the display panel 75 at high speed in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 30. Specifically, the graphic accelerator 60 performs a process of expanding the vector graphic input from the CPU 30 into a raster graphic. Then, the graphic accelerator 60 outputs drawing data for drawing the graphic subjected to the drawing process on the display panel 75 to the display driving unit 70.

The display driving unit 70 directly controls the display panel 75 to display the drawing data input from the graphic accelerator 60 on the display panel 75.
Specifically, the display driving unit 70 includes a pixel writing unit 71 to which graphic data is input by the graphic accelerator 60. The display driving unit 70 refers to the drawing data input to the pixel writing unit 71 and drives the X driver and Y driver of the display panel 75 to display a raster graphic as a drawing target on the display panel 75. Let

The display panel 75 is configured by, for example, a display device having a high pixel density (multiple pixels) of A4 size, and displays pixel data on a predetermined pixel under the control of the display driving unit 70.
Further, as the display panel 75, a memory-type display device (a display device that maintains a display screen even when the power is turned off) is used. In this case, since no power is required to maintain the state of the display screen, the display device 1 can be reduced in power consumption.

As the display panel 75, for example, an electrophoretic display, a cholesteric liquid crystal display, a display using charged toner, a display using a twist ball, or an electrodeposition display can be used.
The operation key group 80 has an interface function for controlling signal input to the CPU 30, receives an input signal generated by an operation key (not shown), performs predetermined processing, and outputs the processing result to the CPU 30. .

The power supply control circuit 90 performs voltage conversion, voltage monitoring, etc. of the power supplied from the memory card 10 via the memory card slot 20, and which unit is supplied with power when supplying power to each unit. Etc. are controlled.
In the above configuration, when the memory card 10 is inserted into the memory card slot 20, the battery 12 in the memory card 10 is connected to the power supply control circuit 90 of the display device 1, and necessary power is supplied to each part.

  On the other hand, since the memory display body 2 used here is a memory-type display body as described above, it is possible to rewrite a page, that is, while displaying an arbitrary page of content after being displayed ( While no operation is performed, the display does not disappear even if the power supply is stopped. Thereby, while the page is displayed, power supply from the battery 12 to the display device 1 of the present invention can be stopped, and consumption of the battery 12 can be suppressed.

Thereafter, when the operation key 3 (for example, a page feed key) is pressed, power is supplied again to the display device 1 and a new page is displayed.
With these configurations, the number of pages that can be displayed is determined by only the capacity of the battery 12 regardless of the content reading speed and the display time. In other words, the optimum memory card can be selected from the above-described memory cards 10a, 10b, and 10c according to the content capacity. In the case of a small capacity, a light memory card can be selected, and the display device 1 can be reduced in weight. can do.

The battery in the memory card may be a secondary battery or a primary battery with an appropriate capacity.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the weight of the device can be optimized according to the number of content pages, and even if the device has a small amount of data but does not carry a heavy device. I'm sorry. This is the same as a paper book becoming lighter or heavier depending on the number of pages, and the user can feel the amount of content as a touch.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the provision of digital content to the user is provided in the form of a memory card and a battery that is built in the memory card and has a capacity necessary to read through the digital content.
(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  5 includes a CPU 30, a program storage unit 40, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 50, a graphic accelerator (GA) 60, a display driving unit 70, a display panel 75, and a charge amount monitoring unit 100. A secondary battery 110, a USB interface 200, and a data storage unit 140. 5, the same parts as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. Only parts that are different from those in FIG.

The data storage unit 140 is configured by a non-volatile memory or the like, and stores content data.
The USB interface 200 includes a data communication interface 130 and a charging circuit 120, and is configured to be connectable with a USB cable. Data input via the data communication interface 130 is stored in the document data storage unit 141 of the data storage unit 140. The charging circuit 120 supplies the power supplied from the USB cable to the secondary battery 110 to charge the secondary battery 110.

The charge amount monitoring unit 100 monitors the charge amount of the secondary battery 110 and notifies the CPU 30 of it.
The CPU 30 performs a process for displaying the content data stored in the data storage unit 140 on the display panel 75.
Next, a method for downloading content to the display device 66 will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure when one content is downloaded to the display device 66, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure when one content is added to the display device 66 and downloaded. .

  In FIG. 6, for example, when a USB terminal provided with a data communication I / F 130 and a charging circuit 120 is connected to a USB terminal of a device (not shown) that can provide content such as a personal computer, a document in the data storage unit 140 Data in the data storage unit 141 is cleared (step S1), and downloading (data transfer) of content data is started from the data communication I / F 130 (step S2). At this time, charging from the charging circuit 120 to the secondary battery 110 is also started. The document data clear process in step S1 can be omitted by setting the data to be overwritten.

Next, the header portion of the transfer data is read (step S3). The header portion of the transfer data includes information indicating the total number of pages of content data.
When reading of the header portion of the transfer data is completed, the number of pages is set, and the necessary charge amount is calculated (step S4). The required amount of charge is, for example, about 1.5 times the power required to view the number of downloaded content pages.

  Subsequently, after the end of data transfer (step S5), the current amount of charge of the secondary battery 110 is read (step S6), and it is determined whether or not the amount of power corresponding to the number of content pages has been charged. (Step S7). Here, the detection of the current charge amount is performed after the end of the content data transfer because the time required for charging the secondary battery 110 is generally longer than the content data transfer time.

When the charging is completed, a display indicating the end of preparation (a state in which the content can be read at least once) is output on the display panel 75 of the display device 66 (step S8), and the process ends.
Next, a procedure for adding and downloading one content to the display device 66 will be described.

  In FIG. 7, for example, when a USB plug including a data communication I / F 130 and a charging circuit 120 is connected to a USB terminal of a device such as a personal computer that can provide content, the data communication I / F 130 causes content data to be stored. Download (data transfer) is started (step T1). At this time, charging from the charging circuit 120 to the secondary battery 110 is also started.

Next, the header portion of the transfer data is read (step T2). This is mainly for detecting the total amount (number of pages) of downloaded content and determining the amount of charge necessary to finish reading the plurality of contents.
When the reading of the header portion of the transfer data is completed, the page number of the existing content stored in the document data storage unit 141 of the data storage unit 140 is read (step T3) and added to the page number of the new content downloaded this time. Then, the total number of pages is obtained, and the necessary charge amount is calculated (step T4).

  Subsequently, after the end of data transfer of the new content (step T5), the current charge amount of the secondary battery 110 is read (step T6), and whether or not the amount of power corresponding to the number of content pages is charged. Is determined (step T7). Here, the detection of the current charge amount is performed after the end of the content data transfer because, as described above, generally, the time required for charging the secondary battery 110 is longer than the content data transfer time. It is.

  When the charging is completed, a display indicating the end of preparation (the content is ready to be read) is output on the display panel 75 of the display device 66 (step T8), and the process ends. The charging amount is preferably about 1.5 times as much as the total number of content pages. If there is sufficient battery capacity before charging, the completion of preparation is notified immediately after the transfer of digital contents.

In the embodiment of the present invention, provision of digital content to a user is performed by downloading digital content from a content providing apparatus via a network or the like and receiving predetermined power supply.
Next, an example will be described in which a guideline for the number of times the downloaded content can be browsed is displayed on the display device of this embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of displaying a guideline of the number of times the downloaded content can be browsed on the display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 8, an indicator 15 indicating a guideline (display value) of the number of times the content can be browsed is displayed on the upper part of the memory display body 2.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for calculating the display value of the indicator 15.

  In FIG. 9, for example, when a USB interface 200 including a data communication I / F 130 and a charging circuit 120 is connected to a USB terminal of a device (not shown) that can provide content such as a personal computer, the data storage unit 140 Data in the document data storage unit 141 is cleared (step U1), and content data download (data transfer) is started from the data communication I / F 130 (step U2). At this time, charging from the charging circuit 120 to the secondary battery 110 is also started.

Next, in order to check the number of pages of content data, the header portion of the transfer data is read (step U3).
When the reading of the header portion of the transfer data is completed, the number of pages is set (step U4).
Subsequently, after completion of data transfer (step U5), basic power, that is, power required to display all downloaded contents is calculated (step U6). The calculation formula is as follows:
Basic power = (Power required to display one page) x (Number of pages) (1)
Subsequently, the amount of charge is read (step U7), and the display count (number of pages) of the content is calculated (step U8). The calculation formula is as follows:
Content display count = (charge amount) / (basic power) (2)
Based on this, the indicator 15 displays how many times the downloaded content can be displayed (step U9). In FIG. 8, a display indicating that the display is performed about 0.8 times is performed. Moreover, in this example, the example which can be displayed 20 times is shown in a state where the secondary battery is fully charged.

Next, it is detected whether the battery is fully charged (step U10), and the charging is terminated in a state where the battery is fully charged (step U11).
Thus, the user can charge the secondary battery by a necessary amount by looking at the indicator 15 before the battery is fully charged.
As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, by changing the charging capacity in accordance with the number of pages of content, charging takes more time than necessary and cares about running out of the battery. You can view the content without worrying about it.

1 is a perspective view showing an overview of a display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the memory card used by this Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the kind of memory card which integrated the memory and the battery. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the display apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the block diagram which showed the structure of the display apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure in the case of downloading one content to the display apparatus. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure in the case of adding and downloading one content to the display apparatus. It is the figure which showed the example which displays the standard of how many times the downloaded content can be read with the display apparatus in the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the procedure for calculating the display value of the indicator 15.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display apparatus 10, 10a, 10b, 10c Memory card, 11 Non-volatile memory, 12 Battery, 13 Memory I / F, 14 Electrode, 15 Indicator, 20 Memory card slot, 30 CPU, 40 Program storage part, 50 RAM, 60 graphic accelerator, 66 display device, 70 display drive unit, 71 pixel writing unit, 75 display panel, 80 operation key group, 90 power control circuit, 100 charge amount monitoring unit, 110 secondary battery, 120 charging circuit, 130 data Communication I / F, 140 data storage unit, 141 document data storage unit, 200 USB interface

Claims (7)

An information providing medium that allows information stored in a nonvolatile memory to be browsed in the display device by being attached to a display device having a display that holds the display state in a nonvolatile manner,
An information providing medium comprising a battery having a predetermined capacity and capable of supplying the power stored in the battery to the display device when information stored in the nonvolatile memory is browsed.     The information providing medium according to claim 1, wherein the battery has a power capacity corresponding to a data amount of content data stored in the nonvolatile memory. A display device having a display that holds a display state in a nonvolatile manner,
Medium connecting means capable of connecting an information storage medium comprising a nonvolatile memory and a battery of a predetermined capacity;
Display control means for displaying content data stored in the non-volatile memory on the display using the power stored in the battery;
A display device comprising: A display device having a display that holds a display state in a nonvolatile manner,
A communication interface including data and power supply lines;
A power control means for storing power required to view the content data using the power supply line in the interface when downloading the content data via the data supply line in the communication interface;
A display device comprising:   The display device according to claim 4, wherein the power control unit stores power corresponding to a data amount of the content data.   5. The power control unit according to claim 4, wherein the power control unit accumulates power corresponding to a data amount of content data stored in the display device and content data downloaded via the power supply line. Display device.   The browsing number display means for displaying information indicating a relationship between the electric power stored in the apparatus and the number of times the content data can be browsed by the electric power. Item 1. A display device according to item 1.

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