JP2008039841A - Image reproducing device and image reproducing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make an image easily visible. <P>SOLUTION: When the image, such as a still one and a moving one, is displayed by superposing a caption, such as a title, thereon, even if there is a region where a creator of the image intends to display, such as a license display, graph, URL, and face, the display position of the caption can be so adjusted as to perform display in superposition on the image without the region to be displayed on the image being hidden away. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image reproduction device, an image reproduction method, and a program, and more particularly to a technique suitable for use in displaying captions such as captions superimposed on an image displayed on a screen.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a technique for displaying text information that is supplementary information on a screen by displaying captions at specific positions on the screen, such as captions and emergency news. For example, as an example of displaying a caption that can be easily confirmed by the user on an image display screen, there is a method described in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 describes means for selecting and displaying a position where a caption is easy to see based on the brightness, hue, and saturation of an image.

JP-A-10-247135

  Conventionally, when captions such as captions are overlaid on an image, captions are displayed even if the image creator has an area that the image creator intended to display such as license information, table, URL, creator, etc. There were times when it was hidden. For example, in Patent Document 1, when a caption that is easy to view by the device is selected and the caption is displayed on the screen, the displayed caption may hide the image area that the image creator always wanted to display.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to make an image easy to see.

  An image reproduction apparatus according to the present invention is an image reproduction apparatus that displays an image and a caption, wherein an overlap prohibition area extracting unit that obtains an area for prohibiting overlapping display of the caption from image data, and an overlap prohibition area of the image And an overlap avoidance method extraction means for obtaining an avoidance method when the caption display area overlaps with the caption display area, and a display area calculation means for correcting the caption display area according to the avoidance method. .

  The image reproduction method of the present invention is an image reproduction method in an image reproduction apparatus for displaying an image and a caption, wherein an overlap prohibited area extracting step for obtaining an area for prohibiting the overlapping display of the caption from image data, and the image An overlap avoidance method extracting step of acquiring an avoidance method when the overlap prohibition region of the caption overlaps with the display region of the caption, and a display region calculating step of correcting the display region of the caption according to the avoidance method It is characterized by.

  A program according to the present invention causes a computer to execute the above-described image reproduction method.

  According to the present invention, when captions such as captions are superimposed on images such as still images and moving images, the creator of the image always wants to display the license display, table, graph, URL, face, etc. in the image. Even if there is a region to be displayed, the display position of the caption can be adjusted so that the region where the image is desired to be displayed is not hidden and displayed on the image, so that the image can be easily viewed.

(First embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The configuration of the image display apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram shown in FIG.
In FIG. 1, the image reproduction apparatus 100 includes a memory 110, a storage unit 130, a CPU 140 that operates each process on the memory 110, and a display unit 150 that displays a screen and a caption.

  The storage unit 130 stores caption data 132 describing display contents of captions and image data 133 defining image contents to be displayed. Further, reproduction method definition data 131 defining what screen configuration is used to display the caption data 132 and the image data 133 is stored.

  In the memory 110, an image playback control unit 111 reads the playback method definition data 131 and controls the screen display of images and captions in response to an image playback command from a UI operation or an application program. The decoding unit 112 generates a screen display image from the caption data 132 and the image data 133.

  The overlapping prohibited area extracting unit 114 acquires the definition information of the area prohibiting overlapping display described in the image data 133 and registers it in the overlapping prohibited area list 119. The overlap avoidance method extraction unit 115 acquires an avoidance method in the case where the caption is displayed in the overlap prohibition area of the image described in the reproduction method definition data 131 and registers it in the overlap avoidance method list 118. .

  The display area calculation unit 116 corrects the coordinates of the area for displaying the caption from the overlap avoidance method list 118 and the overlap prohibition area list 119 and registers the corrected coordinates in the area coordinate list 120. The display control unit 117 converts the screen image into a signal to be displayed on the display unit 150 such as a monitor.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a definition example of the reproduction method definition data 131 described in a language called SMIL whose specifications are formulated by W3C in the present embodiment.
Here, the display area of image data with the attribute id = "pic1" and the caption data display area with the attribute id = "text1" are defined as rectangles using the top, left, width, and height attributes of the region element. : Pixel). The par element defines that the test.rp file as image data and the test.rt file as caption data are displayed on the screen simultaneously in parallel.

  In addition, as an avoiding measure when the caption definition area overlaps the screen overlap prohibition area, it is set with an attribute extended from the SMIL specification called pt: escape. For this attribute value, as a method of avoiding overlapping, shift down ("move-down"), shift up ("move-up"), shift left ("move-left"), shift right ( A value such as "move-right") can be specified.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a definition example of the image data 133 described in a format formulated by RealNetworks called RealPix in the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 describes that image data photo1.jpg, photo2.jpg, and photo3.jpg are displayed every 4 seconds.

  Here, the coordinates of the non-overlapping area of each image data 133 are defined as rectangles using new attributes that are not in RealPix, such as pt: top, pt: left, pt: width, and pt: height. Note that the image data 133 does not need to be in a text format, and may be included in the binary format image data as long as the overlapping prohibition area can be defined.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a definition example of caption data 132 described in a format established by RealNetworks called RealText in this embodiment.
In FIG. 4, it is described that the character strings “displaying the first image”, “displaying the second image”, and “displaying the last image” are displayed on the screen every 4 seconds. Yes.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a description example of the overlap avoidance method list 118 in the present embodiment. In the region name column 501, the avoidance method column 502, and the display region column 503, values acquired from the reproduction method definition data 131 are registered.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a description example of the overlap prohibited area list 119 in the present embodiment.
A value acquired from the image data 133 is set in the display time column 601 and the overlapping prohibited region column 602 in the image. If the display does not change depending on the display time, “all time” is set in the display time column 601.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a description example of the area coordinate list 120 according to the present embodiment.
In the region name column 701, the value of the region name column 501 of the overlap avoidance method list 118 is set, and in the display time column 702, the time from the display start is set. In the display area column 703 after adjustment, the coordinates of the caption area corrected from the overlap avoiding method list 118 and the overlap prohibited area list 119 so that the caption area is not displayed on the overlap prohibited area of the image data 133 are displayed. Is set.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 10, the caption is displayed on the screen depending on the time from the start of display.

Next, the flow of the overlap avoidance process according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 8, first, the image reproduction control unit 111 receives an image reproduction command from a user interface or an application (step S801). Next, the image reproduction control unit 111 reads the reproduction method definition data 131 from the storage unit 130 (step S802).

  Next, the image reproduction control unit 111 passes the read reproduction method definition data 131 to the overlap avoidance method extraction unit 115 (step S803). Then, the overlap avoidance method extraction unit 115 sets the display area name of the image and caption, the value of the overlap avoidance method, and the coordinates of each display area in the overlap avoidance method list 118 (step S804).

  Next, the image reproduction control unit 111 reads out the image data 133 defined as a display target in the reproduction method definition data 131 from the storage unit 130, and passes the read contents to the overlap prohibited area extraction unit 114 (step S805). Then, the overlapping prohibited area extracting unit 114 acquires the coordinates of the overlapping prohibited area for each display time from the image data 133, and registers them in the overlapping prohibited area list 119 (step S806).

  After registration, the image reproduction control unit 111 issues a display area calculation command to the display area calculation unit 116 (step S807). Then, the display area calculation unit 116 sets the coordinates of the display area of each area corrected in accordance with the overlap avoidance method by the display area calculation process in the area coordinate list 120 (step S808).

  After the coordinate correction of each area, the image reproduction control unit 111 decodes the image data 133 and the caption data 132 into data such as a bitmap by the decoding unit 112 (step S809). Then, a screen image arranged in the area set in the area coordinate list 120 is created (step S810). Then, the created screen image is transferred to the display control unit 117 (step S811).

  Thereafter, the display control unit 117 converts the received data into a signal in a format that can be displayed on the display unit 150, and outputs the signal to the display unit 150 (step S812). The display unit 150 displays an image (step S813).

Next, the detailed flow of the display area calculation process (step S808) shown in FIG. 8 will be described with reference to FIG.
9, first, the display area calculation unit 116 receives a display area calculation command from the image reproduction control unit 111 (step S901). Then, the display area calculation unit 116 refers to the overlap avoidance method list 118 and acquires one entry. Thereafter, the process is repeated until there are no more entries.

  Next, it is determined whether or not a value is set in the obtained entry avoidance method column 502 (step S902). If the value is not set as a result of this determination, the value of the display time field 702 is set to “all time”, the adjusted display area field 703 is displayed in the overlap avoidance method list 118, and the display area field 503 is displayed. An entry in which the value is set is added (step S903). Then, the process proceeds to the next process. The first entry in FIG. 7 is an example in which this processing is performed. In step S904, it is determined whether or not to end the process. As a result of this determination, if the process ends, the process ends as it is. If not, the process returns to step S902.

  On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S903, if a value is set in the acquired entry avoidance method column 502, the entry is acquired with reference to the overlap prohibited area list table 119 (step S905). Then, the display area column 503 is compared with the value of the overlap prohibition area column 602 in the image to compare whether the display areas overlap (step S906).

  If there is no overlap as a result of this comparison, the value in the area name column 501 is stored in the area name column 701, the value in the display time column 601 is displayed in the display time column 702, and the value in the display region column 503 is adjusted. The entry set in 703 is added to the area coordinate list 120 (step S908). The second entry in FIG. 7 is an example in which this process is performed.

  On the other hand, if there is an overlap as a result of the comparison in step S906, the value in the area name field 501 is stored in the area name field 701, the value in the display time field 601 is displayed in the display time field 702, and the value in the display area field 503 is avoided. Correction is made according to the value of 502 (step S907). Then, an entry in which the corrected value is set in the display time column 702 is added to the area coordinate list table 120 (step S908). In step S909, it is determined whether or not to end. As a result of this determination, if the process is to be terminated, the process is terminated as it is. If not, the process returns to step S906.

  The correction method for the display area column 503 is as follows. When the value of the avoidance method 502 is “move-down”, a value obtained by adding the top value and the height value of the overlap prohibited area column 602 in the image is set as the top value of the display region column 703 after adjustment. As the remaining value, the value in the display area column 503 is set.

  When the value of the avoidance method 502 is “move-up”, the value obtained by subtracting the height value of the display area column 503 from the top value of the overlap prohibited area column 602 in the image is used as the adjusted top value of the display area column 703. To do. As the remaining value, the value in the display area column 503 is set.

  When the value of the avoidance method 502 is “move-left”, the value obtained by subtracting the width value of the display area column 503 from the left value of the overlap prohibited area column 602 in the image is used as the left value of the display area column 703 after adjustment. To do. As the remaining value, the value in the display area column 503 is set.

  When the value of the avoidance method 502 is “move-right”, a value obtained by adding the left value and the width value of the overlap prohibited area column 602 in the image is set as the left value of the display area column 703 after adjustment. As the remaining value, the value in the display area column 503 is set.

  Depending on the description format of the image data 133 and the caption data 132, there are other methods for avoiding this, such as changing the size of the drawing area, transforming it, or using the scrolling of the caption that can be specified in the RealText format. Can be considered.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when captions such as captions are superimposed on an image such as a still image or a moving image, the creator of the image such as a license display, a table, a graph, a URL, or a face is included in the image. Even if there is an area that you want to display, you can adjust the display position of the caption so that it is displayed over the image without hiding the area you want to display the image, making it easier to see the image. be able to.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, as an example of the image data 133, a still image stream such as the RealPix format has been described. However, a moving image file format such as Apple's QuickTime format may be used. In this case, by embedding the designation of the prohibition area defined in FIG. 3 of the first embodiment as, for example, a QuickTime user data area, a similar image reproduction apparatus with the same configuration as the first embodiment can be realized. It is. In this case, it is possible to designate the prohibited area similar to that in FIG. 3 by embedding user data in the format shown in Table 1 below in the file.

(Other embodiments according to the present invention)
Each means constituting the image reproducing apparatus and each step of the image reproducing method in the embodiment of the present invention described above can be realized by operating a program stored in a RAM or ROM of a computer. This program and a computer-readable recording medium recording the program are included in the present invention.

  Further, the present invention can be implemented as, for example, a system, apparatus, method, program, or recording medium. Specifically, the present invention may be applied to a system including a plurality of devices. The present invention may be applied to an apparatus composed of a single device.

  In the present invention, a software program (in the embodiment, a program corresponding to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 8 and 9) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is directly or remotely supplied to the system or apparatus. This includes the case where the system or the computer of the apparatus is also achieved by reading and executing the supplied program code.

  Accordingly, since the functions of the present invention are implemented by computer, the program code installed in the computer also implements the present invention. In other words, the present invention includes a computer program itself for realizing the functional processing of the present invention.

  In that case, as long as it has the function of a program, it may be in the form of object code, a program executed by an interpreter, script data supplied to the OS, or the like.

  Examples of the recording medium for supplying the program include a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical disk. Further, there are MO, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM, DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-R) and the like.

  As another program supply method, there is a method of connecting to a homepage on the Internet using a browser of a client computer. The computer program itself of the present invention or a compressed file including an automatic installation function can be downloaded from the homepage by downloading it to a recording medium such as a hard disk.

  It can also be realized by dividing the program code constituting the program of the present invention into a plurality of files and downloading each file from a different homepage. That is, a WWW server that allows a plurality of users to download a program file for realizing the functional processing of the present invention on a computer is also included in the present invention.

  As another method, the program of the present invention is encrypted, stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, distributed to users, and encrypted from a homepage via the Internet to users who have cleared predetermined conditions. Download the key information to be solved. It is also possible to execute the encrypted program by using the key information and install the program on a computer.

  Further, the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the computer executing the read program. Furthermore, based on the instructions of the program, an OS or the like running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments can be realized by the processing.

  As another method, the program read from the recording medium is first written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. Then, based on the instructions of the program, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are also realized by the processing.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structural example of the image reproduction apparatus in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of description of the reproduction | regeneration method definition data in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the image data in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of description of the caption data in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the overlap avoidance method list in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the overlapping prohibition area | region list in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a description of the area | region coordinate list in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the overlap avoidance processing procedure in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the display area calculation process procedure in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the screen displayed in the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image reproduction apparatus 110 Memory 111 Image reproduction control part 112 Decoding part 114 Overlay prohibition area extraction part 115 Overlay avoidance method extraction part 116 Display area calculation part 117 Display control part 118 Overlay avoidance method list 119 Overlay prohibition area list 120 List 130 Storage unit 131 Playback method definition data 132 Caption data 133 Image data 140 CPU
150 display

Claims (11)

An image playback device that displays an image and a caption,
An overlapping prohibited area extracting means for acquiring an area for prohibiting overlapping display of the caption from image data;
An overlap avoidance method extracting means for acquiring an avoidance method when the overlap prohibition area of the image and the display area of the caption overlap;
An image reproduction apparatus comprising: a display area calculation unit that corrects a display area of the caption according to the avoidance method.   The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the overlap prohibition area extracting unit registers the overlap prohibition area acquired from the image data in an overlap prohibition area list.   The overlap avoidance method extraction unit obtains an avoidance method in a case where the overlap prohibition area of the image and the display area of the caption overlap from the reproduction method definition data describing the arrangement method of the image and the caption on the screen. The image reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image reproduction apparatus is an image reproduction apparatus.   The display area calculation means refers to the overlap avoidance method list and the overlap prohibition area list, and registers the coordinates of the image area and the caption area calculated according to the avoidance method in the area coordinate list. The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 2.   The image reproducing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image to be displayed is stored as a file having a still image format or a moving image format. An image reproduction method in an image reproduction apparatus for displaying an image and a caption,
An overlapping prohibited area extracting step for obtaining an area for prohibiting the overlapping display of the caption from image data;
An overlap avoidance method extraction step of acquiring an avoidance method when the overlap prohibition area of the image and the display area of the caption overlap;
And a display area calculating step of correcting the display area of the caption according to the avoidance method.   7. The image reproduction method according to claim 6, wherein, in the overlap prohibition area extracting step, the overlap prohibition area acquired from the image data is registered in an overlap prohibition area list.   In the overlap avoidance method extracting step, an avoidance method in the case where the overlap prohibition area of the image and the display area of the caption overlap from the reproduction method definition data describing the arrangement method of the image and the caption on the screen. The image reproduction method according to claim 6, wherein the image reproduction method is obtained.   In the display area calculation step, the coordinates of the image area and the caption area calculated according to the avoidance method are registered in the area coordinate list with reference to the overlap avoidance method list and the overlap prohibited area list. The image reproduction method according to claim 7.   7. The image reproducing method according to claim 6, wherein the image to be displayed is stored as a file having a still image format or a moving image format.   A program for causing a computer to execute the image reproduction method according to any one of claims 6 to 10.

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