JP2008090645A - Information processor, image display method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor, intending improved visual perceptivity of a user, reduction of a device development cost and a device cost, and power saving. <P>SOLUTION: The information processor, having a display section of a predetermined size and at least two applications or more installed therein for outputting display data of a preset size to display on the above display section, includes a display image data generation means for generating image data for display of an identical size for, each display data output from each application, and an image composition output means for composing each generated image data for display by superposition and for outputting to display on the display section. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus having a function of combining and displaying outputs from two or more applications on the same screen.

  Conventionally, a terminal having a display function such as a cellular phone cannot be displayed in full screen unless drawing processing is performed in accordance with the pixel size of the LCD. For example, if the output from an application that supports QVGA (320 × 240) is displayed on a VGA (640 dots × 480 dots) screen, it will be displayed in the center of the screen or a part of the screen such as the upper left. . In such a situation, depending on the application, full screen display is performed by recognizing the screen size and enlarging the image to the screen size.

  On the other hand, in recent years, since the resolution of LCDs of information processing devices such as mobile phones has become high, it has become possible to display a lot of information on the screen, and the user can display beautiful images, detailed data, etc. Can be seen. As described above, the high resolution can provide the user with many high merits.

JP 2002-142097 A JP 2002-176552 A

  However, when the resolution of the LCD increases, there arises a problem that application development becomes very difficult. In other words, it is necessary to recreate the application and data in accordance with the resolution, and it may be necessary to modify the application even if there is almost no merit obtained by increasing the resolution. As a result, the number of man-hours for development increases, causing problems such as an increase in schedule and development costs.

  In addition, the image data output from the application must be recreated according to the high resolution, which increases the size of the image data, increases the capacity of the ROM mounted on the information processing device, and increases the hardware cost. The problem of going up arises. Furthermore, in the information processing device, the amount of data transferred to the LCD increases during display processing, and the processing to create images for drawing increases, increasing the processing burden and shortening the battery life. The problem that it ends up occurs.

  As shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, techniques for synthesizing a plurality of image data with different resolutions that have already been formed have been developed. However, since the above technique performs image composition by performing resolution conversion processing on two or more existing image data, processing such as luminance calculation at the time of composition becomes complicated, and processing time increases. The problem arises. Since the above technique is a process for image data on which an image has already been formed, it cannot be applied to a process for display data directly output from an application to be displayed on a display such as a mobile phone.

  For this reason, the present invention can improve the disadvantages of the above-described conventional example, and in particular, improve the visibility of the user, reduce the development cost of the device, reduce the device cost, and further reduce the power consumption. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus that can perform the processing.

Therefore, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is
An information processing apparatus including a display unit having a predetermined size and at least two or more applications that output display data before image formation for displaying on a display unit in a preset size,
Display image data generating means for generating display image data of the same size from each display data output from each application;
An image synthesis output unit that superimposes and synthesizes each of the generated display image data and outputs the data to be displayed on the display unit;
It is characterized by having.

  According to the above invention, first, display data before image formation that is displayed in a set size is output from two or more applications. Then, the display image data generating means generates display image data that can actually be displayed on the display unit based on each display data. At this time, the plurality of display image data are processed and generated so that all have the same size. That is, each display image data of the same size is generated from each display data output from each application in a single image forming process. Thereafter, the display image data of the same size are superimposed and synthesized by the image synthesis output means, and the synthesized image is displayed and output on the display unit. Therefore, even if the size of the display unit of the device on which the application is mounted is changed, each application may output it as display data of the same size as before, and the size of the image data used There is no need to change. That is, since there is no need to improve the application, versatility can be improved. As a result, it is possible to reduce the development cost and the device cost and to save power while improving the visibility of the user.

  Further, the display image data generating means enlarges or reduces the display image data output from at least one application so as to match the size of the display data output from another application. It is characterized by generating. Specifically, the display image data generation means expands the resolution of the display data output from at least one application so as to match the resolution of the display data output from another application. It is a feature. Further, the display image data generation means outputs from at least one application so that the number of pixels of display data output from at least one application matches the number of pixels of display data output from other applications. It is characterized in that each pixel of the displayed display data is enlarged and enlarged.

  As a result, the size of the display data from one application is enlarged or reduced to match the size of the display data from another application, thereby facilitating the process of generating display image data of the same size. In particular, by increasing the number of pixels of one display data so as to have the same size (resolution), further processing can be simplified and speeded up.

  Further, the display image data generation means generates display image data in correspondence with the size of the display unit. Thereby, since the display image data suitable for the display unit is generated and displayed, the visibility of the user can be improved.

  Further, the application includes a partial display application for displaying a predetermined image only on a part of the display unit. At this time, the display image data generating means displays the display data output from the partial display application so that the image part displayed only on a part of the display part and the other part can be identified. The image data is generated, and the image composition output means combines only the image portion of the display image data from the partial display application with the other display image data. As a result, even when there is a change in the size of the display unit of the apparatus, it is possible to continue to implement a partial display application that performs icon display or the like that requires little change, thereby reducing costs. be able to. At the time of synthesis, it is only necessary to perform a synthesis process in which only a partially displayed image portion is superimposed on other display image data, so that the processing load can be reduced.

In addition, an image display method according to another aspect of the present invention includes:
An image display method by an information processing apparatus provided with at least two or more applications that includes a display unit of a predetermined size and outputs display data before image formation for display on the display unit in a preset size. There,
A display image data generation step for generating display image data of the same size from each display data output from each application,
An image synthesis output step of superimposing and synthesizing each of the generated display image data, and outputting to display on the display unit,
It is characterized by having.

  The display image data generation step expands or reduces the size of the display data output from at least one application so as to match the size of the display data output from the other application. It is characterized by generating.

Furthermore, the program which is the other form of this invention is:
An information processing apparatus including a display unit having a predetermined size and having at least two or more applications that output display data before image formation for displaying on the display unit in a preset size.
A display image data generation step for generating display image data of the same size from each display data output from each application,
An image synthesis output step of superimposing and synthesizing each of the generated display image data, and outputting to display on the display unit,
It is characterized by that.

  Even if the method and the program of the present invention are configured, the object of the present invention can be achieved because it operates in the same manner as the information processing apparatus described above.

  Since the present invention is configured and functions as described above, according to this, a plurality of display images can be obtained even when the size of the display unit of the apparatus in which a plurality of applications having different output sizes are mounted is changed. The data is processed and generated so that all have the same size. Therefore, since the display data need only be output in the same size as before, there is no need to improve the application and there is no need to change the image data to be used. As a result, there is an unprecedented excellent effect that the development cost and the apparatus cost can be reduced and the power can be saved while improving the visibility of the user.

  The present invention is an information processing apparatus including a display unit capable of combining and displaying outputs from applications having different output sizes on the same screen. Hereinafter, a mobile phone will be described as an example of the information processing apparatus, and its configuration and operation will be described in the embodiments. Note that the information processing apparatus is not limited to a mobile phone, and may be another information processing apparatus such as a PDA or a portable game machine.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a mobile phone. FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 are diagrams for explaining the operation at the time of image composition display by the mobile phone, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone.

  In this embodiment, an application in which the display size is set to VGA (640 dots × 480 dots) and the output size is set to VGA (640 dots × 480 dots), and QVGA (320 dots × 240 dots) are set. The case where the output from the application set to) is displayed will be described as an example. However, any resolution can be used for the resolution of the LCD and the output size of the application.

[Constitution]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a mobile phone in this embodiment. First, the mobile phone 1 is a general mobile phone having an LCD (display unit) 40 with a display size of VGA (640 dots × 480 dots). The mobile phone 1 has an electronic mail function, an Internet function, a camera function, and the like in addition to the call function, and displays a screen corresponding to each function on the LCD 40. In addition, each screen displayed on the LCD 40 is output data from an application installed in the mobile phone 1 or data acquired by receiving via the Internet.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 in this embodiment has an application 51 (51a, 51a, 51) that outputs display data in accordance with the first resolution A (for example, VGA (640 dots × 480 dots)). 51b) and an application 52 (52a, 52b) that outputs display data in accordance with the second resolution B (for example, QVGA (320 dots × 240 dots)). The “display data” output by each of the applications 51 and 52 is data before image formation that is generated as display image data that can be displayed on the LCD 40 later by the image data generation processing unit 13. The first resolution A application 51 is an application that performs main display such as displaying a mail screen, a moving image, a website, or the like on the entire screen (full screen). The second resolution B application 52 is, for example, an application (partial display application) that performs sub-display such that an icon or cursor is partially displayed on the screen, and an image such as an icon is partially displayed on the upper or lower part of the screen. ).

  In addition, the processing unit (CPU) of the cellular phone 1 incorporates a predetermined program, thereby superimposing and synthesizing the outputs from the applications 51 and 52 and outputting them to be displayed on the LCD 40. Has been built. Specifically, a display data reception processing unit 11, an LCD display mode determination processing unit 12, an image data generation processing unit 13, and a display processing unit 14 are constructed as the drawing processing unit 10. The storage device such as the flash memory of the mobile phone 1 has a main layer 21, a sub layer 22, and a composite layer 30 (a composite layer 31 for resolution A and a composite layer 32 for resolution B) as a frame buffer for image drawing. ) And are formed. Hereinafter, the processing units 10 to 14 and the layers 21 to 32 will be described in detail.

  The display data reception processing unit 11 receives display data output from the applications 51 and 52, and determines the resolution of each display data, that is, the display size. At this time, as described above, the display data from the application 51 of resolution A is determined as VGA (640 dots × 480 dots), and the display data from the application 52 of resolution B is QVGA (320 dots × 240). Dot). The display data and the display size determination result are passed to the image data generation processing unit 13 via the LCD display mode determination processing unit 12.

  The LCD display mode determination processing unit 12 determines the resolution of the LCD 40, that is, the display size. In this embodiment, it is determined to be VGA (640 dots × 480 dots). Then, the determined display mode information is notified to the image data generation processing unit 13.

  The image data generation processing unit 13 (display image data generation means) performs processing for generating display image data from the display data output from the applications 51 and 52, and passes through the display processing unit 14. Draw on each layer 21, 22. Specifically, first, the resolution of each display data is compared with the resolution of the LCD 40. Then, since the display data from each of the applications 51 and 52 is VGA (640 dots × 480 dots) and QVGA (320 dots × 240 dots), one (application) is applied to the LCD 40 which is VGA (640 dots × 480 dots). 51: VGA) can be displayed on the full screen as it is, but the other (application 52: QVGA) cannot be displayed on the full screen as it is. Accordingly, the display data from the application 51 with the resolution A generates display image data with the same resolution (VGA (640 dots × 480 dots)), but the display data from the application 52 with the resolution B Display image data is generated by enlarging the resolution from QVGA (320 dots × 240 dots) to VGA (640 dots × 480 dots) by 4 times (double vertical and double horizontal). At this time, for example, each pixel of the display data from the application 52 having the resolution B is increased by a factor of four. In this manner, the image data generation processing unit 13 enlarges the display data so that the resolution (display size) is the same, and generates display image data.

  The image data generation processing unit 13 is not necessarily limited to converting the resolution so that the resolution of one application matches the resolution of another application. The display image data may be generated by converting the resolution of all applications in accordance with the resolution of the LCD 40. Further, the display data is not necessarily enlarged to generate the same size display image data, but the display data may be reduced to generate the same size display image data. Alternatively, display image data may be generated by combining enlargement and reduction.

  The display processing unit 14 (image composition output means) draws the display image data generated by the image data generation processing unit 13 on the main layer 21 and the sub layer 22 and temporarily stores them. At this time, display image data output and generated by the application of the first resolution A is drawn on the main layer 21, and output and generated by the application of the second resolution B on the sub-layer 22. Draw display image data. The image data for display from the application of resolution B is generated by setting the image data generation processing unit 13 as a transparent color, except for the image data portion such as an icon, which is not necessary to be drawn. Rendered on the sublayer 22. That is, the resolution B application 52 generates display image data so that an image portion such as an icon displayed only on a part of the LCD 40 and other portions (transparent color portions) can be identified. It is drawn on the layer 22. Note that the resolutions of the main layer 21 and the sub layer 22 can be arbitrarily changed.

  Further, the display processing unit 14 controls the main layer 21 and the sub layer 22 to transfer the temporarily stored display image data to the synthesis layer 30 and superimpose the display image data on each other. Note that the composition layer 30 (image composition output means) is a resolution layer (for VGA) composition layer 31 and a resolution B use as a buffer used when the main layer 21 and the sub-layer 22 are combined to form a single surface. And a composite layer 32 (for QVGA). Then, the display processing unit 14 controls to display and output the image data synthesized in the synthesis layers 31 and 32 on the LCD 40. For example, in the present embodiment, only the image data portion such as an icon in the display image data of the sub-layer 22, that is, only the portion not set in the transparent color is transferred to the composite layer 30, and the main display and Is superimposed on the display image data of the main layer 21. However, all the display image data of the sublayer 22 may be superimposed on the display image data of the main layer 21. Thereby, since the image of the main layer 21 is transmitted through the transparent color portion of the sub layer 22, only the image data portion of the sub layer 22 is superimposed on the main layer 21 as a result.

  In FIG. 1, the output from the two applications of the resolution A application 51 and the resolution B application 52 has been described. However, the outputs from more applications (three or more) are combined. It is also possible to support various applications that output display data of different types (three or more) of different resolutions. In the following description of the operation, two resolution A (VGA) applications (reference numerals 51a and 51b), two resolution B (QVGA) applications for displaying icons and the like (reference numerals 52a and 52b: partial display applications), and Is mounted on the mobile phone 1 and the case where the outputs from the applications 51a, 51b, 52a, and 52b are combined will be described.

[Operation]
Next, the operation of the mobile phone 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, with reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, an operation in the case of synthesizing outputs of applications having different resolutions will be described.

  First, when the drawing processing unit 10 receives display data output from each application 51a, 51b, 52a, 52b (step S1), the resolution of each display data is determined (step S2). That is, it is determined that the resolution of the display data output from the resolution A application (1) 51a and the resolution A application (2) 51b is VGA (640 dots × 480 dots), and the resolution B application (3) 52a and the resolution The resolution of the display data output from the B application (4) 52b is determined to be (QVGA). Subsequently, the display mode of the LCD 40 is determined (step S3), and here it is determined to be VGA (640 dots × 480 dots).

  Subsequently, display image data is generated from the display data based on the resolution of all the display data and the resolution of the LCD 40 (step S4, display image data generation step). At this time, the resolution of the display data from the resolution A applications (1) and (2) is the same VGA as the resolution of the LCD 40 and can be displayed on the LCD 40 as it is, so that it is set in advance without converting the resolution. Display image data is generated with the size kept. On the other hand, since the resolution of the display data from the resolution B applications (3) and (4) is QVGA, it cannot be displayed on the LCD 40 as it is. Accordingly, the enlargement processing function 13a of the image data generation processing unit 13 converts the resolution from QVGA to VGA so as to be the same as the resolution of the resolution A applications (1), (2) and the LCD 40, and displays the display image data. Generate. Specifically, each pixel based on the display data is increased four times, and a preset size is converted into a quadruple angle (double vertical and horizontal) to generate display image data.

  Subsequently, the display image data from the resolution A applications (1) and (2) generated as described above is drawn and output to the main layer 21, and the display image data from the resolution B applications (3) and (4) is output. Are drawn and output to the sub-layer 22 (step S5). It should be noted that when the display image data is generated in step S4, the display image data from the resolution B applications (3) and (4) is set in a transparent color in a portion that does not correspond to an icon or the like. Rendered on the sublayer 22.

  Thereafter, the display image data drawn on each of the layers 21 and 22 is transferred to the resolution A composition layer 31 for superposition (step S6) and displayed on the LCD 40 (step S7, image composition). Output process). At this time, only the portion other than the transparent color, that is, the image portion such as an icon that needs to be displayed, is transferred from the sublayer 22 to the synthesis layer 31 and superimposed on the display image data of the main layer 21.

  As described above, even if display data before image formation with different resolutions is output from each application, all the images are converted to the same resolution in one image formation process in accordance with the size of the LCD 40, and are displayed on the LCD 40. Since the display is output, the user can view a larger image on the LCD, and the visibility can be improved. Further, according to the present invention, it is not necessary to improve the application according to the size of the LCD 40, and the development cost can be reduced. Further, since it is not necessary to change the size of the image data to be used, it is not necessary to increase the memory or the like, so that the apparatus cost can be reduced and the power can be saved during operation.

  In addition, the resolution B application (partial display application) that performs icon display and the like with little need for change can be continuously used, and the cost can be reduced. At the time of synthesis, it is only necessary to perform a synthesis process in which only a partially displayed image portion is superimposed on other display image data, so that the processing load can be reduced.

  Here, FIG. 3 shows a case where only the output from the resolution B applications (3) and (4) is displayed. In this case, all the display data are the same resolution B and are drawn on the main layer 21 and the sublayer 22 without passing through the enlargement processing function 13a. At that time, since the resolution B is smaller than the resolution A, a part of the layer is used. This drawing layer may be provided separately for the resolution B. Then, the display image data generated at the resolution B is superimposed and synthesized by the resolution B synthesis layer 32 and output to the LCD 40.

  FIG. 4 shows a case where only the output from the resolution A applications (1) and (2) is displayed. Also in this case, since all the display data are the same with the resolution A, they are drawn as they are on the main layer 21 and the sub layer 22 without passing through the enlargement processing function 13a. Then, the display image data generated at the resolution A is superimposed and synthesized by the resolution A synthesis layer 31 and output to the LCD 40.

  In the above description, the case where the resolution is enlarged and converted from QVGA to VGA twice in the vertical and horizontal directions is exemplified, but the resolution is not limited to the above, and the conversion magnification (enlargement and reduction magnification) is arbitrary. Also, irregular enlargement and reduction such as enlargement / reduction only in the vertical direction and enlargement / reduction only in the horizontal direction are possible.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to a combination of two types of resolution applications, and outputs from applications of three types, four types, or even higher resolutions may all be converted to the same resolution.

  The present invention can be used for an electronic apparatus having a display unit such as a mobile phone, and has industrial applicability.

It is a functional block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone in a present Example. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the image composition display by a mobile telephone. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the image composition display by a mobile telephone. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement at the time of the image composition display by a mobile telephone. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of a mobile telephone.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile telephone 10 Drawing process part 11 Display data reception process part 12 LCD display mode determination process part 13 Image data generation process part 14 Display process part 21 Main layer 22 Sublayer 30 Composite layer 31 Resolution A layer 32 Resolution B layer 40 LCD
51 Resolution A application 52 Resolution B application

Claims (10)

An information processing apparatus provided with a display unit having a predetermined size and at least two or more applications for outputting display data before image formation for display on the display unit in a preset size,
Display image data generating means for generating display image data of the same size from the display data output from the applications;
An image synthesis output unit that superimposes and synthesizes each of the generated display image data and outputs the data to be displayed on the display unit;
An information processing apparatus comprising:   The display image data generating means enlarges or reduces the size of the display data output from at least one application so as to match the size of the display data output from another application. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data is generated.   The display image data generation means enlarges the resolution of the display data output from the at least one application so as to match the resolution of the display data output from the other application. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2.   The display image data generating means adjusts the number of pixels of the display data output from the at least one application to the number of pixels of the display data output from the other application. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein each pixel of the display data output from the application is increased and enlarged.   5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display image data generation unit generates the display image data in accordance with a size of the display unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the application includes a partial display application for displaying a predetermined image only on a part of the display unit. The display image data generation unit is configured to distinguish the image portion displayed only on a part of the display unit and the other portion from the display data output from the partial display application. Image data for
The image composition output means combines only the image portion of the display image data from the partial display application on the other display image data,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 6. An image display method by an information processing apparatus provided with at least two or more applications that includes a display unit of a predetermined size and outputs display data before image formation for display on the display unit in a preset size Because
A display image data generation step for generating display image data of the same size from each display data output from each application;
An image synthesis output step for superimposing and synthesizing each of the generated display image data, and outputting to display on the display unit,
An image display method characterized by comprising:   In the display image data generation step, the size of the display data output from at least one of the applications is enlarged or reduced so as to match the size of the display data output from another application. The image display method according to claim 8, wherein the image data is generated. An information processing apparatus including a display unit having a predetermined size and mounted with at least two or more applications for outputting display data before image formation for display on the display unit in a preset size.
A display image data generation step for generating display image data of the same size from each display data output from each application,
An image synthesis output step for superimposing and synthesizing each of the generated display image data, and outputting to display on the display unit,
A program for running

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