JP2008116874A - Multi-display system, and program to be executed on this system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-display system capable of displaying an image plotted with a plotting tool on a large screen, and retaining the result as an integral image. <P>SOLUTION: The multi-display system 1 via a plotted image A1 plotted by an image plotting device 2 to several image output devices 3 via a network 5. Each image output device 3 generates a partial image data of the plotted image A1 to project it from a connected projector 4 and thereby makes the projectors display an image A2, corresponding to the plotted image A1 on a large screen display area I. When selecting "retention" with the image plotting device 2 in order to retain the image A2, the partial image data acquired by each image output device 3 are transmitted to the image plotting device 2, and the image plotting device 2 generates a composited image data based on the acquired partial image data, and the generated synthesized image data are written and retained in a recording medium. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-display system and a program executed on the system.

Conventionally, there has been known a multi-display system that displays a partial image constituting a part of an original image for one screen by a plurality of image display devices, for example, a plurality of projectors, and displays each partial image in a large screen. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
By the way, if a user or the like can interactively draw on a large screen displayed on such a multi-display system by a simple operation, the large screen can be used like a huge whiteboard or canvas. It is useful as a communication tool and a tool for creative activities.
However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 can only display a still image or a moving image according to a predetermined format on the display screen, and the user can interactively draw on the display screen. No consideration has been given.

On the other hand, when a plurality of image display devices are connected to a computer equipped with a drawing tool via a scan converter, the images output from the computer by the scan converter are individually cut into partial images, and the partial images are displayed on each image display device An image drawn on a computer display can be displayed on a large screen as it is.
However, in such a configuration, the same image as that displayed on the computer display can be simply enlarged and the resolution of the enlarged image is only equivalent to that of the computer display. It is impossible to display a high-quality image utilizing the resolution of each image display device connected to the scan converter.

In addition, using a computer equipped with a video subsystem that can output multiple systems of images (multihead), a method of displaying an image drawn by a drawing tool on a large screen composed of multiple image display devices is also considered. It is done.
However, since the number of image display devices that can be connected is limited to the number of output systems of the multi-head, there is a problem that screen expandability is poor. Even if this video subsystem has a large number of output systems, if a high-resolution screen is constructed using a large number of output systems, the display processing performance deteriorates because there is only one computer to process. There is a problem of end.

Therefore, when constructing a multi-display system with a plurality of displays, a personal computer is connected to each display, and remote control is performed with a pointing device connected via a network. A technique has been proposed in which the display of the above is regarded as one screen and a variable magnification screen is displayed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
In each personal computer, overall information indicating the size of the entire multi-display, for example, when a 640 × 480 pixel display is arranged in 2 × 2, information such as 1280 × 960 pixels and the position of the portion to be displayed For example, information relating to its position in the display arrangement such as lower right and lower left.

Then, when predetermined position information is specified by the operation of the pointing device, each personal computer determines whether it is an area in charge of display from the specified position information based on the held whole information and partial information. In response to the operation of the pointing device, a cursor such as a mouse pointer is displayed on the screen to ensure interactive operability in a large screen display.

JP-A-2005-244931 JP 2002-55808 A

However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, basically, a plurality of personal computers are operated in accordance with the operation of the pointing device to be operated and displayed on a large screen. It is not enough to use a large screen like a whiteboard or canvas.
Further, since the partial image display processing is performed by each personal computer, there is a problem that it is not considered to store and save the entire image created on a large screen using a drawing tool or the like.
Therefore, it cannot be said that the technique disclosed in this document is sufficient as a communication tool or a tool for creative activities.

  An object of the present invention is to allow an image drawn by a drawing tool to be displayed interactively as a high-quality image on a large screen displayed using a plurality of image display devices, and created on the large screen. An object of the present invention is to provide a multi-display system capable of storing a result as an entire image and a program executed on the system.

A multi-display system according to the present invention includes:
An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A multi-display system comprising a plurality of image output devices for outputting and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
The image drawing device includes:
Data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving data to / from each image output device via the network;
Drawing data generating means for generating drawing data drawn by operation of the pointing device;
Drawing data transmission means for transmitting to each image output device via the data transmission / reception means,
The image output device includes:
Data transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image drawing device via the network;
Partial image data generating means for generating partial image data based on the drawing data received via the data transmitting / receiving means;
Partial image data output means for outputting the generated partial image data to the image display device;
A partial image data transmission unit that transmits the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device via the data transmission / reception unit;
The image drawing device includes:
Image data synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of partial image data received from each image output device via the data transmitting / receiving means;
And a synthesized image data writing means for writing the synthesized image data into a recording medium readable and writable from the image drawing apparatus.

Here, as the pointing device, two-dimensional position coordinates can be easily specified, and various devices suitable for drawing can be adopted. For example, a pen tablet, a mouse, a touch panel, a trackball, etc. are adopted. be able to.
The recording medium for recording and storing the composite image data may be a single storage device connected to the network, a storage device built in the image drawing device, or a storage device built in any of the image output devices. May be.
Further, the drawing data generation means acquires the display range of the large screen display area based on the resolution of each image display device, the number of the image display devices, and the configuration information thereof, and writes the drawing data based on the display range. It is preferable to reserve a reserved area in the frame buffer.

According to the present invention, each image output device acquires partial image data and outputs the partial image data to the image drawing device via the data transmission unit. In the image drawing device, the plurality of partial image data received by the data receiving unit are Since it is configured to be synthesized by the image data synthesizing means and to be recorded and saved on the recording medium by the synthesized image data writing means, the image data drawn on the large screen by a plurality of image display devices is saved as it is. can do.
In addition, since the drawing data generation means acquires the display range of the large screen display area and secures a writing area in the frame buffer, partial image data corresponding to the resolution of the image display apparatus is output from each image output apparatus. Therefore, high-quality image data corresponding to the resolution of the image display device can be displayed on a large screen.

In the present invention, the image output device comprises:
It is preferable to provide a display area setting means for setting the display area of the partial image data to be displayed by itself.
According to the present invention, since the image output device includes the display area setting unit, the partial image data to be displayed is generated by cutting out the partial image to be displayed from the drawing data transmitted from the image drawing device. Therefore, an appropriate partial image can be displayed according to the arrangement of the image display device.
In addition, since such partial image data is generated in each image output device, the image drawing device only needs to send the entire drawn drawing data, thereby reducing the processing burden on the image drawing device. The display processing performance is not deteriorated.

In the above-described invention, the partial image data is cut out from the generated drawing data on the image output device side. However, the invention is not limited to this, and the partial image data may be cut out on the image drawing device side.
That is, the multi-display system according to the present invention is
An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A multi-display system comprising a plurality of image output devices for output and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
The image drawing device includes:
Data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving data to / from each image output device via the network;
Drawing data generating means for generating drawing data drawn by operation of the pointing device;
Partial image data generating means for generating a plurality of partial image data based on the generated drawing data;
Partial image data transmission means for transmitting to each image output device via the data transmission / reception means,
The image output device includes:
Data transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image drawing device via the network;
Partial image data output means for outputting the partial image data received by the data transmission / reception means to the image display device;
Partial image data acquisition means for acquiring partial image data received via the data transmission / reception means;
A partial image data transmission unit that transmits the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device via the data transmission / reception unit;
The image drawing device includes:
Image data synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of partial image data received from each image output device via the data transmitting / receiving means;
And a synthesized image data writing means for writing the synthesized image data into a recording medium readable and writable from the image drawing apparatus.
Also according to the present invention, the same operations and effects as those described above can be enjoyed.
In addition, since the partial image data is generated by the image drawing device, processing of each connected image output device can be reduced.

In the present invention,
A plurality of image drawing devices are connected to the network,
The image drawing apparatus prompts the user to select whether to store the image data generated by the drawing data generation unit in the recording medium or to store the combined image data combined by the image data combining unit in the recording medium. It is preferable to provide storage data selection means.

  According to the present invention, since the user can select the image data to be stored by such stored data selection means, when a plurality of users display images on a large screen with a plurality of image drawing apparatuses, the display is performed. If the entire screen is saved as image data, drawing images such as collaborative creation can be saved all at once, while only one's own work can be saved as image data, and the drawn image data can be saved in various forms. The convenience is further improved.

In the present invention, the image drawing device comprises:
It is preferable that a drawing area setting unit configured to set a drawing area constituted by the plurality of image display devices is provided.
According to the present invention, by providing the drawing area setting means, it is possible to flexibly set the drawing area in accordance with the configuration of the image display apparatus, for example, the number of arrangements on the image drawing apparatus.

In the present invention, the image display device comprises:
A projector that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source in accordance with image information to form an optical image and projects it in an enlarged manner is preferable.
According to the present invention, the projector can freely enlarge the screen size according to the projection distance, and forms a seamless large screen as a whole only by overlapping a part of the projection areas of adjacent projectors. Therefore, the present invention can be preferably applied.

In the above, the image drawing apparatus includes the above-described drawing area setting unit, and when setting the drawing area by the drawing area setting unit, when the projection areas are partially overlapped or overlapped, the image output apparatus It is preferable to provide an overlapping area dimming means for dimming the luminance of the overlapping area.
Specifically, the overlapping area dimming means may be any means as long as the image data of the portion corresponding to the overlapping area in the input image data is dimmed to 1/2 luminance.
According to the present invention, when a part of projection areas of adjacent projectors are simply overlapped and overlapped, the brightness of the overlap area is increased and the screen has a bright stripe. By providing the dimming means, it is possible to diminish the overlapping area and to make the large screen with a seamless unity with a brightness comparable to that of other non-overlapping and non-overlapping parts.

In addition, the present invention can be configured as a program executed on the above-described multi-display system as well as the above-described multi-display system.
That is, the program according to the present invention is
An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A program executed on a multi-display system including a plurality of image output devices to output and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
In the image drawing device,
Generating drawing data drawn by operating the pointing device;
Sending the generated drawing data to each image output device via the network,
In the image output device,
A procedure for receiving drawing data transmitted from the image drawing device; a procedure for generating partial image data based on the received drawing data;
A procedure of outputting the generated partial image data to the image display device;
Obtaining partial image data output to the image display device;
A procedure for transmitting the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device;
In the image drawing device,
Receiving a plurality of partial image data transmitted from each image output device; and
A procedure for combining a plurality of received partial image data;
And a step of writing the synthesized image data into a recording medium readable and writable from the image drawing apparatus.
According to the present invention, a general-purpose computer is adopted as the image drawing device and the image output device, and the same operation and effect as those described above can be enjoyed simply by installing a program in each computer. The versatility of the invention is greatly improved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
[First Embodiment]
(1) Overall Configuration FIG. 1 shows a multi-projection system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
The multi-projection system 1 includes an image drawing device 2, a plurality of image output devices 3 (V1 to V3), a plurality of projectors 4 (D1 to D3), and a LAN (Local Area Network) capable of bidirectional communication connecting them. 5 is configured.
Then, by operating the pen 2P on the liquid crystal pen tablet 2T of the image drawing apparatus 2, a drawn image A1 can be created. The created drawn image A1 is respectively transmitted via the LAN 5 based on the TCP / IP protocol. Are output to the image output device 3, and each image output device 3 generates a partial image of the drawn image A 1 in accordance with the arrangement of the projector 4. Is displayed.

  The projector 4 is an optical device that modulates a light source and a light beam emitted from the light source according to image information to form an optical image, and projects the enlarged image. A liquid crystal panel is used as the light modulation device. . As shown in FIG. 1, in the projector 4, the right end of the projection area I1 of the projector 4 (D1) and the left end of the projection area I2 of the projector 4 (D2) overlap, and the projector 4 (D2) has a projection area I2. The right end and the left end of the projector 4 (D3) overlap with each other, and a large screen display area I is constituted by these projection areas I1 to I3.

(2) Configuration of Image Drawing Device 2 The image drawing device 2 includes a liquid crystal pen tablet 2T as a pointing device, a control device 23, and a hard disk 24, as shown in FIG.
The liquid crystal pen tablet 2T is configured by superposing a matrix switch 22 on a liquid crystal display 21.
The matrix switch 22 is configured as a transparent member in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged in a grid pattern, and the electrode arrangement corresponds to the pixel arrangement of the lower liquid crystal display 21. When the operator presses a part of the electrode with the pen 2P, the vertical and horizontal positional information is detected and output to the control device 23.
The control device 23 stores in advance coordinate positions such as icons and toolbar menus displayed on the liquid crystal display 21, and performs operations specified by position icons corresponding to the position information output from the matrix switch 22. Execute.

The control device 23 has an arithmetic processing device that performs overall control of the image drawing device 2 and executes various programs based on position information from the liquid crystal pen tablet 2T. The arithmetic processing device generates drawing data. A means 230, a drawing data transmission means 231, a drawing area setting means 232, a data transmission / reception means 233, a stored data selection means 234, an image data composition means 235, a data encoding means 236, and an image data writing means 237. The
The drawing data generation unit 230 is a program that generates a drawing image A1 when the operator presses a predetermined position of the liquid crystal pen tablet 2T with the pen 2P. When the drawing data generation unit 230 is activated, FIG. The displayed operation screen G1 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21.

In the operation screen G1, a toolbar menu is displayed in the upper area AR1, and when a menu such as file, edit, display, tool, etc. is selected, operations corresponding to the menu are displayed hierarchically. ing. In the middle area AR2, shortcut buttons that allow you to directly operate items in the toolbar menu are displayed. New (New), Open (Open), Save (Save), Print (Print) If the button is operated, the selected operation is immediately executed.
The drawing area AR3 is arranged in the middle of the operation screen G1, and when the operator moves the pen 2P while pressing the pen 2P in the drawing area AR3, a drawing image A1 corresponding to the locus is formed.

In the lowermost area AR4 of the operation screen G1, buttons for setting drawing attribute information such as a line color, line type, and thickness when drawing in the drawing area AR3 are displayed.
Specifically, the right button B1 is a color palette, and when one of the buttons B1 is selected, the color of the line drawn in the drawing area AR3 changes to a color corresponding to the selection. The currently selected color is displayed in the display window B2. The adjacent button B3 is a part for selecting the type of drawing line, and can be drawn by selecting a line type such as pen, brush, or brush. Further, the button B4 on the left side is a part for selecting the thickness of the line, and a drawing line is displayed on the drawing area AR3 with the selected thickness.
The drawing data generated by the drawing data generation unit 230 is output to the drawing data transmission unit 231. The drawing data transmission unit 231 transmits the drawing data to each image output device 3 via the data transmission / reception unit 233 and the LAN 5. Send to.

The drawing area setting means 232 is activated when the drawing area setting of the tool bar area AR1 in FIG. 3 is selected. Specifically, a dialog box screen G2 as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21 and is displayed to the operator. Prompt for input.
The drawing area in the large screen display area I is determined by determining the number of projectors 4 arranged horizontally in the dialog box screen G2, the number arranged vertically, the number of pixels overlapping in the horizontal direction, and the number of pixels overlapping in the vertical direction. Is set.
For example, when the number of pixels in the horizontal overlap portion is set to 256 pixels on the dialog box screen G2, the drawing region setting unit 232 sets the projection regions I1 to 1 of each projector 4 when the number of pixels in the overlapping portion in the horizontal direction is set to 256 pixels. If the resolution of I3 is 768 pixels long × 1024 pixels wide as shown in FIG. 5A, the projection area of the adjacent projector 4 overlaps by 256 pixels as shown in FIG. 5B. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5C, the large screen display area I is set to 768 pixels long × 2560 pixels wide as a drawing area.

Then, the drawing area on the frame buffer is secured with the size of the drawing area set by the drawing area setting means 232, and the drawing area AR3 in FIG. 3 enlarges the screen by changing the magnification of the area AR2. Drawing can be performed in a reduced state.
Note that the coordinate values in the projection areas I1 to I3 of the projectors 4 in FIG. 5A indicate the projection areas in charge of the projectors 4 on the large screen display area I in FIG. 5B. . Further, the resolution of the projection areas I1 to I3 of each projector 4 may be acquired by the image drawing device 2 communicating with each projector 4, or may be input by the operator on the dialog box screen G2. Good.

Returning to FIG. 3, the data transmission / reception unit 233 is a part that transmits / receives data to / from each image output device 3 via the LAN 5, is generated by the drawing data generation unit 230 described above, and is transmitted from the drawing data transmission unit 231. The drawn data is packetized by the data transmission / reception means 233 and transmitted to each image output device 3 via the LAN 5.
The drawing data to be transmitted includes drawing attribute information including line type, color, etc., coordinate position information in the drawing area AR3 (absolute position information in the large screen display area I), and other command information. Data transmission / reception by the data transmission / reception means 233 emphasizes the transmission speed and uses UDP (User
Datagram Protocol).

The saved data selection means 234 is activated when a save button for a file in the area AR2 on the operation screen G1 in FIG. 3 is pressed, and saves the image A1 drawn on the drawing area AR3 in its own hard disk 24. Specifically, when the saved data selection means 234 is activated, a dialog box screen G3 is displayed as shown in FIG. 6, and the operator inputs the file name, selects the file format, and selects which image to save. Encourage selection.
Then, when the operator selects the “Save All Display Screen” button on the dialog box screen G3, the image data synthesizing means 235 is activated. A detailed description of the “save only the content drawn by itself” button will be described in another embodiment.

The image data synthesizing unit 235, which will be described in detail later, is a part that synthesizes the image A2 displayed in the large screen display area I from the partial image data transmitted from the image output device 3. By combining the projectors 4 (D1 to D3) connected to the output device 3 in accordance with the arrangement, composite image data is generated.
The data encoding unit 236 is a part that encodes the composite image data to be saved in the file format specified on the dialog box screen G3. For example, the data encoding unit 236 encodes the composite image data into the JPEG format.

The image data writing means 237 is a part for writing the encoded composite image data to the hard disk 24, whereby the composite image data encoded in the JPEG format or the like is recorded and stored in the hard disk 24 with a predetermined file name. Is done. When the composite image data is reproduced, the image A1 is displayed on the drawing area AR3 of the liquid crystal display 21 by pressing the Open button on the operation screen G1 in FIG. In addition to being displayed, the image A2 is also displayed in the large screen display area I projected by the projector 4.
In the present embodiment, the data compressed by the data encoding unit 236 is recorded and stored in the hard disk 24 by the image data writing unit 237, but is recorded and stored without being encoded. You may do it.

(3) Configuration of Image Output Device 3 The image output device 3 generates partial image data corresponding to its own display area based on the drawing data related to the drawing image A1 generated by the image drawing device 2 described above, The image is output to the projector 4 and a partial image is displayed in the projection areas I1 to I3 of the projector 4, and is configured to include a control device 31 as shown in FIG.
The control device 31 includes an arithmetic processing device that performs overall control of the image output device 3 and performs image processing of the drawing data transmitted from the image drawing device 2, and the arithmetic processing device is data that is executed as a program. A transmission / reception unit 311, a partial image data generation unit 312, a display area setting unit 313, an overlap area dimming unit 314, a partial image data output unit 315, a partial image data acquisition unit 316, and a partial image data transmission unit 317 are configured. The

The data transmission / reception means 311 receives drawing data transmitted from the image drawing apparatus 2 via the LAN 5, and receives partial image data acquired by the partial image data acquisition means 316 described later via the LAN 5. Is basically the same configuration as the data transmission / reception means 233 of the image drawing apparatus 2.
The partial image data generation unit 312 is a part that generates partial image data based on the drawing data received by the data transmission / reception unit 311. When the partial image data is generated, the partial image data generation unit 312 is set by the display area setting unit 313. Partial image data is generated based on the setting area to be displayed.

That is, with reference to FIG. 5 in the drawing area setting described above, the drawing area of 768 pixels × 2560 pixels shown in FIG. 5C secured on the frame buffer of the image drawing device 2 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5A, the projection areas I1 to I3 of the three projectors 4 (D1 to D3: see FIG. 1) are combined.
Therefore, for example, the display area setting means 313 of the image output device 3 in charge of the projection area I1 is 768 pixels in the vertical direction × 1024 in the horizontal direction from the coordinate position (0, 0) of the projection area I1, that is, the left end. The pixel area is set as an area to be displayed by the self.
When the partial image data generating unit 312 determines that there is a part of the image A2 as shown in FIG. 1 in the display area based on the area set by the display area setting unit 313, the partial image data generating unit 312 A part of the image A2 is cut out, generated as partial image data, and written in the frame buffer on the output side.

The overlapping area dimming means 314 is a part that reduces the brightness of the overlapping part of the projection areas I1 to I3 and adjusts the brightness of the projected image with the non-overlapping part. Specifically, with reference to FIG. 5 (B) described above, in the projection area I1, since 256 pixels in the horizontal direction at the right end overlap with the adjacent projection area I2, this projection area I1 is in charge. The overlapping area dimming means 314 of the image output apparatus 3 that reduces the luminance value of the pixel data in the area corresponding to 256 pixels in the right end lateral direction of the partial image data to, for example, halve the partial image data in the overlapping area. Do.
Similarly, the overlap area dimming means 314 of the image output apparatus 3 in charge of the projection area I2 also reduces the brightness value of 256 pixels on the left end, so that the brightness of the overlap area is substantially the same as the brightness of other non-overlapping areas. Be the same.

The partial image data output means 315 outputs the partial image data generated by the partial image data generation means 312 to the projector 4 according to the resolution of the liquid crystal panel constituting the projector 4, and outputs to the projection areas I1 to I3 of the projector 4. A partial image constituting the image A1 is displayed.
The partial image data acquisition unit 316 is a part that acquires partial image data output from the partial image data output unit 315, and the acquired partial image data is output to the partial image data transmission unit 317.
The partial image data acquired by the partial image data acquisition unit 316 includes drawing attribute information including the line type and color of the displayed image A2, display area position coordinate information of its own projection areas I1 to I3, Information on the position information of the overlapping region, the light reduction amount, information on the processing result such as the smoothing processing, and the like are included.
The partial image data transmission unit 317 transmits the partial image data acquired by the partial image data acquisition unit 316 to the image drawing apparatus 2 via the data transmission / reception unit 311 and the LAN 5.

(4) Operation of Multi-Projection System 1 Next, the operation of the multi-projection system 1 described above will be described based on the flowcharts shown in FIGS.
(4-1) Large Screen Display of Generated Drawing Data First, the large screen display of drawing data will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
When the operator selects a predetermined icon with the pen 2P on the image drawing apparatus 2, the drawing data generating means 230 as a program is activated (process S1), and the operation screen G1 as shown in FIG. Is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21 (step S2).
When the operator presses a predetermined position in the drawing area S3 of the operation screen G1 using the pen 2P, the position is detected by the matrix switch 22, and the drawing data generating means 230 generates drawing data based on the detected position. (Processing S3).
The drawing data transmission unit 231 transmits the drawing data generated by the drawing data generation unit 230 from the data transmission / reception unit 233 to the image output device 3 (V1 to V3) via the LAN 5 (processing S4).
Thereafter, when the operator operates the pen 2P to perform further drawing, the drawing data generating unit 230 repeats the processing S3 and the processing S4 and transmits the updated new drawing data to the image output device 3 (processing S5). ).

The transmitted drawing data is received by the data transmission / reception unit 311 of each image output device 3 (processing S6), and the partial image data generation unit 312 draws the drawing data within the region to be displayed from the received drawing data. It is determined whether or not a part of exists (process S7).
When the partial image data generating unit 312 determines that a part of the drawing data exists in the region to be displayed by the partial image data generating unit 312, based on the display region coordinates set by the display region setting unit 313, the drawing data Are cut out to generate partial image data (step S8). If not, the process proceeds to the next process.

The overlapping area dimming unit 314 sets the amount of light reduction so that the luminance value of the portion corresponding to the overlapping area is lowered, and performs the light reduction processing of the portion corresponding to the overlapping area of the partial image data (processing S9).
The partial image data output means 315 writes the partial image data subjected to the dimming process to the frame buffer and outputs it to the connected projector 4 (processing S10). The projector 4 (D1 to D3) receives the input. Based on the partial image data, projection images are formed on the projection areas I1 to I3, and these are combined to display the image A2 as an enlarged image in the large screen display area I (processing S11).
When the multi-projection system 1 executes these processes, the operator can use the large screen display area I as if it were a huge whiteboard simply by drawing on the image drawing device 2.

(4-2) Saving Drawing Data Next, saving of the image A2 displayed on the large screen display area I will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
The drawing data generation unit 230 monitors whether or not the operator presses the Save button for the file in the area AR2 of the operation screen G1 shown in FIG. 3 (Step S21). The saved data selection means 234 displays the dialog box screen G3 shown in FIG. 6 on the liquid crystal display 21, and prompts the user to input a file name, select a file format, and select drawing data to be saved (processing S22).

When the operator selects “save the entire contents of the display screen” as the saved data, the drawing data generation means 230 acquires the partial image data displayed by each of the image output devices 3 (V1 to V3). A command to this effect is transmitted (processing S23).
The partial image data acquisition means 316 of each image output device 3 first updates the data in the frame buffer by locking the image data in the frame buffer currently output to the projector 4 based on the command from the image drawing device 2. Is stopped (step S24). As a thread for locking the frame buffer, a semaphore, mutex or the like having an initial value of 1 can be used.

When the frame buffer is locked, the partial image data acquisition unit 316 acquires the partial image data in the frame buffer (processing S25), and when the acquisition of the partial image data is completed, unlocks the frame buffer (processing S26). .
The partial image data acquired by the partial image data acquisition unit 316 is output to the partial image data transmission unit 317, and the partial image data transmission unit 317 transmits the acquired partial image data from the data transmission / reception unit 311 via the LAN 5. It transmits to the image drawing apparatus 2 (process S27).

The image data synthesizing means 235 of the image drawing device 2 waits until partial image data is transmitted from all the image output devices 3 (V1 to V3) (processing S28), and when all the partial image data is acquired, Each partial image data is combined to generate composite image data (processing S29).
When the composite image data is generated, the data encoding unit 236 encodes the composite image data in accordance with the format specified on the dialog box screen G3 (process S30).
When the encoding of the composite image data is completed, the image data writing unit 237 writes and stores the encoded composite image data as a file on the hard disk 24 (process S31).
As described above, according to the multi-projection system 1 of the present embodiment, the operator draws with the pen 2P, and writes and saves the image A1 displayed in the large screen display area I in the recording medium such as the hard disk 24 as it is. can do.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, the same parts as those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.
In the first embodiment described above, the image drawing apparatus 2 transmits the generated drawing data to all the image output apparatuses 3, and in each image output apparatus 3, the projection area I 1 that the display area setting unit 313 takes charge of is displayed. In response to .about.I3, the partial image data generating means 312 generates partial image data by cutting out a part of the drawing data and outputs it to the projector 4.
In contrast, as shown in FIG. 10, the multi-projection system 6 according to the second embodiment has the same connection form as that of the first embodiment, but the image drawing apparatus 7 generates drawing data. Thereafter, partial image data is generated, and partial image data corresponding to the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 of each image output device 8 is transmitted to each image output device 8.

(1) Configuration of Multi-Projection System 6 That is, the image drawing device 7 constituting the multi-projection system 6 is executed as a program in comparison with the image drawing device 2 according to the first embodiment as shown in FIG. The partial image data generation means 711 to be performed is added.
The partial image data generating unit 711 generates a partial image from the drawing image A1 generated by the drawing data generating unit 230 according to the connected image output device 8 (V1 to V3), and the data transmitting / receiving unit 233 is used. It transmits to each image output device 8.

Specifically, the partial image data generation unit 711 generates the drawing data generation unit 230 based on the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 of the image output devices 8 (V1 to V3) set by the drawing area setting unit 232. The drawn image data is cut out to generate partial image data.
The partial image data generation means 711 outputs each image output as shown in FIG. 12B from the large screen display area I as shown in FIG. 12A set by the drawing area setting means 232, for example. Partial image data is generated by cutting out drawing data according to the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 of the apparatus 8 (V1 to V3).
The partial image data transmission unit 712 is a part that transmits the generated partial image data to each image output device 8 via the data transmission / reception unit 233 and the LAN 5.
The transmitted partial image data differs depending on the image output device 8. For example, as shown in FIG. 12C, if the image output device 8 (V1) is used, the partial image data corresponds to its own assigned projection area I1. If it is partial image data and it is the image output device 8 (V2), it becomes partial image data corresponding to its own assigned projection area I2.

  As described above, since the partial image data in which the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 are set is transmitted to the image drawing device 7, the control device 81 of the image output device 8 transmits and receives data as shown in FIG. Means 311, overlap area dimming means 314, partial image data output means 315, partial image data acquisition means 316, and partial image data transmission means 317, the operations of which are the same as those in the first embodiment, and data transmission / reception The partial image data received by the means 311 is output from the partial image data output means 315 to the projector 4 as it is, only by the overlap area dimming means 314 being reduced in the overlap area.

In such a multi-projection system 6 according to the second embodiment, the image A2 is displayed on the large screen display area I based on the flowchart shown in FIG.
As in the case of the first embodiment, when the operator selects a predetermined icon with the pen 2P on the image drawing device 7, the drawing data generation means 230 as a program is activated (step S1), and A similar operation screen is displayed on the liquid crystal display 21 of the image drawing device 7 (processing S2).
When the operator presses a predetermined position in the drawing area of the operation screen using the pen 2P, the position is detected by the matrix switch 22, and the drawing data generating means 230 generates drawing data based on the detected position ( Process S3).

The partial image data generation unit 711 generates partial image data of the image output device 8 (V1 to V3) based on the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 (processing S32).
The partial image data transmission unit 712 transmits the partial image data generated according to the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 to the image output devices 8 (V1 to V3) via the data transmission / reception unit 233 (processing S33). .
Thereafter, when the operator operates the pen 2P to perform further drawing, the drawing data generation unit 230 repeats the processes S3 and S31 to S33, and displays the partial image data corresponding to the updated new drawing data as an image. The data is transmitted to the output device 8 (process S34).

When the data transmitting / receiving unit 311 of each image output device 8 receives the partial image data from the image drawing device 7, the overlapping region dimming unit 314 performs the light reduction processing of the overlapping region (processing S36), and then the partial image data is converted into the partial image data. Writing to the frame buffer and outputting to the projector 4 (process S37), the projector 4 displays a partial image corresponding to the assigned projection areas I1 to I3 based on this (process S38).
On the other hand, the acquisition of partial image data, the synthesis of image data based on the partial image data, the encoding of the synthesized image data, and the writing and storage are the same as in the first embodiment described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.
The multi-projection system 6 according to the second embodiment can also enjoy the same effects as those described in the first embodiment.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
In the first embodiment described above, only one image drawing device 2 is connected on the LAN 5, and even if the “Save all contents of display screen” button is selected on the dialog box screen G3, the image drawing device 2 is connected. Only the image A2 drawn by the image drawing apparatus 2 and displayed in the large screen display area I is the object to be saved.

  On the other hand, in the multi-projection system 9 according to the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of image drawing apparatuses 2 are connected to the LAN 5, and the liquid crystal of each image drawing apparatus 2 is connected. The difference is that the drawing data of the drawing images A11 to A13 drawn on the pen tablets 2T1 to 2T3 are respectively output to the image output device 3 and displayed on the large screen display area I as images A21 to A23 at the same time. Note that the only difference is the number of connections of the image drawing device 2, and the other structures of the image drawing device 2, the image output device 3, the projector 4, and the like are the same as in the first embodiment.

In such a multi-projection system 6, the operator of the image drawing apparatus 2 that is drawing the drawing image A11 presses the save file (Save) button, and the dialog box screen G3 is displayed by the save data selection means. When the “Save all contents of display screen” button is selected, partial image data of all the images A21 to A23 displayed in the large screen display area I are output to the respective images by the same processing procedure as in the first embodiment. The image data synthesizing means of the image drawing device 2 acquired by the device 3 uses the images A21 to A23 drawn and generated by all the image drawing devices 2 like the image data file F1 based on the acquired partial image data. Record and save.
On the other hand, when the “save only the contents drawn by itself” button is selected on the dialog box screen G3, the image data synthesizing means of the image drawing apparatus 2 displays only the image A21 written in its own frame buffer. Data is acquired, and only the image A21 is recorded and saved as in the image data file F2.

  Thus, according to the multi-projection system 6, when a plurality of operators display the images A21 to A23 in the large screen display area I using the plurality of image drawing apparatuses 2, the displayed full screen is used as the image data file F1. If saved, images A21 to A23 such as collaborative creation can be saved collectively, while only the self image A21 can be saved as the image data file F2, and the drawn image data is saved in various forms. This has the effect of further improving convenience.

[Modification of Embodiment]
In addition, this invention is not limited to each embodiment mentioned above, The deformation | transformation as shown below is also included.
In each of the embodiments, the liquid crystal pen tablets 2T and 2T1 to 2T3 are used as the pointing device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be, for example, a mouse, a trackball, a digitizer, or the like. Any device can be used as long as the drawing position can be designated and a continuous line can be drawn.
In each of the above embodiments, the projector is employed as the image display device. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be employed in an image display device such as a CRT or PDP.
In addition, the specific structure, shape, and the like in the implementation of the present invention may be other structures as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved.

The schematic diagram showing the structure of the multi-display system which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram showing the structure of the image drawing apparatus in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram showing the operation screen of the image drawing apparatus in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram showing the screen of the drawing area setting in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the method of the drawing area setting in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram showing the screen of the preservation | save data selection in the said embodiment. The block diagram showing the structure of the image output device in the said embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the effect | action of the said embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the effect | action of the said embodiment. The schematic diagram showing the structure of the multi-display system which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram showing the structure of the image drawing apparatus in the said embodiment. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the method of the area | region conversion in the said embodiment. The block diagram showing the structure of the image output device in the said embodiment. The flowchart for demonstrating the effect | action of the said embodiment. The schematic diagram showing the structure of the multi-display system which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the file storage method of the image data in the said embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 6, 9 ... Multi-projection system, 2T, 2T1-2T3 ... Liquid crystal pen tablet, 2, 7 ... Image drawing apparatus, 3, 8 ... Image output device, 4 ... Projector, 24 ... Hard disk, 230 ... Drawing data generation means 231 ... Drawing data transmission means, 232 ... Drawing area setting means, 233 ... Data transmission / reception means, 234 ... Saved data selection means, 235 ... Image data composition means, 237 ... Image data writing means, 311 ... Data transmission / reception means, 312 ... partial image data generation means, 313 ... display area setting means, 314 ... overlapping area dimming means, 315 ... partial image data output means, 316 ... partial image data acquisition means, 317 ... partial image data transmission means, 711 ... partial image Data generation means, 712 ... Partial image data transmission means

Claims (7)

An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A multi-display system comprising a plurality of image output devices for output and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
The image drawing device includes:
Data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving data to / from each image output device via the network;
Drawing data generating means for generating drawing data drawn by operation of the pointing device;
Drawing data transmission means for transmitting to each image output device via the data transmission / reception means,
The image output device includes:
Data transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image drawing device via the network;
Partial image data generating means for generating partial image data based on the drawing data received via the data transmitting / receiving means;
Partial image data output means for outputting the generated partial image data to the image display device;
Partial image data acquisition means for acquiring partial image data output from the partial image data output means;
A partial image data transmission unit that transmits the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device via the data transmission / reception unit;
The image drawing device includes:
Image data synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of partial image data received from each image output device via the data transmitting / receiving means;
A multi-display system comprising: composite image data writing means for writing the combined image data into a recording medium that can be read and written from the image drawing apparatus. The multi-display system according to claim 1.
The image output device includes:
A multi-display system comprising display area setting means for setting a display area of partial image data to be displayed by itself. An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A multi-display system comprising a plurality of image output devices for output and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
The image drawing device includes:
Data transmitting / receiving means for transmitting / receiving data to / from each image output device via the network;
Drawing data generating means for generating drawing data drawn by operation of the pointing device;
Partial image data generating means for generating a plurality of partial image data based on the generated drawing data;
Partial image data transmission means for transmitting to each image output device via the data transmission / reception means,
The image output device includes:
Data transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving data to and from the image drawing device via the network;
Partial image data output means for outputting the partial image data received by the data transmission / reception means to the image display device;
Partial image data acquisition means for acquiring partial image data received via the data transmission / reception means;
A partial image data transmission unit that transmits the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device via the data transmission / reception unit;
The image drawing device includes:
Image data synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of partial image data received from each image output device via the data transmitting / receiving means;
A multi-display system comprising: composite image data writing means for writing the combined image data into a recording medium that can be read and written from the image drawing apparatus. The multi-display system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A plurality of the image drawing devices are connected to the network,
The image drawing device includes:
Saved data selection means for prompting selection of whether drawing data generated by its own drawing data generation means is stored in the recording medium or combined image data combined by the image data combining means is stored in the recording medium A multi-display system characterized by The multi-display system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The image drawing device includes:
A multi-display system comprising drawing area setting means for setting a drawing area constituted by the plurality of image display devices. The multi-display system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The image display device includes:
A multi-display system characterized by being a projector that modulates a light beam emitted from a light source in accordance with image information to form an optical image and projects it in an enlarged manner. An image drawing device that generates drawing data drawn by operating a connected pointing device, and a partial image data of the drawing data that is connected to the image drawing device and generated by the image drawing device. A program executed on a multi-display system including a plurality of image output devices to output and a plurality of image display devices connected to each of the plurality of image output devices,
In the image drawing device,
Generating drawing data drawn by operating the pointing device;
Sending the generated drawing data to each image output device via the network,
In the image output device,
A procedure of receiving drawing data transmitted from the image drawing device;
A procedure for generating partial image data based on the received drawing data;
A procedure of outputting the generated partial image data to the image display device;
Obtaining partial image data output to the image display device;
A procedure for transmitting the acquired partial image data to the image drawing device;
In the image drawing device,
Receiving a plurality of partial image data transmitted from each image output device; and
A procedure for combining a plurality of received partial image data;
A program for causing the synthesized image data to be written in a recording medium that can be read and written from the image drawing apparatus.

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