JP2008139801A - Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the response speed of image display by forming the image data corresponding to a display portion preferentially to the image data corresponding to a non-display portion. <P>SOLUTION: In the image forming apparatus, a display region discrimination section 110 discriminates the display portion and non-display portion of each object and a drawing section 130 forms the image data corresponding to the display portion preferentially to the non-display portion. An image display element 150 makes the display image data based on the image data formed by the drawing section 130 be displayed on the image display device 160. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for forming image data to be displayed on a display device such as a display.

  In forming an image, an image forming apparatus that forms image data to be displayed on a display device by using a drawing command, a page description language, a graphic language, or an intermediate language for describing them is generally widely used (for example, patent literature). 1). For example, when drawing data described in an image description language such as PDL, SVG, or OpenVG is input, the drawing data is interpreted and displayed on each page or each frame or displayed on each screen. Moving image data is formed.

  The input drawing data is mainly described so as to display a plurality of types of objects on the display device. The formed image data is a one-page raster image or a compressed image. The formed image data is temporarily stored in a storage device as necessary, or displayed on a display device after image processing such as page composition and rotation.

  As a conventional example of the image forming apparatus as described above, there is known an apparatus that forms image data of an entire area of each object regardless of whether it is displayed on a display device.

  As another conventional example, for each object, a portion that is displayed on a display device and a portion that is not displayed are discriminated, and only image data corresponding to the displayed portion is formed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-202825

  However, in the former conventional example, the image data of the entire area of each object is formed regardless of whether it is displayed on the display device, so the processing load increases, and from drawing data input to screen display. Will slow down the response speed.

  In the latter conventional example, when the display position of a certain object moves, the non-display part of another object may become a display part due to the movement. In this case, the process for forming the image data of the portion is started after receiving the movement of the display position of the certain object. Therefore, there is a problem that the response speed of the image display after the moving display of the object becomes slow.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the response speed of image display.

The image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes a determination unit that determines a display portion and a non-display portion in a display device of each object, and image data corresponding to the display portion of each object corresponds to a non-display portion of each object. Image data forming means for giving priority to image data to be formed, and display control means for displaying the image data formed by the image data forming means on the display device.
The image forming method of the present invention is an image forming method by an image forming apparatus, and includes a determination step for determining a display portion and a non-display portion of each object display device, and image data corresponding to the display portion of each object. An image data forming step for forming the image data corresponding to the non-display portion of each object in priority, and a display control step for displaying the image data formed in the image data forming step on the display device. It is characterized by including.
The program according to the present invention includes a determination step of determining a display portion and a non-display portion in a display device of each object, and image data corresponding to the display portion of each object, and an image corresponding to the non-display portion of each object. An image data forming step formed with priority over data, and a display control step for displaying the image data formed in the image data forming step on the display device are executed by a computer.

  In the present invention, the image data corresponding to the display portion is formed with priority over the image data corresponding to the non-display portion. Therefore, first, image data of a display portion to be displayed is formed first, and the image data of the display portion to be displayed can be quickly displayed. Further, since the image data corresponding to the non-display portion is also formed, for example, the image display after the moving display of a certain object can be quickly performed. Therefore, according to the present invention, the response speed of image display can be improved.

(First embodiment)
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment forms image data of an object to be displayed on the image display device 160, and further performs a process such as composition on the formed image data (raster image, compressed image, etc.), thereby Display image data of a display image including an object can be output. Here, the object means a unit image such as a graphic or other image displayed on the image display device 160. Details will be described below.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 100 denotes a drawing control unit. The drawing control unit 100 receives input of drawing data and transfers the drawing data to the display area determination unit 110 that is a determination unit. In addition, the drawing control unit 100 determines, based on the description of the transferred drawing data, a portion (display portion) displayed in the image display region of the image display device 160 and a portion not displayed (non-display portion). The determination unit 110 is instructed.

  The drawing data is PDL, SVG, or an intermediate language obtained by interpreting them, and is a drawing command for drawing one or more objects. The drawing data includes, for example, edge information and level information of the object itself. Further, the drawing data includes information on the vertical relationship between the outer shape of the object, the display position, and the layer (hierarchy) between the objects as determination information for determining the display portion of the object in the image display area of the image display device 160. ing. The drawing control unit 100 also provides the display area determination unit 110 with display range information indicating the image display area of the image display device 160 together with the drawing data as other determination information for determining the display portion.

  In the above description, a case where drawing data such as one independent PDL or SVG is drawn has been described. However, a plurality of objects to be displayed on the image display device 160 may be formed by drawing independent drawing data. Good. In this case, the drawing control unit 100 further provides information (display priority information) indicating the display priority among a plurality of objects to the display region determination unit 110 as the image display region determination information. Then, the display area determination unit 110 determines a display portion and a non-display portion of each object from the display range information of the image display device 160, information included in the drawing data itself, display priority information between objects, and the like. . In the following description, a case where a plurality of windows are displayed by independent drawing data will be described. That is, each window is an object formed by independent drawing data.

  Next, an example of the relationship between the image display area of the image display device 160 and a plurality of windows (objects) will be described with reference to FIG. 3A. In FIG. 3A, 300 indicates an image display area in the image display device 160, and 310, 320, and 330 indicate windows. In this example, the window 310 has a higher display priority than the window 320. Further, a part of the window 330 is displayed at a position protruding from the image display area 300. In other words, in this example, the display priority information indicates that the window 310 has a higher display priority than the window 320. Based on the display priority information and the drawing data of the windows 310 and 320, the display priority information is displayed. The display part and the non-display part of the windows 310 and 320 can be discriminated. Further, the display portion and non-display portion of the window 330 can be determined based on the display range information and the drawing data of the window 330.

  Furthermore, an example of the determination result by the display area determination unit 110 of the display part and the non-display part will be described with reference to FIG. 3B. In FIG. 3B, the window 320 is identified as a display part 321 and a non-display part 322 hidden under the window 310. Further, regarding the window 330, it is shown that the display portion 331 and the non-display portion 332 outside the image display area 300 are discriminated. It should be noted that the window 310 indicates that all the areas thereof are determined as the display portion 311.

  The display area discriminating unit 110 transmits the discrimination result regarding the display part and the non-display part as described with reference to FIG. 3B to the drawing data dividing unit 120 together with the drawing data. When the drawing data dividing unit 120 receives the determination result report and drawing data regarding the display portion and the non-display portion, the drawing data dividing unit 120 divides the drawing data into drawing data for the display portion and drawing data for the non-display portion for each window. Store in the buffer 170. Further, after storing the divided drawing data, the drawing data dividing unit 120 performs drawing control on the storage address of the drawing data for the display portion in the drawing data buffer 170 and the storage address of the drawing data for the non-display portion in the drawing data buffer 170. Transmitted to the unit 100.

  When the drawing control unit 100 receives the storage address from the drawing data dividing unit 120, the drawing control unit 100 issues an object drawing command for the display portion to the drawing unit 130 and notifies the storage address of each drawing data. Upon receiving the drawing command and notification, the drawing unit 130 reads the drawing data of the display portion from the drawing data buffer 170 and performs drawing, thereby forming image data corresponding to the drawing data of the display portion. The formed image data is stored in the image data buffer 180. After storing the image data, the drawing unit 130 transmits the storage address of each image data in the image data buffer 180 to the drawing control unit 100. In other words, the drawing unit 130 is an image data forming unit and constitutes a storage unit that stores image data.

  Here, the storage state of the image data in the image data buffer 180 will be described with reference to FIG. 3C. In FIG. 3C, an area 340 of the image data buffer 180 is a storage area for the image data of the display part, and an area 341 of the image data buffer 180 is a storage area for the image data of the non-display part. As shown in the figure, the area 340 stores only the image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331 described with reference to FIG. 3B.

  Upon receiving the image data storage address from the drawing unit 130, the drawing control unit 100 instructs the display image forming unit 140 to form display image data that is image data actually displayed on the image display device 160. And the storage address of each image data is notified. Upon receiving this instruction and notification, the display image forming unit 140 reads the image data of the display portion from the image data buffer 180, performs processing such as composition, forms display image data, and displays the display image data as a display image. Store in buffer 190. The storage address of the display image data in the display image buffer 190 is transmitted from the display image forming unit 140 to the drawing control unit 100. The drawing control unit 100 issues a command to form the display image data and the like, while issuing a command to the drawing unit 130 to draw the drawing data of the non-display portion.

  FIG. 3D is a diagram schematically showing a storage state of display image data in the display image buffer 190. FIG. 3F schematically shows a state in which the image data generated by drawing the drawing data of the non-display portion is stored in the image data buffer 180 together with the image data of the display portion already stored. FIG. The image data of the non-display portion is image data generated when the drawing unit 130 draws the drawing data of the non-display portion in response to the command from the drawing control unit 100 described above.

  Upon receiving the display image data storage address from the display image forming unit 140, the drawing control unit 100 issues a command to display the display image on the image display device 160 to the image display unit 150 and displays the display image. Notify the data storage address.

  When receiving an instruction or the like from the drawing control unit 100, the image display unit 150 reads display image data from the display image buffer 190 and transfers the display image data to the image display device 160 for display. The display image forming unit 140 and the image display unit 150 constitute a display control unit.

  A series of processes in the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S200, the drawing control unit 100 waits for input of drawing data, and transfers the drawing data to the display area determination unit 110 when input is made.

  In step S <b> 201, the drawing control unit 100 also transfers display range information regarding the image display area of the image display device 160 and display priority information of the window (object) to the display area determination unit 110.

  Next, in step S202, the display area determination unit 110 determines the display portion and non-display portion of each object from the description of the drawing data input in step S200 based on the information provided in step S201. . Then, the display area determination unit 110 sends the determination result regarding the display part and the non-display part to the drawing data dividing unit 120 together with the drawing data.

  Next, in step S203, the drawing data dividing unit 120 divides the drawing data into drawing data for the display portion and drawing data for the non-display portion based on the determination result received in step S202, and the drawing data buffer 170. To store.

  In step S <b> 204, the drawing unit 130 receives an object drawing command for the display portion from the drawing control unit 100, reads the drawing data for the display portion from the drawing data buffer 170, performs drawing, and forms image data. In step S <b> 205, the drawing unit 130 stores the image data of the display portion in the image data buffer 180. By the processing so far, the image data forming process of the display portion displayed on the image display device 160 is completed.

  Subsequently, the processing shifts to processing from step S208 for forming the display image data of the display portion, and shifts to processing from step S206 for forming the image data of the non-display portion.

  In step S206 and step S207, the drawing unit 130 receives an object drawing command for the non-display portion from the drawing control unit 100, reads the drawing data for the non-display portion from the drawing data buffer 170, performs drawing, and forms image data. To do. Then, the process returns to step S <b> 205, and the drawing unit 130 stores the formed image data of the non-display portion in the image data buffer 180.

  Next, a display image data forming process performed in parallel with the image data forming process for the non-display portion will be described. First, in step S <b> 208, the display image forming unit 140 receives an instruction to form display image data from the drawing control unit 100, thereby reading the display portion image data from the image data buffer 180 and forming display image data. . Further, in step S209, the display image forming unit 140 stores the formed display image data in the display image buffer 190, and the process proceeds to step S210.

  Next, in step S210, the image display unit 150 transfers the display image data stored in the display image buffer 190 to the image display device 160 for display.

  Further, regarding the process during displaying the display image data, first, in step S211, the drawing control unit 100 monitors whether or not new drawing data has been input while the display image data is being displayed. When new drawing data is input, the process returns to step S200, and the series of processes described above is performed to display the display image data of the new object.

  On the other hand, when there is no input of new drawing data during display image data display, the process proceeds to step S212. In step S212, the drawing control unit 100 monitors whether or not the display position of the currently displayed object has been moved by an operation means such as a mouse. That is, the drawing control unit 100 constitutes a monitoring unit that monitors a change in the display position of the object. If there is no movement of the display position of the object, the process proceeds to step S210 to maintain the current display state. When the movement of the display position of the object is detected, the process proceeds to step S208, and the drawing control unit 100 instructs the display image forming unit 140 to form new display image data.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3F, the image data buffer 180 stores the already formed image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331 and the image data of the non-display portions 322 and 332. Accordingly, the display image forming unit 140 can immediately read out the image data of the display part and the non-display part from the image data buffer 180 according to the movement of the object, so that the display image data corresponding to the movement of the object can be quickly obtained. Can be formed. As described above, in the present embodiment, when the display position of the object is moved, it is not necessary to draw the drawing data again and perform the processing of steps S200 to S204 for forming the image data. Can be formed. Therefore, it is possible to speed up the processing until the display image data is formed, and to reduce the processing load.

  FIG. 3E is a diagram illustrating an example of object movement display. Here, a case where the display position of the window 310 is moved by the operation of the mouse or the like is shown. At this time, the display image forming unit 140 uses the image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331 and the image data of the non-display portions 322 and 332 already formed as shown in FIG. Form data. As shown in FIG. 3E, when the display position of the window 310 is changed, the image of the non-display portion 322 in FIG. 3F including the new display portion 323 in addition to the image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331. Data has already been formed. The display corresponding to the movement of the display position of the window 310 using the image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331 and the image data of the non-display portions 322 and 332 already formed as shown in FIG. 3F. Image data can be generated quickly.

  As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the image data of the display portion of the object is formed first. As described above, by forming the image data only in the display portion first, even when there are many objects, the display image data of the display portion can be generated and displayed at high speed.

  Further, in parallel with the formation of the display image data of the display portion, the image data of the non-display portion is formed. Therefore, even when the display position of the object is moved, the image data of the non-display portion is already prepared, so that new display image data can be displayed in response to high speed.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the image forming apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the image forming apparatus 20, portions common to the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. In addition, this embodiment will be described by appropriately using FIGS.

  The difference between the image forming apparatus 20 according to the present embodiment and the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is that the image forming apparatus 20 includes two drawing units (the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131), The drawing load monitoring unit 135 (load monitoring unit) for monitoring the loads of the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 is provided. Similar to the first embodiment, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 receive an object drawing command from the drawing control unit 100 and read out drawing data divided into a display portion and a non-display portion from the drawing data buffer 170. Then, drawing is performed to form image data.

  In the present embodiment, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 are provided, but two or more drawing units (image data forming unit and storage unit) may be used. Further, when two or more drawing units are configured, each drawing unit operates in parallel. That is, in this embodiment, by assigning drawing data to each of a plurality of drawing units, a plurality of drawing processes can be performed simultaneously to form image data.

  The drawing load monitoring unit 135 monitors drawing loads of the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131. An arbitrary load threshold is set in advance in the drawing load monitoring unit 135 by the drawing control unit 100. When at least one of the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 is below the load threshold, the drawing load monitoring unit 135 notifies the drawing control unit 100 of information notifying the drawing unit that has fallen below the load threshold. introduce.

  When the drawing control unit 100 receives the notification information from the drawing load monitoring unit 135, the drawing control unit 100 instructs the drawing unit that has fallen below the load threshold to form image data of a non-display portion. That is, the drawing control unit 100 configures a control unit that controls the process of forming the image data of the non-display portion based on the monitoring result of the drawing load monitoring unit 135.

  Hereinafter, a series of processes in the image forming apparatus 20 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, in step S500, the drawing control unit 100 waits for input of drawing data. When drawing data is input, the drawing control unit 100 transfers the drawing data to the display area determination unit 110.

  In step S 501, the drawing control unit 100 also transfers display range information related to the image display area of the image display device 160 and display priority information of the window (object) to the display area determination unit 110.

  Next, in step S502, the display area determination unit 110 determines a display portion and a non-display portion of each object from the description of the drawing data input in step S500 based on the information provided in step S501. . Then, the display area determination unit 110 sends the determination result regarding the display part and the non-display part to the drawing data dividing unit 120 together with the drawing data.

  Next, in step S503, the drawing data dividing unit 120 divides the drawing data into drawing data for the display portion and drawing data for the non-display portion based on the determination result received in step S502, and the drawing data buffer 170. To store.

  In step S504, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 receive a display object drawing command from the drawing control unit 100, read the drawing data of the display portion from the drawing data buffer 170, perform drawing, and form image data. . In step S <b> 505, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 store the image data of the display portion in the image data buffer 180.

  In step S504, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 perform drawing, and in step S506, the drawing load monitoring unit 135 monitors the drawing load of the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131. When at least one of the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 is below the load threshold, information for notifying the drawing unit below the load threshold is transmitted to the drawing control unit 100.

  In step S507, when the drawing control unit 100 receives information that is below the load threshold, the drawing control unit 100 issues a drawing command for drawing data of the non-display portion to the drawing unit that is below the load threshold. Upon receiving the drawing command, the drawing unit forms image data of the non-display portion in step S504, and stores the image data of the non-display portion formed in step S505 in the image data buffer 180. That is, here, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 make a load-related determination, and the drawing unit determined to have a margin for forming the image data of the non-display portion is displayed together with the display portion image data. The image data of the non-display portion is formed. Further, even when it is initially determined that the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131 have no room for processing to form image data of a non-display portion, the load monitoring unit 135 sequentially monitors the load. Thus, when the margin for forming the image data of the non-display portion can be confirmed, the image data of the non-display portion is formed from that time.

  Next, the display image data forming process and display process after step S508 will be described. First, in step S508, when the display image forming unit 140 receives a command to form display image data from the drawing control unit 100, the display image forming unit 140 reads the image data of the display portion from the image data buffer 180 and forms display image data. . Then, the display image forming unit 140 stores the formed display image data in the display image buffer 190 in step S509.

  Next, in step S510, the image display unit 150 transfers the display image data stored in the display image buffer 190 to the image display device 160 for display.

  Further, regarding the processing during displaying the display image data, first, in step S511, the drawing control unit 100 monitors whether or not new drawing data has been input in the image of the display image data. If new drawing data is input, the process returns to step S500, and the series of processes described above is performed to display the display image data of the new object.

  On the other hand, if no new drawing data is input during display image data display, the process proceeds to step S512. In step S512, the drawing control unit 100 monitors whether the display position of the currently displayed object has been moved, for example, by an operation of a mouse or the like. If the display position of the object has not been moved, the process moves to step S510 and maintains the current display state. When the movement of the display position of the object is detected, the process proceeds to step S508, and the drawing control unit 100 instructs the display image forming unit 140 to form new display image data.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 3F, the image data buffer 180 has already formed image data of the display portions 311, 321 and 331, and non-display portions 322 and 332, as in the first embodiment. Image data is stored. Accordingly, the display image forming unit 140 can immediately read out the image data of the display part and the non-display part from the image data buffer 180 according to the movement of the object, so that the display image data corresponding to the movement of the object can be quickly obtained. Can be formed. As described above, in the present embodiment, when the display position of the object is moved, it is not necessary to perform the processes of steps S500 to S504 for drawing the drawing data again and forming the image data. Can be formed. Therefore, it is possible to speed up the processing until the display image data is formed, and to reduce the processing load.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the image data of the display portion of the object is preferentially formed. In this way, by preferentially forming the image data of the display portion, it is possible to generate and display the display image data of the display portion at high speed even when there are many objects.

  Further, the image data of the non-display portion is formed in parallel with the formation of the image data of the display portion. Therefore, even when the display position of the object is moved, the image data of the non-display portion is already prepared, so that new display image data can be displayed in response to high speed.

  Furthermore, since the image data of the non-display portion is formed in the drawing portion with a low processing load, the processing capability of the drawing portion can be effectively utilized.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus 30 according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the image forming apparatus 30, portions that are common to the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  The difference between the image forming apparatus 30 according to the present embodiment and the image forming apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment is that the image forming apparatus 10 includes an active object information receiving unit 101, a data receiving unit 102, and an object priority order determining unit. 103 and a time measuring unit 104 are added. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

  The active object information receiving unit 101 receives information (active object information) that is selected by a pre-existing application software program and transmits the designated object to the drawing control unit 100 as an active object. The active object here refers to an object that changes in movement or the like as time passes among objects displayed on the image display device 160.

  The data receiving unit 102 serving as an input unit receives data and commands for drawing the next screen and notifies the drawing control unit 100 of the received information.

  The object priority determination unit 103 serving as a priority determination unit receives the determination result regarding the display portion and the non-display portion from the display area determination unit 110 and receives the active object information from the active object information reception unit 101. Then, the object priority order determination unit 103 preferentially forms a non-display portion of another object that appears when the active object moves on the next screen based on the determination result and the active object information. To do. That is, among the non-display parts of the object, the priority order for the formation order is sequentially set so that the priority is higher for the non-display part of the object closer to the active object.

  A time measuring unit 104 serving as a measuring unit measures a preset time. As an example of the time set in advance, for example, when the object is a moving image or animation, the time for displaying one frame thereof can be cited. When the preset time elapses, the time measurement unit 104 transmits information for notifying that the preset time has elapsed to the drawing control unit 100.

  The outline of the present embodiment will be described by taking the display image image shown in FIG. 8 as an example. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 806 denotes a time F allocated to display of each screen. Reference numeral 807 denotes a preset drawing time T. Reference numeral 801 denotes the time required for the image data forming process for the display part of the object on each screen, and reference numeral 802 denotes the time required for the image data forming process for the non-display part of the object on each screen.

  Reference numeral 808 denotes a screen state for each screen. Reference numeral 805 denotes an image display area of the image display device 160 that can be actually seen, and 804 denotes an area outside the image display area. Here, it is assumed that the object A, which is the active object displayed on the image display device 160, moves as time F = 0, 1, 2 elapses.

  Hereinafter, a series of processes in the image forming apparatus 30 that outputs the display image shown in FIG. 8 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 and FIGS.

  First, in step S700, the drawing control unit 100 waits for input of drawing data, and transfers the drawing data to the display area determination unit 110 when input is made.

  In step S <b> 701, the drawing control unit 100 also transfers display range information regarding the image display area of the image display device 160 and display priority information of the window (object) to the display area determination unit 110.

  Next, in step S702, the display area determination unit 110 determines the display portion and non-display portion of each object from the description of the drawing data input in step S700 based on the information provided in step S701. . Then, the display area determination unit 110 sends the determination result regarding the display part and the non-display part to the drawing data dividing unit 120 together with the drawing data.

  In step S703, the drawing data dividing unit 120 divides the drawing data into drawing data for the display portion and drawing data for the non-display portion based on the determination result received in step S702, and the drawing data buffer 170 is divided. To store. The drawing data dividing unit 120 stores the drawing data in the drawing data buffer 170 and then transmits the drawing data storage address of the display portion in the drawing data buffer 170 to the display control unit 100.

  In step S <b> 704, when the drawing control unit 100 receives the display data storage address, the drawing control unit 100 issues an object drawing command to the drawing unit 130 so as to form image data of the display portion. In response to this, the drawing unit 130 reads the drawing data of the display portion from the drawing data buffer 170 and performs drawing to form image data. In step S <b> 705, the drawing unit 130 stores the image data of the display portion in the image data buffer 180. By the processing so far, the image data forming process of the display portion displayed on the image display device 160 is completed.

  Subsequently, the processing shifts to the processing from step S706 for forming the display image data of the display portion and the processing from step S707 for forming the image data of the non-display portion.

  In step S706, the display image forming unit 140 reads the image data of the display portion from the image data buffer 180, and forms display image data. In step S <b> 710, the display image forming unit 140 stores the formed display image data in the display image buffer 190.

  Next, in step S711, the image display unit 150 reads the display image data of the display portion from the display image buffer 190, transfers the display image data to the image display device 160, and displays the display image data.

  On the other hand, in step S <b> 707, the active object information receiving unit 101 receives active object information indicating an active object and transmits the active object information to the drawing control unit 100. Here, the object A in FIG. 8 is an active object.

  Next, the object priority order determination unit 103 receives the determination result regarding the display portion and the non-display portion from the display area determination unit 110 and also receives the active object information from the drawing control unit 100. In step S708, based on the determination result and the active object information, the object priority determination unit 103 gives priority to non-display parts of other objects that appear when the active object moves on the next screen. Priorities are set for the drawing data of the non-display portion so that drawing is performed, and the priority information is transmitted to the drawing data dividing unit 120.

  Here, the setting of the priority order based on the display position relationship regarding drawing will be described. In this embodiment, the higher the priority is set, the closer the layer (hierarchy) between the active object and the non-display portion of the other object is. In addition, as another index, the one which calculated the distance between the active object and the non-display portion of the other object from the edge information may be considered, or both of them may be used as a reference.

  When the active object is hidden by another object, the non-display portion of the active object is the non-display portion having the highest priority. Next, among the non-display parts hidden by the active object, a higher priority is assigned to the hierarchy in which the non-display part exists close to the active object.

  The priority setting method will be described taking the process at the time of F = 1 in FIG. 8 as an example. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an arrangement relationship of each object at this time point. In FIG. 9A, the active object is the object A. Reference numeral 901 denotes a non-display portion that is generated when the object B is hidden under the object A. Reference numeral 902 denotes a non-display portion caused by the object C hiding under the objects A and B. Reference numeral 904 denotes a non-display portion generated when the object D protrudes outside the image display area of the image display device 160.

  FIG. 9B is a diagram showing the objects A and B extracted from FIG. 9A. FIG. 9C shows the objects A, B and C extracted from FIG. 9A.

  In this example, the non-display portion that exists in the layer (hierarchy) closest to the active object A is the non-display portion 901. Therefore, the highest priority 0 is set for the non-display portion 901. Next, a non-display portion 902 and a non-display portion 904 are listed as targets for setting priority. At this time, since the non-display portion 902 is closer to the edge distance from the object A, that is, the distance from the object A, the non-display portion 902 has priority 1 and the non-display portion 904 has priority. 2 is set.

  The object priority order determination unit 103 transmits the priority order information related to the drawing of the non-display portion of the object as described above to the drawing data division unit 120. The drawing data division unit 120 receives priority information from the object priority determination unit 103 and assigns priority information corresponding to each drawing data of the non-display portion stored in the drawing data buffer 170. The drawing data dividing unit 120 assigns priority order information, and then transmits the storage address of the drawing data of the non-display portion in the drawing data buffer 170 to the drawing control unit 100.

  In step S <b> 709, when receiving the drawing data storage address from the drawing data dividing unit 120, the drawing control unit 100 issues an object drawing command for a non-display portion to the drawing unit 130. In response to this, the drawing unit 130 reads out the drawing data of the non-display portion from the drawing data buffer 170 and performs drawing to form image data. At that time, drawing processing is performed from drawing data having a high priority indicated by the priority information. As a result, image data is formed first from drawing data having a high priority. Subsequently, the process returns to step S <b> 705, and the drawing unit 130 stores the image data of the non-display portion in the image data buffer 180.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing the storage state of the image data in the image data buffer 180 at the time point F = 1 in FIG. The storage area 1001 stores the image data of the display parts of the objects A to D, and the storage area 1002 stores the image data of the non-display parts 901, 902, and 904 of the objects B, C, and D.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. In step S <b> 711, the image display unit 150 acquires the image data of the display portion from the image data buffer 180 and causes the image display device 160 to display the image data.

  In subsequent step S <b> 712, the drawing control unit 100 monitors reception of information from the time measuring unit 104 and the data receiving unit 102. Here, when information is received from the time measuring unit 104 and the data receiving unit 102, the drawing control unit 100 issues a command for interrupting the processing to the drawing unit 130 (step S713). In other words, the drawing unit control unit 100 controls the image data forming process in response to reception of information, specifically, information related to the passage of a predetermined time or input of new data (data related to the next display screen). Configure. When the drawing unit 130 receives a drawing interruption command from the drawing control unit 100, the drawing unit 130 stops the drawing process even if drawing processing of all drawing data is not completed at that time, and the process returns to step S700. Then, in accordance with the processing described so far, drawing data drawing, image data forming, display image data forming, and display image data display on the image display device 160 are performed again.

  Note that the information received from the time measurement unit 104 in step S712 is information that is notified when a predetermined drawing time T that has been set in advance has elapsed. The information received from the data receiving unit 102 in step S712 is information notified when data and a command (drawing data) for drawing the next screen are input.

  In step S714, the display control unit 100 monitors whether the display position of the currently displayed object has moved. If the display position of the object has not moved, the process proceeds to step S711 to maintain the current display state. When the display position of the object is detected, the process proceeds to step S706, and the display control unit 100 instructs the display image forming unit 140 to form display image data.

  As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the image data of the display portion of the object is formed first. As described above, by forming the image data only in the display portion first, even when there are many objects, the display image data of the display portion can be generated and displayed at high speed.

  Further, in parallel with the formation of the display image data of the display portion, the image data of the non-display portion is formed. Therefore, even when the display position of the object is moved, the image data of the non-display portion is already prepared, so that new display image data can be displayed in response to high speed.

  Further, when information from the time measuring unit 104 or the data receiving unit 102 is received, the drawing process is interrupted even if the drawing process of the drawing data is not completed, and the image data formed up to that point is displayed. To display the next screen. Thereby, even when the number of objects increases, the next screen display can be performed at high speed.

  Further, when drawing data is drawn, drawing processing is performed preferentially from drawing data of the non-display portion close to the active object, that is, drawing data that is likely to change from the non-display portion to the display portion due to movement of the active object. Is doing. Thereby, even when the speed is increased by interrupting the drawing process as described above, the quality of the screen display can be kept good.

  Each functional unit described in the first to third embodiments includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown). Specifically, each function of the drawing control unit 100, the display area determination unit 110, the drawing data division unit 120, the drawing unit 130 and the drawing unit 131, the drawing load monitoring unit 135, the display image forming unit 140, and the image display unit 150. Is realized by a program stored in the CPU and ROM. Similarly, the functions of the active object information receiving unit 101, the data receiving unit 102, the object priority order determining unit 103, and the time measuring unit 104 are also realized by programs stored in the CPU and ROM. The drawing data buffer 170, the image data buffer 180, and the display image buffer 190 have a configuration corresponding to a partial storage area of a recording medium such as a RAM. The image display device 160 is configured with a display or the like.

  Note that the present invention may use a storage medium that records a program code of software that implements the functions of the above-described embodiments. In this case, the object of the present invention is achieved by supplying the storage medium to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

  In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention.

  As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a flexible disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a CD-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

  Needless to say, the OS (basic system or operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code.

  Furthermore, the program code read from the storage medium may be written in a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer. In this case, based on the instruction of the written program code, the CPU or the like provided in the function expansion board or function expansion unit may perform part or all of the actual processing.

  Further, in the first to third embodiments described above, the configuration in which the display area determination unit 110 and the drawing data division unit 120 are separated has been described, but these may be configured integrally.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the image forming apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the relationship between the image display area of an image display apparatus, and a some window (object). It is a figure which shows an example of the discrimination | determination result by the display area discrimination | determination part of a display part and a non-display part. It is a figure for demonstrating the storage state of the image data in an image data buffer. It is a figure which shows typically the storage state of the display image data in a display image buffer. It is a figure which shows an example of the movement display of an object. It is a figure which shows typically the state by which the image data produced | generated by drawing the drawing data of a non-display part were stored in the image data buffer with the image data of the display part already stored. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. 6 is a flowchart for explaining processing of an image forming apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image forming apparatus which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. 10 is a flowchart for explaining processing of an image forming apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the display image image for demonstrating the outline | summary of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship of each object in the time of F = 1 of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the storage state of the image data of the image data buffer at the time of F = 1 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

10, 20, 30 Image forming apparatus 100 Drawing control unit 101 Data receiving unit 102 Active object information receiving unit 103 Object priority order determining unit 104 Time measuring unit 110 Display area determining unit 120 Drawing data dividing unit 130, 131 Drawing unit 135 Drawing load Monitoring unit 140 Display image forming unit 150 Image display unit 160 Image display device 170 Drawing data buffer 180 Image data buffer 190 Display image buffer

Claims (12)

A discriminating means for discriminating between a display part and a non-display part in the display device of each object;
Image data forming means for preferentially forming image data corresponding to a display portion of each object over image data corresponding to a non-display portion of each object;
An image forming apparatus comprising: display control means for causing the display device to display image data formed by the image data forming means. Storage means for storing, in a recording medium, image data corresponding to a display portion and image data corresponding to a non-display portion formed by the image data forming means;
Monitoring means for monitoring a change in the display position of the object included in each object,
The display control means controls the image display after the change of the display position of the object using the image data stored in the recording medium when the change of the display position of the object is detected by the monitoring means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is performed. Load monitoring means for monitoring the load of the image data forming means;
The control unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a control unit that controls a process of forming image data corresponding to a non-display portion by the image data forming unit based on a monitoring result by the load monitoring unit. Image forming apparatus.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit controls to form image data corresponding to a non-display portion when a load of the image data forming unit falls below a threshold value.   A plurality of the image data forming means are provided, and the control means forms image data corresponding to a non-display portion with respect to the image data forming means having a load lower than the threshold among the plurality of image data forming means. The image forming apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image forming apparatus is controlled to perform the operation. A measuring means for measuring a predetermined time;
The control unit according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit that controls to stop the image data forming process by the image data forming unit when the predetermined time is measured by the measuring unit. Image forming apparatus. It further has an input means for inputting data relating to the next display screen,
3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control unit configured to control to stop the image data forming process by the image data forming unit when the data related to the next display screen is input by the input unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1. Based on the display positional relationship between the designated object and the other object, further comprising priority order determination means for determining the priority order related to the formation order of the image data corresponding to the non-display portion of the other object,
8. The image data forming unit forms image data corresponding to a non-display portion of the other object in an order according to the priority order determined by the priority order determining unit. The image forming apparatus described in 1.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the priority order determination unit sequentially assigns a higher priority order from a non-display portion having a layer close to the designated object.   10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the priority determination unit assigns a high priority sequentially from a non-display portion having a short distance to the designated object. An image forming method by an image forming apparatus,
A determination step of determining a display part and a non-display part in the display device of each object;
An image data forming step for preferentially forming image data corresponding to the display portion of each object over image data corresponding to the non-display portion of each object;
A display control step of causing the display device to display the image data formed in the image data forming step. A determination step of determining a display part and a non-display part in the display device of each object;
An image data forming step for preferentially forming image data corresponding to the display portion of each object over image data corresponding to the non-display portion of each object;
A program for causing a computer to execute a display control step of causing the display device to display the image data formed in the image data forming step.

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