JP2009216833A - Image display, image transmission server, image display system, image display method, image display program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display allowing a user to understand a correlation between an image before update and an updated image by an easy operation input. <P>SOLUTION: The image display is provided with an image display control part 15 displaying an image in a display area of a display part 16, an operation part 24 acquiring an operation input from the user, a frame line display part 13 superimposing a frame line with a dimension equal to that of the display area to a map image at a position according to the operation input obtained by the operation part 24, a communication means 18 requiring image data for a new image defined by the frame line, which is displaced from the outer circumference of the image to include a part of the image displayed in the display area, from a relay server 30, and an image development part 12 displaying a new map image in the display area based on the image data obtained as a reply to the request. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device that receives and displays an image transmitted from an image transmission device, an image transmission device, an image display system, an image display method, an image display program, and a recording medium.

  Currently, services that acquire and display map images from a server via a network are widely used.

  For example, GoogleMap (http://maps.google.co.jp/) displays a display area for displaying a map, a main area for displaying a main map, and a map showing an area wider than the main area. It consists of sub-regions. The sub area is indicated by the border of the map area currently displayed in the main area, and the display position of the main area can be selected by dragging the border with the mouse etc. Scroll to fit the position.

  The user changes the position of the frame line in the sub area with the mouse and performs an operation of scrolling the area where the main area is displayed. If the map to be scrolled is not acquired in advance, first, a gray area indicating that the map is missing is displayed. Thereafter, the missing map images are sequentially acquired and displayed.

  When the scroll operation is performed, the map data is divided into a plurality of images in a tile shape, and the map data is acquired in divided units, whereby the map image can be acquired efficiently. Through these series of procedures, the user can display a map image of an arbitrary region while knowing roughly the position of the map to be displayed in the main region from the sub-region frame.

  A similar method is also used in a car navigation apparatus. Patent Document 1 discloses a method of reducing the amount of map data to be acquired at the time of scrolling while using an orthogonal coordinate system by dividing map data into brick patterns.

Further, in a device that does not have a sufficient processing speed such as image development by software, processing acceleration using hardware is performed. In general, in the case of the same processing, execution by hardware is performed faster than execution by software. In the image development process, if a hardware decoder is used, an image can be developed at a substantially constant speed per file regardless of the size of the image.
JP 2003-114613 A (published April 18, 2003)

  However, the above map display system is a user interface designed on the assumption that a scroll operation is performed with a mouse. When the input device is in a poor environment, for example, a simple remote where the operation input device is configured only with buttons. In the case of a controller (remote controller), the operation input by the user becomes complicated.

  In addition, simply scrolling the map step by step according to the cursor operation makes it difficult to understand the positional relationship before and after updating the image display, and it is difficult for the user to grasp how much and in what direction the transition has occurred. The problem arises.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image display device that can easily display images before and after updating based on an operation input easy for the user, An object is to realize an image transmission server, an image display system, a program, and a recording medium.

  An image display device of the present invention includes an image display control unit that displays an image in a display area of a display unit, an input acquisition unit that acquires an operation input from a user, and a position corresponding to the operation input acquired by the input acquisition unit A frame line display control means for displaying a frame line having the same size as the display area superimposed on the image, and a frame shifted from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area. Image request means for requesting image data of a new image defined by a line to the image transmission server, and image update means for displaying a new image in the display area based on the image data acquired as a response to the request. It is characterized by having.

  The image display method of the present invention includes a display step of displaying an image in the display area of the display unit, an input acquisition step of acquiring an operation input from a user, and the operation input acquired in the input acquisition step. A frame line display step for displaying a frame line having the same size as the display area superimposed on the image at a position corresponding to the display area, and from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area. An image requesting step for requesting the image transmission server for image data of a new image defined by the shifted frame line, and an image for displaying a new image in the display area based on the image data acquired as a response to the request And an update step.

  According to the above configuration, since the frame line having the same size as the display area is superimposed and displayed on the image, the image data is requested from the server according to the position of the frame line, and the display image is updated. With the operation input, it is possible to grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update.

  This is because the border is displayed as the size of the image to be displayed after the update, and the area that is grasped as the mark of the image before the update, for example, the lower right block in the rectangular display area is displayed in the rectangle This is because the user can confirm at a glance that the frame line is the boundary line of the updated image.

  Thereby, scrolling or redrawing of the image does not occur during the operation of selecting the image, and the user can select the display area clearly and smoothly by the displayed frame. By displaying the center point at the same time as the frame line, scrolling based on the center line or scrolling based on the frame line may be performed.

  In said image display apparatus, it is preferable that the said image data is map image data containing a map image.

  Further, in order to make a request to the image transmission server, the image request server further includes request area determination means for determining a parameter for designating a new map image area defined by the frame line, and the image request means includes the parameter It is preferable to request the map image data based on

  According to said structure, the request | requirement of the map image data containing a map image can be determined easily, and the area | region of the map image which a user desires as a parameter can be requested | required. Specific examples of parameters for designating the map image area include longitude, latitude, scale, image area size, and map image type.

  In the above image display device, the input acquisition means is associated with an input device that indicates a direction.

  According to the above configuration, the interface for acquiring the input operation is configured with input devices that indicate each direction such as up, down, left, and right, and diagonal directions, for example, keys, buttons, switches, etc. Thus, it is possible to intuitively grasp the area of the image to be newly displayed.

  In the above image display device, the input acquisition unit further includes an area determination unit that determines the position of the frame line as an image area to be requested as image data of a new image, and the input device that instructs the direction includes: It is preferable that the input device indicates an upward direction, a downward direction, a right direction, and a left direction.

  According to the above configuration, for example, a simple input device such as a remote controller is used as an input device that indicates the upward direction, the downward direction, the right direction, and the left direction, and the input device that transmits the region selection determination. Therefore, the area of the image to be displayed on the image display apparatus can be determined easily using a simple input device.

  The image display device further includes setting information acquisition means for acquiring setting information in which the association between the operation input and the amount of movement of the frame line and the association between the operation input and the action are defined, The frame line display control unit is configured to associate the operation input with the movement amount of the frame line and the association between the operation input and the action specified in the setting information acquired by the setting information acquisition unit. Based on this, a display position of the frame line on the image is determined.

  According to the above configuration, by changing the setting information, it is possible to change the frame movement unit, the operation settings in the image display apparatus associated with the input device, and the like, regardless of the platform of the image display apparatus. The user-friendly interface can be easily implemented.

  The above setting information is described by using a structured language or script, for example, HTML, Java (registered trademark) Script, SVG, XML, or other languages. It makes it easier, increases productivity, and can be easily developed and handled on various platforms.

  In the image display device, the setting information acquisition unit acquires the setting information together with the image data.

  According to the above configuration, since the image display apparatus acquires setting information together with new image data, an appropriate input operation interface transmitted by the image transmission server can be easily introduced.

  When receiving the setting information from the server, the configuration may be such that the type of the image display device or the software version is transmitted to the server side to update the appropriate setting information. In response to a request for information such as the type of image display device or software version, the corresponding information may be transmitted.

  In the above image display device, the image display control means includes image decoding means for decoding the image data, and the image update means acquires image data generated as one image from the image transmission server. The image decoded by the image decoding means is displayed in the display area. Note that the image decoding means may be a software decoder or a hardware decoder.

  According to the above configuration, since the image display control means includes the image decoding means for decoding the image data received from the server into an image format for display, the image data is displayed at a substantially constant speed regardless of the size of the image data to be displayed. Since the image can be developed, a desired image can be displayed at a higher speed. Also, by receiving the image data generated as one image by the server, the image can be displayed at high speed by effectively utilizing the performance of the hardware decoder.

  In the image display device, the image may be composed of a plurality of divided small images, and the frame display control unit may move the frame in units of the small images.

  According to the above configuration, since the border for selecting a region to be displayed as a new image moves in units of dividing the image, the image transmission server acquires and generates an image when generating new image data. And the response process by the image transmission server can be speeded up.

  Similarly, if the user wants to update the image by moving one block to the left, the frame is the border of the image before and after the update, and the frame is only one block to the left. Since a new image area to be displayed can be designated by performing the movement operation, it is possible to construct an interface that allows the user to intuitively grasp changes before and after the update.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the image transmission server of the present invention provides an image display device from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area of the display unit in the image display device. Based on the received request, request acquisition means for receiving a request for image data of a new image defined by a frame line that is shifted and displayed in the display area, together with information for specifying the range of the new image Image generation means for generating image data of the same size as the display area of the image display device from the image data stored in the storage unit as one image, and the generated image data to the image display device And transmitting means for transmitting.

  According to the above configuration, image data of a predetermined size is requested from the image display device according to the position of the frame line of the same size as the display area of the image display device, and image data of a predetermined range is obtained based on the received request. Since the image data is generated and transmitted to the image display device, the image display device can generate the image data that can grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update with easy operation input. An image transmission server that can transmit to the apparatus can be configured.

  In the image transmission server, the image data is preferably map image data including a map image.

  In the image transmission server, the request acquisition unit further receives a parameter for designating a new map image area defined by a frame line displayed in the display area of the image display device, and generates the image Preferably, the means generates map image data including a map image based on the parameter.

  According to said structure, the request | requirement of the map image data containing a map image can be easily determined by the user of an image display apparatus, and the request | requirement which designates the area | region of the map image which a user desires as a parameter can be received.

  In the image transmission server, in order to allow the user to specify the new image, a frame line having the same size as the display area is displayed superimposed on the image, and the frame line is displayed according to an operation input from the user. The transmission means transmits setting information defining the association between the operation input and the movement direction and movement amount of the frame line together with the image data generated by the image generation means. It is characterized by that.

  According to the above configuration, by changing the setting information, it is possible to change the frame movement unit, the operation settings in the image display apparatus associated with the input device, and the like, regardless of the platform of the image display apparatus. The user-friendly interface can be easily implemented.

  By providing the above-described image display device and an image transmission server, an image display system can be configured.

  The image display device and the image transmission server may be realized by a computer. In this case, the image display device and the image transmission server are controlled by the computer by operating the computer as the respective means. A program and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the image display device and the image display method according to the present invention display a frame line having the same size as the display area superimposed on the image, and display image data of a predetermined size according to the position of the frame line. Since the request is made to the server and the display image is updated, the user can grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update with an easy operation input.

  In addition, the image transmission server according to the present invention is requested by the image display device for image data of a predetermined size according to the position of the frame line having the same size as the display area of the image display device, and based on the received request, the predetermined range. The image data is generated and transmitted to the image display device, so that the image display device user can grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update with easy operation input. As a result, it is possible to transmit to the image display device.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 as follows. In the following description, a map image display system will be described as an example of an image display system including an image display device, a relay server, and an image server. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

The image display device may be a television, a computer, a telephone, a game machine, a portable terminal, and other electronic devices. The same effect can be obtained with an image display device that acquires a partial region of one continuous image from the outside or the inside and displays a new image.
(Description of the entire system)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a map display system 1 according to this embodiment including a map display device 10, a relay server (image transmission server) 30, and an image server (image transmission server) 40.

  In the present embodiment, the relay server 30 and the image server 40 are configured separately and the addition of processing performed on the server is distributed. However, the relay server 30 and the image server 40 are configured by one server, It may be an image transmission server.

  The map display device (image display device) 10 includes an image expansion unit (image display control unit, image update unit, image decoding unit) 12, a frame line display unit (image display control unit, image update unit, frame line display control unit). 13, a control unit (request area determination unit) 14, an image display control unit (image display control unit) 15 including an image development unit 12 and a frame line display unit 13, a display unit 16, a communication unit (image request unit, setting information acquisition) Means) 18, storage unit 20, operation description processing unit 22, operation unit (input acquisition unit, area determination unit) 24, and input unit (input device) 26. The relay server 30 includes a communication unit (request acquisition unit, transmission unit) 32, a control unit 34, an operation description adding unit 36, and an operation description storage unit 38. The image server 40 includes a communication unit (request acquisition unit, transmission unit) 42, a control unit 44, a map generation unit (image generation unit) 46, and a map storage unit 48.

  Image data received via the communication unit 18 is temporarily stored in the storage unit 20, then decoded by the image development unit 12, and converted into a format to be displayed on the display unit 16. The communication unit 18 is a communication control interface that performs communication with the relay server 30. The image development unit 12 is a decoder that converts received image data into a display format. Note that the image decoding means may be a software decoder or a hardware decoder. In the present embodiment, the image decoding means will be described as being configured by a hardware decoder.

  In the development using software, the development speed varies depending on the conditions such as the size, resolution, compression rate, and number of colors of the image file, but by using the hardware decoder, the development is almost constant regardless of the above conditions. Become speed. Further, in most cases, the development using the hardware decoder can be performed at a higher speed than the development using software processing. In particular, at a resolution of about full HD (horizontal 1920 dots × vertical 1080 dots), a single image file is developed at a higher speed when developed by a hardware decoder.

  The control unit 14 is a processing unit that controls communication, storage, image development, image display, and other various processes performed in the map display device 10. The input unit 26 is an input device for accepting an operation input from a user, and includes, for example, a remote controller (remote controller) including buttons and switches.

  The operation unit 24 converts the user operation information input from the input unit 26 into an input operation based on definition information that defines the operation content corresponding to the input device, and uses the operation information in the map display device 10. The input operation from the user is associated with each button or the like by setting information called operation description, and is analyzed by the operation description processing unit 22 and reflected in display processing and communication processing.

  Based on the operation information analyzed by the operation description processing unit 22, the frame line display unit 13 displays a frame line indicating the region of the map image to be selected and displayed next to the map image in the display region of the display unit 16. . The association between the operation input from the input unit 26 and various operations performed in the map display device 10 is defined by the operation description.

  In this embodiment, display of a frame line and movement of the frame line for specifying an area of an image to be acquired using an operation description are defined. Specifically, information such as the size of the frame line, the correspondence between each button of the input unit 26 and the movement of the frame line, and the unit of movement of the frame line is defined as setting information. The user operates the frame line displayed on the display unit 16 using the input unit 26 and determines the range of the map image requested to the relay server 30.

  By adding the operation description to the map image and transmitting it to the map display device 10, it is possible to assign different operations to the same map image simply by replacing the operation description, and the customization is facilitated. Details of the operation description will be described later.

  The operation for determining the area included in the frame line as the range of the map image requesting may be associated with the determination button of the input unit 26, or the range is determined by not moving the frame line for a certain period of time. May be. The control unit 14 transmits the determined range of the map image to the relay server 30 using the communication unit 18.

  The communication unit 32 of the relay server 30 communicates with the map display device 10 and the image server 40 and transmits and receives various data. Specifically, the relay server 30 adds an operation description described in a script or the like necessary for the user to view the map to the map image generated by the image server 40 and transmits the map description to the map display device 10. . Further, the relay server 30 performs a process of receiving a map display request from the map display device 10 and acquiring a map image corresponding to the request from the image server 40.

  The control unit 34 of the relay server 30 is a processing unit that controls communication, storage, image development, image display, and other various processes performed in the relay server 30. The image request received from the map display device 10 is analyzed by the operation description adding unit 36 with reference to the operation description storage unit 38, the area of the map image to be transmitted to the map display device 10 is specified, and the image server 40 is And transmitted through the communication unit 32 as a request for acquiring a predetermined area of the map image.

  The operation description adding unit 36 adds an operation description to the map image acquired from the image server 40 with reference to the operation description storage unit 38 in which operation description setting information is stored. The map data to which the operation description is added is transmitted to the map display device 10 via the communication unit 32.

  The control unit 44 of the image server 40 recognizes the coordinates or area of the map image specified by the user in response to the request from the relay server 30 received via the communication unit 42, and displays the image of the specified map area. The map generation unit 46 generates the map.

The map generation unit 46 refers to the map storage unit 48 based on an instruction from the control unit 44 and generates one piece of image data. Specifically, the map image is generated in a size that fits in a display area that can be displayed on the map display device 10 by designating the center point of the map data by latitude and longitude, and by further specifying the scale of the map. The generated image data is transmitted to the map server 30 via the communication unit 42 in response to an instruction from the control unit 44, and an operation description is added by the map server 30 and transmitted to the map display device 10.
(Data flow when the map display device acquires a map image)
Next, the flow of processing until the map display device 10 displays a map image will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of data exchanged between the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40.

  First, the map display device 10 generates a map display request based on a selection operation input from a user, and transmits the map display request to the relay server 30 via the communication unit 18. As a map display request, in FIG. 2, information indicating the latitude, longitude, scale, and map type is transmitted. Here, it is requested to display a map image in which the latitude is 34.622 °, the longitude is 135.517 °, the scale is 1/10000, and the map type is an aerial photograph.

  The map display request transmitted from the map display device 10 to the relay server 30 is analyzed by the control unit 34 of the relay server 30 to calculate the size of the map image in accordance with the display area of the display unit 16 of the map display device 10. Then, a map generation request for instructing the image server 40 to generate an image of a necessary map area is transmitted.

  Here, the relay server 30 determines the display size of the map display device 10, but the present invention is not limited to this. The map display device 10 may determine the size of the map image based on the size of the display area, the map display device 10 transmits the size of the display area to the relay server 30, and the relay server 30 determines the display area and the scale. An appropriate image size may be determined from the information.

  In addition, when information regarding latitude and longitude is not transmitted from the map display device 10, the relay server 30 may set an arbitrary value and transmit it to the image server 40, and the image server 40 is determined in advance. A map image of latitude and longitude may be transmitted. Also, if you want to display a map centered on a certain landmark, use it as the center of the image to display the coordinate specification, and display a wide area that confirms the route of one landmark and another landmark. If desired, one landmark may be scrolled so as to be close to the frame line based on the frame line.

  The map generation unit 46 of the image server 40 refers to the map storage unit 48 based on the map generation request received via the communication unit 42 and generates a map image as one piece of image data. The generated map image is returned to the relay server 30 via the communication unit 42. In the following description, map data refers to data that combines a map image and its operation description, and can perform certain operations such as displaying a map image and scrolling or changing the scale performed on the map image display. As described above, it is assumed that the script is combined with a script that instructs the map display device 10.

  The operation description adding unit 36 of the relay server 30 adds an operation description to the returned map image and sends it back to the map display device 10. The operation description is a description about display update according to an input operation from the input unit 26 of the map display device 10. The operation description is described in a format such as HTML, Java (registered trademark) Script, SVG, or XML.

The map display device 10 decodes the map image included in the received map data by the image development unit 12 and displays the decoded image in the display area of the display unit 16. The operation description processing unit 22 updates the operation and display according to the user operation received by the input unit 26 based on the received operation description.
(Method for determining map display request and map generation request)
Next, a procedure for determining a map display request and a map generation request and displaying a map image in the display area of the display unit 16 of the map display device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in which the map display device 10 acquires map data.

  First, in S <b> 101, the map display device 10 transmits an initial map display request to the relay server 30. The relay server 30 makes an inquiry to the image server 40 in response to the first map display request, adds an operation description to the acquired map image, and returns it to the map display device 10 as map data.

  In S102, the image development unit 12 of the map display device 10 extracts a map image from the map data received from the relay server 30 and displays it on the display area of the display unit 16, and the operation description processing unit 22 performs an operation included in the map data. Extract the description and set the processing for the operation input. Thereafter, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 monitors the input operation from the input unit 26 acquired by the operation unit 24 and executes a corresponding operation based on the analysis of the operation description processing unit 22.

  In S <b> 103, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 monitors the operation unit 24 and determines an operation input by the user input from the input unit 26. If the operation input by the user is pressing of the scroll button (the scroll button in S103), the process proceeds to S106. If the operation input is pressing of the enter button (decide button in S103), the process proceeds to S107. In the following description, it is assumed that the scroll button indicates a button indicating any one of “up”, “down”, “right”, and “left”.

  In S104, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 determines whether or not scrolling is possible in the direction corresponding to the scroll button. This determination is made based on the setting of the size of the display area of the display unit 16, the size of the frame line displayed on the screen, and the amount of the frame line to be moved by one operation. If scrolling is possible (YES in S104), the process proceeds to S105. If scrolling is not possible (NO in S104), the process returns to S103.

  In S105, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 superimposes the map image displayed in the display area of the display unit 16 and draws a frame line by shifting one block in the direction indicated by the scroll button detected in S104. Return to. Note that how much the frame line is moved by one operation (corresponding to the length of one side of one block) is described as operation description setting information.

  In S106, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 calculates the latitude and longitude of the central point based on the current position of the frame line. The latitude and longitude of the center point are calculated using, for example, formula (1) and formula (2) described later. In S107, the control unit 14 of the map display device 10 generates a map display request based on the calculation result in S106, and transmits it to the relay server 30.

  By repeating the series of steps described above, a map display request is generated based on a user operation input, and a map image to be newly displayed is requested to the relay server 30.

  Next, referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, a map image displayed in the display area of the display unit 16 and a method of displaying a frame line superimposed on the map image by an operation description added to the map image Will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the coordinates of the display area of the display unit 16. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a frame line displayed in the display area of the display unit 16 and a frame line part not displayed in the display area.

  In FIG. 4, the display area is divided into five rectangular blocks in the horizontal direction and five rectangular blocks in the vertical direction. In the following description, the upper left coordinate of the display area is (X1, Y1), and the lower right coordinate of the display area is (X2, Y2). The scroll operation for the map image and the frame line uses a boundary line for blocks that divide the display area.

  Similarly in FIG. 5, the display area is divided into 5 horizontal blocks and 5 vertical blocks. In FIG. 5A, a frame line is superimposed on the entire display area (all 5 × 5 blocks). The shaded area in FIG. 5A is an area selected by a frame line, and here, the entire area identical to the displayed map image is selected. The cross pattern displayed in the central block is a part of the frame line, and indicates the center position of the frame line to the user.

  FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a frame line displayed when the button indicating the “left” direction is pressed once, and a hatched portion surrounded by a dotted line at the left end is displayed in the display area. Not. Since the frame line has moved one block to the left, the rightmost column is out of the selection area of the frame line, and a frame line is displayed between the first block and the second block from the right. At this time, the cross pattern indicating the center of the frame line is displayed in the block in the second column from the left and the third row from the top.

  FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a frame line displayed when the button indicating the “up” direction is further pressed once from the state of FIG. 5B, and FIG. Similarly, the shaded area indicated by the dotted line (upper and left one column) is not displayed in the display area. The cross pattern indicating the center of the frame line is displayed in the block in the second column from the left and the second row from the top.

  When the “OK” button is pressed in the above state, a request for a map image is generated so as to transmit the entire shaded area in FIG. 5 as one image, and is transmitted to the relay server 30.

  In addition, the center point in a frame line is calculated | required based on the following Numerical formula (1) and Numerical formula (2) in the northern hemisphere area like Japan.

(latitude)
= (Latitude of center coordinates) + (latitude width of display area / number of blocks) x (number of frame transition blocks)
= (Y1 + Y2) / 2 + {(Y1-Y2) / 5} × pixY (1)
(longitude)
= (Longitude of central coordinates) + (longitude width of display area / number of blocks) x (number of transition blocks of frame)
= (X1 + X2) / 2 + {(X2-X1) / 5} × pixX (2)
In the above formula, the coordinates are calculated and calculated in a range in which the frame line does not completely go out of the display area according to the size of the display area. Note that control for preventing the frame line from completely coming out of the display area is performed by a script (setting information) shown in FIG. 6 to be described later.

  X1 is the longitude representing the upper left coordinates of the display area. X2 is the longitude representing the lower right coordinates of the display area. Y1 is the latitude representing the upper left coordinates of the display area. Y2 is the latitude representing the lower right coordinates of the display area. pixX indicates the transition amount of the block unit of the frame line in the longitude direction, and is defined in the range of −4 to +4 with the right direction being positive. pixY indicates the transition amount of the block unit of the frame line in the latitude direction, and is defined in the range of −4 to +4 with the upward direction being positive.

  The X-axis direction represents latitude, and the value increases toward the upper side of the map (maximum 90 degrees). The Y-axis direction represents longitude, and the value increases toward the right side of the map (maximum 180 degrees). (X1, Y1) indicates the latitude and longitude at the upper left corner of the map image displayed in the display area of the display unit 16, and (X2, Y2) indicates the latitude at the lower right edge of the map image displayed in the display area. And longitude.

By using the above mathematical expressions (1) and (2), a map display request for requesting a map image of a predetermined area can be generated based on the position of the frame line selected by the user.
(Explanation about operation description)
Next, with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, description will be given of operation description defining frame line display and frame line movement for designating an area of an image to be acquired. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an operation description script for performing processing when the direction button and the determination button are pressed, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation description script for performing processing for displaying a map image and a frame line. .

  In the operation description of FIG. 6, first, a key event generated by a button operation is acquired. Each process is assigned to the acquired key event according to the type of the pressed key. Note that the script shown in FIG. 6 is a specific example of a case where the area is configured by 5 × 5 blocks and control is performed so that the frame line does not completely go out of the display area.

  When the right button is pressed and the X coordinate value of the frame line is “4” indicating the right end, the frame line is redrawn at the current frame line position, and the X coordinate value of the frame line is “4”. Otherwise, the value of the X coordinate is increased by “1” and the frame line is redrawn.

  When the left button is pressed, if the X coordinate of the frame line is “−4” indicating the left edge, the frame line is redrawn at the current frame line position, and the X coordinate value of the frame line is “−4”. Otherwise, the X-coordinate value is reduced by “1” and the frame line is redrawn.

  When the upper button is pressed, if the value of the Y coordinate of the frame line is “4” indicating the upper end, the frame line is redrawn at the current position of the frame line, and the value of the Y coordinate of the frame line is “4”. In other cases, the value of the Y coordinate is increased by “1” and the frame line is redrawn.

  When the left button is pressed and the Y coordinate of the frame line is “−4” indicating the lower end, the frame line is redrawn at the current position of the frame line, and the value of the Y coordinate of the frame line is “−4”. Otherwise, the value of the Y coordinate is reduced by “1” and the frame line is redrawn.

  When the determination button is pressed, the image request area is determined at the position where the frame line is currently displayed, and the map image is redrawn.

  The operation description of FIG. 7 describes the display setting of the map image and the frame line in SVG according to the XML standard. Here, a case where a map image having a size of 1920 × 1080, a frame line of the same size indicating a selection area, and a cross-shaped mark displayed at the center of the frame line are displayed at a resolution of 1920 × 1080 is shown. ing.

  First, the display of the map image is defined by the sizes of “vertical 1080” and “horizontal 1920”, and it is defined that a JPG image having a file name “mapimage.jpg” is displayed in this area.

  Next, the red rectangular area of “height 5” and “width 1920” is named “ID1”, and the red rectangular area of “height 1080” and “width 5” is named “ID2”. A red rectangular area with a height of 5 and a width of 1920 is named “cursor3”, and a red rectangular area with a height of “1080” and “width5” is named with an ID of “cursor4”. It is drawn on the upper, left, right, and lower sides and displayed as a frame for selection.

  Finally, a red rectangle of “height 6” “width 60” and “height 60” “width 6” is combined to generate a mark indicating the center with the name of “poly” and corresponds to the center position of the frame line They are displayed at the positions “horizontal 960” and “vertical 540”.

  7 is omitted as an internal process performed by the function “picturechoice ()” with respect to the process of calculating the coordinate to move by referring to the “attribute1” to “curr4” of the id attribute.

  By using the operation description described above, a frame line having the same size as the display area can be displayed, and the selected area can be transmitted to the relay server 30 as an image request.

In the above description, the operation in the operation description in which the map display device 10 receives a map scroll operation has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the mode may be switched by pressing another button on the input unit so that the operation can be switched between a scroll operation mode and another operation mode such as a scale change mode.
(About the effect of the present invention)
In the prior art, in the example of FIG. 4, for example, a method of acquiring 25 image files of 5 × 5 and displaying them on a map with each block as one image file is also conceivable. When this method is used, images for 5 blocks are acquired when transition is made from (a) of FIG. 5 to (b) of FIG. 5, and images for 9 blocks are acquired when transition is made as shown in (c) of FIG. do it.

  The map display device 10 includes an image development unit 12 using a hardware decoder, and is characterized in that an image can be developed at high speed. However, when the above-described data acquisition method is used, the speed-up effect by the hardware decoder is obtained. There is a problem that it is offset by repeatedly developing a plurality of files.

  For example, assume that development of an image using a hardware decoder takes 0.1 second per file, and development of an image using software takes 1 second per file per block. In this case, in image development using software, development for 25 blocks is necessary for initial map display, and development of the image takes 25 seconds. In this case, if only the difference is acquired, the new scrolled map can be displayed by the image development process of 5 seconds and 9 seconds in FIGS. 5B and 5C, respectively, and the speed is significantly increased compared to the initial display. Is recognized.

  When the same expansion method is performed on the map display device 10 having a hardware decoder, the initial display takes about 2.5 seconds and the update display takes about 0.5 seconds and about 0.9 seconds, respectively. Become. In addition, this is a case where only one vertical and horizontal block is transitioned. When the scroll amount becomes large, more blocks must be updated, and in this case, the convergence is about 2.5 seconds.

  However, when the map image is generated by the image server 40 so as to have one map image and is acquired by the map display device 10, the image development speed is almost constant, and it takes only about 0.1 seconds. It can be displayed at high speed. This can be said to be a remarkable effect in the map display device 10 provided with the image display control means (image display control unit 15) provided with the hardware decoder (image development unit 12).

  In the present embodiment, the operation in the operation description in which the map display apparatus 10 accepts only the scroll operation of the map has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the mode may be switched by pressing another button of the input unit 26 so that the operation can be performed by switching between a scroll operation mode and a scale change mode.

  As described above, the map display device 10 according to the present embodiment includes the image display control unit 15 that displays an image in the display area of the display unit 16, the operation unit 24 that acquires an operation input from the user, and the operation unit 24. The frame line display unit 13 for displaying a frame line having the same size as the display area on the map image at a position corresponding to the acquired operation input, and a part of the image displayed in the display area, Based on the communication means 18 that requests the relay server 30 for image data of a new image defined by the frame line deviated from the outer periphery of the image, and based on the image data acquired as a response to the request, a new map image is displayed in the display area. And an image developing unit 12 to be displayed.

  Further, the map image display method of the present embodiment includes an image display step for displaying an image in the display area of the display unit 16, an input acquisition step for acquiring an operation input from the user, and an operation input acquired in the input acquisition step. A frame line display step for displaying a frame line of the same size as the display area superimposed on the map image at a corresponding position, and a position shifted from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area An image requesting step for requesting the relay server 30 for image data of a new image defined by the frame line, and an image updating step for displaying a new image in the display area based on the image data acquired as a response to the request. Contains.

  According to the above configuration, a frame line having the same size as the display area is displayed superimposed on the map image, the image data of a predetermined size is requested from the relay server 30 according to the position of the frame line, and the map image is updated. Therefore, the user can grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update with an easy operation input.

  This is because a border is displayed as the size of the image to be displayed after the update, and an area grasped as a mark of the image before the update, for example, the lower right block in the rectangular display area is a rectangle. This is because the user can confirm at a glance that the frame line corresponds to the lowermost right of the frame line displayed in (3) and that the frame line becomes the boundary line of the updated image.

  Thereby, scrolling or redrawing of the image does not occur during the operation of selecting the image, and the user can select the display area clearly and smoothly by the displayed frame. By displaying the center point simultaneously with the frame line, scrolling based on the center line or scrolling based on the frame line may be performed.

  In said map image display apparatus 10, the map data requested | required of the relay server 30 is map image data containing a map image.

  Further, in order to make a request to the relay server 30, the control unit 14 determines a parameter for designating a new map image area defined by the frame line, and the control unit 14 determines the map image based on the parameter. Requesting data.

  According to said structure, even if image data is map image data containing a map image, the area | region of the map image which a user desires similarly to the above can be requested | required.

  In the map display device 10 described above, the operation unit 24 is associated with an input device that indicates a direction.

  According to the above configuration, the interface for acquiring the input operation is configured by an input device indicating each direction such as up / down / left / right or diagonal direction, for example, key, button, switch, etc. Intuitive grasping can be facilitated when the frame line for indicating the area of the image to be newly displayed is moved.

  In the map display device 10 described above, the operation unit 24 further includes a control unit 14 that determines the position of the frame line as an image area to be requested as image data of a new map image. It is a button for designating a direction, a downward direction, a right direction, and a left direction.

  According to the above configuration, a simple input device such as a remote controller can be used as a button for instructing upward, downward, right and left directions, and a button for transmitting a region selection decision. The area of the image to be displayed on the map display device 10 can be easily determined using a simple input device.

  The map display device 10 further includes setting information acquisition means for acquiring setting information in which the association between the operation input and the movement amount of the frame line and the association between the operation input and the action are defined. The frame line display control unit associates the operation input with the movement amount of the frame line and the association between the operation input and the action specified in the setting information acquired by the setting information acquisition unit. Based on this, the display position of the frame line on the image is determined.

  According to the above configuration, the operation setting in the image display device associated with the frame line movement unit or the input device can be changed by changing the operation description. In addition, an interface that is easy for the user to use can be easily implemented.

  Note that the above operation description is described in a structured language or script, for example, using HTML, Java (registered trademark) Script, SVG, XML, or other languages, for example. Productivity can be improved and various platforms can be developed and handled easily.

  In the map display device 10 described above, the communication unit 18 acquires the operation description together with the image data.

  According to said structure, since the map display apparatus 10 acquires operation description with new image data, there exists an effect that the interface for the suitable input operation transmitted by the server can be introduce | transduced easily.

  When transmitting the setting information from the server, the server side may determine the type of the image display device, the software version, and the like, and may transmit the appropriate setting information. The configuration may be such that information such as type and software version is transmitted from the side to the server, and setting information corresponding to the transmitted information is received.

  In the map display device 10 described above, the image display control unit 15 includes an image development unit 12 that is a hardware decoder that decodes image data, and the image display control unit 15 is connected to the image server 40 via the relay server 30. Map image data generated as a single image is acquired, and the map image decoded by the image development unit 12 is displayed in the display area.

  According to the above configuration, since the hardware decoder that decodes the image data received from the relay server 30 into the image format to be displayed is provided, the image is developed at a substantially constant speed regardless of the size of the image data to be displayed. Therefore, desired image display can be performed at higher speed.

  In addition, when transmitting image data from the relay server 30 to the image display device 10, it is possible to display the map at a high speed by generating the image as a single image, effectively utilizing the performance of the hardware decoder. Can do.

  In said map display apparatus 10, a map image is comprised from the some divided | segmented small image, and the frame line display part 13 may move a frame line per small image.

  According to the above configuration, the frame line for selecting a region to be displayed as a new image is moved in units of dividing the map image, so that the image server 40 acquires and generates an image when generating new image data. And the response processing by the server can be speeded up.

  Similarly, if the user wants to update the image by moving one block to the left, the frame is the border of the image before and after the update, and the frame is only one block to the left. Since a new image area to be displayed can be designated by performing the moving operation, it is possible to construct an interface that allows the user to intuitively grasp changes before and after the update.

  The image server 40 of the present embodiment is defined by a frame line displayed in the display area so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area of the display unit 16 in the map display device 10 so as to deviate from the outer periphery of the image. A communication unit 18 that receives a request for image data of a new image together with information for specifying a range of the new image, and a map display from map image data stored in the map storage unit 48 based on the received request. A map generation unit 46 that generates image data of an image having the same size as the display area of the device 10 as a single image, and a communication unit that transmits the generated map image data to the map display device 10 via the relay server 30 42.

  According to the above configuration, image data of a predetermined size is requested from the map display device 10 according to the position of the frame line of the same size as the display area, and one image data of a predetermined range is received based on the received request. Since it produces | generates as an image and transmits image data to the map display apparatus 10 via the relay server 30, the user of the map display apparatus 10 grasps | ascertains the correlation of the image before and after an update with easy operation input. The image server 40 which can produce | generate the map image which can be transmitted and can transmit to the map display apparatus 10 is comprised.

  In the relay server 30 and the image server 40 described above, the image data requested from the map display device 10 is map image data including a map image.

  In the relay server 30 and the image server 40 described above, the communication unit 32 and the communication unit 42 set parameters for specifying a new map image area defined by the frame line displayed in the display area of the map display device 10. Further, the map generation unit 46 of the image server 40 generates map image data including a map image based on the parameters.

  According to said structure, the request | requirement of the map image data containing a map image can be easily determined by the user of the map display apparatus 10, and the request | requirement which designates the area | region of the map image which a user desires as a parameter can be received.

  In the relay server 30, in order to allow the user to specify a new map image, a frame line having the same size as the display area is displayed superimposed on the map image, and the frame line is positioned at a position corresponding to an operation input from the user. The communication unit 32 transmits the operation description that defines the association between the operation input and the moving direction and moving amount of the frame line together with the image data generated by the image map generating unit 46.

  According to the above configuration, the operation setting in the map display device 10 associated with the movement unit of the frame line or the input device can be changed by changing the operation description. Regardless, the user-friendly interface can be easily implemented.

  The map display system 1 is configured by including the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the map image server 40 described above.

  In the above example, the map image display system 1 is configured by including the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As shown in FIG. 8, the map display device 10 and the image server 40 are provided, and the map display device 10 and the image server 40 are provided with the functions of the respective units of the map display system 1, so that similar functions can be realized.

  However, like the map display system 1, the relay server 30 to which the operation description is added and the image server 40 that generates the requested map image are configured as separate servers, thereby distributing the processing performed by each server. In addition, hardware suitable for processing that performs the processing capability of each server, for example, a server having a CPU that specializes in floating-point calculations, a driver specialized in image processing, and the like can be configured. Therefore, there is a further effect that a faster response can be realized.

  Finally, each block of the map display device 10, particularly the image development unit 12, the frame line display unit 13, the operation description processing unit 22, the operation description addition unit 36 of the relay server 30, and the map generation unit 46 of the image server 40 are It may be configured by hardware logic or may be realized by software using a CPU as follows.

  That is, the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40 include a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, and the program A random access memory (RAM) for expanding the program, a storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data, and the like. An object of the present invention is to program the program codes (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program for the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40, which are software for realizing the functions described above. The readable recording medium is supplied to the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) reads and executes the program code recorded on the recording medium. Can also be achieved.

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.

  Further, the map display device 10, the relay server 30, and the image server 40 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Also, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  According to the present invention, a frame line having the same size as the display area is displayed superimposed on the image, the image data of a predetermined size is requested from the server according to the position of the frame line, and the display image is updated. Since it is possible to grasp the correlation between the images before and after the update with easy operation input, a partial area of the continuous image is acquired from an external or internal storage device, and the display is updated with a new image. It can be suitably used as an image display device, a television, a computer, a telephone, a game machine, a portable terminal, and other electronic devices.

1 is a functional block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a map display system including a map display device, a map server, and a map image server according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the said map display system, it is the schematic which shows the specific example of the data exchanged between a map display apparatus, a map server, and a map image server. In the said map display system, it is a flowchart which shows the flow of the process in which a map display apparatus acquires map data. In the said map display system, it is a schematic diagram which shows the coordinate of the display area of a map display apparatus. In the said map display system, it is a schematic diagram shown about the part of the frame line displayed on the display area, and the frame line not displayed on the display area. In the said map display system, it is a figure which shows the script of the operation description which performs the process when the direction button and the determination button are pressed down. It is a figure which shows the script of the operation description which performs the process which displays a map image and a frame line in the said map display system. FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a map display system including a map display device and a map image server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1, 2 Map display system (image display system)
10 Map display device (image display device)
12 Image development unit (image display control means, image update means, image decoding means)
13 Frame line display unit (image display control means, image update means, frame line display control means)
14 Control unit (required area determination means)
16 display unit 18 communication unit (image request means, setting information acquisition means)
20 storage unit 22 operation description processing unit 24 operation unit (input acquisition unit, area determination unit)
26 Input unit (input device)
30 Relay server (image transmission server)
32 Communication unit (request acquisition means, transmission means)
34 control unit 36 operation description adding unit 38 operation description storage unit 40 image server (image transmission server)
42 Communication unit (request acquisition means, transmission means)
44 control unit 46 map generation unit (image generation means)
48 Map storage

Claims (17)

Image display control means for displaying an image in the display area of the display unit;
Input acquisition means for acquiring operation input from the user;
Frame line display control means for displaying a frame line having the same size as the display area on the image in a position corresponding to the operation input acquired by the input acquisition means;
Image requesting means for requesting the image transmission server for image data of a new image defined by a frame line shifted from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area;
An image display device comprising: an image updating unit configured to display a new image in the display area based on image data acquired as a response to the request.   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image data is map image data including a map image. Further comprising request area determining means for determining a parameter for designating a new map image area defined by the frame line;
The image display device according to claim 2, wherein the image request unit requests the map image data based on the parameter.   The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the input acquisition unit is an input device that instructs a direction. The input acquisition means further includes area determination means for determining the position of the frame line as an image area to be requested as image data of a new image,
The image display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the input device for instructing the direction is an input device for instructing an upward direction, a downward direction, a right direction, and a left direction. Further comprising setting information acquisition means for acquiring setting information defining association between the operation input and the movement direction and movement amount of the frame line;
The frame line display control unit is configured to associate the operation input with the movement amount of the frame line and the association between the operation input and the action specified in the setting information acquired by the setting information acquisition unit. The image display device according to claim 4, wherein a display position of the frame line on the image is determined based on the image display device.   The image display device according to claim 6, wherein the setting information acquisition unit acquires the setting information together with the image data. The image display control means includes image decoding means for decoding the image data,
The image update means acquires image data generated as a single image from the image transmission server, and displays the image decoded by the image decode means in the display area. The image display device according to any one of the above.   9. The image display device according to claim 8, wherein the image decoding means is a hardware decoder configured by hardware. A new image defined by the frame line displayed in the display area so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area of the display unit of the image display apparatus from the image display apparatus so as to deviate from the outer periphery of the image. Request acquisition means for receiving a request for image data of an image together with information for specifying a range of the new image;
Based on the received request, image generation means for generating image data of an image having the same size as the display area of the image display device from the image data stored in the storage unit as one image;
An image transmission server comprising: transmission means for transmitting the generated image data to the image display device.   The image transmission server according to claim 10, wherein the image data is map image data including a map image. The request acquisition means further receives a parameter for designating a new map image area defined by a frame displayed in the display area of the image display device,
The image transmission server according to claim 11, wherein the image generation unit generates map image data including a map image based on the parameter. In order to allow the user to specify the new image, the image display device displays a frame line having the same size as the display area superimposed on the image, and the frame line is positioned according to an operation input from the user. Is to be moved to
11. The transmission unit transmits setting information that defines correspondence between the operation input and a movement direction and movement amount of the frame line together with the image data generated by the image generation unit. 14. The image transmission server according to any one of items 1 to 13. An image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
An image display system comprising: the image transmission server according to any one of claims 10 to 13. A display step of displaying an image in the display area in the display area of the display unit;
An input acquisition step for acquiring an operation input from the user;
A frame line display step of displaying a frame line of the same size as the display area on the image in a position corresponding to the operation input acquired in the input acquisition step;
An image requesting step of requesting image transmission server for image data of a new image defined by a frame line shifted from the outer periphery of the image so as to include a part of the image displayed in the display area;
And an image updating step of displaying a new image in the display area based on the image data acquired as a response to the request.   A program for operating at least one of the image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 and the image transmission server according to any one of claims 10 to 13, comprising: Program to function as each means.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 16 is recorded.

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