JP2009524113A - Information display - Google Patents

Abstract

  An information display that visually displays one or more dynamically changing quantities in the form of a circle or curve. The information indicator comprises one or more measuring units each having one or more indicators, and the indicator of each measuring unit has at least one part and is selectively activated. It has an annular indicator. Each of the one or more parts relates to a respective information source and is activated dynamically according to quantitative information regarding the information source. The display of each measuring unit includes a central display portion inside at least one annular display, and the central display portion displays alphanumeric characters. Alternatively, it comprises a group of buttons placed in a ring around at least one annular indicator. Alternatively, both a central display portion and a group of buttons placed in an annular shape are provided. A portion of each annular display spreads out in two or one direction as a quantitative information measurement as the original value increases.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information display. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dynamically changing information display such as a meter or measurement display in which one or more dynamically changing amounts are shown in a circular or annular shape. Although the present invention describes an indicator of information relating to the characteristics of audio information of one or more channels, for example, other types of electrical signals such as video signals, electrical waves, acoustic waves, fluid waves An indicator of information on the characteristics of all types of dynamically changing signals, in principle, including signals relating to flow, other physical phenomena such as particles and flow of objects, and signals relating to quantities other than physical phenomena It will be understood that the present invention can be applied to.

  In many audio applications, there is a need for meters with varying channel numbers. For example, it may be desirable to measure input to a device or process, output from a device or process, or both.

  Consider an example. Depending on user requirements, the audio signal processor can be customized to more or less practical inputs and outputs. Such customization can be realized by changing the number of channels using an input / output (I / O) board inserted in the box. For example, the basic model can provide 4 inputs and 8 outputs. The extended model can have 4 inputs and 12 outputs, or 8 inputs and 8 outputs. A common feature that can be considered in different configurations is the measurement display on the front panel of the box. It is preferable to have a measurement display that can cope with actual changes in the number of channels.

  The requirement for a measurement display that can accommodate the changing number of channels is not just finding the hardware where the actual I / O changes. For a physically fixed I / O configuration, there are many options for measurement possibilities. It may be desirable to display only input, or only output, or a combination of the two. This increases the demand for a meter or measurement indicator that can accommodate the changing number of channels.

  In search of a measurement solution that can measure many channels simultaneously, a fully expanded audio processor can be presented that represents a significant number of channels. With moderately clear measurement, the user can glance at the meter and quickly check the signal information. However, this clear measurement is difficult, and the number of channels to be measured increases.

[Prior art]
Since such problems are widely occurring, attempts have been made to solve this problem.

  A common method for audio measurement is to employ a horizontal array of vertical meters where the columns of meters to read vertically (each a straight bar graph) indicate the channel of the signal. A vertical meter allows you to quickly see the signal level relative to other measured signals, but this does not clearly represent the absolute value of the signal level. Unless you can clearly see the "edge" of a vertical meter, it is difficult to see how close the signal is to its maximum allowable value.

  Traditional methods for solving the problems associated with measurement have been based on traditional “vertical meters”. In order to display the increased number of channels, the width of each vertical meter is reduced, and adjacent vertical meters stick together. However, as the width of the vertical meter decreases, it becomes difficult to read the display. The width of the columns is fixed by the actual dimensions of the display, for example in pixels.

  A circular meter has the advantage that the user can quickly see the signal level by “reading” the angle of the arm of the meter. It is immediately clear how much the meter's arm is moving around and how close it is to the maximum value. However, with a conventional circular meter, it is difficult to deal with the measurement problem when the number of channels changes. To be readable, the circular meter needs to be sized, and the circular meter cannot simply be reduced like a vertical meter.

  According to a feature of the present invention, there is an information display that visually displays one or more dynamically changing quantities in the form of a circle or curve. The information indicator comprises one or more measuring units each having one or more indicators, and the indicator of each measuring unit has at least one part and is selectively activated. It has an annular indicator. Each of the one or more parts relates to a respective information source and is activated dynamically according to quantitative information regarding the information source. In such an information display, (1) the display of each measurement unit has a central display portion inside at least one annular display, and the central display portion displays alphanumeric characters. It has become. Alternatively, (2) the display of each measurement unit further includes a button group placed in an annular shape around at least one annular display. Alternatively, (3) the display of each measurement unit further includes (a) a central display portion inside at least one annular display, and the central display portion displays alphanumeric characters. And (b) a group of buttons arranged in a ring around at least one annular indicator. Dynamic activation of a portion of the toric indicator spreads in both directions, ie, to increase in two directions along the toric indicator as a measure of quantitative information as the original value increases. be able to. Alternatively, the dynamic activation of a portion of the toroidal display spreads unidirectionally, i.e., increases in one direction along the toroidal indicator as a measure of quantitative information as the original value increases. Can be. When a button is employed, the appearance of one or more of the buttons can be changed. The change in the appearance of the button includes (1) change in appearance due to turning on and off, and (2) change in appearance due to presence or absence of color. One or more of the buttons can each be associated with a portion of the annular display. Portions of the toric display can be associated with different aspects of the same process. This process may be related to the audio channel. There are multiple units to be measured, and each unit can be associated with a different process. For example, each process may be associated with a different audio channel. The display can be realized substantially by hardware, and can also be realized by a display based on software.

  A front panel 2 of an audio signal processor having a plurality of measuring units according to the present invention is shown in FIGS. In this example, four measurement units (4, 6, 8, and 10) are employed, but any number (one or more) of measurement units depending on the process or device or the set of processes or devices. Can be adopted. Enlarged views of the measurement unit are shown in FIGS. Each of the measurement units (4, 6, 8, and 10) includes an alphanumeric display portion 12 capable of displaying any character, an annular measurement or display segment portion 14 surrounding the central alphanumeric display portion, And an annular push button 16 surrounding the measurement or display segment portion 14. Each metering unit can also add a number of associated push buttons as described below. The central alphanumeric display portion 12 and the annular measurement segment segment portion 14 are for example by a conventional LCD controller / driver, such as a computer monitor, or by an LCD display controlled by a common bitmap display. It may be realized. In embodiments, the illuminated button can be implemented in either hardware (as shown in the examples of FIGS. 1-6) or software (as shown in the examples of FIGS. 7-12).

  In this example, the central alphanumeric display portion 12 is a horizontal line of 3 lines, and has a capacity of 10 characters so that each line can display an arbitrary character that names the channel being measured. The middle line has larger lines of characters than the upper and lower lines. The number of lines may be more or less than three. The number of characters in each line may be larger or smaller. The characters on the center line need not necessarily be larger than the characters on the other lines. The number of characters on each line need not be the same. If necessary, all of the central alphanumeric display portion 12 may be deleted.

  In this example, the measurement or display segment portion 14 has two activatable annular segments, an outer set 14a and an inner set 14b, each set consisting of 104 segments. In this example, it has two annular segments, but can have one or more segments. The maximum number of annular segments is determined by whether a central alphanumeric display is employed (if it is employed, by its size) and by the readability of the innermost annular segment, It is influenced by the size. In a practical embodiment of the configuration shown in FIGS. 1-6, the ring diameter of the annularly arranged push button 16 is about 80 mm (about 3/8 inch) and the LCD display portion 12 The diameter is about 60 mm (about 2/3/8 inch). Subsequent inner annularly arranged segments are necessarily smaller, but if each annularly arranged set holds the same number of segments, the relative dimensions of the segments in the different sets are It can be changed accordingly. Accordingly, in the example of FIGS. 1-6, the diametrical length of the segment of the inner annular set is greater than the length of the outer annular set.

  Employing the same number of segments in different sets arranged in a ring has the advantage of providing the same measurement resolution in each set, but it does not have to be. For example, if necessary, the number of segments may be reduced in the inner ring. The number of segments in the group may be varied to provide a different measurement configuration. The resolution of the meter may be in a trade-off relationship with miniaturization.

  In this example, a single ring composed of 16 push buttons 16 surrounding the measurement segment portion 14 is formed. One or more rings composed of push buttons may be formed. The ring composed of push buttons may be composed of 16 or more push buttons. In this example, the push buttons have the same size and are arranged in a ring at the same interval, but the push buttons need not have the same size and need not have the same interval. Or you may abbreviate | omit the push button surrounding a measurement segment part. As will be described below, the push button may have a plurality of functions. One function is that the display device, i.e. one or all of the buttons, can be selectively lit and the light may display a color. The function of the push button may follow the mode in which the measurement unit operates. Each channel to be measured may be associated with one button that is lit to indicate that it is in use.

  Consider the following example. If the measurement unit is configured to display the output of measurement information, the channel name can be displayed on the alphanumeric display by depressing the button. If the measurement unit is configured to display an input of measurement information, the function of the button can be configured to respond to a muteable button. When a mute enable button is pressed, the associated input channel is muted by the annularly arranged buttons. If the muteable button is not pressed, the input channel name is displayed on the alphanumeric display by pressing the circularly arranged button. The color of the push button may be changed to display the function of the push button or the state of the information displayed in the measurement segment associated with the push button.

  In the example of FIGS. 1-4, each measurement unit 4, 6, 8, and 10 can display three pieces of information associated with each of the four audio channels A, B, C, and D (ie, Each measuring unit is in an operating mode (which can display three pieces of information for a particular channel, [three measurements or display]). For example, the operation mode can be selected, for example, by using a push button 16 as shown in the examples of FIGS. 1 to 6 and / or using a menu selection that is selected by another push button. In other operation modes, for example, one set of information per channel, two sets of information per channel (see FIG. 5), four sets of information per channel (see FIG. 6), etc. can be made possible. . In practice, four or more sets of information per measurement unit may not be desirable from a user readability standpoint.

  In the example of FIGS. 1-4, where the measurement unit can display three sets of information for a particular channel, the first information is not assigned, the second information is the amplitude of the input signal, The third information is the amplitude of the output signal. In these three examples, the first line of alphanumeric information is written as “N: CL3WAY”, where N is one of the channels A, B, C, or D associated with the measurement unit. It is displayed that the operation mode is three methods. In this example, the second line is displayed as a large character “CL3Way”, the third line is not used, and four dashes are displayed.

  In the three-method operation mode of the example of FIGS. 1 to 4, one segment activated in one ring indicates the center of one measurement of the three displayed information. In this way, the segments 18 and 20 of the outer annularly arranged segment 14a and the segment 22 of the inner annularly arranged segment 14b are activated. In principle, these segments are in the same segment ring (ie, all in the outer ring or all in the inner ring). However, in the illustrated configuration, the central positions of the three measurements are not equal to each other (since the number of segments and the number of push buttons are equally divisible by 3), it is wide for each measurement segment. There are advantages that allow a range.

  As mentioned above, the one set of information indicated by the segment 18 activated on the left is not assigned. Thus, the central segment of measurement located in the adjacent inner annular segment is activated as shown, but no further segments are activated unless this measurement segment is assigned. In addition, the adjacent button 24 in the button ring 16 is not activated. In this way, the user can know that one of the three available information displays in the three-method operation mode is not assigned and is inactive.

  In this example, the outer segment adjacent to the activated inner segment 22 displays the amplitude of the input signal. The amplitude of the input signal at a given time is indicated by the number of segments activated in the outer ring, which extends symmetrically in both directions from the central segment 26 of the outer ring adjacent to the inner segment 22. (Other methods are described below). In order to indicate that this set of information is activated, the push button 28 adjacent to the central segment 26 of the measurement is activated. This is performed by illuminating the push button, for example, by turning on the green LCD inside the push button.

  In this example, the inner segment adjacent to the activated outer segment 20 displays the amplitude of the output signal. The amplitude of the output signal at a given time is represented by the number of segments activated in the inner ring, which segment extends symmetrically in both directions from the central segment 30 of the inner ring adjacent to the outer segment 20. . In the example of FIG. 3, the input signal is not high enough to clip the audio signal. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the push button 26 adjacent to the measurement segment 26 is activated. This is performed by turning on the green LCD inside the push button so that the push button glows green. In the example of FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the channel B measurement unit has an input of sufficient amplitude to clip the audio processor. Therefore, the scalability of the operating measurement segment displaying the input signal and the output signal is great. In addition, to display clipping, “CLIP” can be displayed with large readings as shown, and two push buttons 34 and 36 adjacent to push button 32, preferably without clipping. It may be lit in a color different from the state. When the audio device is clipping, the push buttons 32, 34, and 36 can be red by turning on the red LED inside each button. In order to attract the user's attention, it is desirable to shine at least three push buttons, but only one or two may be lit.

  In this way, the user can quickly grasp the characteristic state of various information of one or more audio channels by glanceing one or more measurement units.

  The speed with which changes in the electrical signal displaying the information on which the measurement segment is displayed can be adjusted by time averaging the electrical signal so that the display shows the appropriate meter characteristics.

  Figures 5 and 6 are examples of further possible displays.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the measurement unit is a two-method operation mode in which the two measurement parts are each associated with different channels. Alphanumeric readings can be displayed as shown in the figure (eg, “Ch1”, “Ch2”, “CL2Way”), and one measurement portion, Channel 1 portion, is north of the compass, ie 0 ° The portion considered to be the direction has a center, and the channel 2 portion has the center to the south of the compass, that is, the portion considered to be 180 °. In this example, the two measurement segments are in the inner ring segment, and the central display segment is in the outer ring and is adjacent to the lit push button that is lit in green. For example, the measurement display can be the amplitude of the channel output.

  1-4, the measurement segment extends symmetrically from the central segment in two directions. It is also possible for the measurement segment to extend in one direction from the start segment. This alternative is shown in the example of FIG. The alternative extending in one direction is advantageous when employing a large number of measurement parts such as four measurement segments as shown in the example of FIG. In this case, four measurement segments correspond to four channels. Accordingly, the alphanumeric reading displays “Ch1”, “Ch2”, “Ch3”, and “Ch4” in proximity to each of the four measurement segments, and the center portion displays “CL4Way”. As shown in another example, the push button adjacent to each measurement start point operates with, for example, green light.

  The central alphanumeric display portion can be used in various ways, and is not limited to the example described here. In another example, an inner meter segment group (inner ring) can be used to display the amplitude level of the audio signal. The outer meter segment group (outer ring) can be used to indicate the limiter or compressor operation associated with the audio signal (see examples in FIGS. 11 and 12).

  In the embodiment in the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, four measurement units are provided on the loudspeaker crossover implemented in hardware and on the front panel of the equalizer unit. An adjustment knob that can be used in conjunction with the measurement unit is added to the front panel. Adjacent to each measurement unit (see FIGS. 3-6), up / down buttons 34 and 36 and an “ME” button 38 can be provided. Push buttons 34, 36, and 28 can be considered part of a particular measurement unit and can only work for that measurement unit. The ME button can be a menu button of a plurality of functions that are not directly related to the measurement function of the front panel. Together with the up / down buttons, this ME button allows the user to navigate the menu from the front panel and program the audio unit.

  The embodiment of the front panel of the example of FIGS. 1 and 2 is completed by a plurality of meta buttons that operate all four measuring units 4, 6, 8 and 10. These meta buttons can be "Mute Enable" 40, "Meter" 42, and "Menu" 44 and can be placed on the leftmost side of the front panel, but their location is not essential. “Mute enable” can be a toggle button that, when activated, allows the push button of each measurement unit to become a mute button. The “meter” can be a switch for switching measurement to another variable, and the “menu” can be a general-purpose switch. In the initial state when the power is turned on, the four measuring units 4, 6, 8, and 10 respectively display the following characters (from the left unit to the right unit) as shown in FIG. 7a. To do.

Tap ME for
Edit
Menu

Tap ME for
Presets
Menu

Tap ME for
Utility
Menu

Tap ME for
FrontPanel
Config

Further noteworthy is that when the power is turned on, the button 16 in each measurement unit can be lit as shown in FIG. 7a.

  Depending on the operation state, each of all four measuring units can display a part of one character message as a whole. For example, as shown in FIG. 7b, the following characters can be displayed (from the left unit to the right unit).

This
is
A
Test

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, suitable ones for the computer network connector 46 are attached, such as an RJ45 connector, an infrared (IR) sensor 48, and a power on / off switch. The power switch can be lit in an “on” state (eg, green). Information indicators 52 and 54 may be LEDs that indicate network connection and network activity (by flashing), respectively. An optical sensor 56 can also be provided to adjust the display to an appropriate level of brightness relative to the ambient light.

  As described above, the measurement unit can be implemented in hardware (as shown in the examples of FIGS. 1-6) or in software (as shown in the examples of FIGS. 8-13). 8 to 11 show examples of displays corresponding to the examples of FIGS. 3 to 6 realized by software. 12 and 13 show a further example of a display implemented in software, the inner meter segment group (inner ring) displaying the amplitude level of the audio signal and the outer meter segment group (outer ring). Displays the operation of the limiter or compressor for a particular audio signal. Instead of physically pressing the push buttons as shown in the examples of FIGS. 1 to 6, it is possible to simulate pushing the push buttons by clicking the mouse or touching the touch screen. The display realized by software enables great flexibility in displaying characters in the central part of the measuring unit. Therefore, as an example, in FIG. 13, four lines of characters indicating that information is displayed for each channel related to input are displayed.

[Embodiment]
The present invention can be implemented in hardware or software or a combination of both (e.g., programmable logic arrays). Various general purpose machines may be used with programs written according to the description herein, or it may be convenient to construct a more specialized device (eg, an integrated circuit) to perform the required method. . Thus, the present invention includes at least one processor, at least one storage system (including volatile and non-volatile memory and / or storage elements), at least one input device or input port, and at least one output. It can be implemented by one or more computer programs running on one or more programmable computer systems comprising a device or output port. Program code is applied to the input data to perform the functions described here and to output output information. This output information is applied to one or more output devices in a known manner.

  Each such program may be in any computer language required for communication with a computer system (including machine language, assembly, or high-level procedural, logic, or object-oriented languages). Can also be realized. In any case, the language may be a compiled language or an interpreted language.

  Each such computer program can be executed by a general purpose programmable computer or a dedicated programmable computer for setting and operating the computer when the storage medium or storage device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described herein. It is preferably stored or downloaded to a readable storage medium or storage device (eg, semiconductor memory or semiconductor medium, or magnetic or optical medium). The system of the present invention can also be considered to be executed as a computer-readable storage medium constituted by a computer program. Here, the storage medium causes the computer system to operate in a specifically predetermined method in order to execute the functions described herein.

  A number of embodiments of the invention have been described. However, it will be apparent that many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, some orders of steps described herein are independent and can therefore be performed in a different order than described.

  In order to implement a practical embodiment of the invention, a simplified functional block diagram illustrating possible configurations is shown in FIG. A microprocessor 58 having a memory 60 in which the program resides includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 62, an interface 64 connected to an infrared sensor, an interface 68 connected to a push button 70, and an actual (such as an RJ45 jack). It communicates with a network interface 72 connected to a network cable connector 74 and a display screen interface 76 for a display screen 78. The analog signal to be monitored is input to an analog-to-digital converter (A / D) 80 so that it can be used by the DSP 62.

It is a perspective view from the left front upper part of the front panel which attached the information indicator which concerns on this invention. It is a front view of the front panel which attached the information indicator which concerns on this invention. It is a partial front view of the front panel which attached the measurement unit which concerns on this invention. The 1st example of a measurement display is shown. It is a partial front view of the front panel which attached the measurement unit which concerns on this invention. The 2nd example of a measurement display is shown. It is a partial front view of the front panel which attached the measurement unit which concerns on this invention. The 3rd example of a measurement display is shown. It is a partial front view of the front panel which attached the measurement unit which concerns on this invention. The 4th example of a measurement display is shown. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is an example of the display of embodiment by the software corresponding to the example of FIGS. It is a functional block diagram which simplified the structure which can implement this invention.

Claims (15)

An information display in the form of a circle or curve that visually displays one or more dynamically changing quantities,
One or more measuring units each having one or more indicators, the indicators of each measuring unit having at least one annular indicator that has one or more parts and is selectively activated The information display device is characterized in that each of the one or more parts relates to a respective information source and is activated dynamically according to quantitative information about the information source.   The display of each measurement unit includes a central display portion inside the at least one annular display, and the central display portion displays alphanumeric characters. The information indicator described in 1.   The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit of each measurement unit further comprises a group of buttons arranged in a ring around the at least one annular display unit.   The indicator of each measuring unit is annularly arranged around the at least one annular indicator, and a central indicator part for displaying alphanumeric characters placed inside the at least one annular indicator. The information display according to claim 1, further comprising a set of buttons.   The dynamic activation of each part of the annular indicator increases in two directions along the annular indicator as a measure of quantitative information in both directions, ie as the original value increases. The information display according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the information display is widened.   The dynamic activation of the toric display part becomes unidirectional, i.e. as the original value increases, it expands in one direction along the toric indicator as a measure of quantitative information. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the information display device is a display device.   The information display device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein one or more appearances of the button group are changed.   8. The information display device according to claim 7, wherein the change in appearance of the button includes (1) change in appearance due to turning on and off, and (2) change in appearance due to presence or absence of color. .   9. The information display according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the buttons is associated with a part of the annular display.   10. The information display according to claim 1, wherein each part of the annular display is associated with a different side of the same process.   The information display of claim 10, wherein the processing is associated with an audio channel.   The information display device according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of measurement units, and each unit is associated with a different process.   13. The information display of claim 12, wherein each process is associated with a different audio channel.   14. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is substantially realized by hardware.   14. The information display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device is substantially realized by software.

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