JP2010145510A - Display device, control method of the display device and electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the blur feeling generated in a liquid crystal display panel without complication or cost rise of the device. <P>SOLUTION: The display device comprises a filter 50 for applying a filter process to a character for reducing blur according to a moving speed Mv designated by a speed designating part 40, an image data output circuit 60 for producing image data with the character subjected to the filter process and moved by the moving speed Mv for every one frame period, and a display panel 100 for a display according to the image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for improving the display quality of a moving image in a display panel using a hold-type display element such as a liquid crystal element.

In an active matrix display device using a display element such as a liquid crystal element or an organic EL element, the luminance state of the display element is maintained for one frame period. For this reason, when moving to the next frame period, since the memory of the image viewed in the previous frame period remains, if there is a motion region (or object) in a part of the image displayed in the previous and subsequent frames, The outline of the motion region is perceived as blurred (occurrence of blur).
Therefore, in order to reduce blur, the motion of an object between frames is predicted to compensate for the blur (see Patent Document 1), or the motion of an object is calculated from input image data, and the motion is determined according to the motion. A technique (see Patent Document 2) for performing filter processing on the image data is known.
JP 2006-350334 A JP 2005-527163 A

However, in these techniques, in order to detect motion, not only a configuration of a memory or the like for storing images of previous and subsequent frames is required, but also complicated processing is required. It was pointed out that it would lead to higher costs and higher costs.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and one of its purposes is to provide a technique capable of reducing blurring without incurring complexity and cost of the apparatus. is there.

In order to solve the above-described problem, in the display device according to the present invention, a filter for reducing blur on a character with a specified moving speed according to the moving speed, and the filter process include: An image data output circuit for generating an image obtained by moving a given character at the moving speed for each predetermined period, and a display panel for displaying the image generated by the image data output circuit for each period It is characterized by comprising. According to the present invention, since the character is filtered according to the moving speed designated for the character, processing for detecting movement is not required, and the apparatus is prevented from becoming complicated and expensive. Can do. In the present invention, the moving speed means a vector combining the speed and the direction.
In the present invention, the image data output circuit may generate an image in which the character subjected to the filtering process is synthesized with a predetermined background image.

In addition, a storage circuit that stores characters that are subjected to filtering processing for reducing blur at each predetermined moving speed with respect to a predetermined background image, and a character that has been subjected to the filtering processing is designated movement An image data output circuit that reads out from the storage circuit corresponding to speed, moves the read character at the moving speed, and generates an image synthesized with the background image for each predetermined period; and It is good also as a structure provided with the display panel which displays the image produced | generated by the image data output circuit for every said period. Since the characters that are pre-filtered for each moving speed are memorized, it is not only necessary to perform the filter processing in real time, but also the filter is not necessary after the memory. Can be avoided.
Note that the present invention can be conceptualized not only as a display device but also as an electronic device including the display device and a method for controlling the display device.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<First Embodiment>
First, an electronic apparatus to which the display device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device including a display device.
This electronic device is, for example, a game machine such as a slot machine, and displays characters such as numbers and alphabets by scrolling or stopping. However, regarding the configuration of parts unrelated to the display, The illustration is omitted.

  As shown in this figure, the electronic device 1 is roughly divided into a display device 10, a character output circuit 30, and a speed designation unit 40. Of these, the display device 10 further includes a display control circuit 20, a filter, and a filter. 50, an image data output circuit 60, and a display panel 100.

  The display panel 100 is, for example, an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel. In the display region 100a, a plurality of rows of scanning lines 112 extend in the horizontal direction in the figure, and a plurality of columns of data lines 114 are in the vertical direction in the figure. The scanning lines 112 are provided so as to be electrically insulated from each other, and the pixels 110 are arranged corresponding to the intersections of the scanning lines 112 and the data lines 114, respectively. It is installed.

The Y driver 130 is a scanning line driving circuit that selects a plurality of scanning lines 112 in the order of 1, 2, 3,... One frame period is a period required to display one frame of an image by driving the display panel 100. If the vertical scanning frequency is 60 Hz, the reciprocal is 16.7 milliseconds. It is.
The X driver 140 is a data line driving circuit that samples the data signal Vs output from the image data output circuit 60 to the data line 114 for each pixel 110 in the row selected by the Y driver 130.
The Y driver 130 and the X driver 140 operate according to the control of the display control circuit 20, respectively.

Here, although not described in detail, each pixel 110 has a thin film transistor and a liquid crystal capacitor for each pixel as well known, and when the scanning line 112 is selected, the thin film transistor is turned on to become a data line. The voltage of the supplied data signal is applied to one end of the liquid crystal capacitor. When the scanning line is deselected, the thin film transistor is turned off, and the data line and one end of the liquid crystal are in a non-conducting state, but the voltage applied to one end of the liquid crystal capacitor depends on its capacitance. Retained. And if the display panel 100 is a transmissive | pervious type, in each pixel 110, the light quantity which permeate | transmits a liquid-crystal capacity | capacitance is prescribed | regulated according to a holding voltage.
For this reason, the Y driver 130 selects the scanning lines 112 in order, and the X driver 140 sends a data signal having a voltage corresponding to the designated gradation value to the pixels 110 corresponding to the selected scanning lines 112. When supplied to 114, the liquid crystal capacitance of the pixel 110 positioned on the selected scanning line can be controlled to a transmittance corresponding to the gradation value.

The character output circuit 30 outputs image data of a character to be displayed on the display panel 100 in, for example, a bitmap format. In the present embodiment, as characters to be displayed, symbols such as numerals and alphabets are assumed as described above because of the character as a gaming machine (slot machine).
On the other hand, the speed designating unit 40 is a part of the control unit that controls the game machine, and designates the moving speed Mv of the character in accordance with the control of the game machine.
In the present embodiment, the speed designating unit 40 sets the moving speed Mv to zero in order to stop the character in an initial state, for example, and when the lever (not shown) is operated, In order to move, the moving speed Mv is set to a comparatively large value, and the moving speed Mv is set to zero again to stop the character when a predetermined button is pressed. The moving speed Mv specified by the speed specifying unit 40 defines the moving amount of the character in one frame period together with the moving direction.

The filter 50 is a contour emphasis filter that outputs the character output from the character output circuit 30 by performing contour emphasis processing (filter processing) corresponding to the moving speed Mv specified by the speed specifying unit 40.
The image data output circuit 60 generates image data in which the character subjected to the contour enhancement process is moved in the movement direction by the movement amount defined by the movement speed Mv for each frame period, and the image data is It is converted into an analog data signal Vs suitable for driving the display panel 100 and output. The image data output circuit 60 outputs the data signal Vs in accordance with the operations of the Y driver 130 and the X driver 140 according to the control of the display control circuit 20.

For convenience of explanation, an outline of the outline enhancement processing performed by the filter 40 will be described with reference to FIG.
As for the contour portion of the character, when the horizontal coordinate is taken on the horizontal axis and the luminance (brightness) is taken on the vertical axis, before applying the filter, as shown by the broken line in FIG. The brightness changes at the boundary. Contour emphasis processing for such characteristics, as indicated by a solid line in the figure, shows an overshoot portion that causes an excessive luminance change in the luminance change direction with respect to the luminance change portion that is the contour, and the overshoot portion. This is a process of emphasizing the contour part by giving a contrast difference to the undershoot part that is located inside the character area from the shoot part and changes the brightness in the direction opposite to the brightness change direction. .

Such an overshoot amount Os is defined as a luminance change amount before the change in the overshoot portion as shown in the figure, and similarly, the undershoot amount Us is a luminance change amount before the change in the undershoot portion. It prescribes as
In the present embodiment, most of the characters to be moved and displayed are regions where the same gradation values are spatially continuous, and the gradation values used are very few. For this reason, for example, when the outline of a character is emphasized with an overshoot amount Os and an undershoot amount Us that are the same as when there is a movement in a natural image with widely distributed gradation values, such as landscapes and portraits (portraits), There is a possibility that a phenomenon (pseudo contour) in which the contour is excessively emphasized and the contour is visually recognized in multiple times may occur.
For this reason, in the present embodiment, the overshoot amount Os and the undershoot amount Us set in the filter 50 are set to be smaller than the value of the natural image.

In the present embodiment, in the contour emphasis process, in addition to the overshoot amount Os and the undershoot amount Us, a size to be applied to the contour emphasis process is defined according to the moving speed Mv of the character.
Here, first, blurring that occurs according to the magnitude of the moving speed will be described with reference to FIG.
As is well known, the pixel response in the liquid crystal display panel is a hold type in which the voltage state written when a scanning line is selected in a certain frame is maintained until the scanning line is selected again in the next frame. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 4A, a moving image is displayed in which a black area with a white background in a certain frame (n frame) moves, for example, in the right direction in the next (n + 1) frame. At the left side of the rear edge portion of the black region, the black portion displayed in the previous n frame remains as a memory, so that it becomes darker as it approaches the rear edge of the black region, not the white background. Perceived to be. Similarly, in the portion on the right side from the front edge portion of the black region, the white portion displayed in the previous n frame remains as a memory, so that it becomes brighter as it approaches the front edge of the black region instead of black. Perceived.
Therefore, as shown in the figure, the moving black area is perceived as blurred by the distance w1 moved from the n frame to the (n + 1) frame at both the leading edge and the trailing edge in the moving direction.
Note that the blur distance (width) is a movement distance in one frame period in the motion region. Therefore, if the movement speed is high, the blur width is also increased to w2, as shown in FIG. 4B. . Further, although the character in the present embodiment moves downward, FIG. 4 is described assuming that the black region moves to the right for convenience.

  As described above, as the moving speed of the moving region (moving distance between frames) increases, the blur width increases, and in this embodiment, overshoot and undershoot are proportional to the moving speed Mv, for example. A spatial size Sz with the chute is set (see FIG. 3). As a result, contour emphasis is weakened when the moving speed of the character is low, while contour emphasis is strengthened when the moving speed is high, and blurring due to movement is appropriately reduced.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the filter 50 that executes such edge enhancement processing.
As shown in this figure, the filter 50 includes a filter application unit 52, a filter database 54, and a filter selection unit 56. Among these, the filter database 54 stores a plurality of sets of filter parameters in accordance with the moving speed Mv, and the filter selection unit 56 specifies the speed setting unit 40 among the plurality of sets stored in the filter database 54. In addition to selecting an optimal set for the selected moving speed Mv, the selected filter parameter set is set in the filter application unit 52.

In this embodiment, since the moving direction of the character is a game machine (slot machine), it is always constant downward. For this reason, the filter application unit 52 performs the contour emphasis process defined by the set parameters on the character indicated by the input data, assuming that the character moves downward.
If the display device is other than a gaming machine, the filter application unit 52 may perform contour enhancement processing on the character assuming that the character moves in the direction and speed included in the moving speed Mv.

Next, the operation of the electronic apparatus according to this embodiment will be described.
First, when the character output circuit 30 outputs image data of a character to be displayed, the filter 50 performs an outline emphasis process according to the moving speed Mv on the character output by the character output circuit 30, and then the image data output circuit. 60.
The image data output circuit 60 generates image data for each frame period in which the character subjected to the contour enhancement process is moved downward by a movement amount defined by the movement speed Mv for each frame period. The image data is converted into a data signal Vs, and the data signal Vs is output in accordance with the operations of the Y driver 130 and the X driver 140 under the control of the display control circuit 20.

Specifically, at the beginning of one frame period, when the display control circuit 20 causes the Y driver 130 to select the first scanning line 112, the image data output circuit 60 starts from the first column of the first row. Instructs the X driver 140 to output the data signals Vs corresponding to the pixels 110 up to the last column in order, and sequentially sends the data signals Vs to the data lines 114 from the first column to the last column. Control to sample. When the scanning line 112 in the first row is selected, the thin film transistor in the first row is turned on, and one end of the liquid crystal element passes through the thin film transistor in which the data signal sampled on the data line 114 is turned on. Therefore, the liquid crystal elements in the first row each have a transmittance corresponding to the voltage of the data signal.
As a result of the similar operation being sequentially executed corresponding to the scanning lines 112 from the second line to the last line, the display panel 100 displays one frame of image in one frame period.
In the next frame period, one frame of the image in which the character is moved downward by the amount of movement specified by the moving speed Mv is displayed and such an operation is executed for each frame. On the panel 100, the character is displayed so as to move downward at the moving speed Mv.

In the present embodiment, as the movement speed Mv designated by the speed designation unit 40 increases, for example, as shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7, the outline of the character is strongly emphasized corresponding to the downward movement. The
Specifically, when the moving speed Mv is relatively low, the degree of contour emphasis is weak as shown in FIG. 5, but when the moving speed Mv is medium, the degree of contour emphasis is as shown in FIG. When the movement speed Mv is relatively high when the movement speed Mv is relatively high, the degree of edge enhancement is further increased as shown in FIG.
5, 6, and 7 are diagrams illustrating examples of images generated by the image data output circuit. Actually, “5” and “7” are displayed below “7”. Three consecutive digits such as “8” are displayed independently on the top. Further, “7” in these drawings is a conceptual diagram showing the outline enhancement in a simplified manner, and is not a figure in which the outline enhancement process is actually performed.

  In the present embodiment, the character is subjected to contour enhancement processing for reducing blur in accordance with the moving speed Mv specified by the speed specifying unit 40. A configuration for obtaining the difference is not necessary. For this reason, according to the display device according to the present embodiment, it is possible to reduce blurring without increasing the complexity and cost of the device.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment will be described. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic apparatus including the display device according to the second embodiment.
The electronic device shown in FIG. 8 is different from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that a background image output unit 70 is provided. The background image output unit 70 outputs, for example, a still image as shown in FIG. 9 as a background image of a character that gives motion.
In the third embodiment, the image data output circuit 60 moves the character subjected to the contour enhancement process in the movement direction by the movement amount defined by the movement speed Mv for each frame period with the still image as a background. Synthesize.

  Thereby, in the second embodiment, on the display panel, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a character that has been subjected to contour enhancement processing that reduces blur according to the moving speed Mv is synthesized with the still image as a background. Displayed. For this reason, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to reduce blurring without increasing the complexity and cost of the device, as in the first embodiment.

  When the character moves with the still image output from the background image output unit 70 as the background, the contour portion of the character is defined by the luminance difference between the pixels constituting the character and the pixels of the still image. It will be. For this reason, contour enhancement processing may be performed on a composite image of a character and a still image. However, since the load of the filter processing increases, it is preferable to perform outline enhancement processing only on the character and combine it with the still image as in the second embodiment.

<Third Embodiment>
Subsequently, the third embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device including the display device according to the third embodiment.
The electronic device shown in FIG. 11 is different from the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 in that it has a memory circuit 80 instead of the character output circuit 30. The storage circuit 80 stores in advance data obtained by performing contour enhancement processing corresponding to each of the assumed moving speeds Mv for all types of characters to be displayed. For example, when the assumed moving speed Mv is three types of 3 ppf (pixel per frame) with a small moving speed, 7 ppf with a moving speed, and 15 ppf with a large moving speed, the character “7” In addition to the data that is not subjected to contour enhancement in a stationary state, as shown in FIG. 12, data subjected to contour enhancement according to these three types of movement speeds Mv is stored. For characters other than “7”, in addition to the data that is not subjected to contour emphasis, data that is subjected to contour emphasis according to the three types of movement speeds Mv is stored.
In the third embodiment, the image data output circuit 60 reads out the character data subjected to the contour enhancement according to the designated moving speed Mv from the storage circuit 80 and displays the still image by the background image output unit 70 as the background. As a result, the character subjected to the contour emphasis process is moved in the moving direction by the moving amount defined by the moving speed Mv for each frame period and synthesized.

Therefore, in the third embodiment, since the filter 50 is unnecessary, it is possible to reduce the blurring feeling while simplifying the configuration as compared with the second embodiment.
In the third embodiment, the character data subjected to the contour emphasis processing according to each assumed moving speed Mv is stored in advance. For example, the range of the assumed moving speed Mv is divided into a plurality of ranges. At the same time, the character data subjected to the contour emphasis process according to each section may be stored in advance.

<Application and modification of embodiment>
In the embodiment described above, the characters to be moved and displayed on the display panel are symbols such as numerals and alphabets, but pictograms and icons may be used. It should be noted that the gradation values of pixels constituting pictographs and figures are larger than those of symbols and are dispersed. For this reason, in the contour emphasis processing for pictograms and figures, the overshoot amount Os and the undershoot amount Us may be set so as to be between the symbol and the natural image.

  The image data output circuit 60 is configured to output the data signal Vs and the X driver 140 sequentially samples the data lines 114 from the first column to the last column. The image data for one row of pixels located on the selected scanning line is output, and the X driver 140 converts the image data into an analog data signal and outputs it to the corresponding data line according to the selection of the scanning line. It is good also as a structure.

The pixel 110 is not limited to the transmissive type, and may be a reflective type, or may be a so-called transflective type that combines both the transmissive type and the reflective type. In addition, for example, one pixel may be configured by three pixels of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) to perform color display.
Further, the display panel 100 is not limited to a liquid crystal element, and any element can be applied as long as it is a hold type such as an organic EL element.
Also, the electronic device is not limited to a gaming machine, and can be applied to any device as long as it is a device that displays a moving image at a moving speed designated for a character.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the electronic device to which the display apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the filter in the display apparatus. It is a figure which shows a filter process. It is a figure for demonstrating the blurring in a moving image display. It is a figure which shows an example of the image data in the display apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the image data in the display apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the image data in the display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electronic device to which the display apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment is applied. It is an example of the background image in the display device. It is a figure which shows an example of the image data (composite image) in the display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the structure of the electronic device to which the display apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment is applied. It is an example of the character memorize | stored in the memory | storage circuit in the display apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic device, 10 ... Display apparatus, 20 ... Display control circuit, 30 ... Character output circuit,
40: Speed designation section, 50: Filter, 60: Image data output circuit, 100: Display panel

Claims (5)

A filter that applies a filtering process to reduce the blur to a character with a specified moving speed according to the moving speed;
An image data output circuit that generates an image obtained by moving the character subjected to the filtering process at the moving speed for each predetermined period;
A display panel for displaying the image generated by the image data output circuit for each period;
A display device comprising: The display device according to claim 1, wherein the image data output circuit generates an image obtained by combining the filtered character with a predetermined background image. A storage circuit for storing characters subjected to filtering processing for reducing blurring for each predetermined moving speed for a predetermined background image;
The character subjected to the filtering process is read from the storage circuit corresponding to the designated moving speed,
An image data output circuit that moves the read character at the moving speed and generates an image synthesized with the background image for each predetermined period;
A display panel for displaying the image generated by the image data output circuit for each period;
A display device comprising: A speed specification section for specifying the moving speed of the character to be displayed;
A filter that applies a filtering process to the character to reduce blur according to the moving speed;
An image data output circuit that generates an image obtained by moving the character subjected to the filtering process at the moving speed for each predetermined period;
A display panel for displaying the image generated by the image data output circuit for each period;
An electronic apparatus comprising: A character with a specified moving speed is subjected to filter processing to reduce blur according to the moving speed.
An image obtained by moving the filtered character at the moving speed is generated every predetermined period,
An image generated by the image data output circuit is displayed for each period. The method for controlling a display device.

Images