JP2010176057A - Driving device and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a small number of rewriting times while simplifying constitution related to drive in display by a plurality of display parts. <P>SOLUTION: The driving device 100 drives the display parts 13A and 13B. The display parts 13A and 13B display an image by a storing display body, and maintain gradation of a pixel even if voltage is not applied thereto after application of the voltage. The display part 13A displays a copy image that is a copy of the image displayed on the display part 13B. When displaying the copy image, a user designates a desired position on the display part 13B. A detection part 15 detects the designated position by the user, and the drive part 12 reads out the image at the designated position from an image memory 14B and allows the display part 13A to display the image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a driving technique for a display device that displays an image using a memory display.

There is a technique for extracting a necessary portion from an original document and editing it to generate a new document (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2005-269136 A

When two display devices are used when both an original document and a new document are displayed, a display unit and a configuration related to driving thereof are usually required for each display device. In such a case, 1
When the display area of one display device is divided into two areas, the original document is displayed in one area, and a new document is displayed in the other area, it is necessary to rewrite the other area when rewriting one area It usually happens.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to realize a small number of rewrites while simplifying a configuration related to driving in display by a plurality of display units.

A drive device according to the present invention is a drive device that drives a first display unit and a second display unit each having a display area for displaying an image by a memory-type display body, and includes the first display unit and the second display unit. A selection unit that selects any one of the display units, a drive unit that drives the display unit selected by the selection unit to display an image, and an indicated area of the display area of the second display unit An instruction area specifying unit that specifies an instruction area, wherein the selection unit selects the first display unit according to the specification by the instruction area specifying unit, and the driving unit is operated by the selection unit. When the first display unit is selected, an image displayed in the instruction area in the display area of the second display unit is displayed as a copy image in the display area of the first display unit. It is characterized by. According to this configuration, it is possible to drive the two display units with a single driving device.

The drive device according to the present invention includes a non-display area specifying unit that specifies a non-display area that is an area in which the copy image is not displayed in the display area of the first display section, and the drive section includes When the first display unit is selected by the selection unit, the non-display area of the first display unit is partially driven and displayed in the area specified by the specifying unit. A configuration may be employed in which an existing image is displayed in the non-display area. According to this configuration, the area to be driven can be reduced as compared with the case where the entire display area of the first display unit is driven.

The drive device according to the present invention includes a first image memory that stores an image displayed by the first display unit, and a second image memory that stores an image displayed by the second display unit. The driving unit has a first mode and a second mode as modes when displaying an image on the first display unit, and stores the first mode in the first image memory. A read-out image and display, and in the second mode, read and display the image displayed in the area specified by the specifying unit of the images stored in the second image memory It may be adopted. According to this configuration, in the second mode, the first display unit can be rewritten without reading or rewriting the first image memory.

In addition, this invention can be specified also as a display apparatus provided with the drive device mentioned above, and a 1st display part and a 2nd display part.

Figure showing the appearance of the display device Diagram illustrating how to specify the designated area Block diagram showing hardware configuration of display device Diagram showing memory display Functional block diagram showing the functions realized by the control unit Detailed view of the display device The flowchart which shows the process which a display apparatus performs The figure which illustrates the display by a display device

[Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the display device 10 of the present embodiment includes two display units 13A and 13B, each of which includes an independent display panel (display surface). In the present embodiment, the display unit 13A has a display area for performing auxiliary display of display by the display unit 13B. The display unit 13B displays an image representing a document of a plurality of pages one page at a time. The display unit 13A extracts an image of an area designated by the user from the images displayed on the display unit 13B. To display. The display device 10 may be configured to be foldable between the display unit 13A and the display unit 13B. The display unit 13A corresponds to the first display unit in the present invention, and the display unit 13B corresponds to the second display unit in the present invention.

The display device 10 includes a plurality of operators 171. The operation element 171 is for the user to perform a selection operation such as pressing. The operation element 171 is typically button-shaped, but does not prevent other shapes. The operation by the user includes an operation for switching on / off the power of the display device 10 and an operation for turning a page (advancing or returning a page).

The display device 10 is used together with the pointing tool 20. The pointing tool 20 is, for example, a pen-like instrument, and has a structure that allows the user to point to the display area of the display unit 13B while holding the hand. The display device 10 is configured to be able to identify the designated position designated by the pointing tool 20, and identifies the designated area based on the designated position. In this embodiment, there are a plurality of methods for the user to specify the designated area, but any method may be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a designation method of the designated area, and the hatched area in the figure represents the designated area. As shown in FIG. 2A, the user can designate the inside of the figure as an instruction area by performing an operation of drawing a predetermined figure. In addition, the user can use FIG.
As shown in b), by designating _two opposing points (P ₁ and P ₂ ) of the rectangle, an area corresponding to this rectangle can be designated as the designated area. The specification method of the indication area is
An area within a predetermined range from the designated point may be used as the designated area.

Further, when the display device 10 has a function of recognizing the association between the image displayed at each position in the display area and the designated position, the character including the designated position or the entire image is used as the designated area. A designation method may be adopted. FIG. 2C is a diagram exemplifying this designation method. By designating an appropriate position in the vicinity of the character “A”, the entire character “A” is regarded as the designated area.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the display device 10. The display device 10
In addition to the display units 13A and 13B described above, the control unit 11, the drive unit 12, and the image memory 1
4A and 14B, the detection part 15, the memory | storage part 16, and the operation part 17 are provided. The control unit 11 includes an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory, and controls the operation of the display device 10 by executing a program stored in advance. Drive unit 12
Includes a driving circuit for driving the display units 13A and 13B, and the display units 13A and 13B.
Display an image on. The image memories 14A and 14B are rewritable memories for storing image data, and have a storage area for storing image data for one page in units of pixels. The image memory 14A stores image data representing an image displayed on the display unit 13A, and the image memory 14B stores image data representing an image displayed on the display unit 13B. The image memory 14A corresponds to the first image memory in the present invention, and the image memory 14B corresponds to the second image memory in the present invention.
The control unit 11, the drive unit 12, and the image memories 14 </ b> A and 14 </ b> B constitute the drive device 100. In other words, the display device 10 of the present embodiment drives two display units by one drive device.

The detection unit 15 detects the indication position instructed by the user for the display area of the display unit 13 </ b> B, and supplies the detection result to the control unit 11. The detection unit 15 detects contact (or approach of an object) on the surface of the display area of the display unit 13B by, for example, a so-called touch screen. In addition, the detection part 15 may detect an indication position by detecting electromagnetic waves, when the indicator 20 is the structure which radiates | emits electromagnetic waves (light is included). The storage unit 16 includes a memory that stores image data for a plurality of pages. The memory | storage part 16 may be the structure which can be attached or detached with respect to the display apparatus 10 like what is called a memory card. The operation unit 17 includes the plurality of operation elements 171 described above, and supplies operation information representing a user operation to the control unit 11.

The display units 13A and 13B display images using a memory display. Here, the memory property indicates a gradation corresponding to a voltage when a voltage is applied, and a display that maintains the displayed gradation even in a state where the voltage is not applied after the voltage is applied. It refers to the properties of the body and is also referred to as bistability or non-volatility. As the memory display body, for example, a display body using an electrophoretic element or a cholesteric liquid crystal can be used.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a memory display body and a display body using a microcapsule type electrophoretic element. The memory display shown in the figure is an active matrix display including a common electrode 131, a display layer 132 encapsulating a plurality of microcapsules, and a TFT backplane 133. The common electrode 131 is a transparent electrode formed of, for example, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). A microcapsule encloses black particles charged to a certain polarity (either positive or negative) and white particles charged to the opposite polarity (positive or negative) of black particles, and is insulated. The particles are spherical particles filled with a dispersion medium having a property, and the fine particles are moved according to the applied voltage, and the gradation according to the voltage is exhibited. The TFT backplane 133 is a TFT (Thin Film Transist) on a glass substrate.
or) is provided corresponding to the intersection of the scanning line and the data line, and each intersection portion functions as a pixel. Note that the display units 13A and 13B of the present embodiment have at least the number of pixels that can display characters and figures.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions realized by the control unit 11. The control unit 11 realizes functions corresponding to the selection unit 111, the instruction area specifying unit 112, the operation specifying unit 113, the memory control unit 114, the non-display area specifying unit 115, and the drive control unit 116. The selection unit 111 has a function of exclusively selecting either the display unit 13A or 13B. The selection unit 111 supplies a panel selection signal for identifying whether the selected display panel is the display unit 13A or 13B, and can rewrite either the display unit 13A or 13B (hereinafter referred to as this state). Is called "active").

The instruction area specifying unit 112 has a function of specifying the instruction area specified by the user using the pointing tool 20 in the display area of the display unit 13B based on the detection result of the detection unit 15. The operation specifying unit 113 has a function of specifying a user operation based on the operation information. Operation identification part 1
13 specifies a page turning operation related to the display unit 13B.

The memory control unit 114 has a function of accessing the image memories 14A and 14B and the storage unit 16 and controlling writing and reading of data to and from these memories.
The memory control unit 114 also has a function of executing image processing such as rendering as necessary when the image data stored in the storage unit 16 is written in the image memory 14A or 14B. The memory control unit 114 also stores the image data used for display in the image memory 14A.
And 14B, a memory selection signal for identifying which is stored is supplied. Further, the memory control unit 114 has a function of recognizing a page of image data, and the image memory 1
The image data pages written in 4A and 14B and the image data of the pages before and after the page are recognized.

The non-display area specifying unit 115 has a function of specifying an area (hereinafter referred to as “non-display area”) in which a copy image described later is not displayed in the display area of the display unit 13A. The non-display area specifying unit 115 stores the non-display area information representing the non-display area, and updates the non-display area information when the non-display area is changed. The drive control unit 116 has a function of controlling the drive of the drive unit 12. The drive control unit 116 supplies the drive unit 12 with a trigger signal that represents a trigger for the operation of the drive unit 12. In addition, when the display content of the display unit 13B is copied and displayed on the display unit 13A, the drive control unit 116 supplies the drive unit 12 with an area selection signal indicating the area to be copied.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing in detail a portion corresponding to the driving device 100 in the display device 10. The display device 10 includes an AND circuit 181A that conducts with the image memory 14A and an AND circuit 181B that conducts with the image memory 14B. One of the input signals of the AND circuits 181A and 181B is image data stored in the image memory 14A or 14B, and the other is a memory selection signal supplied from the control unit 11. AND circuits 181A and 181
B is configured such that one of them is exclusively turned on. In the configuration shown in the figure, the output of the AND circuit 181A is valid when the memory selection signal is “Lo”, and the output of the AND circuit 181B is valid when the memory selection signal is “Hi”. . AN
The output signal of the D circuit 181A or 181B is supplied to the drive unit 12 via the OR circuit 182.

The drive unit 12 includes a driver 121, a masker 122, and a shifter 123.
The driver 121 supplies image data to the data lines while selecting one of the scanning lines of the display unit 13A or 13B. The driver 121 operates when a trigger signal is supplied from the control unit 11, and does not operate in other cases. Since the display units 13A and 13B display an image using a memory-type display, once the image is displayed, the same image continues to be displayed even if no voltage is applied thereafter. The masker 122 is a circuit for extracting a necessary part of the image data and masking the unnecessary part, and the shifter 123 is a circuit for shifting the memory address of the image data extracted by the masker 122. is there. The masker 122 and the shifter 123 display the image data stored in the image memory 14B on the display unit 13.
Used when supplying to A.

The display device 10 includes AND circuits 183A, 183B, 184A, and 184B. The AND circuits 183A and 183B are configured so that image data supplied to the data lines and the panel selection signal are input signals, and either one is exclusively turned on. The AND circuits 184A and 184B are configured so that either one of the line selection signal and the panel selection signal supplied to the scanning line is an input signal and is exclusively turned on. The configuration shown in the figure is
The display unit 13A is active when the panel selection signal is “Lo”, and the display unit 13B is active when the panel selection signal is “Hi”.

The configuration of the display device 10 of the present embodiment is as described above. Under this configuration, the display device 10 displays an image in accordance with a user operation. The display operation by the display device 10 is broadly divided into two types: rewriting of the display unit 13B according to the page turning operation by the user and rewriting of the display unit 13A according to the instruction of the instruction area by the user. Note that the rewriting of the display unit 13A and the rewriting of the display unit 13B are not linked, and the other rewriting operation is performed regardless of the rewriting operation of one.

The display device 10 displays an image representing a document of a plurality of pages page by page on the display unit 13B. The user turns the page as necessary, and advances or returns the page. The user instructs the image to be extracted with the pointing tool 20 when extracting the image displayed on the display unit 13B while browsing the image on the display unit 13B. The display device 10 detects an instruction from the user and displays a copy of the image displayed in the instruction area of the display unit 13B on the display unit 13A. When the user repeats such an instruction operation while turning pages, the display device 1
Only the necessary images are extracted from the images displayed on the display unit 13B and displayed as a list on the display unit 13A. Hereinafter, an image extracted from the display unit 13B and displayed on the display unit 13A is referred to as a “copy image”.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by the control unit 11 during a display operation by the display device 10. The control unit 11 determines whether to rewrite the display unit 13B (step S1). The control unit 11 determines that the display unit 13B needs to be rewritten when the operation information indicating the page turning is acquired. When the page turning operation is performed by the user, the control unit 11 reads out the image data of the page (next page of the currently displayed page or the previous page) according to the page turning operation from the storage unit 16. Then, the image data stored in the image memory 14B is rewritten to the image data read from the storage unit 16 (step S2). After rewriting the image memory 14B, the control unit 11 supplies a trigger signal to the drive unit 12 to rewrite the display unit 13B, and displays an image of the page according to the page turning operation.
3B is displayed (step S3). In addition, when not rewriting the display part 13B, the control part 11 performs the process after step S4, without performing the process of step S2 and S3.

The controller 11 determines whether or not designation of the designated position by the user has been detected while rewriting the display unit 13B (step S4). That is, at this time, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the indicated position is detected by the detection unit 15. When acquiring the detection result from the detection unit 15, the control unit 11 specifies the indication area in the display unit 13 </ b> B represented by the detection result (
Step S5). Moreover, the control part 11 specifies the non-display area | region in 13 A of display parts based on non-display area | region information (step S6).

After specifying the designated area and the non-display area, the control unit 11 determines whether or not the copy image to be displayed next fits on one page (step S7). In short, this determination is to determine whether or not an area corresponding to the designated area can be secured in the undisplayed area. When the area corresponding to the instruction area can be secured in the non-display area, a new copy image is displayed without changing the page displayed on the display unit 13A. Otherwise, the page displayed on the display unit 13A is displayed. A new copy image is displayed again on the display unit 13A in a state where no other copy image is displayed.

In the former case, a new copy image is added to the display area where another copy image is displayed. Therefore, in the following, the operation in the former case is referred to as “append mode”. The operation in the latter case is hereinafter referred to as “page break mode”. In the present embodiment, the additional recording mode corresponds to the second mode in the present invention, and the page break mode corresponds to the first mode in the present invention.

In the write-once mode, the control unit 11 specifies the position (coordinates) where the copy image is displayed based on the indication area specified in step S5, and also copies the copy image in the undisplayed area specified in step S6. The position (coordinates) of the area for displaying is specified.
That is, the control unit 11 specifies the copy source coordinates and the copy destination coordinates. Based on these coordinates, the control unit 11 specifies the shift amount of the coordinates accompanying copying and the mask area to be masked (step S8), and sends information indicating the shift amount and the mask area to the drive unit 12 as a region selection signal. Supply. The drive unit 12 operates the masker 122 and the shifter 123 based on the region selection signal.

On the other hand, in the page break mode, the control unit 11 performs a page break operation (step S9).
. Here, the page break operation refers to an operation of reading image data stored in the image memory 14A and rewriting it with new image data. The new image data includes a copy image to be displayed next, that is, an image displayed in the designated area in the display unit 13B specified in step S5. In addition, the control unit 11 performs the page break operation.
Image data before the page is revised (that is, image data before rewriting) may be stored in the storage unit 16. In this way, the display unit 13A can be returned to the display before the page break.

When the control unit 11 performs the operation of step S8 or S9 according to both modes, the display unit 1
The display of 3A is rewritten (step S10). Here, the control unit 11 supplies a trigger signal to the drive unit 12 so that the drive unit 12 can be driven, and the panel selection signal is switched to display an active display panel from the previous display unit 13B. Part 13
Change to A. In the page break mode, the control unit 11 switches the memory selection signal and changes the image memory from which image data is read from the image memory 14B to the image memory 14A. Note that in the additional recording mode, since the image memory from which the image data is read remains the image memory 14B, the memory selection signal is not switched.

After rewriting the display unit 13A, the control unit 11 identifies the undisplayed area after the rewriting and updates the undisplayed area information (step S11). When the non-display area information is updated, the control unit 11 repeats the processes after step S4 to rewrite the display unit 13B (steps S1 to S3).
And the rewriting of the display unit 13A (steps S4 to S11) are repeated.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the processing shown in FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 8A, when a part of the display unit 13B is instructed when nothing is displayed on the display unit 13A (so-called blank sheet state), as shown in FIG. In addition, the image of the designated area (broken line) is copied to the display unit 13A. The operation shown in FIG. 8 is an operation in the write-once mode. The algorithm for arranging the copy image on the display unit 13A is not particularly limited. For example, the copy image is arranged so as to be left-justified and top-aligned with respect to the display area of the display unit 13A, and a blank area is avoided as much as possible. It would be good if something like that. Note that the interval between copy images may be determined as appropriate.

The display device 10 repeats writing of the copy image in the additional recording mode, but operates in the page break mode when the non-display area of the display unit 13A decreases as shown in FIG. 8C. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8D, the display device 10 erases the image displayed so far and displays only a new copy image. Thereafter, the display device 10 repeats the operation of the write-once mode again.

As described above, according to the display device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to perform a page break of a document displayed on the display unit 13B while displaying a copy image on the display unit 13A. Therefore, if the user copies a necessary image to the display unit 13A, the user does not need to turn the page of the display unit 13B when referring to the necessary image after a page break, and the display unit 13B in such a case. The number of rewrites can be reduced.

The configuration of the present embodiment has a particularly advantageous effect in a display device that cannot perform page turning by skipping pages. For example, in the display device 10, when the display unit 13 </ b> B displays the third page of the document, when trying to refer to the matter described on the first page,
If you try to refer to the first page using the display unit 13B, you will return from page 3 to page 2,
Furthermore, an operation for returning to one page is necessary, and rewriting is required twice. However,
If this reference object is displayed on the display unit 13A as a copy image, the reference object can be confirmed without rewriting the display unit 13B.

Further, according to the display device 10 of the present embodiment, the display units 13A and 13B are connected to the driving device 100.
Can be driven. Therefore, the display device 10 according to the present embodiment can have a simple configuration as compared to the case where the configuration related to driving is provided for each display unit. Further, in the display device 10 according to the present embodiment, the display unit 13A and the display unit 13B are driven independently, so that unnecessary rewriting that the other is rewritten as one is rewritten does not occur.

Furthermore, since the display device 10 of the present embodiment can drive only a part of the display area of the display unit 13A and display a new copy image in the write-once mode, when driving the entire display area. Compared to this, it is possible to suppress power consumption and time consumption. In addition, in the additional recording mode, the display device 10 can display an image using the stored contents of the image memory 14B without rewriting the image memory 14A.

[Modification]
The present invention can be implemented in a form different from the above-described embodiment. The following modifications are examples of modifications applicable to the present invention. The above-described embodiment and the following modification examples may be applied in combination as necessary.

(Modification 1)
The control unit 11 may rewrite the image memory 14A before driving the drive unit 12 in the display in the write-once mode so that the image represented by the image memory 14A matches the image displayed on the display unit 13A. In this case, the control unit 11 may partially rewrite the display area of the display unit 13A or may control to rewrite the entire display area of the display unit 13A. Note that if the display unit 13A is not partially rewritten, the masker 12
The structure corresponding to 2 and the shifter 123 is unnecessary.

(Modification 2)
The present invention can also be implemented in a configuration that does not have a memory (image memory 14A) corresponding to the first image memory. For example, if the display by the display unit 13A is only for displaying a copy image, the data stored in the image memory 14B is subjected to shift processing and mask processing, and the display unit 13A is partially rewritten so that only a new copy image is displayed. If you try to rewrite
Even without the image memory 14A, display by the display unit 13A can be realized.

(Modification 3)
In the embodiment described above, the copy image is displayed at the same magnification. However, in the present invention, the copy image may be displayed in a reduced size or enlarged in size than the copy source. If the copy image is reduced and displayed, the number of copy images that can be displayed on the first display unit can be increased, and the number of page breaks in the first display unit can be reduced. When enlarging or reducing the image, it is necessary to perform rendering again.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the copy image is a part of the image displayed on the display unit 13B, but may be the entire image displayed on the display unit 13B. In other words, the copy as used in the present invention is not limited to extracting a part of an image displayed on a certain page, but includes copying an entire page.

(Modification 4)
In the present invention, the first image memory and the second image memory may be configured as physically different memories, but a storage area corresponding to the first image memory for a single memory. And a storage area corresponding to the second image memory may be provided separately to constitute a single memory. Further, for the first display unit and the second display unit, a single display panel may be divided into two regions and used.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Display apparatus, 11 ... Drive part, 111 ... Selection part, 112 ... Instruction area specific part, 113 ... Operation specific part, 114 ... Memory control part, 115 ... Non-display area specific part, 116 ... Drive control part,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Drive part, 13A, 13B ... Display part, 14A, 14B ... Image memory, 15 ... Detection part, 16 ... Memory | storage part, 17 ... Operation part, 171 ... Operating element, 100 ... Drive apparatus, 20 ... Indicator

Claims (4)

A drive device for driving a first display unit and a second display unit each having a display area for displaying an image by a memory display body,
A selection unit for selecting one of the first display unit and the second display unit;
A drive unit that drives the display unit selected by the selection unit to display an image;
An indication area specifying unit for specifying an indication area that is an indicated area of the display area of the second display section;
The selection unit selects the first display unit according to the specification by the instruction area specifying unit,
When the first display unit is selected by the selection unit, the drive unit displays an image displayed in the instruction area in the display area of the second display unit. A drive device characterized by being displayed as a copy image in the display area. A non-display area specifying unit for specifying a non-display area that is an area in which the copy image is not displayed in the display area of the first display section;
When the drive unit selects the first display unit by the selection unit, the drive unit partially drives the non-display area of the first display unit, and is specified by the specifying unit. The drive device according to claim 1, wherein an image displayed on the display area is displayed in the non-display area. A first image memory for storing an image displayed by the first display unit;
A second image memory for storing an image displayed by the second display unit,
The drive unit is
As a mode when displaying an image on the first display unit, the first mode and the second mode,
In the first mode, the image stored in the first image memory is read and displayed,
3. In the second mode, an image displayed in an area specified by the specifying unit out of images stored in the second image memory is read and displayed. The drive device described. A display device comprising: the drive device according to claim 1; and the first display unit and the second display unit according to claim 1.

Images