JP2011257524A - Multi-display device and image setting method for the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a multi-display device allowing a user to operate an image display device at a position convenient for the user to operate other individual image display devices for setting images for the respective image display devices in a multi-display presentation.SOLUTION: In the multi-display device connected to a plurality of image display devices 100, 200 and 800, each of the image display device 100, 200 and 800 has individual identification information which can specify each image display device. The image display devices 100, 200 and 800 are connected to each other via communication means 600, Of the image display devices 100, 200 and 800, a specific image display device performs image settings of other image display devices.

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-display device that functions as a single display by connecting a plurality of video display devices to each other or through an external device.

  Currently, a multi-display device that connects a plurality of video display devices and functions as a single display is widely used. Mainly for business use such as exhibitions and concerts that require a large screen, the number of connections can be freely increased or decreased according to the environment, application, and purpose of the installation location, and it functions as a single display device. .

  The main elements that make up the multi-display device are described below. First, individual video display devices will be described. As the video display device, various devices such as a liquid crystal display used in a PC or a television, a plasma display, a projection display, and a CRT display are used. All types of video display devices include a display unit that displays video, a display drive unit that drives the display unit, a video input unit that receives external video signals, and remote control light reception that receives operations such as video settings from the user In general, the unit 902 is configured by a control unit that controls the entire unit.

  Next, the video distributor will be described. The video distributor is inserted between the video output device and the video display device. It is used for the purpose of split distribution of video sources to combine multiple video display devices to function as an integrated video display device. The That is, the main role is to split and re-encode a video signal output from a video output device to a plurality of video display devices. For example, when a multi-display device is configured with nine video display devices, a base video signal is divided into nine by a video distributor, re-encoded and transmitted as a video signal for each video display device.

  Here, a connection method between the video distributor and the video display device will be described. There are various methods for transmitting a video signal from the video distributor to the video display device. As a general method, there is a distribution connection using an HDMI standard signal line. The video signal divided for each video display device on the external device side is transmitted to the video display device through the signal line. Other connection methods include composite signal transmission and daisy chain connection.

  The necessity of video setting for each video display device will be described. In the video display device, the user can generally adjust video settings such as phase, horizontal position, and vertical position, and it is necessary to change these according to the video source. For example, the vertical position is adjusted when it is desired to intentionally shift the entire video up or down with respect to the content of the video source. Similarly, the brightness and hue contrast of the video may be adjusted according to the video source to be displayed. In a multi-display device using a plurality of video display devices, it is necessary to adjust these settings for each video display device. If this is not implemented, an intended video expression cannot be realized, and a sense of unity as a display device can be achieved. And lack of quality.

  Finally, the operability from the remote control device of the multi-display device, particularly from the remote control will be described. A remote controller using a light emitting element such as infrared light is generally widely used. However, although the remote controller has a certain directivity, a general user does not need to be aware of the direction of the remote controller. The light emission angle is as follows. That is, if there is a distance until the transmission signal from the remote control reaches, as a result, the light emission range increases, and when a plurality of video display devices operating with the same identification code are arranged, a plurality of video display devices or It means that all do not intend to perform light receiving operation at the same time. For this reason, each video display device has a unique identification code so that a plurality of video display devices do not operate by a single remote control operation, and the remote control can also switch a plurality of identification codes accordingly. Only the video display device that the user wants to operate is operated. However, when a multi-display device is configured on the basis of a general television or video monitor, the same remote control identification code for the same product from the same manufacturer is basically one type, and only for video display devices that the user wants to operate with the remote control. It is necessary to operate from an extremely close distance for each video display device so that light is received, or to operate with a main body operation key provided in the video display device without using a remote control. For example, in the case of constructing a small multi-display device of about two rows and two stages, if the user operates each video display device and individually sets the video as described above, the amount of work does not matter. If a large-scale multi-display device is built up, and the number of video display devices is higher than the user's height, the individual video display devices located in high places are difficult to operate individually, There are situations where the signal is out of reach or the OSD (On Screen Display) is difficult to see and difficult to operate.

  Therefore, in order to solve the inefficiency and complexity of the work related to the video setting of the multi-display device, each video display device of the multi-display device receives an image from the outside on each video display device as in Patent Document 1. In the video setting support technology for displaying the OSD instead of the signal and enabling the video setting, or in Patent Document 2, the OSD is displayed at a location convenient for the user with a single video display device, thereby obstructing the video. Techniques have been proposed for efficient video setting.

JP 4-192686 (published July 10, 1992) JP 2009-86408 (published April 23, 2009)

  However, in Patent Document 1, the state of each video display device is OSD-displayed for each video display device. In order to adjust all the video display devices, a user installs each video display device. The poor operability that has to be moved to a location and operated has not been solved. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 is a technical disclosure relating to a single video display device, which contributes to improving the work efficiency of video settings because the OSD display position can be changed according to the needs of the user. It cannot be applied to a multi-display device that displays images by integrating them.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and the object thereof is most easily seen by a person who operates when changing video settings on a display using a plurality of connected video display devices. An object of the present invention is to realize a multi-display device in which an operation screen is displayed on a display device at a position and video settings of all video display devices can be easily changed.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-display device to which a plurality of video display devices are connected, wherein each video display device can identify individual video display devices. The video display devices are connected by communication means, and among the video display devices, a specific video display device performs video settings of other video display devices. Further, the video display device specified by the remote control device among the video display devices performs video settings of other video display devices. Preferably, among the video display devices, a specific video display device acquires video setting information from another video display device. More preferably, among the respective video display devices, the specified video display device acquires video setting information from another video display device and displays the information. More preferably, it is a video setting method in a multi-display device to which a plurality of video display devices are connected, wherein each video display device has individual identification information with which each video display device can identify an individual video display device. Each of the video display devices is connected by communication means, and among the video display devices, a specific video display device acquires video setting information of another video display device; And when the acquired video setting information is changed, the changed video setting information is reflected on the video display device from which the video setting information is acquired.

  When changing the video settings on a display using multiple connected video display devices, the operation screen is displayed on the display device that is most easily visible to the person who operates it, making it easy to change all video operations. Is to realize a multi-display.

It is a block diagram which shows the connection of a some video display apparatus of the Example which concerns on this invention, a video distributor, video output equipment, and PC, and an internal structure. It is a flowchart of the IP address acquisition process of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart of the IP address transmission process of PC in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is a flowchart of the remote control process of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the OSD display of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the OSD display of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the OSD display of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the OSD display of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention. It is the figure which showed the OSD display of the display in the Example which concerns on this invention.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing connections and individual internal configurations of a display a100 to a display i900, a video distributor 300, a video output device 400, and a PC 500 as an external control device as an example of a multi-display device. It is shown in.

  First, the flow of signals between each display and the device will be described. A video signal serving as a base is transmitted from the video output device 400 to the video distributor 300, video division is performed according to the number of displays (9), and the video signal is re-encoded into video signals that can be displayed on each display. The re-encoded video signal is connected to be distributed to the display a100 to display i900. Separately, communication signal lines for controlling each display are connected to the PC 500 and the display a100 to display i900.

  Next, the internal configuration of each device and device will be described. The display i900 includes a video input unit 906 for receiving a video signal from the video distributor 300, a display drive unit 905 for displaying the received video signal, and a display unit 901. In order to acquire video setting data from the display, the communication means 600 is connected. In addition to the ID and IP address of the display i900, the ID and IP address obtained from the PC 500, data such as video settings of other displays, the storage unit 907 for storing the ID and IP address of the PC 500, and the entire display i900 are controlled. A control unit 904 is provided. Further, the display i 900 can be individually identified because the unique ID is stored in the storage unit 907 when the power is turned on, and acquires an IP address by communicating with the PC 500. Furthermore, the light receiving unit 902 receives an instruction from a user by a remote controller that is a remote control device, and can perform OSD display of a video setting menu, setting change processing, and the like. The above is the same for the display a100 to display h800. On the other hand, the PC 500 is connected to the communication unit 600 in order to communicate IDs and IP addresses and exchange video setting data with each display, and can store these data in the storage unit 503. Moreover, it has the control part 501 which controls these PC500 whole.

  The operation of each device will be described in the order of operation. First, a negotiation operation for obtaining an IP address between the PC 500 and each display will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the IP address acquisition process of the display, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the IP address transmission process of the PC 500. When the power supply of the display i900 is activated, “9” that is the unique ID value of the display i900 is transmitted to “10.xx.xx.10” that is the IP address of the PC in accordance with the processing shown in FIG. (S201. “S” represents a step, and so on). The PC 500 determines whether the inquiry is an IP address inquiry (S301), receives the transmitted ID value “9” (S302), and searches for the IP address associated with the unique ID “9” of the display i900 ( As a result, the corresponding “10.xx.xx.09” is transmitted to the ID “9” which is the display i900 (S304). The display i900 acquires the IP address from the PC 500 (S202), stores it in the storage unit 907 (S203), and the IP address acquisition process is completed. Similarly, the display a100 to the display h800 also obtain IP addresses by sequentially starting up the power supply.

  Note that the IP address is acquired in the order of display startup without having a unique ID as an initial value, as well as a method of acquiring an address by collating a unique ID stored in advance in each display with a PC as in this embodiment. If communication processing can be established between each display and the PC 500 without any trouble, such as a method, a method of establishing communication processing only by identifying a unique ID of each video display device without using an external control device such as a PC, etc. Needless to say.

  Next, the video setting operation and operation by the user will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of display processing, and is common to the displays a100 to i900. 5 to 7 show OSD displays on the display by remote control operation of the display. When using infrared light with a remote control as a remote control device, operate the camera at a close distance so that it is not received by the remote control light receiving unit of other displays, or attach a condenser lens to the front of the light emitting element to increase directivity. Can be used. Also, in order to ensure that multiple displays do not receive light, the light is received only at a specific display at an extremely close distance that does not affect other displays. Can be controlled via the communication means 600 so that the remote operation can be performed without being aware of erroneous light reception by other displays in the subsequent operations. In the present invention, the operation by the user is not limited to the infrared remote controller, but may be operated by a key of a main body operation panel provided in a wired connection remote controller or a display.

  In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the display i900 is located at a position that is most easily operated by the user among a plurality of combined displays. The initial operation waiting state of the display i900 is in the “start” position in FIG. 4, and the OSD display of the multi-display device is shown in FIG. ID: 9 ”is displayed. From this state, the user presses the MENU key of the remote control toward the display i900, and a MENU signal is transmitted. The display i900 determines whether or not a signal is input from the remote controller (S401), and the display i900 is positioned as a specific display among the displays and accepts setting operations for other displays. The display i900 checks whether the signal is “MENU” (S402). If it is “MENU”, the display i900 displays the ID of the display i900 (S403), and the OSD displays “MENU display ID” as shown in FIG. : 9 "is displayed.

  Further, when the user presses the MENU key for the second time by operating the remote controller, the display i900 determines whether or not a signal is input from the remote controller (S404), and determines whether the input signal is “MENU” (S405). If “MENU”, each item value of the OSD related to the video setting is called (S406), and the OSD display process is executed (S407). Video setting items shown in FIG. 7 (“Image adjustment”, “Clock, phase, horizontal position” as adjustment items, “Bar graph” and “Value” indicating setting values of these adjustment items, “Automatic” Item display for operating functions such as “adjustment” and “reset”, “1/1” indicating that the displayed items do not cover multiple pages, and “i” indicating that the video setting of the display i900 is being performed. ID: 9 ") etc. are displayed on the OSD.

  Further, when the user changes the video setting, if the item to be changed is not selected, the item to be changed is designated by the remote controller. The display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S421), and if it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S422). When the input is “item selection”, the display i900 selects an item (S423), and updates the OSD display with a visual method indicating that the selected item is explicitly selected, such as a cursor display. (S424). From this state, the value of the item to be changed by the user is changed by remote control operation. That is, the display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S421), and if it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S422). When the input is “numerical value”, the display i900 performs a numerical value updating process (S425), updates the OSD display to the changed value display (S426), and displays the screen display state (clock, phase, The horizontal position etc. are updated (S427). This completes the video setting change.

  The above is an explanation of the video setting operation of the display i900 by operating the display i900, but it goes without saying that the contents of the OSD are not limited to the above specific items. When the OSD is erased, it can be erased by further selecting the MENU key by remote control operation from the state where the OSD is displayed. That is, the display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S421), and if it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S422). If the input is “MENU”, the display i900 turns off the OSD (S435).

  Next, the operation of the video setting of the display a100 by the operation from the display i900 will be described. 8 and 9 illustrate remote control operation and OSD display. When the display i900 transmits from the remote controller the ID value “1” of the display a100 that the user wants to set next, from the state in which the process of S403 is completed, the display i900 determines whether there is a signal from the remote control (S404). ), It is determined whether or not the input signal is “numerical value” (S405), and since the input signal “1” is “numerical value”, the OSD display state is updated (S408), and the display as shown in FIG. “MENU display ID: 1” is OSD displayed on i900.

  In this state, when the display to be set is changed, the target display can be changed by further operating the numeric keys on the remote controller.

  Further, by pressing the MENU key while the changed display is selected, the display i900 determines whether or not a signal is input from the remote control (S409), and determines whether or not the input signal is “MENU” ( In S410), if it is “MENU”, the PC 500 is inquired about the acquired input signal “1”, that is, the IP address assigned to ID: 1 (S411), and the PC 500 determines whether it is an IP address inquiry according to the flowchart of FIG. Then, the ID value “1” is received (S302). Further, the PC 500 searches for the IP address corresponding to the ID 1 requested from the display i900, that is, “10.xx.xx.01” (S303, and transmits the search result to the display i900 (S304). The IP address is received from the PC 500 (S412), and the target IP address, that is, the display a100 is requested to transmit the value of each item of the OSD necessary for the video setting of the display a100 (S413). It is determined that it is not an input, that is, communication from the display i900 (S401), it is determined that the communication from the display i900 is an OSD item value request regarding the video setting of the display a100 (S416), and each item Display the value of (S417) The display i900 receives the value of each item of the OSD from the target IP address (S414), performs the OSD display processing related to the video setting of the display a100 (S415), and FIG. As shown, the video setting item of the display a100 is displayed on the display i900.

  In the video setting display, ID1 indicating that it is the adjustment screen of the display a100 that is the target of the video setting is displayed on the upper right of the screen, and it can be seen that the video setting is the setting mode of the display a100. Further, when the user changes the video setting, if the item to be changed is not selected, the item to be changed is designated by the remote controller. The display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S428). If it is determined that there is an input, the display i900 determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S429). When the input is “item selection”, the display i900 selects an item (S430), and updates the OSD display with a visual method indicating that the selected item is explicitly selected, such as a cursor display. (S431). After selecting the item to be changed, the user changes the value of the item to be changed by remote control operation. That is, the display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S428), and if it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S429). When the input is “numerical value”, the display i 900 performs a numerical value updating process (S 432), updates the OSD display to the changed value display (S 433), and sets the IP address “100” of the target display a 100. The value changed to “10.xx.xx.01” is transmitted (S434).

  On the other hand, the display a100 receives the value of the item of the video setting and changes the setting value. That is, the display a100 determines whether or not there is an input from another display (S401). If it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the value is changed from the other display, the OSD item is requested, or not (S416). ), When it is determined that the input is a changed value from another display, the setting value is changed (S418), and the display state (clock, phase, horizontal position, etc.) of the screen is updated (S419). ). This completes the video setting change. If necessary, switch to another display setting mode to complete the adjustment. When the OSD is erased, it can be erased by further selecting the MENU key by remote control operation from the state where the OSD is displayed. That is, the display i900 determines whether or not there is a remote control input (S421), and if it is determined that there is an input, it determines whether the input is “item selection”, “MENU”, or “numerical value” (S422). If the input is “MENU”, the display i900 turns off the OSD (S435).

  As described above, even if the display to be operated is installed at a place far higher than the place where the user is located by stacking the displays, the display is positioned at the position where the user can easily see and operate. By displaying the OSD of the display, the video can be set efficiently.

  The present invention can be widely applied to all multi-display devices that connect a plurality of video display devices and function as an integrated display unit.

100 display a
200 display b
300 Video distributor 400 Video output device 500 PC
501 Control unit 503 Storage unit 600 Communication means 800 Display h
900 Display i
901 Display unit 902 Remote control light receiving unit 904 Control unit 905 Display drive unit 906 Video input unit 907 Storage unit

Claims (5)

In a multi-display device to which a plurality of video display devices are connected,
Each of the video display devices
It has individual identification information that can identify individual video display devices,
The video display devices are connected by communication means,
A multi-display apparatus in which a specific video display apparatus among the video display apparatuses performs video settings of other video display apparatuses.   2. The multi-display device according to claim 1, wherein among the video display devices, a video display device specified by a remote control device performs video setting of another video display device.   3. The multi-display device according to claim 1, wherein among the video display devices, a specific video display device acquires video setting information from another video display device.   4. The multi-display device according to claim 3, wherein among the video display devices, the specified video display device acquires video setting information from another video display device and displays the information. A video setting method in a multi-display device to which a plurality of video display devices are connected,
Each of the video display devices
Each of the video display devices has individual identification information that can identify individual video display devices,
The video display devices are connected by communication means,
Among the video display devices, a specific video display device acquires video setting information of another video display device, and when the acquired video setting information is changed, the changed video setting information Reflecting to the video display device from which the video setting information was acquired.