JP2012008882A - Display device, control method for display device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the convenience of a user by controlling the superimposition display of connection information to a projector on a picture projected by the projector.SOLUTION: A display device connected to a network and configured to receive data provided from the other equipment connected to the network includes: display means for displaying information related to the received data; detection means for detecting the other equipment connected to the network; and control means for, when it is detected that the other equipment has been connected to the network by the detection means, controlling the display means to display connection information for transmitting data to be displayed by the display means from the other equipment to the display device.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device, a display device control method, and a program.

  A video projector (hereinafter simply referred to as a projector) that performs video projection display is connected to a personal computer (PC) by a VGA (Video Graphics Array) cable, a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) cable, or the like. The digital / analog video from the PC is transferred to the projector through these cables to perform projection display. In this case, most of the video is uncompressed video, and the video display timing is also superimposed and transferred.

  On the other hand, LAN (Local Area Network) has become common and projectors that support network connection are also increasing. FIG. 1 shows a state where the projector 100 and the PC 110 are connected via the network 120. In order to enable communication between the PC 110 and the projector 100 via the network 120, the PC 110 must identify and connect to the projector 100 on the network 120.

  As a method for realizing this, there is a method using a protocol technique called UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) (Non-Patent Document 1). In this protocol, the projector 100 existing on the network 120 can be specified by transmitting a search command called M-Search to the network. Thereafter, the PC 110 can start communication with the projector 100 based on the information of the projector 100 described in the response.

Specification for UPnP device structure (http://www.upnp.org/specs/arch/UPnP-DeviceArchitecture-v1.0.pdf)

  As described above, the PC 110 can specify the projector 100 by using UPnP. On the other hand, in order to use the UPnP function, the user must change the setting of the PC 110 or perform an operation for using the UPnP function. This requires a work of changing the setting of the OS (operating system) of the PC or switching an application to be used, which is a troublesome work for general users. In the case of a PC not equipped with the UPnP function, there is no means for automatically specifying the projector in the first place, and the projector and the PC cannot be automatically connected.

  Here, the problem is not limited to UPnP, and the same problem occurs even when another protocol for device discovery similar to UPnP is used. In order to solve such a problem, one is that a user manually inputs connection information (for example, an IP address) for connecting to the projector. For example, if the connection information of the projector 100 is displayed on the screen 105, the user can specify the projector 100, and if the connection information is input to the Web browser on the PC 110, communication between the projector 100 and the PC 110 can be established.

  By the way, projectors are generally often used for presentations. When the presentation starts, the presenter controls the PC 110 to explain the presentation material while projecting the presentation material onto the projection screen 105 of the projector 100. In this situation, since the material used by the presenter is displayed on the projection screen, in order to display the connection information described above on the screen, it must be superimposed on the presentation material. However, it is difficult to see the presentation material if it is always displayed. In addition, since the connection information is periodically displayed, a new participant must enter the conference room and wait for a while to connect the PC 115. If the connection information is overlooked, the user must wait for a certain period of time. It is not easy to use.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a display device capable of improving usability by controlling the superimposed display of connection information to the projector on the screen projected by the projector. With the goal.

  The present invention for solving the above problems is a display device connected to a network and capable of receiving data provided from another device connected to the network, and displays information related to the received data. Display means for detecting, detecting means for detecting the other device connected to the network, and detecting that the other device is connected to the network by the detecting means, And control means for controlling the display means so as to display connection information for transmitting data to be displayed by the display means on the display device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, a user's usability can be improved by controlling the superimposition display of the connection information to this display apparatus on the screen which a display apparatus displays.

The figure which shows an example of a system configuration. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a projector 100. The flowchart which shows an example of the detection process of the newly connected apparatus 115. The sequence diagram which shows an example which detects the connection apparatus on the network 120. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the GUI screen for address range setting. The figure which shows an example of the network reference table for managing the connection apparatus on the network. The flowchart which shows an example of a connection monitoring process. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence for PC 115 to transmit video to projector 100.

  The system configuration in this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 1, and the projector 100 and the PC 110 are connected so as to be able to transmit and receive data via the network 120. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of a projector 100 as a display device corresponding to the embodiment of the invention. In the present embodiment, the operation of the projector 100 will be described below by taking as an example a system in which the projector 100 receives and projects an image transmitted from the PC 110 via a network. In this embodiment, a case where video data is transmitted / received will be described, but presentation data and audio data can also be transmitted / received in addition to video data.

  In the following, an example of a projector that performs projection display on the projection screen 105 will be described as a display device. However, the display device is not limited to a projector and may be a television device (display) having a display screen. Even in the case of a television device, according to the embodiment described below, it is possible to monitor the connection status of connected devices on the network 120 and control the connection information providing method for the devices according to the monitoring result.

  The projector 100 receives display data transmitted from the PC 110 via the network 120 by the communication unit 205. The display data is, for example, compressed video data, and the communication unit 205 transfers the received compressed video data to the memory unit 206. The compressed video data transferred to the memory unit 206 is decoded by the video processing unit 202. Since the decoding method is outside the scope of this proposal, the details are omitted. The decoded video data is stored in the memory unit 206. The stored video data is transferred to the projection processing unit 201 and projected by the liquid crystal panel 208.

  A user of the projector 100 can control the projector 100 such as setting the projector 100 via the operation unit 204. In addition, a menu screen for the user to control the projector 100 is generated by the OSD unit 207, transferred to the projection processing unit 201, superimposed on the video data, and projected and displayed on the liquid crystal panel 208. These blocks are controlled by the CPU 203, and each unit is connected by a control bus 210 and a data bus 211.

  In the display device 100 of FIG. 2, each block may be configured by hardware using a dedicated logic circuit or a memory. Alternatively, the processing program stored in the memory may be executed by the CPU so as to be configured as software.

  Next, a monitoring mode process for detecting whether a new device 115 is connected to the network 120 in the system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. That is, the projector 100 detects whether or not a new device 115 has joined the network 120. The processing corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 3 is realized by the CPU 203 executing a corresponding processing program stored in the memory unit 206.

  When the processing of FIG. 3 is started, first, the CPU 203 starts a main timer in S301. The main timer is used to determine the timing for executing the processing corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. The main timer is assumed to be managed by a real-time OS running on the CPU 203.

  In S302, the CPU 203 determines whether a call from the main timer has been received. In the present embodiment, a call from the main timer takes place every 2 seconds, and the flowcharts after S303 in FIG. 3 are executed. If it is determined in S302 that a call has been made ("YES" in S302), the process proceeds to S303. In step S303, the CPU 203 controls the communication unit 205 to execute network device detection processing.

  The network device detection process will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram for the projector 100 to detect a device connected to the network 120. The processing corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 4 is realized by the CPU 203 executing a corresponding processing program stored in the memory unit 206. Projector 100 transmits a PING command to a specific address on network 120. Since the PING command is known as the Internet Protocol Message Protocol (ICMP) of the IP network, details are omitted.

  The specific address to which the projector transmits the PING command is set by the administrator through the GUI screen shown in FIG. The GUI screen 500 is displayed when the projector 100 is accessed by a general WEB browser, but since this mechanism can be realized by using a general HTTP server mechanism, the details are omitted. On the GUI screen 500, a specific address for transmitting a PING can be set. When an address is designated, a specific address is set in the field 503, and when all PINGs are to be transmitted below a specific subnet, a specific subnet is set in the field 502, and switching is performed in the field 501.

  The specific address subnet means an address allocated by DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) or the like when a PC is newly connected in a certain conference room. Since the administrator should know these pieces of information, it is assumed that these pieces of information are appropriately set by the administrator using the GUI screen 500. In this embodiment, the projector 100 can be set as described above, but there is no problem even if the projector 100 acquires and refers to the information set by an external device. The specific address set here is recorded in, for example, a non-volatile memory in the CPU 203 or another non-volatile memory in the projector 100.

  In FIG. 4, as shown in S401 to S403, a PING command is transmitted on the network 120 from the communication unit 205 of the projector 100 according to the address information at appropriate intervals. At this time, if there is no device assigned the address on the network 120, a response to the PING command cannot be obtained (in the case of S401 and S402). On the other hand, if there is a device to which the corresponding address is assigned (in the case of S403), a PING response is obtained as in S404. Based on this response, the CPU 203 of the projector 100 can determine which address is assigned to the device. In other words, if a PING command is periodically transmitted over the network 120, it can be determined that a new PC has joined the network if there is a response from an address that has not been responded until then. Similarly, after S405, the projector 100 can detect whether a new device is connected to the network by transmitting a PING command to the network 120 at regular intervals. The network device detection process has been described above.

  Returning to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 3, when a device newly connected to the network 120 is detected (“YES” in S304), the process proceeds to S305. Here, for example, if a PING command is periodically transmitted to the network 120, if there is a response from an address that has not been responded until then, it is determined that a new PC has joined the network. In S <b> 305, the CPU 203 updates the management table that manages the detection information of the devices connected to the network 120.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the management table. The management table 600 can be recorded and managed in a nonvolatile memory inside the CPU 203, for example, and is generated based on a specific address set on the GUI screen 500. The management table 600 includes a specific address 601, a detection status flag 602 that determines whether or not the network is detected on the network 120, and a connection status flag 603 that indicates whether or not a logical connection has been made. The connection status flag 603 indicates whether or not the projector 100 and an external device are logically connected, that is, whether or not the device knows connection information of the projector 100. The connection status flag 603 is set to “1” when a connection request is received from the corresponding device, as will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. The connection status flag 603 can also be used for input switching when a logical connection is made with a plurality of devices.

  If the corresponding address is detected in the network device detection process of S303, the value of the detection status flag 602 is set to “1”. At this time, if the value of the detection state flag 602 is already “1”, it is not recognized that the device is newly connected to the network. On the other hand, when the value of the detection state flag 602 is changed from “0” to “1”, it is recognized that a new device is connected to the network.

  Returning to FIG. 3, in step S <b> 306, the CPU 203 controls the communication unit 205 to execute connection monitoring processing for each newly detected device. If two new devices are connected on the network, connection monitoring processing is executed for each device. In the connection monitoring process, for example, a connection request from a new device 115 is monitored, and a method for providing connection information to the device is controlled according to the monitoring result. This process is controlled according to the flowchart of FIG. 7, but more detailed contents will be described later. In the present embodiment, detection of a device that participates in the network 120 and logical detection that the detected device and the projector 100 are logically connected are described separately. By simply participating in the network 120, the projector 100 and other devices are not logically connected, and data such as video data cannot be transmitted / received. Then, by transmitting a connection request from another device to the projector 100, the other device and the projector 100 are logically connected, and data such as video data can be transmitted and received.

  In subsequent S307, the CPU 203 determines whether or not to stop the present monitoring mode process. If not stopped (“NO” in S307), the process returns to S302 to continue the process. On the other hand, when stopping ("YES" in S307), the CPU 203 stops the main timer in S308. Note that the stop of the monitoring mode process is executed, for example, when the user wants to disable the function of the present invention and the user operates the operation unit 204 to instruct the invalidation. However, even after being temporarily stopped, for example, it can be activated again according to an instruction from the user.

  Next, the connection monitoring process in S306 of FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing corresponding to the flowchart of FIG. 7 is realized by the CPU 203 executing a corresponding processing program stored in the memory unit 206. First, in S701, the CPU 203 starts a connection monitoring timer. In step S <b> 702, the CPU 203 waits for a connection request from the corresponding address. The connection request here means that, for example, when the PC 115 wants to transmit an image to the projector 100 and perform projection, it is necessary to establish a logical session for transmitting the image reliably. Connection request. When the PC 115 and the projector 100 can communicate with each other due to the connection request, the PC 115 can transmit video data to be projected by the projector 100 to the projector 100. When the projector 100 does not receive a connection request, such data exchange cannot be performed.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a sequence for the PC 115 to transmit an image to the projector 100. In this sequence, first, the PC 115 causes the communication unit 205 to transmit a connection request (Connect Request) to the projector 100 in S801. Upon receiving this request, the projector 100 transmits a response (Accept) from the communication unit 205 to the PC 115 in S802. After that, the PC 115 transmits a video transmission request (Send Video) in S803, and after the communication unit 205 receives a response (Accept) in S804, the PC 115 transmits video data (Video Data) from the communication unit 205 in S805. In this embodiment, an example in which video data is transmitted has been described. However, the PC 115 can also transmit a moving image file or a document file as data for projection (display) on the projector 100.

  Returning to FIG. 7, when the projector 100 receives a connection request via the communication unit 205 before the connection monitoring timer times out due to the elapse of a predetermined time (“YES” in S702), the CPU 203 proceeds to S708 and monitors the connection. Stop the timer. In step S <b> 709, the CPU 203 sets the value of the connection status flag 603 of the corresponding address in the management table 600 of FIG. 6 to “1”. Thereafter, this process is terminated. In this case, for example, the new connection PC 115 means that a connection address to the projector 100 that the user knew in advance is input and connection is attempted. Therefore, the projector 100 does not need to present the connection information (IP address) of the projector 100 to the PC 115 at this time, so the display process of S704 is not performed.

  On the other hand, if a connection request is not received within a predetermined time (for example, about 30 seconds), the connection monitoring timer activated in S701 times out (“YES” in S703). If a time-out occurs, in S704, an image indicating the IP address of the projector 100 is projected and displayed superimposed on the currently displayed data. At the same time, a display timer for determining the time during which the CPU 203 performs projection display is started. At this time, an image indicating an IP address for projection display is generated by the OSD unit 207 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 203, and is superimposed on the video data projected by the projector at that time by the projection processing unit 201. The image indicating the IP address may be an enumeration of numbers or a display such as a two-dimensional barcode. If a two-dimensional bar code is used, the connection address can be input simply by photographing with a camera built in the PC 115 to be used, so that the connection becomes easier.

  If the CPU 203 determines that there is a connection request from the corresponding address that activated the processing of this flowchart while the IP address is being superimposed (“YES” in S705), the CPU 203 stops the display timer in S710. That is, it is determined whether or not there is a connection request from the PC 115 or the like connected to the corresponding address destination (S705). In subsequent S711, the CPU 203 sets the value of the connection status flag 603 of the corresponding address in the management table 600 to “1”. Thereafter, the process proceeds to S707, where the projection processing unit 201 stops the IP address superimposition display according to the instruction of the CPU 203, ends the present process, and returns to FIG. In addition, when the connection request is not transmitted from the corresponding address even though the IP address is displayed in a superimposed manner (“NO” in S705), and when a display timer times out after a certain period of time ( Similarly, in S706, “YES”), the process proceeds to S707.

  According to the above, the projector 100 can detect the PC 115 newly connected to the network 120. Further, it is possible to determine whether or not to provide connection information of the projector 100 to the PC 115 by detecting the presence or absence of a connection request from the detected PC 115 to the projector 100. Furthermore, even when providing, it is possible to further control the time during which the connection information is provided according to the access status from the PC 115. Thus, even when a newly connected PC 115 is detected on the network 120 while the projector 100 is in use, connection information of the projector 100 can be appropriately provided in a form corresponding to an access mode from the PC 115 to the projector 100.

  Therefore, when a presentation is performed in an environment in which the PC and the projector are connected to the network, even if another new participant requests to connect the PC to the projector, the connection to the projector is minimized with minimal influence on the presenter. Can be guided appropriately. In this embodiment, an example in which an IP address is used as a connection request has been described. However, for example, a password associated with the IP address of the new device 115 that has responded to the PING command may be used. In this case, the projector 100 may project the password and not allow connection except for the password sent from the corresponding IP address. Thereby, the possibility that an unspecified number of devices are logically connected to the projector 100 can be further reduced.

(Other examples)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing. That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.

Claims (7)

A display device connected to a network and capable of receiving data provided from other devices connected to the network,
Display means for displaying information about the received data;
Detecting means for detecting the other device connected to the network;
When the detection unit detects that the other device is connected to the network, the connection information for transmitting data to be displayed by the display unit from the other device is displayed on the display device. And a control means for controlling the display means.   When the detection unit detects that the other device is connected to the network, the control unit controls the display unit to display the connection information after a predetermined time has elapsed since the detection. The display device according to claim 1.   The control means does not display the connection information when the other device can transmit data for display by the display means to the display device before the predetermined time has elapsed. The display device according to claim 2, wherein the display unit is controlled as described above.   When the control unit is capable of transmitting the data to be displayed by the display unit to the display device while the connection information is being displayed, the connection information 4. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit is controlled so as to stop the display.   5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the display unit to stop displaying the connection information when a predetermined time has elapsed since the connection information was displayed. 6. The display device described in 1. A method for controlling a display device, which is connected to a network and can receive data provided from other devices connected to the network,
A display step for displaying information about the received data;
A detecting step for detecting the other device connected to the network;
When it is detected in the detection step that the other device is connected to the network, connection information for transmitting data to be displayed by the display unit is displayed on the display device from the other device. And a control step of controlling the display means.   The program for operating a computer as each means of the display apparatus of any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5.

Images