JP2012010146A - Image display device and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display device and a control method thereof in which effects of image processing can be easily recognized and user convenience can be improved as a result.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to an image display device having a function for adjusting a parameter to be used for image processing. The image display device further has: image processing means having a plurality of image processing sections for applying image processing to an inputted image in order; selection means for selecting one image processing section subjected to adjusting the parameter from among the plurality of image processing sections; generation means for generating an image before image processing and an image after image processing while using a pixel value of an image inputted to the selected image processing section and a pixel value of an image outputted from the selected image processing section, respectively; and display means for displaying on a display section the generated images before and after image processing.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display device and a control method thereof.

  In recent years, the importance of image processing has increased with the increase in image quality of digital TV devices. In an image display device such as a digital TV device, image processing is performed on an image mainly for the purpose of improving the quality of a moving image. When such image processing is performed on a still image (graphics signal) superimposed on a moving image, image quality deterioration such as blurring of the edge occurs. Therefore, it is desirable not to perform image processing on the graphics signal. Therefore, in an LSI used for an image display device, a configuration is often used in which image processing is performed only on an input video signal and a graphics signal is synthesized with the video signal subjected to the image processing.

  In addition, as an image quality adjustment GUI of a digital TV apparatus, there is one in which a patch image before image processing (color correction) and a patch image after image processing are displayed side by side, and the effect of image processing is presented to the user in an easy-to-understand manner. FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an image quality adjustment GUI. In FIG. 8, the patch image before image processing (reference color patch image) is shown on the left side, and when the correction value of a certain image quality adjustment item is set to 10, the patch image after image processing is on the right side. It is shown. The user can adjust the image quality to a desired image quality by comparing the left and right patch images. A technique for displaying a test pattern such as a patch image is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. Specifically, Patent Document 1 discloses a method for correcting image quality based on a displayed test pattern.

  In addition, as a display method of the image quality adjustment GUI of the digital TV apparatus, pixel values after image processing calculated in advance are stored, and pixel values of patch images after image processing are selected according to correction values set by the user. The method to do is common. However, the number and width of parameters (correction values) that can be set by the user are increasing, and it is difficult to store pixel values after image processing for all parameters from the viewpoint of storage capacity.

  Therefore, a method of combining the patch image A1 with the video signal before image processing and combining the patch image A2 with the video signal after image processing among the two patch images A1 and A2 having the same pixel value is conceivable. According to this method, since image processing is performed only on the patch image A1, the patch image before image processing and the patch image after image processing can be displayed.

JP 2003-131640 A

In general, an LSI used in an image display apparatus has a plurality of image processing circuits. Therefore, in the method described above, an image that has not been subjected to any image processing is displayed as a patch image before image processing, and an image that has been subjected to all image processing is displayed as a patch image after image processing. become. However, since not all image processing circuits are controlled by one image quality adjustment item (the image processing circuit is also controlled by other image quality adjustment items), the effect of image processing by the image quality adjustment item selected by the user Becomes difficult to understand. Even when the user sets the correction value of a certain image quality adjustment item to 0 (no correction), the pixel value of the patch image before image processing does not match the pixel value of the patch image after image processing. The user may be confused.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an image display apparatus and a control method therefor that can easily recognize the effect of image processing and can improve user convenience.

  The image display device of the present invention is an image display device having a function of adjusting parameters used for image processing, and includes an image processing unit having a plurality of image processing units for sequentially performing image processing on an input image; Selecting means for selecting one image processing unit to be the parameter adjustment target, the pixel value of the image input to the selected image processing unit, and the output from the selected image processing unit Generating means for generating an image before image processing and an image after image processing using the pixel values of the image to be processed, and displaying the generated image before image processing and image after image processing on a display unit And display means.

  An image display device control method according to the present invention is a method for controlling an image display device having a function of adjusting a parameter used for image processing, wherein a plurality of image processing units sequentially perform image processing on input images; A step of selecting one image processing unit as an adjustment target of the parameter from the plurality of image processing units, a pixel value of an image input to the selected image processing unit, and the selected image processing unit Generating the image before image processing and the image after image processing using the pixel values of the image output from each, and displaying the generated image before image processing and image after image processing on the display unit And a step of performing.

  According to the present invention, in the image display apparatus and the control method thereof, the effect of image processing can be easily recognized, and the convenience for the user can be improved.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an image display device according to an embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an image processing control unit. The flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of an image quality adjustment GUI execution part. The block diagram showing an example of schematic structure of a GUI production | generation part. The flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of a GUI production | generation part. The block diagram showing an example of schematic structure of an image processing part. The block diagram showing an example of schematic structure of a pixel value acquisition part. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an image quality adjustment GUI.

Hereinafter, an image display apparatus and a control method thereof according to the present embodiment will be described. The image display apparatus according to the present embodiment has a function of adjusting parameters used for image processing.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the configuration of the image display apparatus according to this embodiment.
The broadcast receiving unit 101 receives a digital broadcast signal input via an antenna or a cable TV line. The broadcast receiving unit 101 is configured to receive signals of a plurality of channels, and selects a signal of a selected channel from the received digital broadcast signal. In addition, the signal of the selected channel is subjected to processing defined by the digital broadcasting standard such as demodulation processing and error correction processing, and a TS (Transport Stream) signal is generated.

The decoding unit 102 separates the TS signal generated by the broadcast receiving unit 101 into a content signal such as a video signal and an audio signal and a control signal such as SI (Service Information) information. Here, since the content signal is encrypted, the decryption unit 102 decrypts the content signal. The decoded signal is MPEG2 (Motion Picture Expert Group).
Since it is compressed by a moving image compression method such as phase 2), the decoding unit 102 performs an expansion process on the decoded content signal to generate a video signal.

  The first synthesis unit 103 synthesizes and outputs the video signal input from the decoding unit 102 and the reference patch image input from the patch generation unit 104. The synthesis is performed so that the reference patch image is superimposed on the image based on the video signal input from the decoding unit 102.

  The patch generation unit 104 generates an image (reference patch image) used for processing for confirming the effect of image processing in the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112. Specifically, a reference patch image of the position, size, and pixel value specified by the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 is generated. The reference patch image generated by the patch generation unit 104 is combined with the video signal by the first combining unit 103 and then input to the first image processing unit 111 as a video signal.

The image processing control unit 105 controls image processing performed on the video signal in the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112. Details of the image processing control unit 105 will be described later.
The image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 controls generation of an image quality adjustment GUI (Graphical User Interface) using the GUI generation unit 107, the patch generation unit 104, the image processing control unit 105, and the pixel value acquisition unit 114. Details of the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 will be described later.
The GUI generation unit 107 generates an image quality adjustment GUI in response to an instruction from the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106, and outputs it as a graphics signal. Details of the GUI generation unit 107 will be described later.

  The first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112 sequentially perform image processing on the input image (video signal). The image processing is, for example, gamma adjustment processing or noise reduction processing. Details of the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112 will be described later. Note that the number of image processing units (image processing circuits) is not limited to two. There may be three or more image processing circuits.

The second synthesis unit 113 synthesizes the video signal output from the second image processing unit 112 (video signal that has been subjected to image processing) and the graphics signal output from the GUI generation unit 107, and displays a display panel (not shown). Output to (display section). The composition is performed such that an image based on the graphics signal output from the GUI generation unit 107 is superimposed on an image based on the video signal output from the second image processing unit 112. That is, in the video signal output from the second image processing unit 112, a signal in an area overwritten by an image based on the graphics signal output from the GUI generation unit 107 is not output to the display panel.
The pixel value acquisition unit 114 acquires the pixel value of a pixel at a specific coordinate from the video signal. Details of the pixel value acquisition unit 114 will be described later.

Next, details of the image processing control unit 105 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of the configuration of the image processing control unit 105.
The user setting value input unit 201 receives the user setting value from the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 and transmits it to the parameter calculation unit 202. The user setting value is a value set by the user using the image quality adjustment GUI (correction value of the image quality adjustment item) and is different from the parameters set in the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112. It is common to be. The image quality adjustment item of the image quality adjustment GUI is, for example, contrast.

The parameter calculation unit 202 converts the user setting value received from the user setting value input unit 201 into a parameter to be set in the first image processing unit 111 or the second image processing unit 112 and transmits the parameter to the parameter setting unit 203.

  The parameter setting unit 203 sets the parameter received from the parameter calculation unit 202 to the first image processing unit 111 or the second image processing unit 112 according to the type of parameter. The parameter setting may be a method of directly controlling the image processing hardware like register writing or a method of transmitting the parameter to the image processing control software.

Next, details of the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106.
First, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 waits for an instruction from the user (S301). The instruction from the user is performed using a remote controller or the like. The remote control is usually provided with up / down / left / right keys, an enter key, and the like, and the user uses the up / down / left / right keys to select an image quality adjustment item and set a user setting value.

  When there is an instruction from the user, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 determines whether the instruction is an instruction to end image quality adjustment (S302). If the instruction is an end instruction, the generation of the image quality adjustment GUI is ended. If the instruction is not an end instruction, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 determines whether or not the user setting value has been changed by the instruction (S303). The user setting value is changed when the user presses the up / down key of the remote controller while the image quality adjustment item is selected.

  When the user setting value is changed by an instruction from the user, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 transmits the user setting value to the image processing control unit 105 (S304), and proceeds to S305. Thereby, the user setting value is converted into a parameter by the image processing control unit 105 and set in the first image processing unit 111 or the second image processing unit 112. That is, the parameters of the first image processing unit 111 or the second image processing unit 112 are adjusted. If the user set value has not been changed by an instruction from the user, the process proceeds to S305.

  In step S <b> 305, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 instructs the patch generation unit 104 to generate a reference patch image. The generation position and size of the reference patch image are set so as not to be displayed on the display panel according to the design of the image quality adjustment GUI, i.e., to be hidden by a part whose image quality adjustment GUI has a transmittance of 0. The

  Next, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 generates pixel value acquisition information according to the user setting value, and notifies the pixel value acquisition unit 114 (S306). The pixel value acquisition information includes information indicating the coordinates of the pixel from which the pixel value is acquired (acquisition target coordinate) and the video signal from which the pixel value is acquired (acquisition target video signal). The acquisition target coordinates are the coordinates of the pixels of the reference patch image generated by the instruction in S305, for example, the center coordinates of the reference patch image. The acquisition target video signal is, for example, a video signal not subjected to image processing or a video signal output from each image processing circuit. That is, in this embodiment, the acquisition target video signal includes the video signal A input to the first image processing unit 111, the video signal B output from the first image processing unit 111, and the output from the second image processing unit 112. There are three types of video signals C. In the present embodiment, one image processing unit that is a parameter adjustment target is selected from a plurality of image processing units based on the acquisition target video signal.

For example, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 uses the center coordinates of the reference patch image generated by the patch generation unit 104 as the acquisition target coordinates, and information indicating the video signal B and the video signal C as the acquisition target video signals. The value acquisition unit 114 is notified. As a result, the first image processing unit 111 is selected, and the pixel value and selection of the image (reference patch image) input to the selected image processing unit (first image processing unit 111) by the pixel value acquisition unit 114 are selected. The pixel value of the reference patch image output from the image processing unit thus obtained is acquired.

  Finally, the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 instructs the GUI generation unit 107 to update the image quality adjustment GUI (S307), and returns to S301. The image quality adjustment GUI is updated, for example, by changing a user setting value to be displayed or changing a selected image quality adjustment item.

Next, the GUI generation unit 107 will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the GUI generation unit 107.
The generation control unit 401 controls generation of the image quality adjustment GUI in accordance with an instruction from the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106. Specifically, the generation control unit 401 instructs the GUI parts generation unit 402 and the patch generation unit 403 to generate an image quality adjustment GUI.

  The GUI parts generation unit 402 generates a part (GUI part) other than the image (patch image) before image processing and the image (patch image) after image processing in the image quality adjustment GUI. The GUI part is, for example, a character string or background representing a currently selected image quality adjustment item or user setting value.

  The patch generation unit 403 uses the pixel value acquired from the pixel value acquisition unit 114 to generate a patch image before image processing and a patch image after image processing. That is, using the pixel value of the reference patch image input to the selected image processing unit and the pixel value of the reference patch image output from the selected image processing unit, respectively, the patch image and image before image processing are used. A patch image after processing is generated. In the present embodiment, the pixel value of the reference patch image input to the selected image processing unit and the pixel value of the reference patch image output from the selected image processing unit are the patch image before image processing, respectively. And the pixel value of the patch image after image processing.

  The GUI composition unit 404 generates an image quality adjustment GUI (GUI data) in accordance with instructions from the GUI part generation unit 402 and the patch generation unit 403. Specifically, the GUI composition unit 404 acquires GUI parts, a patch image before image processing, and a patch image after image processing, combines them, and generates and fills rectangles and line segments. Thus, the image quality adjustment GUI is generated. The generated image quality adjustment GUI is output to the second synthesis unit 113 as a graphics signal. As a result, the generated patch image before image processing and the patch image after image processing are displayed on the display unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the GUI generation unit 107.
First, the GUI generation unit 107 waits for an instruction to generate an image quality adjustment GUI from the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106 (S501). When the generation of the image quality adjustment GUI is instructed, the GUI generation unit 107 generates a GUI part (S502).
Next, the GUI generation unit 107 outputs, from the pixel value acquisition unit 114, the pixel value (pre-image processing pixel value) of the reference patch image input to the selected image processing unit and the selected image processing unit. The pixel value of the reference patch image (pixel value after image processing) is acquired (S503). Then, a patch image before image processing and a patch image after image processing are generated using the acquired pixel values (S504).
Then, the GUI generation unit 107 combines the GUI part, the patch image before image processing, and the patch image after image processing, and generates and fills a rectangle and a line segment, thereby generating an image quality adjustment GUI.

Next, the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112 will be described in detail. Since the schematic configuration of the first image processing unit 111 and the schematic configuration of the second image processing unit are the same, description will be made with reference to the same diagram. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112.

The image input unit 601 acquires a video signal from the outside and outputs it to the image processing unit 602.
The image processing unit 602 performs image processing on the input video signal and outputs it to the image output unit 603. The first image processing unit 111 and the second image processing unit 112 differ in processing contents by the image processing unit 602. In response to a request from the pixel value acquisition processing unit 604, the image processing unit 602 outputs a pixel value at an arbitrary coordinate among the input video signal and the output video signal to the pixel value acquisition processing unit 604.
The image output unit 603 outputs the video signal received from the image processing unit 602 to the outside.
The pixel value acquisition processing unit 604 acquires pixel values from the image processing unit 602 in response to a request from the pixel value acquisition unit 114.

Next, the pixel value acquisition unit 114 will be described in detail. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the pixel value acquisition unit 114.
The pixel value acquisition information reception unit 701 receives pixel value acquisition information from the image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 106. Of the received pixel value acquisition information, the pixel value acquisition information reception unit 701 outputs information regarding pixel values before image processing to the first acquisition unit 702 and information regarding pixel values after image processing to the second acquisition unit 703. To do. Specifically, the video signal input to the selected image processing unit and information indicating the coordinates of the pixel value to be acquired are acquired to the first acquisition unit 702 and the video signal output from the selected image processing unit is acquired. Information representing the coordinates of the pixel value is output (set) to the second acquisition unit 703.

The first acquisition unit 702 and the second acquisition unit 703 acquire pixel values from the first image processing unit 111 or the second image processing unit 112 according to the set information, and transmit them to the pixel value storage unit 704.
The pixel value storage unit 704 stores the pixel values received from the first acquisition unit 702 and the second acquisition unit 703 as a pre-image processing pixel value and a post-image processing pixel value, respectively.
The pixel value acquisition request receiving unit 705 acquires the pre-image processing pixel value and the post-image processing pixel value stored in the pixel value storage unit 704 in response to a request from the GUI generation unit 107, and transmits the acquired pixel value to the GUI generation unit 107. To do.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, one image processing unit to be adjusted is selected, the pixel value of the image input to the selected image processing unit, and the image output from the selected image processing unit. Each of the pixel values is used to generate an image before image processing and an image after image processing. Thereby, the difference between the pixel value of the image before the image processing and the pixel value of the image after the image processing can be matched with the effect of the image processing being adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to display an image quality adjustment GUI that can easily recognize the effect of image processing, and as a result, it is possible to improve user convenience.

In the present embodiment, a patch image is generated as an image before image processing and an image after image processing, but the image to be generated is not limited to a patch image. For example, a pattern image having a predetermined pattern may be used. Similarly, the reference image is not limited to the patch image (reference patch image).
In the present embodiment, the reference image, the image before the image processing, and the image after the image processing are combined with the video signal. However, such a combination may not be performed. For example, image processing may be performed on an image for reference (arbitrary image), and a pixel value before image processing and a pixel value after image processing may be acquired. Then, only the image before the image processing and the image after the image processing generated using the acquired pixel values may be displayed on the display unit.
In the present embodiment, the pixel value before image processing and the pixel value after image processing have been described as the pixel value of the patch image before image processing and the pixel value of the patch image after image processing, respectively. Such a configuration is not necessary. For example, a predetermined offset value is added to the pixel value before image processing and the pixel value after image processing, and the addition results may be used as the pixel value of the patch image before image processing and the pixel value of the patch image after image processing, respectively. Good.
In the present embodiment, the case where the video signal is a broadcast signal has been described. However, the video signal is not limited to a broadcast signal. For example, the video signal may be a video signal generated by another device (DVD player, hard disk recorder, etc.).

106 Image quality adjustment GUI execution unit 107 GUI generation unit 111 First image processing unit 112 Second image processing unit

Claims (3)

An image display device having a function of adjusting parameters used for image processing,
Image processing means having a plurality of image processing units for sequentially performing image processing on the input image;
Selecting means for selecting one image processing unit to be adjusted of the parameter from the plurality of image processing units;
An image before image processing and an image after image processing are generated using the pixel value of the image input to the selected image processing unit and the pixel value of the image output from the selected image processing unit, respectively. Generating means;
Display means for displaying the generated image before image processing and image after image processing on a display unit;
An image display device comprising: The generation means uses the pixel value of the image input to the selected image processing unit and the pixel value of the image output from the selected image processing unit, respectively, as the pixel value of the image before the image processing and The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pixel value of the image after the image processing is used. A control method of an image display device having a function of adjusting parameters used for image processing,
A step of sequentially performing image processing on the input image by a plurality of image processing units;
Selecting one image processing unit as an adjustment target of the parameter from the plurality of image processing units;
An image before image processing and an image after image processing are generated using the pixel value of the image input to the selected image processing unit and the pixel value of the image output from the selected image processing unit, respectively. Steps,
Displaying the generated image before image processing and image after image processing on a display unit;
A control method for an image display device, comprising:

Images