JP2012242465A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display images so as not to make a user recognize a screen area of a display device that is installed behind masking means.SOLUTION: A display device includes: display means (14) for displaying images on a screen; and masking means for making a boundary between inside and outside of the screen less visibly recognizable when no image is displayed on the screen. The display means (14) performs display (G) for making the boundary between inside and outside of the screen less recognizable when an image is displayed on the screen.

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary between the inside and the outside of a screen of a display unit disposed behind a mask unit.

  In recent years, with the spread of car navigation systems (so-called car navigation systems) and the development of car audio, the number of cases in which a display device (hereinafter referred to as an in-vehicle monitor) is installed in an automobile is increasing. In addition, an increasing number of automobiles have a camera (hereinafter referred to as a back camera) installed behind the automobile and display a rear image on the in-vehicle monitor when the vehicle moves backward. On the other hand, the in-vehicle monitor installation forms are also diversified. For example, those that are fixed on the dashboard, those that are incorporated in the dashboard, those that are incorporated in the headrest of the driver's seat or passenger's seat for the rear seat, Some include a liquid crystal display device in the rearview mirror. Here, a liquid crystal display device incorporated in a rearview mirror is hereinafter referred to as a rearview mirror monitor.

  The rearview mirror monitor is equipped with a liquid crystal display device on the backside of the rearview mirror, and the mirror part corresponding to the screen area of the liquid crystal display device is a half mirror, so that the image displayed on the liquid crystal display device can be viewed through the mirror surface. It is said. That is, when an image is displayed on the liquid crystal display device described above, the light on the screen passes through the area of the half mirror, so that the user can visually recognize the displayed image.

  On the other hand, when nothing is displayed on the liquid crystal display device, there is no light transmitted through the half mirror region, and the half mirror region exclusively reflects extraneous light. For this reason, the half mirror region functions as a mirror, and when nothing is displayed on the liquid crystal display device, the rearview mirror monitor looks like a normal rearview mirror. Therefore, it can be said that the rearview mirror portion in which the half mirror region is formed is a mask means that makes it difficult to visually recognize the boundary between the inner side and the outer side of the screen of the liquid crystal display device.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an optical function of diffusion, condensing, and refraction in a certain direction with respect to transmitted light on the upper surface of a transparent substrate layer as a structure of a conventional backlight for a liquid crystal display device. While forming the resin composition, on the lower surface of the base material layer, one that forms a bright line prevention layer by performing gradation printing with various inks on the bright line generation zone such as the outer edge of the lamp side has been proposed. Yes. This bright line prevention layer is composed of a solid coating area and a gradation area. The gradation area can blur the boundary line of the bright line prevention layer, and the bright line prevention layer is difficult to be visually recognized on the liquid crystal screen.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a blank area added when a video signal is converted in accordance with the aspect ratio of the display screen in a video display device capable of displaying a video signal having an aspect ratio different from the aspect ratio of the display screen. In order to make the display more interesting, it has been proposed to display a blank area around the video area in gradation.

  Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, when displaying HD content with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 including SD content with an aspect ratio of 4: 3, the screen is displayed at the boundary between the SD content display area and the band areas on both the left and right sides. In order to avoid the occurrence of image sticking, a television receiver has been proposed that performs gradation processing in which the luminance of the band image is changed stepwise so that the difference from the luminance of the SD image is within a predetermined range.

JP 2002-214407 A JP 2007-150502 A JP 2008-3010030 A

  As described above, the conventional rearview mirror monitor is in a state where an image is not displayed on the liquid crystal display device because the screen of the liquid crystal display device is difficult to visually recognize from the outside by the mask means. It is difficult to distinguish from a mirror. However, when an image from a car navigation system or a back camera is displayed on the screen of the liquid crystal display device, the edge of the screen may be manifested by the displayed image. In such a case, an image viewer is made aware of the screen area of the liquid crystal display device, and as a result, the image viewed through the rearview mirror is displayed by the liquid crystal display device attached to the rearview mirror. There was a risk of overwhelming the viewers with an impression.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and displays an image so as not to be conscious of the screen area of a display device installed behind the mask means, so that the entire area of the mask means is displayed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of giving an impression as if it is a screen of the device.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides the following.
(1) display means for displaying an image on a screen;
A display device comprising: mask means disposed on a front surface of the screen, which makes it difficult to visually recognize a boundary between the inside of the screen and the outside of the screen when no image is displayed on the screen;
The display device, wherein an image is displayed on the screen so as to make it difficult to recognize a boundary between the screen and the outside of the screen.

  Here, the “display means” may be any device that displays an image, and examples thereof include a CRT, a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display, a plasma display, and the like. The “masking means” is, for example, a half mirror region in the rearview mirror part of the rearview mirror monitor or a region composed of the mirror region and the half mirror region, or a transparent member with reduced light transmittance such as smoke glass. There may be.

  According to the above-described invention of (1), the “display means” performs a display that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary between the screen and the outside when displaying an image on the screen. It is possible to make it difficult to feel the screen area of the installed “display means” not only when an image is not displayed on the screen as in the prior art but also when the image is displayed on the screen. That is, it is possible to make it difficult to always feel the screen area. As a result, it is possible to give an impression to the viewer of the image as if the entire area of the mask means is the screen of the display device. Further, it is possible to always give an impression as if the whole area of the mask means is the screen of the display device.

In particular, the mask means may be configured to make it difficult to visually recognize the boundary over the entire boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen of the display means. For example, when the screen of the display means is a quadrangular screen, the boundary may be made difficult to visually recognize across the entire four sides.
The mask means may be configured to make it difficult to visually recognize the boundary over the entire boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen, and further to have a predetermined region extending from the above-described boundary to the outside of the screen.
Furthermore, the mask means may be configured to have a region extending over the entire area in the screen together with these configurations.

(2) The display device according to (1), wherein the display unit performs display that makes it difficult to generate a subjective contour recognized as a boundary between the screen and the screen.

  Here, the “subjective contour” is a contour that is subjectively recognized by a person who sees it even though it does not physically exist. For example, an illusion in which a contour line is perceived even though there is no change in luminance or color along the contour line.

  According to the above-described invention of (2), in order to perform a display that makes it difficult to generate a subjective contour recognized as a boundary between the screen and the screen, in the position where the boundary between the screen and the screen does not exist originally, The possibility of generating an illusion that such a boundary exists can be reduced. The display that makes it difficult to generate a subjective contour that is recognized as the boundary between the screen and the screen is preferably the same as the “display that makes the boundary difficult to recognize” described in (3) and later. The configuration having the component (7) is effective, and the configuration having the component (8) is most effective.

(3) The display means is configured to display the image displayed on the screen as a display that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary, in a gradation display that gradually decreases the brightness toward the direction outside the screen. The display device according to (1) or (2) above.

  Here, the gradation display may be started uniformly from a point separated by a certain distance from the boundary of the screen, or the gradation display start point (the screen display point) depends on the display color of the image displayed on the screen. The distance from the boundary) may be changed. For example, for colors that are easily perceived by the human eye, gradation display starts from a point farther away from the screen boundary, and for colors that are difficult to perceive by the human eye, gradation display starts from a point near the screen boundary. You may make it do.

  According to the invention of (3) described above, since the information displayed on the screen is displayed so that the brightness gradually decreases toward the outside of the screen, an image is displayed at the boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen. It can be close to the state that is not. As a result, even when an image is displayed on the screen of the display device, the “mask means” can make it difficult to recognize the inner and outer boundaries of the screen, as if the entire area of the “mask means” is You can give the impression of being on the screen.

(4) The screen of the display means is configured as a dot matrix display,
The display means, as a display that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary, reduces the brightness of at least some of the dots on the periphery of the screen where the image is displayed among the dots constituting the screen. The display device according to (3).

  According to the above-described invention of (4), when the image is displayed on the screen, the brightness near the boundary of the screen is lowered, so that the display is brought close to the state where the display is not performed on the inner and outer boundaries of the screen. Can do. As a result, even when displaying on the screen of the display device, the “mask means” can make it difficult to recognize the inner and outer boundaries of the screen, as if the entire area of the “mask means” is the screen of the display device. You can give the impression of being

(5) The display device according to (4), wherein the display unit includes a brightness adjustment unit that adjusts the brightness of an image at a peripheral portion of the screen among images displayed on the screen.

  According to the above-described invention of (5), even when the image is displayed on the screen of the display device by adjusting the brightness of the image displayed on the peripheral portion of the screen by the “brightness adjusting means”, the “mask” By means, it is possible to make it difficult to recognize the boundary between the inside and outside of the screen. In addition, since the brightness can be adjusted, it is possible to appropriately perform adjustment for making it difficult to recognize the boundary between the inner side and the outer side of the screen.

(6) When the brightness adjustment means displays the peripheral portion of the screen based on the image data representing the content displayed on the screen, the brightness of the display of the peripheral portion of the screen is determined by the image data. The display device according to (5) above, wherein the display is performed at a lower brightness than the displayed brightness.

  Here, “image data” corresponds to any data as long as it indicates the content displayed on the screen. For example, in addition to image data representing photographs and graphics, text data indicating characters to be displayed and attribute data (character color, size, font, etc.) are also included in “image data”.

  As a specific aspect of the brightness adjustment means, for example, the display brightness of the peripheral part of the screen may be reduced by software processing when display control based on “image data” is performed. As a result, it is possible to make it difficult for the “mask means” to recognize the inner and outer boundaries of the screen without changing the hardware configuration. You can give the impression of being on the screen.

(7) The display device according to (6), wherein the brightness adjustment unit changes a position of a dot at which the gradation display is started or a gradation gradient when the gradation display is performed.

  According to the above invention (7), the width of the gradation area added to the image to be displayed or the gradient of the brightness change in the image displayed in the gradation area is not uniform, so that the inside and outside of the screen It is possible to make it difficult to produce a subjective contour that is recognized as the boundary of the.

(8) The brightness adjustment unit changes the position of the dot at which the gradation display is started or the gradient of the gradation when the gradation display is performed at a predetermined timing. Display device.

  According to the above invention (8), the width of the gradation area added to the image to be displayed or the slope of the brightness change in the image displayed in the gradation area changes at a predetermined timing. The subjective contour recognized as the boundary outside the screen can be made more difficult to occur.

(9) The display means
Storage means having a storage area corresponding to each dot of the dot matrix display;
Display data writing means for writing display data relating to display in corresponding dots to each storage area of the storage means based on the image data;
Image display means for displaying an image on the dot matrix display based on display data written in each storage area of the storage means,
The data writing means is a display data in which the display in the dots has a lightness lower than the lightness specified by the image data for the storage regions corresponding to the dots in the peripheral portion of the screen among the storage regions. The display device according to any one of (6) to (8), wherein:

  According to the above-described invention (9), when image display control based on image data is performed, only the display data writing process for each dot is changed based on the image data, and the image is displayed on the peripheral portion of the screen. The brightness of the image can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to make it difficult for the “mask means” to recognize the inner and outer boundaries of the screen without changing the hardware configuration. You can give the impression of being on the screen.

(10) The data writing means displays the object on the screen based on the image data, and when the display data is written in each storage area of the storage means, the peripheral portion of the object is displayed in gradation. The display device according to (9), wherein the display device is changed to display data to be displayed.

  According to the above-described invention of (10), not only the brightness of the peripheral portion of the screen is lowered, but also the peripheral portion of the image representing the object is displayed in gradation. Thereby, for example, when the shape of the displayed object is a polygon composed of straight lines, and one of the polygons is a straight line parallel to the inner and outer boundaries of the screen, the outer shape of the object is formed. There is a possibility that one side may appear as if it is a boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen. Therefore, in order to avoid such misperception, the peripheral portion of the object is displayed in gradation, so that the possibility of making the user aware of the screen area of the display device can be reduced, and the entire mask means is displayed. An impression can be given as if it is the screen of the device.

(11) The data writing means includes:
Determining whether the entire object to be displayed in the screen is displayed;
When it is determined that a part of the display of the object is not displayed in the screen, in the object displayed in the screen, the display in the dot with respect to the storage area corresponding to the dot in the peripheral portion of the screen The display device according to (9), wherein display data having a brightness lower than a brightness specified by the image data is written.

  According to the above-described invention of (11), when the entire image of the object to be displayed does not fit within the screen and a part of the object is cut off at the periphery of the screen, the display of the object at the periphery of the screen is performed. Is displayed in gradation. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the possibility that a part of the object is cut off at the periphery of the screen, thereby causing the viewer of the object to be aware of the screen area of the display device.

(12) The data writing means
In the screen,
The display device according to (9), wherein when there are a plurality of objects that are not entirely displayed, the gradation display in the peripheral portion of the screen for each of the objects is made different from each other.

  According to the above-described invention of (12), when there are a plurality of objects to be displayed up to the periphery of the screen in the image to be displayed, the gradation display in the peripheral portion of the screen is different from each other in each object. The edges of the object are not aligned linearly along the periphery of the screen, and it is possible to make it difficult to produce a subjective contour that is recognized as the boundary between the screen and the screen.

(13) The display device according to (4), wherein the display means includes a transmittance reduction means for reducing the light transmittance on the surface side and the peripheral portion of the screen.

  According to the invention of (13) described above, an image is displayed on the screen of the display device in order to reduce the brightness of the image displayed near the boundary of the screen by providing “transmittance reducing means” at the periphery of the screen. Even when the image is being displayed, the “mask means” can make it difficult to recognize the boundary between the inside and outside of the screen. For this reason, by adding a simple configuration, it is possible to give the impression that the entire area of the “mask means” is the screen of the display device.

(14) The display means illuminates the screen from the back side to make the image displayed on the screen visible, and
The display device according to (4), further comprising: a dimming unit that is provided on a back side and a peripheral portion of the screen and dimmes light from the illumination unit.

  According to the above invention (14), among the light from the “illuminating means” that illuminates the back side of the screen of the “display means”, the light to the peripheral edge of the screen is attenuated by the “dimming means”. Even when an image is displayed on the screen of the display device, the “mask means” can make it difficult to recognize the inner and outer boundaries of the screen. For this reason, it is possible to give an impression as if the entire area of the “mask means” is the screen of the display device with a simple configuration.

(15) The display unit includes an illuminating unit that illuminates the screen from the back side to make the image displayed on the screen visible.
The illumination means has a central illumination unit that illuminates the central portion of the screen and a peripheral illumination unit that illuminates the peripheral portion, and the light amount of the peripheral illumination unit is less than the light amount of the central illumination unit. (4) The display device according to (4) above.

  According to the invention of (15) described above, the illumination that illuminates the back side of the screen is darker at the periphery of the screen than at the center of the screen. The “means” can make it difficult to recognize the boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen. For this reason, it is possible to give an impression as if the entire area of the “mask means” is the screen of the display device without using any additional means other than the “illumination means”.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to display as if the entire area of the mask means is the screen of the display device by performing display so as not to be conscious of the screen area of the display device installed behind the mask means. Such an impression can be given.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the radar detector provided with the display apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (a) is a front view, (b) is a rear perspective view. It is a functional block diagram of the radar detector and its remote controller. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the content of the image displayed on the display apparatus of the radar detector, (a) shows the image of a standby screen, (b) has shown the content of the image of a radar scope screen. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a display mode of an image displayed on the display device. FIG. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the content of the gradation data for adding a gradation with respect to the image displayed on the display apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the case where a gradation is added with respect to the object displayed on the display apparatus. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the case where a different gradation is added to each of the several object from which a display color differs in the map image displayed on the same display apparatus. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram for describing a structure for adding a gradation region to an image to be displayed in the display device. In the same display device, it is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the structure of the illumination means which adds a gradation area | region to the image displayed.

  Hereinafter, a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment described below, first, the entire configuration of the display device will be described.

<Overall configuration of radar detector>
1A and 1B show the appearance of a radar detector equipped with an embodiment of a display device of the present invention. The radar detector 10 includes various mechanisms shown in FIG. 2 inside and outside a rectangular parallelepiped casing 11 serving as a main body, and a room provided inside the vehicle by fixtures 12 a and 12 b provided on the back surface of the casing 11. The radar detector 10 is fixed by sandwiching a mirror (not shown) from above and below.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), a rectangular mirror member 13, which is a mirror for projecting the rear of the vehicle, is provided on the front surface of the housing 11 (surface facing the driver), and the right side of the mirror member 13. A display unit 14 (hereinafter, also referred to as “screen 14” according to the description) serving as a display unit is provided on the back surface. In the present embodiment, a small 2.8 inch liquid crystal display is used as the display unit 14. On the mirror surface of the mirror member 13, a region facing the screen of the display unit 14 (a region HM indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1A) is a half mirror. Hereinafter, a region indicated by a broken line in FIG. 1A is referred to as a half mirror region HM. An area other than the half mirror area HM is called a mirror area M. The area composed of the half mirror area HM and the mirror area M corresponds to a mask means. When an image is displayed on the screen of the display unit 14, the image is displayed through the half mirror area HM. Can be visually observed. Further, when the display unit 14 is not displaying any image (when the screen is completely dark), the surrounding scene is displayed in the half mirror region HM, and the display unit 14 provided on the back surface of the half mirror region HM is displayed. The screen becomes extremely difficult to see. On the upper side of the half mirror region HM, an infrared light receiving unit 15 for receiving an infrared signal of the remote controller 28 (see FIG. 2) is provided.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, on the right side of the rear surface of the housing 11 (the surface facing the front window) in the figure, a sound emission hole 18 through which the sound output from the speaker 17 as sound output means is passed to the outside. Is formed. In addition, an insertion hole 19 for a DC power jack is formed substantially at the center upper side in the figure on the rear surface of the housing 11. Although illustration is omitted, in the present embodiment, the power source on the main body side of the radar detection device 10 is a cigar socket (that is, a vehicle) via a cigar plug cord that electrically connects the DC jack and the cigar socket of the vehicle. Secondary battery). Further, a microwave receiver 22 and a wireless receiver 23 are incorporated below the insertion hole 19, and a GPS receiver 21 is incorporated on the right side of the microwave receiver 22 and the wireless receiver 23. ing.

  A slot 20 for inserting a memory card 25 as a storage medium into a memory card reader 24 (both see FIG. 2) is formed on the left side surface of the housing 11 shown in FIG. The memory card reader 24 can take in data stored in the memory card 25 and write the contents of the database 27 and the memory of the control unit 26 shown in FIG. 2 into the memory card 25. More specifically, if the data stored in the memory card 25 includes update information about new alarm target information (position information including longitude / latitude, type information, etc.), the update information is sent to the control unit 26. Is stored (downloaded) in the database 27 built in the apparatus, and the data in the database 27 is updated.

  In FIG. 2, a database 27 is a non-volatile memory (for example, EEPROM) in the microcomputer as the control unit 26 or externally attached to the microcomputer. In the database 27, information related to a certain alarm target is registered at the time of shipment, and information on a new alarm target added after that can be updated as described above.

  The radio receiver 23 receives radio waves having a predetermined frequency. The infrared light receiving unit 15 performs data communication with a remote controller (portable device: slave device) 28 by infrared rays and performs various settings for the apparatus. The remote controller 28 includes a standby switch button, a first setting button, a second setting button, a selection button, a cancel button, a determination button, and up / down / left / right cross buttons (not shown).

  The control unit 26 is a microcomputer including a CPU 260, a ROM 262, a RAM 264, a VRAM 266, an I / O, and the like (not shown). The control unit 26 executes predetermined processing based on information input from the various input devices described above, and outputs it. Predetermined alarms / messages and information are output using the device. In the VRAM 266, a storage area corresponding to each pixel constituting the screen of the display unit 14 is defined. In addition, these basic configurations can be basically the same as conventional ones.

  The functions in the radar detector 10 of the present embodiment are stored as a program on the EEPROM of the control unit 26, and are realized by the CPU of the control unit 26 executing this program. Functions executed by the CPU according to the program include a GPS log function, a standby screen display function, a radar scope display function, a GPS alarm function, a radar wave alarm function, a wireless alarm function, and the like. It is embodied as a function of the CPU.

  The GPS log function is a function in which the control unit 26 stores the current position detected by the GPS receiver 21 every second in association with the detected time and speed (vehicle speed) in a nonvolatile memory as a position history. This location history is a function of recording in, for example, the NMEA (National Marine Electronics Association) format.

  The standby screen display function is a function for displaying the speed 141, latitude 142, and longitude 143 of the host vehicle detected by the GPS receiver 21 on the display unit 14, as shown in FIG.

  Here, the screen display area 140 of the display unit 14 when the standby screen display function, the GPS alarm function, the radar wave alarm function, and the wireless alarm function are executed is divided into a main display area 140A and an icon display area 140B. Information relating to each function is displayed exclusively in the main display area 140A. On the other hand, a azimuth magnetic needle icon 144, a road selection icon 145, a radar reception sensitivity mode icon 146, and a mode selection icon 147 are displayed in the icon display area 140B. Further, the current time 148 is displayed at the right end of the icon display area 140B in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the radar scope display function is configured to store alarm targets within a predetermined range (for example, within a range of about 1 km) from the current position detected by the GPS receiver 21 in the database 27. This is a function of searching based on information and displaying the relative positional relationship between the host vehicle and the alarm target on the display unit 14.
Note that the diagrams shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B are for explaining the contents displayed during the execution of each function, and how these contents are specifically described. The display will be described in detail later.

  During execution of the radar scope display function, a map 151 based on the map information stored in the database 27 is displayed in the main display area 140A, and an arrow-shaped own vehicle icon 152 indicating the position of the own vehicle is displayed on the map 151. indicate. Further, when an event occurs during execution of the radar scope display function (when a predetermined condition for alerting is met), “L”, “RD”, “P”, “N” are displayed on the map 151. An alarm target icon 153 having characters such as “” is displayed to indicate the type and position of the alarm target. Further, during execution of the radar scope display function, the legal speed 154 of the road on which the host vehicle is traveling and the current speed 155 of the host vehicle are displayed in the lower right of the main display area 140A in the figure.

  If the pressing of the standby switching button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during the execution of the standby screen display function shown in FIG. 3A, the control unit 26 switches to the radar scope display function shown in FIG. Further, when pressing of the standby switch button provided on the remote controller 17 is detected during execution of the radar scope display function, processing for switching to the standby screen display function is performed.

  When an event occurs during the execution of the standby screen display function or the radar scope display function (hereinafter, these functions are collectively referred to as the standby function), the control unit 26 performs a GPS alarm function, a radar wave alarm, Executes processing to realize each function of the function and the wireless alarm function. The priority of each function is set in the order of radar wave alarm function, radio alarm function, and GPS alarm function from the highest.

  The GPS alarm function is a process executed at a predetermined time interval (1 second interval) by an event from a timer included in the control unit 26, and is detected by the latitude and longitude of the alarm target stored in the database 27 and the GPS receiver 21. The distance between the two is calculated based on the current latitude and longitude of the host vehicle, and when the calculated distance reaches a predetermined approach distance (for example, within 2 km), an alarm is displayed on the display unit 14 and the speaker 17 is a process for outputting an alarm sound such as a sound effect, BGM, and voice from the sound source 17.

  Examples of the alarm target of the GPS alarm function include a speed measuring device (loop coil, LH system, H system, radar-type orvis, etc.), mouse catching area, moving orvis area, tracking type control area, temporary stop control area, intersection control Area, other control area, seat belt inspection area, drinking inspection area, mobile phone inspection area, other inspection area, intersection monitoring point, signal ignore suppression system, expressway traffic police corps, N system, traffic monitoring system, police station, accident There are many areas, service areas, parking areas, highway oasis, highway length / continuous tunnels, highway radio reception areas, road stations, viewpoint parking, parking lots, public toilets, etc. Latitude / longitude information indicating A schematic view or photograph data displayed on the 4, stored in the database 27 in association with the voice data.

  The radar wave alarm function displays an alarm on the display unit 14 and an alarm sound from the speaker 17 when a radio wave corresponding to a microwave of a predetermined frequency band emitted from the speed measuring device is detected by the microwave receiver 22. Is an alarm function that outputs. For example, when a microwave of a predetermined frequency band emitted from the speed measuring device is detected by the microwave receiver 22, a schematic diagram or a photograph of a radar stored in the database 27 is displayed on the display unit 14 as an alarm. Then, the voice data stored in the database 27 is read out and a voice “Radar. Speed attention” is output from the speaker 17.

  The wireless alarm function is a function for issuing an alarm so that the wireless receiver 23 does not interfere with traveling or the like when a radio wave emitted by an emergency vehicle or the like is received. In the radio alarm function, the control radio, car radio, digital radio, special radio, police radio, police phone, police activity radio, wrecker radio, heli tele radio, fire helicopter radio, fire fight radio, emergency radio, expressway radio When a radio frequency is scanned at the scanned frequency and a radio frequency is received, a schematic diagram indicating that the radio frequency corresponding to the frequency stored in the database 27 for each radio type is received is used as an alarm screen. While being displayed on the display unit 14, voice data stored in the database 27 for each wireless type is read out, and an alarm sound indicating the wireless type is output from the speaker 17. For example, when a control radio is received, a voice is output like “control radio. Speed attention”.

  Here, the radar scope display function, the GPS alarm function, the radar wave alarm function, and the radio alarm function are set with a plurality of different types of alarm targets as described above, and the priority order according to the type of each alarm target Is defined. The priority order of each alarm target is, for example, that the color of the alarm target icon 153 shown in FIG. 3B is color-coded into “red”, “yellow”, “blue” or “green” groups in descending order of priority. It is visualized with. For example, for the alarm target belonging to the “red” group with the highest priority, the alarm is notified in a characteristic display mode of the present embodiment described below, and the “yellow” with the second lowest priority is displayed. "," Blue "or" green ", alarms are notified in the same general display mode (not shown) as before.

<Image Display Mode on Screen of Display Device>
Next, a display mode of an image displayed on the screen of the display device in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The display mode shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by applying the display mode in the display device of this embodiment to an image displayed during execution of the radar scope display function shown in FIG. Further, the display mode shown in FIG. 4 illustrates the mode displayed on the screen of the display unit 14, and does not illustrate the display mode visually recognized through the half mirror region HM of the mirror member 13.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the image displayed on the display device of the present embodiment gradually becomes brighter from the outermost periphery (hereinafter also referred to as an edge) of the screen of the display unit 14 toward the inside of the screen. A gradation region G having a certain width W exists, and when the boundary of the gradation region G indicated by a broken line is reached in FIG. In other words, in the gradation area G, the displayed image becomes darker toward the outside (periphery side of the screen) from the boundary, and nothing is displayed until reaching the outermost periphery of the screen of the display unit 14. It becomes a state. This gradation region G corresponds to “the peripheral portion of the display region”. In the following, a region that is not the gradation region G (a region within a broken line in FIG. 4) in the screen of the display unit 14 is referred to as a normal region N.

  In FIG. 4, it goes without saying that the broken line indicating the boundary of the gradation region G is not displayed on the screen of the display unit 14. Further, the shape and position of the gradation area G are constant, for example, when the display of the own vehicle icon 152 is moved or the display of the map 151 is scrolled due to the traveling of the vehicle equipped with the radar detector 10. Even if it exists, the gradation area | region G does not move or change in connection with it.

  The width of the gradation area G refers to the length in the direction perpendicular to the edge of the screen. Further, the width of the gradation region G and the degree of change in brightness in the direction of the width W (hereinafter also referred to as brightness gradient) are the size of the half mirror region HM in the mirror member 13 relative to the screen size of the display unit 14. The light transmittance in the half mirror region HM and the specifications relating to the image display of the display unit 14 may be determined as appropriate. In other words, when the gradation region G is determined so that the image displayed over the entire screen of the display unit 14 is viewed through the half mirror region HM of the mirror unit 13, the edge of the screen is hardly visible. Good.

(Action / Effect)
Thus, by adding the gradation region G as shown in FIG. 4 to the image to be displayed, the following operational effects can be obtained.
First, in the front view of the radar detector 10 shown in FIG. 1A, when no image is displayed on the screen of the display unit 14, it is difficult to distinguish between the half mirror region HM and the mirror region M. The front surface of the mirror member 13 looks like a uniform mirror. For this reason, it is difficult to visually recognize the boundary between the inside and the outside of the screen of the display unit 14. In this state, for example, it is assumed that an image on which the display target image portion is bright and the other background portion is dark is displayed on the screen of the display unit 14. When this image is viewed through the half mirror region HM of the mirror member 13, the image to be displayed can be clearly seen, but the background portion is the half mirror region HM (except for the image portion to be displayed). The light that passes through is weak, and the reflected light becomes dominant, so it looks like a mirror. Thereby, in the mirror member 13, it appears as if only the image to be displayed appears in the mirror.

On the other hand, when a bright image is displayed over the entire screen of the display unit 14 as in the prior art, there are places where the contrast is noticeable between the inside and the outside of the screen edge of the display unit 14. Therefore, when such an image is viewed through the half mirror region HM, the shape of the screen (usually rectangular) of the display unit 14 is clearly conscious.
For example, when a road is drawn up to the edge of the screen of the display unit 14, the person who has seen it has censored because the road extending outside the screen has reached the edge of the screen. You will feel like you are. In this way, an image that reaches the edge of the screen, and further feels that there is a part that the image continues to the outside of the screen (for example, an image in which a part of a predetermined form is displayed as a whole) If it is cut off at the edge of the screen, the shape of the screen of the display unit 14 becomes conscious.
For this reason, it is anew that the image of the display unit 14 provided on the back side of the mirror member 13 is merely viewed, not the image floating in the mirror of the mirror member 13. There is a possibility that the viewer may become conscious and arouse or disgust in the viewer.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a gradation region G having a constant width W is provided from the screen periphery of the display unit 14, and an image displayed near the screen periphery of the display unit 14 is “bright” as it goes toward the screen periphery. By gradually shifting from “dark” to “dark”, the edge of the screen of the display unit 14 becomes inconspicuous when an image is viewed through the half mirror region HM. Thereby, it is possible to make it difficult to be aware of the shape of the screen of the display unit 14 regardless of whether the image is displayed on the screen of the display unit 14 or when the image is displayed. There is an effect that it is less likely to make a person feel arousal and tasteful.

<Embodiment for Adding Gradient Area to Image>
Next, each embodiment for adding the gradation region G shown in FIG. 4 to the image displayed on the display unit 14 will be described.

(First embodiment)
First, the first embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, the gradation region G as shown in FIG. 4 is added by image processing performed when an image is displayed on the screen of the display unit 14. Hereinafter, this image processing is referred to as gradation addition processing, and the content thereof will be described below.

  First, the CPU 260 determines display data for one pixel according to a predetermined order based on image data to be displayed among the image data stored in the database 27 shown in FIG.

Here, the “predetermined order” means, for example, that the pixels constituting the screen of the display unit 14 are arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns, and the m th order from the first pixel row. It is assumed that the order of the pixels from the first column to the n-th column is sequentially performed for each pixel row up to the row. That is, (first row, first column) to (first row, nth column) pixels, then (second row, first column) to (second row, nth column) pixels, then (3rd row, 1st column) to (3rd row, nth column) pixels, ... and finally (mth row, 1st column) to (mth row, nth column) pixels It has become.
The “display data” is data that designates a display color for each pixel, and is data that indicates, for example, gradations (0 to 255) in each of the three primary colors (RGB).

  Next, the CPU 260 refers to the gradation data stored in the ROM 262 shown in FIG. 2, and determines a brightness coefficient (hereinafter referred to as a brightness coefficient) determined in advance for a pixel whose display data is determined based on image data. Recognize This gradation data defines the above-described brightness coefficient for each pixel constituting the screen of the display unit 14. This brightness coefficient takes a value in the range from 0 to 1, "0" means that the brightness is "0" (that is, black), and "1" is the brightness of the determined display data. Means that. A value exceeding “0” and less than “1” indicates a ratio of decreasing the lightness with respect to the lightness of the determined display data.

  Thus, the CPU 260 multiplies the recognized brightness coefficient value by the display data determined above, that is, the value indicating the gradation in each color of RGB, and uses the result for display data (hereinafter referred to as conversion data). Called display data). Then, when the calculated conversion display data for one pixel is stored in the storage area corresponding to the pixel in the VRAM 266 (see FIG. 2), the conversion display data for the next pixel is calculated according to the predetermined order described above. . When the conversion display data is obtained for all the pixels constituting the screen of the display unit 14 in this way, the CPU 260 drives each pixel constituting the screen of the display unit 14 according to the conversion display data stored in the VRAM 266. To display the image.

  Next, the contents of the gradation data stored in the ROM 262 described above will be described. As described above, the gradation data is constituted by the brightness coefficient for each pixel constituting the screen of the display unit 14. The value of the brightness coefficient is “1” for the pixels included in the normal area N on the screen shown in FIG. Further, the pixels at the outermost periphery of the screen of the display unit 14 (that is, the pixels in the first column to the n-th column in the first row and the m-th row, and the first column in the first column and the n-th column). The pixels in the first to mth rows) are “0”. Further, the value of the brightness coefficient for the pixels from the boundary B between the normal area N and the gradation area G (indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4) to the outermost periphery of the screen gradually changes from “1” to “0”. It decreases to approach. Here, the slope of the change until the value of the brightness coefficient decreases from “1” to “0” may be a straight line or a curve.

  Here, when the gradation area G has a constant width W and the gradient of the brightness coefficient value for each pixel in the gradation area G is uniform in the gradation data, the subjective contour is recognized by human perception characteristics. It becomes easy. Here, “subjective contour” refers to an illusion in which a contour line is perceived even though there is no change in luminance or color along the contour line. The “subjective contour” that is a problem in the present embodiment does not exist because a person who viewed the image perceives the brightness or color of the image viewed through the half mirror region of the mirror member 13. It should be the edge of the screen. Therefore, in the following, the term “subjective contour” simply means “the edge of the screen that should not exist, which is perceived by the person who viewed the image”.

  The “subjective contour” may be easily recognized depending on the content of the displayed image. For example, in the icon display area 140B shown in FIG. 3, four square icons (the azimuth magnetic needle icon 144, the road selection icon 145, the radar reception sensitivity mode icon 146, and the mode selection icon 147) are arranged in a horizontal row on the left side in the drawing. The current time is displayed on the right side of the figure. When such a display is performed, there is a possibility that the subjective outline is recognized by the lower side of the four icons and the line connecting the bottom of each character and number at the current time.

In addition, in the map 151 of FIG. 6, three roads have reached the left edge portion of the screen, so that it is felt that the display of the road that should continue further is censored, and that portion of the screen is displayed in that portion. It becomes easier to recognize if there is an edge. Moreover, a line connecting the ends of these three roads in order from a certain direction (for example, above) is recognized as a subjective outline. Since this line coincides with the left edge of the screen, the edge of the screen is recognized as a subjective contour.
Therefore, by adding a gradation with a certain width w as described above, it is possible to make it difficult to recognize the end of the road, and to suppress the feeling that the road display is cut off. , It can make it difficult to recognize the edges of the screen.

  For example, the gradation data stored in the ROM 262 may be set to the contents shown in FIG. 5 in order to make it difficult to recognize the “subjective contour” described above. That is, in order to give a gradation having a constant width w as shown in FIG. 4, the brightness coefficient for each pixel from the pixel located on the boundary B shown in FIG. 5 toward the pixel located at the edge of the screen. Is set to decrease uniformly from “1” to “0”. Here, the pixels located on the boundary B are the 4th row, the wth column, the wth row, the nw column, the mth row, the wth column, and the mw row, the nw column. It is a pixel located on a straight line connecting two pixels. That is, the shape of the boundary B is a rectangle (indicated by a thin broken line in FIG. 5), and the brightness coefficient is uniformly reduced from the pixel positioned on each boundary B toward the pixel positioned on the edge of the screen. In the following description, for example, a pixel in the w-th row and the w-th column is referred to as a (w, w) pixel.

  However, if the shape of the boundary B is close to the shape of the edge of the screen, there is a possibility that the edge of the screen is recognized as a subjective contour. Therefore, in order to make it difficult to recognize the “subjective contour”, the shape of the boundary B is not a rectangle but is changed to an arbitrary curve as shown by a thick broken line B ′ in FIG. The gradation data is set so that the value of the brightness coefficient for each pixel decreases from “1” to “0” from the pixel located on the subsequent boundary B ′ toward the pixel located at the edge of the screen. . How to deform the boundary B may be determined as appropriate. For example, with reference to the pixel located on the boundary B, the position of each pixel is within a range of a predetermined maximum movement width. A pixel after being moved by an arbitrary number of pixels in the row direction or the column direction is a pixel located on the boundary B ′.

  For example, as described above, there are four pixels located on the boundary B: (w, w), (w, nw), (mw, w), and (mw, nw). It is a pixel located on a straight line connecting the pixels. For pixels located on the line connecting (w, w) and (w, n-w) and on the line connecting (m-w, w) and (m-w, n-w), the column Is arbitrarily increased or decreased within a predetermined numerical range (for example, ± 30). For pixels located on the line connecting (w, w) and (m−w, w) and on the line connecting (w, n−w) and (m−w, n−w), The value is arbitrarily increased or decreased within a predetermined numerical range (for example, ± 30). After the pixels located on the boundary B ′ are determined in this way, the value of the brightness coefficient for each pixel is changed from “1” to “0” from each pixel toward the pixel located at the edge of the screen. Set the gradation data so that it decreases.

  The gradation data as described above may be determined in advance and stored in the ROM 262 shown in FIG. 2, or may be generated by the CPU 260 based on a function or the like. For example, information that can specify the pixel located on the reference boundary B is stored in the ROM 262, and the CPU 260 determines the boundary B 'shown in FIG. 5 based on the information. Next, the CPU 260 obtains gradation data in which the value of the brightness coefficient decreases from the pixel located on the defined boundary B ′ toward the pixel located at the edge of the screen. The gradation data obtained by this process is stored in the database 27 shown in FIG. As a result, when the CPU 260 displays the image shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 260 adds gradation based on the gradation data stored in the database 27.

  The gradation data described above is obtained by arbitrarily changing the width of the gradation area by arbitrarily changing the shape of the boundary B. As another method, the gradation data can be obtained from each pixel located on the rectangular boundary B. When the value of the brightness coefficient for each pixel is decreased from “1” to “0” toward the pixel located at the edge of the screen, the slope of the value of the brightness coefficient may be arbitrarily changed. . For example, the value of the brightness coefficient linearly changes from “1” to “0” from the position on the rectangular boundary B to the position of the edge of the screen. A variety of modes of change, such as the value of the brightness coefficient being “0” at a position close to, the slope of the change being steep, the value of the brightness coefficient changing in a curvilinear (convex curve or concave curve), etc. Shall be shown. In the following, the slope of the change in the brightness coefficient is referred to as the brightness gradient.

  Thus, by changing the brightness gradient in the gradation data, the aspect of the gradation added to the image is arbitrarily changed, so that it is difficult for the viewer to recognize the “subjective contour”. Also in this method, gradation data in which the lightness gradient is changed may be stored in the ROM 262 in advance, or information that can identify pixels located on the boundary B is stored in the ROM 262, and the CPU 260 stores the information. Based on the above, the brightness gradient from each pixel to the image located at the edge of the screen may be arbitrarily changed, and the obtained gradation data may be stored in the database 27. Furthermore, by combining the above two methods, first, the deformed boundary B ′ is defined, and then the brightness gradient from each pixel located on the boundary B ′ to the pixel located at the edge of the screen is arbitrarily changed. It may be allowed.

  If the gradation data is determined by the CPU 260, it is better to update the gradation data at a predetermined timing. The predetermined timing may be, for example, when the radar detector 10 is turned on, when a predetermined number of days have elapsed, when a predetermined time has elapsed, or when a screen to be displayed is switched. In this way, it is possible to suppress not only the subjective contour that matches or approximates the edge of the screen, but also the occurrence of a subjective contour that may be caused by the boundary B or gradation pattern.

  Furthermore, in order to make it difficult for the viewer to recognize the “subjective contour”, it is preferable to eliminate as much as possible the display that makes the subjective contour recognizable. For example, as described above, in the icon display area 140B shown in FIG. 3, four square icons are displayed side by side on the left side of the drawing, and the current time is displayed on the right side of the drawing. The subjective outline can be easily recognized by the lower side of each icon and the line connecting the bottom of the letters and numbers representing the current time.

  Therefore, in order to prevent the display positions of the four icons and the current time from being aligned, the display positions in the vertical direction in the figure are appropriately shifted, and the outline of each icon is not aligned with a line parallel to the edge of the screen. The shape of the icon may be changed. Examples of icon shapes that make it difficult to recognize a subjective contour include, for example, an icon without an outline, in which the contour of the icon is composed of diagonal lines or curves so that the contour of the icon is not parallel to the edge of the screen. A shape such as “Yes” is conceivable. Moreover, when displaying a character, the character may be displayed with a color, but it is good to make all the character periphery black.

  Thus, it can be said that the control part 26 which performs the gradation addition process mentioned above when displaying an image is equivalent to a "brightness adjustment means". Further, it can be said that the above-described VRAM corresponds to “storage means”, and the control unit 26 further corresponds to “data writing means” and “image display means”.

(Modification of the first embodiment)
As a method of adding the gradation area G, as described above, instead of writing display data written in a storage area corresponding to each pixel of the VRAM based on image data, instead of writing display data darker than actual brightness, The number of pixels for display may be gradually reduced. That is, instead of writing the display data for displaying the map 151 in the storage area corresponding to each pixel of the VRAM, the same display data as the background image (for example, black) is written, and the number of such pixels Is gradually increased from the boundary between the normal region N and the gradation region G toward the periphery of the screen.

  Specifically, as the gradation data described above, for the pixels included in the gradation region G, the display data determined in step S10 in FIG. 5 is used together with the data indicating that, or the background image and Data indicating whether the display data is the same (hereinafter referred to as conversion designation data) is determined. As a result of the determination process in step S12 in FIG. 5, when the CPU 260 performs the process in step S14, the display data or background image determined in step S10 in FIG. The same display data is stored in the corresponding storage area of the VRAM.

Therefore, in the gradation data in this modification, the closer to the periphery of the screen, the more the proportion of pixels that display the same as the background image among a plurality of pixels in a certain area increases. As a result, as shown in FIG. A gradation region G is added.
The ratio of the pixels that perform the same display as the background image by the conversion designation data described above is the same as that of the gradation data that designates the brightness coefficient. The boundary between the normal area N and the gradation area G is the boundary B shown in FIG. It becomes difficult to recognize the subjective contour by changing so that the change in the proportion of pixels that display the same as the background image does not become uniform as it becomes' or as it approaches the periphery of the screen Can do.

(Application 1 of the first embodiment)
As described above, in the present embodiment, display data for each pixel in the gradation region G is converted to display data that is darker according to the position of each pixel than the original brightness. For this reason, the gradation area in the screen of the display unit 14 can be changed by changing the pixel to be subjected to the display data conversion described above.

  For example, when the map 151 and the host vehicle icon 152 shown in FIG. 3B are displayed three-dimensionally (3D display), as shown in FIG. 6A, the horizon H parallel to the long side of the screen is displayed. It is assumed that the display position is fixed and the background image (region that hits the sky) BG in the upper side of the figure than the horizon H is displayed uniformly darker than the display of the map 151. If the gradation area G shown in FIG. 4 is added to such an image, the brightness gradient in the gradation area G is reflected in the image of the map 151 in the vicinity of the left and right sides and the lower side of the screen. However, the brightness gradient in the gradation region G is not reflected in the image of the map 151 in the vicinity of the horizon H. Therefore, the contrast between the image of the map 151 and the background image BG becomes conspicuous with the horizontal line H as a boundary. When such an image is viewed through the half mirror region HM of the mirror member 13, the horizon H of the map 151 is clear. There is a risk of being visually recognized and being recognized as if it were an edge of the screen.

  Therefore, as in the gradation area G ′ shown in FIG. 6B, in addition to the gradation area having a constant width W from the left and right sides and the lower side of the screen, the gradation area on the upper side has a constant width W from the horizon H downward. The display data in this embodiment or its modification may be converted so that the gradation area is added. In this way, even if it is a portion that is not originally an edge of the screen, a gradation region is added to a portion that is recognized as if it is an edge of the screen depending on the content of the image to be displayed. By converting the display data as described above, it is possible to prevent the screen area of the display unit 14 from being recognized based on misidentification.

  To add the gradation as described above, first, gradation data for adding the gradation area G shown in FIG. 4 and gradation data for adding the gradation area G ′ shown in FIG. Is previously stored in the ROM 262 of FIG. And when displaying the map 151 etc. in three dimensions, it is good to perform the process of step S12-S16 of FIG. 5 based on the latter gradation data.

(Application 2 of the first embodiment)
In the application example 1 described above, the position or range of the gradation region G in the screen is changed according to the image to be displayed. On the other hand, in the application example 2, the width of the gradation area is changed for each object (hereinafter referred to as an object) to be displayed as an image.

  FIG. 7A shows an example of an image display mode according to the application example 2. The image shown in this figure has basically the same contents as the image shown in FIG. 4, but the icon display area 140 </ b> B is not shown in order to more clearly illustrate the features in the application example 2. In this figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 6, roads displayed on the map 151, various icons (the own vehicle icon 152, alarm target icon 153), legal speed 154 and current speed 155, and other numbers, characters and Lines are also treated as individual objects.

  In the application example 2, among objects to be displayed, the whole object cannot be stored in the screen, and a part of the display is interrupted at the edge of the screen. Appropriate gradation areas are added. For example, in the object “road” displayed on the map 151 shown in FIG. 7A, the roads that reach the edge of the screen include the following. That is, a thick road R1 extending in the up-down direction at the approximate center of the screen, a thick road R2 extending in the right lateral direction from the left side of the screen and striking the road R1, a thin road R3 bifurcating from the road R2, and a lateral direction from the left side to the right side of the screen A thin road R4 that intersects with the road R1 slightly above the road R2, a thin road R5 that extends diagonally upward to the right from the upper left side of the screen, intersects the road R4, merges with the road R1, and further upwards on the screen. In addition, there is a narrow road R6 that extends obliquely to the left and intersects with the road R5, substantially above the center of the screen.

  Then, gradation regions having random widths w1 to w5, w5 ', and w6 are added from the edge portions of the screen at the ends of the roads R1 to R6 described above. Thus, for example, on the left side of the screen shown in FIG. 7A, the widths w4, w5, w2, and w3 of the gradation areas at the ends of the roads R4, R5, R2, and R3 are different from each other in the order from the top. Therefore, the positions where the end portions of the roads are difficult to visually recognize do not line up in a straight line. Therefore, when such a screen is viewed through the half mirror region of the mirror member 13, it is possible to make it difficult for the viewer to be aware of the edge of the screen.

  In addition, since the position of the end of each road is not aligned with the edge of the screen of the display unit 14 at the end of the screen, the end of each road is connected (matches the edge of the screen of the display unit 14). In addition, a subjective contour is not generated, and the screen area of the display unit 14 can be made unconscious. In particular, when drawing multiple objects close to the edge of the screen, the virtual lines connecting the edges of the multiple objects in the direction parallel to the edges of the screen are not parallel to the edge lines of the screen. The position of the end of the object may be determined. For example, a line that connects the positions where the road disappears completely in order by gradation processing (for example, a virtual line that connects sequentially in the direction of X = 0 to X = m, or a virtual line that connects sequentially in the direction of Y = 0 to Y = m) ) May be set at random positions so as not to be parallel to the four sides of the screen.

  The gradation start position may be the same. That is, the gradation start position of the object may be determined so that virtual lines connecting the gradation start positions of a plurality of objects in order in a direction parallel to the edge of the screen are not parallel to the edge line of the screen. Furthermore, it is preferable that the gradation pattern (for example, how much darker the distance is darkened) be different for each object. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a subjective contour parallel to the edge of the screen, and to make the edge of the screen less conscious.

  In the application example 2, since the road display changes according to the movement of the host vehicle, the above-described gradation data cannot be determined in advance. For this reason, when displaying an object called a road, the CPU 260 identifies a road that reaches the edge of the screen, and arbitrarily determines a gradation width from the edge of the screen for each road that reaches the edge. Then, for each road, a process of adding a gradation of the determined width is performed. In this process, as described above, the brightness of the pixels involved in the drawing of the road is gradually lowered as it approaches the edge of the screen, or the number of pixels that perform the same display as the background image is increased. It is processing.

  In the example described above, the object is “road”, but the same processing may be performed for other objects (for example, characters). For example, when a certain character is displayed, the CPU 260 determines whether or not the entire character is displayed on the screen. If it is determined that the entire character is displayed on the screen, no gradation is added to the character. On the other hand, when it is determined that a part of the character is interrupted by the screen due to the movement of the host vehicle, a gradation having an arbitrary width is added to the character.

(Application 3 of the first embodiment)
In the application example 2 described above, the range of the gradation region G in the screen is changed for each object displayed as an image. On the other hand, the application example 3 changes the brightness gradient of the gradation for each display color of each object.

  FIG. 7B shows an example of an image display mode according to the application example 3. The image shown in this figure has basically the same content as the image shown in FIG. 4, but the icon display area 140 </ b> B is not shown in order to more clearly illustrate the features in the application example 3. In this figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 7B, roads, various icons (own vehicle icon 152, alarm target icon 153), legal speed 154, current speed 155, and other numbers and lines displayed as images are displayed as images. Are treated as individual objects.

  In the image of the map 151 shown in FIG. 7B, the road GR extending vertically in the approximate center of the screen is generally displayed in green, which is a color that is easily perceived by human eyes (a color with high sensitivity). Yes. In addition, the road BR that extends laterally from the left end of the screen toward the center and hits the road GR described above is generally displayed in blue, which is a color that is difficult for human eyes to perceive (a color with low sensitivity). Further, it is assumed that the area other than the road is displayed with a color having a sensitivity between green and blue (for example, orange).

  As shown in FIG. 7B, the width Wa (corresponding to “the peripheral portion of the object”) of the gradation area with respect to the road GR that is an object displayed in a highly sensitive color is equal to the gradation area G in the area other than the road. It is wider than the width W. This is because the road GR is displayed in a color that is easily perceived by the human eye, and by starting gradation from a position further away from the edge of the screen, the change in the apparent brightness on the road GR and the road GR This is to match the change in the apparent brightness in the other area.

  On the other hand, the width Wb of the gradation area (corresponding to “the peripheral part of the object”) with respect to the road BR, which is an object displayed in a low-sensitivity color, is the width W of the gradation area G in the area other than the road. It is narrower than. This is because the road BR is displayed in a color that is not easily perceived by human eyes, so by starting gradation from a position closer to the edge of the screen, changes in the apparent brightness on the road BR, and other than the road BR This is to match the change in the apparent lightness in the region.

  Thus, by adding a gradation corresponding to the display color to each object “road” on the map to be displayed, the change in the brightness of the image in the gradation region G when the screen is viewed as a whole. Can be adjusted to be uniform.

(Second Embodiment)
A second embodiment for adding the gradation region G to the displayed image is shown in FIG. FIG. 8 is a schematic exploded perspective view of the display unit 14. In this figure, a liquid crystal panel 50 is a known liquid crystal panel constituting a rectangular screen for displaying an image, and is constituted by a liquid crystal layer, a transparent electrode, a color filter, a polarizing plate, and the like. The illuminating means 51 illuminates the liquid crystal panel 50 from behind the liquid crystal panel 50 in order to make the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 50 visible, and includes a rod-shaped cold cathode tube 52, a rectangular light guide plate 53, and the like. It is constituted by. The cold cathode tube 52 is provided along one short side of the light guide plate 53, and the light guide plate 53 takes in the light of the cold cathode tube 52 from the short side cross section on the side where the cold cathode tube 52 is provided. Thus, the liquid crystal panel 50 is illuminated from behind by being emitted from the surface on the liquid crystal panel 50 side.

  The gradation addition filter 54 is a sheet-like filter for adding the gradation region G shown in FIG. 4 to the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 50, and the shape and size thereof are the same as the image display region of the liquid crystal panel 50. Match. In the gradation addition filter 54, in a region corresponding to the gradation region G shown in FIG. 4, the light transmittance gradually decreases from the boundary (shown by a broken line in FIG. 4) toward the periphery of the gradation addition filter 54. It is formed so as to be in a light-shielding state when it reaches the periphery. In the gradation addition filter 54, it is desirable that the light transmittance in the normal region N is as high as possible. Further, for example, the normal region N may be cut out to form a rectangular frame sheet having a certain width W.

  The gradation addition filter 54 corresponds to “transmittance reduction means” that reduces the brightness of the image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 50 in accordance with the light transmittance in the gradation region G.

(Modification of the second embodiment)
In the configuration of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the gradation addition filter 54 is arranged on the surface (surface facing the driver side) of the liquid crystal panel 50. As a modification, the gradation addition filter 54 is used. May be interposed between the liquid crystal panel 50 and the illumination means 51 (on the back side of the screen). In this case, the gradation adding filter 54 functions as a “light reducing unit” that reduces the light from the illumination unit 51 in accordance with the light transmittance in the gradation region G.

  In addition to this, instead of providing the gradation addition filter 54 shown in FIG. 8, in the half mirror region HM of the mirror member 13, the light transmittance in the region corresponding to the gradation region G shown in FIG. It may be changed. Further, in the gradation addition filter 54, the boundary B between the normal area N and the gradation area G shown in FIG. 4 is made to be a curve that fluctuates within a predetermined range as the boundary B ′ shown in FIG. May be.

(Third embodiment)
FIG. 9 shows a third embodiment for adding a gradation region G. In the second embodiment described above, the gradation addition filter 54 is added to the configuration of the display unit 14. However, in this embodiment, instead of adding the gradation addition filter 54, the illumination that configures the display unit 14. The means 51 is characterized. Here, FIG. 9 is a front view showing the appearance of the illumination means 51 (see FIG. 8) constituting the display unit 14, and (a) schematically shows a general illumination means. , (B) schematically shows illumination means in the second embodiment. In this figure, the same components as those shown in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  First, the light guide plate 53a shown in FIG. 9A is used for a general illumination means 51 (for example, the illumination means shown in FIG. 8). In order to reflect the light incident from one short side of the light guide plate 53a toward the back surface of the liquid crystal panel on the surface opposite to the liquid crystal panel side surface of the light guide plate 53a (hereinafter referred to as the back surface). A large number of white dots WD are formed. The white dots WD are formed, for example, by printing white ink on the back surface of the light guide plate 53a, and in this embodiment, the shape is circular. Further, in order to illuminate the back surface of the liquid crystal panel with as uniform brightness as possible, the size and density of the white dots WD are smaller and sparser as they are closer to the cold cathode tube 52 as the light source, and larger as they are farther away. It is dense.

  On the other hand, in the case of the light guide plate 53a in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9B, the size and density of the white dots WD are shown in FIG. 9A in the normal region N in the broken line. A tendency similar to that of the general light guide plate 53a is shown. On the other hand, in the gradation region G indicated by hatching, the closer to the periphery of the light guide plate 53b, the smaller and sparser the tendency is, as compared with the white dots WD shown in FIG. By forming the white dots WD on the back surface of the light guide plate 53b in this way, the image displayed in the gradation region G can be displayed so that it gradually becomes darker as it approaches the periphery of the screen.

  That is, the white dots WD in the “normal region N” corresponding to the “central illumination unit” and the “gradation region G” corresponding to the “peripheral illumination unit” are represented by the light guide plate 53b illustrated in FIG. It is possible to make “a light amount of the peripheral illumination unit smaller than that of the central illumination unit”. In FIG. 9B, the boundary B between the normal region N and the gradation region G is indicated by a straight line, but becomes a curved line that varies within a predetermined range as the boundary B ′ shown in FIG. Thus, the size and arrangement density of the white dots WD may be determined.

(Modification of the third embodiment)
The illumination means shown in FIG. 9 is mainly composed of a cold cathode tube and a light guide plate. Unlike this, for example, a substrate on which a plurality of white LEDs are arranged in a matrix is provided behind the liquid crystal panel. The brightness of each white LED is made adjustable. And it adjusts so that the light quantity of each white LED arrange | positioned in the area | region corresponding to gradation area | region G may become smaller than the light quantity of each white LED arrange | positioned in the area | region corresponding to normal area | region N. Thus, “the light amount of the peripheral illumination unit is less than the light amount of the central illumination unit” may be used.

  This brightness adjustment is performed by changing the current supplied to the LED, or by pulse width modulation (PWM) and supplying the current to the LED (pulse width) and not supplying the current to the LED. This can be done by changing the ratio (duty ratio) to time. Thus, the means for enabling the brightness of each white LED to be adjusted is included in the “brightness adjusting means”.

<Other changes>
The “mask means” in the display device according to the present invention is an area formed of the mirror area M and the half mirror area HM formed on the mirror member 13 that functions as a room mirror in the vehicle as in the above-described embodiment. It is not limited to. For example, the mirror region M may be a half mirror region, and the entire mirror may be configured as a half mirror region. Further, in an instrument panel (so-called instrument panel) of an automobile, a transparent member with reduced light transmittance, such as smoked glass installed on the driver side of an image display device or various instruments, is also a “masking means of the present invention. "include. In this case, the smoked glass may have a configuration including a region facing the screen and a region having a predetermined width around the region. In this way, not only when no image is displayed on the screen, but also when the image is displayed on the screen, the screen area can be made difficult to feel. As a result, it is possible to give an impression to the viewer of the image as if the entire area of the mask means is the screen of the display device.

<Action and effect>
The half mirror region HM and the mirror region M serve to increase the sense of unity between the mirror and the liquid crystal by making the boundary of the screen inconspicuous when the liquid crystal of the display unit 14 is turned off. However, in the conventional configuration, as soon as the liquid crystal of the display unit 14 is turned on, the boundary of the screen is recognized, and there is a problem that it looks like a square photo or picture sticker is stuck on the mirror area M. . This is due to the fact that the image is clearly displayed up to the square frame at the edge of the screen. According to the configuration of each of the above-described embodiments, when the screen is viewed through the half mirror region HM, the square liquid crystal frame at the edge of the screen is not felt, so that an image, characters, and the like appear on the mirror. . That is, the mask means composed of the half mirror region HM and the mirror region M and the image can have a sense of unity.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Radar detector 11 Housing | casing 12a, 12b Fixing tool 13 Mirror member 14 Display part 14 (display means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Infrared light-receiving part 17 Speaker 18 Sound emission hole 19 DC power jack insertion hole 20 Slot 21 GPS receiver 22 Microwave receiver 23 Radio | wireless receiver 24 Memory card reader 25 Memory card 26 Control part (Brightness adjustment means, memory | storage means) , Data writing means, image display means)
27 Database 28 Remote control 50 Liquid crystal panel 51 Illumination means 52 Cold cathode tube 53 Light guide plate 54 Gradation addition filter (transmittance reduction means, light reduction means)
140 Screen display area 140A Main display area 140B Icon display area 141 Speed 142 Latitude 143 Mild 144 Azimuth magnetic needle icon 145 Road selection icon 146 Radar reception sensitivity mode icon 147 Mode selection icon 148 Current time 151 Map 152 Self-vehicle icon 153 Alarm target icon 154 Legal speed 155 Current speed of own vehicle

Claims (15)

Display means for displaying an image on the screen;
A display device comprising: mask means disposed on a front surface of the screen, which makes it difficult to visually recognize a boundary between the inside of the screen and the outside of the screen when no image is displayed on the screen;
The display device, wherein an image is displayed on the screen so as to make it difficult to recognize a boundary between the screen and the outside of the screen.   The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display unit performs display that makes it difficult to generate a subjective contour recognized as a boundary between the screen and the screen.   2. The display unit according to claim 1, wherein as the display that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary, the image displayed in the screen is a gradation display that gradually decreases the brightness toward a direction outside the screen. Or the display apparatus of 2. The screen of the display means is configured as a dot matrix display,
The display means, as a display that makes it difficult to recognize the boundary, reduces the brightness of at least some of the dots on the periphery of the screen on which the image is displayed among the dots constituting the screen. Item 4. The display device according to Item 3.   The display device according to claim 4, wherein the display unit includes a brightness adjustment unit that adjusts the brightness of an image at a peripheral portion of the screen among images displayed on the screen.   When the brightness adjustment means displays the peripheral portion of the screen based on the image data representing the content to be displayed on the screen, the brightness of the display of the peripheral portion of the screen is the brightness indicated by the image data. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the display is performed with a lower display.   The display device according to claim 6, wherein the brightness adjustment unit changes a position of a dot at which the gradation display is started or a gradation gradient when the gradation display is performed.   The display device according to claim 7, wherein the brightness adjustment unit changes a dot position at which the gradation display is started or a gradation gradient when the gradation display is performed at a predetermined timing. The display means includes
Storage means having a storage area corresponding to each dot of the dot matrix display;
Display data writing means for writing display data relating to display in corresponding dots to each storage area of the storage means based on the image data;
Image display means for displaying an image on the dot matrix display based on display data written in each storage area of the storage means,
The data writing means is a display data in which the display in the dots has a lightness lower than the lightness specified by the image data for the storage regions corresponding to the dots in the peripheral portion of the screen among the storage regions. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the display device is written.   The data writing means displays a gradation display of the peripheral portion of the object when writing the display data to each storage area of the storage means to display the object on the screen based on the image data. The display device according to claim 9, wherein the display device is changed to data. The data writing means
Determining whether the entire object to be displayed in the screen is displayed;
When it is determined that a part of the display of the object is not displayed in the screen, in the object displayed in the screen, the display in the dot for the storage area corresponding to the dot in the peripheral portion of the screen The display device according to claim 9, wherein display data having a lightness lower than a lightness specified by the image data is written. The data writing means
In the screen,
10. The display device according to claim 9, wherein when there are a plurality of objects that are not entirely displayed, the gradation display in the peripheral portion of the screen for each of the objects is made different from each other.   The display device according to claim 4, wherein the display unit includes a transmittance reduction unit that reduces a light transmittance on a surface side and a peripheral portion of the screen. The display means illuminates the screen from the back side to make the image displayed on the screen visible, and
The display device according to claim 4, further comprising a dimming unit that is provided on a back side and a peripheral portion of the screen and dimmes light from the illumination unit. The display means includes illumination means for illuminating the screen from the back side to make the image displayed on the screen visible.
The illumination means has a central illumination unit that illuminates the central portion of the screen and a peripheral illumination unit that illuminates the peripheral portion, and the light amount of the peripheral illumination unit is less than the light amount of the central illumination unit. The display device according to claim 4.