JP2013214886A - Display system, image transmission apparatus, and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display system which superimposes and displays, on another image, characters and an illustration drawn on a recording paper, and to provide an image transmission apparatus and a computer program.SOLUTION: When a scanner terminal receives an image reading instruction(S11: YES), an image recorded on a recording paper is read (S12) and the color of the recording paper is identified (S13). Next, the scanner terminal transparentizes an image area having a color substantially equal to the identified color of the recording paper to generate a transparent layer (S14). The scanner terminal sets layer information to the generated transparent layer (S16) and transmits the image data and layer information of the transparent layer to a shared screen control apparatus (S19).

Description

  The present invention relates to a display system, an image transmission apparatus, and a computer program for displaying an image composed of a plurality of layers.

  2. Description of the Related Art An image display system is known in which characters and illustrations written on paper are digitized and displayed on a shared display using a communication terminal having a scanner function connected to the shared display via a communication line. In such an image display system, the paper color (generally white) is displayed as the background (non-image area) of characters and illustrations written on paper, so the background color (generally displayed on a normal display) There is a problem that it is brighter and uncomfortable than that of black.

  Also, even if you try to display text and illustrations written on paper on top of an image already displayed on the shared display, the image already displayed is hidden by the paper color (for example, white) of the non-image area. There was a problem such as.

As a means for solving this problem, for example, in Patent Document 1, after an illustration image is manually written on a handwritten document sheet printed with a background image as a reference image, the sheet is read by a scanner and the background portion is made transparent. An image combining method for combining an illustration image with a background image is described.

JP 2010-41664 A

  However, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since a new layer image is combined with another layer image and displayed on a shared display, the new layer image sent from the operation terminal is not in the form intended by the user. Some parts of the layer image may be hidden, and some new layer images sent from the operation terminal may be hidden behind other layer images in a manner not intended by the user, resulting in confusion among users. There are challenges.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a display system and an image transmission device that can display characters or figures drawn on paper superimposed on other images without performing complicated operations. And to provide a computer program.

  The display system according to the present invention is connected to a display device, one or more image transmission devices that transmit image data to display an image on the display device, the display device and one or more image transmission devices, In a display system comprising: an image generation device that receives image data transmitted from the image transmission device and generates a display image to be displayed on the display device based on the received image data. Storage means for storing image data and rank information in which the rank of each layer is determined for each image data, in order to generate a display image in which images based on the respective image data are superimposed as layers, and based on the rank information Means for generating a display image by superimposing images based on each image data, and the image transmission device reads an image recorded on a recording sheet. An image reading means, a means for specifying the color of the recording paper based on the read image, a means for generating a transparent image of an area having substantially the same color as the specified color, and the image Means for transmitting image data to be displayed to the image generating apparatus.

  In the display system according to the present invention, the image generation apparatus includes means for transmitting image data and order information stored in the storage means to the image transmission apparatus, and the image transmission apparatus includes: Means for receiving the transmitted image data and rank information; means for setting a rank different from the rank included in the rank information for the image data to be transmitted to the image generating apparatus; the rank set for the image data Means for transmitting the information to the image generation device, the image generation device receiving the order information transmitted from the image transmission device, and causing the display device to display the information based on the received information. And a means for updating a display image.

  The display system according to the present invention is characterized in that the image transmission device includes means for enlarging, reducing, rotating or moving the generated image.

  An image transmission apparatus according to the present invention is connected to an image generation apparatus that generates a display image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed, and is recorded on a recording sheet in the image transmission apparatus that transmits an image to the image generation apparatus. Image reading means for reading the image, means for specifying the color of the recording paper based on the read image, and means for generating an image in which a region having substantially the same color as the specified color is made transparent The generated image is transmitted to the image generation apparatus as one of the layers constituting the display image.

  The computer program according to the present invention provides a computer with a process for specifying a color of the recording paper from an image obtained by reading the recording paper, and an image in which a region having substantially the same color as the specified color is made transparent. And generating a process.

  In the present invention, the image recorded on the recording paper is read by the image transmission device, and the transparent layer is generated by making the area having the same color as the color of the recording paper transparent as a background area. In addition, the generated transparent layer is transmitted to the image generation device, and the image generation device generates one display image superimposed with another layer image, and displays it on the display device.

  For this reason, the present invention relates to image processing such as mask processing of characters and illustration portions and transparency processing of a background area when characters and illustrations drawn on recording paper are displayed on a display device in a manner superimposed on other images. Even a user who lacks knowledge and skill can display only necessary portions such as characters and illustrations on other images by a simple operation such as an image reading operation.

  In the present invention, since the background area is made transparent by specifying the color of the recording paper, it is possible to save the trouble of printing the reference image as in the prior art, and the operation time is shortened.

Furthermore, even if white paper is difficult to distinguish from the background area, such as letters and illustrations drawn with white or light-colored paints or crayons, simply selecting an appropriate paper color Characters and images written with light-colored paints or crayons can be superimposed on other images and displayed on the display.

In the present invention, when a transparent layer is superimposed on an image composed of a plurality of layers displayed on the display device, information specifying the layer order is transmitted when transmitting the transparent layer image. Thus, it is possible to prevent other images from being hidden unintentionally.

In the present invention, when displaying an image recorded on a recording sheet on a display device, the size, position, and orientation of the image to be displayed can be appropriately set before transmitting the image data. The occupation time can be shortened.

  According to the present invention, an image recorded on recording paper is read, a transparent layer is generated by performing transparency processing using an area having the same color as that of the recording paper as a background area, and is superimposed on another layer image. Display on the display device. Therefore, in the present invention, it is possible to display characters and illustrations drawn on a recording sheet on a display device in a superimposed manner with other images without performing complicated operations. In addition, even if the background image is not determined, the transparent layer can be easily generated, and the time for printing the reference image can be saved, so that the operation time can be shortened.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole structure of the display system which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the image which a scanner terminal produces | generates. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display in a shared display. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the layer table which the shared screen control apparatus manages. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of each apparatus. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure in the display system according to the first embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the operation screen in a scanner terminal. It is explanatory drawing explaining operation at the time of moving an additional layer. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the layer table after an update. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of a display after an update. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure in the display system according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings showing embodiments thereof.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a display system according to the present embodiment. The display system according to the present embodiment is connected to a shared display 10 that displays an image, a shared screen control device 20 that outputs image data to the shared display 10, and a shared screen control device 20, and is operated by a user. A plurality of scanner terminals 30A, 30B,..., 30D and a terminal device 40 are provided.

  The shared display 10 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display having a relatively large display screen, and includes an input interface 11 for image data such as HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) and DVI (Digital Visual Interface) (see FIG. 5). The shared display 10 is connected to the shared screen control device 20 via the input interface 11, acquires the image data output from the shared screen control device 20, and displays an image based on the acquired image data.

The shared screen control device 20 is, for example, a server device. The shared screen control device 20 includes a communication interface 26 for connecting to a communication network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network) (see FIG. 5), and a plurality of scanner terminals 30A, 30B, .., 30D and the terminal device 40 are connected. The shared screen control device 20 includes an interface such as HDMI or DVI as the output interface 25 for image data (see FIG. 5), and is connected to the shared display 10 described above via the output interface 25.
The shared screen control device 20 manages images to be displayed on the shared display 10. Specifically, in order to display on the shared display 10 an image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed, a layer table that stores image data constituting each layer and the order of superimposition of each layer in association with each other is provided. The shared screen control device 20 superimposes the image data of each layer according to the order defined by the layer table and outputs it from the output interface 25, thereby displaying one display image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed on the shared display 10. Let

  The scanner terminals 30A, 30B,..., 30D are connected to an operation unit 33 that accepts user operations, an image reading unit 35 that reads an image drawn on recording paper, a display unit 34 that displays the read image, and a communication network N. A communication interface 36 (see FIG. 5). In the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the plurality of scanner terminals 30A, 30B,..., 30D, they will be referred to as scanner terminals 30.

  The scanner terminal 30 can display the image read by the image reading unit 35 on the display unit 34 of its own device. In addition, the scanner terminal 30 may display the image read by the image reading unit 35 on the shared display 10 as one of a plurality of layers by transmitting the image to the shared screen control device 20 and adding it to the layer. Is possible. The scanner terminal 30 according to the present embodiment specifies the color of the recording paper on which the read image is recorded based on the image read by the image reading unit 35, and is an area having substantially the same color as the specified color. A transparent layer image (hereinafter referred to as a transparent layer) is created and transmitted to the shared screen control device 20.

The terminal device 40 is, for example, a personal computer or a tablet terminal, and includes an operation unit 43, a display unit 44, a communication interface 45, and the like (see FIG. 5).
The terminal device 40 can display an arbitrary image on the display unit 44 of its own device. Further, the terminal device 40 can display the image selected by the user on the shared display 10 as one of a plurality of layers by transmitting the image selected by the user to the shared screen control device 20 and adding it to the layer. . The user can arbitrarily set which layer to display the image selected by the user by operating the operation unit 43 of the terminal device 40.

  In the example shown in FIG. 1, four scanner terminals 30A, 30B,..., 30D and one terminal device 40 are connected to the communication network N. Is not limited to that shown in FIG. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which a single scanner terminal 30 sequentially reads an image from a plurality of recording sheets, generates a transparent layer to be added to the layer, and transmits the transparent layer to the shared screen control device 20. The connection between the shared screen control device 20 and the scanner terminal 30 and the connection between the shared screen control device 20 and the terminal device 40 may be wired or wireless.

  In the present embodiment, since the shared display 10 is shared by the users of the scanner terminals 30 and the terminal devices 40, the display screen is in a position that can be viewed by the users of the scanner terminals 30 and the terminal devices 40. Preferably they are arranged.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an image generated by the scanner terminal 30. For example, the scanner terminal 30 reads an illustration or a character drawn on a recording sheet. The image read by the scanner terminal 30 includes not only illustrations and characters drawn on recording paper but also background image information. The scanner terminal 30 according to the present embodiment specifies the color of the recording paper from the background image information, and makes the area substantially the same color as the recording paper (hereinafter referred to as the background area) transparent. Generate a transparent layer.
Note that the color of the recording paper that can be used in the present embodiment is arbitrary, and a chromatic recording paper or an achromatic recording paper may be used. Also, the image drawn on the recording paper is arbitrary and is not limited to illustrations and characters. For this reason, it may be configured to read characters and figures drawn in black on white recording paper, and to read illustrations drawn in white or light color paints, crayons, etc. on dark recording paper such as dark blue or black It may be a configuration. FIG. 2 (a) shows an example of an image obtained by reading an illustration of an animal drawn on a gray recording paper.

As a method for specifying the color of the recording paper, an existing method can be used. For example, since illustrations and characters are often not drawn near the four corners of the recording paper, the pixel values (RGB) of the pixels included in each region are averaged for the image regions corresponding to the four corners of the recording paper. The RGB value obtained as an average value can be used as the color of the recording paper.
In order to make the background region transparent, for example, when the RGB values of the color of the specified recording paper are (R, G, B), the range of (R ± α, G ± β, B ± γ) The region having RGB values is made transparent. Here, α, β, and γ are predetermined values, and when each value of RGB is 8 bits, values of about 10 to 20 can be used as values of α, β, and γ. For the transparency, a known method can be used. For example, a specific area can be made transparent by setting an alpha channel separately from the RGB values. FIG. 2B shows an example of an image (transparent layer) in which the background area is made transparent. In FIG. 2B, the illustration portion is subjected to reduction processing and movement processing.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a display example on the shared display 10. Each scanner terminal 30 and the terminal device 40 transmit an image to be displayed on the shared display 10 to the shared screen control device 20 via the communication network N. For example, image data constituting layers of “background”, “animal 1”, “animal 2”, and “sun” are transmitted from the terminal device 40 and the scanner terminals 30A to 30C, respectively. It is assumed that layer information has been transmitted. At this time, the shared screen control device 20 generates image data in which the layers of “background”, “animal 1”, “animal 2”, and “sun” are superimposed and transmits them to the shared display 10. The shared display 10 displays an image based on the image data from the shared screen control device 20, thereby displaying a single display image in which the layers are superimposed as shown in FIG.

The order of superimposing each layer depends on the layer table managed by the shared screen control device 20. FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of a layer table managed by the shared screen control device 20. The layer table stores the layer name and layer number of each table and the file name of the image data constituting each layer in association with each other. Here, the layer name is an identifier for identifying each layer, and represents a name given by a user who operates the scanner terminal 30 and the terminal device 40. The layer number is an identifier for defining the order in which the layers are overlapped, and is automatically given by the scanner terminal 30 and the terminal device 40. In this embodiment, an integer value is assigned as an identifier, and layers are superimposed in ascending order of the assigned integer value. That is, in the present embodiment, the layer having the smallest layer number among the layer numbers stored in the layer table is the backmost layer, and the layer having the largest layer number is the foremost layer. In the layer table shown in FIG. 4, the “background” layer having the layer number of 1000 is the backmost layer, and the “sun” layer having the layer number of 4000 is the frontmost layer. It is prescribed.
In the following description, a set of records stored in a layer table, a layer name, a layer number, and a file name is referred to as layer information.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the display system according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of each apparatus. The shared display 10 includes an input interface 11, a display control unit 12, and a display unit 13. The input interface 11 is an interface for acquiring image data such as HDMI and DVI. The display control unit 12 causes the display unit 13 to display an image by generating a display signal and the like based on the image data input from the input interface 11 and sending it to the display unit 13 at an appropriate timing. The display unit 13 includes, for example, a liquid crystal panel in which a large number of liquid crystal pixels are arranged, and displays an image by performing writing scanning to the liquid crystal pixels based on a display signal or the like from the display control unit 12.

The shared screen control device 20 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a layer information management unit 23, an image generation unit 24, an output interface 25, and a communication interface 26.
The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of each hardware unit included in the shared screen control device 20. The storage unit 22 includes a storage such as a hard disk and a flash memory, and a part of the storage area includes a layer information storage area 221 that stores the above-described layer table, and an image data storage that stores image data received through the communication interface 26. The area 222 is used as a program storage area 223 for storing various computer programs. The computer program stored in the program storage area 223 stores a program for controlling the operation of each hardware unit included in the shared screen control device 20, and the control unit 21 reads the control program from the storage unit 22. By controlling the operation of each unit by executing the above, the entire apparatus is caused to function as the image generation apparatus according to the present invention.

  When the layer information management unit 23 receives the image data and layer information transmitted from the scanner terminal 30 and the terminal device 40 via the communication interface 26, the layer information management unit 23 stores the image data in the image data storage area 222 and also stores the layer information in the layer information. A process of registering in the layer table in the information storage area 221 is performed, and the two are associated with each other.

  The image generation unit 24 sequentially reads image data in ascending order of layer numbers in accordance with the layer information registered in the layer table, generates an image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed, and displays image data for display from the output interface 25. Is output.

  The scanner terminal 30 includes a control unit 31, a storage unit 32, an operation unit 33, a display unit 34, an image reading unit 35, and a communication interface 36. The control unit 31 includes a CPU, a RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of each hardware unit included in the scanner terminal 30. The storage unit 32 includes a storage such as a hard disk and a flash memory, and stores a program for controlling each hardware unit of the scanner terminal 30, image data obtained from the image reading unit 35, and the like. The control unit 31 reads and executes the above-described program from the storage unit 32, thereby causing the entire device to function as the image transmission device according to the present invention.

The operation unit 33 includes input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel, and accepts an operation by a user. The operations received by the operation unit 33 include operations for giving an image reading instruction, editing operations such as image enlargement, reduction, movement, and rotation, and operations for instructing transmission of image data.
The display unit 34 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays an image read by the image reading unit 35, an image of a transparent layer to be transmitted, information to be notified to the user, and the like.

  The communication interface 36 is means for connecting to the communication network N. The communication interface 36 receives information transmitted from the shared screen control device 20, and also adds image data to be added as a layer and layer information of the image data to the shared screen control device. 20 is transmitted.

The terminal device 40 includes a control unit 41, a storage unit 42, an operation unit 43, a display unit 44, and a communication interface 45. The control unit 41 includes a CPU, a RAM, and the like, and controls the operation of each hardware unit included in the terminal device 40. The storage unit 42 includes a storage such as a hard disk and a flash memory, and stores a program for controlling each hardware unit of the terminal device 40, image data to be displayed on the shared display 10, and the like.
Note that the image data to be displayed on the shared display 10 does not need to be stored in advance in the storage unit 42, and the image data generated inside the terminal device 40 and the image acquired from the outside through the communication interface 45. Data may be included.

The operation unit 43 includes input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel, and accepts an operation by a user. The operation received by the operation unit 43 includes an operation for selecting image data to be displayed on the shared display 10 and an operation for giving a transmission instruction for the selected image data.
The display unit 44 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays an image to be transmitted, information to be notified to the user, and the like.

  The communication interface 45 is a means for connecting to the communication network N. The communication interface 45 receives information transmitted from the shared screen control device 20, and also shares image data added by the user as a layer and layer information of the image data. It transmits to the control apparatus 20.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure in the display system according to the first embodiment. The control unit 31 of the scanner terminal 30 determines whether an image reading instruction has been received through the operation unit 33 (step S11). If no image reading instruction is received (S11: NO), the process waits until a reading instruction is received.

  When an image reading instruction is received (S11: YES), the control unit 31 controls the image reading unit 35 to execute image reading (step S12). The image read by the image reading unit 35 is stored in the storage unit 32 as image data.

  Next, the control unit 31 specifies the color of the recording paper from the image read by the image reading unit 35 (step S13). That is, the control unit 31 calculates the pixel value (RGB) average of the pixels included in each area from the image area corresponding to the vicinity of the four corners of the recording paper, and uses the average value of each RGB value as the color of the recording paper. Identify.

  Next, the control unit 31 makes the background area of the image read by the image reading unit 35 transparent (step S14), and displays the obtained transparent layer on the display unit 34 (step S15). For example, when the RGB values of the recording paper color specified in step S13 are (R, G, B), the control unit 31 sets values in the range of (R ± α, G ± β, B ± γ). Transparency is performed on the area that has the same. The control unit 31 generates a transparent layer by making the background region of the read image transparent.

  The control unit 31 sets layer information for the generated transparent layer (step S16). At this time, the control unit 31 assigns the name “new layer” as the layer name, and assigns an appropriate layer number. When a new layer name is input through the operation unit 33, the control unit 31 assigns the input layer name as the layer name of the additional layer. As the layer number, a number assigned in advance to each scanner terminal 30 may be assigned, or a number set by the user himself / herself may be used.

  Next, the control unit 31 determines whether or not an image editing operation has been accepted through the operation unit 33 (step S17). Editing operations accepted by the scanner terminal 30 include image enlargement, reduction, movement, and rotation. When an image editing operation is accepted (S17: YES), the image is edited by enlarging, reducing, moving, or rotating the image according to the accepted editing operation (step S18).

  After editing the image, or when the image editing operation is not accepted in step S17 (S17: NO), the shared screen control is performed on the image data of the transparent layer generated in step S14 and the layer information set in the image data. It transmits to the apparatus 20 (step S19).

  When the shared screen control apparatus 20 receives the image data and layer information of the transparent layer transmitted from the scanner terminal 30 (step S20), the shared screen control apparatus 20 stores the image data and layer information in the storage unit 22 (step S21). At this time, the layer information management unit 23 stores the received image data as image data of the transparent layer in the image data storage area 222 and registers the received layer information in the layer table in the layer information storage area 221. Do. Note that layer information relating to a non-transparent layer transmitted from the terminal device 40 may be registered in the layer information storage area 221.

  Next, the shared screen control device 20 sequentially reads the image data in ascending order of the layer number according to the layer information registered in the layer table, and synthesizes the images of each layer to generate display image data. Then, by outputting the generated image data from the output interface 25, an image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed is displayed on the shared display 10 (step S22).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the scanner terminal 30 reads the recording paper on which illustrations and characters are drawn, and makes the background area of the color substantially the same as the color of the recording paper transparent. Generate a transparent layer. In addition, the generated transparent layer is transmitted to the shared screen control device 20, combined with an image of another layer, and displayed on the shared display 10. Therefore, in the present embodiment, illustrations and characters drawn on recording paper can be displayed on the shared display 10 in a superimposed manner without performing complicated operations.

  The scanner terminal 30 according to the present embodiment may be composed of a terminal device such as a personal computer and a scanner device used by being connected to the terminal device, and the generated transparent layer can be edited. If unnecessary, a single network scanner may be used.

  In the present embodiment, the color of the recording paper is specified from the image read by each scanner terminal 30. However, the recording paper of a predetermined color is used and detected by each scanner terminal 30. The configuration may be such that color information to be stored is stored, and a transparent layer is generated by making a region having color information substantially the same as this color information transparent.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the transparent layer generated by each scanner terminal 30 is transmitted to the shared screen control device 20, and the layers are superimposed according to the layer information registered in the shared screen control device 20. 10 may be configured to set the order of layers to be displayed on the shared display 10 at each scanner terminal 30.
In the second embodiment, a configuration in which the order of layers to be displayed on the shared display 10 is set in each scanner terminal 30 will be described. Note that the overall configuration of the display system and the internal configuration of each device are exactly the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an operation screen on the scanner terminal 30. When a layer addition request is received from the operation unit 33 of the scanner terminal 30, an operation screen 340 as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display unit 34 of the scanner terminal 30. The operation screen 340 includes, for example, a layer display area 341 that displays an image of each layer, a layer control field 342 that displays a layer structure, and a layer addition button that is pressed when selecting image data (file) to be added to the layer 343 and a layer transmission button 344 that is pressed when transmitting an additional layer.

The scanner terminal 30 acquires layer information registered in the shared screen control device 20 at an appropriate timing, and displays the layer name of each layer in the layer control column 342 of the operation screen 340. When the layer addition button 343 is pressed down and the user selects image data to be added to the layer, the scanner terminal 30 displays an image based on the selected image data in the layer display area 341 and The layer name of the layer (additional layer) constituted by the image is added to the layer control column 342. The scanner terminal 30 may automatically give a default name such as “new layer” to a newly added layer, or the user may input an arbitrary name. In the example illustrated in FIG. 7, the name “title” is given by the user as the layer name of the additional layer.
The image data related to the transparent layer selected by the scanner terminal 30 may be generated in advance and stored in the storage unit 32. When the layer addition button 343 is pressed, The recording paper may be read out and generated from the read image.

When the image data of the additional layer is selected by the scanner terminal 30, the scanner terminal 30 gives a layer number to the image data. For example, in order to display a newly added layer on the foreground on the shared display 10, a configuration may be adopted in which the largest layer number is given. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 7, since the layer numbers 1000 to 4000 are already assigned, for example, a layer number of 5000 is assigned to the image data to be newly added as a layer. At this time, when the layer transmission button 344 is pressed and a transmission instruction is given, the scanner terminal 30 transmits the image data selected by the user and the layer information of the image data to the shared screen control apparatus 20.
When the shared screen control apparatus 20 receives new layer information from the scanner terminal 30, the shared screen control apparatus 20 updates the layer information managed in the layer table and updates the display on the shared display 10. Thereby, the layer newly added by the user is displayed on the foreground on the shared display 10.

In addition, the operation screen 340 of the scanner terminal 30 may be configured to accept an operation for moving a layer. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation when moving an additional layer. In the layer control column 342 of the operation screen 340, the layer name of the additional layer and the layer name of each layer currently displayed on the shared display 10 are displayed. By accepting an operation (drag operation) for moving the additional layer in the layer control column 342, the additional layer is moved between arbitrary layers.
The scanner terminal 30 automatically assigns a layer number according to the destination of the additional layer. For example, in the case of having the layer structure shown in FIG. 7, when an additional layer is moved between the “background” layer and the “animal 1” layer, a value between the layer numbers (for example, an intermediate value) ), A layer number is assigned to the image data of the additional layer.

  At this time, when the layer transmission button 344 is pressed and a transmission instruction is given by the user, the scanner terminal 30 displays the image data of the additional layer (image data selected by the user) and the layer information of the image data. It transmits to the shared screen control apparatus 20. When the new screen information is received from the scanner terminal 30, the shared screen control device 20 updates the managed layer table and updates the display on the shared display 10. As a result, the layer moved by the user operation is displayed on the shared display 10 between the “background” layer and the “animal 1” layer.

  FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an example of the updated layer table, and FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example after the update. In the example shown in FIG. 9, layer information assigned with layer number 1500 is added to the layer table. The shared screen control device 20 generates a display image in which each layer is superimposed according to the layer table, and outputs the display image to the shared display 10, thereby displaying the display image as illustrated in FIG. 10 on the display unit 13 of the shared display 10. Will be.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining a processing procedure in the display system according to the second embodiment. It is assumed that the shared screen control device 20 has already acquired image data and layer information from a plurality of scanner terminals 30 and terminal devices 40. The image generation unit 24 of the shared screen control device 20 refers to the layer information registered in the layer table, sequentially acquires target image data from the image data storage area 222, and generates an image in which each layer is superimposed. To do. The control unit 21 of the shared screen control device 20 outputs the generated image to the shared display 10 from the output interface 25, thereby displaying an image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed on the shared display 10 (step S31).

  Next, the shared screen control device 20 transmits the image data of each layer stored in the image data storage area 222 and the layer information registered in the layer table to each scanner terminal 30 (step S32). In the present embodiment, after displaying on the shared display 10, the image data and layer information of each layer are transmitted to the scanner terminal 30. However, when a request from the scanner terminal 30 is received, It is good also as a structure which returns the image data and layer information of each layer.

When the scanner terminal 30 receives the image data and layer information transmitted from the shared screen control device 20 (step S33), the scanner terminal 30 stores the image data and layer information in the storage unit 32.
Next, the control unit 31 of the scanner terminal 30 determines whether an additional layer has been received through the operation unit 33 (step S34). For example, when the layer addition button 343 is pressed on the operation screen 340 as shown in FIG. 7 and an image data file is selected as the layer to be added, the control unit 31 can determine that the additional layer has been accepted. . When the additional layer is not received (S34: NO), it waits until an additional layer is received.

  When the additional layer is accepted (S34: YES), the layer information management unit 23 sets the layer information of the additional layer (step S35). At this time, the layer information management unit 23 assigns the name “new layer” as the layer name, and assigns a value greater than any layer number stored in step S14 as the layer number. When a new layer name is input through the operation unit 33, the layer information management unit 23 assigns the input layer name as the layer name of the additional layer. When the operation unit 33 accepts an operation for moving the additional layer, the layer information management unit 23 assigns a layer number corresponding to the destination location to the image data of the additional layer.

  The control unit 31 superimposes layers including the additional layer and displays them on the display unit 34 (step S36). Next, the control unit 31 transmits the image data and layer information of the additional layer to the shared screen control device 20 through the communication interface 36 (Step S37).

  When the shared screen control apparatus 20 receives the image data and layer information of the additional layer transmitted from the scanner terminal 30 (step S38), the shared screen control apparatus 20 stores the image data and layer information in the storage unit 22 (step S39). At this time, the layer information management unit 23 stores the received image data as image data of the additional layer in the image data storage area 222 and registers the received layer information in the layer table in the layer information storage area 221. Do.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when a new image (transparent layer) is added from each scanner terminal 30 to an image composed of a plurality of layer images displayed on the shared display 10, the display image being displayed is displayed. Received from the shared screen control apparatus 20 as a plurality of layer images. Each scanner terminal 30 sets the display order of the layers using the newly added image as the additional layer image, and then transmits the new additional layer image together with the layer information to the shared screen control device 20 to be displayed on the shared display 10. . As a result, even when the number of scanner terminals 30 using the shared display 10 is large, it is possible to avoid a long waiting time for input, and to hide the image being processed by another user unintentionally. Can be prevented from being confused.

  In the second embodiment, the configuration in which a layer is added from the scanner terminal 30 has been described. However, it is needless to say that the present invention can also be applied to the case where a layer is added from the terminal device 40.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Shared display 20 Shared screen control apparatus 21 Control part 22 Storage part 23 Layer information management part 24 Image generation part 25 Output interface 26 Communication interface 30 Scanner terminal 31 Control part 32 Storage part 33 Operation part 34 Display part 35 Image reading part 36 Communication interface

Claims (5)

A display device, one or a plurality of image transmission devices that transmit image data to display an image on the display device, and the display device and one or a plurality of image transmission devices connected to and transmitted from the image transmission device In a display system comprising: an image generation device that receives image data and generates a display image to be displayed on the display device based on the received image data;
The image generation device includes:
Storage means for storing a plurality of pieces of image data and rank information in which ranks of layers are determined for each of the image data in order to generate a display image in which an image based on each image data is superimposed as a layer;
Means for generating a display image by superimposing images based on each image data based on the ranking information,
The image transmission device includes:
Image reading means for reading the image recorded on the recording paper;
Means for specifying the color of the recording paper based on the read image;
Means for generating a transparent image of an area having substantially the same color as the identified color;
Means for transmitting image data for displaying the image to the image generation device. The image generation device includes:
Means for transmitting image data and order information stored in the storage means to the image transmission device;
The image transmission device includes:
Means for receiving image data and rank information transmitted from the image generation device;
Means for setting a rank different from the rank included in the rank information for image data to be transmitted to the image generation device;
Means for transmitting information on the order set in the image data to the image generation device,
The image generation device includes:
Means for receiving order information transmitted from the image transmitting device;
The display system according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit that updates a display image to be displayed on the display device based on the received information.   The display system according to claim 1, wherein the image transmission device includes means for enlarging, reducing, rotating, or moving the generated image. In an image transmission device that is connected to an image generation device that generates a display image in which a plurality of layers are superimposed and transmits an image to the image generation device,
Image reading means for reading the image recorded on the recording paper;
Means for specifying the color of the recording paper based on the read image;
Generating a transparent image of an area having substantially the same color as the identified color, and
An image transmitting apparatus, wherein the generated image is transmitted to the image generating apparatus as one of layers constituting the display image. On the computer,
A process of specifying the color of the recording paper from an image obtained by reading the recording paper;
And a process for generating an image in which an area having substantially the same color as the specified color is made transparent.