JP2015032216A - Image processing device, image processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a screen from being cleared immediately after power is turned on.SOLUTION: An image processing device comprises: display means that displays a screen; display means control means that controls the display means; a core unit that starts application software, and receives screen information from an initialization unit; the initialization unit that hands over the screen information to the core unit; and a device driver that takes over announcement screen data of storage means from the initialization unit, and hands it over to the display means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a program.

When the image processing apparatus is powered on, there is a boot loader as an initialization unit that has a function of calling a code from a ROM (read-only memory) and starting up first to initialize various devices. The boot loader allocates a kernel image as a core part from a ROM to a RAM (random-access memory). The kernel boots from the RAM and realizes the system of the image processing apparatus.
When the image processing device is turned on, the boot loader displays the screen indicating that it is starting up to the user, the technology that displays the screen when the kernel is started and the user is starting, and the MFP operation screen A technique for displaying is already known. Note that MFP is an abbreviation for multi-function printer, which means a multifunction device.

  However, in a general screen display technique, when a screen is displayed by a boot loader, the screen temporarily disappears at the timing when the system is switched from the boot loader to the kernel. Although the screen disappears for a short time of about 2 to 3 seconds, there is a problem that the user feels uncomfortable for a long time, or it is mistaken for a malfunction. Also, if you don't display the screen with the boot loader, nothing will be displayed on the screen until the kernel boots. For this reason, there was a problem that the user misunderstood the failure.

Therefore, various proposals have been made to solve such problems (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In Patent Document 1, the pre-startup control means is stored in the ROM so that it can be displayed on the display means so that users in a plurality of languages can understand that it is starting up rather than being out of order. A method for displaying a predetermined initial display image on an LCD is disclosed.

  Incidentally, in the invention described in Patent Document 1 described above, the control means before the system is started by the kernel displays the screen on the LCD. However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, since the VRAM is initialized when the system is switched to the kernel, the problem that the screen disappears temporarily cannot be solved. VRAM is an abbreviation for video random-access memory.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent the disappearance of the screen immediately after the power is turned on.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention described in claim 1 is directed to display means for displaying a screen, display means control means for controlling the display means, application software, and screen information from an initialization unit. A management unit that takes over, an initialization unit that delivers the information on the screen to the management unit, and a device driver that takes over the notification screen data of the storage unit from the initialization unit and delivers it to the display unit. To do.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the disappearance of the screen immediately after the power is turned on.

It is a hardware block diagram concerning one embodiment. It is a flowchart of the operation | movement by a prior art. It is a flowchart when a screen is displayed with a boot loader. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the image processing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1. It is an example of the memory map of a boot loader. It is an example of the flowchart of an LCD device driver. It is an example of the flowchart of an LCD device driver. 10 is an example of a flowchart of Modification 1; 10 is an example of a flowchart of Modification 2; 10 is an example of a flowchart of Modification 3; 10 is an example of a flowchart of Modification 4;

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described.
<Overview>
In short, the present embodiment includes displaying a screen with a boot loader as an initialization unit, and taking over the information of the image data stored in the memory displayed on the screen from the boot loader to the kernel as the backbone unit.

<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a hardware configuration diagram according to an embodiment.
The image processing apparatus 100 includes an operation unit unit 200, a controller unit 300, an engine unit 400, and a supply module (hereinafter referred to as PSU: Power Supply Unit) 500.

  The operation unit 200 has functions for displaying an operation screen and receiving operations. The operation unit 200 includes a liquid crystal display element (hereinafter, LCD: Liquid Crystal Display) 201, a touch panel (hereinafter, Touch Panel) 202, and a key (hereinafter, Key) 203.

The controller unit 300 has functions for communicating with a network device (PC: Personal Computer or server), etc., monitoring when saving energy, and performing image processing. The controller unit 300 includes an application specific integrated circuit (hereinafter referred to as ASIC) 301, RAM 306, ROM 307, NVRAM 308, USB-Host 309, USB-Device 310, and Ethernet (hereinafter referred to as Ethernet “registered trademark”) 311. . The ASIC 301 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 302, an operation unit control unit 303, an image processing unit 304, and an energy saving controller 305. USB is an abbreviation for Universal Serial Bus.
The display means control means for controlling the LCD 201 as the display means is a part related to the control of the LCD 301 in the CPU 301 of the ASIC 301, the operation part control part 303, the image processing part 304, and the energy saving controller 305, and is configured by software.

The CPU 302 is a device having a function for overall control of the image processing apparatus 100. The operation unit control unit 303 has a function of determining the screen display of the LCD 201 of the operation unit 200, the contact status of the Touch Panel 202, and the on / off status of the Key 203. The image processing unit 304 has a function of processing image correction, enlargement / reduction, shading, and the like based on image information. The energy saving controller 305 has a function of controlling the power consumption of the image processing apparatus 100 to be suppressed.
The RAM 306 is a device that temporarily stores an operation control program stored in the ROM 307, for example, a flash memory. The ROM 307 is a device that stores an operation control program for the image processing apparatus 100, and includes, for example, a mask ROM. The NVRAM 308 is called a nonvolatile RAM, and the stored data is not lost even when the power is turned off, and is used for storing image data. The USB-Host 311 is a host computer capable of USB connection. The USB-Device 310 is a USB connectable device. The Ethernet (registered trademark) 311 is a LAN (Local Area Network) standard jointly developed by Xerox Corporation, Digital Equipment Corporation, Intel Corporation, etc. in the United States, and means a physical layer for Internet connection here.

The engine unit 400 includes a scanner unit 402 and a printer unit 404, and has a function of controlling these units. The engine unit 400 includes a CPU 401, a scanner unit 402, a control IC 403, and a plotter unit 404.
The CPU 401 has a function of performing overall control of the engine unit 400 via the control IC 403. The scanner unit 402 has a function of reading a document and converting it into image data. The plotter unit 404 has a function of forming an image on a sheet (not shown).
The PSU 500 has a function of converting commercial AC power into a predetermined DC voltage and supplying power to each unit in the image processing apparatus 100. ACSW is a power switch.

<Operation by conventional technology>
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the operation according to the prior art.
At start-up (S1), the boot loader 11 stored in the ROM 307 of the controller unit 300 shown in FIG. 1 is loaded into the various devices of the controller unit 300, the ASIC 301, that is, the CPU 302, the operation unit control unit 303, the image processing unit 304, and the RAM 306. Is initialized (S2).
The system is switched (S3), and the kernel 12 is activated.
The image of the kernel 12 is stored in the ROM 307, but the boot loader 11 is expanded in the RAM 306 and activated from the image of the kernel 12 expanded in the RAM 307.
The kernel 12 calls the LCD driver 13 as a device driver for the LCD 201 (S4), and initializes the LCD 201 (S5). At the time of initialization, the power supply control of the LCD 201 is also performed by the device driver of the LCD 201 (S6).
After power control, the application software that displays the LCD 201 screen of the operation unit 200 starts up (S8), and displays a `` Please Wait '' screen on the black screen via the LCD driver 13 (S7). Display (S10, S11).

FIG. 3 is a flowchart when the screen is displayed by the boot loader.
At startup (S21), the boot loader 11 initializes various devices (S22).
The boot loader 11 performs initialization (S23) of the LCD 201 of the ASIC 301 and power supply control (S24) of the LCD 201.
The boot loader 11 expands the “Please Wait” screen on the RAM 306 (S26) and displays it on the LCD 201 (S27, S28).
The system is switched (S29), and the kernel 12 is activated.
The system switching is a process transfer from the boot loader 11 to the kernel 12, and the boot loader 11 does not operate after switching. After switching, the kernel 12 operates and the system of the image processing apparatus 100 operates.
In the kernel 12, the LCD driver 13 as a device driver of the LCD 201 is called (S30), the initialization of the LCD 201 of the ASIC 301 (S31), and the power control of the LCD 201 are performed (S32). At that time, when the LCD 201 of the ASIC 301 is initialized, the signal output to the LCD 201 becomes High or Low, and the LCD 201 may become a black screen (S33) or a white screen. If a value remains in the register of the ASIC 301 even after initialization, the “Please Wait” screen may continue to be displayed instead of being completely black or white (S28).
However, if the kernel 12 uses the memory area of the display image, there is a possibility that the screen will be distorted.
Thereafter, the application is activated (S34), and a “Please Wait” screen is displayed (S35, S36, S37).

<Operation according to this embodiment>
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing apparatus shown in FIG.
The image processing apparatus according to the present embodiment applies an image processing method.
This image processing method is an image processing method having the following steps.
(1) LCD201 as a display means displays the screen
(2) A part related to the control of the LCD 301 in the CPU 301, the operation unit control unit 303, the image processing unit 304, and the energy saving controller 305, and the display unit control unit configured by software controls the LCD 201 as the display unit. Step
(3) Step in which the kernel 12 starts the application software and takes screen information from the boot loader 11
(4) Step in which the boot loader 11 delivers screen information to the kernel 12
(5) Step in which the LCD driver 13 as the device driver takes over the notification screen data of the RAM 306 as the storage means from the boot loader 11 and delivers it to the LDC 201

That is, when the CPU 302 of the controller unit of the image processing apparatus is started up (S41), the boot loader 11 initializes various devices.
The boot loader 11 initializes the LCD 201 of the ASIC 301 (S42), controls the power of the LCD 201 (S44), expands the "Please Wait" screen in the RAM 306 (S46), and displays it on the LCD 201 (S47).
The CPU 302 switches the system (S49) and starts the kernel 12 (S52).
The CPU 302 calls the LCD driver 13 (S50), but does not set the register of the LCD (ASIC) 14, but initializes / sets the numerical values of the device driver (S51).
In the kernel 12, initialization of the LCD 201 and power control of the LCD 201 are not performed by the device driver of the LCD 210.
The application is started (S52, S53), and a “Please Wait” screen is displayed (S54, S55).

<Bootloader memory map>
FIG. 5 is an example of a memory map of the boot loader.
The screen to be displayed by the boot loader 11 (“Please Wait” in the case of MFP) is displayed on the LCD 201 using the frame buffer area.
In the ATAG, the address and size of the frame buffer are described, and the frame buffer area is recognized by the kernel 12 by collecting it when the kernel 12 is started.
ATAG is a tag for performing various settings when Linux (hereinafter, registered trademark) is started, and is a parameter delivered to the kernel 12. The ATAG is generally an address where an image of the kernel 12 is arranged, a file system path, an available memory capacity, input data from a command line, and the like. The screen data information (address and size) is added to this parameter.
Rootfs is an abbreviation for Root File System, which is a file system when Linux starts.
By registering only the address when initializing the frame buffer with the device driver of the kernel 12, the screen data is retained without being initialized, and the display on the LCD 201 is maintained.
Details regarding this portion will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
Since the screen data remains even after the application is started, the screen data saved by the boot loader 11 is displayed on the LCD 201 until the next screen data is created.

6 and 7 are examples of flowcharts of the LCD device driver.
FIG. 6 shows a general LCD device driver. When the device driver is called, a frame buffer area is secured on the memory (S61). The device driver data is initialized (S62), and the frame buffer (RAM 306) is initialized (S63).
The LCD 201 is turned on (S64), and the register of the LCD (ASIC) 14 is set (S65).
At the timing when the power of the LCD 201 is turned on, the LCD 201 is turned on but the screen is not displayed. That is, the screen is black or white.
If the LCD 201 is powered on by the boot loader 11 before the LCD driver 13 as a device driver, the screen is not stored in the frame buffer area at the timing when the register of the LCD 201 is set. For this reason, the screen becomes black or white at this timing.

In FIG. 7, the device driver data is initialized from the image data information inherited from the boot loader 11 using the frame buffer address as the image data address (S71).
By doing so, the “Please Wait” screen continues to be displayed until the image drawing and screen display instruction is received by the application software, and when the screen display instruction is received from the application software, the display is switched without flickering.
Since the boot loader 11 performs the power-on of the LCD 201 and the display of “Please Wait”, the LCD driver 13 is an unnecessary operation.

<Modification 1>
FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the first modification.
Information about the screen size and the manufacturer of the LCD 201 is sent from the LCD 201 to the ASIC 301 (S81).
Regarding the information of the LCD 201, there is a mechanism that can detect the size of the LCD 201 by changing the level of the general-purpose port depending on the connected LCD 201.
By dynamically detecting the size of the LCD 201, the present invention can be applied even if the screen size and the manufacturer of the LCD 201 are different without changing the software.
The “Please Wait” screen needs to be stored in advance in the ROM 307 for each type of screen size (S82).
The process is performed during the process of the boot loader 11.

<Modification 2>
FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart of the second modification.
By providing the boot loader 11 with an image enlargement / reduction function by software, only one "Please Wait" screen is provided. By using this function when changing the screen size, one type of image can be stored in the ROM 307, and the size of the ROM 307 can be reduced. Here, the provision by software means provision in the ROM 307 or the RAM 306.
Specifically, the flow chart is as shown in FIG. 9, and one type of image size can dynamically support LCDs of various sizes.
Specifically, the size and manufacturer of the LCD 201 are acquired (S91), and the screen data is copied from the ROM 307 to the RAM 306 (S92).
Judge whether the size of the LCD201 is the same as the prepared image (S93), if it is judged to be the same (S93 / Yes), display it if it is not the same (S93 / No) Then, it is determined whether or not the size of the LCD 201 is larger than the prepared image (S94).
If the size of LCD201 is larger than the prepared image (S94 / Yes), the image is enlarged to the size of LCD201 (S96), and if the size of LCD201 is not larger than the prepared image (S94 / No) ), The image is reduced to the size of the LCD 201 and displayed (S96).

The process is performed during the process of the boot loader 11.
The language setting when the language differs depending on the region such as the foreign country is set at the factory when the software is installed and the initial setting is performed.
Setting information is stored in the NVRAM 308.
By making the “Please Wait” screen compatible with each language, it is possible to call attention so that the user does not make a mistake in each language area.
Note that it is necessary to store the image data for the corresponding language in the ROM 307 in the “Please Wait” screen corresponding to each language.

<Modification 3>
FIG. 10 is an example of a flowchart of the third modification.
The processing is performed by the boot loader 11.
Language area information is acquired (S101), and from the acquired language area information, "Please Wait" screen data in the language area is copied from ROM 307 to RAM 306 (S102) and displayed.

<Modification 4>
FIG. 11 is an example of a flowchart of the fourth modification.
By providing the boot loader 11 with an image superimposing function by software, it is not necessary to store data for the corresponding language in the ROM 307, and the size of the ROM 307 can be reduced.
It is possible to reduce the size by storing the text “Please Wait” for each language as an image and storing the other background image for only one image. For example, if there are languages in 12 countries, compared to saving all the screens for 12 countries, the background image is saved for one screen and the characters for 12 countries are saved. The amount and size of images to be saved can be reduced. The background image and the character part data are stored in the ROM 306.
The processing is performed by the boot loader 11.
Language area information is acquired (S111), and background screen data is copied from ROM 307 to RAM 306 (S112).
From the acquired language area information, “Please Wait” character image data suitable for the language area is copied from the ROM 307 to the RAM 306 (S113), superimposed on the background screen, and a screen is created (S114) and displayed.

  By combining the functions of Modification 2 and Modification 4, that is, by providing the boot loader 11 with an enlargement / reduction function and an image superimposition function by software, the screen size and language area differ. Can be supported. In other words, since it is possible to cope by storing one image of the background image and one image of the character portion for each language area, the use of the size of the ROM 307 can be minimized. The original image to be superimposed is not updated and is stored in the ROM 307 as it is.

<Program>
The image processing apparatus according to the present invention described above is realized by a program that causes a computer to execute processing. Examples of the computer include general-purpose computers such as personal computers and workstations, but the present invention is not limited to this. Therefore, as an example, a case where the function of the present invention is realized by a program will be described below.

For example,
A substantial computer of the image processing device
A procedure for displaying the screen on the display means;
A procedure for controlling the display means to the display means control means;
To start the application software on the core, and take the screen information from the initialization unit,
A procedure for handing over information of the screen to the backbone to the initialization unit;
A procedure for handing over the notification screen data of the storage means to the device driver and handing it over to the display means;
A program for executing

Thus, the apparatus according to the present invention can be realized anywhere as long as there is a computer environment capable of executing the program.
Such a program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium.

<Storage medium>
Here, examples of the storage medium include a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), and a CD-R, a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, a RAM, and a ROM, and an HDD.

  CD-ROM is an abbreviation for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. Flexible disk means Flexible Disk (FD). CD-R is an abbreviation for CD Recordable. HDD is an abbreviation for Hard Disc Drive.

<Effect>
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the screen is displayed by the boot loader, the image data stored in the memory and displayed on the screen is transferred from the boot loader to the kernel. As a result, screen display can be quickly performed by performing the screen display with the boot loader, and further, even when the screen is temporarily switched off at the timing when the system is switched, it can be prevented.

<Others>
The above-described embodiment shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. is there. For example, the present embodiment can be applied to a printer, a facsimile machine, a copier, a multifunction machine, or a projector.

11 Boot loader (initialization part)
12 Kernel (Chief Executive)
13 LCD driver (device driver)
14 LCD (ASIC)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image processing apparatus 200 Operation part unit 201 LCD
202 Touch Panel
203 key
300 Controller unit 301 Application specific integrated circuit (ASiC)
302, 401 CPU
303 Operation unit control unit 304 Image processing unit 305 Energy saving controller 306 RAM
307 ROM
308 NVRAM
309 USB-Host
310 USB-Device
311 Ethernet
400 Engine unit 402 Scanner unit 403 Control IC
404 Printer unit 500 PSU

JP 2006-067382 A

Claims (8)

Display means for displaying a screen;
Display means control means for controlling the display means;
While starting the application software, the backbone that takes screen information from the initialization unit,
An initialization unit that delivers the information on the screen to the backbone unit;
An image processing apparatus comprising: a device driver that takes over notification screen data of a storage unit from the initialization unit and transfers the notification screen data to the display unit. Having a function of detecting the size of the display means;
The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein screen data to be displayed is changed according to a size of the display unit.   3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an image enlargement / reduction function.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a function of switching a language to be displayed depending on a region.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the image processing apparatus has a function of superimposing images.   The image processing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a function of switching a language to be displayed and a function of superimposing images. An image processing method in an image processing apparatus,
A step in which the display means displays the screen;
A display means control means for controlling the display means;
A step of starting the application software and acquiring screen information from the initialization unit,
An initialization unit, a step of delivering the information on the screen to the backbone unit, and a device driver taking over the notification screen data of the storage unit from the initialization unit and delivering it to the display unit;
An image processing method comprising: A substantial computer of the image processing device
A procedure for displaying the screen on the display means;
A procedure for controlling the display means to the display means control means;
To start the application software on the core, and take the screen information from the initialization unit,
A procedure for handing over information of the screen to the backbone to the initialization unit;
A procedure for handing over the notification screen data of the storage means to the device driver and handing it over to the display means;
A program for running

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