JP3191027U - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

An information processing apparatus capable of converting and outputting a signal to an internal display interface and displaying an image or video on the internal display apparatus in an electronic apparatus having only an external display interface.
In an information processing apparatus having no internal display interface, a PCI express connector 31 mounted on a motherboard 20 and conversion means for converting various display interface signals are incorporated, and an external connected to an external display apparatus 40 is provided. An expansion card 30 having a display interface and an internal display interface connected to the internal display device 10 and attachable to a PCI express connector, and receiving an image signal or a video signal from the PCI express connector via the expansion card Send to external display device and internal display device.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

Embodiments described herein relate generally to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus that does not have an internal display interface.

Conventional display technologies in information processing devices include an LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signal) interface and a TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) interface when outputting an image signal or video signal to an internal display device such as a liquid crystal display device. The image or video cannot be output without using a dedicated interface for internal display.
For example, in an electronic apparatus (notebook PC) having a display device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-107123, an external video signal is received, and a liquid crystal display panel and a CRT video output are used using a switch circuit. There is already a configuration for outputting an image signal or a video signal to the liquid crystal display panel and CRT video output using a display-dedicated interface.

On the other hand, since the desktop computer does not have an internal display dedicated interface (LVDS / TMDS), an image signal or a video signal cannot be directly output to the internal display device.

For these reasons, a desktop computer can output an image signal or a video signal to an internal display device such as a liquid crystal display device without a display-dedicated interface (here, a video input connector) for internal display. In addition, an image signal or a video signal cannot be output to an external display device using a switch circuit.

In addition, since the desktop computer is configured on the premise of display connection to an external display device, in order to mount the internal display device, there is a need to attach a display device integrated with a housing on the motherboard. In order to meet that demand, it is necessary to prepare an interface with various specifications including an internal display dedicated interface for connection with the display device, equipped with its dedicated connector, and a mechanism to switch to the display interface to be connected, It is necessary to mount multiple dedicated connectors on the board. For this reason, there are problems such as an increase in cost of parts, an increase in inspection items and facilities, and a long inspection time as well as an increase in board area. In addition, there is a limitation in appearance due to the routing of the connection cable.

JP-A-2005-107123 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-4410

If an internal display device is to be connected to an electronic device that does not have an internal display interface, it is necessary to mount a plurality of display interface connectors with various specifications on the board. For this reason, there are problems such as an increase in cost of parts, an increase in inspection items and facilities, and a long inspection time as well as an increase in board area.
The problem to be solved by the present invention is that an information processing apparatus that does not have an internal display interface but has only an external display interface converts signals to various display interfaces to display images and videos on various display apparatuses. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of displaying.

To achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a PCI express connector mounted on a motherboard and conversion means for converting various display interface signals in an information processing apparatus having no internal display interface. And an expansion card attachable to the PCI express connector having an external display interface connected to the external display device and an internal display interface connected to the internal display device, and an image signal or video from the PCI express connector A signal is transmitted to the external display device and the internal display device via the expansion card.

According to the present embodiment, even an information processing apparatus that does not have an internal display interface can minimize the cost and convert signals to various display interfaces to display images and images on various external and internal display apparatuses. Video can be displayed.

It is a perspective view of the system which implement | achieves an internal display function in the electronic device which does not have the internal display interface which concerns on embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic device of 2nd Embodiment.

Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a motherboard applied to the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment, and is a perspective view of a system that realizes an internal display function on a motherboard 20 of an electronic device that does not have an internal display interface. is there.

As shown in FIG. 1, the motherboard 20 of the electronic device does not have an internal display interface, and thus a PCI express connector 31 is installed to connect the internal display device 10. The expansion card 30 having various display interface functions is connected to the PCI express connector 31. The first display interface of the expansion card 30 is an external display interface. An external display device 40 is connected to the external display interface with an external cable. Further, the second interface of the expansion card 30 is an internal display interface. For example, the internal display device 10 is connected to the internal display interfaces of LVDS and TMDS with an internal cable. The electronic device having the motherboard 20 does not need to have an internal display interface other than the motherboard, and can transmit image signals and video signals to the internal display device 10 and the external display device 40.

Therefore, an internal display function can be realized by mounting the motherboard 20 according to the first embodiment. In addition, since the PCI Express connector 31 and the expansion card 30 having various display interface functions connected to the connector 31 can be realized with a simple configuration, the cost can be minimized.

As a modification of the first embodiment, a DVI (Digital Visual Interface) standard interface signal may be connected to an unused terminal in a connector that mounts the interface of the PCI express connector 31. If there are no unused terminals, a DVI standard interface may be connected by arranging a connector of several pins for expansion in the same row as the PCI express connector 31. When such an expansion method is employed, a general-purpose connection structure and a general-purpose substrate fixing method can be employed in order to realize a small display interface module substrate. In addition, the conversion circuit can be controlled from the general-purpose bus. Furthermore, functions such as initialization of a circuit mounted on the mother board 20 and operation change of the circuit can be controlled from software. For the various display devices 10 and 40, the color conversion adjustment, the brightness and contrast adjustment, the display ON / OFF, or the additional operation mechanism of the touch panel function can be controlled by software from the general-purpose bus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a display circuit of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. The expansion card 30 to be inserted into the PCI express connector 31 of the motherboard 20 includes a PCI express 50, an LVDS / TMDS converter 90, an internal display interface 100 and an external display interface 60, a switch IC 80, a transistor 70, and the like. The switch IC 80 receives a switching signal generated when a hot plug detection signal (hereinafter referred to as an HPD signal) output from the external display interface 60 is input to the transistor 70, and receives the external display device 40 and the internal display device 100. It operates to output an image signal or a video signal toward. As the HPD signal, a signal of the external display device 40 connected to the DisplayPort is used.

Next, the operation of FIG. 2 will be described.
In the switch IC 80, since the external display device 40 is connected to the external display interface 60, when the HPD signal is detected by the external display interface 60, the external display interface 60 is detected by a switching signal from the transistor 70 that has received the signal. The internal display interface 100 can be activated to control output of an image signal or a video signal toward the external display device 40 and the internal display device 10. If the HPD signal is not detected, the switch IC 80 activates only the internal display interface 100 and controls output of an image signal or a video signal toward the internal display device 10.

That is, for the internal display device 10, an image signal or video is displayed from a display control unit (not shown) mounted on the motherboard 20 via the PCI express connector 50, the switch IC 80, the LVDS / TMDS conversion unit 90, and the internal display interface 100. A signal is output. On the other hand, an image signal or a video signal is output to the external display device 40 via the PCI express connector 50, the switch IC 80, and the external display interface 60. The LVDS / TMDS conversion unit 90 performs LVDS conversion or TMDS conversion according to the image signal or video signal from the PCI express connector 50.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in an information processing apparatus having only an external display interface, an internal display device is connected, and signals are converted into various display interfaces to the external display device and the internal display device at a low cost. A wide variety of images and videos can be displayed.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Internal display apparatus, 20 ... Mother board, 30 ... Expansion card, 31 ... PCI express connector, 40 ... External display apparatus, 50 ... PCI express connector, 60 ... External display interface, 70 ... Transistor, 80 ... Switch IC, 90 ... LVDS / TMDS converter, 100 ... internal display interface

Claims (4)

In an information processing device that does not have an internal display interface,
A PCI Express connector mounted on the motherboard;
An expansion card that can be attached to the PCI Express connector, having a conversion means for converting various display interface signals, and having an external display interface connected to the external display device and an internal display interface connected to the internal display device;
Comprising
An information processing apparatus, wherein an image signal or a video signal from the PCI express connector is transmitted to the external display device and the internal display device via the expansion card. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conversion unit converts the internal display device into an LVDS interface or a TMDS interface. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising switch means for activating the external display interface and the internal display interface when a hot plug detection signal is received from the external display interface. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a DVI standard interface signal is connected to an unused terminal of the PCI express connector.

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