JP4900576B2 - Program, storage medium, and image processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention, a program, a serial憶媒body contact and image processing method.

As described in Patent Document 1, there has been proposed a projector that receives image data displayed on a PC screen via a network.
Republished patent WO01-093583

  Conventionally, however, a manufacturer's original protocol or image display compression format for transmitting image data has been used, and there has been no standard one. In addition, specifications such as a transmission protocol are easily changed by changing the OS used in the PC.

  For this reason, it has been difficult for a relatively old projector to support a protocol provided by the latest OS of the PC.

  For example, in order to support the protocol and the like provided by the latest OS, it is necessary to implement an OS function corresponding to the latest OS in the projector, which restricts the design of the projector, enlarges the required CPU performance, and the configuration. Problems such as complications will occur.

An object of the present invention is to provide a program capable of transmitting the image data with respect to the display device that is not compatible with standards protocol, the serial憶媒body contact and an image processing method.

In order to solve the above problems, a program according to the present invention
A computer having an image data generation unit that generates image data, and a communication unit that transmits the image data to a display device that supports a reference protocol for transmitting the image data. A program,
The virtual device is
A reference protocol compatible communication unit that receives the image data by operating as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol;
A conversion unit that converts the image data into a format that is different from the reference protocol and that conforms to a target protocol that is a protocol for transmitting the image data;
A target protocol compatible communication unit for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion unit to a display device corresponding to the target protocol;
It is characterized by including.

In addition, a communication apparatus according to the present invention includes a computer having an image data generation unit that generates image data, and a communication unit that transmits the image data to a display device that supports a reference protocol for transmitting the image data. A communication device capable of communicating with
A reference protocol compatible communication unit that receives the image data by operating as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol;
A conversion unit that converts the image data into a format that is different from the reference protocol and that conforms to a target protocol that is a protocol for transmitting the image data;
A target protocol compatible communication unit for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion unit to a display device corresponding to the target protocol;
It is characterized by including.

An image processing system according to the present invention is an image processing system having an image processing device and at least one projector capable of communicating with the image processing device,
The image processing apparatus includes:
An image data generation unit for generating image data;
A communication unit for transmitting the image data to a projector corresponding to a reference protocol for transmitting the image data;
A virtual device,
Including
The virtual device is
A reference protocol compatible communication unit for receiving the image data by operating as a projector corresponding to the reference protocol;
A conversion unit that converts the image data into a format that is different from the reference protocol and that conforms to a target protocol that is a protocol for transmitting the image data;
A target protocol compatible communication unit for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion unit to a projector corresponding to the target protocol;
It is characterized by including.

An image processing system according to the present invention is an image processing system having an image processing device, a communication device, and at least one projector capable of communicating with the image processing device or the communication device,
The image processing apparatus includes:
An image data generation unit for generating image data;
A communication unit for transmitting the image data to a projector corresponding to a reference protocol for transmitting the image data;
Including
The communication device
A reference protocol compatible communication unit for receiving the image data by operating as a projector corresponding to the reference protocol;
A conversion unit that converts the image data into a format that is different from the reference protocol and that conforms to a target protocol that is a protocol for transmitting the image data;
A target protocol compatible communication unit for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion unit to a projector corresponding to the target protocol;
It is characterized by including.

  According to the present invention, an image processing system or the like operates (behaves) a virtual device as a display device corresponding to a reference protocol, converts the data format of image data into a format conforming to the target protocol, and transmits the converted data. The image data can be transmitted to a display device that does not support the reference protocol for image data transmission.

  The virtual device may include a virtual management unit that manages information related to the display device corresponding to the target protocol.

  According to this, the image processing system or the like can manage information related to the display device corresponding to the target protocol.

Whether the virtual management unit can communicate with a display device corresponding to the target protocol based on the status information by causing the target protocol compatible communication unit to receive status information from the display device corresponding to the target protocol. Manage communication availability information indicating whether or not
The target protocol compatible communication unit may transmit the image data converted by the conversion unit to a display device capable of communication based on the communication availability information.

  According to this, the image processing system or the like can immediately transmit the image data when there is an instruction to transmit the image data from the image processing apparatus or the like by grasping the display devices that can communicate.

  Further, the reference protocol compatible communication unit may communicate with the communication unit using a TCP / IP local loopback address.

  According to this, since the communication part corresponding to the reference protocol does not need to perform independent communication processing with respect to the communication device and the virtual device corresponding to the reference protocol, it can communicate efficiently.

  Hereinafter, a case where the present invention is applied to a program installed in a PC (Personal Computer) will be described as an example with reference to the drawings. In addition, the Example shown below does not limit the content of the invention described in the claim at all. In addition, all of the configurations shown in the following embodiments are not necessarily essential as means for solving the problems described in the claims.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the image processing system in the first embodiment.

  The PC 100, which is a type of image processing apparatus in this embodiment, converts an image displayed on the screen into image data by screen capture, and transmits the image data to a display device (for example, a projector) to be communicated. Have

  Further, the PC 100 supports a reference protocol by the OS. Specific examples of the reference protocol include WSD (Web Services for Devices) proposed by Microsoft Corporation, RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), which is a proprietary protocol of Microsoft Corporation, and the like. Here, both WSD and RDP are used as reference protocols.

  A recent Windows (registered trademark) OS of Microsoft Corporation is equipped with an RDP capable of transmitting image data, and Windows (registered trademark) can transmit image data using the RDP.

  However, a light-weight OS such as Linux is often used for the internal CPU of the projector, and it is difficult to newly install a large-scale OS such as Windows (registered trademark) inside the projector.

  In this embodiment, the projector corresponding to the reference protocol is the new projector 310, and the projector corresponding to the conventional image data transmission protocol (target protocol) not corresponding to the reference protocol is the old projector 320.

  Such a target protocol is, for example, a protocol whose name is defined as “ep-nsp” in a port list managed by an IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority), which is a public institution.

  The PC 100 includes an image data generation unit 130 that generates image data in a format that conforms to a reference protocol, and a communication unit 150 that transmits image data to a new projector 310 or the like that supports the reference protocol for transmitting image data. It is configured to include.

  The PC 100 also includes an instruction unit 110 that inputs a user instruction, a screen capture unit 120 that performs screen capture in response to an instruction from the instruction unit 110, and information about a display device with which the communication unit 150 can communicate (for example, operation And a management unit 140 that manages a status, an IP address, and the like.

  In addition, the PC 100 has a function of the virtual device 160 that behaves as a display device similar to the new projector 310 by reading a program stored in the information storage medium 200.

  The virtual device 160 operates as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol, and receives a reference protocol compatible communication unit 161 that receives image data, a conversion unit 162 that converts the image data into a format that conforms to the target protocol, and a target protocol. A target protocol compatible communication unit 164 for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion unit 162 toward the corresponding display device, and virtual management for managing information (for example, operating status, IP address, etc.) regarding the display device corresponding to the target protocol. Part 163. The conversion unit 162 includes a virtual screen 165 that functions as a frame memory that is a pseudo output destination of image data.

  Note that the following can be used as hardware for mounting the functions of these units on the PC 100. For example, the instruction unit 110 includes a mouse, a keyboard, an input port, the screen capture unit 120, the image data generation unit 130, the conversion unit 162, an image processing circuit, a RAM, the management unit 140, and the virtual management unit 163. As the communication unit 150, the reference protocol compatible communication unit 161, and the target protocol compatible communication unit 164, a wireless LAN (or wired LAN) module or the like may be employed.

  Further, as the information storage medium 200, for example, a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, ROM, RAM, HDD or the like can be applied, and the reading method of the program may be a contact method or a non-contact method. .

  Next, a processing flow at the time of image data transmission using these units will be described.

  First, a communication procedure when only the reference protocol is used will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a communication procedure when the reference protocol in the first embodiment is used.

  First, the management unit 140 can determine by communication through the communication unit 150 whether there is a display device that can communicate at regular intervals (for example, 30 seconds, 1 minute, etc.) and supports the reference protocol. To do. The management unit 140 may determine the location and state of the display device based on information unilaterally transmitted from the display device. Similarly to the management unit 140, the virtual management unit 163 also indicates whether the old projector 320 can communicate by causing the target protocol compatible communication unit 164 to receive state information from the old projector 320 corresponding to the target protocol. Communication availability information may be managed.

  Then, the management unit 140 issues a WSD control protocol (step S1), and the WSD control protocol is encapsulated by a SOAP message (step S2). The communication unit 150 adds an HTTP protocol header to the SOAP message (step S3), and generates transmission data conforming to the TCP / IP protocol in which the IP address of the new projector 310 that has been grasped is designated as the transmission destination (step S4). ).

  The communication unit 150 transmits the transmission data to the new projector 310 (step S5), and the new projector 310 executes steps S6 to S9 in the reverse order of steps S1 to S4, and sends a WSD control message to the new projector. This is transmitted to the display unit 310.

  With the above procedure, preparation for transmitting and receiving image data using the RDP protocol is completed.

  Then, the management unit 140 transmits the image data generated by the image data generation unit 130 to the RDP server of the communication unit 150 (Step S10), and the communication unit 150 sends the image data from the RDP server to the TCP / IP layer. (Step S11), transmission data including image data is transmitted to the new projector 310 in accordance with the RDP protocol and the TCP / IP protocol (Step S12).

  In the new projector 310, the transmission data is sent from the TCP / IP layer to the RDP client (step S13), and sent from the RDP client to the display unit (step S14).

  Through the above procedure, the new projector 310 can display the image captured by the screen capture unit 120.

  Next, a communication procedure when image data using the reference protocol is converted and communication is performed using the target protocol will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a communication procedure when the target protocol in the first embodiment is used.

  Similar to steps S1 to S4 described above, the management unit 140 issues a WSD control protocol (step S21), and the WSD control protocol is encapsulated by a SOAP message (step S22). The communication unit 150 adds an HTTP protocol header to the SOAP message (step S23), and generates transmission data that conforms to the TCP / IP protocol in which the IP address of the virtual device 160 that has been identified is designated as the transmission destination (step S24). ).

  Note that since the IP address of the virtual device 160 is a local loopback address, the standard protocol compatible communication unit 161 and the conversion unit 162 perform WSD control in the reverse order of steps S21 to S24 without being communicated to the outside. A protocol is received (steps S25 to S28).

  With the above procedure, preparation for transmitting and receiving image data using the RDP protocol is completed.

  Then, the management unit 140 transmits the image data generated by the image data generation unit 130 to the RDP server of the communication unit 150 (step S29), and the communication unit 150 sends the image data from the RDP server to the TCP / IP layer. (Step S30), transmission data including image data is transmitted to the virtual device 160 in accordance with the RDP protocol and the TCP / IP protocol. Steps S29 and 30 are the same as steps S10 and S11.

  In the virtual device 160, the transmission data is sent from the TCP / IP layer to the RDP client in the reference protocol compatible communication unit 161 (step S31), and is sent from the RDP client to the conversion unit 162 (step S32).

  The conversion unit 162 once expands the image data included in the transmission data in the RDP protocol format on the virtual screen 165 included therein, captures it again, and converts the image data into the ep-nsp format image data. The virtual management unit 163 converts the image data into an ep-nsp protocol and sends it to the ep-nsp server in the target protocol compatible communication unit 164 (step S33).

  The target protocol compatible communication unit 164 transmits the transmission data including the image data converted by the conversion unit 162 based on the communication availability information of the virtual management unit 163 via the ep-nsp server and the TCP / IP layer to the old projector 320. (Steps S34 and S35). Note that the IP address of the old projector 320 is grasped by the virtual management unit 163 as part of the communication availability information.

  The old projector 320 sends the transmission data from the TCP / IP layer to the ep-nsp client (step S36), and sends it from the ep-nsp client to the display unit of the old projector 320 (step S37).

  Through the above procedure, the old projector 320 can display the image captured by the screen capture unit 120.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the PC 100 operates (behaves) the virtual device 160 as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol, and converts the data format of the image data into a format compliant with the target protocol. By transmitting the image data, it is possible to transmit the image data to the old projector 320 that does not support the reference protocol for transmitting the image data.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, by providing the virtual management unit 163 that functions in the same manner as the management unit 140, information related to a display device that does not correspond to the reference protocol but corresponds to the target protocol can be managed. When image data is transmitted, it can be transmitted immediately.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the PC 100 can detect and control the projector regardless of the protocol even when it is necessary to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of projectors at the time of presence management, for example. .

  Further, according to the present embodiment, the PC 100 supports a new protocol (reference protocol) supported by the new OS by local communication with the virtual device 160 in the PC 100, and the virtual device 160 is an old protocol (target protocol). Can communicate with the old projector 320. As a result, even in the old projector 320 that does not support the new protocol, it becomes possible to use the functions and operations of the new protocol as they are. Therefore, the PC 100 can transmit image data by the same operation without distinguishing between the new projector 310 and the old projector 320.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, a virtual network projector (virtual device 160) is configured on the PC 100 side, and the network transmission protocol provided by the latest OS detects the virtual device 160 by the local loopback address. Communication is performed, and the virtual device 160 converts the network transmission protocol of the PC 100 into an existing format in real time, and retransmits it to the projector.

  As a result, the PC 100 can make the past projector models that do not support the latest network transmission protocol and image display compression format compatible with the new protocol without updating the firmware or changing the protocol.

(Second embodiment)
FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the image processing system in the second embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the virtual device 160 is provided in the PC 100 and the communication is performed using the local loopback address. However, the function of the virtual device 160 may be implemented in the external communication apparatus 400.

  The communication device 400 includes a reference protocol compatible communication unit 410, a conversion unit 420 having a virtual screen 422, a virtual management unit 430, and a target protocol compatible communication unit 440. The functions of these units are the same as those of the reference protocol compatible communication unit 161, the conversion unit 162, the virtual management unit 163, and the target protocol compatible communication unit 164. However, for example, a fixed IP address is assigned to the reference protocol compatible communication unit 410, and normal TCP / IP communication with the communication unit 150 is performed.

  Note that the communication device 400 may be a USB dongle that can be plugged into the USB port of the PC 100. In this case, for example, RemoteNDIS technology or the like can be used for TCP / IP communication via USB.

  The communication device 400 may be, for example, a wireless LAN access point, a router, a network server, or the like on a communication path.

  The communication device 400 may have a high-function OS used by the PC 100.

  Even with such a configuration, the image processing system can achieve the same operational effects as the first embodiment.

(Other examples)
In addition, application of this invention is not limited to the Example mentioned above, A various deformation | transformation is possible.

  For example, the conversion units 162 and 420 may perform data conversion from the target protocol format to the reference protocol format.

  According to this, the PC 100 can also convert so-called presence information indicating the operation state of the old projector 320 and the like into the management unit 140 by converting the protocol in real time in the reverse direction.

  Further, the PC 100 may support not only the image data transmission but also the new protocol for presence control such as power management of the old projector 320, for example.

  The computer used in the image processing system is not limited to the PC 100, and may be a workstation, a server, a game device, or the like, for example. The display device is not limited to a projector, and may be a TV such as a projection TV, a liquid crystal display, a portable game device, a mobile phone, or the like.

1 is a functional block diagram of an image processing system in a first embodiment. It is the schematic of the communication procedure at the time of using the reference | standard protocol in a 1st Example. It is the schematic of the communication procedure at the time of using the object protocol in a 1st Example. It is a functional block diagram of the image processing system in a 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

  100 PC (image processing apparatus), 130 image data generation unit, 140 management unit, 150 communication unit, 160 virtual device, 161, 410 reference protocol compatible communication unit, 162, 420 conversion unit, 163, 430 virtual management unit, 164, 440 Target protocol compatible communication unit, 200 information storage medium, 310 new projector, 320 old projector, 400 communication device

Claims (5)

A computer having a communication unit for transmitting the image data of the reference protocol corresponds to the display device corresponding to standards protocol,
A communication function for receiving the image data transmitted by the communication unit by operating as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol;
A receiving function for receiving status information of a display device not corresponding to the reference protocol;
A management function for managing information relating to a display device not corresponding to the reference protocol;
The image data received by the communication function, a conversion function for converting a format that conforms to the target protocol that is different from the reference protocol,
A transmission function for transmitting the image data converted by the conversion function to a display device corresponding to the target protocol;
Is a program that realizes
The management function is information based on the status information received by the reception function, and manages communication availability information that is information indicating whether a display device that does not correspond to the reference protocol can communicate.
The conversion function converts the image data received by the communication function into a format conforming to the target protocol, which is a protocol when the communication availability information indicates that communication is possible . The program according to claim 1,
The conversion function outputs the image data received by the communication function to a pseudo screen, acquires the image data output to the screen, and converts the acquired image data into a format conforming to the target protocol. A program characterized by A program according to claim 1 or claim 2 , wherein
The communication function communicates with the communication unit using a local loopback address. 請 Motomeko 1-3 computer-readable storage medium storing a program according to any one. A first communication step of transmitting image data corresponding to the reference protocol to a display device corresponding to the reference protocol;
A second communication step of receiving the image data transmitted by the first communication step by operating as a display device corresponding to the reference protocol;
A receiving step of receiving status information of a display device not corresponding to the reference protocol;
A management process for managing information relating to a display device not corresponding to the reference protocol;
A conversion step of converting the image data received by the second communication step into a format conforming to a target protocol different from the reference protocol;
A transmission step of transmitting the image data converted by the conversion step to a display device corresponding to the target protocol;
An image processing method including:
The management step is information based on the status information received by the receiving step, and manages communication availability information that is information indicating whether a display device that does not correspond to the reference protocol is communicable,
The conversion process converts the image data received in the second communication process into a format conforming to the target protocol, which is a protocol when the communication enable / disable information indicates that communication is possible. Method.

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