JP5104296B2 - Image display system, management apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for identifying a display device and restricting processing for the identified display device or an image displayed on the display device.

A portable display device called electronic paper provided with a display body having an electrophoretic element has become widespread. Electronic paper is as thin as paper, has a merit that it is close to paper characteristics in terms of reflection characteristics on its display surface, and is excellent in portability. However, because of such a property close to that of paper, an image displayed on the display surface of the electronic paper can be easily copied. If confidential information such as customer information is displayed on the image displayed on the display surface, the content of this information may be leaked to a third party. Therefore, when printing a highly confidential document, a technique is known in which an image such as a watermark including identification information for identifying each document and a copy prohibition instruction is printed in an overlapping manner. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes to print bitmap data of a character string such as “non-confidential” or “handling caution” as a watermark and overlay it with the bitmap data of a document.
JP 2003-220748 A

However, the technique described in the cited document 1 has a problem that the visibility of the document is hindered by printing an image, which is a watermark, which is not directly related to the content of the document, on paper. In addition, since this technology is originally a device for printing an image on paper, this technology cannot be applied as it is to a display device such as electronic paper, and even if this is applied, the display device Since the document and another image that is not directly related to the contents of the document are superimposed on the display surface, visibility is also hindered.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to identify each display device without displaying an image that hinders visibility, and to display on the identified display device or the display device. It is an object to limit the processing on the processed image as necessary.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes a display device and a management device, and the display device displays an image by driving a display surface on which a plurality of display elements are arranged, and the display elements. A first acquisition unit that acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device; and a first acquisition unit that is acquired by the first acquisition unit. An image area corresponding to a defective display element that cannot be driven by the driving unit is extracted from the image of the image information, and based on the position of the extracted image area, the display area A storage for storing the first specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display elements, the distribution status specified by the first specifying means, and the restriction information relating to the processing restriction on the display device in association with each other. And second acquisition means for acquiring second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution state and the restriction information are stored by the storage means; The image area corresponding to the defective display element is extracted from the image of the second image information acquired by the two acquisition means, and the distribution state of the defective display element on the display surface based on the position of the extracted image area Whether the second specifying means for identifying the distribution status, the distribution status specified by the second specifying means, and the distribution status stored in the storage means are equal to or greater than a threshold value Collation means for judging whether or not the display device is within a limit range based on restriction information stored in the storage means in association with a distribution situation in which the degree of coincidence is judged to be greater than or equal to a threshold by the collation means To provide an image display system characterized in that it comprises a processing means for executing processing on the image displayed on the processing or the display device against.
According to the present invention, each display device is identified without attaching an image that hinders visibility, and processing on the identified display device or the image displayed on the display device is limited as necessary. Can do.

In the image display system of the present invention, the display element is filled with a liquid in which a plurality of colored charged particles are dispersed, and the driving means changes the direction of the electric field with respect to the display element, and An image is displayed by moving the charged particles in the liquid sealed in the display element.
According to this aspect, defective display elements can be scattered on the display surface of the display device at a rate sufficient for verification.

In the image display system having the above-described configuration according to the present invention, the display device instructs the driving unit to display an image for specifying a distribution state of the defective display elements among the plurality of display elements. 1 indicating means and second instructing means for instructing the driving means to display an image according to image data, wherein the first obtaining means of the management device is a distribution of the defective display elements. First image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface on which an image for specifying a situation is displayed is acquired, and the second acquisition unit of the management device is configured to display an image corresponding to the image data. Second image information representing an image obtained by reading the displayed display surface is acquired.
According to this aspect, it is specified based on an image obtained by reading a display surface on which an image for specifying the distribution state of defective display elements is read and an image obtained by reading a display surface on which an image corresponding to image data is displayed. The distribution status of defective display elements can be collated.

In this image display system, the first instruction unit instructs the drive unit to display an image having the same color on the entire display surface as an image for specifying the distribution state. Features.
According to this aspect, the distribution state of defective display elements on the display surface can be specified with higher accuracy.

Further, in this image display system, an image reading unit that reads the display surface of the display device and generates image information representing the read image, and an image having contents according to the image information generated by the image reading unit are printed. A copy apparatus having a printing unit configured to perform printing, and the storage unit stores, as the restriction information, whether or not the second image information acquired by the second acquisition unit can be printed. The means acquires first image information representing an image read by the image reading means of the copying apparatus on a display surface of the display device on which an image for specifying the distribution state is displayed, and the second image information is displayed. acquisition means acquires the second image information representing an image by the image reading means has read the copying apparatus display surface of the display device on which an image is displayed in accordance with the image picture data, the processing means, When the storage means stores the fact that printing of the second image information is possible as the recording restriction information, the printing means of the copying apparatus responds to the second image information. A process for permitting printing of an image is executed.
According to this aspect, printing of an image obtained by duplicating an image displayed on the display device can be restricted as necessary.

Further, the present invention provides a first acquisition unit that acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading a display surface on which a plurality of display elements are arranged in a display device, and a first acquisition unit that is acquired by the first acquisition unit. An image area corresponding to a defective display element that cannot be driven to display an image is extracted from the plurality of display elements, and the display is performed based on the position of the extracted image area. A first specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display element on the surface, a distribution status specified by the first specifying means, and restriction information relating to processing restrictions on the display device, which are associated with each other and stored. A second storage unit configured to acquire second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution state and the restriction information are stored by the storage unit. An image region corresponding to the defective display element is extracted from the image of the second image information acquired by the acquisition unit and the second acquisition unit, and the position on the display surface is determined based on the position of the extracted image region. The second specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display element, the distribution status specified by the second specifying means, and the distribution status stored in the storage means are collated, and the degree of coincidence Within the limits of the restriction by the restriction information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status in which the matching degree is judged to be greater than or equal to the threshold by the matching means And a processing unit that executes processing for the display device or processing for an image displayed on the display device.
According to the present invention, each display device is identified without attaching an image that hinders visibility, and processing on the identified display device or the image displayed on the display device is limited as necessary. Can do.

In the management device of the present invention, the first acquisition unit acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface on which an image for specifying a distribution state of the defective display elements is displayed. the second acquisition unit and acquires the second image information representing the image read the display surface of an image corresponding to image picture data are displayed.
According to this aspect, it is specified based on an image obtained by reading a display surface on which an image for specifying the distribution state of defective display elements is read and an image obtained by reading a display surface on which an image corresponding to image data is displayed. The distribution status of defective display elements can be collated.

In the management device according to the present invention, the storage unit stores the image data in association with the distribution status, and stores information on processing restrictions on the image data as the restriction information. The processing means further includes image specifying means for comparing the second image information acquired by the acquisition means with the image data stored in the storage means and specifying image data having a matching degree equal to or greater than a threshold value. Is within the limits of the limit information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status determined by the matching means to be equal to or higher than the threshold and the image data specified by the image specifying means, Processing for a display device or processing for an image displayed on the display device is executed.
According to this aspect, each display device and the image displayed on the display device are specified, and the processing on the identified display device or the image displayed on the display device is restricted as necessary according to the specified image. can do.

Further, in the management apparatus of the present invention, the storage unit stores whether or not the second image information acquired by the second acquisition unit can be output as the restriction information, and the processing unit stores the restriction information as the restriction information. The second image information is output when the storage means stores that the second image information can be output.
According to this aspect, each display device can be identified, and output of image information of an image displayed on the display device can be restricted as necessary.

According to the present invention, the computer includes a first acquisition unit that acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading a display surface on which a plurality of display elements in the display device are arranged, and the first acquisition unit includes: from the acquired image of the first image information, the image area extracted corresponding to the defective display elements which can not be driven to display an image of the plurality of the display elements, based on the position of the extracted image area The first specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display elements on the display surface, the distribution status specified by the first specifying means, and the restriction information on the processing restriction on the display device are respectively associated with each other. Storage means for storing information, and second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution status and the restriction information are stored by the storage means From the second acquisition means to acquire and the image of the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means, an image area corresponding to the defective display element is extracted, and based on the position of the extracted image area, The second specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display element on the display surface, the distribution status specified by the second specifying means, and the distribution status stored in the storage means are collated. The collation means for determining whether or not the coincidence is equal to or greater than a threshold value and the restriction information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution situation in which the coincidence degree is determined to be equal to or greater than the threshold value Provided is a program for functioning as processing means for executing processing for the display device or processing for an image displayed on the display device within a limited range.
According to the present invention, each display device is identified without attaching an image that hinders visibility, and processing on the identified display device or the image displayed on the display device is limited as necessary. Can do.

(A) Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an image display system 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the image display system 1 includes image display devices 100 </ b> A, 100 </ b> B, and 100 </ b> C, a copying device 200, and a management device 300. The image display devices 100A, 100B and 100C are thin and highly portable display devices called electronic paper. The copying apparatus 200 is an apparatus that optically reads an image such as a document and executes a copying process (copying process) for forming the read image on a recording medium such as paper. The management device 300 is a computer device that manages the image display system 1. The main role of the management apparatus 300 is to identify the image display apparatuses 100A, 100B, and 100C, and to restrict processing for the identified display apparatuses. Specifically, the image display apparatuses 100A, 100B, and 100C Image data of an image to be displayed (hereinafter referred to as “display data”) is stored, the display data is provided to the image display apparatuses 100A, 100B, and 100C as necessary, and various information is acquired from the copying apparatus 200. Thus, the operation of the copying apparatus 200 is controlled based on the acquired information. The copying apparatus 200 and the management apparatus 300 are communicably connected via a LAN (Local Area Network) 400. Further, the image display apparatuses 100A, 100B, and 100C and the management apparatus 300 can exchange data with each other by being connected via a communication cable such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable as necessary. it can.

  The image display system 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes the three display devices 100A, 100B, and 100C, but the number of display devices may be larger or smaller. Further, when there is no need to distinguish between the respective display device image display devices 100A, 100B, and 100C, they are collectively referred to as “image display device 100”. Further, although only one copying apparatus 200 is provided here, a configuration including a plurality of copying apparatuses may be used, and in this case, each copying apparatus 200 and the management apparatus 300 are communicably connected via the LAN 400. Will be.

(A-1) Configuration of Image Display Device 100 FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image display device 100.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, the image display apparatus 100 includes a control unit 101, an operation unit 102, a storage unit 103, a drive unit 104, a display surface 105, and a communication unit 106. The control unit 101 includes, for example, a CPU and various memories, and controls the entire image display apparatus 100 according to a procedure described in a control program stored in the memory or the storage unit 103. Based on the control program, the control unit 101 displays a menu screen for operating the image display device 100 and a drive signal for causing the display surface 105 to display an image corresponding to display data stored in the storage unit 103. When the operation unit 102 is operated by the user, the process is performed according to the operation content. The communication unit 106 is an interface that performs communication via a communication cable. The control unit 101 receives various types of information such as display data transmitted from an external device such as the management device 300 via a communication cable inserted into the communication unit 106, and sends display data to the external device. Or send.

  The operation unit 102 includes a plurality of operation keys and outputs an operation signal corresponding to each operation key to the control unit 101. The storage unit 103 is a nonvolatile memory device such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash memory, for example, and stores a control program for the control unit 101 to execute various controls, display data, and the like. To do. The drive unit 104 drives the display surface 105 in accordance with, for example, a dot sequential drive method or a line sequential drive method in accordance with display data supplied from the control unit 101. The display surface 105 is a reflective display surface that displays an image using an electrophoretic element, and is driven by the drive unit 104 to display an image. That is, the display unit 105 </ b> D in the image display device 100 is configured by the drive unit 104 and the display surface 105.

Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of the display surface 105.
As shown in FIG. 3, the display surface 105 includes a first substrate 1051, electrophoretic elements P11, P21, P31..., A binder 1052, and a second substrate 1053. The first substrate 1051 is a glass substrate, and pixel electrodes PE11, PE21, PE31,... Are provided on the upper surface side in the drawing. The second substrate 1053 facing the first substrate 1051 is a transparent glass substrate, and a common electrode CE is provided on the back side on the lower side in the drawing. Between the pixel electrodes P11, P21, P31... And the common electrode CE, a large number of electrophoretic elements P are arranged and fixed by a binder 1052. Since the electrophoretic element P is not completely the same in size and shape and is fixed by the binder 1052 in an irregularly arranged state, it does not necessarily have a one-to-one correspondence with the pixel electrode PE. For example, in the configuration example of FIG. 3, an electric field corresponding to a potential difference between the pixel electrode PE11 and the common electrode CE is applied to the electrophoretic element P11, and a potential difference between the pixel electrode PE21 and the common electrode CE is applied to the electrophoretic element P21. An electric field corresponding to the potential difference between the pixel electrode PE31 and the common electrode CE is applied to the electrophoretic element P13.

  In FIG. 3, in order to prevent the figure from becoming complicated, the electrophoretic elements are denoted only by reference numerals P11, P21, and P31, and the pixel electrodes are denoted only by reference numerals PE11, PE21, and PE31. ing. In addition, when it is not necessary to distinguish each electrophoretic element, these are collectively referred to as “electrophoretic element P”. When it is not necessary to distinguish each pixel electrode, they are referred to as “pixel electrode PE”. Collectively.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure and state of the electrophoretic element P. FIG. 4A shows a state of the electrophoretic element that displays black, and FIG. 4B shows a state of the electrophoretic element P that displays white.
As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the electrophoretic element P is microencapsulated. In the polymer film as the capsule wall CW, a liquid in which a plurality of negative (−) charged black pigment particles BG and a positive (+) charged white pigment particle WG dispersed in two colors is dispersed ( A dispersion medium DM) is enclosed. The positions of the black pigment particles BG and the white pigment particles WG are defined by an electric field applied from the outside, and are stably maintained by the dispersion medium DM.

  When the electrophoretic element P tries to display black, as shown in FIG. 4A, the pixel electrode PE has a higher potential than the common electrode P, and an electric field E1 is applied from the back side to the front side. It is done. Due to the action of the electric field E1, the positively charged black pigment particles BG move so as to approach the surface side in the capsule wall CW, and the negatively charged white pigment particles WG are moved into the capsule wall CW. Move so as to approach the back side. Since the black pigment particles BG are collected on the surface side of the electrophoretic element P in this way, when the user observes the electrophoretic element P from the surface side, black is recognized.

On the other hand, when the electrophoretic element P intends to display white, as shown in FIG. 4B, the electric field of the pixel electrode PE is lower than that of the common electrode P and goes from the front side to the back side. E2 is given. By the action of the electric field E2, the white pigment particles WG move so as to approach the front surface side, and the black pigment particles BG move so as to approach the back surface side. Thus, since the white pigment particles WG are collected on the surface side of the electrophoretic element P, white is recognized when the user observes the electrophoretic element P from the surface side.
In this way, by changing the direction of the electric field with respect to the electrophoretic element P and moving the white pigment particles WG and the black pigment particles BG in the dispersion medium DM enclosed in the electrophoretic element P, an image is displayed. be able to.

  However, in all the electrophoretic elements P, the black pigment particles BG and the white pigment particles WG do not move as shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). For example, for some reason, the particles may stick to each other or the particles may stick to the capsule wall CW.

Here, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure and state of the electrophoretic elements PB1 and PB2.
As shown in the upper part of FIG. 5A, an electric field E2 is applied to the electrophoretic element PB1, and in this state, the black pigment particles BG are on the back side and the white pigment particles WG are on the front side. That is, the defective display element PB1 displays white. However, it is assumed that those white pigment particles WG that are in contact with the capsule wall CW are fixed to the capsule wall CW. When an electric field E1 for displaying black is applied to the electrophoretic element PB1, the black pigment particles BG tend to move to the surface side (arrow A direction) by the action of the electric field E1. However, as described above, since the white pigment particles WG are fixed on the surface side of the capsule wall CW, the movement is blocked by this, and as shown in the lower part of FIG. Cannot move to the surface side. Therefore, even if the electric field E1 for displaying black is applied, the electrophoretic element PB1 continues to display white.

Further, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 5B, when the electric field E2 is applied to the electrophoretic element PB2, there are white pigment particles WG on the front side and black pigment particles BG on the back side. That is, the defective display element PB2 displays white. When an electric field E1 for displaying black is applied to the electrophoretic element PB2, the white pigment particles WG try to move to the back side, and the black pigment particles BG try to move to the front side (arrow A direction). . However, when the black pigment particles BG are fixed to each other, the weights are increased by fixing the black pigment particles BG to each other, and the black pigment particles BG cannot be moved to the surface side by the electric attractive force by the electric field E1. Therefore, even when the electric field E1 for displaying black is applied, the electrophoretic element PB2 is in the state shown in the lower part of FIG. 5B, and the white pigment particles BG are closer to the surface than the black pigment particles BG. As a result, white is displayed. In this case, even if all the black pigment particles BG are not fixed to each other, if the black pigment particles BG moving to the surface side are reduced due to the fixing, the white color is almost displayed.
In addition, there is an electrophoretic element in which both particles are fixed to each other and the particles are fixed to the capsule wall CW. In this case, the same phenomenon occurs. In addition to the above, a defective display element as described above may occur due to defective charging of particles or the like.

The electrophoretic elements PB1 and PB2 as described above display white not only when the electric field E2 for displaying white is applied but also when the electric field E1 for displaying black is applied. Such a defective display element that always displays white is hereinafter referred to as a “white defective display element”. In addition to the white defective display elements, there are electrophoretic elements that always display black, and such defective display elements are hereinafter referred to as “black defective display elements”. The reason why the black defective display element is generated is the same as that described above and the black pigment particles BG and the white pigment particles WG in FIG.
Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the “white defective display element” and the “black defective display element”, these are collectively referred to as “defective display elements”. In the defective display element, for example, the black pigment particle BG does not move to the surface side to display black, or the white pigment particle WG does not move to the surface side to display white. It can be said that the electrophoretic elements constituting the surface 105 cannot be driven by the driving unit 104.

  In the manufacturing process of the image display apparatus 100, such a defective display element is inevitably included, and the ratio of the defective display element is generally about 1 to 5% of the entire electrophoretic element. The defective display element is generated at random positions over the entire display surface 105. Therefore, the distribution state of the defective display elements is different for each display surface 105, in other words, for each image display apparatus 100, and the distribution state of the white defective display elements is different from the distribution state of the black defective display elements. It becomes. Therefore, the distribution state of the defective display elements in each image display device 100 is examined in advance, and is registered as identification information of the image display device 100. Thereafter, the defective display elements are identified from the image obtained by reading the display surface 105. Each image display device 100 can be identified by specifying the distribution status and collating it with the registered content.

(A-2) Configuration of Copying Apparatus 200 Next, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the copying apparatus 200.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the copying apparatus 200 includes a control unit 201, an image reading unit 202, a storage unit 203, a printing unit 204, a communication unit 205, and a UI (User Interface) unit 206. The control unit 201 includes, for example, a CPU and various memories, and controls the entire copying apparatus 200 according to a procedure described in a control program stored in the memory or the storage unit 203. The image reading unit 202 includes a platen glass (not shown), a light source, an imaging lens, a line sensor, and a signal processing unit, and reads an image for copying. When the user places the image display device 100 on the platen glass of the image reading unit 202 and instructs to start reading, the light source irradiates the image display device 100 (display surface 105) with light, and the imaging lens The reflected light from the image display device 100 is imaged at the position of the line sensor. The line sensor receives the imaged light and generates an image signal corresponding to the light. Then, the signal processing unit performs processing such as A / D conversion on the image signal generated by the line sensor to generate image information. Note that the image reading unit 202 generates image information with a resolution such that the size of one pixel included in the image information representing the read image is sufficiently smaller than the size of the image corresponding to the electrophoretic element P. The

  The storage unit 203 is a storage unit for storing a control program used by the control unit 201 and image information generated by the image reading unit 202, and is, for example, a hard disk device. The printing unit 204 prints an image on a recording sheet based on the image information stored in the storage unit 203. The communication unit 205 has a function equivalent to that of the communication unit 106, and the control unit 201 transmits image information to the management device 300 connected via the communication unit 205 and the LAN 400, and various types of information from the management device 300. Receive information. The UI unit 206 is a user interface such as a touch panel that allows a user to input an operation and perform notification including display for the user. The UI unit 206 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation performed by the user to the control unit 201.

(A-3) Configuration of Management Device 300 FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the management device 300.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, the management apparatus 300 includes a control unit 301, a storage unit 302, and a communication unit 303. The control unit 301 includes a CPU and various memories, for example, and controls the entire management apparatus 300 according to a procedure described in a control program stored in the memory or the storage unit 302. The storage unit 302 is, for example, a hard disk device, and stores an ID management table 3021, a defective display element distribution pattern, and display data to be provided to the image display device 100 in addition to a control program used by the control unit 301. The defective display element distribution pattern here is image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface 105 of the image display apparatus 100, and is image information representing a distribution state of the defective display elements on the display surface. The defective display element distribution pattern includes a pattern (hereinafter referred to as “white defective display element distribution pattern”) including an image area corresponding to the white defective display element (hereinafter referred to as “white defective image”), a black defective display element. And a pattern (hereinafter referred to as “black defective display element distribution pattern”) including an image region corresponding to (hereinafter referred to as “black defective image”). The communication unit 303 has a function equivalent to that of the communication unit 106, and the control unit 301 receives image information transmitted from the copying unit 200 connected via the communication unit 303 and the LAN 400, or the copying device 200. To send various information.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the ID management table 3021.
As shown in FIG. 8, in the ID management table 3021, “device ID”, “defective display element distribution pattern storage address”, and “copying permission / inhibition” are associated with each other. In “device ID”, identification information assigned to each of the image display devices 100 described above and for identifying each image display device 100 is written. In “Defective display element distribution pattern storage address”, a storage address in the storage unit 302 in which a defective display element distribution pattern on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100 is stored is written. In “Copyability”, whether or not the image read on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100 can be copied is written. This copying permission / inhibition is restriction information regarding processing restriction on the image display apparatus 100. In the first row of the ID management table 3021 illustrated in FIG. 8, the defective display element distribution pattern of the image display device 100A to which the device ID “MID-A” is assigned is assigned the storage address “ID10001” in the storage unit 302. This indicates that copying of an image read from the display surface 105 of the image display device 100A is prohibited ("x"). In the second row, since “O” is written in the field “Copyability”, copying of the image displayed by the image display device 100B to which the device ID “MID-B” is assigned is permitted. It is shown that.

(B) Operation Next, the operation of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate.
At the start of the operation described below, the configuration of the ID management table 3021 is as shown in FIG.

(B-1) Registration Operation of Image Display Device 100 First, an operation of the image display system 1 when an administrator who manages the image display system 1 registers the image display device 100C in the management device 300 will be described. That is, by this registration operation, the image display device 100C is registered in the management device 300 as a display device whose copy is restricted. For example, the administrator performs registration for a user of the image display device 100C at a certain timing before distributing the image display device 100C.

FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of processing executed by the image display system 1.
First, the administrator operates the operation unit 102 of the image display device 100C to perform an operation for instructing the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C to perform “black display”. Upon receiving an operation signal representing this operation from the operation unit 102, the control unit 101 instructs the drive unit 104 to perform “black display” (step SA1) (first instruction means). This “black display” refers to a process of displaying a black image on the entire display surface 105.

Here, FIG. 10A is a diagram showing an image displayed on the display surface 105 when black display is executed.
In step SA1, under the control of the control unit 101, the driving unit 104 performs driving for executing black display so that all the electrophoretic elements P constituting the display surface 105 are in the state shown in FIG. Output a signal. However, as described above, since the display surface 105 includes a certain number of defective display elements, black is not actually displayed on the entire surface of the display surface 105, and the distribution state of the white defective display elements is not improved. Corresponding white image areas are scattered. Therefore, by extracting an image of a different color (white defective image PB3) from an image that should originally be displayed in the same color (black) as a whole, the white defective display element on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C is extracted. The distribution situation of can be specified. That is, the image displayed on the display surface 105 by the black display is an image for specifying the distribution state of the defective display elements on the display surface 105. In FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B to be described later, a relatively large size is shown to clarify the distribution state of the image corresponding to the defective display element. It is composed of a pixel group having a size corresponding to one electrophoretic element, and may include a large number of defective display elements.

  The administrator sets the image display device 100C that has performed black display on the platen glass of the copying apparatus 200 so that the display surface 105 can be read. Then, the administrator operates the UI unit 206 to instruct reading of the display surface 105. When the control unit 201 of the copying apparatus 200 receives an operation signal corresponding to this operation from the UI unit 206, the control unit 201 causes the image reading unit 202 to read the display surface 105, and displays image information (first image information) representing the read image. ) Is generated (step SA2).

  Subsequently, the administrator takes out the image display device 100C set on the platen glass of the copying apparatus 200, and then the administrator operates the operation unit 102 of the image display device 100C to display the image display device 100C. An operation for instructing to display “white display” on the surface 105 is performed. When receiving an operation signal representing this operation from the operation unit 102, the control unit 101 instructs the drive unit 104 to perform white display (step SA3) (first instruction means). This “white display” refers to processing for displaying a white image on the entire display surface 105.

  Here, FIG. 10B is a diagram schematically showing an image displayed on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C when white display is executed. In step SA3, the drive unit 104 outputs a drive signal under the control of the control unit 101 so that all the electrophoretic elements P constituting the display surface 105 are in the state shown in FIG. However, since the display surface 105 includes a certain number of black defective display elements, the entire display surface 105 does not actually display white, and this black defective image is displayed according to the distribution state of the black defective display elements. Are scattered. Therefore, by extracting an image of a different color (black defective image PB4) from an image that should originally be displayed in the same color (white), the black defective display element on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C is extracted. The distribution situation can be specified. That is, the image displayed on the display surface 105 by the white display is an image for specifying the distribution state of the defective display elements on the display surface 105.

  The administrator sets the image display apparatus 100C that has performed white display on the platen glass of the copying apparatus 200 so that the display surface 105 can be read. Then, the administrator operates the UI unit 206 to instruct reading of the display surface 105. Upon receiving an operation signal corresponding to this operation, the control unit 201 of the copying apparatus 200 causes the image reading unit 202 to read the display surface 105 and generate image information (first image information) representing the read image. (Step SA4).

  Next, the administrator operates the UI unit 206 of the copying apparatus 200 to instruct transmission of the image information generated in steps SA2 and SA4. At this time, the administrator also performs an operation for instructing whether to permit or prohibit copying of the display surface 105 of the image display apparatus 100C via the UI unit 206. Here, it is assumed that “prohibition” of copying is instructed by the user. Whether to set “permitted” or “prohibited” may be selected by the administrator in consideration of the user who distributes the image display device 100C and the content of the image that can be displayed on the image display device 100C. For example, “permit” is selected when the reliability to the user is high and the risk of information leakage is low, and “prohibition” is selected if the image handled by the image display apparatus 100C contains highly confidential information. That is, to select. In response to these operations, the control unit 201 causes the communication unit 205 to transmit the image information generated in steps SA2 and SA4 to the management apparatus 300 through the communication unit 205 together with instruction information for instructing to prohibit copying (step SA5).

When the control unit 301 of the management apparatus 300 receives the image information through the communication unit 303 and acquires it, the control unit 301 generates (specifies the black defective display element distribution pattern and the white defective display element distribution pattern based on the image information, respectively. (Step SA6), the data is stored in the storage area of the storage unit 302, and the storage address is written in the ID management table 3021 (Step SA7). Here, this storage address is assumed to be “ID10003”.
In step SA6, the control unit 301 specifies the received image information itself as a defective display element distribution pattern (first specifying unit), and stores it in the storage unit 203. This white defective display element distribution pattern is an image in which only a white defective image is represented by a white image, and an image region in which other positions on the display surface 105 are read is represented by a black image. On the other hand, the black defective display element distribution pattern is an image in which only a black defective image is represented by a black image, and an image region in which other positions on the display surface 105 are read is represented by a white image.

  Subsequently, the control unit 301 issues and acquires a device ID for the image display device 100C, and writes it in the ID management table 3021 in association with the storage address described above (step SA8). In this step SA8, the control unit 301 assigns a device ID different from that already registered in the ID management table 3021 to the image display device 100C, so here the device ID “MID-C” is issued. Shall.

  Then, the control unit 301 determines whether or not the display surface 105 of the image display apparatus 100C can be copied, and writes it in the ID management table 3021 (step SA9). Here, based on the instruction information for instructing prohibition of copying transmitted in step SA5, the control unit 301 determines that the copying is prohibited, and writes “x” in the “copying permission / prohibition” field. The method for determining whether or not copying is possible is not limited to the above-described method, and various methods can be applied to this aspect, for example, copying may be prohibited for all image display devices in which device IDs are registered.

FIG. 11 shows the ID management table 3021 after this registration operation.
As shown in the third row of the figure, the defective display element distribution pattern storage address “ID10003” and the copy permission / inhibition “×” (prohibited) are associated with the device ID “MID-C” assigned to the image display device 100C. ) Is stored.
The above is the description of the registration operation.

(B-2) Copying Operation of Image Display Device 100 Next, the operation of the image display system 1 when the user tries to copy the image displayed on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100 will be described. In the following description of the operation, it is assumed that copying of an image displayed on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C is attempted, and the ID management table 3021 has the contents shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating a flow of processing executed by the image display system 1.
First, the user instructs to display a certain image A on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100 by operating the operation unit 102 of the image display device 100C. Receiving the operation signal representing this operation, the control unit 101 reads out the display data of the image A from the storage unit 103 and instructs the drive unit 104 to display an image corresponding to the display data (second display). Instructing means) displays image A on display surface 105 (step SB1).

  Then, when the user looks at the image A displayed on the image display device 100 and wants to copy this content, the image display device 100C is set on the platen glass of the copy device 200 so that the display surface 105 is read. To do. Subsequently, when the user performs an operation for starting a copying operation using the UI unit 206, the control unit 201 causes the image reading unit 202 to read the display surface 105, and reads the read image information (second image information). Generate (step SB2). Next, the control unit 201 causes the communication unit 205 to transmit this image information to the management apparatus 300 (step SB3). The control unit 301 of the management apparatus 300 causes the storage unit 302 to store the image information acquired by being received by the communication unit 303. And the control part 301 extracts a white defect image from this image information, and calculates the white defect display element distribution pattern (step SB4).

Here, a method for extracting a white defect image in the white defect display element distribution pattern will be specifically described.
When extracting the white defect image, it is the same as the case where the distribution state of the white defect display element is grasped from the image corresponding to the black display in the registration operation described above, and is expressed in black in the image area represented by this image information. A white defective image is extracted from the image area. For example, in characters, figures, graphic images, etc. expressed in black, even if there is a white image of a minute size in the black image area, it is difficult for the human eye to discriminate. A white image is rarely intentionally included in the original image. Therefore, the control unit 301 can refer to the black image area in the image represented by the image information, and extract a white image existing as an isolated point in the area as a white defective image.

  Specifically, the control unit 301 separates the image represented by the image information into continuous regions of the same color. The controller 301 may use a well-known labeling process for assigning a common label to the same color area in the area separation. As described above, although the size of the electrophoretic element P varies, it is approximately several tens of microns. Therefore, the control unit 301 has, for example, 20 microns to 70 microns among a plurality of regions separated by the region separation process. By extracting a white region that falls within the micron range, a white defect image can be extracted. Then, the control unit 301 generates, as a “white defect display element distribution pattern”, an image in which only the extracted white defect image is represented by a white image and other image areas are represented by black images. In this way, the control unit 301 extracts the white defective image and specifies the distribution state of the white defective display elements based on the position (second specifying means).

Next, the control unit 301 extracts a black defective image from the image information and calculates a black defective display element distribution pattern (step SB5).
The black defective image extraction method here is almost the same as the white defective display element extraction method. Then, the control unit 301 generates a “black defect display element distribution pattern”, which is an image in which only the extracted black defective image is represented by a black image and other image regions are represented by white images. In this way, the control unit 301 extracts the black defective image, and specifies the distribution state of the black defective display elements based on the position (second specifying means).

  Subsequently, the control unit 301 associates the defective display element distribution patterns with each other, that is, the white defective display element distribution pattern and the black defective display element distribution pattern calculated in Steps SB4 and SB, for each device ID in the storage unit 302. The white defective display element distribution pattern and the black defective display element distribution pattern are collated (step SB6). In this collation, first, the control unit 301 compares the white defective display element distribution pattern calculated in step SB4 with the white defective display element distribution pattern stored in the storage unit 302 using a known pattern matching method. To do. Then, the control unit 301 calculates the number of images in which the positions of the white defective images coincide with each other, and divides this by the number of white defective images included in the white defective display element distribution pattern calculated in step SB4. By doing so, the degree of coincidence is calculated. Subsequently, the control unit 301 similarly calculates the degree of coincidence between the black defective display element distribution pattern and the black defective display element distribution pattern stored in the storage unit 302 using a known pattern matching method. .

  Then, the control unit 301 determines whether or not there is a match between the compared defective display element distribution patterns (step SB7). Here, the control unit 301 determines that the two match if the matching degree of both the defective display element distribution patterns matches at a threshold (for example, 95%) or more. If the determination result in step SB7 is “YES”, the control unit 301 identifies the device ID having the highest degree of matching among the matching defective element patterns (step SB8). Here, it is assumed that the control unit 301 specifies the device ID “MID-C” assigned to the image display device 100C.

  Next, the control unit 301 refers to the copy permission field associated with the specified device ID “MID-C” in the ID management table 3021 and determines whether or not to permit copying (Step S301). SB9). As shown in FIG. 11, since the copy ID “M” is associated with the device ID “MID-C” of the image display device 100C, the control unit 301 determines that copying is not permitted (step SB9; NO), notifies the copying apparatus 200 that copying is prohibited. This notification process is a process executed on the image display device 100C or an image displayed on the image display device 100C within the restriction range based on restriction information indicating whether copying is permitted. In response to this, the copying apparatus 200 displays a message “copying is prohibited” on the UI unit 206, and does not output image information to the printing unit 204 and performs processing without printing (copying). finish. In this way, copying of an image displayed on the display surface 105 of the image display device 100C can be prohibited.

  On the other hand, in step SB9, when the control unit 301 determines that “◯” is written in the copy permission / prohibition field (step SB9; YES), it notifies the copying apparatus 200 that copying is permitted. This notification process is a process executed on the image display device 100C or an image displayed on the image display device 100C within the limit range based on the limit information indicating whether copying is permitted. When the notification is received by the communication unit 205, the control unit 201 of the copying apparatus 200 reads out the image information stored in the storage unit 203, outputs the image information to the printing unit 204, and prints an image corresponding to the image information. Thus, copying is executed (step SB10).

  Further, in step SB7 described above, when the control unit 301 determines that no matching item is stored in the storage unit 302 in the verification of the defective display element distribution pattern (step SB7; NO), the device ID cannot be specified. Since copying of the image displayed on the registered image display apparatus 100 is not attempted, the copying apparatus 200 is notified that copying is permitted, and copying is performed. This is the case, for example, when a normal copy is attempted by the user, such as a manuscript written on paper.

  According to the embodiment described above, the management apparatus 300 extracts the image corresponding to the defective display element from the image information obtained by reading the display surface 105 of the image display apparatus 100, and the defective display element distribution pattern specified based on these. And the defective display element distribution pattern specified from the image display device 100 registered in advance are identified to identify the image display device 100 and determine whether or not copying is possible. Therefore, it is possible to identify the image display device 100 that is being copied without depending on the image displayed on the image display device 100 so as to hinder the visibility of the user, and according to the identified device. Processing restrictions can be made.

(C) Modifications The above embodiment may be modified as follows. Specifically, the following modifications are mentioned, for example. These modifications can be appropriately combined with each other.
(C-1) Modification 1
In the embodiment described above, the management apparatus 300 compares the defective display element distribution pattern specified by the registration operation with the defective display element distribution pattern specified by the copying operation, and attempts to copy based on a pattern that matches both. The device ID of the displayed image display device 100 is identified. In the first modification, the management apparatus 300 identifies an image displayed on the display surface 105, that is, an image that is being copied, and restricts copying based on the identified image and the image display apparatus 100.
This aspect will be described in detail below.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of an ID management table 3022 stored in the management apparatus 300 having the configuration according to the first modification. As shown in the figure, the ID management table 3022 is the same as the ID management table 3021, and “applicability” is associated with “device ID” and “defective display element distribution pattern storage address”. However, in the ID management table 3022, a “copying permission / non-permission” field is provided for each “image ID” (“IMG-1”, “IMG-2”,..., Illustrated). The image ID is identification information for identifying an image (display data) displayed on the image display device 100. This image ID is assigned to all the display data stored in the storage unit 302 by the management apparatus 300, and is, for example, a file name of the display data. Although not shown in the ID management table 3022, the storage address of the display data to which each image ID is assigned is also written.

Next, the operation of the image display system according to the first modification will be described.
In the following description, it is assumed that the display data of the image displayed by the image display device 100 is acquired from the management device 300, and the same display data is stored in the storage unit 302 of the management device 300. To do. Since the registration operation of the image display apparatus 100 is the same as that in the above-described embodiment, the copying operation of the image display apparatus 100 will be described.

FIG. 14 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of a copying operation executed by the image display system 1.
In the image display system according to the first modification, the processing steps SB1 to SB7 are executed in the same manner as in the embodiment, but the illustration is omitted in FIG. 14 in order to prevent the figure from becoming complicated. Moreover, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the process step showing the same process as FIG. 12, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In step SB8, when the control unit 301 of the management apparatus 300 specifies the apparatus ID of the image display apparatus 100 that is being copied, processing for specifying the image displayed on the image display apparatus 100 is subsequently performed. Start. First, the control unit 301 collates the image information (second image information) transmitted and acquired in step SB3 with display data stored in the storage unit 302 and assigned an image ID (step SB81). Here, the control unit 301 sequentially reads the display data from the storage unit 302 based on the storage address of the display data written in the ID management table 3022, and compares the two using the pattern matching method. Then, the control unit 301 calculates the number of images (that is, pixels) having the same color (white or black) in both images, and calculates the degree of coincidence by dividing this by the number of all pixels.

  Subsequently, the control unit 301 determines whether there is display data that matches the acquired image information (step SB82). At this time, if the degree of coincidence calculated in step SB81 exceeds the threshold value, the control unit 301 determines that the two coincide. However, in this case, if the display surface 105 of the image display apparatus 100 to which copying is attempted includes a large number of defective display elements, the colors are different due to the defective display elements, and the degree of coincidence decreases. May end up. Therefore, it is preferable to set the threshold value to be slightly low in order to increase the accuracy of collation, for example, to set the threshold value to “85%”.

Then, when the control unit 301 determines that there is image information whose matching degree is equal to or greater than the threshold (step SB82; YES), it specifies the image ID having the highest matching degree among the image IDs whose matching degree exceeds the threshold. (Step SB83) Based on this image ID, the device ID specified in Step SB8, and the ID management table 3022, it is determined whether or not copying is possible (Step SB91). Then, the control unit 301 notifies the copying apparatus 200 of the determined copying permission / inhibition, and the copying apparatus 200 performs processing according to the content. On the other hand, if the control unit 301 determines that there is no image information whose degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than the threshold value (step SB82; NO), the image displayed on the image display device 100 in which copying has been attempted cannot be specified. From the viewpoint of ensuring security, the copying apparatus 200 is notified to prohibit copying.
According to the first modification, the management device 300 can limit processing according to the image displayed on the display surface 105 in addition to the processing limitation for each image display device 100. Therefore, for example, it is also possible to prohibit copying of images including highly confidential information only to a specific user and permit other copying, thereby restricting copying without degrading the convenience for the user. be able to.

(C-2) Modification 2
In the embodiment described above, in the collation process in step SB6, the management apparatus 300 collates the defective display element distribution pattern generated from the image information and the previously registered defective display element distribution pattern using the pattern matching method. However, other methods may be used. For example, the control unit 301 of the management apparatus 300 divides the image area of each defective display element distribution pattern into minute areas and counts the number of defective images included in each area. Then, the control unit 301 compares the number of defective images between regions in the corresponding positions of both of the defective display element distribution patterns, and the minute region where the number matches and the minute region where the number does not match. The degree of coincidence may be calculated according to the number of. Further, instead of collating the entire image area of the defective display element distribution pattern, it is possible to collate only a part of the image area. In short, as long as the distribution state of defective images is collated as a feature amount, the collation method is not limited to these.

(C-3) Modification 3
In the embodiment described above, the management apparatus 300 restricts copying according to the apparatus ID, but the content of the restriction performed according to the apparatus ID is not limited to this. In short, any method may be used as long as it restricts execution of processing on the image display device 100 or processing on the image displayed on the image display device 100. For example, the contents of this restriction may limit the transmission output of image information to an external device (printer, PC, etc.), the display output of image information to a display device, etc., or the content of image information can be changed. (E.g., superimposing another image), the execution of processing on the image may be limited. In such a case, the design of the “copying permission / prohibition” field of the ID management table 3021 is appropriately changed according to the processing content.
For example, in an image display system that includes an image reading apparatus such as a scanner instead of the copying apparatus 200, the management apparatus 300 performs collation based on image information generated by the image reading apparatus. When the management apparatus 300 identifies the apparatus ID, the management apparatus 300 determines whether or not the image reading apparatus can output the image information to the external apparatus based on the ID management table, and outputs the image information if it is possible. The process is restricted to notify the user to do so.

(C-4) Modification 4
In the above-described embodiment, the management apparatus 300 generates defect display element distribution patterns for two types of white defect display elements and black defect display elements, and collates them. On the other hand, you may process based on only a white defect display element, or only a black defect display element. For example, if processing is performed only for the white defective display elements, each apparatus omits the process of obtaining the black defective display element distribution pattern from the black display image information in the registration operation, and the management apparatus 300 also performs black processing in the copying operation. Since processing relating to the defective display element can be omitted, more rapid processing is possible. As to which mode the registration operation and the copying operation are performed, the copying apparatus 200 and the management apparatus 300 may have a plurality of operation modes, and each apparatus may be switched according to the operation mode set by the administrator. . In the copying operation, the management apparatus 300 refers to the content of the image information, and performs processing based only on the white defective display element distribution pattern if there are many black image areas. If there are many black image areas, the black defective display element The management apparatus 300 may appropriately switch based on the content of the image, such as performing processing based only on the distribution pattern.

(C-5) Modification 5
In the embodiment described above, the management apparatus 300 identifies the apparatus ID by collating the defective display element distribution pattern, and grasps the image display apparatus 100 that is attempting to copy based on the identified apparatus ID. As described above, the defective display element distribution pattern itself may be used as the identification information of the display device 100 without using the device ID assigned to the display device 100. This is because the defective display element distribution pattern is different for each display device 100 and can be used as identification information for each display device 100.
According to this aspect, in the registration operation, the management apparatus 300 omits the process of acquiring and writing the apparatus ID in step SA8, and associates only “defective element distribution pattern” with “copying permission / inhibition” in the ID management table. . Next, in the copying operation, the management device 300 omits the process of specifying the device ID in step SB8, and compares the defective display element distribution pattern specified in the registration operation with the defective display element distribution pattern specified in the copying operation. Depending on the result, copying will be restricted. Even with such a configuration, the management apparatus 300 can restrict copying to each image display apparatus 100 as in the embodiment.

(C-6) Modification 6
In the embodiment described above, the display surface 105 is configured by arranging electrophoretic elements, but a display body in which the display surface is configured by other display elements may be used. In short, if the display body is composed of a large number of display elements and a certain number of display elements can be defective display elements, the display bodies and devices are identified based on the distribution status of the defective display elements. can do. In the case of an electrophoretic element, the ratio of defective display elements is 1 to 5%, which is a ratio sufficient for matching the defective display element distribution pattern.

(C-7) Modification 7
Further, in the outline portion of the image, it may be difficult to distinguish between a normal display element displaying the image and a defective display element. Therefore, the following may be performed.
FIG. 15 is an enlarged view of the image area of the contour portion of the image in the image obtained by reading the display surface 105. In FIG. 15, the boundary line L means the contour of an image displayed based on display data stored in the storage unit 103 or the like. With this boundary line L as a boundary, a black image area on the left side and a white image area on the right side have a certain size or more.
Next, FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a broken line in the image area shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, the electrophoretic elements P1 and P2 belong to a black image region, and the entire inside of the outline of the display element is black. On the other hand, since the electrophoretic elements P3 and P5 belong to the black image area on the left side and belong to the white image area on the right side, the electrophoretic elements P3 and P5 are displayed in colors corresponding to the areas belonging to the boundary line L. However, although only the electrophoretic element P4 is on the boundary line L, the entire inside of the outline of the element is black. Since the electrophoretic element P4 is a defective display element, it is displayed in a shape different from the boundary line L corresponding to the contour of the image area. Therefore, the control unit 101 of the image display apparatus 100 detects a shape portion different from the boundary line L from such image information using image recognition processing such as frequency analysis. And the control part 101 estimates the outline of the electrophoretic element P4 from the detected shape part. More specifically, the control unit 101 detects a portion l1 having a shape different from the contour of the image region as shown in FIG. 17, that is, the boundary line L between the black image region and the white image region. In short, the boundary line L is a line that connects the contour portions of the shape of the pixel electrode PE. Therefore, data representing the shape of the pixel electrode PE is stored in the storage unit 103, and the control unit 101 detects an isolated portion l1 on the boundary line L that does not match the shape represented by this data. Next, in consideration of the outline of the electrophoretic element P4 having a substantially circular shape (its center of gravity being 1 g), the control unit 101 obtains a part l2 that is an arc that is an extension of the part l1 by calculation. Then, the control unit 101 determines that there is a black defective image in an area within a circle composed of the isolated portion l1 and the isolated portion l2, and uses the defective display element distribution pattern as a target for collation.

In this case, the shape of the pixel electrode PE is not limited to a square.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the shape of the pixel electrode PE in this modification. In the example shown in FIG. 18, the pixel electrode PE is generally square, but has a missing portion on some sides. Even in such a case, since the storage unit 103 stores the shape of the pixel electrode PE in advance, a defective display element can be detected from the difference in shape from the electrophoretic element P as described above. it can.
As described above, the control unit 101 may detect the defective display element by performing the above-described processing from the contour portion of the image, or may detect an area other than the contour portion (for example, an image displayed in one color). From the inner area, a defective display element may be detected by the same procedure as in the embodiment.

(C-8) Modification 8
In the above-described embodiment, the management apparatus 300 identifies the distribution pattern of defective display elements scattered over the entire surface of the display surface 105 in the copying operation, and compares this with the pattern identified in the registration operation. 100 were identified. In addition to collation based on such a position, collation based on the size or shape of each defective display element may be performed.
Specifically, when storing the defective display element distribution pattern, the control unit 101 obtains at least one of the size or the shape of each defective display element and includes data representing it in the defective element distribution pattern. Each ID is written in the ID management table in association with each defective image. Then, the control unit 101 obtains at least one of the size and the shape of each image, in addition to the image corresponding to the defective display element, from the image information acquired in the copying operation. Then, the control unit 101 collates the defective element distribution pattern described in the ID management table, the size or shape, the defective display element in the defective display element distribution pattern specified in the copying operation, and the size or shape. And identify the matches. Of course, in this case as well, even if the two do not completely match, if the difference between the two falls within a predetermined threshold, they may be considered to match.
According to this aspect, matching defective display elements can be collated with higher accuracy.

(C-9) Modification 9
In the above-described embodiment, each electrophoretic element P is encapsulated with the dispersion medium DM including a plurality of pigment particles divided into two colors of white and black. The color of the pigment particles is one color. May be other than white or black. For example, in the case of one color, the dispersion medium DM for dispersing the pigment particles may be colored in a color having no light transmittance different from the color of the pigment particles. In this way, by applying a voltage between the pixel electrode PE and the common electrode CE, if the pigment particles move to the front side, the color is displayed on the front side, and if the pigment particles move to the back side, Since the color of the dispersion medium DM is displayed on the surface, the electrophoretic element P can be driven so that the color is displayed according to the driving voltage. In this case, in the black display and white display performed by the image display apparatus 100 in steps SA1 and SA3, an image is displayed in which the entire display surface 105 has the same color, although the color corresponds to the color of the pigment particles. Therefore, the defective display element distribution pattern can be specified in the same manner as in the embodiment.

(C-10) Modification 10
In the above-described embodiment, the image display device 100 is a thin and highly portable display device, but may be a display device such as a desktop computer or a mobile computer. In the embodiment, in the image display system 1, the copying apparatus 200 and the management apparatus 300 are provided as separate apparatuses. However, the functions realized by the management apparatus 300 may be configured to be realized by the copying apparatus 200. . In this case, the image display system is configured by the image display device 100 and a device capable of realizing both the functions realized by the management device and the copying device. Further, the functions realized by the management apparatus 300 and the functions realized by the copying apparatus 200 may be further distributed and provided to a plurality of apparatuses.
The control program executed by the control unit 301 of the management apparatus 300 and the control unit 201 of the copying apparatus 200 includes a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a CD (Compact Disk). , A DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a RAM, and other recording media.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an image display system. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of an image display apparatus. It is the figure which showed the structure of the display body typically 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure and state of an electrophoretic element P. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure and state of the electrophoretic element PB1 and PB2. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a copying apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a management apparatus. It is the figure which showed an example of ID management table. It is a sequence diagram which shows the flow of the registration operation | movement which an image display system performs. The figure which showed typically the image displayed on the display body of an image display apparatus It is the figure which showed ID management table after this registration operation. It is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a copying operation executed by the image display system. It is the figure which showed an example of the ID management table which the management apparatus of the structure concerning the modification 1 memorize | stores. It is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a copying operation executed by the image display system. It is the figure which expanded the image area | region of the outline part of an image among the images which read the display surface. It is the figure which expanded the part enclosed with the broken line among the image areas shown in FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the method to detect the part of the shape different from the outline of an image. It is a figure which shows an example of the shape of a pixel electrode.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image display system, 100, 100A, 100B, 100C ... Image display apparatus, 101, 201, 301 ... Control part, 102 ... Operation part, 103, 203, 302 ... Memory | storage part, 104 ... Drive part, 105 ... Display surface , 105D ... display body, 1051 ... first substrate, 1052 ... binder, 1053 ... second substrate, 106, 205, 303 ... communication unit, 200 ... copying device, 202 ... image reading unit, 204 ... printing unit, 206 ... UI 300, management device, 3021, 3022, ID management table, 400, LAN.

Claims (10)

A display device and a management device;
The display device
A display surface on which a plurality of display elements are arranged;
Driving means for driving the display element to display an image;
The management device
First acquisition means for acquiring first image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device;
An image region corresponding to a defective display element that cannot be driven by the driving unit among a plurality of the display elements is extracted from the image of the first image information acquired by the first acquisition unit, and the extracted image region First specifying means for specifying the distribution status of the defective display elements on the display surface based on the position of
Storage means for storing the distribution status specified by the first specifying means and the restriction information related to the restriction of processing on the display device in association with each other;
Second acquisition means for acquiring second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution status and the restriction information are stored by the storage means;
An image area corresponding to the defective display element is extracted from the image of the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means, and the defective display element on the display surface is extracted based on the position of the extracted image area. A second specifying means for specifying the distribution status;
Collating means for collating the distribution status specified by the second specifying means with the distribution status stored in the storage means and determining whether or not the degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than a threshold;
The processing for the display device or displayed on the display device within the range of the restriction based on the restriction information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status determined to be equal to or higher than the threshold by the matching means An image display system comprising: processing means for executing processing on an image. In the display element, a liquid in which a plurality of colored charged particles are dispersed is enclosed,
2. The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the driving unit displays an image by changing a direction of an electric field with respect to the display element and moving the charged particles in a liquid sealed in the display element. The image display system described. The display device
First instruction means for instructing the driving means to display an image for specifying a distribution state of the defective display elements among the plurality of display elements;
Second instruction means for instructing the driving means to display an image according to the image data,
The first acquisition unit of the management device acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface on which an image for specifying a distribution state of the defective display elements is displayed;
The second acquisition unit of the management device acquires second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface on which an image corresponding to the image data is displayed. 2. The image display system according to 2. The said 1st instruction | indication means instruct | indicates to the said drive means to display the image from which the whole said display surface becomes the same color as an image for specifying the said distribution condition. The image display system described in 1. A copying apparatus comprising: an image reading unit that reads a display surface of the display device and generates image information representing the read image; and a printing unit that prints an image having contents according to the image information generated by the image reading unit. With
The storage means stores, as the restriction information, whether or not the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means can be printed,
The first acquisition unit acquires first image information representing an image read by the image reading unit of the copying apparatus on a display surface of the display device on which an image for specifying the distribution state is displayed. ,
It said second acquisition means acquires the second image information representing an image by the image reading means has read the copying apparatus display surface of the display device on which an image is displayed corresponding to the images data,
The processing means includes
In the case where the storage means stores the fact that the second image information can be printed as the restriction information, the printing means of the copying apparatus responds to the second image information. The image display system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a process for permitting an image to be printed is executed. First acquisition means for acquiring first image information representing an image obtained by reading a display surface on which a plurality of display elements in the display device are arranged;
Extracted from the image of the first image information acquired by the first acquisition means is an image area corresponding to a defective display element that cannot be driven to display an image among the plurality of display elements, and extracted First specifying means for specifying a distribution status of the defective display elements on the display surface based on a position of an image region;
Storage means for storing the distribution status specified by the first specifying means and the restriction information related to the restriction of processing on the display device in association with each other;
Second acquisition means for acquiring second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution status and the restriction information are stored by the storage means;
An image area corresponding to the defective display element is extracted from the image of the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means, and the defective display element on the display surface is extracted based on the position of the extracted image area. A second specifying means for specifying the distribution status;
Collation means for collating the distribution status specified by the second specifying means with the distribution status stored in the storage means, and determining whether the degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than a threshold; and the collation The processing for the display device or the image displayed on the display device is within the limits of the limit information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status determined by the means to be equal to or higher than the threshold. A management device comprising: processing means for executing processing. The first acquisition means acquires first image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface on which an image for specifying a distribution state of the defective display elements is displayed;
It said second acquisition means, management apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that to obtain the second image information representing the image read the display surface of an image corresponding to image picture data are displayed . The storage means stores the image data in association with the distribution status, and stores information regarding processing restrictions on the image data as the restriction information.
The image processing device further includes image specifying means for comparing the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means with the image data stored in the storage means, and specifying image data whose matching degree is equal to or greater than a threshold value.
The processing means is within a restriction range by the restriction information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status determined by the matching means to be equal to or higher than the threshold and the image data specified by the image specifying means. The management apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein a process for the display device or a process for an image displayed on the display device is executed. The storage means stores whether or not the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means can be output as the restriction information,
The processing means outputs the second image information as the restriction information when the storage means stores that the second image information can be output. Item 9. The management device according to any one of Items 6 to 8. Computer
First acquisition means for acquiring first image information representing an image obtained by reading a display surface on which a plurality of display elements in the display device are arranged;
Extracted from the image of the first image information acquired by the first acquisition means is an image area corresponding to a defective display element that cannot be driven to display an image among the plurality of display elements, and extracted First specifying means for specifying a distribution status of the defective display elements on the display surface based on a position of an image region;
Storage means for storing the distribution status specified by the first specifying means and the restriction information related to the restriction of processing on the display device in association with each other;
Second acquisition means for acquiring second image information representing an image obtained by reading the display surface of the display device after the distribution status and the restriction information are stored by the storage means;
An image area corresponding to the defective display element is extracted from the image of the second image information acquired by the second acquisition means, and the defective display element on the display surface is extracted based on the position of the extracted image area. A second specifying means for specifying the distribution status;
Collation means for collating the distribution status specified by the second specifying means with the distribution status stored in the storage means, and determining whether the degree of coincidence is equal to or greater than a threshold; and the collation The processing for the display device or the image displayed on the display device is within the limits of the limit information stored in the storage means in association with the distribution status determined by the means to be equal to or higher than the threshold. A program for functioning as a processing means for executing processing.

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