JP5238334B2 - Lightning display system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device that displays a character, a figure, a symbol, an image, and the like by arranging a plurality of light emitters such as LEDs (light emitting diodes) on a printed circuit board and selectively emitting each light emitter. The present invention relates to an electric light display system including a display data editing device that creates display data to be displayed on a device.

  Conventionally, a display device in which a plurality of LEDs are arranged on a printed circuit board and selectively flashing and driving to display characters / images by light emission is known. It is installed on storefronts, traffic, building walls, etc. It is used to illuminate business guides and taglines for attracting customers. The contents displayed there are created in advance by a display information input device prepared exclusively for that, or a display data editing device composed of a personal computer, etc., as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, and display data editing is performed. In many cases, a method of transferring data from the device to the display device is employed. The data created by the display data editing device can be broadly divided into display data that indicates how the LED blinks and display schedule data that indicates when and when this display data is displayed. There are two types, and the display device performs a display operation by reading out display data according to display schedule data.

More specifically, the contents of the display data include standard character code information such as JIS first level, second level, and Unicode representing characters and symbols to be displayed, and graphic information representing the display screen with a large number of dot data. The display device is a standard in which character patterns of full-width characters and half-width characters having a predetermined number of dots (for example, 16 × 16 dots and 24 × 24 dots) corresponding to the standard font code information included in the display data are prepared. Font data is stored.
JP-A 63-66594

  For this reason, when it is desired to display with a font type (typeface) that is not included in the standard font data provided in the display device, the standard font data of the type to be displayed is prepared on the editing device side, and so-called This can be done by creating dot pattern data for each character as an external character, or creating a whole series of sentences to be displayed as one dot pattern data.

  As described above, the external character function is used to display the font of the typeface that does not exist on the display device side, but this external character function is also used when it is desired to give a special display effect to the light emitting display character. . For example, this is a case where anti-aliasing processing is performed on characters. This type of display device is equipped with a bitmap font with a narrowed typeface and font size in order to reduce CPU load on display processing, reduce internal memory capacity, or reduce costs. Specifications that perform gradation display may be adopted, and even if a device has a multi-gradation display function, depending on the type of business of the owner who uses the display device, priority is given to the visual effect with a reduced scale. Character display by key may be performed. In that case, when the characters are displayed with high quality of multi-gradation, the external character function is used. Specifically, the display data editing apparatus first reads out outline information from desired font data to be subjected to gradation display, and obtains anti-aliasing data in bitmap font format including multi-gradation dot information. At this time, by making a bitmap font with the number of dots according to the display screen configuration on the display device side, a dot configuration such as 16 × 16 dots or 24 × 24 dots per character display can be obtained. An external character font code is assigned to the anti-aliasing data with dot configuration adapted to the screen and handled as an external character.

  The external characters created in this way are smoother than the single-tone display characters based on the standard font data provided on the display device side, and the jagged so-called jagged edges generated in the shaded portion of the characters are not noticeable. It can be displayed as high-quality characters. However, at the stage of performing anti-aliasing processing, there is a problem that the size of the characters that are produced varies depending on the font type of the underlying font data. This problem is caused by a blank line for preventing contact between characters included in the underlying font data. As shown in FIG. 5, the number of blank lines varies depending on the typeface. Therefore, the font data that contains many blank lines will reduce the size of the character body. In addition, by applying anti-aliasing processing, there are many dots that emit light so thin that they can hardly be recognized at the peripheral part of the outline of the character body or at the end of the line, and bitmap fonts should be made including these thin light emitting dots Thus, the situation that the size of the character main body is reduced as a whole is overlapped, which leads to a problem that the difference in character size between different typefaces becomes more conspicuous.

  The present invention has been made in response to the above problems, and the problem is that the display data editing apparatus executes anti-aliasing processing to create an external character regardless of the type of font. An object of the present invention is to provide an electro-optical display system that can substantially match the size of character bodies.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a display device that displays display data such as characters and images by blinking a plurality of arranged LEDs, and a display data editing device that creates display data to be displayed on the display device. An electronic display system comprising: a display unit configured by arranging a plurality of light emitters on a printed circuit board in a dot matrix arrangement, and characters to be displayed on the display unit as a standard font data. A standard font storage unit for display, an external character font storage unit for storing an external character font to be lit and displayed on the display unit as external character font data, and each of the light emitters arranged on the display unit emit light in single gradation or multiple gradations. A display drive unit for driving, a standard font storage unit for storing standard font data in the display data editing device, and a standard font storage unit. Based on the standard font data憶, expand as a dot pattern information is read out antialiasing data consisting of multiple tone dot information, character contact included in the dot pattern by performing edge detection on this expanded dot pattern The standard font is used for determining the size of the character body excluding the blank line or column for prevention and the character body, and excluding the determined blank line or column and the row or column including the light emitting dots included in the outer peripheral portion of the character body. An anti-alias data expansion unit that expands the developed dot pattern vertically and horizontally so that the size of the dot pattern read from the storage unit and the dot pattern expanded by the processing of the anti-alias data expansion unit before the expansion process To delete the dot information of rows and columns located outside the pattern configuration The dot pattern size before the enlargement process is restored, the external character font data is added to the dot pattern restored to the size before the enlargement process, and the external character font data is generated as the external character font data, and is read from the standard font storage unit A display data creation unit that creates display data to be displayed on the display device using the standard font data and the external character font data created by the external character font data creation unit, and is created by the external character font data creation unit of the display data editing device An electro-optical display system is proposed in which the external character font data is transferred to a display device and used as external character font data for light emission display.

  In the proposed electro-optic display system, when the display data created by the display data creation unit includes standard font data, the display device can display the standard font read from the display standard font storage unit in a single gradation. desirable.

  In addition, when the proposed electronic display system includes external character font data in the display data created by the display data creation unit, the display device uses the dot pattern information of the external character font data included in the display data or pre-stored external character font data. Based on the above, it is desirable to display the external character font in a multi-tone display.

  In the proposed electro-optical display system, it is desirable that there are a plurality of types of standard font data stored in the standard font storage unit of the display data editing apparatus.

  According to the electro-optical display system of the present invention, in the display data editing device, when creating an external character to be lit and displayed on the display device side based on the standard font data held on the editing device side, anti-aliasing processing is performed from the standard font data. The multi-tone dot pattern read out is expanded vertically and horizontally, and then the dot information of the row and column located outside the dot pattern before the enlargement process in the enlarged dot pattern is deleted. Return to the dot pattern size before enlargement processing and convert to bitmap font. This eliminates thin light emitting dots that emit light that is almost unrecognizable and appears at the edge of the outline of the character body that has undergone anti-aliasing processing, as well as for preventing character contact that appears due to differences in the font type of standard font data. You can delete the blank line to increase the size of the character body. Therefore, it becomes possible to make the size of characters almost the same regardless of the type of font. Further, unnecessary blank lines are not generated in the dot matrix on the display device side, and a display with excellent visibility can be performed by maximally utilizing the display screen.

  In addition, when the display data created by the display data editing device includes standard font data that can be handled with the standard font code, the display device displays the standard font in a single gradation, so display processing is performed inside the display device. As a result, the display processing can be performed in a state where the memory capacity of the internal memory has a margin and the display operation on the display screen can be lightened.

  In addition, when the display data created by the display data editing device includes external character font data, the display device displays the external character font in multiple gradations. The standard font is being displayed in, and the external character font can be displayed with multi-tones with an anti-aliasing effect. As a result, it is possible to further enhance the high quality of the display quality of the external character font.

  In addition, since the display data editing device has multiple types of standard font data that serve as base data for creating external character font data, various types of external character fonts can be displayed with high quality according to the preferences of the display device owner. Can be made.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an electric light display system according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an electro-optical display system according to an embodiment of the present invention. A display data editing apparatus 1 is configured by installing an application program for editing display data on a personal computer, and generates display data and display schedule data necessary for performing a display operation on a display apparatus described later. Reference numeral 2 denotes a display device, which will be described below. Reference numeral 3 denotes a display unit, and a plurality of single-color LEDs (yellow in this embodiment) are arranged in a dot matrix on a printed circuit board to constitute a display screen. This display unit can display a plurality of characters or display an image or the like using a matrix surface. In the illustrated example, a full-size character represented by a matrix of 24 × 24 dots is displayed in the horizontal direction. 6 characters can be displayed, and a matrix of vertical 24 dots × horizontal 144 dots is formed. A display driving unit 4 receives display control data from a CPU, which will be described later, and dynamically drives the LEDs arranged on the display screen 3 to emit and display characters, figures, symbols, images, and the like on the matrix. The display drive unit 4 has a multi-gradation display function capable of expressing gradation of each LED with 32 levels of light emission luminance.

  Reference numeral 5 denotes a CPU which performs display processing procedures according to programs and data stored in the memory 6. The memory 6 includes a control program storage unit 6a in which an operation program related to the movement of the entire display device is stored, a display standard font storage unit 6b to which individual standard font codes are assigned and characters and symbols are stored as dot data, An external character font created by the display data editing apparatus 1 and assigned with an individual external character font code is stored as dot information and luminance information for each dot, and display data is displayed on the display unit 3 by light emission. Is stored, and a display schedule storage unit 6e that gives display timing to the stored display data. Reference numeral 7 denotes a VRAM, which expands display data read from the display data storage unit 6 d of the memory 6 as bit information in the storage area and outputs display control data to the display drive unit 4. This VRAM corresponds to the dot matrix configuration of the display unit 3, and has a storage area capable of developing dot data for a plurality of characters on the basis of a 24 × 24 dot matrix corresponding to one full-width character. ing. The data content of the display data is a data structure composed of a sequence of a standard font code corresponding to a standard font, an external character font code corresponding to an external character font, an identification code given to image data, and the like, and is displayed on the display unit 3 Needs to be converted into dot pattern information corresponding to the LED array on the display screen. Therefore, the dot pattern read from the display standard font storage unit 6b, the dot pattern of the external character font, and the dot pattern of the image data are expanded in the storage area of the VRAM 7 and then output as display control data.

  A real-time clock IC 8 receives a request from the CPU 5 at an arbitrary timing, and outputs calendar information such as year, date, day of the week, and time. A remote controller 9 communicates via a remote control receiver 9a and a remote control interface 9b provided in the vicinity of the display unit 3, and simply creates display data according to a menu displayed on the display unit 3 in accordance with the remote control operation. And change, display schedule data settings and other various data settings. A memory card 10 is attached to and detached from the display device via the PC card interface 10a, and serves as a storage medium for transferring display data, display schedule, external font data, and various data created by the display data editing device 1 to the memory 6. Used. 11 is a protocol converter that performs protocol conversion between EIA 232 and TCP / IP, connects to the display data editing device 1 via the signal cable 12 and the Internet network, and is created by the display data editing device 1 as described above. Display data, display schedule, external character font data, and various data can be transferred to the memory 6.

  Next, the configuration of the display data editing apparatus 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 15 denotes a personal computer, which is a display data editing program 16 (corresponding to a display data creation unit described in claims), a standard font storage unit 17, a standard font cache 18, and an anti-alias data expansion program 20 (claims). An anti-alias data development unit described in the scope), an external character font data creation program 21 (corresponding to an external character font data creation unit described in claims), a data storage area 22, and a protocol converter 11. Yes.

  The display data editing program 16 is an application program for creating display data to be displayed on the display device 2 and schedule data thereof. By starting this program and operating a keyboard and mouse (not shown), it is possible to create new display data, edit the created display data, assign a new display schedule, change the contents of the display schedule, and the like.

  The standard font storage unit 17 stores standard fonts installed in a personal computer OS (operating system) as a scalable font of vector information. The standard font cache 18 stores the vector information format data in a bitmap font format suitable for the display device 2, rasterizes the vector information scalable font, and has 2 × 24 × 24 dots. It is converted into a bitmap font consisting of value information (single gradation), and each font and its standard font code are stored in a one-to-one correspondence. When the display data is created by the display data editing program 16, when a character is input from the keyboard, dot information of 24 × 24 dots corresponding to the input character is output from the standard font cache 18. The standard font storage unit 17 stores a plurality of types of font data such as Mincho, Gothic, and line fonts, and a desired font can be selected according to the purpose and preference.

  The anti-aliasing data expansion program 20 has a function of requesting character outline information from the standard font storage unit 17 and converting it into a bitmap font composed of 24 × 24 dots multi-tone information subjected to anti-aliasing processing. At this stage, the dot information (dots to be displayed) constituting the character body and blank lines or columns (lines or columns not including the dots to be displayed) are included in the dot information of 24 × 24 dots. ing. Subsequently, the antialiasing data of the bitmap font composed of the 24 × 24 dot multi-gradation information is developed as dot pattern information of 24 × 24 dots in the data storage area of the internal memory described later, and then the developed dots A process of temporarily expanding the pattern information to a dot size larger than 24 × 24 dots is executed. Specifically, edge detection is performed on the dot pattern information of 24 × 24 dots, a blank line or column for character contact prevention included in 24 × 24 dots is distinguished from a character body, and a blank line or The original 24 × 24 dot data read out from the standard font storage unit 17 so that the character body has a size of 24 × 24 dots in a state where the thin light emitting dots included in the outer periphery of the column and the character body are removed, The image is enlarged to a large size (for example, 28 × 28 dots) by adding the blank line or blank column to be deleted and the thin light emitting dots on the outer periphery of the character body.

  The external character font data creation program 21 converts the enlarged dot pattern information obtained by executing the anti-aliasing data development program 20 into a size of 24 × 24 dots, which is the number of dots per character of the dot matrix arranged on the display unit 3. Execute the process to return. As described above, the dot pattern information obtained through the processing of the anti-aliasing data expansion program 20 has a character body of 24 × 24 dots in the 24 × 24 dot dot pattern information read from the standard font storage unit 17. Therefore, unnecessary dot information existing around the character main body due to the enlargement is deleted from the outer periphery of the dot pattern information and returned to a size of 24 × 24 dots. This process deletes rows or columns that contain thin light emitting dots that are hardly involved in the visibility that appears at the edges and edges of the character body, and blank rows and columns that existed around the character body. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate variations in the number of blank lines / number of columns caused by the difference in type of fonts read from the standard font storage unit 17. In this way, a unique external character font code is added to the data obtained by returning the dot group data constituting the character body to the size of 24 × 24 dots while removing unnecessary dots, and is generated as external character font data. The created external character font data can be used as a single independent character in the display software created by the display data editing program 16, and the external character font data itself is stored in the external character font of the display device 2 alone. It becomes possible to transfer to the unit 6c.

  Reference numeral 22 denotes an internal memory, which is used to expand work data when the anti-aliasing data expansion program 20 is executed, or to temporarily store and hold created external character font data, as described above. A protocol converter 11 performs a protocol conversion process between the EIA 232 and TCP / IP, and connects to a display device installed far away via the signal cable 12 and the Internet network. Reference numeral 25 denotes a PC card drive which is connected to the personal computer 15 through a USB port or the like and enables reading / writing with respect to the memory card 10. External character font data and display software stored and held in the data storage area of the internal memory 22 are transferred to the display device side via the memory card 10 and the signal cable 12.

  Next, creation of external character font data according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing executed by the anti-aliasing data expansion program 20 and the external character font data creation program 21. First, font data of a typeface to be displayed on the display device 2 is selected from the font data stored in the standard font storage unit 17, and outline information with an anti-aliasing effect regarding the selected font data is read (S1). FIG. 4A shows an example of the outline information read out here, that is, anti-aliasing data. The figure shows an example in which the character “Kei” is read out with “MS Mincho”. As shown in the figure, the upper part of the data read out in the size of the upper 24 × 24 dots includes one blank line. ing. By performing edge detection processing on the dot pattern information of 24 × 24 dots, it is determined that one blank line is included, and this blank line to be deleted exists around the character body. The antialiasing data shown in FIG. 4 (a) is expanded to 28 × 28 dots as shown in FIG. 4 (b) taking into account the number of rows / columns containing the thin light emitting dots (S2). By this process, blank lines and rows / columns including thin light emitting dots that were included in 24 × 24 dots before enlargement are included in two upper and lower rows and two left and right columns existing around 28 × 28 dots. Will be included. Next, the dots contained in the enlarged 28 × 28 dots in the upper and lower two rows and the left and right two columns are deleted (S3). As shown in FIG. 4 (b), there are blank rows and thin light emitting dots in the upper and lower two rows and the two right and left columns of “Kei”. The dot group data to be configured has a configuration of vertical 24 dots × horizontal 24 dots. The result is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the thin light emitting dots are removed from the end points of the line elements constituting the character body, and the dots that emit light with relatively high luminance appear at the end points. By this processing, it is possible to represent the character body as large as possible within a range of 24 × 24 dots. Next, a unique external character font code derived from the standard font code used as a base is assigned to the 24 × 24 dot data representing the enlarged dot group data (S3), and registered as external character font data (S3). S5).

  Next, the configuration of display data created by the display data editing program 16 will be described. The display data is composed of text data (characters, words, sentences, pictograms, etc.) and image data to be displayed alone or in series, and an identification code is given and stored in association with the identification code. For example, if you want to display “Isurasaisei” in the standard font with a single gradation display on the display unit 3 of the display device, “I” “Ra” “tsu” “shi” “nya” “i” “ma” “se” A unique identification code is assigned to text data in which standard font codes representing "are sequentially arranged. If you want to display "Issai Sei" as multi-gradation data with anti-aliasing effect, select "I", "R", "T", "Shi", "Nya", "I", "Ma", "Se" Each character is created as the above-mentioned external character font data, text data in which external character font codes corresponding to each character are arranged in order, and dot pattern information composed of 24 × 24 dots multi-tone information expressing each external character font, Is included in the display data. In addition, when displaying a still image or animation as a dot image that spans a plurality of character areas on the display unit 3, an image identification code is given to a group of dot images, and the image identification code and the dot image that is its contents are displayed Include in display data as a set. Each display data is given display mode information for designating how the contents of the display data are displayed. With this display mode, it is possible to set a plurality of display operations such as left / right / up / down scrolling, blinking in units of display screens or characters, color change, and rotation display.

  The present invention is configured as described above, but various implementations other than the above-described embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the claims. For example, in the embodiment, the dot configuration per character display is 24 × 24 dots, but it goes without saying that other dot configurations can be used. In the embodiment, the 24 × 24 dot outline information read from the standard font storage unit is expanded to 28 × 28 dots, and the rows / columns including blank lines and thin light emitting dots are deleted to obtain 24 × 24 dots. While returning to the size, the character body is represented as large as possible within a range of 24 × 24 dots. However, the present invention can be implemented by switching the order of the enlargement process and the deletion process. Specifically, edge detection is performed on the 24 × 24 dot dot pattern information read from the standard font storage unit, and blank rows or columns for preventing character contact included in the 24 × 24 dots, the character body, , First delete the dot information (light emitting dots) contained in one row and one column each on the top and bottom of the character body, and then remove the blank rows or columns and the light emitting dots to reduce the size The resulting dot group data may be enlarged to 24 × 24 dots, which is the original size. In the embodiment, the outline information of 24 × 24 dots read out from the standard font storage unit is enlarged to 28 × 28 dots, but the enlargement magnification is not limited to this.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the electroluminescent display system in connection with the Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows in detail the display data editing apparatus which comprises an electric light display system. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of an external character font data creation process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of the outline information read from the standard font memory | storage part. It is explanatory drawing which compared the size of the character by the difference in a typeface.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display data editing apparatus 2 Display apparatus 3 Display part 4 Display drive part 5 CPU
6 memory 6a control program storage unit 6b standard font storage unit for display 6c external character font storage unit 6d display data storage unit 6e display schedule storage unit 7 VRAM
8 Real-time clock 9 Remote control 10 Memory card 12 Signal cable 15 Personal computer 16 Display data editing program as display data creation unit 17 Standard font storage unit 18 Standard font cache 20 Anti-alias data development program as anti-alias data development unit 21 External character as external character font data creation unit Font data creation program 22 Internal memory

Claims (4)

An electric light display system comprising a display device that displays display data such as characters and images by blinking a plurality of LEDs, and a display data editing device that creates display data to be displayed on the display device,
In the display device,
A display unit configured by arranging a plurality of light emitters on a printed circuit board in a dot matrix; and
A standard font storage unit for display that stores characters to be lit and displayed on the display unit as standard font data;
An external character font storage unit for storing an external character font to be luminescently displayed on the display unit as external character font data;
A display driving unit that drives the light emitters arranged in the display unit to emit light in a single gradation or multiple gradations, respectively.
In the display data editing device,
A standard font storage unit for storing standard font data;
Based on the standard font data stored in the standard font storage unit, anti-aliasing data composed of multi-tone dot information is read out and developed as dot pattern information , and edge detection is performed on the developed dot pattern to perform dot detection. Character blanks or columns for character contact prevention included in the pattern and the character body are distinguished, and the character body excluding the detected blank row or column and the row or column including the light emitting dot included in the outer periphery of the character body. An anti-aliasing data expansion unit that expands the expanded dot pattern vertically and horizontally so that the size is the size of the dot pattern read from the standard font storage unit ;
Of the dot patterns expanded by the processing of the anti-aliasing data development unit, the dot information of the rows and columns located outside the dot pattern configuration before the expansion processing is deleted to return to the dot pattern size before the expansion processing. An external character font data creation unit that assigns an external character font code to the dot pattern returned to the size before the enlargement process and makes the external character font data,
A display data creation unit for creating display data to be displayed on the display device using the standard font data read from the standard font storage unit and the external character font data created by the external character font data creation unit;
An electronic display system, wherein external character font data created by an external character font data creation unit of a display data editing device is transferred to a display device and used as external character font data for light emission display.   2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein when the display data created by the display data creation unit includes standard font data, the display device emits and displays the standard font read from the display standard font storage unit in a single gradation. Lightning display system.   When the display data created by the display data creation unit includes external character font data, the display device converts the external character font in multiple gradations based on the dot pattern information of the external character font data included in the display data or the external character font data stored in advance. The light-emitting display system according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting display is performed.   2. The electronic display system according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of types of standard font data stored in the standard font storage unit of the display data editing apparatus.

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