JP7094207B2 - Display device for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle provided with a display panel provided for a vehicle such as an automobile.

A display device for a vehicle that displays an image such as a design or a character on the body of an automobile has been proposed in order to advertise or advertise using the vehicle, for example, the automobile, or to ensure the driving safety of the automobile. .. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a technique in which a projector is installed in a side mirror or a rear lamp of an automobile, and an image is projected and displayed on the outer surface of a vehicle body panel of the automobile. Further, Patent Document 2 proposes a technique in which a display panel made of a transmissive organic EL display is arranged on a vehicle body panel or a window of an automobile, and an image is displayed on the display panel.

JP-A-2015-148678 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-655938

In a vehicle with automatic driving control (hereinafter referred to as an automatic driving vehicle) proposed in recent years, it is conceivable to omit the window and lighting device normally provided on the vehicle body, so that the display is displayed on the vehicle body panel and the outer surface of the vehicle body including the window. It is possible to dispose of a device, for example a display panel. As a result, it is possible to realize a display device for a vehicle in which almost the entire outer surface of the vehicle body of the autonomous driving vehicle is configured as a display surface.

In such a vehicle display device, it is easy to control the display form of the image displayed on the display panel, so that it depends on the difference in the distance between the self-driving car and the viewer (the person who sees the displayed image). It is conceivable to control the size of the image to be displayed. That is, the image is displayed in a large size for the viewer at a distant position, and the viewer's vehicle can easily see the image. As described above, considering displaying a large-sized image, it is sufficient to use a low-resolution display panel as the display panel, which is preferable from the viewpoint of cost.

On the other hand, when a viewer near the self-driving car visually recognizes an image, particularly a text image, it is necessary to reduce the size to an appropriate size for easy viewing. To deal with this, it is necessary to use a high-resolution display panel. However, if such a high-resolution display panel is arranged in a wide area of the vehicle body of the autonomous driving vehicle, there arises a problem that the display device becomes expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide a display device for a vehicle that solves a cost problem while performing a suitable display for a viewer.

The vehicle display device of the present invention includes a display panel arranged on the vehicle body of the vehicle to display a required image, and the display panel is a low-resolution panel that displays an image at a low resolution and an image at a high resolution. It is composed of a high-resolution panel to be displayed, and it is possible to display an image displayed in a display area including at least a low-resolution panel in the display area of the high-resolution panel.

In the display panel according to the present invention, the high resolution panel is arranged in a part of the display area, and the low resolution panel is arranged in the other area. On top of that, the image displayed over both the low-resolution panel and high-resolution panel display areas can be reduced and displayed in the high-resolution panel display area. Alternatively, the image displayed in the display area of the low resolution panel can be reduced and displayed in the display area of the high resolution panel.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a display device for a vehicle that can be configured at low cost while displaying a display suitable for a viewer.

The schematic external view of the self-driving car of Embodiment 1. FIG. Block configuration diagram of display control means. An external perspective view and a partially enlarged view illustrating the display mode 1 of the first embodiment. An external perspective view and a partially enlarged view illustrating the display form 2 of the first embodiment. The external perspective view explaining the display form of the modification of Embodiment 1. FIG. The external perspective view explaining the display form of Embodiment 2.

(Embodiment 1)
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of an autonomous vehicle according to the first embodiment to which the vehicle display device of the present invention is applied. The self-driving car 1 is configured as a four-wheeled vehicle having a low-floor box-shaped body body 10, and is automatically driven by automatic driving control. The vehicle body 10 is made of a rigid material, and the front, rear, left and right four side surfaces are formed of a transparent material except for the pillars 11 provided at the four corners, or the inside and outside are opened so as to communicate with each other. Has been done. The front, back, left and right are the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1 for convenience.

A pair of sliding doors 12 are arranged on the left side of the four side surfaces, and when each of them is slid, the inside of the vehicle body body 10, that is, the passenger compartment is opened to the outside, and passengers can get on and off or put in and take out luggage. You can do it. It is preferable that these sliding doors 12 are also made of a transparent material or formed in a frame shape in which the inside and the outside communicate with each other.

On top of that, display panels 2 (2F, 2B, 2L, 2R) are arranged on the front side surface and the rear side surface, and the left side surface and the right side surface of the vehicle body body 10. In particular, the display panel 2L on the left side includes two display panels 21 and 22 arranged on each of the two slide doors 12, and two display panels 23 arranged on the side surfaces 13 on both sides of the slide door. It is composed of four display panels including 24.

Although the illustration and detailed description of the structure of the display panel 2 are omitted, the display panel 2 is composed of an LCD (liquid crystal display) panel or an organic EL panel, displays an arbitrary image, and is visually recognized from the outside of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. It is possible. Further, since the display panel 2 is in a transparent state when the image is not displayed, it is possible to visually recognize the outside from the vehicle interior of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. The display panel 2 does not necessarily have to be transparent.

The four display panels 21 to 24 on the left side surface are composed of display panels in which pixels are arranged at a predetermined density, and the two display panels 21 and 22 are arranged on the slide door 12. The central region in the vertical direction thereof is composed of display panels 211 and 221 in which pixels are arranged in a relatively high density. Hereinafter, the display panel in which the former pixels are arranged at a predetermined density is referred to as a low-resolution panel, and the latter display panel in which the pixels are arranged in a relatively high density is referred to as a high-resolution panel.

That is, in the display panels 21 and 22 of the two sliding doors 12, a part of the central region in the vertical direction of the respective display regions is composed of the high resolution panels 211 and 221. The high-resolution panels 211 and 221 are areas corresponding to an average human eye height position of about 0.7 to 1.7 m from the ground. Therefore, in the two display panels 21 and 22 of the slide door 12, the central region in the vertical direction is composed of the high resolution panels 211 and 221, and the upper and lower display regions sandwiching the high resolution panels 211 and 222 are the low resolution panels 212 and 222. It will be composed of.

A sensor 31 is arranged on the upper part of the roof 14 of the vehicle body 10. This sensor 31 is composed of an image pickup camera having an image pickup element such as a CCD or MOS or LiDAR (light detection and ranging), and is a viewer existing around the autonomous driving vehicle 1, particularly in the left side region, that is, a pedestrian. It is possible to detect humans such as.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a display control means 3 that controls the display panel 2. The display control means 3 includes a viewer detection unit 32 and an image control unit 33 in addition to the sensor 31. The viewer detection unit 32 detects a viewer who visually recognizes the display panel 2 of the autonomous driving vehicle 1, particularly the display panel 2L on the left side surface, based on the output of the sensor 31. The sensor 31 and the viewer detection unit 32 constitute a viewer detection means. The viewer detection unit 32 further detects the detected position information of the viewer, particularly whether the viewer is near or farther from the left side surface of the autonomous driving vehicle 1.

When detecting this position information, for example, the distance between the autonomous driving vehicle and the viewer is detected, and whether or not this distance is larger than a predetermined reference distance is determined to detect whether the vehicle is far or near. Alternatively, the detected distance may be simply detected as position information.

The image control unit 33 controls the display form of the image to be displayed on the display panel 2 based on the position information of the viewer detected by the viewer detection unit 32. A communication device 34 wirelessly connected to a base station, another vehicle, the Internet, or the like is connected to the image control unit 33, and data related to a display image is input via the communication device 34, and the input data is input. It is possible to display the corresponding image on the display panel 2. Further, an input unit 35 is connected to the image control unit 33, and it is possible to display an image corresponding to the data input by the occupant of the autonomous driving vehicle in the input unit 35 on the display panel 2.

The image to be displayed based on these data is an advertisement image for advertisement, a sign image such as a road sign, a character image such as a message for communication, and an image such as a symbol. Further, the image may be either a still image or a moving image. Further, it may be a monochrome image or a color image.

In the autonomous vehicle 1 provided with the vehicle display device having this configuration, the image control unit 33 has display panels 2 (2F, 2B) arranged on the front, rear, left and right sides of the vehicle body 10 based on the input data. , 2L, 2R) to display the desired image. Then, with respect to the display panel 2L on the left side surface, the display form of the image is controlled based on the position information of the viewer detected by the viewer detection unit 32.

3 and 4 are schematic external views of the display control mode, the autonomous driving vehicle 1 is parked or stopped, and the viewer M is present on the left side of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. When the viewer detection unit 32 detects the viewer M, the distance Lx between the viewer M and the autonomous driving vehicle is detected, and this distance Lx is compared with the reference distance. When the distance is equal to or greater than the reference distance, it is determined to be far away, and when the distance is shorter than the reference distance, it is determined to be near.

The image control unit 33 displays a required image on the display panel 2 based on the data from the communication device 34 or the input unit 35. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the viewer detection unit 32 determines that the viewer M is far away, the image control unit 33 displays an image over the entire display area of the four display panels 21 to 24 on the left side surface. Is displayed. Here, each of the four images of the image "ABCD" is displayed on each of the display panels 21 to 24, and the image is displayed as an enlarged image as much as possible.

Looking at the display panel 22 of the rear sliding door of the two sliding doors 12, the entire display area of the display panel 22, that is, the high-resolution panel, as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. 3 (b). The image "C" is enlarged and displayed over an area including each display area of the 221 and the low resolution panel 222. Although the resolution of the image is low in the display area of the low resolution panel 222, it is displayed as a magnified large image and the viewer is viewing from a distant position, so that the low resolution is not a problem and the image is not a problem. Can be suitably visually recognized and confirmed. Since the resolution of the image is high in the display area of the high resolution panel 221, the resolution does not matter at all. At this time, although not shown, the high resolution panel may be displayed at the same resolution as the low resolution panel.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the viewer detection unit 32 detects that the viewer M is approaching the left side surface of the autonomous driving vehicle 1, the image control unit 33 displays the image “ABCD”. , And these images are displayed in the display area of the high resolution panels 211,221 of the two display panels 21 and 22 of the sliding door. Here, the image "AB" is displayed on the high-resolution panel 211 of the front sliding door, and the image "CD" is displayed on the high-resolution panel 221 of the rear sliding door.

Looking at the display panel 22 of the sliding door on the rear side, as shown in FIG. 4 (b) by enlarging a part, no image is displayed in the display area of the low resolution panel 22, and the high resolution is obtained. The image "CD" is reduced to fit in the display area of the panel 221 and displayed in high definition. Since the high resolution panel 221 has a high image resolution, it can be displayed as a high-definition image even if the image is reduced. Further, since the viewer M is approaching the autonomous driving vehicle 1 and the high-resolution panel 221 is located at the height of the human eye, the reduced image can be preferably visually recognized.

At this time, by stopping the supply of electric power so as not to display the image on the low resolution panels 212 and 222, the electric power can be saved by that amount. Further, when the display area of the high-resolution panels 211 and 221 has a margin due to the reduction of the image, another image may be displayed, and the information to be displayed can be increased.

In addition, in FIG. 1, when a viewer gets on and off the automatic driving vehicle 1, the slide door 12 is in an open state, but when the viewer opens and closes, each slide door 12 is on the left side surface 13 of the vehicle body. If it is configured to be moved to the outer surface side, the display panels 23 and 24 are hidden by the slide door when the slide door 12 is opened, but the display panels 21 and 22 of the slide door 12 are on the front surface. Since it is located at, the viewer can visually recognize the high-definition image displayed on the high-resolution panels 211 and 221 when getting on and off.

In this way, even if most of the display area of the display panels 21 and 22 is composed of the low resolution panels 212 and 222, the image is enlarged on the display panels 21 and 22 when the viewer is far from the autonomous driving vehicle 1. Since the viewer M can reliably view the image, the resolution of the low-resolution panels 212 and 222 does not matter. On the other hand, when the viewer is nearby, the image is reduced and displayed on the high-resolution panels 211 and 221 configured as part of the display panels 21 and 22, so that the viewer M can reliably see the image. And a lot of information can be obtained. As a result, the image can be suitably displayed on the display panel and the cost can be reduced.

When the image is enlarged and displayed, the display may be controlled so that the size of the image is continuously changed by following the change in the distance between the autonomous driving vehicle and the viewer. That is, as the viewer approaches, the enlarged and displayed image may be gradually reduced, and the image may be displayed in the display area of the high-resolution panel when the distance becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance.

Further, when displaying the images shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, if all the enlarged images cannot be displayed on the display panels 21 and 22 or the display panels 21 to 24 at the same time, or all the reduced images cannot be displayed at the same time with high resolution. If the images cannot be displayed on the panels 211 and 211, the images may be displayed while scrolling on these display panels.

The above description is an example of the case where the viewer moves, but the same display control can be realized even when the viewer is stationary and the autonomous driving vehicle 1 moves. For example, when an autonomous vehicle is applied to a passenger bus, when the bus is traveling away from the bus stop, an image showing the destination of the bus over the entire display area of the display panel including the low resolution panel. Is displayed in a large size so that passengers at the bus stop can see the image. When the bus stops at a bus stop, the image is displayed on the high-resolution panel, and other images, such as the name of the bus stop that will stop in the future, are displayed so that passengers can see these images in a clear state. It can be visually recognized.

(Modification 1)
FIG. 5 is a schematic external view of a modification 1 of the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals are given to the portions equivalent to those of the first embodiment. In this modification 1, as shown in FIG. 5A, the two sliding doors 12 and the four display panels 21 to 24 arranged on the left side surface 13 sandwiching the two sliding doors 12 are each composed of low resolution panels. However, the central region in the vertical direction of these four display panels 21 to 24 is a high-resolution panel 211,221,231,241 (hereinafter, 211 to 211) that is substantially connected in a band shape over the front-rear direction of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. It is configured as 241).

Also in the first modification, when the viewer is far away, as shown in FIG. 5A, the entire display area of the four display panels 21 to 24 on the left side surface, that is, the entire display area including the high resolution panels 211 to 241 is included. The image "ABCD" is enlarged and displayed in the display area. When the viewer is nearby, the image "ABCD" is reduced and displayed in high definition on the high resolution panels 211 to 241 as shown in FIG. 5 (b). A close viewer can visually recognize the reduced high-definition image displayed on the high-resolution panels 211 to 241. The reduced image may be displayed on only one high-resolution panel, for example, the high-resolution panel 211.

In the first modification, since the high-resolution panels 211 to 241 are arranged longer in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body of the autonomous driving vehicle 1 as compared with the first embodiment, horizontally long images, for example, images of long character strings are collectively displayed. Can be displayed. Further, in the modified example 1, the high-resolution panels 211 to 241 are formed horizontally, but by reducing the vertical dimension, the size of the entire high-resolution panels 211 to 241 as compared with the first embodiment ( Area) can be suppressed to the same level or less, and cost reduction can be realized.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a schematic external view of the second embodiment, and the parts corresponding to those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals. In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6A, the present invention is applied to the display panel 2F on the front side surface of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. That is, in the display panel 2F on the front side surface, the high resolution panel 251 arranged in a part of the upper part of the display area and the low resolution panel 252 are arranged in the surrounding display area surrounding the high resolution panel 251. It is configured as a display panel 25 provided.

In the second embodiment, when the viewer is far away, the image is enlarged and displayed in the display area of the low resolution panel 252 of the display panel 25 on the front side surface. Here, the image "ABCD" is enlarged and displayed on the low resolution panel 252 as much as possible. On the other hand, when the viewer is nearby, the image "ABCD" is reduced and displayed in the display area of the high-resolution panel 251 as shown in FIG. 6 (b).

For example, as illustrated in the first embodiment, when the bus consisting of the self-driving car 1 is traveling at a position away from the bus stop, a large image of the destination of the bus is displayed on the entire surface of the low resolution panel 252. Make the image visible to passengers at the bus stop. When the bus approaches the bus stop, the image is reduced and displayed in high definition on the high resolution panel 251. In addition, other information such as bus numbers are combined and displayed in high definition. Passengers can obtain information related to the bus by visually recognizing the high-definition image displayed on the high-resolution panel 251. As a result, the viewer can reliably view the displayed image regardless of the difference in distance between the self-driving car and the viewer. At the same time, the cost information of the display panel 2F on the front side surface can be suppressed.

Although not shown, the second embodiment may be applied to the display panel 2B on the rear side surface of the autonomous driving vehicle 1. In this case, when the self-driving car is traveling and the following vehicle is in the distance, the image is enlarged and displayed in the entire display area of the display panel 2B on the rear side surface. When a following vehicle approaches, the image is reduced and displayed in high definition on a high-resolution panel arranged in a part of the display panel 2B. As a result, the occupants of the following vehicle can reliably see the image displayed on the autonomous driving vehicle regardless of the difference in the inter-vehicle distance from the following vehicle. At the same time, the display panel on the rear side surface can be configured at low cost.

In the present invention, as in the first embodiment, when displaying an enlarged image, it may be displayed in the entire display area of the display panel including the high-resolution panel and the low-resolution panel, or may be carried out. As in the second embodiment, it may be displayed only in the display area of the low resolution panel. In either case, when displaying the image on the high-resolution panel, the image may be displayed so as to fit in the display area of the high-resolution panel.

In the first and second embodiments described above, in addition to the size of the image to be displayed, the shape and the brightness of the image (including brightness, saturation, and contrast) may be appropriately controlled. In particular, even if the size of the image to be displayed is controlled when the viewer is far away, the brightness and contrast are controlled to be high, and the brightness and contrast are controlled to be lowered as the relative distance is shortened. good.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention may control an image to be displayed according to a traveling condition of a vehicle without detecting a viewer. For example, the image may be displayed in the entire display area of the display panel while the vehicle is running, and the image may be displayed in the display area of the high resolution panel when the vehicle is stopped. Alternatively, the occupant of the vehicle may artificially control the display form of the image while checking the situation around the self-driving car. In the case of the configuration as described above, the viewer detection unit in the display control means described in the first embodiment can be omitted, and the configuration of the image control unit can be simplified.

The present invention is not limited to the display device of an autonomous driving vehicle, and can be applied to a vehicle having a display panel on a vehicle body or a window. Further, the display panels provided on the vehicle do not necessarily have to be arranged on all four side surfaces of the vehicle body of the vehicle, and the present invention can be applied to the display panels provided.

1 Self-driving car (own vehicle)
2 (2F, 2B, 2R, 2L) Display panel 3 Display control means 10 Body body 12 Sliding door 13 Body left side surface 14 Roof 21 to 24 Display panel (left side surface)
25 Display panel (front side)
31 Sensor (visual detection means)
32 Visualizer detection unit (visualist detection means)
33 Image control unit (image control means)
34 Communication device 35 Input unit 211,221,231,241,251 High resolution panel 212,222,252 Low resolution panel

Claims (8)

A display panel is provided on the vehicle body to display a required image, and the display panel is composed of a low-resolution panel that displays an image at a low resolution and a high-resolution panel that displays an image at a high resolution. The vehicle display device is characterized in that an image displayed in a display area including at least a low resolution panel can be displayed in a display area of a high resolution panel. The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein the display panel has a high-resolution panel arranged in a part of a display area and a low-resolution panel arranged in the other area. The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the image displayed over both the low-resolution panel and the high-resolution panel display areas can be reduced and displayed in the display area of the high-resolution panel. The vehicle display device according to claim 2, wherein the image displayed in the display area of the low resolution panel can be reduced and displayed in the display area of the high resolution panel. A display control means for controlling an image displayed on the display panel is provided, and the display control means is a visual recognition that exists around the vehicle and visually recognizes an image displayed on the display panel and a visual recognition that detects the position thereof. A person detecting means and an image control means for controlling an image displayed on the display panel according to the position of the viewer detected by the viewer detecting means are provided, and the image controlling means responds to a change in the position of the viewer. The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which controls an image to be displayed. The image control means changes and controls the size of the image according to the difference in the distance between the vehicle and the viewer, and when the distance is equal to or greater than a predetermined distance, the image is placed in an area including a display area of the low resolution panel. The vehicle display device according to claim 5, which displays and displays the image in the display area of the high resolution panel when the distance becomes shorter than a predetermined distance. The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the vehicle is an autonomous vehicle, and the display panel is arranged on the vehicle body of the autonomous vehicle. The vehicle is provided with a communication device wirelessly connected to the outside, and the image control means controls an image to be displayed and a display form thereof based on a signal received by the communication device or an instruction of a vehicle occupant. The vehicle display device according to claim 7.

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