JPH01134523A - Picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To instantaneously display pictures when a display request is received by estimating the picture to be required next from the picture series displayed in the past and the information on the picture under display and storing the estimated picture in plural frame memories. CONSTITUTION:A display series memory part 60 stores the past display requests; while a relative information memory part 70 stores the information on the page under display. These stored information are sent to an estimation control part 40 for estimation of the page to be required next. The picture data on the estimated page is read out of a picture file during the time when a user is looking at the picture under display and stored in a frame memory 10 via an input switch/transfer part 20. Thus it is possible to instantaneously display the relevant picture when the display request is received as long as the page required next for display is included in those estimated pages.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an image display device that stores documents etc. using a computer and displays them on a CRT. The present invention relates to a preliminary control method for an image display device suitable for predicting an image that is requested to be displayed and performing image transfer in advance.

[Prior Art] As described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-255390, in order to perform page turning at high speed, a conventional device has two pages: the page image currently being displayed and the page image to be displayed next. It consists of frame memory. With this configuration, you can scroll from the currently displayed page in a natural way, as if you were turning the pages of a book.
The next page can be displayed. However, unless there is a means to transfer one image data from an external storage medium to a frame memory at high speed, the function of turning pages one after another cannot be realized. Generally, image data has a large capacity, so it is difficult to store all documents to be viewed in a frame memory.

Usually, it is stored on an external medium such as a magnetic disk drive or an optical disk drive. The document image display device reads the requested image data from these devices, transfers it to main memory, and displays the document via frame memory.

In order to achieve high-speed page turning in this manner, it is necessary to optimize the entire process including transfer from external media.

In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to speed up the access path,
It will be necessary to increase speed by virtualizing storage media such as cache memory. These speed-up technologies are used in current electronic computers. In other words, the access speed can be increased by increasing the speed itself or by increasing the apparent speed by providing parallel paths. Speeding up storage media such as cache memory through virtualization is necessary to absorb the difference in capacity and speed between the CPU and main memory. That is, data transferred from a slow medium is once stored on a faster medium, and the second and subsequent accesses are made to the faster medium. High-speed storage devices usually have a smaller capacity, so memory management is required. L RU (L e
AstRecentlyUsed) is often used in virtual storage devices. In this method, when there is no free space in the high-speed memory, the least referenced area is selected as the new area for transfer. This increases the access rate to the high-speed memory, resulting in a high-speed, large-capacity area as a whole. A storage device can be realized.

[The problem that the invention is trying to solve]

The above conventional technology is intended to speed up display from frame memory, but does not take into account the need to speed up page turning for the entire device, including transfer from external storage, and does not take into account how to use the device. There has been a problem in that even if a person issues a display request to a document image that they want to view, it is not displayed immediately. In addition, the memory management method found in virtual storage devices does not take into account the fact that data areas that are likely to be accessed next are transferred in advance, so if there is no data in high-speed storage, There was a problem in that it was necessary to wait for transfer from low-speed storage.

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the speed and capacity differences between the external memory that stores large amounts of image data and the frame memory that stores data for one display, and to immediately The second part is about realizing a device that can display images.

[Means for solving problems]

The above purpose is achieved by providing a means for predicting the next image that will be requested from a series of images displayed in the past and image information related to the image currently being displayed, using a plurality of high-speed frame memories. achieved.

[Effect]

Image data stored in frame memory can be displayed immediately. However, it is difficult to store a large amount of document image data in this frame memory due to its capacity. These data are normal.

Stored in slow external storage. Therefore, if there are multiple frame memories, other document images can be stored in frame memories other than the frame memory currently being displayed, so if the document image requested to be displayed is already stored in the frame memory. can be displayed immediately.

Furthermore, images are transferred optically using the time the user is viewing the displayed document. As a result, if the prediction of the document page for which the primary display is requested is correct, it can be displayed immediately. This prediction is based on the following empirical aspects: There is a high probability that the page turn will be before or after the page you are currently viewing. Furthermore, there is a high probability that the page is a related page, that is, a page of figures or tables referenced in the text, or another document that is a reference.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a document image display device and related devices. The document image display device is controlled by CI) U3O. A user of this device inputs a document search or display request using a keyboard 110 and a mouse 120 connected to the input control section 100. The output control unit 200 selects one of the image memories from the image memory group 300 connected to the system bus 10 and transfers the image information to the frame memory 210. The CRT 220 draws the image information in the frame memory 210 onto the CRT 230. The image memory 1 to the image memory N may be configured as individual functional parts, or the image memory 300 may be configured as one functional part and the inside thereof may be logically divided to form a group of N image memories. may be configured. Although the information stored in the image memory 300 is in the form of an image, it may be in the form of a known image compression code in order to reduce capacity and transfer time. Further, the output control unit 200 develops the character information and graphic information stored in the memory 30 into an image and transfers it to the frame memory 210. Furthermore, the output control section may also execute so-called multi-window control that displays a plurality of screens on the same CRT. Therefore, - pages are stored in each image memory of the image memory group 300 in the form of image information. The auxiliary file 40 is
It is used for working with 0 and for storing additional information corresponding to image information. The communication control unit 50 exchanges information with other devices via the LAN 60. The image storage device shown in FIG. 1 includes a communication control section 50, a CPU 20. Memory 30. It is composed of an auxiliary file 40, an image file 70, and the like.

Next, the flow of this system operation will be explained, focusing on display requests from users. The user inputs a request via the keyboard 110 and mouse 120 according to the screen displayed on the CRT 230.

If document A consists of pages a1 to aA, document A
- Input a request to display page a from the keyboard 110 or mouse 120. The CPU 20 processes the requested image document A.
It is confirmed whether page a1 is stored in any of the image memory groups 300.

If the image is already stored, the image is displayed on the CRT 230 via the output control section.

If it is not stored, the communication control unit 50° LAN6
The communication control unit 50.0 issues an image transfer request to the CPU 20 of the image storage device via the communication control unit 50. The image is transferred via the LAN 60 to a transferable image memory in the image memory group 300 of the document image display device and displayed. After viewing the displayed image, the user decides which page to view next and inputs a display request again. During this time, ie, the time from the end of image display to the input of a display request, the single document image display device waits for an input from the user, making it possible to perform other tasks. As for which page to view next, there is a high possibility that it will be the previous or next page or a page with related content, so use the input waiting time mentioned above to transfer those images in advance. By doing so, the time required from inputting a display request to starting display can be shortened. This advanced control method will be explained in detail below. Even if the image file 70 exists in the document image display device, there is no need to change the control method described here.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a conceptual configuration example for realizing the advanced control method. It is assumed that one image memory group 10 is composed of eight image memories. The input switching transfer section 20 transfers the image information inputted from 21 to one of the image memories of the image memory group 10 through 22 according to the output of the predictive control section 40 . The output switching transfer section 30 is a predictive control section 40.
According to the output of , image information is read out from the image memory through 32 and transferred to 31 . Therefore, access to the image memory through 21.degree. 31 is controlled by the predictive control section 40. The prediction control unit 40 then controls the resource monitor unit 502 display sequence storage unit 60 . Related information storage unit 70
Based on the output from , it predicts which document/page will be requested to display next, and determines to which image memory it will be transferred. The resource monitor unit 50 monitors the usage status of resources such as the blocks, CPU, auxiliary files, communication control, LAN, and image files that make up the document image display device and related devices shown in FIG. When images are started to be forwarded one after another using predictive control, these resources will be used exclusively. For example, when a multi-window is used in a document image display device and there are two or more display windows, it is necessary to use the CPU while balancing both windows. Furthermore, when multiple document image display devices are connected to the same LAN, multiple image transfer requests may be issued simultaneously, increasing data traffic on the LAN. Issuing a transfer request that exceeds the resource margin will reduce the throughput of the entire system, so the predictive control unit 4
tell to. The display sequence storage unit 60 stores past display requests and transmits them to the prediction control unit 40. With this information, it is possible to predict which page will be requested next.

Furthermore, the related information storage section 7o.

By transmitting page information related to the currently displayed page to the prediction control unit 40, it is possible to predict which page will be requested first. These parts, the predictive control unit 40. The respective configuration methods of the resource monitor unit 509 display series storage unit 60 and related information storage unit 70 and their mutual relationship will be described in detail later.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a division method when each image memory is configured as a single functional component instead of as an individual functional component.0 Image memory management table 10 and an image memory 20 are configured. The image memory management table contains
The start address, length, etc. in the image memory 20 corresponding to the logical image memory are stored. In the divided state shown in FIG. 3, a second image memory, a first image memory and a fifth image memory are allocated on the one image memory 20. The capacity per image changes for compressed images or images of different sizes, so when changing the contents of the second image memory to other image data, if it does not fit within the length of Ll, the capacity of one image memory is changed. The area having a length of Ll from the beginning of 20 becomes an invalid area. The hatched area indicates the invalid area created in this way. The size of these invalid areas can be managed using known techniques.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a time series of image numbers requested to be displayed, the contents of the image memory, and an outline of the corresponding moving object. when the system is started.

Assume that no image is stored in the image memory.

If there are 8 sets of image memories, the display request series No.
Numbers 1 through 8 are stored in the free image memory for each request. FIG. 5 shows the contents of the image memory corresponding to requests up to No. 5. Image number PR0 with display request No. 9
003 is requested.

Since P#0003 is already stored in the image memory 3, the contents of this image memory 3 are displayed without executing the transfer. That is, by providing a plurality of image memories, the number of transfers can be reduced. Such execution management is carried out by the predictive control unit 40 shown in FIG.
This can be achieved by managing the image numbers stored in 0. In addition, display request No. in FIG. 4,
Similarly, since P#0O04 is already stored in the image memory 4, the transfer is not executed for P#0O04. Furthermore, display request N
If there is a request for image number P#0010 of o, 11,
This image does not exist in the image memory, and there is no free space in the image memory, so from among the 8 sets of image memories,
One side of the image memory must be selected and transferred to that area.

In FIG. 4, among the images existing in the image memory group, the image memory that stores the image with the image number for which display was requested the oldest is selected.

This selection method is LRU (Least Recent
This method is known as the ly Used method. N
With respect to the display requests of 0 and 11, the oldest display request is P#0OO1 and is stored in the image memory 1, so psooto is transferred to the image memory 1. No
, 12, the image memory 2 stores No.
13 is transferred to the image memory 5. here,
Image memory 5 was selected because the image information in image memory 5 was older than image memories 3 and 4, and there was a request for display. The contents of the image memory at this time are shown in FIG.

The details of the image memory management method based on the LRU method will be explained using FIGS. 7, 8, and 9.

Pointer OO is the first number of free image memory, pointer 0
Pointer 1 points to the image memory for which the latest display request was made, and pointer 02 points to the image memory for which the display request was made the oldest. Pointer 1 and Pointer 2 These are pointers for managing the access order. Pointer 1 points to the image from the image memory that has been recently requested to be displayed, and pointer 2 points to the older image that has been requested to be displayed. The value of the pointer is O
The symbol indicates the end of the chain. FIG. 7 shows the values of pointers for the state shown in FIG. The pointer OO indicates that the 1-image memories 6 to 7 are free areas, the image memory 5 is the most recently requested image from the pointer 01, and by sequentially tracing the pointer 2, the access type of the display request can be determined.

Pointer 02 and pointer l are pointer 01 and pointer 2
This is a pointer that indicates the chain in the reverse direction, and becomes valid when changing the access type. Further, the image number stores the number of image information stored in each image memory. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the management state immediately before the state shown in FIG. 6 is reached, and FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the management state when the state shown in FIG. 6 is reached.

That is, in FIG. 8, it can be seen from the pointer 02 that the image for which the earliest display request was made is in the image memory 5. Therefore, in response to the display request of P#0012, the image is transferred to the area of the image memory 5, and the pointers are changed as follows. In other words, pointer 01 is changed to 5 in order to set the image memory 5 for which the most recent display request was made, and related pointers 1 and 2 are changed to set the image memory for which the next most recent display request was made to 2. . Here, pointer 1 of image memory 2 is rewritten from 0 to 65, pointer 1 of image memory 5 is rewritten from 6 to 0, pointer 2 is rewritten from 0 to 2, and pointer 2 of image memory 6 is rewritten from 5 to 0. There is. The pointer 02 has also been rewritten from 5 to 6 since the image for which the oldest display request was made is 6.

The image memory management methods described so far have focused on accessing images that have been requested to be displayed.

However, if there are images that are referenced frequently, it may be possible to limit unnecessary image transfers if there is a priority order for each image itself, rather than an evaluation criterion based only on access types. For example, when viewing the contents of a document such as a patent publication on an image display device, instead of reading the main text, it is better to refer to the page where the scope of claims is written or to refer to representative figures. It's probably normal. At this time, it is preferable to adopt a selection method that also includes the priority order of images, rather than simply managing them based on access types that have received display requests. Figure 10 is a flowchart showing a method for managing image memory based on the priorities and access types given to images in advance (P
: Program Analysis Diagram
m). In step 100, related variables are initialized.

PTR is an intermediate variable that stores a pointer, EX I ST
is a logical variable that indicates whether the image requested to be displayed exists in the current image memory, and the purge candidate level indicates that there is no free space in the image memory and there is no image requested to be displayed. In this case, it is an intermediate variable that stores the priority level that determines to which area of the image memory the display-requested image is transferred. Step 200 shows repeating over one image memory group while EXI ST is false. Step 210 indicates that the difference between the access type and priority of the image currently being investigated is determined and the value is compared with the purge candidate level. If the difference is greater than the purge candidate level, step 211 is executed. , PTR is set as a purge candidate image. Next step 220
The image number of the image requested to be displayed stored in the image memory pointed to by PTR is compared. If it matches, step 2
11. Step 222 is executed. That is, the logical variable EXIST is set to true, and the pointers are changed to update the access types. If they do not match, steps 210 and subsequent steps are repeated for the image having the first-order access class. After completing the repetition of step 200, step 30
0, if the logical variable is false, i.e. there is no image requested to be displayed in the image memory, step 31
0 and execute step 320. At this time, since the purge candidate images have been determined, the pointers for updating the access types are changed in step 310, and the pointers for updating the access types are changed in step 32.
0, the display request image is transferred to the purge candidate image area.

In this way, images with high priority can be made resident without being purged.

So far, we have described a control method for how to perform transfer depending on whether or not an image requested for display exists in the image memory, and a method for managing the image memory.

Next, a method of proactively transferring images will be described. In this case, the predicted image is transferred together with the image requested to be displayed, so the image memory management method described above is slightly different. In FIGS. 7, 8, and 9, pointer 01 points to the image memory for which the display request was made most recently, but it is necessary to change the management method to one in which it is assumed that there is also a display request for the predicted image. be.

It is more likely to be called the Least Recently Requested method.

FIG. 11 is an example of predicting the sequence of image numbers that will be requested to be displayed in the future, including the past number; sequence number 1 of the image number requested to be displayed. This method is realized by the display sequence storage section 60 and the predictive control section 40 shown in FIG. Find the current display requested image number pk and the previous display requested image number Pk-2 using the following formula8, - dk = (Pk Pk-t)/IPk-Ph-xl
■dk-1=(Pk-t Pk-*)/IPs
c-t Pk-11■dk-z=(Pm-z-Pk-
a)/1Ph-2Pk-sl ■Calculated like this 1
The prediction series for the 8 combinations of ±1 values are the first
Figure 1. 4. N indicates the maximum number of predictions. From this table, N
, dk ten,.

The image number is determined by the following formula.

The method of predicting from past display sequences described above is based on the empirical rule that when viewing a document in page order, there is a tendency to continue viewing the next page.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing document/image numbers related to the image requested to be displayed. If the related document number and related image number are created in advance as shown in this figure, it becomes possible to transfer related images in advance. This is based on the experience and rule that there is a tendency to refer to the document following the currently displayed document or to a page related to one page of the currently displayed document.・For example, when considering displaying images of multiple documents as a result of a machine search such as a keyword search, when the first page of the first document is being displayed, there is a possibility that there will be a request to display the next page. The highest number is the first of the second text.
page, or the second page of the first text, and even within the same document - requesting the page where the next chapter existed, rather than the next page. In other words, there are many requests for the next page after the currently displayed page.

It can be said that these pages are related. Therefore, the image can be transferred in advance by utilizing the time the user is viewing the page. Furthermore, the data structure shown in FIG. 12 can be automatically created by storing past access history for each user.

This method is realized by the related information storage section 70 and the predictive control section 40 in FIG. Next, the data structure shown in FIG. 12 will be explained.

100 is a table consisting of image numbers and related document numbers for each document number. A document here refers to a document consisting of a set of logically related pages. It is also assumed that a page is composed of one image. For example, document D
The image number of the page that makes up $0001 is P#0001. P
#0002..., and the respective image data and related image numbers are P#0009. P#0010...
...and again.

The related document number of D#0001 is D$01 like 301
23. D#Ol 25. ..., D#0129.

Various configuration methods can be considered for the specific data contents of such a related information storage section depending on the nature of the target document. For example, in the case of a patent document, the scope of claims is written on the first page along with bibliographic information such as the name of the patent's invention and the inventor.

When reading the claims, one will tend to read the pages containing the relevant figures next. When reading a page with a diagram, it is also necessary to read a page with a detailed explanation of each block.

In this way, pages related to a certain page can be stored in the data structure shown in FIG. 12. You may want to view the claims and figures at the same time instead of sending pages. In this case, they can be displayed simultaneously using a known technique such as a window system or image cutting and pasting. Even at this time, the advance control of the present invention is still used.

Next, a method for implementing the predictive control method described above will be described. FIG. 13 shows the procedure of the dialog control unit which receives input from the user, analyzes the request, and starts the corresponding process. In step 100, initialization necessary for the interaction control unit and each process is executed. Step 20
0, creates a semaphore mail box and a transfer process. These are related to the image transfer process that is mainly executed when the dialog control unit shown in FIG. 13 is in an input waiting state or when each process is in an input waiting state. This transfer process realizes image transfer, and the mailbox is used to convey a request to the transfer process as to which image to transfer.The semaphore is used to communicate this transfer process and the interaction control unit. This is to perform synchronous control between the two. In step 300, a user's request is input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or tablet. In step 400, the request is analyzed and corresponding processing is executed.

In the image display process of step 410, it is predicted which image will be requested to display next based on the image number of which the display request was made, and the prediction result is transferred to the transfer process via the mail box. In processes such as steps 420 and 430, a word processor-like function is executed, such as superimposing characters and figures on the image being displayed.

FIG. 14 shows a detailed flowchart of step 410 shown in FIG. In step 100, the image number for which 1 display was requested is set to pk, the image number displayed last time is set to Pk-1, the image number displayed before the front is set to Pk-2, and the image displayed ([, -1) times before is set to Pk-1. number pk-t,
+t and the display series information is updated. In step 200, resources such as a CPU that controls one document image display device, a disk device in which image data is stored, and a communication control device that executes transfer of one image data between devices are monitored, and the maximum number of images M to be transferred in advance is monitored. and the prediction algorithm f are determined so that the entire device is optimized. The algorithm f is as follows. Based on the information from the resource monitor, the maximum number M of advance transfer images is determined. Increase M if resources are available, and decrease M if resources are not available. Advance transfer is performed based on information from the display series storage unit and related information storage unit within the range of the number of images of 0M. Decide on the image. The predicted image at this stage is an image that may be transferred in advance if there is sufficient resource or if there is no new display request from the user. Therefore, if there is a new display request, the request must be responded to immediately, so it may not be possible to transfer all previously predicted images.

Therefore, it is necessary to transfer images by assigning priorities.

For example, there is an order in which a predicted image is first transferred from the display sequence storage section, and then a predicted image is transferred from the related information storage section. It is also possible to consider the reverse order or alternate sending order. 1 in step 300
If the image related to the image requested to be displayed is already known, that is, if the related document number has been registered in advance as shown in Figure 12, the data can be referred to and the images can be displayed in the Q-process...j
Let it be QR. In step 400, in order to achieve temporal synchronization with the transfer process, a semaphore is used to wait until the display of the image for which the previous display request was made is completed.

If the display has already finished, it will not occur and the process will proceed to the next step. In step 500, steps 100, 200 . The mail box is then used to pass the prediction information determined by 300 to the transfer process. At this time, access to the mail box.

Exclusive control of access is necessary because there is a possibility of conflict between step 500 and the transfer process described below. Then, in step 600, the current display image number is set to k, and the main image display process ends. At this point, there is a possibility that the image display has not yet finished in the transfer process, but it can be expected that the display will start after a short delay, so there is no problem even if the image display process ends.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of the procedures executed in the transfer process described above. Step 100 reads the mailbox. This mail box is written by the image display process shown in the flowchart of FIG. In step 200, the command sent by this mail box is analyzed and corresponding processing is performed.

Here, we will explain the processing contents of the DSPI command (image display request and multiple image transfer request). This command is a Pk display request and a preemptive transfer of multiple images based on the prediction information in the mail box. This is a command to do this. First, Pk is displayed. Then, if no other command has arrived via the mailbox for the transfer process, advance transfer is started. Step 301 checks whether Pk exists in the image memory.

If it does not exist, transfer Pk in step 302. If it exists, step 400 displays Pk. In this step, in order to synchronize with image display processing and other processing, the semaphore is operated before and after displaying Pk. In step 501, the number of precedents is set to 0.

The preceding number of times refers to the number of images actually transferred in the transfer process. In step 502, the mail
Check if the box has been updated.

If it has been updated, advance transfer is canceled and processing corresponding to the latest command is executed. This is necessary if another image display request is issued while the pk is being transferred and displayed, so that the new request can be handled immediately. If it has not been updated, the number of precedents is increased by 1 in step 503. In step 504, the number of previous transfers is compared with the maximum number M of previous transfer images sent from the mail box. If it exceeds M, the process returns to step 100 to terminate the currently executed command and accept a new command.

If it has not yet been exceeded, proceed to advance transfer.

In step 600, the number of preceding times, Pk, . . . P k−t, + t t f +
Q t s...Image Pk to be transferred from SQR to the primary
+ Predict the number of precedents. In step 701, it is checked whether the now predicted image exists in the image memory. If the image does not exist, the image is transferred in step 702.

Then, the process returns to step 502 to check whether a new command has been issued. Other commands can also be implemented using the same process flow.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing commands for the transfer process and their functions. 5TOP and KILL control the transfer process, TRX is the image transfer request command,
The DSP sends image display and transfer request commands, and outputs INQ commands.
is a makeshift command.

The advance transfer method described so far predicts the image to be transferred from a series of images displayed in the past and images related to the currently displayed image. At this time.

Although a prediction method adapted to the load on resources such as the CPU and disk device is adopted, adaptation to the user's response time is also important. For example, when pages are being sent continuously, it is better to control the transfer so that only the next image is transferred, so that the load on resources does not increase unnecessarily. Further, if the user views the page for a long time, it is possible to improve the overall efficiency by transferring the image in advance by utilizing the available resource time.

FIG. 17 shows a processing method for changing the control method depending on the length of the user's response time. In the method shown in FIG. 14, a transfer process command is issued only once for one display request.

However, in the method shown in FIG. 17, the command is issued multiple times depending on the response time. In step 100, processing corresponding to the display request is performed to first realize the request. Next, in step 200, the display request from the user is monitored for 16 seconds, and if there is no request, in step 201, I. Creates optical line control information according to the second and issues an image transfer request command. Monitor for an additional 11 seconds and repeat the above.

FIG. 18 shows an example of a display screen in the document image display device. The figure shows one window, consisting of three parts. The upper part 100 includes the name of the window, an icon for starting the auxiliary menu, an icon for exiting the window, and the like. The middle section 200 is an area for displaying an image, and here, the first page of the published patent publication is disclosed. In the lower part 300, icons for controlling the size, position, etc. of the window are arranged.

In this image display window, when the mouse is moved to the middle part 200 and the left button is clicked, the next page is displayed, and when the right button is clicked, the previous page is displayed. At this time, the predictive control unit transfers images for which there is a high possibility that a display request will be made. Which image is requested varies greatly depending on the interaction control with the user. For example, there may be a method in which the number of pages is directly input, or a method in which the input is prompted through a menu as shown at 400 in FIG. 18. The probability that the prediction will be correct is considerably higher in the latter case of menu display than in the former case of direct input. Because the next section or chapter that is currently displayed.

By displaying documents and references, users are more likely to select from these pages. Furthermore, the control method for transferring these pages in advance is as described above. Furthermore, changing the color of the menu portion corresponding to the page that has actually been transferred is kind to the user and allows effective use of advance transfer. Therefore.

By devising the display screen, it is possible to make reliable predictions.6 According to this embodiment, a feature is that advance control of book image display can be realized by software.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to transfer the image that the user will see next by utilizing the time the user is viewing the image on the document image display device, so if the prediction is correct, the next image can be transferred immediately. This has the effect of being able to display images. Specifically, it has the following effects.

(1) Since the contents of the image memory group are managed based on the time when a display request is made, images that are frequently displayed can be displayed without being transferred.

(2) Images that are likely to be requested to be displayed next based on past display sequences are transferred in advance, so if normal page turning is performed, images that are likely to be requested for display next are transferred immediately after a page turning request occurs. Images can be displayed.

(3) When viewing an image by turning pages, when requesting to display a document page related to the document, [Since the image is transferred in advance as a J-sequence image, it is not the first page, but a distant page. Images can be displayed instantly.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a document image display device and related devices according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a conceptual block diagram of a preceding image transfer method, and FIGS. 3 to 10 are image memory management systems. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a table for determining a pre-transfer image from a display series, FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a data structure showing related images, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the dialog control section of this device. , Fig. 14 is a flowchart of image display processing, Fig. 15 is a flowchart of transfer process, Fig. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a command to the transfer process, and Fig. 17 is a flowchart of image display processing considering input waiting time. , FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen of this device. 10...System bus, 20...CPU, 30...
-Memory, 40...Auxiliary file, 50...Communication control unit. 60... LAN, 70... Image file, 300...
...Image memory group, 10...Image memory group, 20...
- Input switching transfer section, 30... Output switching transfer section, 40.
...Predictive control unit, 50...Resource monitor unit, 60...
Display series storage unit, 70... related information storage unit. 38th 7th flash egg mouth] Down Il "Chest,,Q 17th eye 4 = (7%-rh-r) / IF'9-P2-t
l Nu-to (Misaki-ru 2) / I f'5-t-F'5-
1h−x ・(T'*z −F'h−s )/ / F
h-z −, F%-yJm/e+9L'/'g?
(LILf<7th Otsu Ward') 57 Otsu Cause 77th

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An image display device that searches and displays image information such as documents, which includes a plurality of image storage means and predicts the document image that is requested to be displayed next to the currently displayed document image. An image display device comprising: a prediction means; and a transfer means for transferring information of a document image outputted from the prediction means to another image storage means other than the image storage means being displayed. 2. In the image display device according to claim 1, the transfer means includes display monitoring means for monitoring the display status of the image information stored in each of the plurality of image storage means, and when a display request is received, If the displayed image does not exist in any of the image storage means, the transfer destination is controlled in order from the image storage means in which the oldest displayed image information is stored to the newly displayed image storage means. image display device. 3. In the image display device according to claim 1, the prediction means has display sequence storage means for storing a sequence of document images requested to be displayed, and based on the contents stored in the storage means. An image display device that predicts image information to be transferred in advance. 4. In the image display device according to claim 1, the prediction means includes a representative image number storage means for storing a part of the image numbers constituting the document requested to be displayed, and An image display device characterized by transferring images. 5. In the image display device according to claim 1, the prediction means has a related image number storage means for storing an image number related to the image information of the document page requested to be displayed, and An image display device characterized by transferring related images. 6. In the image display device according to claim 2, the display monitoring means has a priority storage means for storing priorities corresponding to image information, and based on the contents stored in the storage means, An image display device characterized by controlling a transfer destination to the image storage means. 7. The image display device according to claim 1, wherein the prediction means includes resource monitoring means for monitoring the internal state of the image display device, and the prediction is controlled by output information from the means. image display device.