JPH0737197A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a navigation system to display a correct map even in the case that the monitoring picture receiver of the screen of any aspect ratio is connected to it. CONSTITUTION:This navigation system provided with a road map data storage means 7, a detecting means 1 for a present location, control means 4 to read the map data of the vicinity of the location which this present location detecting means 1 detects out of the road map data storage means 7 and to generate the display data of the road map, and a road map display means 13 to display the display data which this control means 4 generates on the screen. The display means of the screen of first aspect ratio and the display means of the screen of second aspect ratio are made capable of being connected selectively as the road map display means 13, and at the time when the video signal of the road map is generated by the control means 4, the video signal is generated from the map data in a range corresponding to the aspect ratio of the screen of the connected display means 13.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device suitable for application to, for example, an automobile navigation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various types of navigation devices have been developed to be mounted on automobiles. For example,
GPS (Global Positioning Sy)
Various navigation devices using a positioning device at the current position by a positioning system using artificial satellites called "system" have been put into practical use. Such a navigation device reads road map data in the vicinity of the current position detected by the positioning device from a large-capacity data storage medium such as a CD ROM, displays the read road map on a monitor receiver, and drives the vehicle currently. It is designed to be able to judge the position inside.

[0003]

By the way, since the monitor receiver used in the conventional navigation device is the one for a normal television receiver, the ratio of the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the display screen is different. A certain aspect ratio of 4: 3 was used. On the other hand, in recent years, a so-called landscape screen having a television receiver screen aspect ratio of 16: 9 has been developed so that a navigation device having a screen aspect ratio of 16: 9 can be used. It is thought to do.

However, when a video signal of a road map to be displayed on a monitor receiver having a screen with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 is supplied to a monitor receiver having a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 and displayed, the screen is displayed. Becomes a horizontally elongated image. Here, if the image to be displayed is data such as characters, it does not hurt to judge the content of the data even if it is stretched in the horizontal direction, but when displaying a road map, The scales are not equal and it is difficult to judge the distance from the displayed map.

In view of the above points, the present invention has an object to provide an accurate map display in a navigation device of this type, regardless of which aspect ratio screen monitor receiver is connected. .

[0006]

According to the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a road map data storage means 7, a current position detecting means 1 and a position near the current position detecting means 1 are detected. Control means 4 for reading map data from the road map data storage means 7 and creating road map display data
And a road map display means 13 for displaying the display data created by the control means 4 on the screen, in the road map display means 13, a display means for a screen having a first aspect ratio; When the control means 4 creates a road map video signal so that the display means of the screen having the aspect ratio of 2 can be selectively connected, the map in the range corresponding to the aspect ratio of the screen of the connected display means 13 is generated. The video signal is created from the data.

In this case, the first aspect ratio is 1
The aspect ratio is 6: 9, and the second aspect ratio is 4: 3.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the range of the map in the case of creating the video signal from the map data changes according to the aspect ratio of the screen to be displayed, so that the correct aspect ratio of the screen of the connected display means can be obtained. A map of various scales is displayed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this example, the navigation device is mounted on an automobile and is constructed as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a positioning unit, and the positioning unit 1 measures the current position. In the case of this example, this positioning unit 1
For positioning, a positioning system using artificial satellites called GPS is used, and an antenna 2 for receiving signals from the artificial satellites is attached.

Then, the current position data measured by the positioning unit 1 is sequentially supplied to the map data selection unit 3. The map data selection unit 3 selects a map range to be displayed based on the supplied current position data. That is, the range of the display map is selected so that the road map near the current position is displayed. Reference numeral 4 in the figure denotes a system controller that controls each part of the navigation device. From the system controller 4 to the map switching part 5,
Provides data on the scale of the map to be displayed. The map switching unit 5 determines, based on the data relating to the scale of the map to be displayed, how much map data should be read out, and supplies the determined read-out range data to the map data selecting unit 3. To do.

Then, the current position data supplied to the map data selection unit 3 is used to determine which coordinate position the determined read range is, and the determined coordinate position data is supplied to the read control unit 6. This read control unit 6 has a CD
A ROM reproduction unit 7 is connected, and data such as road map data stored in an optical disk (CD ROM) mounted on the CD ROM reproduction unit 7 is read under the control of the read control unit 6, and the read control unit is read. Supply to 6 side. In the case of this example, road map data in a range wider than the range actually displayed as a map is read from the CD ROM.

Then, the road map data read from the CD ROM by the read control unit 6 is supplied to the data conversion unit 8. In the data conversion unit 8, the road map data (data indicating the coordinate position of each road) stored in the CD ROM is converted into image data for display, and the video memory (data in the data conversion unit 8 (Not shown) is stored. Then, the image data in a predetermined range among the image data stored in this memory is read out and supplied to the video signal generation unit 9, and the video signal generation unit 9 converts the image data into a video signal in a predetermined format. In this case, the setting of the range in which the image data is read from the memory in the data conversion unit 8 is set by the control of the display mode setting unit 11.
The display mode setting unit 11 is used by the system controller 4
A circuit for controlling the display mode based on the control of 1) causes an appropriate map display range to be set according to an aspect ratio of a display screen and a map display mode, which will be described later. And
The video signal output from the video signal generation unit 9 is supplied to the video synthesis circuit 10.

If the display mode set by the display mode setting unit 11 is a mode for displaying characters, figures, etc., control is performed to create display data corresponding to the character / graphic data generation circuit 12. The character / graphic data generation circuit 12 outputs a video signal for displaying the corresponding character or graphic. In this case, the character / graphics data generation circuit 12 is provided with a memory in which character data such as characters and numbers to be displayed and graphic data such as graphics are stored, and the data of the coordinate position measured by the positioning unit 1 and from the satellite. Ancillary data such as the signal capture state is supplied, and a video signal for displaying these data as characters or figures is created depending on the display mode. Then, the video signal output from the character / graphic data generation circuit 12 is supplied to the video synthesis circuit 10.

Then, in the video synthesizing circuit 10, the video signal output from the video signal generating unit 9 and the character / graphic data generating circuit 1
2 is combined with the video signal output from the monitor 2, and the processed video signal is sent via the video synthesizing circuit 10 to the monitor receiver 13
Supply to. In this case, in this example, the monitor receiver 1
As 3, an arbitrary one can be selected and installed from two types of monitor receivers. The two types of monitor receivers have different aspect ratios, which are the ratios of the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the display screen. That is, one monitor receiver has an aspect ratio of 4: 3 and the other monitor receiver has an aspect ratio of 16: 9.

A keyboard 14 is connected to the system controller 4 so that various settings such as a display mode can be made according to the operation of the keyboard 14, and the aspect of the screen of the connected monitor receiver 13 can be set. The ratio is also registered in the system controller 4 by operating the keyboard 14.

Next, the operation of displaying a road map or the like by the navigation device of this example will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when a map or the like is displayed, it is judged which aspect ratio of the screen of the connected monitor receiver 13 is (step 101). If it is determined that the aspect ratio is 4: 3, the CD RO
A process of reading map data in the vicinity of the current position from M is performed, the read map data is converted into image data for display, and the image data is stored in the video memory in the data conversion unit 8 (step 102). For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the image data of the road map in the predetermined range a centering on the current position P is stored in the video memory.

Then, from the image data of the road map stored in the video memory, the data of the range to be displayed as a map is read (step 103). At this time, since the aspect ratio of the screen of the connected monitor receiver 13 is 4: 3, the image data in the range where the horizontal and vertical ratio is 4: 3 is read. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG.
The image data in the range b in which the horizontal to vertical ratio is 4: 3 is read. Then, the read image data is converted into a video signal by the video signal generator 9 (step 104), and this video signal is supplied to the monitor receiver 13 and displayed (step 105). By doing so, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the road map is displayed on the screen of the monitor receiver having the aspect ratio of 4: 3. In the display shown in FIG. 4, a mark M indicating the current position is displayed at the center. The mark M is displayed by combining the signals output from the character / graphic data generation circuit 12 side.

Next, a case will be described in which it is determined in step 101 that the aspect ratio of the screen of the monitor receiver 13 connected is 16: 9. At this time, it is first determined whether or not to display only the drive information (step 106). When it is determined that the mode is not the mode in which only the drive information is displayed (that is, in the mode in which the road map is displayed), the process of reading the map data in the vicinity of the current position from the CD ROM is performed and read. The map data is converted into image data for display and stored in the video memory in the data conversion unit 8 (step 10
7). This process is the same as step 102.

Then, it is judged whether or not the drive information and the road map are simultaneously displayed (step 10).
8). At this time, when it is determined that the non-simultaneous display mode is set, the data of the range to be displayed as a map is read from the image data of the road map stored in the video memory (step 109). At this time,
The aspect ratio of the screen of the connected monitor receiver 13 is 1
Since it is 6: 9, the image data in the range in which the horizontal to vertical ratio is 16: 9 is read. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG.
The image data in the range c in which the horizontal to vertical ratio is 16: 9 is read. Then, the read image data is converted into a video signal by the video signal generator 9 (step 110), and this video signal is supplied to the monitor receiver 13 and displayed (step 111). By doing so, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a road map is displayed on the screen of the monitor receiver having an aspect ratio of 16: 9. Also in the display shown in FIG. 5, the mark M indicating the current position is displayed at the center by the same processing as in the example of FIG. 4 described above.

When it is determined in step 108 that the mode for simultaneously displaying the drive information and the road map is set, the ratio of width to height is 4: from the road map image data stored in the video memory. The data in the range of 3 is read (step 112). For example, the data in the range b is read out from the image data shown in FIG. Then, the necessary drive information is obtained from the positioning unit 1 or the like, and the character / graphic data generation circuit 12 generates a video signal for displaying the drive information (step 113). Then, the image synthesizing circuit 10 image-synthesizes the image signal of the map and the image signal of the drive information (step 114), and the image signal of the synthesized image is supplied to the monitor receiver 13 and displayed (step 115). . By doing so, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, the aspect ratio is 16:
On the left side of the screen of the monitor receiver of No. 9, the aspect ratio is 4: 3.
The road map is displayed, and various drive information such as the position of the satellite is displayed at the right end. In the display shown in FIG. 6 as well, the mark M indicating the current position is displayed at the center of the map by the same processing as in the example of FIG. 4 described above.

When it is determined in step 106 that the mode for displaying only drive information is set, the necessary drive information is obtained from the positioning unit 1 and the like, and the character / graphic data generation circuit 12 displays the drive information. A video signal for this is generated (step 116). Then, this video signal is supplied to the monitor receiver 13 and displayed (step 117). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a screen having an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is divided into left and right and two or more pieces of information are displayed simultaneously.

As described above, according to the navigation apparatus of this example, appropriate processing is performed according to the aspect ratio of the screen of the connected monitor receiver, and the proper size is obtained regardless of which monitor receiver is connected. Road map is displayed. That is, for example, when a monitor receiver having a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9 is connected, a map with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 is not stretched in the horizontal direction and is not displayed, and the vertical and horizontal roads are accurately scaled. A map is displayed.

Also, by connecting a monitor receiver having a screen with an aspect ratio of 16: 9, the range that can be displayed as a map is expanded compared to a monitor receiver having a screen with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 (the vertical direction of the screen). If the heights are the same, about 1.5
It spreads twice), so a wide range of map displays will be made.
Furthermore, when displaying a map with an aspect ratio of 4: 3 on a monitor receiver with an aspect ratio of 16: 9,
As shown in FIG. 6, a space for simultaneously displaying other information is secured, and a lot of information can be simultaneously displayed.

In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to a device for positioning and navigating the current position using GPS, but it is needless to say that the present invention is also applicable to a navigation device for detecting the current position by another method.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the aspect ratio of the screen of the monitor receiver to be connected is set to two types, 4: 3 and 16: 9, but it is possible to cope with the monitor receiver of the screen of other aspect ratios. You can

[0028]

According to the present invention, the range of a map when a video signal is created from map data changes according to the aspect ratio of the screen to be displayed, so that it corresponds to the aspect ratio of the screen of the connected display means. The accurate scale map is displayed, and an appropriate map can always be displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining one embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a setting status of a processing range according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Positioning Unit 4 System Controller 7 CD ROM Playback Unit 11 Display Mode Setting Unit 13 Monitor Receiver

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI technical display location G09B 29/10 A

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A road map data storage means, a current position detection means, and map data in the vicinity of the position detected by the current position detection means are read from the road map data storage means to generate a video signal of a road map. In a navigation device comprising control means for creating and a road map displaying means for displaying the video signal created by the controlling means on a screen, the road map displaying means includes a display means for displaying a screen having a first aspect ratio. , When the display means of the screen of the second aspect ratio can be selectively connected and the control means creates the video signal of the road map,
A navigation device adapted to generate a video signal from map data in a range corresponding to an aspect ratio of a connected display means. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the first aspect ratio is 16: 9 and the second aspect ratio is 4: 3.