JPH09146509A - Continuous picture display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the memory capacity used for displaying picture in a picture display device which can be express picture with comparatively less color information and which is suitable for displaying a picture having much same color part. SOLUTION: When picture data is stored, a CPU 1 takes in dots of the picture data from a first line in order, and color of the first one dot is stored in a storage section 10. Color of a dot stored next is compared with color of a right-neighbor dot, if they are the same color, continuous information is stored. Thus, if color of the right-neighbor dot is the same color, continuous information is specified, and if it is different color, color of the dots is stored. When picture data is stored until 16 lines, compression storage of one picture is finished. As the number of continuous color in the same dot is stored, memory capacity can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous image display device for compressing and storing color information of image data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an image is displayed on each game device, it is general that the image data of the display screen is stored in a memory for each dot and displayed on the display section. Some game devices have an anime-like appearance that has a small number of colors to be expressed and has many continuous screens of the same color. Even in such a game device, conventionally, color information for screen display is stored for each dot. Therefore, in a game device that displays images on an anime-like screen, it is uneconomical to use a large-capacity and expensive memory for image data although the image display is not complicated, considering the quality of image display.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is suitable for displaying an image represented by a relatively small amount of color information and having a large number of continuous same-color portions. The purpose of the present invention is to increase the capacity of the memory used for displaying the image. It is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous image display device capable of reducing the above.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a color acquisition unit for acquiring a color of each dot of image data, and a dot on the right of each dot acquired by the color acquisition unit. Compared with the color, if it is the same color, the continuous information is stored for the dot on the right side, and if it is not the same color, the comparison storage means for storing that color, It has a compression means including a line end determination means for determining the end of the line. Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned configuration, the storage contents are read from the comparison storage means, and the image data expanding means for setting the color of each dot of the image according to the storage contents is configured.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of a screen display and is a diagram for explaining a storage principle of pixels (dots) of image data. FIG. 1 shows a CRT screen 12, which is a simple image in which a quadrangular red color 12b is arranged in the center of the screen in the background color (green) 12a. It is composed of 16 lines represented by a plurality of dots. The fifth line will be described as an example.

Color information is stored for the leftmost dot of the fifth line, the color of the starting dot is compared with the color of the adjacent dot on the right side, and if it is different from the color of the starting dot, that color is determined. Information is stored, and if it is the same color, continuous information about that color is stored. In this example, since the second to seventh colors are the same, the number of consecutive dots "6" is stored. Similarly, the 8th to 14th dots are red 12
Since it is b, the number of dots “6” continuous with the red color information is stored.

FIG. 2 shows the stored contents of the storage unit 10 in which the color information of the image of FIG. 1 is stored. Color 1 (green) and green + the number of consecutive dots are stored for each line 1 to 4. Corresponding to each line from 5 to 9, 7 dots from the beginning are color 1 (green) and green +
The number of consecutive dots is stored as color 2 (red) for the seven central dots, and red + the number of consecutive dots. For the dots on the rear side, color 1 (red) and red +
Stores the number of consecutive dots. Lines 11 to 16
Up to the lines 1 to 4 store the same contents. By compressing and storing the storage information in this manner, the capacity of the storage unit can be reduced as compared with the case where the storage information is stored for all dots.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a continuous image display device according to the present invention. When the continuous image display device (game machine) is activated by the player's operation, the CPU 1 reads the operation program for executing the game from the program ROM 6 via the system bus 2 and starts the execution of the operation program. The background image of the screen is read from the storage unit 10, the character is read from the character ROM 7,
It is stored in the screen memory 8 through the system bus 2 and the initial screen is displayed on the CRT 9. Input signals from the buttons of the operation device 4 are sent to the CPU 1 via the input / output control circuit 3. The work RAM 5 is used as a work area of the CPU 1. An image compressed at the time of creating the soft game is stored in the storage unit 10, and when read out, the CPU 1 expands the compressed image and sends it to the screen memory 8.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the image data compression circuit of the continuous image display device according to the present invention.
The portion excluding the storage unit 10 is a functional block diagram of the CPU 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG. The color acquisition unit 13 takes in the dots of the image data from the start point (step (hereinafter referred to as “S”) 50).
1), the color of the dot at the starting point is unconditionally stored in the storage unit 1.
Store to 0. Next, the reference unit 14 refers to the color of the dot to the right of the start point (S502). Then, the comparison unit 15 determines whether the color of the dot at the start point and the color of the dot on the left are the same color (S503). If the colors are the same, the number of dots continuous with that color is stored in the storage unit 10.

If the colors are not the same, the color of the dot is stored in the storage unit 10 (S505). Further, the confirmation unit 16 confirms whether or not there is a dot to the right of the dot stored in S504 or S505 (S506). If there is a dot on the right, it is not the end of the line and S503.
Then, the above storage operation is continued. If there is no dot on the right side, the image search / move unit 17 determines that the line is 16
It is determined whether or not the storage operation for one image has ended depending on whether or not it is the second line (S507), and if it is the end for one image, the storage processing for that image ends. If one image is not completed, the line moves to the dot portion at the beginning of the line one step below.

Next, in the comparison unit 15, the dot at the start end of the line one step below and the dot at the end one line above are compared to determine whether they are the same color (S508), and the process proceeds to S504 or S505 in accordance with the determination. . In this way, one image data is compressed and stored in the storage unit 10, and the next image data is similarly compressed and stored.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data expansion circuit for expanding and displaying the contents of the storage unit.
The part excluding the display unit 22 is a functional block diagram of the CPU 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the image data expansion circuit of FIG. The expansion unit 18 takes in the storage data from one line of the image data from the storage unit 10 and associates it with each dot (S701). Then, the comparison unit 19 determines whether or not the color of the dot at the start end is the same as the color of the dot on the right of the dot based on the storage data taken in by the expansion unit 18 (S
702) If they are the same color, the high-speed development unit 20 develops the adjacent dot on the right with the same color (S703).

If they are not the same color, the color of the dot is developed (S705). Then, the one-line confirmation unit 21 determines whether or not there is a dot on the right side of the dot that has just been developed (S704). If there is a dot on the right side, it is determined that the development of one line has not ended, and the process returns to S702. , Expand the next dot. If there is no dot on the right side, the one-image end confirmation unit 23 then determines whether or not the development of one image has been completed (S706). If completed, the display unit via the screen memory 8 (CRT) 22 is displayed. If one image has not been expanded, the next line moving unit 24 moves down to the line one step lower (S708), the storage data is fetched by the expanding unit 18, and the same expanding operation as above is repeated. In this way, each image data is expanded and CR
T can be displayed.

The data compression in the above embodiment is shown in FIG.
Although the example of performing by the function of the CPU 1 has been described, the image data is compressed in the RAM or the RO when the game software is created.
Since it is stored in M, data compression may be performed by the CPU for software creation.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, the color acquisition unit for acquiring the color of each dot of the image data and the color of the adjacent dot on the right side of each dot obtained by the color acquisition unit are compared to obtain the same color. In the case of, the continuous information is stored for the dot on the right side, and if it is not the same color, the comparison storage means for storing the color and the end of the line is determined by whether or not there is a dot on the right side of each dot. And a line end judging means. Therefore, the image data can be compressed and stored in the storage unit, an inexpensive storage unit having a small capacity can be used, and it is expressed by relatively little color information as well as a normal game device, and moreover there are many continuous same-color portions. This can contribute to lowering the price of game devices that display images.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a screen display, and is a diagram for explaining a storage principle of pixels (dots) of image data.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a storage unit.

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a continuous image display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data compression circuit of a continuous image display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an image data expansion circuit for expanding and displaying the contents of a storage unit.

7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... CPU 2 ... System bus 3 ... Input / output control circuit 4 ... Operating device 5 ... Work RAM 6 ... Program ROM 7 ... Character ROM 8 ... Screen memory 9, 12 ... CRT 10 ... Storage unit 13 ... Color acquisition unit 14 ... Part 15 ... Comparison part 16 ... Confirmation part 17 ... Image search / moving part 18 ... Expansion part 19 ... Comparison part 20 ... High speed expansion part 21 ... One line confirmation part 22 ... Display part 23 ... One image end confirmation part 24 ... Next Line moving part

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H04N 11/04 9185-5C H04N 11/04 A (72) Inventor Ryosuke Hayase Hirakawa-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 2-5-3, Taito Corporation (72) Inventor, Norihisa Tajima 2-3-5, Hirakawacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Taito Corporation

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A color acquisition unit that acquires the color of each dot of image data, and compares the color of each dot obtained by the color acquisition unit with the color of the adjacent dot on the right side. An image consisting of a comparison storage means for storing continuous information and, if they are not the same color, a color for that color, and a line end determination means for determining the end of the line depending on whether there is a dot to the right of each dot. A continuous image display device having a data compression means. 2. The continuous image display device according to claim 1, further comprising image data expansion means for reading the stored contents from the comparison storage means and setting the color of each dot of the image in accordance with the stored contents.