JPH0926749A - Device and method for image display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display device which is suitable to a navigation system that is mounted on automobile and displays a map, and displays the map by a perspective method. SOLUTION: This device consists of a map information storage means 1 which stores map information, a map image drawing means 2 which draws a map image with the map information stored in the map information storage means 1, a 1st image storage means 3 which stores the map image drawn by the map image drawing means 2, a deformed pattern generating means which generates deformed pattern, an image deforming means 4 which deforms the map image stored in the 1st image storage means 4 to the image of perspective method according to the generated deformation pattern, a 2nd image storage means 5 which stores the display image deformed into the image of the perspective method by the image deforming means 4, and an image display means 6 which displays the display image stored in a 2nd image storage means 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display device suitable for a navigation system mounted on an automobile to display a map, and more particularly, it is configured to display the map in perspective.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image display device in a conventional navigation system, as shown in FIG. 6, has a map information storage means 61 for storing map information as straight line or circle data.
A map image drawing means 62 which is connected to the map information storage means 61 via a data bus 67 and draws an actual map image based on data indicating straight lines and circles; and the map image drawing means 62 The display image storage means 63 for storing the display image of the map and the display means such as the CRT 64 for displaying the display image stored in the display image storage means 63 are further provided, and each means 61 is provided via the control bus 66. , 62, 63, each means 61,
A processor 65 for controlling 62 and 63 is provided. Reference numeral 67 is a data bus for transmitting data between the respective means.

The map information storage means 61 is for describing drawing data such as "draw a straight line from one coordinate to another coordinate" and "draw a circle with a radius around a certain point" and the location of the map. Character data is stored, and the map image drawing means 62 processes this drawing data to form a display image corresponding to an actual map, and displays it together with characters on the CRT 64.

[0004]

However, in the conventional image display device shown in FIG. 6, the map image displayed on the CRT 64 is, as shown in FIG. Since it is displayed at the same scale even in the distance, it is not possible to display a bird's-eye view map image in which the foreground one is displayed large and the far one small.

The present invention is applied to a navigation system to enable perspective display in which a map in front is displayed in a large size and a map in a distant position is displayed in a small size.

[0006]

An image display device of the present invention comprises a map information storage means for storing map information, and a map image drawing means for drawing a map image from the map information stored in the map information storage means. A first image storage means for storing the map image drawn by the map image drawing means; a deformation pattern generation means for generating a deformation pattern;
An image transforming unit that transforms the map image stored in the first image storage unit into perspective based on the generated transformation pattern, and a second image storing unit that stores the display image transformed into perspective by the image transforming unit. An image storage means and an image display means for displaying the display image stored in the second image storage means are provided.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, an image display device of the present invention includes a map information storage means 1 for storing map information, and a map information storage means 1 for storing the map information. Map image drawing means 2 for drawing a map based on existing map information, original image storage means 3 for storing the map image information drawn by this map image drawing means 2, and this original image storage means 3 are stored. Image transforming means 4 for transforming the map image information, and display data storing means 5 for storing the display image information transformed by the image transforming means 4.
And a CRT 6 for displaying the display image information stored in the display data storage means 5, and a processor 7 for controlling the respective means 1 to 6 via a control bus 8. Reference numeral 9 denotes a data bus for transmitting data between the units.

The map information storage means 1 stores drawing data which is the basis of map display. This drawing data is
The data is "draw a straight line from one coordinate to another coordinate" or "draw a circle with a radius around a certain point". This drawing data is sent to the map image drawing means 2 via the data bus 9. The map image drawing means 2 processes the drawing data to draw map information corresponding to the actual map, and stores the map information in the original image storage means 3. The map information stored in the original image storage means 3 corresponds to a plan view map viewed from directly above.

The plan view map information stored in the original image storage means 3 is transformed into a perspective map image by the image transformation means 4.

As shown in the block connection diagram of FIG. 2, the image transforming means 4 has an image position designating means 24, an input buffer 28 for storing map information from the original image storage means 3, and a horizontal arrangement. Deformation pattern generating means 27 for generating a pattern for deforming each line of pixels, deformation pattern storage means 26 for storing the deformation pattern generated by the deformation pattern generating means 27, map information in the input buffer 28 and deformation. It is composed of a comparison unit 25 that compares the deformation pattern of the pattern storage unit 26 line by line and deforms the map information, and an output buffer 29 that stores the deformed map information.

As described above, the map information for each line read from the original image storage means 3 is transformed by the image transformation means 4 and stored for each corresponding line in the display data storage means 5. In this reading and storage, the position of each line corresponding to each other is designated by the image position designating means 24.

The deformed pattern generating means 27 generates a pattern for deforming the map information for each line and stores it in the deformed pattern storage means 26.

The map information for one line, which is stored in the original image storage means 3 and read by the instruction of the image position instruction means 24, is stored in the input buffer 28. The map information stored in the input buffer 28 is scaled down by comparing the deformation pattern stored in the deformation pattern storage unit 26 by the comparison unit 25 and thinning out pixels.

The method of generating the deformation pattern in the deformation pattern generating means 27 is, for example, 1 /
When reducing to 3, a straight line with an inclination of 1/3 is drawn. Each time this straight line crosses a vertical grid line, it is "0" or "1".
Generate a pattern. By the time the straight line crosses the next vertical grid line, "0" is generated if it does not cross the horizontal grid line, and "1" is generated if it crosses the horizontal grid line.
According to a straight line having an inclination of ⅓, a straight line crosses the horizontal grid line once every time the vertical grid line crosses the vertical grid line three times, so that a pattern including "1" is generated once every three times. In this way,
A pattern is created that reduces the image to 1/3. When changing the reduction ratio, the inclination angle of the straight line may be changed.

Next, a deformation method using this deformation pattern will be described with reference to FIG. 1 stored in the original image storage means 3 and read by the instruction of the image position instruction means 24
The original image 41 for the line is stored in the input buffer 28. The map information stored in the input buffer 28 is reduced by comparing the deformation pattern stored in the deformation pattern storage unit 26 by the comparison unit 25 pixel by pixel and thinning out the pixels.

At this time, the image position designating means 24 designates the positions of the original image 41 for one line and the display image 42 for one line stored in the display data storage means 5.
Based on this instruction, the original image 41 for one line is transformed and transferred as the corresponding display image 42 for one line.

The original image 41 for one line is taken into the input buffer 28 of the image transforming means 4. Input buffer 2
The data (a to) taken in 8 are sequentially compared by the comparing means 25 with the modified pattern 26a and the original image 41 for one line pixel by pixel. The deformation pattern 26a is
It is composed of "0" and "1". Among the pixels fetched in the input buffer 28, the pixels matching "1" are sequentially output to the output buffer 29, and the pixels matching "0" are thinned out. Not output. In this way, the map image is reduced and stored in the output buffer 29.

The data stored in the output buffer 29 is written as a display image 42 at a position of one line in the display data storage means 5 designated by the image position designating means 24. Then, after the processing for one line is completed, the image position designating means 24 designates the next line of the original image 41 and the display image 42, and also rewrites the deformation pattern 26a,
Move to processing of next line.

Then, the display data stored in the display data storage means 5 is sent to the CRT 6 and is displayed as a perspective map image which becomes smaller as the distance from the front becomes larger as shown in FIG. It

[0020]

As is apparent from the description based on the above embodiments, according to the image display device of the present invention, a map image can be displayed by a perspective method in which the image transforming means enlarges the image in front and enlarges the image in the distance. Since the information can be displayed, it is possible to easily grasp the relationship between the current position on the map and the actual current position when the vehicle is running.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block connection diagram showing an embodiment of an image display device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block connection diagram of an image transforming unit which is a main part of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a plan view map (a) and a map (b) transformed by an image transforming means.

FIG. 4 is a block connection diagram of an image transformation unit that is a main part of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of transforming an image by image transforming means.

FIG. 6 is a block connection diagram of a conventional image display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Map Information Storage Means 2 Map Image Drawing Means 3 Original Image Storage Means 4 Image Deformation Means 5 Display Data Storage Means 6 CRT 7 Processor 8 Control Bus 9 Data Bus 27 Deformation Pattern Generation Means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication location G08G 1/0969 9365-5H G06F 15/72 455 (72) Inventor Akio Uesugi Osaka Kadoma City, Kadoma, Kadoma 1006 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yasuhide Sakai 4-3 Tsunashima-higashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Matsushita Communication Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Hideo Ito Tsunashima-higashi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 4th, 3rd, 1st, Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A map information storage means for storing map information, a map image drawing means for drawing a map image from the map information stored in the map information storage means, and a deformation pattern generation means for generating a deformation pattern, The image transformation means transforms the map image drawn by the map image rendering means into perspective based on the transformation pattern, and the image display means for displaying the display image transformed into perspective by the image transformation means. An image display device characterized by: 2. The map information stored in the map information storage means is drawn on a map image, and then the map image is transformed into a perspective display image based on the transformation pattern generated by the transformation pattern generation means. An image display method characterized by displaying by a display means.