JPH0997006A - Map display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to select plural maps for Japanese and foreign languages with map data of a small size. SOLUTION: A user sets the language of the map to be displayed by using a language setting means 12. Character and symbol data 11a to 11c for the respective languages are stored in addition to display background data 11e, etc., in the map data 11. A language changeover means 13 acquires the character and symbol data corresponding to the set language from the map data 11. A character and symbol display means 14 converts the acquired characters and symbol to the signals suitable for display. A background display means 15 converts the display background data 11e common to the language to be displayed to the signals suitable for display. A map display means 16 superposes the characters and symbols and the display background on each other and displays both on the display.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a map display device used as a navigation device, a tourist guide map display device and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 shows a schematic block diagram of a conventional map display device. The map data 1 includes display background data 1e, Japanese character / symbol data 1a, route guidance data 1d and road network data 1 as necessary.
f is stored. Japanese character / symbol data 1a displayed by the character / symbol display means 2 and display background data 1e of water system, road shape, railway, etc. displayed by the background display means 3.
Is overlaid and displayed on the map display means 4 to display the map to the user. Also, the user can use the map data 1 for Japanese as C
A map for English can also be displayed by replacing it with another map data 5 created for English stored in a D-ROM or the like.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional map display device, in order to display maps in different languages, the user needs to replace another map data stored in the CD-ROM or the like. Therefore, it is necessary to complicate the device configuration such as using an autochanger or two drives. As an alternative method, it is also possible to store at least two pieces of map data separately created for Japanese map data and foreign language map data such as English in one recording medium. In order to do so, it is necessary to prepare a recording medium with a large capacity.

The present invention solves such a conventional problem, and it is possible to select a plurality of maps for Japanese and foreign languages with a simple device configuration and a small amount of map data. An object is to provide a map display device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a map data containing a plurality of characters for each language.
By storing the symbol data and sharing the data such as the display background that is not related to the language, it is possible to switch and display the map of the set language with a small data size without complicating the device configuration. It is a thing.

[0006]

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to display a map in a set language with a small size of map data without requiring the user to replace the CD-ROM or the like and without complicating the device configuration. can do.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 11 is map data, Japanese character / symbol data 11a, English character / symbol data 1
1b, French character / symbol data 11c, character / symbol data for other languages, route guidance data 11d, display background data 11e, road network data 11f, etc. are stored. Reference numeral 12 is a language setting means for the user to set the language to be used, 13 is a language switching means for selecting the character / symbol data of the set language from the map data, and 14 is the character / symbol data of the selected language. Character / symbol display means for converting into a signal suitable for display, 15 is background display means for converting display background data acquired from map data into a signal suitable for display, and 16 is a display of the converted character / symbol and background on a display. It is a map display means.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In FIG. 1, the user sets the language of the displayed map by the language setting means 12. Along with the display background data 11e, the route guidance data 11d, etc., the language switching means 13 selects the character / symbol corresponding to the set language from the character / symbol data 11a to 11c for each language stored in the map data 11. Get the data. Character / symbol display means 14
Converts the acquired character / symbol data for the set language into a signal suitable for display, and the background display unit 15 acquires display background data 11e indicating the water system, road shape, railway, etc. common to each language, Convert the map background to a signal suitable for display. The map display means 16 displays the map of the selected language on the display by superimposing the background and characters / symbols.

FIG. 2 shows an operation example of the map display device in this embodiment. From the map 17 displayed in Japanese, the language setting screen 18 is called to set English. As a result, the English map 19 is displayed. At this time, not only the names and symbols are converted from Japanese to English, but the character strings that did not overlap the background on the Japanese map are converted from Japanese to English, and the length of the character string is changed. Considering the case where the character string changes and the character string overlaps the background with the arrangement as it is,
It is the character / symbol data with the layout of each name adjusted again.

FIG. 3 shows another operation example of the map display device in this embodiment. On the map 20 that has been switched to English,
Considering the culture and ethnicity of each country, "street name" instead of place name
Is displayed, and the type of displayed name is also changed.

[0011]

As is apparent from the above embodiment, the present invention displays a map in a language set by a user by storing a plurality of character / symbol data for each language in the map data. It is necessary to replace the map data created for other languages, use an autochanger or multiple drives, and store the map data created for multiple languages on the recording medium. Also, it is possible to display a map in the language set by the user.

According to the present invention, the size of map data can be saved by sharing data other than character / symbol data such as road network data, display background data, and route guidance data in each language. Moreover, since one map data can be shared without the need to create map data individually for each language, the memory capacity can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a map display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a screen view showing an operation example of the map display device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a screen view showing another operation example of the map display device in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a map display device in a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Map Data 11a Japanese Character / Symbol Data 11b English Character / Symbol Data 11c French Character / Symbol Data 11d Route Guidance Data 11e Display Background Data 11f Road Network Data 12 Language Setting Means 13 Language Switching Means 14 Characters / Symbols Display means 15 Background display means 16 Map display means 17 Display map in Japanese 18 Language setting screen 19, 20 Display map in English

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of characters for each language in the map data
A map display device which stores symbol data and can display a map in a language set by a user by a language switching means. 2. The map display device according to claim 1, wherein the map data having a small capacity can be used in multiple languages by sharing data such as display background data that is not related to a language. 3. Map data for storing a plurality of character / language data for each language and common display background data, language setting means for a user to set a language to be used, and characters / characters in the set language. Language switching means for selecting symbol data from map data, character / symbol displaying means for converting character / symbol data in the selected language into a signal suitable for display, and display background data obtained from map data are suitable for display A map display device comprising a background display means for converting into a signal and a map display means for displaying the converted characters / symbols and background on a display.