JPH10240903A - Picture display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a picture display system properly display-controlling a comic picture by considering the display capacity of a display device such as resolution and an item characteristic to comic such as the division of comas, a balloon. SOLUTION: When page information including at least one of frame dividing information, margin information, spread constituting information, balloon information and role information is fetched with picture data of the page, a page information analyzing part 106 dynamically decides a display method to the display device of a comic picture generated from page information and picture data based on the displaying capacity of the display device such as resolution analyzed by a device capacity analyzing part 107 and this fetched page information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image display system for generating and displaying a comic image, and more particularly to an image display system which takes into consideration display capabilities of a display device such as resolution and comic-specific items such as frame division and balloons. The present invention relates to an image display system that performs various display controls.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, image display systems have been operated on various information devices such as electronic books and personal computers. Recently, images to be displayed by this image display system have been diversified, and a comic image is one of the images to be displayed.

In a comic, each page is divided into an arbitrary number of frames, and a picture is drawn on each of the divided frames along with the progress of the story. Then, in a frame called a balloon drawn together with the picture, words and the like of the characters are described. Therefore, the reader will read the story with the pictorial diagram and the words in the balloon.

[0004] In a conventional image display system, for example, in order to enable a comic image to be displayed even on an information device equipped with a display having a relatively low resolution, display control is performed in frame units or column units. Therefore, comic images obtained from the same information source can be displayed in the same manner on any information device regardless of the resolution of the display. However, executing display control of comic images in conformity with low-level functions in this manner imposes display control on a frame-by-frame or column-by-frame basis even when displaying on a high-resolution display. Therefore, it cannot be said that appropriate display control is performed according to the resolution and processing speed of the display, and further, the request from the user.

Some conventional image display systems have an automatic reproduction function of sequentially displaying each comic image at a preset time. For example, the number of characters in a speech balloon is taken into consideration. However, since all the comic images are displayed at the same interval, it was not very convenient.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional image display system, flexible display control such as changing the display unit of the comic image according to the resolution of the display is not performed. For,
In spite of having a high-resolution display, there is a problem that display control considered for a low-resolution display is executed.

In the automatic reproduction function of the conventional image display system, the amount of characters in the speech balloon is not taken into account, and all comic images are displayed at the same interval. There was a problem of making people feel.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and executes appropriate display control in consideration of display capabilities of a display device such as resolution and comic-specific items such as frame division and speech balloons. It is an object to provide an image display system.

[0009]

According to the image display system of the present invention, page information and image data including at least one of frame division information, margin information, spread configuration information, balloon information, and role information are provided for each page. In an image display system that reads out the page information and image data from a recording medium recorded as a pair and generates and displays a comic image from the read page information and image data, a display device that displays the comic image Display capability acquiring means for acquiring display capability, and display control means for executing display control of the comic image from the display capability of the display device and the page information acquired by the display capability acquiring means. It is characterized by.

[0010] In the image display system of the present invention,
For example, the number of simultaneously displayed pages of comic images is made variable according to the number of displays installed as display devices and the resolution of the displays. For example, in the case where two displays are arranged side by side, the number of simultaneously displayed pages is reduced to two by displaying comic images in page units, or the number of displays is one. If two pages of comic images can be displayed in parallel on one screen based on the resolution, the number of simultaneously displayed pages is set to two. Further, in the image display system of the present invention, the page information recorded on each page of the comic image is simultaneously considered,
Dynamically switch the display unit of comic images. For example, when only one display is installed and display control is performed in units of one page based on the resolution of the display, the presence of a pictorial diagram extending over two pages of the spread is recognized from the spread configuration information included in the page information. In such a case, for example, the display unit is temporarily switched so that the two-page spread is used as one display unit, displayed after being reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent a pictorial image extending over two facing pages from being cut in half and displayed. When one low-resolution display is installed, display control may be performed in frame units as in the related art. When a display with a slightly lower resolution is used, when it is recognized that no information is described in the margin from the margin information included in the page information, the margin is cut and enlarged. Display control such as display after application is also effective.

Further, the image display system of the present invention further comprises a look-ahead memory for pre-reading the image data, wherein the display control means estimates a reference time of each page from the page information; Means for controlling to pre-read image data of a page next to the page whose estimated reference time is shorter than a predetermined value using the pre-reading memory.

The reference time of each page of the comic changes according to, for example, the number of frames and the number of characters in a balloon. Considering the reference time spent on a page where only one frame exists in the page and no balloon is provided (that is, the number of characters is 0), it is estimated that the reference time is very small. You. In such a case, reading and drawing of image data of a page next to this page may not be able to be performed depending on the processing capability of the information device. Therefore, in the image display system of the present invention, the reference time of each page is estimated from the page information in advance by, for example, a predetermined number of pages, and the estimated reference time of the next page of the page below the predetermined value is reduced. This situation is dealt with by pre-reading the image data in the pre-reading memory.

Further, in the image display system according to the present invention, the display control means estimates the reference time of each page from the page information, and sequentially displays the comic images according to the estimated reference time. Means.

In the image display system of the present invention,
The reference time of each page estimated based on the page information described above is adopted as the display time of each page during automatic reproduction.
That is, for example, the display time of each page is determined according to the number of frames in the page, the number of balloons, and the number of characters in the balloon, so that an appropriate image is displayed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a device configuration of the image display system according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the image display system according to the embodiment includes a CPU 1
1, system controller 12, system memory 13,
ROM 14, operation button controller 15, CD-RO
An M drive 16 and a display controller 17 are provided.

The CPU 11 controls execution of application programs including an operating system and utilities stored in the system memory 13. The system controller 12 controls the memory and I / O in this system.
This is a gate array for controlling O. The system memory 13 stores an operating system executed and controlled by the CPU 11 and an application program including a utility. ROM 14 is
It is a non-volatile memory device that stores an application program including an operating system and a utility that is read into the system memory 13 and executed and controlled by the CPU 11.

The operation button controller 15 is for taking in operation instructions from the user into the system by controlling various operation instruction buttons. CD-
The ROM drive 16 is an external storage device for reading comic images from a CD-ROM on which comic images are recorded, which is a feature of the present invention. The display controller 17 is for controlling display of two display devices, the LCD (1) 18 and the LCD (2) 18,
Receive display data from U11 and display it on LCD
(1) VRAM for 18 (1) 19 or LCD (2)
The VRAM (2) 19 for 18 is written.

FIG. 2 shows functional blocks of the image display system of the embodiment having such a device configuration. As shown in FIG. 2, in the image display system according to the embodiment, the control unit 101 controls the entire system. Then, under the control of the control unit 101, the input unit 102, the access control unit 103, the display unit 104, the image data holding unit 1
05, page information analysis unit 106, device capability analysis unit 1
07, the prefetch control unit 108, the input interrupt detection unit 109, and the automatic reproduction determination unit 110 operate. In addition,
The control unit 101, the page information analysis unit 106, the device capability analysis unit 107, the prefetch control unit 108, the input interruption detection unit 109, and the automatic reproduction determination unit 110 are stored in the system memory 13 and executed and controlled by the CPU 11. It is configured as a program. Input unit 1
02, the access control unit 103 and the display unit 104 are realized by the operation button controller 15, the CD-ROM drive 16, and the display controller 17, respectively. Then, the image data holding unit 105 stores information in the system memory 13.
Is secured above.

The page information analysis unit 106 includes frame information (number of frames, reproduction order, position, size) obtained as page information, margin information (margin size, presence / absence of an annotation in the margin),
Analyze the number of balloon characters and page role information. Then, the display method is determined in accordance with the analysis result of the device capability analysis unit 107, and the determined display method is determined by the control unit 101.
Notify.

The device capability analysis unit 107 analyzes the resolution of the display, the number of pages that can be displayed, the number of pages that can be read ahead, the processing speed, the transfer speed, and the like. The prefetch control unit 108 checks the free space in the image data holding unit 105, and executes prefetch when sufficient free space exists. The storage area of the image data that has been transferred to the VRAM 19 is also regarded as a free area, and new image data is loaded into that area. Since data transfer from the CD-ROM to the system memory 13 is performed by the control unit 101, what is performed as prefetch control is to monitor the image data holding unit 105 and send start, stop, and continue commands for prefetch to the control unit 101. And that the information when prefetching is interrupted is held.

The input interrupt detection unit 109 detects an interrupt such as a page turn. When an interrupt occurs, data transfer control by prefetching is temporarily suspended, and the target image data is transferred from the image data holding unit 105 to the display unit 104.

The automatic reproduction determination unit 110 determines the reference time of each page based on the analysis result of the page information analysis unit 106. It should be noted that the automatic reproduction determination unit 110
In accordance with a user's instruction input from 02, control of shortening / extending of the reference time when performing automatic reproduction is also performed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of management of comic image data in which a page image and page information are managed as a pair according to the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the comic image data of the embodiment is a CD-ROM.
Above, the page image and the page information are arranged in pairs for each page. These have a structure as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, each data will be described.

Comic image data is a set of pages and is 1
Titles, and these pages are arranged in one file in page order. Each page is composed of page information and image data. The page information includes the title number to which the page belongs,
Page number, frame layout information, margin information, spread composition information,
It is composed of the number of speech balloons, the number of speech balloon characters, and page role information.

The frame allocation information is information on the number of frames belonging to the page, and the position and size of each frame on the image data. The margin information includes upper and lower margin widths of the page, left and right margin widths, and margin use information. The margin use information is the type of data in the margin (annotation or frame overflow), the position and size of the data on the image data.

The two-page spread configuration information is information on whether the page is a two-page spread and two-page spread pattern information. That is, this is a case where frames are arranged over two pages. FIG. 5 shows a pattern in which frames are arranged over two pages.

The number of balloons and the number of balloon characters are used to estimate the time required to refer to the page. The page role information is expressed, for example, from level 1 to level 3, where level 1 is the page that takes the space for the next page (for example, a page with only a background, a page that is exaggerated, etc.), and level 2 is a normal page. Level 3 is used as an important or complicated page in the story development.

Next, the operation of the image display system of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Initialization (Step S1) In the image display system of the embodiment, first, the device capability of the display device is analyzed by the device capability analysis unit 107.
Here, the device capability refers to the number of displays, resolution, processing speed, memory size, transfer speed, and the like.

Work Selection (Step S2) Here, the work (title) to be read and the page number are specified. Page data transfer and page information analysis (step S3
-Step S4) The position of the target page data is specified based on the title number and the page number, and the comic image data is transferred to the image data holding unit 105 using a data load instruction. The page information in the transferred comic image data is analyzed by the page information analysis unit 106.

Determination of Display Method (Step S5) This display method is classified into the following cases (a) to (c) or normal display according to device capability and user's request.

(A) When Only One Page Can Be Displayed When it is recognized from the double-page spread information that it is not a double-page spread, it is displayed for each page. On the other hand, when it is recognized that the document has a two-page spread configuration, the left and right pages are displayed in a reduced size, or the left and right pages are reduced and displayed by rotating 90 degrees. The left and right pages are reduced and displayed for each frame as shown in FIG.

(B) When only one page can be displayed and the resolution is low The page information analysis unit 106 displays each frame based on frame allocation information (frame order, position, size). Frames arranged over the left and right pages of the double-page spread are displayed rotated 90 degrees.

(C) When one page cannot be displayed and the resolution is slightly insufficient The margin information (upper and lower margin widths, left and right margin widths, and margin utilization information) obtained by analyzing the margins by the page information analyzer 106 is also used. At the same time, the margin is cut and displayed. When it is recognized from the margin use information that the margin is used in an annotation or the like, the user is notified of the presence or absence of the annotation, or the annotation part is displayed without being cut.

Display (Step S6) The image data stored in the image data holding unit 105 is transferred to the display unit 104 as it is for display. The image data of the next page is loaded into the image data holding unit 105 by the prefetch control unit 108.

A page turning request and an end request (steps S7 to S8) In the image display system of the embodiment, a prefetch (step S9) is performed until there is a page turning request or an end request.
Execute

Prefetching (Step S9) This prefetching is realized by the control of the prefetching control unit 108. If an interrupt of a page turning request is detected by the input interrupt detection unit 109 during prefetching, the prefetching is interrupted and the target image data is transferred from the image data holding unit 105 to the display unit 104 for display. Thereafter, the control unit 101 outputs the interrupted prefetch continuation command.
Request to. The address on the CD-ROM and the address on the image data holding unit 105 at the time of the interruption are managed by the prefetch control unit 108.

The prefetch control unit 108 prefetches a page next to a page which is estimated to have a very short user reference time, in addition to the normal prefetch. The determination as to whether or not the reference time is short is made based on whether the number of frames, the number of balloons, the number of characters in the balloon is small, or whether the level of the page role information is level 1 or the like. In this method, page information ahead of a predetermined number of pages is checked, and when a page meeting these conditions exists, prefetching of the next page is executed. If the display device can display only one page and the prefetch target page has a double-page spread configuration, the prefetch of the other page of the double-page spread is also executed.

Judgment of Transfer Completed (Step S10) When the next page is transferred by the page turning request, it is determined whether or not the data has been transferred by the pre-reading described above. (Step S3) is omitted.

When performing automatic reproduction, the display time is automatically determined instead of waiting for a page turning request from the user in the page turning request (step S7). The display time is determined by the automatic reproduction control unit 110 using the number of frames, the number of balloons, the number of balloon characters, and the page role information of the page information as parameters. In addition, according to an instruction from the user, the display time is reduced and extended.

As described above, in the image display system of the present embodiment, the display control of the comic image is controlled by using the comic-specific information such as the frame allocation information, the margin information, the spread configuration information, the balloon information, and the role information. Enables proper execution.

[0041]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately display a comic image by taking into account the display capability of the display device such as the resolution and the like and the specific items of the comic such as frame division and speech balloons. Enables control. Also, at the time of automatic reproduction, the display time according to the configuration is assigned to each page, so that usability can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a device configuration of an image display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view showing functional blocks of the image display system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary view showing an example of arrangement on a CD-ROM of comic image data in which a page image and page information are managed as a pair according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary view showing an example of the structure of comic image data in which a page image and page information are managed as a pair according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary view showing a pattern in which frames are arranged over two pages according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the operation of the image display system of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: control unit, 102: input unit, 103: access control unit, 104: display unit, 105: image data storage unit, 1
06: Page information analysis unit, 107: Device capability analysis unit, 108: Prefetch control unit, 109: Input interrupt detection unit, 110: Automatic reproduction control unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein page information including at least one of frame division information, margin information, facing composition information, balloon information, and role information and image data are recorded in pairs on a page basis. An image display system that reads information and image data, generates a comic image from the read page information and image data, and displays the comic image; a display capability acquiring unit that acquires display capability of a display device that displays the comic image; An image display system comprising: display control means for executing display control of the comic image based on the display ability of the display device acquired by the display ability acquisition means and the page information. 2. The display control unit according to claim 2, wherein the display capability acquisition unit acquires the number of displays included in the display capability of the display device and the two-page spread information included in the page information, the number of simultaneously displayed pages of the comic image. 2. The image display system according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling a display size. 3. The display control means according to claim 1, wherein said display capability acquiring means acquires a resolution included in a display capability of said display device and a double-page spread information included in said page information to determine the number of simultaneously displayed pages of said comic image. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling a display size.
Image display system as described. 4. The display control means includes means for controlling a display unit of the comic image based on a resolution included in a display capability of the display device acquired by the display capability acquiring device. The image display system according to claim 1. 5. The image display system according to claim 4, wherein a display unit of the comic image is one of a page unit and a frame unit. 6. The display control means includes means for controlling whether or not to display a margin portion based on the resolution included in the display capability of the display device acquired by the display capability acquisition device and the margin information included in the page information. The image display system according to claim 1, comprising: 7. A prefetch memory area for prefetching the image data, wherein the display control means estimates a reference time of each page from the page information, and the estimated reference time is determined in advance. 2. The image display system according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling image data of a page next to the page having a value lower than the obtained value to be pre-read using the pre-read memory area. 8. The display control means includes: means for estimating a reference time of each page from the page information; and means for sequentially displaying the comic images according to the estimated reference time. Claim 1, characterized in that:
The image display system according to 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7. 9. An information management method for converting a comic image into a digital image and recording the comic image on a recording medium, comprising: page information including at least one of frame division information, margin information, spread composition information, balloon information, and role information. An information management method characterized by recording image data on a recording medium in pairs for each page.