JPH1188378A - Network equipment control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible an intuitive understanding of a user by displaying in areas from the first to the n-th provided on a control screen of host equipment the number n of equipment in one-to-one correspondence, holding a correspondence table for indicating relation between a coordinate of an arbitrary place of the control screen and equipment to be selected, explicating selected equipment in accordance with the correspondence table and having the host equipment control the selected equipment. SOLUTION: A micro computer 1 refers coordinate data from a cursor coordinate detection part 8 to an equipment selection table 4 and judges that equipment to be elected is a CS tuner 11. On a display screen of a control display monitor 6, a color of display of a surrounding area of an area for indicating the Cs tuner is changed, and that the CS tuner 11 is in a condition of being selected is visually communicated to a user. The micro computer 1 judges that equipment to be an object of control is only the CS tuner and executes an equipment control program 5. The equipment control program 5 is in hierarchy structure. When the CS tuner 11 is selected, a P1 program is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a network device control apparatus for easily controlling each device from a computer as a host machine in a network environment in which digital AV devices and a computer are connected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, not only conventional terrestrial broadcasting, but also BS broadcasting, CS broadcasting, CATV, and the like have provided services, and multi-channel broadcasting services such as hundreds of channels are easily provided in homes. You can enjoy.

In addition to televisions, digital VTRs
In recent years, digital AV devices such as video disc recorders and mini discs capable of recording various contents have become widespread.

Further, in the communication field, as the use of the Internet by high-performance personal computers increases, the digital telephone line ISDN is rapidly spreading, and an environment for multimedia in ordinary households is being prepared.

[0005] In response to such a change in the environment, it is desired to connect a plurality of personal computers in a home through a network to share resources, or since the AV equipment has been digitized, the data of the personal computer is not degraded without causing signal deterioration. Network-oriented thinking, such as wanting to hand over, is spreading.

More specifically, it is becoming possible to establish a home network by connecting the computer devices with each other through an Ethernet connection, or connecting the AV devices with each other or an IEEE 1394 serial bus connecting the AV device and the computer.

[0007]

However, while such a rapid spread of multimedia has provided various services, general users have difficulty finding the content they want to enjoy or have complicated device operations. Cause problems such as not knowing.

In view of the above problems, the present invention creates a network environment in which various digital AV devices and personal computers are connected by a common bus, and enables a user to intuitively understand the control and operation of each device from a host machine. It provides an environment that can be carried out on the Internet.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first network device control apparatus according to the present invention is a network system in which n devices including a host device are connected to a bus. In a network device controller that selects and controls an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices using devices, a first to n-th areas are set on a control screen of the host device, and the respective areas are set to respective areas. Means for displaying the n devices in a one-to-one correspondence, means for displaying a cursor for pointing to an arbitrary area on the control screen, and coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected. Means for holding a correspondence table indicating the relationship, means for specifying the device selected according to the correspondence table on the screen, and the host device controlling the selected device via the bus It is characterized in that it has means that.

A second network device control apparatus according to the present invention is a network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus, and an arbitrary number of devices are controlled from the n devices by using the host device. In the network device control apparatus for selecting and controlling the devices, the first to n-th areas are set on the control screen of the host device, and n devices excluding the host device are set in each area on a one-to-one basis.
A means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area on the control screen; a combination of all devices that can be divided into areas on the control screen and composed of n devices; and Means for holding a correspondence table respectively associated with the divided areas; means for specifying on the screen the device selected according to the correspondence table based on the area designated by the cursor; and When the combination of the devices selected in the area is invalid, a warning is displayed on a control screen, and the host device controls the selected device through the bus.

[0011] A third network device control apparatus according to the present invention is a network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus. In the network device control apparatus for selecting and controlling the devices, the first to n-th areas are set on the control screen of the host device, and n devices excluding the host device are set in each area on a one-to-one basis.
Means for displaying in association with the display, means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area on the control screen, coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen, and a signal processing direction between a device to be selected and the selected device Means for holding a correspondence table indicating the relationship between the cursor, the means for specifying the device selected according to the correspondence table from the display position of the cursor and the direction of signal processing on the screen, and the host device It has a means for controlling the selected device.

A fourth network device control apparatus according to the present invention is a network system in which (n + 1) devices including a host device are connected to a bus. In the network device control apparatus for selecting and controlling the device, the first to fourth areas are set on the first hierarchy control screen of the host device, and the host device is excluded from the first to third regions. Means for displaying one of three devices in one-to-one correspondence, means for allocating the remaining n-3 devices to the fourth area, and means for allocating the remaining n-3 devices to the fourth area. In the same manner as when the n-3 devices assigned to the area No. 4 are assigned to the control screen of the first layer, the first to fourth control screens of the control screens of the second to k-th layers are respectively used. Means for assigning to an area; Means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area on the hierarchical control screen, and means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary location on the hierarchical control screen and a device to be selected And means for specifying the device selected according to the correspondence table from the display position of the cursor on the screen, and means for the host device to control the selected device via the bus. Things.

A fifth network device control apparatus according to the present invention is a network system in which (n + 1) devices including a host device are connected to a bus. In the network device control apparatus for selecting and controlling the devices, the first to n-th areas are set on the control screen of the host device, and n devices excluding the host device are set in each area on a one-to-one basis.
A means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area on the control screen, and a means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected. Means for displaying, on the screen, a device selected from the display position of the cursor in accordance with the correspondence table, and an i-th area among the first to n-th areas.
Means for detecting an area of a device that is not selected together with a device corresponding to the i-th area by referring to the correspondence table when the cursor points to an area of It is characterized in that it has means for displaying as an inactive area on a control screen, and means for the host device to control the selected device through the bus.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network control device according to (Embodiment 1) of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a microcomputer, 2 is a memory, 3 is a screen display program, 4 is a device selection table,
5 is a device control program, 6 is a control screen monitor, 7 is a pointing device input unit, 8 is a cursor coordinate detection unit, 9 is a bus interface unit, and 10 is IEEE13.
94 is a serial bus, 11 is a CS tuner, 12 is a digital VTR, 13 is a video disk recorder, and 14 is a video camera.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of the screen of the control screen monitor 6, and 15 is a cursor. The operation of the network control device configured as described above will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, when the microcomputer 1 executes the screen display program 3 stored in the memory 2,
As an initial screen, as shown in FIG.
CS tuner 1 connected to 94 serial bus 9
0, digital VTR11, video disk recorder 1
2. Display the video camera 13 on the control screen monitor 6.
The control screen monitor 6 is used as a user interface.
, A cursor 15 is displayed at a location designated by the pointing device input unit 7 which is an input device from the user.

At this time, the user of the network control device according to the first embodiment of the present invention moves the cursor 15 on the screen while viewing the screen shown in FIG. Following the movement of the cursor 15, the cursor coordinate detection unit 8 always detects the coordinates indicated by the cursor on the control screen monitor 6, and inputs the data to the microcomputer 1.

While executing the screen display program 3, the microcomputer 1 refers to the device selection table 4 in the memory 2 with the coordinate data from the cursor coordinate detector 8 and determines the device on the network to be selected. .

Here, in the device selection table 4, all the coordinates on the screen are associated with the relationship with the device to be selected, which is schematically shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, the control screen is divided into several areas, and the numbers of the devices to be selected when the cursor 15 indicates the area are associated with each other.

FIG. 3 shows a comparison with the control screen shown in FIG.
Device a is CS tuner 11, device b is digital VT
R12, device c is video disk recorder 13, device d
Corresponds to the video camera 14.

Therefore, when the cursor 15 indicates the area 1, the device a, that is, the CS tuner 11, and when the cursor 15 points to the area 5 sandwiched between the area 1 and the area 2, the apparatus a and the apparatus b. That is, CS tuner 1
1 and the digital VTR 12 are selected. Further, when the outside portions of these areas are pointed out, it is determined that there is no selected device and an input waiting state is set.

Here, an important point of the present invention is that the relationship between the coordinates indicated by the cursor 15 and the selected device is associated with the geometrical arrangement for the four types of devices arranged on the control screen. It is a point. By moving the cursor on the control screen, it is possible for the user to visually grasp what combination of devices connected to the network can be used. It is possible to intuitively understand and operate.

The operation of each case will be described below. First, a case where the user selects an area in which one device is selected will be described. FIG. 2B shows a case where the user operates the pointing device input unit 7 while moving the cursor 15 to the area 1 while looking at the control screen.

In this case, the microcomputer 1 stores the coordinate data from the cursor coordinate detector 8 in the device selection table 4 shown in FIG.
To determine that the device to be selected is the CS tuner 11.

The display on the control screen monitor 6 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the display color of the area around the area 1 representing the CS tuner is changed to visually inform the user that the CS tuner is selected.

Here, the microcomputer 1 executes the device control program 5 by judging that the device to be controlled is only the CS tuner.

As shown in FIG. 4, several device control programs 5 are prepared according to the combination of the selected devices shown in FIG. 3, and each program has a hierarchical structure having several functions. It has a structure.

When the CS tuner is selected, the program P1 is executed in FIG. 4, and functions such as ON / OFF of video data output, channel selection, and program list are prepared for the CS tuner. When the user selects a necessary function from these functions, the microcomputer issues a command corresponding to the function to the CS tuner via the bus interface 9.
In this embodiment, since the IEEE 1394 serial bus is used as a bus, these control commands can be easily transmitted to a desired device.

Next, the case where the cursor 15 is moved to the area 5 between the area 2 and the area 4 as shown in FIG. 2C will be described.

In this case, the correspondence shown in FIG.
The CS tuner in the area 3 and the digital VTR in the area 4 are selected, and the CS tuner and the digital VTR are displayed on the control screen.
A visual indication that TR has been selected.

Thus, the user can use the CS tuner and the digital V among the devices connected on the network.
It can be easily and intuitively understood that a combination of TRs can be used. In the case of this combination, the microcomputer 1 executes the program P5 shown in FIG. 4, and gives a menu to the user as to whether to make a recording reservation or to start recording immediately, and in response thereto, executes a control command in the same manner as above. I do.

Further, when the cursor is moved to the lower left area 6 of the area 2 as shown in FIG. 2D, a similar process is performed to confirm that the areas 1, 2 and 4 have been selected. Make it clear to users. This allows the user to intuitively understand that there are services that can be enjoyed by these three devices.

As a function in this case, a video source taken by a video camera is transmitted to a digital VTR and a video disk recorder, respectively, to perform dubbing. These operations are automatically performed by the microcomputer 1 executing the device control program 5 of P11 shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the bus is IEEE 139.
Since the 4-serial bus is used, there is an advantage that not only control commands but also AV data can use this bus.

In addition, there is a form in which an Ethernet bus is used as a bus. Also in this case, the configuration is the same as that of FIG. 1, and ten IEEE 1394 serial buses may be replaced with Ethernet buses. In this case, if a personal computer is used as the host device, it is characterized by a good affinity with the bus.

Although a television for outputting an image is not explicitly shown in FIG. 1, since the television has a function as a host machine including the microcomputer 1, a control screen monitor 1 and a monitor for outputting an image source are provided. Can be shared.

By mounting such a user interface, it is possible to intuitively image a connection to a device connected to the network.

In this embodiment, in order to indicate that each device is selected, the color is clearly indicated by changing the color of the peripheral portion of each device. Changing the design, such as changing or blinking, or changing the text or picture of the selected area, can achieve the same effect.

(Embodiment 2) Hereinafter, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the case of (Embodiment 1), connection patterns that can be considered in consideration of the characteristics of each device are included in the table of FIG. 3. For example, region 2 and region 3 are not selected at the same time. Users do not know why there is no choice.

It is assumed that if the cursor 15 is moved to the center of the screen from the combination of devices selected in other areas, all devices can be selected. In the case of (Embodiment 1), Are not registered in the device selection table shown in FIG.

For this reason, the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, but prepares the device selection table 4 with areas corresponding to all combinations of devices as shown in FIG. Keep it. However, in the gray area shown in FIG. 5, the user is warned that the combination is an unnatural combination when using the devices on the network, that is, a combination of devices that cannot be used.

FIG. 6 shows a display example when the user selects the area 7 in FIG. In this case, CS tuner 1
1 and that the video camera 14 has been selected, but a warning screen stating "This combination cannot be selected" is displayed, and the fact that signals cannot be exchanged with the combination of the CS tuner and the video camera is used. To others.

By incorporating such a man-machine interface, it is possible to provide the user with more information on how to use the device.

(Embodiment 3) Hereinafter, Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the first embodiment, when the area 8 shown in FIG. 3 is selected, a digital VTR and a video disk recorder are selected.

In this case, simply displaying the selected device cannot be used to determine whether the operation is from the digital VTR to the video disk recorder or from the video disk recorder to the digital VTR, only by displaying the control screen.

Therefore, in (Embodiment 3), the device selection table 5 further uses a table as shown in FIG.

The difference between FIG. 7 and FIG. 3 is that the area 8 shown in FIG. 3 is divided into two parts, and the selection order of the selected devices is taken into consideration. Are expressed in the order that follows.

According to the present invention, not only the selection of equipment, but also
The signal flow is clear, and an excellent user interface can be provided.

Since the device configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 1, the operation will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the user moves the cursor 1 to the area 9 in FIG.
5 will be described.

The microcomputer 1 first executes the screen display program 3. Here, the screen display program follows the video disc recorder 13 according to the device selection table 4 shown in FIG.
And that the digital VTR 12 has been selected is visually displayed by changing the color of the periphery of the area. In addition to this, FIG. 8A shows that the signal is connected from the video disk recorder to the digital VTR. ) Is displayed. However, in FIG. 8, the cursor 15 is omitted for convenience of explanation.

When the user selects this combination,
Hereinafter, the microcomputer 1 starts a program suitable for this combination from the device control program 5 for each device in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and sends a control command via the bus interface 9 and the IEEE 1394 serial bus. Data is transferred from the video disk recorder 13 to the digital VTR.

When the user moves the cursor 15 to the area 10 in FIG. 7, screen display and device control are performed in exactly the same procedure. FIG. 8B shows the device selection screen.

Although arrows are written in FIG. 8 so that the flow of data can be understood, an animation may be inserted between devices to make the data more clear.

As a result, it is possible to easily indicate the settings of devices capable of bidirectional connection. (Embodiment 4) Hereinafter, Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the case of (Embodiment 1), if the number of devices displayed on the control screen is four or less, the combination of devices that can be considered by dividing the screen into several regions is geometrically determined. I was able to assign while considering the arrangement,
Further, when the number of devices on the network increases, there is a drawback that the layout becomes intuitively difficult to understand on the control screen.

Thus, (Embodiment 4) relates to screen display when there are many devices connected to the network.

FIG. 9 shows that the device connected to FIG.
This shows a case where the number of players 16 and MD recorders 17 is further increased.

FIG. 10 shows a display example of a control screen in this embodiment. In FIG. 10A, since the number of connected devices exceeds four, one of the regions representing the devices on the initial screen is allocated to other devices. Here, a video camera 14, a CD player 16 and an MD recorder 17 are assigned to other areas.

The basic operation is the same as that of the first embodiment. When the user operates the pointing device input unit 7 to move the cursor,
FIG. 10 shows that R12 and other devices are selected.
(A) shows.

Here, when the user proceeds with the operation to specify the other device, the screen display program selects the digital VTR 12 as one device,
Move to the next submenu, FIG. 10 (b). FIG.
In (b), since the digital VTR 12 is selected in the initial menu, a selection is made for a device newly appearing therefrom. In this embodiment, the CD player 16 is selected, and the audio data of the CD player 16 is converted to digital VT.
The microcomputer 1 sends a control command to post-record to R13.
Can be selected from the device control program 5 and transmitted via the bus interface 9 and the IEEE 1394 serial bus 10 for control.

In this embodiment, the case where the device selection procedure is performed over two layers has been described. However, when the rest of the area 4 is selected on the initial screen, the video camera 14, the CD player 16 and the MD recorder 17 are simply used. And the device can be controlled in the same procedure as in the first embodiment.

When the control screen has a hierarchical structure as in the present embodiment, the device selection table 4 also requires a table for the control screen of each layer, and its configuration is basically the same as that of FIG. Is the same as

In this embodiment, all the devices can be displayed in two layers. However, if the display cannot be performed even in this case, the display can be performed by using the next layer.

As described above, by providing a hierarchical menu, even if the number of devices connected to the network increases, device control can be performed without impairing an intuitive user interface.

Embodiment 5 Hereinafter, Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiments described above, the user has to perform an operation to find a combination that can be connected on the network while moving the cursor on the control screen in any case. In the present embodiment, when one of the devices on the network to be used is selected, at least devices that cannot be connected to the device are erased from the screen, or by displaying an inactive state, a network-capable device is displayed. The feature is that it is visually communicated to the user.

FIG. 11 shows a display example of the control screen. Since the device configuration in the present embodiment uses the same configuration as in FIG. 1, the basic operation such as moving the cursor is the same as in the first embodiment. Here, the device selection table 5 is shown in FIG.
Shall be referred to. When the user moves the cursor to the area 1, the control screen display program performs an inactive display on a device that cannot be connected to the network, while leaving the region indicating a device that can be connected to the CS tuner as it is. From the correspondence with FIG. 3, the control screen display program indicates that the area is inactive for the video camera 14 that cannot be combined with the CS tuner 11. In FIG. 11A, it is represented by a cross. Alternatively, the area may be temporarily deleted from the control screen as shown in FIG.

With these functions, the user can easily know the combination of devices that can be used by connecting to the device by selecting one device to be used.

In the above description, AV devices are shown as examples of devices connected to the network. However, not only AV devices but also information communication devices such as personal computers, their peripheral devices, telephones, and faxes may be used. .

The host device itself may be the device to be controlled. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the user interface portion of the present invention, that is, the screen display program and the algorithm of the device selection table can obtain the same effects for the above-mentioned devices.

[0077]

As described above, the present invention relates to a network system in which (n + 1) devices including a host device are connected to a bus. In the network device control device for selecting and controlling the device, first to n-th areas are set on the control screen of the host device, and each device corresponds to n devices excluding the host device on a one-to-one basis. Means for displaying, means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area on the control screen, means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected, Means are provided on the screen to indicate the device selected according to the correspondence table from the display position of the cursor, and means for the host device to control the selected device via the bus. Rukoto enables the user to easily control the AV devices connected to the network by intuitive operation while viewing the control screen.

Further, by further devising the correspondence table between the display position of the cursor and the device to be selected, it is possible to provide a network device control device having a user interface that is more user-friendly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a network device control device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a control screen according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a device selection table according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of a device control program according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a device selection table according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a control screen according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a device selection table according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a control screen according to (Embodiment 3) of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a network device control device according to (Embodiment 4) of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a control screen according to (Embodiment 4) of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a control screen according to (Embodiment 5) of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 microcomputer 2 memory 3 drawing display program 4 device selection program 5 device control program 6 control screen monitor 7 pointing device input unit 8 cursor coordinate detection unit 9 bus interface unit 10 IEEE 1394 serial bus 11 CS tuner 12 digital VTR 13 video disk recorder 14 video camera

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus, and a network device control for selecting and controlling an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices using the host device. Means for setting the first to n-th areas on the control screen of the host device, and displaying n devices other than the host device in each area in a one-to-one correspondence with each other; Means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area above, means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected, and the correspondence table based on a display position of the cursor. Wherein the host device has means for controlling the selected device through the bus. Over-click device control apparatus. 2. The network device control device according to claim 1, wherein an IEEE 1394 serial bus is used as the bus. 3. The network device controller according to claim 1, wherein an Ethernet bus is used as the bus. 4. The network device control device according to claim 1, wherein a television is used as the host device. 5. A network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus, wherein the host device is used to select and control an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices. Means for setting the first to n-th areas on the control screen of the host device, and displaying n devices other than the host device in each area in a one-to-one correspondence with each other; Means for displaying a cursor for designating an arbitrary region above, a correspondence table in which the control screen is divided into regions and combinations of all devices that can be configured from n devices are associated with the divided regions of the control screen. Holding means, means for specifying the device selected in accordance with the correspondence table based on the area designated by the cursor on the screen, and means for selecting the device selected in the selected area. Means the combination of equipment that displays a warning in the case of fraud control screens, the network device control apparatus characterized by comprising means for controlling the apparatus said host device is the selected via the bus. 6. A network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus, wherein the host device is used to select and control an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices. Means for setting the first to n-th areas on the control screen of the host device, and displaying n devices other than the host device in each area in a one-to-one correspondence with each other; Means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area above, means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected and a signal processing direction between the selected device. Means for specifying, on the screen, the device selected in accordance with the correspondence table and the direction of signal processing from the display position of the cursor, and the host device displaying the selected device via the bus. Network device control apparatus characterized by comprising means for controlling the device. 7. In a network system in which n + 1 devices including a host device are connected to a bus, a network device control for selecting and controlling an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices by using the host device. In the apparatus, first to fourth areas are set on the control screen of the first layer of the host device, and three out of n devices excluding the host device are set to one in the first to third areas. Means for associating and displaying one to one; means for allocating the remaining n-3 devices to the fourth area;
The first to fourth areas of the control screens of the second to k-th layers by the same means as those for allocating the n-3 devices assigned to the area of the first layer to the control screen of the first layer. Means for displaying a cursor for designating an arbitrary area on the hierarchical control screen, and a correspondence indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the hierarchical control screen and a device to be selected. Means for holding a table, means for specifying the device selected according to the correspondence table from the display position of the cursor on the screen, and means for the host device to control the selected device via the bus A network device control device, characterized in that: 8. A network system in which (n + 1) devices including a host device are connected to a bus, wherein the host device is used to select and control an arbitrary number of devices from the n devices. Means for setting the first to n-th areas on the control screen of the host device, and displaying n devices other than the host device in each area in a one-to-one correspondence with each other; Means for displaying a cursor indicating an arbitrary area above, means for holding a correspondence table indicating a relationship between coordinates of an arbitrary place on the control screen and a device to be selected, and the correspondence table from the display position of the cursor. Means for specifying the device selected in accordance with the above on the screen, and referring to the correspondence table when the cursor points to the i-th area among the first to n-th areas, and Means for detecting an area of a device which is not selected together with the device corresponding to the area; means for displaying the area detected by the means as an inactive area on the control screen of the host device; and A network device control device, comprising: means for controlling the selected device.