KR101323608B1 - A matrix switching apparatus for covering uhd resolutions and the method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A matrix switch device with an ultra high definition (UHD) level and a method thereof are provided to supply input by calculating an applicable scale degree and automatically harmonizing mutual resolution. CONSTITUTION: A micro controller unit (MCU) (200) compares resolution information on input and output devices which are to implement a matrix switch. If the resolution of a source image from each input device is greater than the support resolution of an applicable target device, the MCU controls an input resolution changing unit in order to perform down scaling in advance in the input resolution changing unit. If the resolution of the source image is smaller than the support resolution of the applicable target device, the MCU controls on output resolution changing unit in order to perform up scaling in the output resolution changing unit. [Reference numerals] (300) Input resolution changing unit; (400) Output resolution changing unit; (AA) Input port; (BB) EDID information of the input port; (CC,DD,EE) Control signal; (FF) EDID information of the output port; (GG) Output port

Description

UHD matrix switch device and its method {A MATRIX SWITCHING APPARATUS FOR COVERING UHD RESOLUTIONS AND THE METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to a UHD matrix switch device and a method thereof, and more particularly, it is possible to plug and play to automatically match the resolution of a source image and a target device when performing a UHD matrix switch. It relates to a device that can be used and a method thereof.

Ultra High Definition TV (UHDTV) refers to a TV that has 4 to 16 times higher resolution than currently available HDTV. Generally, a resolution of 1280 (horizontal) x 720 (vertical) (about 1 million pixels) is HD, and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 (about 1.07 million pixels) is called full HD. The UHDTV is divided into 4K and 8K according to the resolution. 4K UHDTV resolution is 3840 × 2160 resolution (8.3 million pixels), which is about 4 times more pixels than full HD, and 8K UHDTV resolution is 7680 × 4320 resolution. It has 16 times the picture quality compared to full HD.

With the spread of digital TVs, product prices are falling and screens are getting bigger. However, 60-inch and larger TVs do not provide sufficient picture quality with the existing full HD resolution. It is known that 4K resolution is required to properly implement image quality in such a large TV. As a result, home electronics companies are starting to preoccupy UHDTVs as new markets.

On the other hand, in order to realize the UHD quality as described above, the development of the display is important, but the development of the technology supporting the same must be supported. The conventional switch technology that receives dual source video and outputs it to a target device uses a plurality of switch chips that switch video signals 2x2 to each other between input / output ports (HDMI, DVI, HD-SDI) to match only the format of the input / output port. In addition, when a matrix switch is required, a method of storing data in the frame memory and outputting the output to a plurality of output ports for one source image (or vice versa) is used. The conventional matrix switch device assumes that the input source image and the target device have the same resolution. If the input / output resolution is different, the matrix switch device uses a method of matching the resolution of the input / output image by using a scaler.

The resolution matching method according to the related art is a method in which the user knows the resolution information of the target device in advance and sets it through a user interface, or the user replaces the input / output device with the same resolution through trial and error. There is no plug-and-play method that automatically adjusts the input and output resolutions, and the user has to set the user interface manually.

In addition, when the input and output resolutions are different, the frame memory has to be set to a large resolution for scaling, and thus there is a problem that the memory is not used efficiently. In particular, in the case of UHD-class video having 4 times to 16 times more pixels than full HD, the data capacity is so large that there is a greater problem in the efficient use of such a frame memory.

The following describes the prior art existing in the technical field of the present invention and briefly describes the differences from the present invention.

1. Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-0104248 (Nov. 24, 2001) relates to a data processing apparatus that receives a plurality of types of input data and processes and outputs the data according to various types of devices. The data processing apparatus for processing a variable in accordance with various types of output devices after the common processing is disclosed as a main configuration.

2. Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0380663 (25.2005.03.25) relates to a video distributor, which can distribute not only video signals that are not covered by the High Definition Content Protocol (HDCP) standard but also video signals to which the HDCP standard is applied. It is an image distributor characterized in that.

3. Korean Patent No. 10-1195179 (October 22, 2012) is an HDMI video signal switch device that provides a real-time screen switching of the HDMI video with almost no screen interruption, and in particular, transmits the external HDMI through the DDC channel of the HDMI input terminal. EDID providing unit for supplying the EDID data to the device, and a dummy signal generation unit for supplying a dummy video signal to the external HDMI receiver when there is no output of the HD video signal from the matrix switch unit.

In the prior art, unlike the present invention, the level of input data is limited to HD-level video, or the saving of frame memory and the plug-and-play function are not suggested. Therefore, the present invention can be switched (matrix) in real time by the appropriate combination of hardware and software, UHD-class video signal of a large amount of data, and video signals of various resolutions (SD, HD, 3D, UHD, etc.) To provide a technology that can flexibly supply and control the various types of display devices.

The present invention was created to solve the above problems, read EDID information including the resolution and device information of the source and target device connected to the input and output port, compare the resolution information of the target device and the source image, and then scale It is an object of the present invention to provide a UHD matrix switch device and a method capable of automatically matching and outputting a mutual resolution by calculating a degree.

In addition, the present invention needs to perform upscaling when the resolution of the target device connected to the output port is greater than the resolution of the source image. In this case, the source image is first stored in the frame memory and then upscaled while the output is determined. It is an object of the present invention to provide a UHD matrix switch device and a method for saving memory capacity by using the method.

In addition, the present invention, if the resolution of the target device is smaller, UHD matrix switch device and method that can efficiently use the capacity of the memory by down-scaling the source image in advance in the frame memory and output directly The purpose is to provide.

In addition, when the resolution information of a device connected to an input / output port is mixed with each other, the present invention selects a structure that minimizes the size of image data to be stored in the frame memory without sacrificing the quality of the image output to the target device as much as possible. An object of the present invention is to provide a UHD matrix switch device and a method thereof.

UHD matrix switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, the input resolution changing unit for changing the resolution of the source image from the input device; An output resolution changer for changing the resolution to match the supported resolution of the target device; A matrix switch for switching at least one input image to at least one output device; And an MCU which receives EDID signals transmitted from a plurality of input and output devices, and automatically controls to compare and match resolution information of input and output devices for performing a matrix switch. In addition, when the resolution of the source image from the input device is larger than the resolution of the target device, the MCU controls the input resolution changing unit to downscale in advance, and the resolution of the source image is smaller than the resolution of the target device. In this case, the output resolution changing unit controls upscaling, thereby efficiently using the frame memory included in the matrix switch and automatically matching the resolution of the input / output device, thereby providing plug-and-play and N-screen services. It is possible to provide at the same time, the input resolution changing unit, under the control of the MCU inputs directly to the matrix switch without down-scaling or scaling the resolution of the source image from the input device, the output resolution changing unit, remind Under the control of the MCU, any one of outputting the matrix switched image data directly to an output port without performing upscaling, downscaling, or scaling is performed, wherein the matrix switch includes a frame memory and a matrix switch controller. The matrix switch controller stores the image inputted by the matrix switch controller according to the image input / output port information from the MCU in a specific part of the frame memory, and also reads the input image stored in the specific part and outputs it through the output port. It performs a function of a switch, and provides a PIP function by writing and reading input images having a plurality of different resolutions in a specific frame memory, and when the MCU supports a plurality of target devices having different resolutions, The quality of the video output Characterized in that stored in the frame memory in a non-hand-ray to determine the size of the video data.

In addition, the UHD matrix switch method according to another embodiment of the present invention, the step of receiving a source image and the EDID information or the resolution information of the source image from the input device; Receiving EDID information including resolution information of the target device from the target device; Automatically controlling an input resolution changing unit, an output resolution changing unit, and a matrix switch to compare and match resolution information transmitted from a plurality of input and output devices to perform a matrix switch; And switching at least one input image to at least one output device. In addition, the controlling may include controlling the input resolution changing unit to downscale in advance when the resolution of the source image from the input device is larger than the resolution of the target device, and the resolution of the source image is supported by the target device. When the resolution is smaller than the resolution, the output resolution changing unit controls upscaling so as to efficiently use the frame memory included in the matrix switch, and the controlling may be performed by automatically matching the resolution of the input / output device. It is possible to simultaneously provide a play and an N-screen service, wherein the input resolution changing unit directly switches the matrix without downscaling or scaling the resolution of the source image from the input device according to the control of the controlling step. By mouth The output resolution changing unit performs any one of outputting directly to an output port without performing the upscaling, downscaling, or scaling of the matrix switched image data according to the control of the controlling step. The matrix switch includes a frame memory and a matrix switch controller, wherein the matrix switch stores an image to which the matrix switch controller is input in a specific portion of the frame memory according to the image input / output port information from the MCU, and further stores an input image stored in the specific portion. By reading and outputting through an output port, performing a function of a matrix switch, and providing a PIP function by writing and reading an input image having a plurality of different resolutions into a specific frame memory, and the controlling step includes: Get different revenge If the device is present, it characterized in that for determining the size of the image data stored in the frame memory in a line that does not damage the quality of the image to be output to the target device.

The present invention relates to a UHD matrix switch device and a method thereof, which reads EDID information including resolution and device information of a source and a target device connected to an input / output port, respectively, and compares the resolution information of the target device and the source image. It calculates the scale and automatically matches and outputs the mutual resolution so as to enable plug-and-play. Also, if the resolution of the target device connected to the output port is larger than the resolution of the source image, upscaling should be performed. After the source image is stored in the frame memory and the port to be output is determined, the image is upscaled while outputting. In contrast, when the resolution of the target device is smaller, the source image is downscaled in advance and stored in the frame memory and outputted immediately. The capacity of the memory by using When there are a plurality of target devices having different resolutions, the structure can be selected to minimize the size of the image data to be stored in the frame memory without compromising the quality of the image output to the target device as much as possible. There is.

1 is an exemplary view for explaining the structure of a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exemplary diagram for explaining the data flow of the UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an exemplary diagram for describing a data flow when a plurality of target devices having different resolutions exist in a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flow chart for explaining a switch method of a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of a UHD matrix switch device and a method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an exemplary view for explaining the structure of a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the UHD matrix switch device is an apparatus capable of effectively using a frame memory when performing a UHD matrix switch, and extracts an EDID signal from an HDMI signal of an input port and an output port, and By comparing the resolution of the source image and the target device based on the resolution, if the resolution of the source image is larger than the target device, down-scaling by the corresponding resolution difference is input in advance to the matrix switch 100, and conversely, the source image is more. In the small case, when the output from the matrix switch 100 is upscaled and output, the frame memory 110 can be effectively used according to a situation, and the plug-and-play can automatically adjust the input / output resolution. Is a possible device.

This plug-and-play capability can be applied directly to N-screen services that automatically adapt the resolution of the source image and target device, with more extensions. Although the input / output resolution is not automatically adjusted based on the coded video stream, the N-screen service can be considered to be supported in that the resolution of the source image and the target device are automatically adjusted.

For reference, Plug & Play refers to a function that allows users to use the plug and play without installing any physical settings when installing peripherals in the original computer. It means. Plug-and-play in the present invention refers to a function that can automatically adjust the resolution of the source image according to the target device even if the input source image and the target device resolution is different. In the present invention, even if the user does not set the resolution adjustment separately, the resolution is automatically adjusted to the target device without compromising the quality of the image as much as possible.

The structure of the UHD matrix switch device is largely the input / output resolution change that changes the resolution of the matrix switch 100 for switching at least one input source image to at least one output port and the resolution of the input source image and the output device. It comprises a microcontroller unit (MCU) 200 for controlling the processing flow of the image data based on the EDID signal collected from the unit (300, 400) and input and output ports.

The matrix switch 100 may be configured to include a frame memory 110 for storing image data and a matrix switch controller 120 for switching one source image to a plurality of display devices. The input resolution changing unit 300 may directly output the source image to the matrix switch without downscaling or scaling the source image according to the control signal of the MCU, and the output resolution changing unit 400 may output the matrix switch. The image output from the controller may be directly output to the output port without performing down scaling, up scaling, or scaling according to the control signal of the MCU. That is, the input resolution changing unit 300 includes a down scaler, and the output resolution changing unit 400 includes both a down scaler and an up scaler.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention, the MCU 200 first obtains EDID information from an input port and an output port, and compares the resolution of the source image with the resolution of the output device. The comparison result indicates that the source image has a lower resolution than the output device, the source image has a higher resolution than the output device, the source image and the output image have the same resolution, and one source image must be output to the plurality of output images. In this case, the MCU 200 controls the matrix switch 100, the input resolution changing unit 300, and the output resolution changing unit 400 to perform different paths in each case. By doing so, the frame memory can be operated more efficiently. Detailed description thereof will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 below.

The Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) is a kind of data structure defined by the VESA (Video® Electronics Standards Association), and contains various information about a display connected to a computer. The EDID contains information about the manufacturer's name, product type, EDID version, type of phosphor or filter, timing, screen size, luminance, pixels, and the like of the display. In the method of using the EDID signal in the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention, first, the MCU 200 collects both EDID signals through input / output ports and performs matching between input and output ports. When the input / output ports are matched as described above, the resolution information of the matched ports is extracted based on the information included in the collected EDID signals of all the ports to perform input / output resolution comparison. The MCU 200 determines which path to process the source image data based on the difference in resolution of the input / output ports. For example, if the resolution information is read at 4K in the EDID signal of the input device and the resolution information is read at 8K in the EDID signal of the target device, this means that the source image needs twice the upscale, and also the source image. If the resolution ratio is 4: 3 and the target device has a 16: 9 resolution ratio, the horizontal and vertical resolution ratios of the source image and the target device are different. It can also scale proportionally.

Since the frame memory used in the matrix switch includes the matrix switching function in the simple switching, the input source image must be stored in the frame memory at a predetermined resolution, and the number of output ports can be accessed and output. That is, it is also possible to simultaneously output one input image to a plurality of output devices, or output a plurality of input images to an arbitrary output device in a picture in picture (PIP). This can be controlled relatively easily through the control of the frame memory. For example, if a plurality of UHD-level images are input, the PIP scales down a specific input image to HD level, and outputs by overlaying the scaled-down HD-level image on the UHD-level image (background image). will be. Of course, this requires control over the writing and reading of the frame memory, which can be programmed in the MCU.

2 is an exemplary view for explaining a data flow of the UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

For reference, in the description of the present invention, K is a term for a series of digital images having a resolution of approximately 1000 pixels, and 1K refers to 1024 since 1024, which is a power of 2 in computer structure, is approximately 1000 pixels. . Strictly speaking, 1K resolution is 1024 × 1024, but it is calculated as 1024 × 768 by calculating the general aspect ratio of 4: 3. In this way, 2K = 2048 × 1536, 4K = 4096 × 3072, 8K = 8192 × 6144. However, the calculated resolution may vary slightly depending on the film type and wide aspect ratio.

As shown in FIG. 2, the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention first compares resolution information included in an EDID signal collected at an input / output port through the MCU 200. The resolution comparison result of the input / output port is divided into a case in which the source image has a larger resolution than the target device, a case in which the target device has a higher resolution than the source image, and a case where the resolution of the source image and the target device is the same. The MCU 200 transmits a control signal to the input resolution changing unit 300, the matrix switch 100, and the output resolution changing unit 400 to use the frame memory 110 as efficiently as possible.

When the source image has a larger resolution than the target device as in the case of ① shown in FIG. 2, first, the input resolution changing unit 300 performs downscaling, and then outputs image data whose resolution is changed by using a matrix switch. The image data is stored in the frame memory 110 of the matrix switch 100 and then output to the target output port through the matrix switch controller 120. In this case, the reason for downscaling before storing in the frame memory 110 is to perform downscaling anyway because the resolution of the target device is lower than the resolution of the source image, but if the source image is stored in the frame memory 110 as it is, When using the method of performing the downscaling when outputting through the matrix switch controller 120, the capacity of the frame memory 200 used to store image data is wasted compared to the method of the present invention. That is, the present invention is a device that uses the minimum frame memory 110 capacity in order to preserve the quality of the image output to the target device as much as possible.

More specifically, the input resolution changing unit 300 of the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention, when the source image is input, first source in two passes (down scaling, no scaling) according to the control signal of the MCU 200 If the source image is larger than the resolution of the target device, such as when the source image has a resolution of 4K and the target device has a resolution of 2K, the source image is sent to the downscaler 10. The source image downscaled from 4K to 2K through the down scaler 10 is stored after being sent to the frame memory 110, and the matrix switch controller 120 outputs the 2K image data stored in the frame memory 110 as a target output. Will output to the port. In this case, the image data output from the matrix switch controller 120 may be processed by the output resolution changing unit 400 in three passes (upscaling, downscaling, and no scaling), as in the case of ①. If the target device is larger than the resolution of the target device, the upscaling does not need to be performed. Accordingly, the image data is sent to the output route as it is without scaling according to the control signal of the MCU 200.

In addition, when the target device has a larger resolution than the source image, as in the case of ② shown in FIG. Unlike the storage in the 110, the up-scaling is performed when the source image data is stored in the frame memory 110 as it is and then output to the target output port through the matrix switch controller 120. Unlike in the case of ① of FIG. 2, the reason for performing upscaling at the time of outputting the image data without performing the scaling in advance is that the frame memory 110 consumed for storing the image data is minimized as described above. In order to use the memory 110 efficiently. For example, when the resolution of the source image is 2K and the target device is 4K, if upscaling is performed before storing the image data in the frame memory 110, the image data stored in the frame memory is 4K in size. As in the embodiment, the efficiency is lower than that of storing the 2K size source image as it is.

More specifically, when the source image is input to the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention, the above two passes (not down scaling or scaling) in the input resolution changing unit 300 according to the control signal of the MCU 200. The source image is processed in one of the passes. When the target device is larger than the source image as in the case of ② shown in FIG. 2, the source image is output to the matrix switch without scaling and the frame memory of the matrix switch 100. It is stored at 110. The 2K image data stored in the frame memory 110 is output to the corresponding target output port through the matrix switch controller 120, and the 2K image data is output resolution changing unit according to the control signal of the MCU 200. Three of the three passes (upscaling, downscaling, no scaling) are processed in the upscaling pass. The 2K image data is upscaled to 4K image data through the upscaler 20 and sent to the target output port.

In addition, when the resolution of the source image and the target image is the same as in the case of 3 shown in FIG. 2, since the source image does not need to be scaled according to the target device, the source image data is directly stored in the frame memory 110. Store and output directly to the corresponding target port through the matrix switch controller 120.

In more detail, when the source image is input, the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention first processes the source image in two passes (down scaling and no scaling) according to the control signal of the MCU 200. As shown in the example, when the resolution of the source image and the target device are the same, the source image is sent to the frame memory 110 of the matrix switch 100 without any scaling. That is, except in the case where the source image has a higher resolution than the target device, the input source image is directly sent to the frame memory 110. The image data stored in the frame memory 110 is output to the target output port through the matrix switch controller 120, and the image data output from the matrix switch controller 120 is output according to the control signal of the MCU 200. The resolution changer also outputs the data as it is without scaling.

For reference, the output resolution changing unit 400 is originally configured to include the down scaler 10, but is omitted for convenience of description because it is not used in the three cases shown in FIG.

3 is an exemplary diagram for describing a data flow when a plurality of target devices having different resolutions exist in a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, when there are a plurality of target images having different resolutions, the target device is divided into two types, one of which is a case where a target device has a resolution greater than or equal to the source image among the target devices. This is the case when all target devices have a smaller resolution than the source image.

First, as shown in (a) of FIG. 3, when there is a target device among the target devices whose resolution is greater than or equal to the source image, the source image data is not directly scaled, but is stored in the frame memory 110 as it is. After storing the stored image data, the matrix switch controller 120 switches to the target output port and outputs the data without performing an upscaling or downscaling or scaling process according to the resolution of each target port. In such a case, in order to use the capacity of the frame memory 110 to a minimum, the source image should be downscaled to the lowest resolution among the target devices and stored in the frame memory 110. When upscaled, the quality of the image is greatly degraded. Therefore, the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention uses a method of reducing the size of the image data stored in the frame memory 110 within the range that does not impair the quality of the image output to the target device.

For example, if the size of the source image is 4K and the target device has 2K, 4K, and 8K, as shown in FIG. 3A, the matrix switch controller (4) stores the source image of 4K as it is in the frame memory 110. When outputting to the corresponding target port through 120, the output scaler outputs the 8K target port through the up scaler 20 and the 2K target port through the down scaler 10, and directly outputs the 4K target port without going through the scaler. Will be done.

In addition, as shown in (b) of FIG. 3, when all the target devices have a smaller resolution than the source image, unlike when the target devices have the same or larger resolution than the source image among the target devices. There is no need to store the source image in the frame memory 110 as it is. If the device scales down to the size of the highest resolution among the target devices, there is no need to perform upscaling later, thereby preventing the quality of the image output to the target device from being impaired.

For example, when the size of the source image is 8K and the target devices are 2K and 4K, as shown in FIG. 3B, first, the input resolution changing unit 300 downscales the 8K source image to 4K and uses the frame memory ( After storing the image data stored in the frame memory 110 through the matrix switch controller 120, the output resolution changer 400 connected to the 4K target port outputs the image data without scaling. In addition, the output resolution changing unit 400 connected to the 2K target port performs down scaling once again to output the frame memory 110 while ensuring the quality of the image output to the target device to the maximum. .

For reference, the flow of all the image data is determined according to the control signal of the MCU (200). That is, the MCU 200 collects and compares the EDID signal from the input / output port, and transmits a control signal to the storage unit and the data processor according to the result.

Meanwhile, when the display device of the target port supports the multi-screen function, the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention may divide the source image, store the same in the frame memory, and output the divided image. For example, when the source image resolution is 4K and the target display resolution is 2K, if the target display device supports the multi-screen function, the present invention is UHD matrix switch device divided into 4K source image by dividing the 4K source image into 2K image By saving and saving the four images stored in this way to the target display, the multi-screen is possible without damaging the image on the target display.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a switch method of a UHD matrix switch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the switch method of the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention, a source video signal is first input to a device of the present invention from a specific input port (S101). At this time, the MCU collects the EDID signal of each port through the input and output ports, and compares the resolution information of the input and output ports included in the collected EDID signal (S102). The processing path of the input source image is determined according to the control signal of the MCU based on the compared resolution information (S103). If the resolution of the target device is smaller than the resolution of the source image, the source image is downscaled through the downscaler and then stored in the frame memory (S104). If the resolution of the target device is greater than or equal to the resolution of the source image, the source image is stored in the frame memory as it is without scaling (S105). The image data stored in the frame memory is output to the target port through the matrix switch controller (S106). At this time, the processing path of the image data is determined according to the resolution of the image data and the target port stored in the frame memory (S107). ). If the resolution of the target port is larger than the resolution of the image data, the image data is sent to the upscaler to increase the resolution and output to the corresponding target port (S108). If the display resolution of the target port and the resolution of the image data are the same, the image The data is output as it is stored in the frame memory without passing through any scaler (S109). If the display resolution of the target port is smaller than the resolution of the image data, the image data is sent to the downscaler to lower the resolution and then the corresponding target port. It is output to (S110). Through the above-described method, the UHD matrix switch device of the present invention efficiently minimizes the size of image data stored in the frame memory without damaging the image quality of the output image even if the resolution of the input / output image is different from each other. Can be used and can be plug-and-play enabled.

For example, an input of a UHD matrix switch device may be inputted by separating a source image having 8K resolution into two 4K resolutions, and in this case, two 4K input ports are source ports for the same content. It can be notified through the user interface or the interface through the network (including EDID), the matrix switch controller and MCU of the matrix switch device according to the present invention uses this information to frame the same image input through the two input ports It is also possible to configure multivision by integrating in memory or storing in a separate state, and outputting the integrated image through one output port or dividing through multiple output ports according to the resolution of the target device. Here, multi-vision refers to displaying individual screens on a plurality of output devices and outputting one large screen in which a plurality of individual screens are integrated as a whole. In this case, also in the configuration of the PIP, the position at which each image is to be stored in the frame memory is determined according to the relationship between the image to be overlaid and the image to be displayed in the background.

Such a configuration may have a problem that all the images cannot be simultaneously input through a single input port as the resolution of the UHD source video becomes larger such as 8K, 16K, or 32K, and the same image is divided and input into a plurality of input ports. It is a processing method that can be used to reduce the delay by processing.

In addition, when the individual element 2x2 matrix switch chip has a local memory therein, the frame memory of the entire matrix switch can be designed in consideration of the local memory, which is a natural result. That is, since the internal memory will simply be limited to the memory for the element 2x2 matrix switch, a frame memory is required separately to construct an arbitrary MxN matrix switch using a plurality of 2x2 element matrix switches, and in particular, the resolution of the input / output image is different. In this case, frame memory is additionally required to support a free switching operation between the plurality of source images and the plurality of target images. Even in this case, it is possible to control the matrix switch controller and the MCU to have a memory-saving structure without compromising image quality between the input resolution changing unit, the matrix switch, and the output resolution changing unit. This can be inferred from the control method of the down scaler, the up scaler, and the frame memory shown in Figs.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, I will understand the point. Accordingly, the technical scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims.

10: down scaler 20: up scaler
100: matrix switch 110: frame memory
120: matrix switch controller 200: MCU
300: input resolution changing unit 400: output resolution changing unit

Claims (18)

An input resolution changing unit for changing the resolution of the source image from the input device;
An output resolution changer for changing the resolution to match the supported resolution of the target device;
A matrix switch for switching at least one input image to at least one output device; And
Receive EDID signals transmitted from a plurality of input and output devices, compare the resolution information of the input and output devices to perform the matrix switch, the resolution of the source image from each input device is the supported resolution of the target device If larger, the input resolution changing unit is controlled to downscale in advance, and if the resolution of the source image is less than the supported resolution of the target device; MCU to control to scale up to the output resolution changing unit; UHD matrix switch device. delete The method according to claim 1,
The MCU automatically matches the resolution of the input and output device, UHD matrix switch device, characterized in that it is possible to provide a plug-and-play and N-screen service at the same time. The method according to claim 1,
The input resolution changing unit,
UHD level matrix switch device characterized in that the input directly to the matrix switch without down-scaling or scaling the resolution of the source image from the input device under the control of the MCU. The method according to claim 1,
The output resolution changing unit,
According to the control of the MCU UHD matrix switch device characterized in that any one of the matrix-switched image data output directly to the output port without performing the up-scaling, down-scaling, or scaling. The method according to claim 1,
The matrix switch,
Frame memory and matrix switch controller; UHD matrix switch device comprising a. The method of claim 6,
The matrix switch,
The matrix switch controller stores the input image in a specific part of the frame memory according to the image input / output port information from the MCU, and reads the input image stored in the specific part and outputs it through the output port, thereby performing the function of the matrix switch. UHD matrix switch device, characterized in that. The method of claim 6,
The matrix switch,
A UHD matrix switch device characterized in that a PIP function is provided by writing and reading an input image having a plurality of different resolutions into a specific frame memory. The method according to claim 1,
When there are a plurality of target devices having different resolutions, the MCU determines the size of the image data to be stored in the frame memory without compromising the quality of the image output to the target device. Device. Receiving a source image and EDID information of the input device or resolution information of the source image from an input device;
Receiving EDID information including resolution information of the target device from the target device;
By comparing each resolution information transmitted from a plurality of input and output devices to perform a matrix switch, if the resolution of the source image from the input device is larger than the supported resolution of the target device, the input resolution changing unit to pre-scale down And if the resolution of the source image is smaller than the supported resolution of the target device, controlling to upscale the output resolution changing unit. And
And switching at least one input image to at least one output device. delete The method of claim 10,
Wherein the controlling comprises:
The UHD matrix switch method characterized in that it is possible to simultaneously provide a plug-and-play and N-screen service by automatically matching the resolution of the input and output devices. The method of claim 10,
The input resolution changing unit,
According to the control of the controlling step UHD matrix switch method characterized in that the input to the matrix switch directly without down-scaling or scaling the source image from the input device. The method of claim 10,
The output resolution changing unit,
According to the control of the controlling step UHD matrix switch method characterized in that any one of the matrix-switched image data is output directly to the output port without performing the up-scaling, down-scaling, or scaling . The method of claim 10,
The matrix switch,
Frame memory and matrix switch controller; UHD matrix switch method comprising a. 16. The method of claim 15,
The matrix switch,
The matrix switch controller stores the input image in a specific part of the frame memory according to the image input / output port information from the MCU, and reads the input image stored in the specific part and outputs it through the output port, thereby performing the function of the matrix switch. UHD matrix switch method characterized in that. 16. The method of claim 15,
The matrix switch,
A UHD matrix switch method comprising providing a PIP function by writing and reading an input image having a plurality of different resolutions into a specific frame memory. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the controlling comprises:
If there is a plurality of target devices having different resolutions, UHD matrix switch method characterized in that for determining the size of the image data to be stored in the frame memory in the line without compromising the quality of the image output to the target device.

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