JP2018103920A - Display device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device for vehicle capable of performing a plurality of kinds of font display while reducing a load on drawing processing during display.SOLUTION: A display device for vehicle includes: a display part 1; a control part 3 for generating image data by using a first font image common on a plurality of pictures displayed on the display part 1 and a second font image whose use frequency is low, and for displaying it on the display part 1; a first storage part 4 comprising a nonvolatile storage medium for storing the first, second font data containing outline data; and a second storage part 5 which caches the first font image containing the image data acquired by the first font data read out from the first storage part being rasterized by the control part 3.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicular display device, and is suitable, for example, for a vehicular instrument that expresses a measured value by an image.

  As a vehicle display device, there is one that displays a screen as an image and conveys vehicle information including character information such as a measurement value and a message to a user.

  Such a vehicle display device displays various vehicle information such as engine speed, speed, remaining fuel, average fuel consumption, and instantaneous fuel consumption in a predetermined display area on a single display, for example, a TFT-type liquid crystal display panel. Can be made.

  In addition, such vehicle display devices are required to have various vehicle information and various display forms, and fonts corresponding to various types of information are prepared in consideration of the commercial value and design of the display device. And display it. Such font switching is performed when the display mode or the screen is switched.

JP 2014-83966 A

  However, in order to cope with the variety of display, when rasterized image data (bitmap data) is used as image data from outline data of each character (character shape) stored in advance in a storage medium When performing a font switching process, a general display device rewrites a font for each frame frequency in the drawing process. For this reason, there has been a problem that the load of the drawing process increases.

  In particular, when the vehicle display device executes these processes, the drawing process related to the fonts described above is performed because the load in other drawing processes such as frequently changed measurement values, alert display, and indicator display is high. In order to do so, there is a problem that a high-speed and high-performance arithmetic circuit is required.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle display device capable of displaying a plurality of types of fonts while reducing the load of a drawing process during display by paying attention to the above-described problems.

The vehicle display device of the present invention includes:
A display unit for switching and displaying a screen composed of images,
Image data is generated using a first font image common to a plurality of screens displayed on the display unit and a second font image that is less frequently used than the first font image, and the display A control unit to be displayed on the unit,
A first storage unit comprising a non-volatile storage medium for storing first and second font data including outline data;
The first font image including the image data obtained by rasterizing the first font data read from the first storage unit or the second font data is rasterized by the control unit. A vehicle storage device comprising: a second storage unit that caches the second font image including the obtained image data;
When the vehicle display device is activated, the control unit performs activation font processing for rasterizing the first font data and caching the first font image obtained thereby in the second storage unit. Features.

  In addition, when the screen is switched, the control unit generates the second font image necessary for a new screen configuration based on the second font data and caches the screen in the second storage unit. Font processing is performed.

  The vehicle display device of the present invention can display a plurality of types of fonts while reducing the load of drawing processing during display.

The figure which shows the meter for vehicles by embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure by embodiment same as the above. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of the control part by embodiment same as the above. The flowchart which shows the control procedure of the control part by embodiment same as the above.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of a display device for a vehicle according to the present invention, an example applied to a vehicle instrument mounted for an automobile or motorcycle will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 show a schematic configuration of a vehicle meter A according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The vehicle meter A includes a display unit 1, an illumination unit 2, a control unit 3, a first storage unit 4, a second storage unit 5, and the like. In this case, the vehicle instrument A is accommodated in a housing 6. It is mounted on the same circuit board.

  The display unit 1 is a TFT-type transmissive liquid crystal panel, and is installed on the instrument panel in front of the driver's seat so that the display surface faces the driver side of the vehicle. The display unit 1 is a dot matrix type having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, and realizes image display by driving each pixel. Here, each pixel of the display unit 1 is composed of sub-pixels of three colors provided with red, green, and blue color filters, respectively, and a full color display of an image is possible on the display surface. The display unit 1 is transmissively illuminated by a backlight (not shown) and outputs a display image.

  In this case, the display unit 1 is composed of a plurality of pixels, and a bar display image 11 and an indicator image 12 that display the engine speed as a vehicle graph in a bar graph, an information image 13 that shows numerical values such as a time measurement value (lap time). Can be displayed and can function as a compound instrument. In addition, a display screen for displaying various setting screens and other vehicle information is prepared and can be displayed and output by switching the screen.

  The illumination unit 2 is provided as a pair on both sides of the display unit 1, and includes a light source 21 provided separately from the backlight of the display unit 1 and a transmissive display unit 22.

  The light source 21 can be switched on / off under the control of the control unit 3 and is provided on the back side of the transmissive display unit 22. In addition, as the light source 21 of the illumination part 2, the light emitting diode which emits different illumination colors, such as white, yellow, red, for example, can be prepared, and the output of the illumination part 2 can also be performed in multiple colors.

  The transmissive display unit 22 is provided on a line in the vertical direction along the housing 6 and can output to the driver side by transmitting illumination light from the light source 21 provided facing the back side.

  The control unit 3, the first and second storage units 4, 5 and the input / output interface 7 are provided as a microcomputer B. The microcomputer B is connected to an external device (on-vehicle device) C such as an ECU (electronic control unit) C1 and various sensor units C2 in addition to the video memory 8, the operation unit 9, and the power source V. By inputting information from the device C or the like, an arithmetic process for determining and controlling the output mode of the display unit 1 and the illumination unit 2 is performed. In this case, the vehicle instrument A and the external device C communicate with each other by wired connection to the in-vehicle network. However, wireless communication using radio waves may be used, or the display unit 1 may be connected by communication with a device outside the vehicle. It may be reflected in the display content of. In addition, the power supply V can apply a vehicle-mounted generator or a vehicle-mounted battery, and supplies the drive power according to the specification of the control part 3 via the power supply circuit which is not shown in figure.

  The control unit 3 includes a CPU that performs the calculation process based on a predetermined program stored in the first storage unit 4, and in this case, a drawing calculation for driving and controlling the display unit 1 based on the calculation result. Built-in circuit. In the drawing operation by the control unit 3, image data stored in the first and second storage units 4 and 5, or image data for drawing stored in another prepared storage medium, etc. By using this, image data is generated in the video memory 8 and processing for generating a drive signal for prompting the screen output of the display unit 1 based on the image data is performed. Note that a graphic chip (GPU) separate from the control unit 3 can be applied as the drawing arithmetic circuit.

  The first storage unit 4 is a non-volatile memory that stores predetermined program data for arithmetic processing of the control unit 3. In addition, the vehicle meter A can display the measured value, display item name, display unit, etc. in alphanumeric characters, Japanese characters, etc. on the display screen, and the first storage unit 4 displays a plurality of characters in order to display these characters. The first font data used in common on the screen and the other second font data are stored. As the first font data, a frequently used screen is selected from the plurality of displayed screens. The first and second font data are stored in association with outline data for determining the character shape and IDs corresponding to the characters (glyphs).

  The second storage unit 5 can be a RAM that can read and write data by the control unit 3, and is a storage unit for storing a calculation result by the predetermined program. Further, the control unit 3 rasterizes the first and second font data, and caches (stores) the image data (bitmap data) as the first and second font images in the second storage unit 5. Let In addition, the control unit 3 reads out image data (glyph data) of a character shape necessary for display on the display unit 1 from the font data stored in the second storage unit 5 and uses it for generating image data. . The second storage unit 5 is refresh-driven based on the power supply from the power supply V. However, when the power supply V is turned off, the stored data is lost, and the second storage unit 5 is initialized again at the time of restart.

  Next, image generation processing relating to fonts in the vehicle meter A according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 3 shows processing at the time of startup after the control unit 3 detects that the power source V has shifted from the off state to the on state. This determination of the power supply state may be interlocked with the ignition switch of the vehicle or the operating state of the ECU (C1).

  The control unit 3 performs a process (step S1) for initializing various variables used in the predetermined program. Next, the control unit 3 reads the first font data that is used in a plurality of display screens and is frequently used for each screen (display mode unit) from the first storage unit 4 (step S2), and outputs the outline data. Is rasterized (step S3), and the image data is cached in the second storage unit 5 as the first photo image (step S4), and is stored in the second storage unit 4. Note that image data corresponding to each character (glyph) and an ID for identifying the character data are associated with each other and cached in the second storage unit 5.

  When starting up the vehicle instrument A, the initial operation including the startup font processing in steps S2 to S4 causes the first font data having a high frequency of use to be rasterized with a large processing load or transferred to the second storage unit 5. Can be cached in advance. Therefore, these processes can be omitted until the power supply V is turned off again (until restarted). Since this processing load is not performed during normal display (during measurement value display output), the rendering process of the display unit 1 and the control process of the light source 21 by the control unit 3 can be processed without delay.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the image generation processing related to the font by the control unit 3 after the processing of steps S1 to S4 is completed.

  The control unit 3 inputs vehicle information (for example, engine speed information and temperature information) from the various sensor units C2, and acquires a detection value (sensor value) related to the display using the input / output interface 7 (step) S10).

  Next, the control part 3 acquires the setting information of a display screen (step S11). This setting information is the type of display screen selected by the user in advance by operating the operation unit 9 or the like. For example, a normal mode screen or a race mode screen can be selected according to necessary driving information and user preferences. The operation unit 9 can be a push button switch provided at a position where the user can be operated while seated in the vehicle, and an electric signal based on the operation is transmitted to the control unit 3 via the input / output interface 7. .

  When configuring the display screen based on the setting information acquired in step S11, the control unit 3 determines whether second font data other than the first font data is necessary (step S12). Note that the second font data is set in advance so that the number of display screens (display modes) to be used is less (less frequent) than the first font data.

  When the control unit 3 determines in the determination process of step S12 that the second font data is necessary, the control unit 3 reads the second font data from the first storage unit 4 (step S13), and outlines it. The data is rasterized (step S14), and the image data is cached in the second storage unit 5 as a second photo image (step S15). Note that image data corresponding to each character (glyph) and an ID for identifying the character data are associated with each other and cached in the second storage unit 5.

  Next, or when it is determined that the second font data is not necessary in the determination process of step S12, the control unit 3 displays the font image stored in the second storage unit 5 or the first storage unit. Image data to be displayed on the display unit 1 is generated in the video memory 8 using the other image data stored in 4 (step S16). The control unit 3 can extract and read a necessary character shape (glyph data) from the font data using the ID every time image data is generated.

  As described above, by performing the screen switching font processing in steps S12 to S15, the second font data frequently used in this screen (in the display mode) is subjected to rasterization or second processing with a large processing load. Caching to the storage unit 5 can be performed in advance, and for example, a processing load such as rasterization for each screen update accompanying a change in measurement value can be omitted. Since this processing load is not performed during normal display, the drawing process of the display unit 1 and the control process of the light source 21 by the control unit 3 can be processed without delay. Therefore, it is suitable as the vehicle instrument A whose display changes every moment.

  Further, the control unit 3 drives the display unit 1 using the image data buffered in the video memory 8 in the process of step S16 to output a desired image (step S17).

  Through the processing from step S10 to step S17, the second font data is rasterized as necessary at the time of screen switching, and cached, so that after the screen switching, until the screen is newly switched, The vehicle instrument A is capable of displaying a plurality of types of fonts while reducing the load of drawing processing for display output.

Such a vehicle instrument A is
A display unit 1 for switching and displaying a screen constituted by images;
Image data is generated and displayed using a first font image that is common to a plurality of screens displayed on the display unit 1 and a second font image that is less frequently used than the first font image. A control unit 3 to be displayed on the unit 1;
A first storage unit 4 comprising a nonvolatile storage medium for storing first and second font data including outline data;
The controller 3 rasterizes the first font image or the second font data including image data obtained by rasterizing the first font data read from the first storage unit. A second storage unit 5 that caches the second font image including the image data obtained in this manner, and when the vehicle meter A is activated, the control unit 3 rasterizes the first font data. Then, activation font processing for caching the first font image obtained thereby in the second storage unit 5 is performed.

  Therefore, by performing rasterization at the timing of activation and caching, the vehicle instrument A can display a plurality of types of fonts while reducing the load of drawing processing during display update.

  In addition, when switching the screen, the control unit 3 generates the second font image necessary for a new screen configuration based on the second font data and caches the screen in the second storage unit 5. By performing font processing, rasterization is performed at the timing of screen switching, and caching is performed, so that a vehicle instrument A that can display a plurality of types of fonts while reducing the load of drawing processing during display update. It becomes.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not construed as being limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be applied to various embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. . For example, as the display unit 1, a liquid crystal panel having a backlight is applied. However, instead of this, a self-luminous display element such as an organic EL panel can be applied. An effect can be obtained.

  The present invention relates to a vehicular instrument device, and is suitable, for example, as a vehicular instrument mounted on a moving body including an automobile, a motorcycle, an agricultural machine, or a construction machine.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display part 2 Illumination part 3 Control part 4 1st memory | storage part 5 2nd memory | storage part A Instrument for vehicles (display apparatus for vehicles)
C In-vehicle equipment

Claims (2)

A display unit for switching and displaying a screen composed of images,
Image data is generated using a first font image common to a plurality of screens displayed on the display unit and a second font image that is less frequently used than the first font image, and the display A control unit to be displayed on the unit,
A first storage unit comprising a non-volatile storage medium for storing first and second font data including outline data;
The control unit rasterizes the first font image including the image data obtained by rasterizing the first font data read from the first storage unit or the second font data. A second storage unit that caches the second font image including the image data obtained in this manner, and a vehicle display device comprising:
When the vehicle display device is activated, the control unit performs activation font processing for rasterizing the first font data and caching the first font image obtained thereby in the second storage unit. A display device for vehicles.   When the screen is switched, the control unit generates the second font image necessary for a new screen configuration based on the second font data and caches the second font image in the second storage unit The vehicle display device according to claim 1, wherein:

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