JP5282080B2 - Multi-display system and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a multi-display.

  In recent years, in the field of digital signage, etc., which is placed in a place with many people, a plurality of display terminals (also called “displays”) using liquid crystal or plasma display panels are arranged side by side to display one image as a whole. Multi-display technology is widespread. The “image” referred to in the present application is not limited to a narrowly defined image such as a bitmap format, but broadly means screen display contents including cases of characters and documents. As a technology for realizing such a multi-display, each output port is connected to each other by displaying different numbers etc. on multiple displays arranged vertically and horizontally, shooting them with a camera and recognizing the image. A technique for grasping the positional relationship between displays is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2008-281716 A

  However, the above prior art specifies only the arrangement order on the assumption that the displays are arranged uniformly at equal intervals in the vertical and horizontal directions, and has a problem that it cannot cope with non-uniform arrangement. That is, the installation environment of a multi-display is various, and it cannot necessarily be uniformly arranged on a sufficiently wide flat wall surface. For example, in order to avoid protrusions such as pillars in the middle of the wall surface, when the display is arranged with a gap or partly tilted in the middle, processing such as omitting or tilting the image of that part is required.

  On the other hand, in the past, there was no technology to deal with such a case where the arrangement of display terminals is uneven, so accurate display such as appropriately extracting partial images to be displayed separately on each display Processing is difficult, and there are problems such as unnatural connections between partial images.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to easily realize a multi-display even when the arrangement of display terminals is not uniform.

  Based on the above object, one embodiment (1) of the present invention includes a plurality of display terminals and a control device that controls the display terminals, and displays the single image by combining the plurality of display terminals. The display terminal has code display means for displaying a code image including identification information for each display terminal on a display screen, and the control device displays display screens of the plurality of display terminals. The photographing means for photographing and acquiring the photographed image, the arrangement of each display terminal is specified by reading the identification information from the code image in the photographed photographed image, and the photographing position and the photographing size of the code image Based on the distance calculation means for calculating the distance between the display screens, the specified arrangement, and the calculated interval, display among the single images The display information for displaying a partial image to be displayed on each end, and having a display control means for transmitting to the display terminal corresponding to the identification information read.

  Another aspect (3) of the present invention captures the above aspect in a method category, and includes a plurality of display terminals and a control device that controls the display terminals, and the plurality of display terminals are combined. In the control method of the multi-display system for displaying a single image, the computer in the display terminal displays a code image including identification information for each display terminal on a display screen; The computer captures the display screens of the plurality of display terminals to acquire a captured image, and the control unit reads the identification information from the code image in the captured image. While specifying the arrangement of each display terminal, the distance between the display screens is determined based on the shooting position and shooting size of the code image. Display information for displaying a partial image to be displayed for each display terminal out of the single image based on the calculated distance calculation process, the specified arrangement, and the calculated interval, Display control processing to be transmitted to the display terminal corresponding to the read identification information.

  In this way, a code image for identification is displayed on each display terminal, the identification information is read from the code image photographed by the control device, the arrangement of each display terminal is specified, and the display is performed from the photographing position and photographing size of the code image. By calculating the distance between the terminals and controlling the partial images to be divided and displayed, even if the arrangement of the display terminals is not uniform, it is possible to easily realize a multi-display such as omitting the image of the part.

  According to another aspect (2) of the present invention, in any one of the above aspects, the display terminal includes size incorporation means for including size information indicating a display screen size of the display terminal in the code image, and the distance The calculating means calculates the distance between the display screens based on the shooting position and shooting size of the code image of the shot image and the size information extracted from the code image.

  Thus, the display screen size is included in the code image on the display terminal side, extracted from the code image by the control device, and used for calculating the interval together with the shooting position and shooting size of the code image. Even if the display screen sizes are different, the net distance between the display screens due to edge frames or obstacles can be calculated with high accuracy, and accurate display processing such as processing of partial images in accordance with the intervals becomes possible.

  It should be noted that a category (method for the apparatus, program for the method, etc.) different from each of the above-described modes and more specific modes described below are also included in the present invention. For different categories, “means” shall be appropriately read as “process” or “step”. Further, the order of execution of processes and steps is not limited to the above, and can be changed as appropriate or can be processed collectively.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily realize a multi-display even if the arrangement of display terminals is not uniform.

The functional block diagram which illustrates the composition of the embodiment of the present invention. The figure which illustrates the information (data) used by embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which illustrates the process sequence in embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which illustrates the installed display terminal in embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which illustrates the camera for control which image | photographs a display terminal in embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which illustrates the imaging | photography position and imaging | photography size of a display screen and a code image in embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which illustrates arrangement | positioning and distance of the identified display terminal in embodiment of this invention. The figure which illustrates the whole image in the embodiment of the present invention. In the embodiment of the present invention, the conceptual diagram which illustrates cutting out of the partial image from the whole image. The conceptual diagram which illustrates the state which is displaying the image on each display terminal in embodiment of this invention. The conceptual diagram which illustrates the imaging | photography position and imaging | photography size of a display screen and a code image in embodiment of this invention.

  Next, a mode for carrying out the present invention (referred to as “embodiment”) will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that assumptions common to those already described in the background art and problems are omitted as appropriate.

[1. Constitution〕
The present embodiment relates to a multi-display system (hereinafter also referred to as “the present system”) that displays a single image by combining a plurality of display terminals T shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. In this system, a plurality of display terminals T (a small number may be shown in the figure, but a large number may be present), a control camera C, and a distribution server 1 are connected by a communication network N (for example, the Internet, a mobile phone network, a LAN, etc.). It is a combination. Among these devices (display terminal T, control camera C, distribution server 1), control camera C and distribution server 1 constitute a control device that controls display terminal T, and the control device is an integrated device. But you can.

  In addition, each device has at least an arithmetic control unit 6 such as a CPU, a storage device 7 such as a main memory and an auxiliary storage device, and a communication means 8 (wireless LAN adapter, Mobile phone line communication circuit, communication gateway device, etc.). In particular, the display terminal T further includes a display device H1 such as a display panel such as plasma, liquid crystal, or organic EL, and the control camera C is a mobile information terminal such as a smartphone with a camera function or a mobile phone (or PHS). The image capturing means 20 such as a CCD image sensor or its control circuit, an input device M such as an operation switch or a touch panel, and a display device H2 such as a liquid crystal display panel are included.

  In each device, a predetermined computer program (not shown) stored (installed) in advance in the storage device 7 controls the arithmetic control unit 6 so that elements (such as 10, 20) shown in FIG. Realize. Although the mode of the program is arbitrary, it is considered that a built-in program from the time of manufacture is generally used in the display terminal T, and in the control camera C, the terminal device of a smartphone or a mobile phone (or PHS) with a camera function is used. Application software (also called “terminal application”) to be installed and used, a web page script, and the like are assumed. Among the elements to be realized, the information storage means is an arbitrary format such as various databases (also referred to as “DB”), files, arrays, variables such as various stacks, registers, and system setting values in the storage device 7. Can be realized.

  Among such storage means, the distribution image storage means 65 of the distribution server 1 is a means for storing a single image (hereinafter also referred to as “whole image”) to be displayed on the display terminal T. is there. The display content of each display terminal T is read from the distribution image storage means 65 and distributed from the distribution server 1 to each display terminal T at an appropriate timing.

  Correspondingly, the received image storage means 75 of the display terminal T is a means for storing an image distributed from the distribution server 1 at an appropriate timing, and the image stored here may be an entire image or an entire image A partial image that is a range to be displayed on each terminal may be used. A range of coordinates corresponding to a partial image in the entire image (referred to as “display coordinates”) may be stored.

  In addition, each means other than the storage means is a processing means for realizing and executing the following information processing functions and operations, but is a functional unit arranged for explanation, and includes actual hardware elements and software modules. The agreement with is not questioned.

[2. Action)
The main effect of the present embodiment configured as described above is that, as each display terminal T is installed, each installed display terminal T is photographed by the control camera C and the distance between the display terminals T is calculated. By reflecting (for example, FIG. 2) on subsequent displays, a multi-display can be easily realized even if the arrangement of the display terminals T is not uniform. The processing procedure for this is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG.

[2-1. (Display of code image)
That is, first, the code display means 10 of the display terminal T displays the display terminal T when the power is first turned on or a predetermined operation or control signal is given to each display terminal T that is to constitute the multi-display. A code image (two-dimensional barcode or the like) including identification information for each terminal T (for example, a terminal ID such as alphanumeric characters) is displayed in a predetermined size at a predetermined position on the display screen (step S1). At this time, in the display terminal T, the size incorporating means 15 includes size information (for example, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the number of inches, the resolution, and the like) representing the display screen size of the display terminal T in the code image.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which display terminals TA to TF displaying such code images QA to QF are arranged vertically and horizontally on a vertical wall surface (not shown) with a pillar X serving as an obstacle interposed therebetween. For the sake of simplicity, hereinafter, the screen frames (frames) of the display terminals TA to TF are ignored, and the same reference numerals are used for the display screens as the display screens TA to TF.

[2-2. (Shooting, location specification and interval calculation)
In the state of FIG. 4, when the operator operates the control camera C with the input device M, the photographing unit 20 photographs the display screens of the plurality of display terminals T and acquires photographed images (step S2). The photographed image is stored in the photographed image storage means 32 as necessary. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a control camera C that displays a photographed image relating to such photographing on the display device H2. And the distance calculation means 30 recognizes and arrange | positions each display terminal TA-TF by reading terminal ID which is identification information from the code | cord | chord image QA-QF in the picked-up image (it includes a display screen size in this example). Is specified (step S3), and the distance between the display screens is calculated based on the shooting positions and shooting sizes of the code images QA to QF (step S4).

  Among these, a simplified example in the case of calculating the distance between display screens is shown. That is, all the display terminals TA to TF in FIG. 4 have the same display screen size, and one side of the displayed code images QA to QF is also called the number of horizontal pixels (“terminal display width”) of the display screen. ) And the pixel size of the display screen has been found to correspond one-to-one with the pixel size of the image captured by the control camera C. Under this condition, the ratio of the distance D1 between the code images QA and QB and the distance D2 between the code images QB and QC is about 5: 4 (as the shooting position on the shot image of the control camera C illustrated in FIG. That is, it is assumed that the interval G is 1/4) of the distance D2, and the code size of the code images QA to QF is 120 pixels on a side.

  In this case, since 120 pixels which are the photographing sizes of the code images QA to QF are 30% of the terminal display width, 400 pixels obtained by dividing 120 pixels by 0.3 are the terminal display widths of the display terminals TA to TF. It is. Further, if the smaller distance D2 is regarded as an approximate value of 400 pixels, which is the terminal display width, the interval G between the display screens corresponding to the column X is 1/4 of the distance D2, and is calculated to be about 100 pixels. it can.

  Further, the screen size and the interval between the display screens are further accurate based on the size information of the display terminal T included in the code image. In this case, the distance calculation means 30 is based on the size information (for example, the number of vertical and horizontal pixels, the number of inches, the resolution, etc.) extracted from the code image in addition to the shooting position and shooting size of the code image of the shot image. Calculate the distance between display screens.

  For example, the code image is displayed at the center of the display screen, and as shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 7, in the size information extracted from each code image, the display screen size common to each display screen TA to TF is 400 horizontally. Given a pixel of 300 pixels in length, the range of each display screen TA to TF can be calculated as a solid rectangle centering on the code image, so the display terminal TB The TC interval can also be calculated with a high accuracy of 20 pixels. In addition to the number of pixels, it is also possible to calculate the interval with high accuracy by once calculating the number of pixels based on the size and resolution such as the number of inches or by another appropriate calculation algorithm.

[2-3. (Display control)
And the display control means 50 is a display for displaying the partial image which should be displayed for every display terminal T among single images based on the arrangement | positioning identified as mentioned above and the calculated space | interval. The information is transmitted to the display terminal T corresponding to the read identification information via the distribution control means 70 of the distribution server 1 (steps S5, S6, S7). Here, the specific content of the display information to be sent to the display terminal T is arbitrary. For example, the same whole image is transmitted to all the display terminals T, and the part to be displayed on each display terminal T by the display terminal T Display coordinates representing the range of the image may be transmitted, or an image obtained by cutting out the display range from the entire image instead of the entire image itself may be transmitted to each display terminal T.

  In any case, the image is stored in the distribution image storage unit 65 of the distribution server 1, and the distribution control unit 70 transmits a part (entire image or partial image) necessary for each display terminal T to the display terminal T. Then, the received image is received by the reception control means 80 at the display terminal T, stored in the received image storage means 75 as necessary, and displayed on the display device H1. Further, the display coordinates may be stored in the distribution server 1 and transmitted to the display terminal T when distributing the display content relating to the new or updated, or once transmitted to the display terminal T, the distribution is performed. For example, processing such as cutting out a display range from the entire image may be performed by the display terminal T without being held by the server 1.

  Here, an example is shown in which a partial image of a display range to be displayed on each display terminal T is cut out from the entire image based on the specified arrangement and the calculated interval (the display server cuts out the display range). Or the display terminal T). For example, when each display range cut out from the entire image Z as shown in FIG. 8 as illustrated by a broken-line rectangle in FIG. 9 is displayed on each corresponding display terminal TA to TF, the state shown in FIG. 10 is obtained. In this example, the image portion corresponding to the interval between the terminals such as the pillar X is omitted, but it may not be omitted.

[3. effect〕
As described above, in this embodiment, a code image for identification is displayed on each display terminal (for example, FIG. 4), and identification information is read from the code image photographed by the control device (for example, FIG. 5). While specifying the arrangement (for example, FIG. 6), the distance between the display terminals is calculated from the imaging position and the imaging size of the code image (for example, FIG. 7), and the arrangement of the display terminals is controlled by controlling the partial images to be divided and displayed. Even if it is not uniform, it is possible to easily realize a multi-display such as omitting the image of the portion (for example, FIG. 10).

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the display screen size is included in the code image on the display terminal side (for example, step S1 in FIG. 3), and is extracted from the code image by the control device (for example, step S4 in FIG. 3). By using it for calculation of the interval along with the shooting position and shooting size (for example, Fig. 7), even if the display screen size differs for each display terminal, the net distance between the display screens due to edge frames and obstacles is accurate. It is possible to calculate well, and accurate display processing such as processing of partial images according to the interval becomes possible.

[4. Other embodiments]
In addition, said each embodiment is only an illustration, and this invention includes what is illustrated below and other embodiment other than that. For example, each configuration diagram, data diagram, flowchart diagram, and the like are merely examples, and the presence / absence of each element, the order of arrangement and processing execution, and the specific content can be changed as appropriate. As an example, when all of the display terminals arranged as shown in FIG. 4 cannot be photographed at once, or when a display terminal is added later, for example, display terminals TA, TB, TD, and TE are used first. After shooting and specifying the arrangement and calculating the interval, the display terminals TB, TC, TE, and TF including the once taken display terminals TB and TE are taken, and further, the arrangement specification and the interval If the range of multi-displays is connected and expanded, such as when performing calculations, it is possible to support multi-displays with a size and number that do not fit within the shooting range of the control camera C due to shooting location, personnel, or other circumstances. Become.

  Further, when the display is inclined obliquely with respect to the horizontal and vertical directions, the inclination may be acquired from the inclination of the code image, and the display coordinates reflecting the inclination may be calculated. For example, although the example of FIG. 2 is an example different from the examples of FIG. 4 and the subsequent examples, “−30 degrees” in the “tilt” column means an arrangement inclined 30 degrees counterclockwise, The display coordinates obtained by inclining the display coordinates by the inclination of one or the corresponding display terminal T are calculated and used for cutting out a partial image. If it corresponds to such an inclined arrangement, the multi-display of the present invention can be realized even in a place where all display terminals cannot be installed horizontally and vertically due to the escalator, the passage wall surface of the staircase portion, and other peripheral structures.

  Further, in the above embodiment, the code image is displayed on the display terminal limited to a predetermined position (center in the example in the figure) and the size that are known in advance on the display screen, and the display is performed using the position and the size. Although the example which calculates the space | interval between display screens, etc. as a distance between screens was shown, it is not restricted to this. That is, the display position of the code image is not limited to the center, and instead of one or both of the position and the size of the code image not known in advance, one or both not known is incorporated into the code image (encoded). And may be transmitted to the control camera C. Further, the “distance” between the display terminals to be calculated is not limited to the distance between both ends of the terminal as described above, but may be a distance between predetermined reference points such as the origin of the upper left corner of the display screen.

  For example, as in the example of FIG. 11, the code images QA to QF are displayed from the origin coordinates (0, 0) of the upper left corner of each display terminal TA to TF, and the respective positions and sizes are coded and incorporated into the code image. . Then, in the control camera, from the dimensional ratio between the position and size of the code image and the shooting position and shooting size of the code image, the origin (the code images QA to QA in FIG. 11) is the upper left corner of the display screen of each display terminal. The distance (for example, D1, D2, D3) between the points corresponding to the upper left corner of the QF and where the broken lines intersect with each other and the display screen size based thereon are calculated. And the partial image dividedly displayed by each among the whole images delivered to each display terminal is determined by the start position and display screen size corresponding to the calculated distance.

  Further, the control camera C and the distribution server 1 may be realized by combining a plurality of devices, and a configuration in which the distance calculation unit 30 and the display control unit 50 are provided in the distribution server 1 is also possible. A configuration in which each unit is realized by a separate and independent device or system is also common. Depending on the function of the device, the configuration can be flexibly changed, for example, by calling an external platform or the like with an API (Application Program Interface) or network computing (so-called cloud). Furthermore, each element such as means relating to the present invention may be realized by other information processing mechanisms such as a physical electronic circuit as well as a computer control unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Distribution server 6 Arithmetic control part 7 Storage device 8 Communication means 10 Code display means 15 Size incorporation means 20 Imaging means 30 Distance calculation means 32 Captured image storage means 50 Display control means 65 Distribution image storage means 70 Distribution control means 75 Received image Storage means 80 Reception control means C Control cameras H1, H2 Display devices D1, D2 Distance G Distance M Input device N Communication network QA-QF Code image T (TA-TF) Display terminal X Pillar Z Whole image

Claims (3)

A multi-display system that includes a plurality of display terminals and a control device that controls the display terminals, and displays a single image by combining the plurality of display terminals,
The display terminal includes code display means for displaying a code image including identification information for each display terminal and position information indicating a position of the code image in the display screen on the display screen,
The controller is
Photographing means for photographing the display screens of the plurality of display terminals to obtain a photographed image;
The location of each display terminal is specified by reading the identification information from the code image in the captured image, and the position and code of the code image in the display screen indicated by the position information included in the code image A distance calculating means for calculating a distance between the display screens based on a shooting size of the image ;
Corresponding to the read identification information, display information for displaying a partial image to be displayed for each display terminal in the single image based on the identified arrangement and the calculated interval. Display control means for transmitting to the display terminal;
A multi-display system comprising: The display terminal has size incorporation means for including size information representing a display screen size of the display terminal in the code image,
The distance calculation means calculates a distance between the display screens based on a shooting position and a shooting size of a code image of the shot image and the size information extracted from the code image. Item 4. The multi-display system according to Item 1. A control method for a multi-display system, comprising: a plurality of display terminals; and a control device that controls the display terminals, wherein the display terminals are combined to display a single image. A code display process for displaying on the display screen a code image including identification information for each display terminal and position information indicating the position of the code image in the display screen;
In the control device, a computer captures a display image of the plurality of display terminals and acquires a captured image; and
In the control device, the computer specifies the arrangement of each display terminal by reading the identification information from the code image in the photographed image , and within the display screen indicated by the position information included in the code image Distance calculation processing for calculating the distance between the display screens based on the position of the code image and the shooting size of the code image ;
Corresponding to the read identification information, display information for displaying a partial image to be displayed for each display terminal in the single image based on the identified arrangement and the calculated interval. Display control processing to be transmitted to the display terminal;
A control method for a multi-display system.

Images