JPH0261759B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Technical Field) The present invention provides two display surfaces of a plurality of graphic display devices.
Regarding a multi-screen graphic display device and method that displays graphics on a large screen by closely dimensionally arranging the graphics, in particular, the entire multi-screen is
It is handled as a single display screen, and organically displays graphics at a high resolution that exceeds the capabilities of individual graphics display devices.

(Prior Art) Conventional graphic display devices can be broadly classified into digital type and analog type. Among these, digital graphic display devices usually store image data to be displayed on a display screen in an image memory, and repeatedly read the image data from the image memory to display the display screen of a display device using a cathode ray tube or the like. A desired image or figure is displayed on the screen. When displaying graphics in this manner, it is necessary to read the image data from the image memory and display it on the display screen at a frequency of about 30 times per second in order to display the screen without flickering. Therefore, in order to display high-resolution graphics, it is necessary to use an image memory that can read out at high speed and a graphics display device with a wide frequency band, and the resolution of the graphics that can be displayed depends on the performance of the device used. The disadvantage was that it was limited by

On the other hand, some analog graphic display devices have multiple image monitors arranged two-dimensionally in close proximity so that a single large screen can be displayed as a whole. In the device, each image monitor itself does not have graphic processing functions such as generation or storage of graphic signals, and a separate image processing device is used to process and manage the graphic signals to be displayed on each of the multiple image monitors. It was carried out intensively by Therefore, pre-processed graphic signals are created so that they can be displayed on the screens of individual image monitors to display mutually continuous figures, and stored in a playable image recording device such as a VTR or video disc. By dividing the graphic signals reproduced from the image recording device and displaying them on each image monitor, it was possible to display the graphics on one continuous large screen. However, when applying a conventional analog graphic display device for computer-aided design in which an operator creates a graphic signal through interaction with a computer, it is difficult to predict the graphic signal to be displayed next. Based on instructions from the operator, graphic signals to be displayed are created in real time, and the signal processing for displaying them separately on each image monitor is performed using a separate image processing device as described above. I needed to do it intensively. Therefore, as the number of image monitors used increases in accordance with the required size of the displayed graphics, it has become difficult to create graphics interactively at a practical response speed. In this way, the individual graphic display devices that make up the large screen do not have graphic processing functions, and the necessary graphic signal processing must be performed centrally by a separate image processing device. Graphic display devices have had the disadvantage that the resolution of displayed graphics within a practically achievable range is limited in terms of response speed due to limitations in the processing capacity of this type of image processing device.

(Summary of the Invention) An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and to realize high-resolution graphic display that exceeds the capabilities of the image memory and display means provided in the individual graphic display devices constituting the multi-screen. In addition to being able to organically display graphics across multiple screens, it is also possible to efficiently realize ultra-high resolution graphics, which was previously impossible due to the capabilities of the individual components mentioned above. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for multi-screen graphic display.

The present invention, which has been made for this purpose, allows system constructors and users to combine a plurality of graphic display devices that can be individually controlled by a programmable computer and each has a built-in image memory, and to display a display on each display stand. are arranged closely two-dimensionally to form a multi-screen, and between each graphic display device,
For example, they may be connected by a line capable of transferring graphic data such as a local network or high-speed bus, and may be built into one or more of these graphic display devices, or each may be controlled by a separately provided control device. By managing the built-in image memory as one unit, the entire multi-screen can be handled organically as one or more display screens, and each graphic display device can be configured to generate and store graphic data. The graphic processing function is provided in a distributed manner to improve the efficiency of graphic processing as a whole.

That is, the multi-screen graphic display device of the present invention includes a plurality of graphic display devices each having a programmable calculation means, a memory means for storing character and graphic data, and a display means for displaying character and graphic data, and the plurality of graphic display devices. The display surface of each of the display means is two-dimensionally closely arranged to form a multi-screen, and the control device manages the memory means in a distributed manner through each of the calculation means. By doing so, the multi-screen can be integrated and handled as at least one display screen, and is particularly suitable for use in computer terminals and workstations in computer-aided design. This is extremely suitable.

(Example) The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

An example of the configuration of the multi-screen graphic display device of the present invention is as follows when four graphic display devices are used.
Shown in Figure 1. In the illustrated configuration, each graphic display device 14, 15, 16, 17 includes a display computer 2,
5, 8, 11, image memory 3, 6, 9, 12 and cathode ray tube (CRT) display 4, 7, 10, 13
Each of them is composed of Among these components, the display computers 2, 5, 8, and 11 are programmable program control computers, microprogram control computers, or data-driven computers that are programmable by the system constructor or user, and the image memory 3, Reference numerals 6, 9, and 12 are for storing character and graphic data and repeatedly reproducing and continuously displaying the data, and displays 4, 7, 10, and 1
For example, as described above, 3 is composed of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), and their respective display surfaces are closely arranged two-dimensionally and combined, and in the illustrated example, they are arranged in two rows horizontally and two columns vertically. to configure multi-screen.

Each graphic display device 14, 15, 1 having such a configuration
6 and 17 are connected to the separately provided control device 1 by a line 18 capable of transferring character and graphic data such as a local network and a high-speed bus, and each graphic display device 14, 15, 16, Each of the display computers 2, 5, 8, and 11 in 17 stores a program for performing graphic processing such as generating graphic signals based on graphic data supplied from the control device 1 via the line 18. . Furthermore, the illustrated device is used as an input/output device that the operator actually uses to generate image data, such as a keyboard 19 and a tablet 2 for the operator to issue various commands.
0. A mouse 21 is connected to the control device 1, and the control device 1 can also be connected to a parent computer 22 to use the device of the present invention as a graphic display terminal device of an electronic computer.

Next, the operation of the multi-screen graphic display device of the present invention having the configuration shown in the drawings will be explained. First, the control device 1 receives various commands inputted from the parent computer 1, keyboard 19, tablet 20, and mouse 21. and graphic data, and further based on parameters preset inside the control device 1, each graphic display device 1
4, 15, 16, and 17, a partial figure to be displayed on each display surface of the entire screen to be displayed on the multi-screen is specified. Next, the control device 1 controls the display devices 4 and 4 in each graphic display device based on instructions from the parent computer 22 or the operator.
The entire multi-screen constituted by 7, 10, and 13 is regarded as a single display surface, and the data of the figure to be displayed is created, and the figure data is sent to each figure display device 1.
4, 15, 16, and 17 in parallel. Each graphic display device 14, 15, 16, 17 reads the above-mentioned graphic data transferred via the line 18 by the display computer 2, 5, 8, 11 built in each, and displays the corresponding data. Each performs so-called windowing data processing to cut out only the graphic data of the part, forms a graphic signal in a form that can be displayed from the image data of the respectively cut out part, and stores the image data in the respective image memories 3, 6, and 6.
The information is written in the memory and stored in the respective display devices 4, 7, 10, and 12, and then read out repeatedly and displayed on the display surfaces of the respective display devices 4, 7, 10, and 13, respectively.

(Effects) As is clear from the above description, in the multi-screen graphic display device of the present invention, the entire multi-screen can be displayed in a single manner by managing the image memories built into each of the component graphic display devices in an integrated manner. It can be treated as one display screen, and therefore, the entire device of the present invention can be used as a single large-screen, high-resolution graphic display device. In addition, under the control of the control device, by mechanically changing the display portion of each component graphic display device, the entire multi-screen or a portion can be enlarged or reduced, or the displayed graphics can be enlarged or reduced. Parallel movement is also possible, and a so-called multi-window function that treats the entire multi-screen as an organic multiple screen can be efficiently and easily realized. Furthermore, since each display computer built into each component graphic display device operates in parallel and manages its own image memory, graphic processing such as graphic creation and coordinate transformation can be performed in a distributed manner. , Therefore, it becomes possible to efficiently realize graphical processing for the entire multi-screen without any mistakes. In addition, since partial graphic display by each display is performed in a distributed manner for each graphic display device, the overall multi-screen
It is now possible to rapidly display high-resolution graphics in real time that exceeds the capabilities of individual image memories or individual displays, a technology that was previously built on the capabilities of each component itself. It will also be possible to achieve ultra-high resolution graphics that would be impossible to achieve with conventional equipment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a multi-screen graphic display device according to the present invention. 1... Control device, 2, 5, 8, 11... Display computer, 3, 6, 9, 12... Image memory, 4,
7, 10, 13... Indicator, 14, 15, 16,
17... Graphic display device, 18... Line, 19...
Keyboard, 20...tablet, 21...mouse, 22...parent computer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of graphic display devices each having a programmable calculation means, a memory means for storing character and graphic data, and a display means for displaying character and graphic data, and controlling the plurality of graphic display devices in parallel. The display screen of each of the display means is two-dimensionally closely arranged to form a multi-screen, and the control device manages the memory means in a distributed manner via each of the calculation means, A multi-screen graphic display device characterized in that the multi-screens are integrated and can be handled as at least one display screen. 2. In the device according to claim 1,
A multi-screen graphic display device, characterized in that the control device is provided within any of the graphic display devices or separately from the plurality of graphic display devices. 3. In the device according to claim 1 or 2, the character/graphic data supplied from the control device is distributed and stored in each of the memory means, and the character/graphic data read from each of the memory means. A multi-screen graphic display device, characterized in that it can be integrated and displayed on the multi-screen. 4. In the device according to claim 3,
By supplying character and graphic data from the computer to the plurality of graphic display devices via the control device, the multi-screen graphic display device can be used as a character and graphic display terminal for the computer. A multi-screen graphic display device featuring: 5. A plurality of graphic display devices each having a programmable calculation means, a memory means for storing text and graphic data, and a display means for displaying text and graphics, and a control device for controlling the plurality of graphic display devices in parallel, A multi-screen is constructed by arranging the display surfaces of each of the display means two-dimensionally and closely together, and the control device manages the memory means in a distributed manner via the calculation means, thereby integrating the multi-screen. A multi-screen graphic display method, characterized in that the display screen is treated as at least one display screen.