JP2010243942A - Image display apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

An image capable of executing an animation in which a blank area is not emphasized in a slide show display by defining a blank area of a displayed image and a next displayed image and determining an animation to be applied according to the blank area and a transition pattern A display device is provided.
An image display instruction unit that receives a next image display request and outputs an image display instruction, a timer control unit that outputs a next image display request every predetermined time, and an image data storage unit that stores a plurality of images An animation information storage unit that stores an animation list, an image display control unit that identifies first and second images from a plurality of images in response to an image display instruction, and a margin that defines a margin area of the first and second images An area defining unit, a margin transition pattern determining unit that determines a transition pattern from the margin areas of the first and second images, and an animation is specified from the determined transition pattern and animation list, and executed when the images of the first and second images are switched. An animation execution unit.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an image display apparatus and method, and more particularly to an image display apparatus and method capable of applying animation in which a blank area of an image is not emphasized in a slide show display.

  There are various methods for displaying a plurality of images on the image display device, and one of the typical methods widely used is a slide show display. The slide show display is a technique of automatically switching and displaying a plurality of images at regular intervals. When such automatic switching is performed, there is a technique of performing drawing using an animation for giving a visual effect to an image (still image content) instead of simply switching the display instantaneously (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ). There is also a technique in which an image is associated with meta information in advance and an animation effect is applied to the image in accordance with defined meta information (see, for example, Patent Document 2). Furthermore, there is a technique for extracting the tempo of music audio information from the intensity and frequency of the music audio information of BGM (Back Ground Music) that is played when performing a slide show display, and automatically giving an animation in accordance with that.

  As described above, by using the animation technique (fade-in / slide-in, etc.) for switching the images in the slide show display, it is possible to provide a visual effect that links still image contents and maintains continuity.

JP 2008-033280 A JP 2006-279861 A JP 2003-304479 A

However, in order to use animation more effectively, a combination of an image and an animation is important, and depending on the combination, there is a case where the display is rather uncomfortable. Specifically, when displaying a still image having a resolution different from that of the image display device, in order to absorb the difference in resolution, a blank area (black belt area) filled with a fixed pattern on the top and bottom or the left and right of the image is displayed. Insertion is required. Since these areas are areas inserted for the sake of display, they are areas that are not related to the original image in terms of content and color. Therefore, if an animation that emphasizes the margin area is applied to an image having such a margin area, the above-described conventional technique gives a visual effect that impairs the continuity of the images displayed in the slide show. There was a problem.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, classifies the blank area of the image being displayed and the image to be continuously displayed, and appropriately animates according to the classified blank area and its transition pattern. An object of the present invention is to provide an image display apparatus and method capable of applying an animation in which a blank area is not emphasized by determining from a database.

In the image display device of the present invention, the blank area of the still image is defined based on the aspect ratio of the image, and the transition pattern is classified between the images to be continuously displayed. Then, an applicable animation is stored in a database for each transition pattern, and an animation to be applied is determined from the database, thereby suppressing an animation in which the region is emphasized in accordance with a change in the blank region.

According to the present invention, it is possible to limit the animation to be applied according to the transition pattern of the blank area. Therefore, an animation in which a blank area is emphasized can be suppressed.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image display apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Flowchart showing image display processing according to the embodiment The figure which shows the definition of the margin area | region concerning the Example The figure which shows the transition pattern based on the blank area definition concerning the Example The figure which shows the animation information concerning the Example

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an image display apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The image display apparatus 100 includes an image display instruction unit 101, a timer control unit 102, an image display control unit 103, an image display unit 109, an image data storage unit 107, and an animation information storage unit 108. Further, the image display control unit 103 includes a blank area definition unit 104, a blank area transition pattern determination unit 105, and an animation execution unit 106.
The image display instruction unit 101 receives a request from the remote controller or the timer control unit 102, and issues a new image display instruction to the image display control unit 103.
The timer control unit 102 is used when the display image is automatically switched every predetermined time, receives the last display instruction from the image display instruction unit 101, and displays the next image after the predetermined time has elapsed by the timer. Is issued to the image display instruction unit 101.

The image display control unit 103 starts processing in response to a display instruction from the image display instruction unit 101 along the flow shown in FIG. 2 (“Y” in S201). First, two data of the instructed image (still image A) and the next image (still image B) of the instructed image are acquired from the image data storage unit 107 (S202). Thereafter, an animation to be applied is determined by a method described later in each block of the margin area definition unit 104, the margin transition pattern determination unit 105, and the animation execution unit 106, and is output to the image display unit 109. The details will be described in order.
First, the processing of the margin area definition unit 104 will be described (S203). When an image is displayed on a display, the presence / absence of a blank area and its pattern can be classified into three according to the aspect ratio representing the aspect ratio of the image, using the method shown in FIG. When the aspect ratio of the image is equal to the aspect ratio of the display, there is no blank area, and a display form (“no blank space”) that does not need to display an extra area is obtained (FIG. 3A). When the aspect ratio of the image is larger than the aspect ratio of the display, blank areas are required at the top and bottom of the image, and it is necessary to insert an area in which these areas are filled with a fixed pattern. Letterbox ") (FIG. 3B). Conversely, if the image aspect ratio is smaller than the display aspect ratio, blank areas are required on the left and right of the image, and these areas must be filled with a fixed pattern, which is generally called a pillar box. It becomes a form (pillar box) (FIG. 3C). The margin area definition unit 104 classifies each of the input still image A and still image B as one of “no margin”, “letter box”, and “pillar box” based on the margin area classification. The result is passed to the margin transition pattern determination unit 105.
Next, the process of the margin transition pattern determination unit 105 will be described (S204). The margin transition pattern determination unit 105 determines the transition pattern from nine patterns based on the margin classification results for both the still image A and the still image B based on the table shown in FIG. It passes to the part 106. For example, when the still image A has a “no margin” display format and the still image B has a “no margin” display format, the transition pattern is “transition pattern 1”. In addition, when the still image A is in the “pillar box” display form and the still image B is in the “pillar box” display form, the transition pattern is “transition pattern 9”.

  Note that although the nine transition patterns are classified here, more detailed classification may be performed. For example, the transition pattern 5 and the transition pattern 9 can be further divided into detailed classifications such as “when the width of the blank area increases” and “when the width of the blank area decreases”. .

  Finally, the processing of the animation execution unit 106 will be described (S205). The animation execution unit 106 determines the animation to be applied from the transition pattern determined by the margin transition pattern determination unit 105, and rewrites the still image A to the still image B by applying the animation. Information stored in the animation information storage unit 108 is used to determine the animation to be applied. As shown in FIG. 5, the animation information storage unit 108 holds an animation list associated with each transition pattern. The animation list is a list in which animations in which the blank area is not emphasized are selectively collected for each transition pattern. When performing the animation drawing, the corresponding animation list is taken out according to the input transition pattern, and the animation to be applied is arbitrarily determined from the list, and the drawing is performed.

  The image display instruction unit 101 sets the still image A and the still image B each time a next image display request is received from the timer control unit 102, and executes the image display control process described above.

  Note that if there are a plurality of animations in the animation list, the animation execution unit 106 may use an animation with a high priority preset by the user. Alternatively, the next executable animation may be estimated from the animation executed immediately before, and the animation that matches the estimated animation or is similar to the estimated animation may be applied.

  According to the present invention, since an animation in which a blank area is emphasized can be suppressed, the present invention is useful for an image display device that executes a slide show display of images such as a television, a mobile phone terminal, a DVD recorder, and a DVD player.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Image display apparatus 101 Image display instruction | indication part 102 Timer control part 103 Image display control part 104 Margin area definition part 105 Margin transition pattern determination part 106 Animation execution part 107 Image data storage part 108 Animation information storage part 109 Image display part

Claims (3)

An image display device for executing a slide show display of a plurality of images,
An image display instruction unit for receiving an image display request or a next image display request and outputting an image display instruction;
A timer control unit for outputting the next image display request every predetermined time;
An image data storage unit for storing the plurality of images;
An animation information storage unit for storing an animation list in which an animation in which a blank area is not emphasized for each image transition pattern is associated;
An image display control unit that identifies a first image and a second image from the plurality of stored images in response to the image display instruction;
A margin area defining unit defining a margin area of the first image and the second image;
A margin transition pattern determining unit that determines an image transition pattern according to the defined margin area of the first image and the margin area of the second image;
An animation execution unit for specifying an animation to be executed based on the determined image transition pattern and the stored animation list, and executing the specified animation at the time of switching between the first image and the second image;
An image display device comprising: The image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the animation execution unit estimates an animation to be executed from an animation executed immediately before when a plurality of animations exist in the animation list. An image display method for executing a slide show display of a plurality of images,
Storing an animation list in which an animation in which a blank area is not emphasized for each image transition pattern is associated;
Receiving an image display request or a next image display request and outputting an image display instruction;
Identifying a first image and a second image from a plurality of images in response to the image display instruction;
Defining margin areas for the first image and the second image;
Determining an image transition pattern according to the defined margin area of the first image and the margin area of the second image;
Identifying an animation to be executed based on the determined image transition pattern and the stored animation list, and executing the identified animation at the time of image switching between the first image and the second image;
An image display method characterized by comprising:

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