JP2003110961A - Video display control method and video device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To excellently and simply control the multiple-screen display of a device such as a television receiver in the case of connecting the device displaying a video image to a network adopting the IEEE 1394 system or the like. SOLUTION: In the case of controlling display of a display means capable of simultaneously displaying images on multiple-screens, the display means informs an external device of the display capability of the multiple-screens, and the display state of the multiple-screens of the display means is set on the basis of the control request of the multiple-screen display received from the external device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to, for example, IEEE.
(The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engi
The present invention relates to a video device such as a television receiver suitable for being applied to a device that can be connected to other devices by a digital communication bus called neers) 1394 system, and a video display control method applied to the video device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, video equipment and audio equipment such as a television receiver, a video deck (video recording / reproducing apparatus), a tuner for receiving various broadcasts, and an audio reproducing equipment (hereinafter, these equipment are referred to as AV equipment or AV device). Refer to)
Connected to some network to transmit video data and audio data between the connected devices,
A device that can exchange data between devices has been proposed and put into practical use.

For example, IEEE (The Institute of Ele)
There has been developed an AV device capable of performing data transmission via a network using a ctrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 serial data bus (digital communication control bus). In this network, content data such as video data and audio data can be transmitted as stream data. In addition, a predetermined command (AV / C Command Transaction Set:
(Hereinafter referred to as AV / C command),
It is also possible to remotely control AV equipment connected to the network. Similarly, the AV / C command can be used to detect the operating state of the AV device connected to the network.

Therefore, for example, a television receiver and a VCR are connected by a 1394 system bus line,
By using this bus line to transmit the video data played on the VCR to the television receiver,
The playback image of the VCR can be displayed on the television receiver. In this case, the television receiver side controls the operation of the VCR by transmitting an AV / C command instructing the reproduction operation of the VCR using the 1394 system bus line. Can be done.

By the way, in recent years, television receivers tend to be multifunctional, and, for example, a television receiver capable of performing image synthesizing processing for simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens has been put into practical use. For example, as shown in FIG. 33, one television receiver is provided with two video devices 2, such as a VCR and a tuner.
3 is connected and video data is simultaneously supplied from each of the video devices 2 and 3 to one television receiver. At this time, some television receivers can simultaneously display two images in various forms.

For example, there is one in which a desired display mode can be selected from four types of display modes as shown in FIG. Explaining four types of display modes, for example, as shown as a display screen 1a of a receiver, an image from one image device 2 is displayed as a large screen on the left side, and an image from the other image device 3 is displayed. Display as a small screen on the right. Further, as shown as the display screen 1b, the image from one image device 2 is displayed as a small screen on the left side, and the image from the other image device 3 is displayed as a large screen on the right side. Also, the display screen 1c
As shown in, the image from one of the video devices 2 is displayed on the upper corner of the entire screen, and the image from the other video device 3 is displayed as a small screen. Further, as shown as the display screen 1d, the image from the other video device 3 is displayed in the upper corner where the video is displayed on the entire screen.
The image from is displayed as a small screen.

In the case of the display screens 1c and 1d, the display position of the small screen may be adjusted vertically and horizontally.

When such multiple types of simultaneous display are possible, the user can set a desired display mode by operating a key provided on the remote control device 4 of the television receiver, for example. In the example of FIG. 33, in order to simplify the explanation, the external video equipment 2,
Although the video input from 3 is displayed as an example, if a video signal source such as a tuner is built in the receiver, a plurality of videos obtained by the video signal source in the receiver are synthesized. Of course, it can be displayed on one screen.

Simultaneous display of a plurality of screens as shown in FIG. 33 is roughly divided into a multi-screen display called PaP (Picture-and-Picture) and a PiP (Picture-in-Picture).
Is classified into a multi-screen display called. This PaP and Pi
Explaining the difference to P, in the case of PaP, for example, as shown in FIG. 34, the input images V1 and V2 are
After being converted into the data of the images V1 'and V2' of the size to be displayed, it is assigned to an arbitrary block among the blocks b0, b1, b2 and b3 set by dividing the screen of the receiver into a plurality of pieces, Processing for displaying is performed. This PaP
In this case, the same block is not assigned to a plurality of videos, and the videos are displayed without duplication.

In the case of PiP, for example, as shown in FIG. 35, one input video V1 is displayed in its original size, and the other video V2 is displayed as a reduced size video V2 '. The image of the reduced size is set as an image V2 ″ assigned to a predetermined position such as the right corner of the screen. Then, the image V2 ″ is superimposed on the image V1 to perform a compositing process to generate a part of the image V1. A process of displaying the reduced image V2 in the display area is performed.
In the case of this PiP, there is a vertical relationship, that is, a concept of a layer, between the respective videos, and the videos arranged in the upper layer are arranged in the lower hierarchy according to the vertical relationship of the layers in which the respective videos are arranged. The images are combined and displayed so as to cover the image.

Actually, what kind of composite display is possible on a television receiver is determined by the capability of the receiver, and for example, a model capable of only multi-screen display by PiP, PaP display, PiP display. There are receivers with various display capabilities such as models that can be switched. PaP
In the case of a model capable of displaying, in addition to an example in which one is displayed large and the other is displayed small like the display screens 1a and 1b shown in FIG. 33, two images are arranged in the same size. Regarding the number of screens to be displayed or to be displayed, not only simultaneous display of 2 screens but also maximum of 9 screens or 16 screens
Some screens can be displayed on multiple screens. PiP
In the case of display as well, there is one in which the display position and display size of a small screen can be freely adjusted.

[0012]

By the way, the above-mentioned I
When a video device such as a television receiver or a video deck is connected to the EEE1394 bus line, the AV / C command may be used to send a command to start playing a video tape from the video receiver to the video deck, Alternatively, it is possible to send a command to stop the reproduction. On the other hand, in the AV / C command which has been proposed and put into practical use, the P /
The control of multi-screen display such as aP display and PiP display has a problem that it is not completely compatible.

That is, in the standardized AV / C command, for example, when the controlled device is a video tape deck, control commands for starting, stopping, rewinding and fast-forwarding reproduction and recording are prepared. There is. When the controlled device is a television receiver, control commands such as channel up / down and volume up / down are prepared. Details of these commands are determined for each type of device.

Further, by sending a command for checking the operating state of the other party's equipment using the AV / C command, the response to the command can be used to determine whether or not the video tape deck is playing, for example, a television image. It is also possible to check the channel number displayed on the machine from other devices connected by the bus line.

On the other hand, in the case of the multi-screen display on the above-mentioned receiver, since the multi-screen display function prepared in the receiver is assumed to have various display functions as already described, It was not enough to simply send a command to turn on / off the multi-screen display.

Here, the problem in the case of forming a network of video equipment such as a receiver by the IEEE 1394 system bus line has been described, but the same problem also occurs when the video equipment is connected by a network of another system. There is. In this case, the same data transmission may be performed wirelessly instead of a network connected by a physically wired signal line to form a network and control other video equipment in the network. The problem occurs.

In view of the above points, the present invention enables good and easy control of multi-screen display in a device that displays an image when the device that displays the image, such as a television receiver, is connected to a network. The purpose is to

[0018]

According to the present invention, when the display on a display means capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens is controlled, the display ability of the plurality of screens on the display means is presented to the outside and received from the outside. The display state of the multiple screens on the display means is set based on the control request for the multiple screen display.

By doing so, the display capability of the plurality of screens on the display means can be recognized by the external device, and the external device can appropriately request the control of the display state of the multiple screens based on the recognized display capability. When the display request is received, the display state can be set to a corresponding state.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below.
This will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the connection configuration between the equipment of this example and a network. In this example, the television receiver 100 is used as a device that constitutes the network.
, A first tuner device 200 and a first VCR 300 are prepared, and the respective devices 100, 200,
300 are connected by an IEEE 1394 bus line 10. Other devices (not shown) may be connected to the bus line 10. In addition, IEEE
In the case of the E1394 system bus line, the connection is actually made by connecting each device in turn with a cable.

The first tuner device 200 is, for example, a tuner for receiving digital satellite broadcasting. The first video deck 300 is, for example, a video recording / reproducing device that records and reproduces video data, audio data, and the like on a video tape cassette. First tuner device 200 and first
VCR 300 is a remote control device 2
The infrared signal from 0 enables remote control.

Further, in this example, the second tuner device 400 and the second video deck 500 are connected to the television receiver 100 via an analog signal cable. The second tuner device 400 is a tuner that receives a broadcast service different from the broadcast service received by the first tuner device 200. Second
The VCR 500 is a video recording / reproducing apparatus using, for example, a video disc as a recording medium. An external antenna 99 is connected to the antenna input plug of the television receiver 100.

In the television receiver 100, the video data supplied from the devices 200 and 300 via the bus line 10 and the device 400 and 400 via the analog signal cable.
The input selected video in the video data supplied from 500 can be displayed on a display means such as a CRT. The voice output is also switched in synchronization with the input selection.

As described above, the television receiver 100 connected to the network has a structure capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens on the display means. Before describing the configuration for realizing such simultaneous display of multiple screens, the IE
A mechanism for performing data transmission on the EE1394 bus line will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 to 32.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a cycle structure of data transmission between devices connected by the IEEE 1394 system. In the IEEE 1394 system, data is divided into packets and transmitted in time division with a cycle having a length of 125 μS as a reference. This cycle is created by a cycle start signal supplied from a node (any device connected to the bus) having a cycle master function.

The isochronous packet secures a band (in units of time, called a band) necessary for transmission from the beginning of all cycles. Therefore, in isochronous transmission, data transmission is guaranteed within a fixed time. However, confirmation from the receiving side (acknowledgement: ack)
If a transmission error occurs, data will be lost if there is no protection mechanism. As a result of arbitration, the node that secures the bus sends asynchronous packets during the time when it is not used for isochronous transmission in each cycle. In asynchronous transmission, acknowledge and retry are used to ensure reliable transmission. , The transmission timing is not constant.

In order for a given node to perform isochronous transmission, that node must support the isochronous function. Moreover, at least one of the nodes corresponding to the isochronous function must have the cycle master function. Further, at least one of the nodes connected to the IEEE 1394 serial bus is
It must have the function of an isochronous resource manager.

The IEEE1394 system is ISO / IEC
It conforms to the CSR (Control & Status Register) architecture having a 64-bit address space defined by 13213. FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the address space of the CSR architecture. The upper 16 bits are a node ID indicating a node on each IEEE 1394
And the remaining 48 bits are used to specify the address space given to each node. These upper 16 bits are further 10 bits of bus ID and physical ID (node ID in a narrow sense)
It is divided into 6 bits. The value where all bits are 1 is
Used for special purposes, 1023 buses and 63
Individual nodes can be specified. The node ID is reassigned when the bus is reset. The bus reset occurs when the configuration of the device connected to the bus 1 changes. For example, when any one of the devices connected to the bus 1 is removed or it is recognized that a device is newly connected to the bus 1, the bus reset is executed.

Of the address space defined by the lower 48 bits, the space defined by the upper 20 bits is 204
An initialization register space (Initial Register Space), a private space (Private Space), and an initialization memory space (In) used for 8-byte CSR-specific registers and IEEE 1394-specific registers.
The space defined by the lower 28 bits is divided into an itial memory space), and the space defined by the upper 20 bits is an initialization register space, a configuration ROM (Configuration read only memor)
y), an initialization unit space used for a node-specific application, a plug control register (PCRs), and the like.

Here, the plug control register will be described. In the IEEE 1394 system, each node controls a data input / output, and each node is a PCR (Plug Control Register) which is a register used as a plug.
) Has. This is a materialization of the concept of a plug using a register in order to form a signal path that is logically similar to an analog interface.
PCR is an oPCR (output plug code) that represents an output plug.
ntrol Register), iPCR that represents the input plug (input
Plug Control Register). In addition, PCR is
It has a register oMPR (output master plug register) and an iMPR (input master plug register) indicating information of an output plug or an input plug unique to each device. Each device does not have multiple oMPRs and iMPRs, but the oPCR and iMPR corresponding to individual plugs
It is possible to have a plurality of PCRs depending on the capabilities of the device. The flow of isochronous data is controlled by manipulating the registers corresponding to these plugs.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of transmission using a plug. Here, a device (node) connected to an IEEE 1394 bus is used as an AV device (AV-device).
Shown as a, b, c. OMP of AV device a
OPCR in which the transmission rate and the number of oPCRs are defined by R

Among [0] to oPCR [2], the isochronous data whose channel is designated by oPCR [1] is AV
The data is transmitted from the oPCR [1] of the device c to the channel # 1 of the IEEE1394 serial bus. The AV device a is a channel # of the IEEE 1394 serial bus.
The isochronous data sent to 1 is read. Similarly, AV device b uses oPCR

The isochronous data is transmitted to the channel # 2 designated by [0], and the AV
The device a reads the isochronous data from channel # 2 designated by iPCR [1].

In this way, data transmission is performed between the devices connected by the IEEE1394 serial bus, but in the system of this example, this IEEE1394 is used.
The AV / C command set defined as a command for controlling a device connected via the serial bus is used to control each device and determine the status. Next, the AV / C command set will be described.

First, the AV / s used in the system of this example
Subunit Identifier Descriptor (Subunit Identifier Descr) in C command set
The data structure of (iptor) will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 23 shows the data structure of the subunit identifier descriptor.
As shown in FIG. 23, it is formed by a list of hierarchical structure of subunit identifier descriptors. The list represents, for example, a channel that can be received in the case of a tuner and songs recorded in the case of a disc. The list of the highest layer of the hierarchical structure is called a route list, and, for example, list 0 is the route for the list below it. The other lists are route lists as well. There are as many root lists as there are objects. Here, the object is, for example, each channel in digital broadcasting when the AV equipment connected to the bus is a tuner. Further, all the lists in one layer share common information.

FIG. 24 shows a general subunit descriptor (The General Subunit Identifier Descr).
iptor) format is shown. Subunit
In the descriptor, the attribute information regarding the function is described as the content. Descriptor length (descriptor l
The ength) field does not contain the value of the field itself. Generation ID
Indicates the version of the AV / C command set, and its value is, for example, "00h" (h represents hexadecimal). Here, “00h” is, for example, as shown in FIG. 25, the data structure and the command are version 3.0 of the AV / C general standard (General Specification).
It means that. Further, as shown in FIG. 25, all values except "00h" are reserved and reserved for future specifications.

List ID size (size of list ID)
Indicates the number of bytes of the list ID. The object ID size (size of object ID) is the object I
The number of bytes of D is shown. The object position size (size of object position) indicates a position (number of bytes) in the list used for reference during control. Root object list number (number of ro
ot object list) indicates the number of root object lists. Root object list ID (root obj
ect list id) indicates an ID for identifying the highest root object list in each independent hierarchy.

Data length belonging to a subunit (subunit
The “dependent length” indicates the number of bytes of the data field (subunit dependent information) field belonging to the subsequent subunit. The data field belonging to the subunit is a field indicating information specific to the function. Data length specific to the manufacturer (manufacturer
Dependent length) indicates the number of bytes of the data (manufacturer dependent information) field specific to the subsequent manufacturer. The data unique to the manufacturer is a field indicating the specification information of the vendor (manufacturer). If there is no manufacturer-specific data in the descriptor, this field does not exist.

FIG. 26 shows an allocation range of the list ID shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 26, “00
00h to 0FFFh "and" 4000h to FFF "
"Fh" is reserved and reserved as an allocation range for future specifications. "1000h to 3FFFh" and "10000h to maximum value of list ID" are prepared for identifying dependent information of a function type. .

Next, AV / used in the system of this example
The C command set will be described with reference to FIGS. 27 to 32. FIG. 27 shows a stack model of the AV / C command set. As shown in FIG. 27, the physical layer 81, the link layer 82, the transaction layer 83, and the serial bus management 84 are IEs.
It conforms to EE1394. FCP (Function Contr
ol Protocol) 85 is based on IEC61883. The AV / C command set 86 complies with the 1394TA specifications.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining commands and responses of the FCP 85 of FIG. FCP is IE
This is a protocol for controlling devices (nodes) on the EE1394 bus. As shown in FIG. 28, the controlling side is the controller and the controlled side is the target. The FCP command transmission or response is I
It is performed between the nodes using the write transaction of the asynchronous communication of EEE1394. The target that receives the data returns an acknowledge to the controller for confirmation of reception.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the FCP command and response shown in FIG. 28 in more detail. The node A and the node B are connected via an IEEE1394 bus. Node A is the controller and node B is the target. In each of the node A and the node B, a command register and a response register are prepared by 512 bytes each. As shown in FIG. 29, the controller transmits an instruction by writing a command message in the target command register 93. Conversely, the target transmits a response by writing a response message in the response register 92 of the controller. Control information is exchanged for the above two messages. The type of command set sent by FCP is described in CTS in the data field of FIG. 30 described later.

FIG. 30 shows the data structure of a packet transmitted in the asynchronous transfer mode of the AV / C command. The AV / C command set is a command set for controlling AV equipment, and CTS (command set ID) = “0000”. The AV / C command frame and the response frame are exchanged between the nodes using the FCP. In order not to burden the bus and AV equipment, the response to the command is 1
It is supposed to be done within 00 ms. As shown in FIG. 30, the data of the asynchronous packet is 3 in the horizontal direction.
It is composed of 2 bits (= 1 quadlet). The upper part of the figure shows the header part of the packet, and the lower part of the figure shows the data block. Destination
ination ID) indicates the destination.

CTS represents the ID of the command set, and CTS = “0000” in the AV / C command set.
Is. The C type / response field indicates the function classification of the command when the packet is a command, and the processing result of the command when the packet is a response. The commands are roughly divided into (1) a command (CONTROL) for externally controlling the function,
(2) Command to inquire status from outside (STAT
US), (3) Command for inquiring whether control command is supported from outside (GENERAL INQUI
RY (whether or not opcode is supported) and SPEC
IFIC INQUIRY (opcode and ope
(whether or not rands is supported)), (4) a command (NOTIFY) requesting to notify the state change to the outside.
4 types are defined.

The response is returned according to the type of command. The response to the control (CONTROL) command is "not implemented" (NOT I
MPLEMENTED, "Accept" (ACCEP
TED), "rejection" (REJECTED), and "provisional" (INTERIM). Status (STAT
The response to the US command includes “Not implemented” (NOT IMPLEMENTED), “Reject” (REJECTED), and “Transition” (INTRAN).
SITION), and "stable". Command to inquire whether command is supported from outside (GENERAL INQUIRY and SP
The response to ECIFIC INQUIRY is "Implemented" (IMPLEMENTED),
And "Not implemented" (NOT IMPLEME
NTED). The response to the command (NOTIFY) requesting to notify the state change to the outside is "not implemented" (NOT IMPLEMENT).
TED), "rejection" (REJECTED), "provisional"
(INTERIM) and "changed" (CHANGE)
There is D).

The subunit type is
It is provided to specify the function inside the device. For example, tape recorder / player (tape reccorder / playe)
r), tuner, etc. are assigned. In this subunit type, in addition to the function corresponding to the device, there is also assigned a BBS (bulletin board subunit) that is a subunit that discloses information to other devices. In order to make a determination when there are multiple subunits of the same type, the subunit ID (subu
nit id) for addressing. An operation code (opcode), which is an operation code, represents a command, and an operand (operand) represents a command parameter. Fields added as needed (ddit
ional operands) are also available. 0 data or the like is added after the operand as needed. Data C
RC (Cyclic Reduncy Check) is used for error checking during data transmission.

FIG. 31 shows a concrete example of the AV / C command. The left side of FIG. 31 shows a specific example of the command type / response. The upper part of the figure represents the command, and the lower part of the figure represents the response. "000
0 for control (CONTROL), "000"
"1" indicates status (STATUS), and "0010" indicates specific inquiry (SPECIFIC I).
NQUIRY), "0011" is Notify (NO
General Inquiry is assigned to TIFY) and “0100”. "0101 to 0111" are reserved and reserved for future specifications. Also, “1000” is not implemented (NOT INPLEMENTED), “1001” is accept (ACCEPTED), “1010” is reject (REJECTED), and “1011” is in transition (I
N TRANSITION), "1100" has implementation (IMPLEMENDED / STABLE), "11"
A state change (CHNGED) is assigned to 01 ”and a provisional response (INTERIM) is assigned to“ 1111 ”.
"1110" is reserved and reserved for future specifications.

The center of FIG. 31 shows a specific example of the subunit type. "000000" is a video monitor,
"00011" is a disc recorder / player, "0"
0100 "is a tape recorder / player," 0010 "
"1" is a tuner, "00111" is a video camera,
BBS (Bulletin Board Subunit) for "01010"
Subunit used as a bulletin board called "1"
1100 ”is a manufacturer-specific subunit type (Vender unique), and“ 11110 ”is a specific subunit type (Subunit type extended tonext byte).
Has been assigned. Although a unit is assigned to "11111", this is used when it is sent to the device itself, and is used, for example, to turn on / off the power. Note that subunit types other than those shown here may be defined.

The right side of FIG. 31 shows a specific example of the operation code (operation code: opcode). There is an opcode table for each subunit type, and here, an opcode in the case where the subunit type is a tape recorder / player is shown. In addition, an operand is defined for each opcode. Here, "00h"
Is a value specific to the manufacturer (Vender dependent), “50
"h" is search mode, "51h" is time code,
"52h" is ATN, "60h" is open memory, "61h" is memory read, "62h" is memory write, "C1h" is load, "C2h" is recording, "C3h" is Rewind is assigned to playback and "C4h".

FIG. 32 shows a concrete example of the AV / C command and the response. For example, when issuing a playback instruction to a playback device as a target (consumer), the controller sends a command as shown in FIG. 32A to the target. Since this command uses the AV / C command set, CTS = “0000”. ct
As the type (command type), a command (CONTROL) for controlling the device from the outside is used, so that c type = “0000” (see FIG. 31). Since the subunit type is the tape recorder / player, the subunit type = “00100” (see FIG. 31). id indicates the case of ID0, i
d = 000. The opcode is "C3h", which means reproduction, and is 5 (see FIG. 31). The operand is "75h" which means forward (FORWARD). Then, when reproduced, the target is shown in FIG. 32B.
Returns a response like this to the controller. here,
Since “accepted” is included in the response, the response is “1001” (FIG. 31).
reference). Except for the response part, the other parts are the same as those in FIG. 32A, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted.

In the case of this example, the transmission processing described above is executed between the television receiver 100, the first tuner device 200 and the VCR 300 shown in FIG.
Transmission of stream data such as digitized video data and audio data can be executed between these devices via the bus line 10, and AV / C commands can be transmitted via the bus line 10 to establish connection. It is also possible to control other devices and detect the status.

Next, the television receiver 100 of the present example.
The configuration related to the video processing will be described with reference to FIG. The television receiver 100 of this example includes an antenna input plug 101, analog input plugs 111 to 113, and a bus connection plug 130 as input plugs. The bus connection plug 130 is a plug to which the IEEE 1394 bus line 10 is connected, and as described above, functions as a data input plug and
It also functions as an output plug.

By connecting the external antenna 99 or the like shown in FIG. 1 to the antenna input plug 101, the reception channel selection processing unit 141 receives a broadcast signal of a predetermined channel, and the received broadcast signal is converted into the received broadcast signal. The included video data is supplied to the input signal selection processing unit 142. Up to three video devices can be connected to the three analog input plugs 111 to 113. Here, the second tuner device 40 shown in FIG.
The analog video signal output by 0 is supplied to the input plug 111, and the analog video signal output by the second VCR 500 is supplied to the input plug 112. The video signals obtained from the analog input plugs 111 to 113 are supplied to the input signal selection processing unit 142, respectively. The video data received via the bus line 10 connected to the bus connection plug 130 is also supplied to the input signal selection processing unit 142.

In the input signal selection processing section 142, the control section 1
Based on the control information from 50, a process of selecting any input video is performed. In this case, when performing a process of combining and displaying a plurality of screens, a plurality of video data are selected. The video data selected by the input signal selection processing unit 142 is supplied to the image signal processing unit 143 to be processed for displaying, and the processed video data is supplied to the image display unit 144. An image is displayed on a display unit included in the display unit 144, for example, a CRT (cathode ray tube). The control unit 15 also performs processing for combining a plurality of input videos and displaying a plurality of screens at the same time.
It is executed by the image signal processing unit 143 based on the control information from 0. Information on a display processing state such as multi-screen display in the image signal processing unit 143 is sent to the control unit 150.

The bus connection plug 130 to which the IEEE 1394 bus line 10 is connected has a communication control unit 145.
The control unit 150 controls bidirectional communication with the devices in the network via the bus line 10. The communication state via the bus line 10 is the processing state already described with reference to FIGS.

The data received by the communication control unit 145 via the bus line 10 is separated into control information and stream information by the control information separation unit 146, and the separated control information is supplied to the control unit 150. To do. The stream information such as the video data separated by the control information separation unit 146 is supplied to the data separation decoding unit 147 to be decoded, and the decoded video data is supplied to the input signal selection processing unit 142. Further, regarding the control information transmitted from the control unit 150 to the bus line 10 side, the control unit 150
Is supplied to the communication control unit 145 from. The control information to be transmitted from the television receiver 100 to the bus line 10 side includes the current operating state and data regarding the capability of the receiver 100. For example, the data of the display ability of a plurality of screens and the data of the display state of a plurality of screens can be transmitted.

The communication control section 145 is adapted to carry out the control processing necessary for communication via the bus line 10. In this case, in order to be able to perform processing by the IEEE 1394 system and AV / C command, IEEE
The memory 148 used as a register defined by the 1394 system and the AV / C command has a communication control unit 145.
It is prepared in.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the television receiver 100 having the structure shown in FIG. 2 as a logical model controlled by AV / C commands. As already mentioned in the description of the AV / C command, the AV / C command
The function of each device is represented as a subunit, and the television receiver 100 of this example has a configuration including two subunits of a tuner subunit 160 and a monitor subunit 170. AV / C
In the command logical configuration, each sub-unit 16 is separate from the input plug and output plug of the receiver 100 itself.
Input plugs and output plugs are prepared for 0 and 170 as well.

That is, in the tuner subunit 160, the signal obtained at the antenna input plug 101 is supplied to the tuner input plug 161. Another tuner input plug 162 is also prepared. Then, the video data received by the tuner subunit 160 is output from the tuner output plug 163. The video data output from the tuner output plug 163 is supplied to the virtual output plug 131 and the input signal selection processing unit 142.

The virtual output plug 131, the virtual input plugs 132a to 132n, and the bus connection plug 1
An input plug and an output plug that are virtually configured when communication is performed via the bus line 10 connected to 30. Here, although the output plug 131 is shown as one plug, the input plugs 132a to 132n are shown as a plurality of plugs that are respectively set as input plugs of different stream data (video data).

The stream data obtained in each of the input plugs 132a to 132n is selected in the input signal selection processing section 142 and supplied to the monitor subunit 170. The video signals obtained from the analog input plugs 111 to 113 can also be selected in the input signal selection processing unit 142 and supplied to the monitor subunit 170. Further, the video data received by the tuner subunit 160 can also be selected in the input signal selection processing section 142 and supplied to the monitor subunit 170. When performing simultaneous display on a plurality of screens, the input signal selection processing unit 142 selects two or more inputs at the same time,
It can be supplied to the monitor subunit 170.

In the monitor sub-unit 170, the supplied video data of one or a plurality of systems is displayed,
The image (image) is displayed on the prepared display means. The monitor sub-unit 1 also handles simultaneous display of multiple screens.
It is executed in 70. At this time, the monitor subunit 1
The video data to be processed by the display 70 may be output from the output plug 179 of the monitor subunit 170 and output from the output plug 102 of the television receiver 100 to the outside.

Then, the television receiver 100 of the present example.
Is designed to control the simultaneous display state of a plurality of screens by receiving a command in the AV / C command format via the bus line 10. Furthermore, the simultaneous display capability of multiple screens and the simultaneous display state of multiple screens can be displayed by AV / C.
The data formatted by the command can be notified to an external device connected by the bus line 10.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the concept of the control relating to the display of a plurality of screens and the presentation of the display capability and the display state. The control command received by the receiver 100 from the outside via the bus line 10 is determined by the command interpreting unit 151 in the control unit 150, and the display control unit 15 in the control unit 150.
2 controls the display state based on the determined command. Further, the display capability of a plurality of screens that can be executed under the control of the display control unit 152 is the same as that of the subunit identifier identifier 1 in the monitor subunit 170.
70a is described (stored). Further, the data of the display state of a plurality of screens (or the display state of one screen) currently being executed under the control of the display control unit 152 is described (stored) in the status descriptor 170b. This subunit identifier fire descriptor 170a
Also, the data described in the status descriptor 170b can be read by the communication control unit 145 under the control of the control unit 150 and transmitted to an external device connected by the bus line 10.

Incidentally, the descriptors 170a and 170b
In addition to the simultaneous display of a plurality of screens, information about the capability and operating state of the receiver 100 may be described at the same time.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a logical configuration of the monitor subunit 170. The monitor subunit 170 is
The video data of a plurality of systems obtained by the input plugs 171a to 171n is supplied to the screen synthesis processing unit 172. When simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens, video data for simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens is generated. When only displaying one screen, only video data of any one system is selected.

The video data output by the screen synthesis processing unit 172 is supplied to the image quality processing unit 173, where image quality adjustment processing such as brightness and hue is performed, and the adjusted video data is displayed on the display unit 174. Supply and display. Further, the video data output by the image quality processing unit 173 is output from the output plug 179.

The capability of the screen combining processing unit 172 in the monitor sub unit 170 to perform the combining process is stored in the subunit identifier descriptor 170a. For example, the display size and the display position of each screen forming a plurality of screens are stored when the PiP combining process or the PaP combining process is performed. The current combination processing state in the screen combination processing unit 172 is stored in the status descriptor 170b. Therefore, the storage data of the status descriptor 170b is updated at any time. The composite state data stored in the status descriptor 170b includes the display size and display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens and the data of the input plug when the plurality of screens are simultaneously displayed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a connection relationship of plugs between the monitor subunit 170 and the screen synthesis processing section 172 in the subunit. Monitor subunit 170
A plurality of input plugs 171a, 171b ...
171n are connected to the input plugs 172a, 172b ... 172n of the screen synthesis processing unit 172, respectively.
The number of input plugs to be used is determined depending on how many screens are combined to form one display screen, and the combined and generated video data is output from the output plug 172o. When the screen synthesizing unit 172 does not perform the synthesizing process, the video data input to one input plug is
The output is directly output from the output plug 172o.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a logical functional configuration in layers within the screen synthesis processing section 172. here,
A main video stream obtained at the input plug 172a,
Of the sub video stream obtained in the input plug 172b,
An example is shown in which the process of combining two video data is executed.

The main video stream obtained at the input plug 172a is converted into video data whose screen size has been converted by the size conversion section 182 as necessary. The output of the size conversion unit 182 is video data in which the display position in one screen is set by the position setting unit 183.
84. The sub-video stream obtained at the input plug 172b is converted into video data whose screen size has been converted by the size conversion unit 185, if necessary. The output of the size conversion unit 185 is the position setting unit 186,
The video data having the display position within one screen set is supplied to the combining unit 184.

In the synthesizing unit 184, a process of generating video data which is a synthesized video stream synthesized in one screen is executed. At this time, other video streams (video data) obtained at the input plug 187 may be combined. The video data obtained by the input plug 187 may be data for displaying characters in addition to normal video data. The combining process in the combining unit 184 is executed based on the control data supplied from the control unit 150 of the receiver to the control data input port 188.

The structure shown in FIG. 7 is as shown in FIG. 8 when it is shown as a layer structure. That is, the three systems of video data obtained by the input plugs 171a, 171b, 171c are processed by the different layers 180a, 180b, 180c in the respective screen combining processing units 172 and supplied to the combining unit 184 to be combined. Will be. Each of the layers 180a, 180b, 180c is composed of, for example, an individual image memory, and the video data attached to the respective image memories are combined into one composite video data.

Here, examples of the layer structure are shown in FIGS.
Shown in. The example of FIG. 9 is an example in which the screen combining processing unit 172 performs a combining process of four divided screens. In the case of FIG. 9, one screen is divided into four, and four blocks B1
0, B11, B12, and B13 are formed, and the input plugs 171a to 17 are provided in the blocks B10 to B13, respectively.
The synthesizing process is performed so as to allocate the screen based on the video data from 1d.

The example of FIG. 10 is an example in which the screen synthesizing unit 172 performs the synthesizing process of the seven divided screens. In the case of FIG. 10, one screen is divided into nine, and four blocks out of nine blocks configured by the nine divisions are set as blocks (B23) used in one screen, and the remaining blocks ( B20, B21, B22, B24, B25), one screen is assigned to one block. Also in this case, each block B20 to B25
Then, the synthesizing process is performed so as to allocate the screen based on the video data from the input plugs 171a to 171f.

The example of FIG. 11 is an example in which the screen synthesizing unit 172 performs a synthesizing process of four divided screens. In the case of this example, the video data obtained in one input plug 171a is It is arranged in different blocks periodically. In the case of FIG. 11, one screen is divided into four to form four blocks B30, B31, B32, B33, and a screen based on the video data from the input plug 171a is provided in each of the blocks B30 to B33. For example, the synthesizing process is performed so that the still images are sequentially assigned every one second. In this case, for example, the screen is displayed as a still image until the next video data is assigned to the same block.

Although the example up to this point is an example in which blocks are set in one screen, it is also possible to specify the display size and position of the input video data by specifying the absolute pixel value.
That is, as shown in FIG. 12, as processing in one layer, the pixel position (H PO
S) and the line position (V POS) of the starting point in the vertical direction, and further by specifying the number of pixels in the horizontal direction (H SIZE) and the number of lines in the vertical direction (V SIZE),
The display position and display size of one split screen are designated.

When designating in block units, actually, as shown in FIG. 13, one display screen is finely divided into a large number of blocks, and which block in the finely divided blocks is located. The display position and display size can be set by specifying how many are used.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, in one divided block, the number of pixels in the horizontal direction and the number of lines in the vertical direction are predetermined numbers, and the position and number of the divided blocks to be used are determined. As a result, the display position and display size of one split screen are designated.

Whether a plurality of screens are simultaneously displayed by the designation of the absolute pixel position or the like or a plurality of screens are simultaneously displayed by the designation of the number of blocks or the like can be executed by the receiver 100. The display capability of the screen is described in the subunit identifier descriptor 170a in the monitor subunit 170.

Next, the simultaneous display of a plurality of screens is performed in this way.
When the control is executed by the television receiver 100 from another device connected by the IEEE 1394 bus line 10, the process will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 15.

In this example, it is assumed that the simultaneous display processing of a plurality of screens in the television receiver 100 is executed by a command from the first tuner device 200 connected to the bus line 10. In this case, the first tuner device 20
When a user operates an operation key arranged on the front panel of 0, etc., a command for multi-screen display is sent. Alternatively, by operating the remote control device 20 for operating the first tuner device 200, the remote control device 20 sends a remote control signal for displaying a plurality of screens to the first tuner device 200 by an infrared signal or the like. Alternatively, the first tuner device 200 may perform a process of transmitting a corresponding command based on the transmitted remote control signal.

In the flowchart of FIG. 15, the process written as the external device on the left side is the process on the first tuner device 200 side, and the process written as the receiver on the right side is the television receiver 100 side. Processing. First, since the tuner device 200 controls the receiver, the receiver 100 is selected as a signal output destination via the bus line 10 (step S11), and the tuner device 200 and the receiver 1 are selected.
A logical connection is established with the bus 00 via the bus line 10 so that the AV / C command can be transmitted (step S12). Even on the receiver side, the tuner device 20
Tuner device 2 via bus line 10 when requested from 0
A logical connection with 00 is established (step S31).
The processes of steps S11, S12, and S31 are not necessary when the connection is already established.

Next, the tuner device 200 is connected to the receiver 10
A process of checking the simultaneous display capability of multiple screens at 0 is performed.
In order to confirm this display capability, the control unit in the tuner device 200 issues a command, which is described in the subunit identifier descriptor 170a in the receiver 100, for reading information on the simultaneous display capability of a plurality of screens to the receiver. 100 (step S13). This command
The AV / C command described above is sent as a command for inquiring the status of the other device.

When the communication control unit 145 in the receiver 100 receives the command from the tuner device 200 (step S32), the received command is interpreted (step S33), and the display capability is determined by the interpretation. If it is found that the command is an inquiry, descriptor 1
From the memory 148 in which the data as 70a is stored,
The corresponding data is read (step S34), and the read display capability data is transmitted to the tuner device 200 as a response (step S35). Also,
The current receiver 1 stored in the descriptor 170b
The display state of 00 is also transmitted to the tuner device 200 by a response.

When the tuner device 200 receives this response, the display capability data included in the response is stored in, for example, a memory connected to the control unit of the tuner device 200 (step S14). In addition,
Regarding transmission of a command and reception of a response on the tuner device side in steps S13 and S14, and processing from reception of a command on the receiver side to transmission of a response in steps S32 to S35 corresponding to the transmission of this command If the tuner device 200 side already knows the display capability of the receiver 100, it is not necessary to perform processing.

It is assumed that the screen switching button of the tuner device 200 (or the remote control device 20) is pressed while the processing up to this point is performed (step S15).
At this time, it is selected by the user operation whether to switch the screen of PaP or the screen of PiP (step S16).
By this selection operation, the control of the tuner device 200 determines whether the PaP screen switching is instructed or the PiP screen switching is instructed (step S17).

When it is determined in this determination that the screen of the PaP has been switched, adjustment for displaying the screen of the PaP is executed by a user operation (step S18). Specifically, selection of the left and right display positions of the screen based on each input video data, adjustment of the display size of each screen, and the like are performed. Also, selection of input video data forming each screen is performed as necessary. When it is determined that the screen of the PiP is switched, the adjustment for the screen display of the PiP is executed by the user operation (step S
19). Specifically, selection of which input image is to be displayed on the upper side and adjustment of the display size of each screen are performed at the overlapping display positions.

Upon completion of these selections and adjustments, the receiver 1
The ability and state of 00 are confirmed (step S20). At this time, the ability and the current state are confirmed from the data storing the response received in step S14. At this time, in order to confirm the current display state, a command for inquiring the display state may be sent again.

Then, the detailed display state necessary to bring it to the state selected or adjusted in step S18 or S19 from the current display state confirmed in step S20 is determined (step S21). Specifically, information such as the layer position, the number of divisions, the size, the display position, and the input plug of each display screen is specified. When these pieces of information are specified and information designating the display state is generated, the generated information designating the display state is arranged in a command designating the display state and transmitted to the receiver 100.

When this command is received by the receiver 100 side (step S36), the contents specified by the command are interpreted (step S37), and the size conversion of the video data of the instructed input plug is performed according to the received command.
Then, display adjustment is performed, and a process of attaching the image based on the adjusted video data to the image memory for the designated layer is executed (step S38). Then, the image is superposed on each layer to form one combined screen (step S39), the combined video data is displayed, and a plurality of screens are displayed on the display unit included in the receiver 100. Display the combined image (step S4)
0).

When the display states of a plurality of screens are changed in this way, the data stored in the status descriptor 170b is updated to the corresponding display state data (step S41). When the storage data of this status descriptor 170b is updated, the tuner device 2
The external device such as 00 may be notified that the storage data of the descriptor 170b has been updated.

Here, an example of the data structure when transmitting data for such display control by the AV / C command will be described. As described above, in the AV / C command, the data of the packet structure shown in FIG. 30 is transmitted, the data of the control command is arranged in the section of the opcode, and the detailed data of the control state is arranged in the section of the operand. Are placed. Here, when performing control to synthesize and display a plurality of screens as in this example, as shown in FIG. 16, for example, 4-bit synthesis type data and 4-bit synthesis type data are included in the section of operand [3]. The data in the combined state is arranged, and the data unique to the combined type is arranged in the section after the operand [4], and the details of each divided screen are shown by the data unique to the combined type.

The composite type data is configured as shown in FIG. 17, for example, and data for inquiring the status, data for instructing the PaP mode, and data for instructing the PiP mode are prepared. Other data are undefined.

The data in the combined state is configured as shown in FIG. 18, for example, and data for turning on the PaP mode or PiP mode and data for turning off the PaP mode or PiP mode are prepared. Other data are undefined.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of an AV / C command for designating the combination of video data of a plurality of input plugs 0 to y. In this example, the combination state and combination type are indicated in the section of operand [3], the number of divisions is shown in the section of operand [4], and the number of input plugs used in the section of operand [5] is shown. Be done.
In the section after the operand [6], details of each divided screen are shown. For example, the operands [6] to [8] indicate the block positions in the horizontal and vertical directions of the video data obtained in the plug of the input plug ID0, and the number of blocks used in the horizontal and vertical directions. Similarly, the operand

In [9] to [11], the block positions in the horizontal and vertical directions of the video data obtained in the plug of the input plug ID1 and the number of blocks used in the horizontal and vertical directions are shown to configure a split screen. Data for all screens are shown as well.

Note that the example of FIG. 10 is an example in which one screen is divided into blocks and instructions are given. When designating with absolute pixel positions, horizontal and vertical block positions and horizontal and vertical directions are designated. The location where the number of blocks used is indicated is the data of the pixel position of the starting point in the horizontal and vertical directions and the number of pixels or lines used in the horizontal and vertical directions.

In this example, the command is sent as a command for designating the composite state. However, when notifying the display state on the receiver, data indicating the display state with the same data structure is arranged in the response. The details of the display status can be notified to an external device such as a tuner device.

In this way, by using the AV / C command, when easily displaying a plurality of screens in combination,
A command for setting the details of the display state can be sent from an external device other than the receiver, or the external device can receive the display state data on the receiver. Therefore, it becomes possible to satisfactorily control the display state of the receiver capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens from an external device connected by the IEEE 1394 bus line.

Therefore, for example, even when the television receiver is not provided with operation keys or a remote control device for displaying a plurality of screens, it is not possible to use such a plurality of devices in other video equipment connected to the network. When operation keys for screen display and a remote control device are provided, control of multiple screen display and detection of display state can be easily performed, and the configuration of the receiver can be simplified accordingly. Even if such operation is possible on the receiver side, it can be operated from a device other than the receiver. For example, a tuner device for receiving digital broadcasting is connected to the network and attached to the tuner device. With the remote control device, when configured to perform operations such as tuning in the tuner device and operations of the television receiver at the same time, it is possible to control multiple screen display on the television receiver, A single remote control device can control multiple types of devices.

In the embodiment described so far,
Although an example of a system in which a network based on an IEEE 1394 bus is configured has been described, other networks may be used. In this case, each network may use a wireless network such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth: trademark) standard in addition to a network using a wired transmission path.

[0100] Further, as the equipment connected by the network, the example of the video equipment such as the television receiver, the tuner device, and the VCR has been described, but the invention can be applied to other video equipment. In particular, although a television receiver is used as a video device for displaying a plurality of screens, it is also applicable to a so-called monitor receiver without a built-in tuner. In addition, in a video device, such as a tuner device, which does not have a built-in video display means, when the video data is transmitted to a receiver and displayed as video data obtained by combining a plurality of screens, the combining process is performed. The control of the composition state in the video equipment may be performed from the other equipment side similarly connected by the network.

Further, an external device for sending a control command for simultaneous display of a plurality of screens to a receiver or the like and receiving data such as a display capability or a display state is not necessarily a video device. It may be a computer device in which a program for controlling the display is installed.

[0102]

According to the present invention, the display capability of a plurality of screens on the display means can be known by the external device, and the external device can appropriately request the control of the display state of the multiple screens based on the recognized display capability. When the display request is received, the display state can be set to a corresponding state.
Therefore, the control of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens on the receiver can be favorably performed from another external device.

In this case, the presentation of the display capability to the outside and the reception of the control request for the multi-screen display from the outside are executed by transmitting or receiving a command or response of a predetermined format transmitted by a predetermined digital communication control bus. By doing so, the corresponding data can be easily transmitted only by adding the data for displaying a plurality of screens to the command and response of the already defined format.

Further, since the display state of the multiple screens on the display means is notified to the outside, the device side which has sent the control request for the display state of the multiple screens can confirm the display state of the multiple screens. Will be possible.

Further, in the case of notifying the simultaneous display state of a plurality of screens, the notification is a notification of the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens and the input plug information. It is possible to efficiently notify the display state.

Further, the plurality of screens are constituted by setting the input route of the video data which constitutes each screen in the plurality of screens simultaneously displayed on the basis of the input route switching request received from the outside. The input path of each screen can be easily controlled from the outside.

Further, since the presentation of the display ability of a plurality of screens is the presentation of the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens, it is possible to efficiently present the display ability of a plurality of screens. .

Further, in the case where the presentation of the display capability to the outside and the reception of the control request for the multi-screen display are executed by the transmission or reception of the command or the response of the predetermined format transmitted by the predetermined digital communication control bus. , By receiving the video data for generating at least one screen out of a plurality of screens simultaneously displayed, via the digital communication control bus for transmitting or receiving the command or response,
By using the connected digital communication control bus, the data for controlling the multi-screen display and the video data to be displayed can be transmitted, and the efficient transmission can be performed.

Further, the control request for displaying a plurality of screens received from the outside is a control request for instructing the display size and display position of each screen forming a plurality of screens and the input plug information. The display mode of the screen can be instructed favorably from the outside.

Further, when a control request for displaying a plurality of screens is made in this way, the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens are designated by a plurality of blocks set by dividing one display screen. By specifying which block in the block to use, good display control can be performed in block units.

When a control request for displaying a plurality of screens is issued as described above, the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens can be specified by specifying the absolute pixel position within one display screen. As a result, detailed display control can be performed on a pixel-by-pixel basis by instructing the absolute pixel position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a system configuration example according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a television receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a modeling example of a television receiver according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a concept of presentation and control of a multi-screen display capability of the television receiver according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a logical configuration example of a monitor subunit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a connection relationship between the monitor subunit and the screen compositing processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a logical function of a layer unit inside the screen synthesis processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a relationship between a layer structure of PiP and an input plug according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a layer structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the layer structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing still another example of the layer structure according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a display size / position designation example (absolute pixel value designation example) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a display size / position designation example (block designation example) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing display sizes in the example of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an operation example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of transmission data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of composite type data according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram showing a data example of a combined state according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of transmission data according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a timing diagram showing a data transmission state on an IEEE 1394 bus line.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a structure of an address space of the CSR architecture.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of plug setting at the time of transmission on an IEEE 1394 bus line.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure according to a hierarchical structure of descriptors.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing an example data structure of a descriptor.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a generation ID in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a list ID in FIG. 24.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a stack model of an AV / C command.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a relationship between a command and a response of an AV / C command.

[Fig. 29] Fig. 29 is an explanatory diagram showing in more detail an example of the relationship between commands and responses of AV / C commands.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of an AV / C command.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of an AV / C command.

FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of a command and a response of an AV / C command.

FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram showing a multi-screen display and a control example thereof in the conventional receiver.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of PiP display.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of PaP display.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... IEEE 1394 type bus line, 20 ... Remote control device, 99 ... Antenna, 100 ... Television receiver, 101 ... Antenna input plug, 102
... output plugs, 111-113 ... analog input plugs,
130 ... Bus connection plug, 131 ... Virtual output plug, 1
32a to 132n ... Virtual input plugs, 141 ... Reception tuning processing section, 142 ... Input signal selection processing section, 143 ... Image signal processing section, 144 ... Image display section, 145 ... Communication control section,
146 ... Control information separating unit, 147 ... Data separating / decoding unit,
148 ... Memory, 150 ... Control unit (CPU), 151 ...
Command interpreting unit, 152 ... Display control unit, 160 ... Tuner subunit, 161, 162 ... Tuner input plug, 163 ... Tuner output plug, 170 ... Monitor subunit, 170a ... Subunit unidentifier descriptor, 170b ... Status descriptor, 171a to 171n ... Monitor input plug, 172 ...
Screen synthesis processing unit, 172a to 172n ... Input plug, 1
72o ... Output plug, 173 ... Image quality processing section, 174 ... Display section, 179 ... Monitor output plug, 180a ...
180c ... Layer, 182 ... Size conversion unit, 183 ... Position setting unit, 184 ... Compositing unit, 185 ... Size conversion unit, 186 ... Position setting unit, 187 ... Input plug,
188 ... Control data input port, 200 ... First tuner device, 300 ... First VCR, 400 ... Second tuner device, 500 ... Second VCR

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification Code FI Theme Coat (Reference) G09G 5/14 G09G 5/14 E 5/377 H04N 5/44 A H04N 5/44 G09G 5/36 520M ( 72) Inventor Taishi Kabuki 6-735 Kitashinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo F-term in Sony Corporation (reference) 5C025 AA30 BA28 BA30 CA06 CB03 DA01 DA10 5C082 AA02 AA27 BA12 BA41 BB03 BC05 CA52 CA55 CB05 DA73 MM05 MM09

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A video display control method for controlling display on a display means capable of simultaneously displaying a plurality of screens, wherein the display capability of the plurality of screens on the display means is presented to the outside, and the multiple screen display received from the outside. Based on the control request of
A video display control method for setting display states of a plurality of screens on the display means. 2. The video display control method according to claim 1, wherein the presentation of the display capability to the outside and the reception of a control request for multi-screen display from the outside are transmitted by a predetermined digital communication control bus. A video display control method executed by transmitting or receiving a format command or response. 3. The video display control method according to claim 2, wherein at least one screen among a plurality of screens displayed simultaneously is generated via a digital communication control bus that receives or transmits the command or response. Video display control method for receiving data. 4. The video display control method according to claim 1, wherein the display states of the plurality of screens on the display means are notified to the outside. 5. The video display control method according to claim 4, wherein the notification of the simultaneous display state of the plurality of screens is a notification of a display size and a display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens and input plug information. Control method. 6. The image display control method according to claim 1, wherein the input path switching request is received from the outside,
A video display control method for setting an input path of video data forming each screen in a plurality of screens displayed simultaneously. 7. The video display control method according to claim 1, wherein the presentation of the display capabilities of the plurality of screens is a presentation of a display size and a display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens. 8. The video display control method according to claim 1, wherein the control request for multi-screen display received from the outside is a control request for instructing display size and display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens and input plug information. Video display control method. 9. The video display control method according to claim 8, wherein the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens are designated by a plurality of blocks set by dividing one display screen. A video display control method that specifies which block to use. 10. The video display control method according to claim 8, wherein the designation of the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens is a designation of an absolute pixel position within one display screen. Method. 11. A video processing means for generating video data for simultaneous display of a plurality of screens, a communication means for bidirectionally communicating with an external device through a predetermined transmission path, and an external device via the communication means. A display means for presenting the display capability of a plurality of screens in the video processing means, and a display processing state of the plurality of screens in the video processing means on the basis of a control request for displaying a plurality of screens received by the communication means. A video device equipped with control means for setting. 12. The video equipment according to claim 11, further comprising display means for displaying the video data generated by the video processing means. 13. The video device according to claim 11, wherein the control unit performs a process of notifying an external device of the simultaneous display state of a plurality of screens by the video processing unit via the communication unit. 14. The video equipment according to claim 13, wherein the control means notifies the simultaneous display state of a plurality of screens.
Video equipment that notifies the display size and display position of each screen that composes multiple screens, and input plug information 15. The video device according to claim 11, wherein the control means generates the video data by the video processing means based on a request received by the communication means for switching an input path of video data to be supplied to the video processing means. Video device that sets the input path of the video data that composes each screen in the multiple screens. 16. The video device according to claim 11, wherein the presentation means presents the display capability of a plurality of screens on the video processing means, and presents a display size and a display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens. machine. 17. The video device according to claim 11, wherein the transmission path through which the communication means communicates is a digital communication control bus, and the video data received by the communication means via the digital communication control bus is A video device processed by the video processing means as at least one screen of a plurality of screens displayed simultaneously. 18. The video device according to claim 11, wherein the control request for the multi-screen display received by the communication unit is a control request for instructing a display size and a display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens and input plug information. Video equipment. 19. The video device according to claim 18, wherein the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens are designated by which block among a plurality of blocks set by dividing one display screen. Is a designation of whether or not to use, and the control means is a video device for performing control to allocate corresponding video data to the designated one or a plurality of blocks. 20. The video device according to claim 18, wherein the designation of the display size and the display position of each screen constituting the plurality of screens is designation of an absolute pixel position in one display screen, and the control means is , A video device that performs control to allocate corresponding video data to the designated absolute pixel position.