Television – Basic receiver with additional function – For display of additional information
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-29
2002-02-26
Hsia, Sherrie (Department: 2614)
Television
Basic receiver with additional function
For display of additional information
C348S567000, C348S565000, C348S569000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06351291
ABSTRACT:
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application HEI 11-89366, filed on Mar. 30, 1999, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image-processing apparatus for an on-screen-display, which displays one image over another image.
b) Description of the Related Art
There is an electronic camera such as a digital still camera and a digital camcorder that have image sensors like CCDs. There is a technique called on-screen-display wherein image data output form the electronic camera are displayed onto a display device as a main image together with another image, e.g., text image, in a smaller size.
FIG. 8
shows an example of the on-screen-display. A small still image
21
showing a letter “A” is displayed at the upper right corner of the display playing a movie
20
of a baseball player. A size of the still image
21
is smaller than that of a screen area of the display.
FIG. 9
shows an example of a structure of an on-screen-display device according to prior art. Video signals VS from a CCD or the like are inputted to a monitor (a display device)
30
, and a picture according to the video signals VS is displayed on the monitor. The video signals VS correspond to the movie
20
of the baseball player in FIG.
8
. Data for the on-screen-display, e.g., font data FD corresponding to the text image
21
of the letter “A” in
FIG. 8
, are inputted to a microcomputer
31
.
The microcomputer
31
calculates the position and area of a screen where the text image
21
will be inserted based on synchronizing signals SS of the video signals VS. The microcomputer
31
counts the synchronizing signals SS up until the calculated position of the text image
21
and outputs a keying signal KY to a selector
33
. Then the microcomputer
31
outputs color data, instead of the video signals of the movie of the baseball player, to the monitor
30
via the selector
33
for a pixel at a time. The color data contain color information of the letter “A” and its background of the text image
21
that are picked up from a color palette
32
on the basis of the font data. For example, the color palette
32
may be able to produce 256 colors.
The on-screen-display according to the prior art can only display a text image as an image displayed on the screen, and colors for the image displayed on the screen are limited to artificial primary colors produced by the color palette. Therefore, its capability of color expression is limited. Also, original video data is overwritten by text image data, and therefore the image data cannot be moved anywhere, and the image size cannot be changed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an image processing apparatus that can freely display onto an on-screen-display not only text information but also an image other than a text image and also a natural image including natural or transparent colors taken with a camera as a still or a motion picture.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing apparatus comprising an image memory comprising a first storing area for storing first image data for a background and a second storing area for storing second image data for an on-screen-display; a display buffer memory for storing data in a format used for display based on said first and second image data read from said image memory; and a controller for controlling accesses to said image memory and said display buffer memory, the controller reading the first image data from said first storing area in said image memory and writing said first image data into said display buffer memory and reading the second image data from said second storing area in said image memory and writing said second image data into a designated area in said display buffer memory.
The first image data for a background and the second image data for on-screen-display are stored separately in the image memory. The first image data is read from the image memory and written in the display buffer memory, and then the second image data is read from the image memory and written in the display buffer memory. Not only the text image but also natural images can be used for an on-screen-display, and those images can be displayed in any sizes and at any positions on the screen. Also, those images can be moved afterward and colored in transparent colors or composite colors.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5818466 (1998-10-01), Ryu
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Hsia Sherrie
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