Image data displaying system and method

• US 20020191867A1
• Filed: 07/16/2002
• Published: 12/19/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innotive Corporation
• Original Assignee: Innotive Corporation
• Inventors: Le, Hao, Okamura, Tomoyuki, Moon, Kwang Soon
• Granted Patent: US 7,453,479 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/300
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0407 Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/027 Arrangements and methods specific for the display of internet documents
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/393 Arrangements for updating the contents of the bit-mapped memory

Abstract

A high-definition image display apparatus displays a high-definition mega-sized image on a computer display. The display apparatus includes a server 1 and a client 5 that operate in a coordinated manner. The display system comprises means for storing an cage in the server 1 in the form of a set of image data for several levels of resolution each of which is obtained through division of the image into a matrix as well as through compression and encryption; and input means for enabling visual performance of operations for specifying an image to be displayed on the screen of the client 5, zooming in/out, and scrolling the image.

Claims

1. A system for displaying huge images comprising:

a storing means for storing image data which is divided either in row or in column into at least two blocks; and

a first temporary storing means for temporarily storing data read from said storing means and, when filled up to a predetermined level, outputting all the data.

2. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 1 wherein

said predetermined level is the storage capacity of said first temporary storing means.

3. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 1, further comprising

a second temporary storage means for receiving and storing data read from said first temporary storing means until data to be displayed is stored.

4. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 3 further comprising

a display mechanism capable of displaying an image representing said data to be displayed.

5. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 4 wherein

said display mechanism is provided with a zoom ratio adjusting means to enlarge or reduce a displayed image.

6. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 5 wherein

the data stored in said storing means is image data including data items that have sizes corresponding to a predetermined number of zoom ratios and have a constant resolution irrespective of a selected zoom ratio.

7. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 4 wherein

said display mechanism includes a means through which a particular position of the screen image can be selected.

8. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 7 wherein

said position selecting means can be used to drag said screen image in any direction on said screen of said display mechanism.

9. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 7, further comprising

an information storage device for storing information about the position of the image selected by said position selecting mechanism, wherein

said information is displayed on said screen mechanism by tracking the position selected by said position selecting mechanism.

10. The system for displaying huge images as claimed in claim 1 wherein

said image data is composed of an array of pixel data and divided into blocks in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data.

11. A method of displaying huge images comprising the steps of:

dividing image data in row or column into at least two blocks in a first memory;

temporarily storing data read from said first memory in a second memory; and

outputting all the data from the second memory when said second memory is filled to a predetermined amount of data.

12. The method of displaying huge images as claimed in claim 11 further comprising the step of;

receiving and storing data output from said second memory until data to be displayed is completely received.

13. The method of displaying huge images as claimed in claim 12 further comprising the step of;

displaying only said data to be displayed.

14. The method of displaying huge images as claimed in claim 11, wherein

said image data is composed of an array of pixel data, and divided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data

18. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 17 wherein said predetermined amount of data is the same as the storage capacity of said first temporary storing means.

19. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 17 wherein said image integration mechanism is provided with a mapping mechanism for determining the relative positions of the individual data items for the purpose of locating said individual data items in the integrated image.

20. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 19 further comprising an individual data file conversion mechanism for uniformly converting the file formats of the individual data items to file formats as required for generating the integrated image data.

21. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 17 further comprising a second temporary storing means for receiving and storing data output from said first temporary storing means until data to be displayed on a screen has been completely received.

22. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 21, further comprising a display mechanism capable of displaying the integrated image by selecting only said data to be displayed from the data stored in said second temporary storing means.

23. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 22 wherein said display mechanism is provided with a zoom ratio switching means to adjust the size of an image displayed on the screen.

24. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 23, wherein the data stored in said storing means is image data including data items that have sizes corresponding to a predetermined number of zoom ratios and have a constant resolution irrespective of a selected zoom ratio.

25. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 22 wherein said display mechanism includes a mechanism through which a particular position in the integrated image to be displayed in the screen can be selected.

26. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 25 wherein said position selecting mechanism can be used to drag said integrated image in any direction.

28. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 27, further comprising a second temporary storage device for repeatedly receiving and storing data output from said first temporary storage device until data to be displayed on a screen has been completely received.

29. The system for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 28 further comprising a display mechanism capable of displaying only said data to be displayed among from the data stored in said second temporary storage device.

15. A constant resolution method comprising the steps of:

generating image data items in a hierarchy, wherein said image data items are placed in said hierarchy according to zoom ratios

receiving a zoom ratio from a user; and

reading and displaying an image data items corresponding to the received zoom ratio.

16. A method of providing information about a particular position of a screen image that is a part of a huge image comprising the steps:

storing information associated with the particular position in the screen image into a data storing means;

tracking said particular position;

reading the information associated with the particular position as it is tracked from said storage device; and

displaying the information on a display mechanism.

17. A system for displaying a single integrated image composed of a plurality of individual data items, comprising:

an image integration means for aggregating said plurality of individual data items into said single integrated image data;

a storage device for storing said integrated image data by dividing in either row or column into at least two blocks;

a first temporary storing means for temporarily storing data from said storing means device; and

outputting all the data from said first temporary storing means when said first temporary storing means has stored a predetermined amount of data.

27. A system for displaying an integrated image composed of a plurality of individual data items, comprising:

a storage device for storing said integrated image data divided either in row or column into at least two blocks;

a first temporary storage device for sequentially reading and temporarily storing data from said storage device; and

outputting all the data as input when said first temporary storage device is filled up with a predetermined amount of data.

30. A system for displaying huge images by integrating a plurality of individual data items into a single image, in which each of said individual data items image data is composed of an array of pixel data, comprising:

a storage device for storing each of said individual data items divided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data; and

a logical integration mechanism for logically integrating said individual data items.

31. A method for displaying an integrated image by integrating a plurality of individual image data items, said system comprising the steps of:

integrating the plurality of said individual data items into a single integrated image data;

storing the single integrated image data in a memory divided either in row column into at least two blocks;

sequentially reading and temporarily storing data from said first memory in a second memory; and

outputting all the data as input when said second memory is filled to a predetermined amount of data.

32. The method for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 31, wherein said storing step includes a step of determining the relative positions of the individual data items for the purpose of locating said individual data items in the integrated image.

33. The method for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 31 wherein said step further including an individual data file conversion step of uniformly converting the individual data items to file formats required for generating the integrated image data.

34. The method for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 31 further comprising the steps of;

repeatedly receiving and storing data output from said first memory until data to be displayed on a screen has been completely received.

35. The method for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 34 further comprising the step of:

displaying the integrated image by selecting only said data to be displayed from the data stored in said second memory.

36. The method for displaying integrated images as claimed in claim 31 wherein

a plurality of individual data items are integrated and displayed as a single integrated image;

wherein

each of said individual data items image data is composed of an array of pixel data;

wherein

each of said individual data items is divided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data; and

wherein

individual data items are logically integrated.

38. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 37, wherein said individual data item generating mechanism includes a scanner for scanning pages of a newspaper to be used as said individual data items.

39. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 37 wherein said individual data item generating mechanism includes a mechanism for integrating satellite information received from a satellite as individual image data items.

40. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 39 wherein said integrated image reproducing mechanism combines said satellite individual image data items to provide a full-motion video showing changes in weather.

41. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 37 wherein said integrated image reproducing mechanism comprises:

an image integration mechanism for integrating a plurality of individual image data items to generate a single integrated image data;

a storage device for storing said integrated image data divided in either row or column into at least two blocks; and

a first temporary storing means for sequentially reading and temporarily storing data from said storing means and outputting all the data when it is filled to a predetermined amount of data.

42. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 37 wherein said system is provided with an interface mechanism in which the screen image as reproduced by said integrated image reproducing mechanism can be manipulated through a touch screen.

43. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 37 further comprising a screen displaying mechanism for enlarging a displayed image.

44. The integrated image broadcast system as claimed in claim 42 further comprising a screen displaying mechanism for enlarging a displayed.

46. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 further comprising a temporary storage means for storing the image portion and outputting to said image displaying mechanism.

47. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 46 wherein said temporary storage means is in a predetermined area of a memory device.

48. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 47 wherein there are more than one such predetermined area in said memory device.

49. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 48 wherein the size of said predetermined storage region is variable depending upon the number of divided image data items being read.

73. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 wherein

said image data is data obtained by converting a plurality of markup language files having a hierarchical structure in terms of tag data and arranging the converted image data in the lateral direction in accordance with said hierarchical structure;

and

said image displaying mechanism is used to scroll the image data in the lateral direction in accordance with said tag data.

74. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 73 wherein said system is provided with a bookmark function for recording a current position by adding tag data when the image data is scrolled.

75. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 further comprising

a fixed cursor to be fixedly displayed in a predetermined position in a display screen window;

a coordinates obtaining mechanism for obtaining the coordinates in the screen window as specified by the fixed cursor; and

a console device for inputting the direction in which said fixed cursor is moved, wherein

said image displaying mechanism is used to scroll said image data to the direction opposite to the direction as input through the console device.

76. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 further comprising

a region selecting mechanism with which an arbitrary region can be designated on the image displayed in said image displaying mechanism;

and

a record file outputting mechanism for including the images as designated in a record file and outputting, to said record file, designated region specifying data for specifying the divided image data items included in the region as designated by said region selecting mechanism.

77. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 76 further comprising

a substitute data generating mechanism for generating, when the divided image data item included in said record file is deleted, a new image data file corresponding to the image portions of said divided image data items in order that the image data file generated anew is associated with said designated region specifying data.

78. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 wherein

said image data is generated by converting pages of a publication to image data items.

79. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 78 wherein

the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with pages and line numbers of the publication.

80. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 78 wherein

said publication includes is a program schedule of television or radio broadcasting while the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with channels and time of the program schedule.

81. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 78 wherein

said publication is a catalog in which the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with the page numbers of the catalog in order to specify a particular item in the catalog with reference to the page number and the associated coordinates.

82. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 wherein

said divided image data item is used to demonstrate a full-motion video by sequentially displaying a plurality of divided image data items, and

said system is provided with a full-motion video handling mechanism for specifying or modifying the displaying order of said plurality of the divided image data items.

83. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 82 wherein

said motion picture handling mechanism is a pointing device including a touch panel and a mouse while said displaying order and the speed of display can be adjusted by controlling the moving direction or speed of said pointing device.

84. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 wherein

said image data is provided for displaying a wide area such as a map, a celestial image and so forth while said divided image data items represent sub regions of said wide area;

said image displaying mechanism has a function for displaying predetermined dummy data in display areas in which no divided image data item is available.

93. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 45 wherein

said image data is data obtained by converting, to image data, a plurality of markup language files having a hierarchical structure in terms of tag data,

the image data as converted being arranged in the lateral direction in accordance with said hierarchical structure;

and

wherein said image displaying mechanism is used to scroll the image data in the lateral direction in accordance with said tag data; and

wherein said markup language files are provided through the Internet as Web pages,

wherein each of said image data arranged in the form of a two dimensional array is associated with a link to an address in the Internet where is provided the original markup language file before conversion, and

wherein said Web page can be accessed by clicking the respective image data as arranged in the form of the two dimensional array.

37. An integrated image broadcast system for integrating and displaying a plurality of individual data items, comprising:

an individual data item generating mechanism for generating a plurality of said individual data items;

an integrated image reproducing mechanism for quickly reproducing said integrated image data by integrating said plurality of said individual data items as a single integrated image; and

a broadcasting mechanism for broadcasting the integrated image.

45. A data file browsing system for displaying image data composed of an array of pixel data, comprising:

an image data dividing mechanism for dividing said image data in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data items to generate a plurality of divided image data items;

a storing means for storing said divided image data items;

a means for reading a desired portion from said divided image data items from said storing means; and

an image displaying mechanism for combining and displaying said portion.

50. A data file browsing program for browsing a data file which includes text data and image data, said program comprising the steps of:

obtaining said data file as a plurality of image data items in a hierarchy with different image sizes according to zoom rations;

generating virtual layers for the respective zoom ratios;

setting the positional coordinates of said respective hierarchical image data items in each virtual layer;

receiving a zooming ratio from a user;

selecting hierarchical image data items located within the display area matching said zoom ratio; and

reading selected hierarchical image data items to a storage device and generating, as display data, image data portions which are actually to be displayed in the display area.

51. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 50 wherein each of said hierarchical image data items is composed of an array of a number of pixel data and divided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data into a plurality of divided image data items.

52. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 51 further comprising the steps of:

reading image portions of said divided image data items from said storing mechanism; and

combining said image portions.

53. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 52 further comprising a step to store said image portions a unit-by-unit, where the unit corresponds to a predetermined data length, and to output to said image display mechanism on the same unit-by-unit basis.

54. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 50 further comprising the steps of:

obtaining the positional coordinates of modifier information on said hierarchical image data items by parsing the modifier information in terms of tag data contained in the text data of said data file; and

inserting said modifier information as obtained to said display data.

55. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 54 further comprising the steps of:

obtaining linking information contained in said data file for jumping to other files;

obtaining the positional coordinates on the display data for launching an appropriate command execution process corresponding to the linking information.

56. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 50 further comprising the steps of:

generating the respective hierarchical image data items by sequentially reading out a plurality of data files;

combining and displaying said hierarchical image data items belonging to each respective layer.

57. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 54 further comprising the steps of:

generating hierarchical image data items by sequentially reading a plurality of data files;

combining and displaying said hierarchical image data items belonging to each respective layer.

58. The data file browsing program as claimed in claim 55 further comprising the steps of:

generating hierarchical image data items by sequentially reading a plurality of data files;

combining and displaying said hierarchical image data items belonging to each respective layer.

60. The data file conversion program as claimed in claim 59 further comprising

a step of parsing the modifier information from tag data, calculating the positional coordinates of the modifier information on said hierarchical image data items and writing the positional coordinates to a tag coordinate file.

61. The data file conversion program as claimed in claim 60 further comprising

a step of obtaining linking information contained in said data file for jumping to other files;

a step of writing to said tag coordinate file the linking information and the positional coordinates on the display data for launching an appropriate command execution process for each link.

59. A data file conversion program for converting a data file which includes text data and image data in a file format suitable for displaying images, said program comprising the steps of:

converting said data file as a plurality of the image data items in a hierarchy with different image dimensions according to zoom ratios; and

generating virtual layers for the respective zoom ratios, calculating the positional coordinates of said respective hierarchical image data items in each virtual layer and writing the positional coordinates to a virtual coordinate file.

62. A data file browsing system for browsing a data file which include text data and image data, said system comprising:

a storing mechanism for storing said data file as a plurality of image data items (hierarchical image data items) with different image dimensions by expansion or reduction;

a virtual coordinate generation mechanism for generating virtual layers for the respective compression and expansion ratios followed by setting the positional coordinates of said respective hierarchical image data items in each virtual layer;

an zoom ratio switching mechanism for obtaining the zoom ratio as required by the user in order to determine the layer to be displayed;

a displaying area detection mechanism for selecting the hierarchical image data items located within the display area as required by the user; and

a display data generation mechanism for reading out the hierarchical image data items as selected to a storage device and generating, as display data, image data portions which are actually displayed in the display area.

63. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 62 wherein

each of said hierarchical image data items is composed of an array of pixel data items, and

divided in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data into a plurality of image data items.

64. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 63 wherein said display data generation mechanism comprises:

a means for reading desired portions of said divided image data items from said storing means; and

a means for combining said desired portions to form the display image.

65. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 64 further comprising a temporary storage means for storing the image portions from said reading means unit-by-unit where the unit corresponds to a predetermined data length and outputting to said image displaying mechanism on the same unit-by-unit basis.

66. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 65 wherein said temporary storage device is in a predetermined storage region of a memory device.

67. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 66 wherein there can exists a plurality of said predetermined storage regions in said memory device.

68. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 66 wherein the size of said predetermined storage region is variable depending upon the unit of data read from said storming means.

69. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 62 further includes

a tag coordinate calculation mechanism for parsing the modifier information from tag data and calculating the positional coordinates of the modifier information on said hierarchical image data items;

and

a tag coordinate file generation mechanism for writing said modifier information and the associated positional coordinates thereof to a tag coordinate file.

70. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 69 wherein

said system is provided with a function of generating the respective hierarchical image data items by sequentially reading a plurality of data files, combining and displaying said hierarchical image data items belonging to each respective layer.

71. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 69 wherein

said modifier information is provided in order to insert into the hierarchical image data items an image data item, a motion picture item or another inserted data item;

and wherein

the coordinate information of said inserted data item is indicative of the coordinates in the hierarchical image data items that contain the inserted data and the coordinates in the display area.

72. The data file browsing system as claimed in claim 71 wherein

the coordinate information of said inserted data item includes data about the profile of the inserted data item.

85. A method for distributing image data composed of an array of pixel data, comprising the steps of:

dividing said image data in a direction perpendicular to the direction of reading said pixel data into a plurality of divided image data items;

storing said divided image data items in a storing means;

obtaining a transmission request for said image data from a user through a communication network

reading portions of said divided image data items from said storing means in response to said transmission request; and

transmitting the divided image data items to said user through said communication network.

86. The information providing method as claimed in claim 85 wherein

said image data is generated by converting pages of a publication to image data items and

the transmission request for said portions is possible by specifying the coordinates on the image data at the user'"'"'s end.

87. The information providing method as claimed in claim 86 wherein

said publication includes a book, magazine and newspaper;

the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with pages and lines of the publication; and

the transmission request for a page or and portion of said publication is possible by specifying its coordinates on the image data.

88. The information providing method as claimed in claim 86 wherein

said publication is a program schedule of television or radio broadcasting while the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with channels and time of programs in the schedule;

and

the transmission request for a specific channel and time is made by specifying the coordinates on said divided image data items.

89. The information providing method as claimed in claim 88 wherein

the image data of the broadcast program is transmitted in response to said transmission request.

90. The information providing method as claimed in claim 86 wherein

said publication is a catalog and the coordinate information of said divided image data items is associated with the page numbers of the catalog;

and a particular item in the catalog is specified by coordinates on the image data.

91. The information providing method as claimed in claim 86 wherein

said divided image data items are data items obtained by dividing a plurality of image data items in a hierarchy with different image sizes dimensions according to zoom ratios;

hierarchical image data items of a predetermined zoom ratio are distributed through the communication network;

a transmission request specifying the coordinates of the hierarchical image data items is obtained; and

an image data item having a higher zoom ratio among the image data items is transmitted in response to the transmission request.

92. The information providing method as claimed in claim 91 wherein image data items transmitted are provided on a for-fee basis.