DISPLAY CONTROL APPARATUS

• US 20120215404A1
• Filed: 02/16/2012
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Sugiyama, Hitoshi, Katoh, Shigeo, Ueda, Yoshihiro
• Granted Patent: US 8,548,677 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60Q 1/00 Arrangement of optical signalling or lighting devices, the mounting or supporting thereof or circuits therefor for lighting vehicle interior B60Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 5/00 Methods or arrangements for data conversion without changing the order or content of the data handled
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

A content management section rearranges contents in an order from a content having a greater information value, preparing a content list. With respect to assignable areas of a display apparatus, a region value is compared with an information value of each content; the content may be assigned to the area when the information value exceeds the region value. The contents are associated with information values and the areas are associated with region values; thus, the content can be assigned to the area that is more suitable. When there are several assignable areas, a target content is assigned to an area having a highest region value.

Claims

1. A display control apparatus to assign contents, which are display targets, to a plurality of areas and display the assigned contents, the plurality of areas being assigned as a display region on a screen of a display apparatus that is mounted to a vehicle, the display control apparatus comprising:

a content management section to manage the contents in association with information values which indicate informational importance degrees;

an area management section to manage the areas in association with region values which indicate positional importance degrees; and

a content assignment control section to assign the contents managed by the content management section to the areas managed by the area management section,

the content assignment control section being further configured to

compare an information value of a content with a region value of an area, and

determine that the content is enabled to be assigned to the area when the information value of the content exceeds the region value of the area.

2. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content assignment control section assigns the content to areas, which the content is enabled to be assigned to, in an order from an area having a highest region value.

3. The display control apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein the content assignment control section assigns an area with contents in an order from a content having a higher information value.

4. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein:

the content management section manages a content in association with a content size which is a size necessary for information display;

the area management section manages an area in association with an area size which is a size of the area; and

the content assignment control section compares the area size with the content size, and determine that the content is enabled to be assigned to the area when the content is accommodated by the area.

5. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein:

the area management section is enabled to manage a predetermined area as a single area, and, simultaneously, manage the predetermined area as a plurality of areas that are formed by dividing the predetermined area,

the area management section having a hierarchy data structure where the plurality of areas is located to be layered lower than the single area; and

the content assignment control portion determines the area, which is enabled to be assign with the content, based on the hierarchy data structure.

6. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content management section is enabled to change the information value based on a state of the vehicle.

7. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the area management section is enabled to change the region value based on a state of the vehicle.

8. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content management section manages whether each content is defined as a display target.

9. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a content display information storage section to store content display information which stipulates a content indispensable exclusion relation,

wherein the content assignment control section assigns the content to the area based on the content display information stored in the content display information storage section.

10. The display control apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein:

the content display information is an indispensable exclusion constraint expression that indicates a content indispensable exclusion relation indicated by a predetermined operator; and

the content assignment control section assigns the content to the area so as to satisfy the indispensable exclusion constraint expression.

11. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an area usage information storage section to store area usage information which stipulates an area indispensable exclusion relation,

wherein the content assignment control section assigns the content to the area based on the area usage information stored in the area usage information storage section.

12. The display control apparatus according to claim 11,

wherein:

the area usage information is an indispensable exclusion constraint expression that indicates an area indispensable exclusion relation indicated by a predetermined operator; and

the content assignment control section assigns the content to the area so as to satisfy the indispensable exclusion constraint expression.

13. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an assignment management section to manage assignment information of the content to the area,

wherein the content assignment control section assigns the content to the area by preferentially using the assignment information managed by the assignment management section.

14. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content management section acquires the content using a network in the vehicle.

15. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the content management section is enabled to acquire the content from an external instrument that is newly connected.

16. The display control apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein:

the display apparatus contains a plurality of display units; and

the area management section manages the areas for the plurality of display units.

17. The display control apparatus according to claim 16,

wherein the area management section updates an area to manage, when a part of the plurality of display units is detached or attached.