JP5482587B2 - Vehicle display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device for a vehicle that includes a display screen that is mounted on a vehicle and displays an image.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, an apparatus that displays a plurality of images in parallel on a display screen directed to a vehicle occupant is known. As one type of such a device, for example, in the display device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a plurality of areas for displaying images are formed in parallel on the display screen. In the in-vehicle operation system disclosed in Patent Document 2, a plurality of display areas for displaying images are formed in parallel on the display screen (see Patent Document 2, FIGS. 8 and 9).

  Further, in the in-vehicle operation system disclosed in Patent Document 2, switches to be selected for operating an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle are displayed in each display area. In addition, the in-vehicle operation system includes an operation device to which a user operation is input by a user. In such an in-vehicle system, an active display area in which a switch displayed on the display screen can be selected is switched among a plurality of display areas formed on the display screen by an input of a user operation to the operation device. . The user can operate various in-vehicle devices connected to the in-vehicle operation system by inputting an operation for selecting a switch displayed in the active display area to the operation device.

JP-A-06-195056 JP 2010-108255 A

  In the in-vehicle operation system disclosed in Patent Document 2, the selectable active switch displayed in the active display area has the same brightness and the same level as the non-selectable inactive switch displayed in the inactive display area. It is displayed in each display area by saturation. Therefore, an inactive switch attracts a user's eyes like an active switch.

  The user is then unable to distinguish between active switches that can be selected and inactive switches that cannot be selected. Therefore, the user has to search for a switch to be selected for performing a desired operation from not only an active switch but also an inactive switch that cannot be selected. As a result, the user may not be able to quickly find a desired button image.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said problem, Comprising: The objective is to provide the display apparatus for vehicles provided with high operativity.

To achieve the above object, the inventions according to claim 1, comprising a display screen mounted on a vehicle, a plurality of display for displaying a button image to be selected to operate the vehicle device mounted on a vehicle A switching request for switching an active display area in which a button image can be selected from among a plurality of display areas formed on a display screen, wherein the area is formed in parallel with the display screen. However, when a switching request for switching the active display area and an input means input by a user operation is input to the input means, the brightness and saturation of the inactive button image as a button image displayed in the inactive display area Image display adjustment means for adjusting at least one of them to be lower than the brightness and saturation of the active button image as a button image to be displayed in the active display area It comprises, in the plurality of display areas, the status image for notifying the state information of the vehicle-mounted device is displayed, the image display adjusting means, there when the switch request to switch the active display area is input to the input means However, the brightness and saturation of the inactive status image as the status image displayed in the inactive display area are substantially the same as the brightness and saturation of the active status image as the status image displayed in the active display area. and adjusting to a vehicle display device comprising Rukoto as.

  According to the present invention, an active display area in which a button image can be selected is switched among a plurality of display areas formed in parallel with the display screen in response to a switching request input to the input unit by a user operation. When this switching is performed, the inactive button image displayed in the inactive display area has at least one of brightness and saturation lower than the active button image displayed in the active display area by the image display adjustment unit. Adjusted. Therefore, an active button image having either higher brightness or saturation than the inactive button image can attract the user's eyes more than the inactive button image.

  Thus, the user can easily distinguish the selectable active button image from the non-selectable inactive button image. As a result, the user can search for a button image to be selected for performing a desired operation from the active button images. As described above, the user can quickly find a desired button image. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a vehicle display device having high operability.

  In the present invention, even if the active display area is switched, the image display adjusting means uses the brightness and saturation of the inactive status image displayed in the inactive display area as the brightness of the active status image displayed in the active display area. And adjust to be substantially the same as the saturation. As described above, the inactive status image maintained with high brightness and saturation can attract the user's eyes. Therefore, the inactive status image continues to exhibit the effect of informing the state information of the in-vehicle device. In addition, since the inactive status image as the status image is not a button image, it is difficult to hinder a user's operation to find a desired button image. Therefore, by maintaining the brightness and saturation of the inactive status image at a high level, the vehicle display device can reliably report the state information using the inactive display area while maintaining high operability. it can.

In the invention described in claim 2, the display screen, as the display area, than the first display area and the first display region having a narrower second display region of the display area, the image display adjusting means, second display When a switching request for switching the active display area from the area to the first display area is input to the input means, at least one of brightness and saturation of the inactive button image displayed in the second display area as the inactive display area Is adjusted lower than the active button image displayed in the first display area as the active display area.

  In general, what is watched by a user is a display area having a large display area among a plurality of display areas. Therefore, the button image displayed in the second display area having a smaller display area than the first display area tends not to be watched by the user. Therefore, when an inactive button image is displayed in the second display area having a small display area, if at least one of the brightness and saturation of the inactive button image is reduced, the inactive button image is Further, it is difficult to attract the user's eyes.

  As a result, the user can more easily distinguish between selectable active button images and inactive button images that cannot be selected. Therefore, the user can find out a desired button image more quickly from the active button image. Therefore, it is possible to provide a vehicle display device having higher operability.

The invention according to claim 3 further includes image acquisition means for acquiring the button image displayed in the first display area from the in-vehicle device, and the display screen first displays the button image acquired by the image acquisition means. The button image displayed in the area and generated by the image display adjusting means is displayed in the second display area.

  In this invention, the button image acquired from the vehicle-mounted device and the button image generated by the image display adjusting means are displayed in the first display area and the second display area which are arranged in parallel. In this way, if the configuration for generating the button image is different for each display area, the button image tends to have large variations in brightness and saturation. Then, there is a concern that the inactive button image is displayed on the display screen with higher brightness or saturation than the active button image, and the user's eyes are attracted.

  However, when the second display area becomes an inactive display area, at least one of brightness and saturation of the inactive button image is lowered by the image display adjustment unit. Therefore, the situation where the inactive button image attracts the user's eyes rather than the active button image can be prevented in advance. As described above, the effect of improving the operability of the user by reducing at least one of the brightness and the saturation of the inactive button image is remarkably exhibited in a form in which the button image is generated with a different configuration. is there.

In the invention described in claim 4, the active display area, move the active display area in response to user input operation of the input means, selects the active button image by being overlapped with the active button image A pointer image to be in a state is displayed.

  As in the present invention, the pointer image that moves in the active display area in response to the input of the user operation to the input means is likely to attract the user's eyes. Therefore, in the form in which the pointer image is displayed in the active display area, the user can be directed to gaze at the active display area where the pointer image is displayed, and by extension, the active button image displayed in the active display area. In addition, as described above, according to the synergistic effect of adjusting either the lightness or the saturation of the inactive button image in the inactive display area, the active button image You can attract eyes.

  As described above, the user quickly finds a desired button image from among the active button images that can be easily distinguished from the inactive button image, and superimposes the pointer image to select the button image. Will be able to. Therefore, the operability of the vehicle display device is further improved.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the input means receives, as a switching request, a user operation for moving the pointer image from the active display area toward the inactive display area parallel to the active display area. .

  As described above, a pointer image that moves in response to an input from a user operation tends to attract the user's eyes. By adopting a form in which the input means receives a user operation for moving the pointer image from the active display area toward the inactive display area as a switching request, the user can grasp the display area that is currently the active display area. It becomes easy. By easily grasping the active display area, the user's eyes can easily face the active button image displayed in the active display area. In addition, as described above, according to the synergistic effect of adjusting either the lightness or the saturation of the inactive button image in the inactive display area to decrease, the active button image You can attract eyes.

  As described above, the user can more quickly find a desired button image from the active button images that are easily distinguished from the inactive button images. Therefore, the operability of the vehicle display device is further improved.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of a vehicle display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure for demonstrating the display image produced | generated by the display apparatus for vehicles by one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows a display image when a navigation image is displayed as a main image and an information image is displayed as a complementary image It is. The figure for demonstrating the display image produced | generated by the display apparatus for vehicles by one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: The figure which shows a display image when an audio image is displayed as a main image, and an information image is displayed as a complementary image It is. It is a figure for demonstrating the display image produced | generated by the display apparatus for vehicles by one Embodiment of this invention, Comprising: A television image is shown as a main image, and a display image when a television operation image is displayed as a complementary image is shown. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation in which the inactive button image in the inactive display area is toned down by switching the active display area on the display screen according to the embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a control flow executed by a main control unit in the control circuit according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the display image of FIG. 3, it is a figure for demonstrating the display state when the inactive button image displayed in an inactive display area and the inactive status image are toned down. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a display state when an inactive button image displayed in an inactive display area is toned down in the display image of FIG. 4.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the configuration of a vehicle display device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The vehicle display device 100 is a device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays a display image 1 as shown in FIG. 2 or the like on a display screen 40 a of the liquid crystal display device 40. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the display image 1 includes a main image 2 a selected from a plurality of images and a plurality of images in a main display area 42 and a complementary display area 43 formed on the display screen 40 a. The complementary image 2b selected from the images is displayed in parallel.

  First, the global controller area network (CAN) 80 and the local CAN 81, the operation device 30, and the navigation device 50 will be described with reference to FIG. All these devices are mounted on the vehicle.

  The global CAN 80 and the local CAN 81 are in-vehicle network systems for realizing exchange of information between in-vehicle devices using a predetermined protocol. The global CAN 80 and the local CAN 81 are constructed by connecting various devices to a bus composed of two communication lines. In addition to the navigation device 50, the global CAN 80 includes an air conditioner control device 86 that controls the air conditioning of the vehicle, a vehicle control device (not shown) that controls the vehicle in an integrated manner, and an engine control device that controls an internal combustion engine mounted on the vehicle ( (Not shown) and the like are connected. The air conditioner control device 86 outputs information such as the current set temperature, air volume, and wind direction of the air conditioner to the global CAN 80 as vehicle information. The local CAN 81 is connected to the vehicle display device 100, the navigation device 50, the operation device 30, and the like.

  The operation device 30 is an input device to which an operation by a user such as a driver who is mainly a vehicle occupant is input. The operating device 30 includes a pointing device 31 that moves the position of the pointer image 2c (see FIG. 2 and the like) drawn on the display image 1 (see FIG. 2 and the like) on the display image 1, and the display device 1 that is drawn on the display image 1. A selection button 32 for selecting the button images 2d and 2e (see FIG. 2 and the like) is provided. This ponter image 2c moves in the display area in response to an input of a user operation to the operating device 30, and puts the button image 2d, 2e in a selected state by being superimposed on either of the button images 2d, 2e.

  The operation device 30 includes an active display area in which a selection request for selecting the type of image displayed in the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43 (see FIG. 2 and the like) and selection of the button images 2d and 2e are possible. A switching request for switching between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43 is input by a user operation by the driver or the like. In the present embodiment, the controller device 30 receives, as a switching request, a user operation for moving the pointer image 2c from the active display area toward the inactive display area parallel to the active display area. When a driver or the like operates the pointing device 31 and the selection button 32, operation information by the operation is output to the local CAN 81 by the operation device 30, and is acquired by the navigation device 50, the vehicle display device 100, and the like.

  The navigation device 50 is connected to the global CAN 80, the local CAN 81, the audio device 51, the vehicle display device 100, and the like. The navigation device 50 acquires vehicle information from the above-described air conditioner control device 86 and the like through the global CAN 80. And the navigation apparatus 50 outputs the acquired vehicle information to local CAN81. In addition, the navigation device 50 acquires operation information output to the local CAN 81 by the operation device 30. In addition, the navigation device 50 includes a global positioning system (GPS) receiver that measures the current position of the vehicle, an electronic compass that measures the direction, and the like.

  The audio device 51 is an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, and is used to store music and video stored in an optical disk such as a CD (registered trademark) and a DVD (registered trademark) or a storage device such as a hard disk drive and a flash memory. Play content data. The audio device 51 outputs to the navigation device 50 music information related to the currently played music or video information related to the video, playback status information related to the playback status, and the like. These pieces of information are acquired by the navigation device 50 and are output from the navigation device 50 to the local CAN 81. The music information includes, for example, the music title, artist name, album name, album artwork image, and the like. The video information includes a video title name, performer name, artwork image, and the like. The playback state information includes the playback / stop state of the music or video, the elapsed time after playback, the track number of the music, or the chapter number of the video.

  The navigation device 50 configured as described above is a navigation image that supports the driving operation of the occupant by guiding to the destination based on the vehicle information acquired through the global CAN 80 and the positioning information by the GPS receiver and the electronic compass. 3a (see FIG. 2) is generated. In addition to the navigation image 3a, the navigation device 50 includes an audio image 5a (see FIG. 3), a television image 9a (see FIG. 4), and an air conditioner information image (not shown) for notifying air condition status information. And so on. Details of these images 3a, 5a, 9a will be described later.

  The navigation device 50 is connected to the vehicle display device 100 via a communication line. The navigation device 50 uses any one of the generated video signals 3a, 5a, 9a (see FIGS. 2 to 4) according to a video output method such as Gigabit Video Interface (GVIF) (registered trademark), for example. Are sequentially output to the vehicle display device 100.

  Next, the configuration of the vehicle display device 100 will be described. The vehicle display device 100 includes the control circuit 20 together with the liquid crystal display device 40 and the operation device 30 described above.

  A control microcomputer 25 and a drawing microcomputer 26 are mounted on the control circuit 20. The control microcomputer 25 includes a processor that performs various arithmetic processes, a flash memory that stores programs and the like used for the arithmetic processes, and a RAM that functions as a calculation work area. In addition, the control microcomputer 25 is connected to a communication interface (not shown) that can communicate with the local CAN 81.

  The drawing microcomputer 26 includes a processor that performs image processing, a ROM or flash memory that stores a program used for the image processing and various types of image data, and a RAM that functions as a calculation work area. The drawing microcomputer 26 is connected to a video output interface (not shown) that outputs a video signal of the display image 1 (see FIG. 2 and the like) to the liquid crystal display device 40.

  The control circuit 20 having the above configuration includes a main control unit 21, a video drawing unit 22, and a video composition unit 23.

  The main control unit 21 is a functional block of the control microcomputer 25. The function of the main control unit 21 is performed by the control microcomputer 25 when a predetermined program is executed in the control microcomputer 25. The main control unit 21 determines images to be displayed as the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b (see FIG. 2 and the like) in the display image 1 based on the operation information output to the local CAN 81. Then, the main control unit 21 issues a command for generating the display image 1 to the video drawing unit 22 and the video composition unit 23. In addition, the main control unit 21 instructs the video drawing unit 22 to draw a pointer image 2c (see FIG. 2 and the like) in the complementary image 2b. Furthermore, the main control unit 21 acquires information required for the video drawing unit 22 to generate the complementary image 2b, such as vehicle information, music information or video information, reproduction state information, and operation information, through the local CAN 81, and Output to the drawing unit 22.

  The video drawing unit 22 and the video synthesis unit 23 are both functional blocks of the drawing microcomputer 26. The functions of the video drawing unit 22 and the video composition unit 23 are performed by the drawing microcomputer 26 when a predetermined program is executed in the drawing microcomputer 26.

  The video composition unit 23 acquires any one of the images 3a, 5a, and 9a (see FIGS. 2 to 4) generated by the navigation device 50 or the like mounted on the vehicle as the main image 2a. Among these images, the navigation image 3a and the audio image 5a include a button image 2d (see FIGS. 2 and 3).

  The main image 2a (see FIG. 2 and the like) acquired by the video composition unit 23 is generated with a smaller number of pixels than the display image 1 (see FIG. 2 and the like). Therefore, the video drawing unit 22 generates a complementary image 2b (see FIG. 2 and the like) that complements the difference between the number of pixels of the main image 2a acquired by the video composition unit 23 and the number of pixels of the display image 1. The video drawing unit 22 uses each information acquired through the main control unit 21 to generate a complementary image 2b, and a pointer image 2c and a button image 2e (see FIG. 2 and the like) superimposed on the complementary image 2b. The images generated as the complementary image 2b are, for example, an information image 5b (see FIGS. 2 and 3) representing information related to audio and air conditioning, a television operation image 9b (see FIG. 4), and the like. These complementary images 2 b are output to the video composition unit 23.

  The video synthesizing unit 23 synthesizes the main image 2a (see FIG. 2 and the like) based on the video signal acquired from the navigation device 50 and the complementary image 2b (see FIG. 2 and the like) generated by the video drawing unit 22. Accordingly, the video composition unit 23 generates a display image 1 (see FIG. 2 and the like) in which the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b are arranged in parallel. The video signal of the display image 1 is sequentially output from the control circuit 20 to the liquid crystal display device 40 by a video output system such as Low Voltage Differential Signaling (LVDS). As described above, the display screen 40a (see FIG. 2 and the like) displays the main image 2a acquired by the video composition unit 23 in the main display area 42 (see FIG. 2 and the like), and the complementary image generated by the video composition unit 23. 2b is displayed in the complementary display area 43 (see FIG. 2 and the like).

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the liquid crystal display device 40 is a display device arranged at the center of an instrument panel in the vehicle compartment, and is operated by displaying the display image 1 on the display screen 40a. Various information is provided to the person. The liquid crystal display device 40 includes a liquid crystal panel 41 and a backlight 45.

  For example, 1280 display pixels are arranged in the horizontal direction and 480 display pixels are arranged in the vertical direction in the portion that becomes the display screen 40a of the liquid crystal panel 41. Among the display pixels of 1280 dots × 480 dots arranged on the display screen 40a, the display pixels of 800 dots × 480 dots belong to the main display area 42, and the display pixels of 480 dots × 480 dots belong to the complementary display area 43. belong to. Thus, the display area of the complementary display area 43 on the display screen is narrower than that of the main display area 42. The backlight 45 illuminates the liquid crystal panel 41 from the back side in the display direction. The liquid crystal display device 40 acquires the video signal output from the control circuit 20 and controls each display pixel of the liquid crystal panel 41 to display the display image 1 based on the video signal.

  2 to 4 show a plurality of examples of the display image 1 displayed on the liquid crystal display device 40 with the above configuration. Hereinafter, the display image 1 displayed on the liquid crystal display device 40 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS.

  First, the number of pixels of each of the display image 1, the main image 2a, and the complementary image 2b will be described. The number of pixels of the display image 1 corresponds to the number of display pixels of the liquid crystal display device 40 and is 1280 dots × 480 dots. On the other hand, the number of pixels of the image generated by the navigation device 50 used as the main image 2 a is smaller than the number of pixels of the display image 1. Specifically, the number of pixels of the main image 2a is 800 dots × 480 dots. The number of display pixels belonging to the main display area 42 described above is defined according to the number of pixels of the main image 2a.

  Thus, the navigation device 50 can generate only an image having a smaller number of pixels than the number of display pixels on the display screen 40a. Therefore, the difference between the number of pixels of the display image 1 and the number of pixels of the main image 2a is complemented by synthesizing the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b. The complementary image 2b is generated with the number of pixels of 480 dots × 480 dots so as to complement the difference between the number of display pixels on the display screen 40a and the number of display pixels belonging to the main display area 42.

  The navigation image 3a, which is the main image 2a in FIG. 2, is mainly composed of a map image showing the current position of the vehicle. The navigation image 3a displays information such as the current location of the vehicle, the traveling direction, and the required time to the destination. A pointer image 2c and a button image 2d are drawn on the navigation image 3a. When an operation of pressing the selection button 32 while the pointer image 2c and the button image 2d are overlapped on the display is input to the operation device 30, the navigation image 3a has a display mode change such as enlargement or reduction of the map image. Arise.

  Moreover, the information image 5b which is the complementary image 2b of FIG. 2 is generated based on the music information and the reproduction state information acquired through the local CAN 81 and the vehicle information, and the audio information image portion 5c and the air conditioner information image portion 5d are displayed. Have. The audio information image portion 5c and the air conditioner information image portion 5d are juxtaposed along the vertical direction of the display screen 40a in the complementary display area 43.

  The audio information image section 5c includes a status image 2g for informing the title, album name, etc. of the music currently being played by the audio device 51. In addition, the audio information image unit 5 c includes a button image 2 e for adjusting the volume, selecting a song, and the like by operating the audio device 51. When an operation of pressing the selection button 32 while the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the button image 2e is input to the operation device 30, the audio device 51 performs volume adjustment, music selection, and the like.

  The air conditioner information image unit 5d includes a status image 2g for notifying current setting information of the air conditioner, for example, information such as air volume, wind direction, and set temperature. In addition, the air conditioner information image unit 5d includes a button image 2e for operating the air conditioner control device 86 to change the set temperature and air volume of the air conditioner. When an operation of pressing the selection button 32 while the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the button image 2e is input to the operation device 30, the air conditioner control device 86 changes the set temperature and the air volume.

  The audio image 5 a that is the main image 2 a in FIG. 3 is generated by the navigation device 50 based on the music information acquired from the audio device 51. The audio image 5a includes a status image 2f for informing the title, album name, etc. of the music currently being played by the audio device 51. In addition, the audio image 5a includes a button image 2d for operating the audio device 51 to adjust volume, select music, and the like. When an operation for pressing the selection button 32 while the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the button image 2d is input to the operation device 30, the audio device 51 performs volume adjustment, music selection, and the like. The audio image 5a is substantially the same image as the audio information image portion 5c of the information image 5b that is the complementary image 2b. Note that the information image 5b, which is the complementary image 2b in FIG. 3, is the same as the complementary image 2b described in FIG.

  The television image 9a which is the main image 2a in FIG. 4 is generated by the navigation device 50. The complementary image 2b juxtaposed with the television image 9a is a television operation image 9b for operating the television image 9a. The television operation image 9 b is generated by the video drawing unit 22 based on the reception information acquired from the navigation device 50. The television operation image 9b includes a status image 2g for informing the name and channel number of a television broadcast station displayed on the television image 9a, and a button image for changing the broadcast station received by operating the navigation device 50. 2e. When an operation for pressing the selection button 32 while the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the button image 2e is input to the operation device 30, the navigation device 50 changes the broadcast station to be received.

  Next, based on FIG.5 and FIG.1, the action | operation of the display apparatus 100 for vehicles is demonstrated. In the present embodiment, the display position of the pointer image 2 c is moved from one of the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43 to the other across the boundary line 41 a of the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43. The active display area is switched. Hereinafter, switching of the active display area between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43 described above and a change in display mode associated with the switching will be described in detail.

  First, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the complementary display area 43 that displays the complementary image 2 b is an active display area, and the pointer image 2 c is displayed in the complementary display area 43. In this state, the display screen 40 a displays the button image 2 d acquired by the video composition unit 23 in the main display area 42, and displays the button image 2 e generated by the main control unit 21 in the complementary display area 43. . The button image 2d and the button image 2e are adjusted so that the brightness and the saturation are substantially the same.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 5B, a user operation for moving the display position of the pointer image 2 c from the complementary display area 43 toward the main display area 42 across the boundary line 41 a is input to the operation device 30. The In response to the switching request input to the operating device 30 by this user operation, the active display area in which the button images 2d and 2e can be selected by the pointer image 2c is switched between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43. Specifically, the main display area 42 is switched to the active display area, and the complementary display area 43 is switched to the inactive display area.

  When such a switching request is input to the controller device 30, the button image 2e displayed in the complementary display area 43 that is the inactive display area is an inactive button image that cannot be selected. On the other hand, the button image 2d displayed in the main display area 42 which is the active display area is a selectable active button image. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5C, the brightness and saturation of the button image 2e, which is an inactive button image, are adjusted to be lower than the brightness and saturation of the button image 2d, which is an active button image (hereinafter, referred to as “active button image 2d”). Tone down). On the other hand, the brightness and saturation of each status image 2g in the audio information image portion 5c and the air conditioner information image portion 5d are maintained as before being switched to the inactive display area. In the audio information image portion 5c and the air conditioner information image portion 5d shown in FIGS. 5C and 5D, the tone-down button image 2e is shown by a broken line.

  Thereby, the brightness and saturation of the status image 2g as the inactive status image when displayed in the inactive display area, and the brightness and saturation of the status image 2g as the active status image when displayed in the active display area. The degree is substantially the same. In addition, the pointer image 2 c that disappears from the complementary display area 43 that has become the inactive display area and appears in the main display area 42 that has become the active display area is displayed in accordance with the user operation input to the operating device 30. Can be moved.

  Furthermore, from the state where the main display area 42 is the active display area, as shown in FIG. 5D, the display position of the pointer image 2c is straddled across the boundary line 41a from the main display area 42 toward the complementary display area 43. A user operation to move is input to the operation device 30. By this switching request, the complementary display area 43 is switched to the active display area, and the main display area 42 is switched to the inactive display area.

  As a result of the above switching, as shown in FIG. 5E, the button images 2e of the audio information image portion 5c and the air conditioner information image portion 5d are released from the tone-down and are displayed in the main display area 42. Displayed with the same brightness and saturation as 2d. The pointer image 2c that disappears from the main display area 42 that has become the inactive display area and appears in the complementary display area 43 that has become the active display area corresponds to a user operation input to the operation device 30 (see FIG. 1). Thus, the complementary display area 43 can be moved.

  Next, a process of switching the active display area between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43 in response to a switching request input to the controller device 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The process described in FIG. 6 is performed by the main control unit 21 when a user such as a driver turns on an accessory (ACC) power source of the vehicle. The processing by the main control unit 21 is repeated until the ACC power supply of the vehicle is turned off.

  In step S101, information indicating that the complementary display area 43 is an active display area is output to the local CAN 81, and the process proceeds to step S102. The navigation device 50 acquires, for example, information indicating that the complementary display area 43 is an active display area through the local CAN 81, and thereby displays, for example, a pointer image 2c for the navigation image 3a displayed in the main display area 42 that is an inactive display area. Do not superimpose.

  In step S102, a command to superimpose the pointer image 2c on the complementary image 2b is output to the video drawing unit 22, and the process proceeds to S103. The video drawing unit 22 superimposes the pointer image 2c on the center of the complementary image 2b, for example, as an initial position based on a command from the main control unit 21. Accordingly, the pointer image 2c is displayed in the complementary display area 43 on the display screen 40a of the liquid crystal display device 40 (see FIG. 5A).

  In step S103, operation information by a user operation for moving the position of the pointer image 2c input to the operation device 30 on the display screen is acquired through the local CAN 81, and the process proceeds to step S104.

  In step S104, based on the operation information acquired in step S103, the position where the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the complementary image 2b is output to the video drawing unit 22, and the process proceeds to step S105. The video drawing unit 22 changes the position where the pointer image 2c is superimposed on the complementary image 2b based on a command from the main control unit 21. Thereby, on the display screen 40 a of the liquid crystal display device 40, the pointer image 2 c moves in the complementary display area 43, which is the active display area, in response to the movement request operation input to the operating device 30.

  In step S105, it is determined whether the pointer image 2c moved in step S104 is positioned on the boundary line 41a between the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b. When the display position of the pointer image 2c has deviated from the boundary line 41a, the process returns to step S103. On the other hand, if the pointer image 2c is positioned on the boundary line 41a, the process proceeds to step S106.

  In step S106, in order to switch the active display area from the complementary display area 43 to the main display area 42, information indicating that the main display area 42 is the active display area is output to the local CAN 81, and the process proceeds to step S107. The navigation device 50 obtains information indicating that the main display area 42 is the active display area through the local CAN 81, and thereby superimposes the pointer image 2c on the navigation image 3a displayed in the main display area 42, for example. Start. Thereby, the pointer image 2c appears in the main display area 42 of the display screen 40a. (See FIG. 5 (b)).

  In step S107, a command to stop superimposing the pointer image 2c on the complementary image 2b and a command to tone down the button image 2e are output to the video drawing unit 22, and the process proceeds to step S108. Based on the command from the main control unit 21, the video drawing unit 22 stops the superimposition of the pointer image 2c on the complementary image 2b and performs adjustment to reduce the lightness and saturation of the button image 2e. As a result, the pointer image 2 c disappears from the complementary display area 43 on the display screen 40 a of the liquid crystal display device 40. In addition, the button image 2e that has become the inactive button image is toned down (see FIG. 5C). Through the above processing, the active display area is switched from the complementary display area 43 to the main display area 42.

  In step S108, similarly to step S103, operation information by a user operation for moving the position of the pointer image 2c input to the operation device 30 on the display screen is acquired through the local CAN 81, and the process proceeds to step S109. At this time, the navigation device 50 changes the position where the pointer image 2c is superimposed based on the operation information obtained by the user operation acquired through the local CAN 81. Thereby, on the display screen 40 a of the liquid crystal display device 40, the pointer image 2 c moves in the main display area 42 that is an active display area in response to a user operation input to the operating device 30.

  In step S109, it is determined whether the pointer image 2c moved in step S109 is positioned on the boundary line 41a between the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b. When the display position of the pointer image 2c has deviated from the boundary line 41a, the process returns to step S108. On the other hand, if the pointer image 2c is positioned on the boundary line 41a, the process proceeds to step S110.

  In step S110, in order to switch the active display area from the main display area 42 to the complementary display area 43, information indicating that the complementary display area 43 is the active display area is output to the local CAN 81, and the process proceeds to step S111. The navigation device 50 obtains information indicating that the complementary display area 43 is an active display area through the local CAN 81, thereby stopping the superimposition of the pointer image 2c on the navigation image 3a displayed in the main display area 42, for example. As a result, the pointer image 2c disappears from the main display area 42 of the display screen 40a. (See FIG. 5 (d)).

  In step S111, a command to start drawing the pointer image 2c and a command to cancel the tone down of the button image 2e are output to the video drawing unit 22. And it returns to step S103 and repeats the process from the said step S103 to step S111. The video drawing unit 22 starts superimposing the pointer image 2c on the complementary image 2b based on a command from the main control unit 21, and stops the adjustment for reducing the brightness and saturation of the button image 2e. As a result, the pointer image 2 c appears in the complementary display area 43 on the display screen 40 a of the liquid crystal display device 40. In addition, the button image 2e that has become the active button image is displayed in a normal tone in the complementary display area 43 (see FIG. 5E).

  In the present embodiment described so far, the button image 2e that has become the inactive button image is adjusted so that the lightness and saturation are lower than the button image 2d that has become the active button image in response to the switching request. An active button image having higher brightness and saturation than the inactive button image can attract the eyes of a driver or the like more than the inactive button image.

  As a result, the driver or the like can easily distinguish the selectable active button image from the inactive button image that cannot be selected. As a result, the driver or the like can search the button image 2d to be selected for performing a desired operation from the active button images. As described above, the driver or the like can quickly find the desired button image 2d. Therefore, it is possible to provide the vehicle display device 100 having high operability.

  Further, as in the present embodiment, the main display area 42 having a large display area among the plurality of display areas is easily watched by a driver or the like. On the other hand, the button image 2e displayed in the complementary display area 43 having a display area smaller than that of the main display area 42 is difficult to watch. Therefore, when the button image 2e displayed in the complementary display area 43 with a small display area is an inactive button image, if the brightness and saturation of the button image 2e are reduced, the button image 2e is an inactive button image. The button image 2e is more difficult to attract the driver's eyes.

  In addition, in the present embodiment, the pointer image 2c that moves in response to an input of a user operation to the operation device 30 tends to attract the eyes of the driver or the like. Therefore, in the form in which the pointer image 2c is displayed in the active display area, the driver or the like is directed to pay attention to the active display area in which the pointer image 2c is displayed and, in turn, the active button image displayed in the active display area. Can be.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the operation device 30 receives a user operation for moving the pointer image 2c as a switching request, so that the driver or the like can easily grasp the display area that is currently the active display area. By making it easy to grasp the active display area, the eyes of the driver or the like can be surely directed to the active button image displayed in the active display area.

  According to the synergistic effect of making the button image 2e, which is an inactive button image, less likely to attract the driver's eyes and directing the driver's eyes to the active button image, the active button image is In addition, the driver's eyes can be attracted. As described above, the driver or the like can quickly find a desired button image from the active button images that are easily distinguished from the inactive button image, and select the button image by superimposing the pointer image. And will be able to. Therefore, the operability of the vehicle display device is further improved.

  In addition, in this embodiment, the brightness and saturation of the inactive status image displayed in the inactive display area are substantially the same as the brightness and saturation of the active status image displayed in the active display area. Adjusted. In this way, the inactive status image maintained with high brightness and saturation can attract the eyes of the driver and the like, and thus continues to exhibit the effect of informing the state information of the in-vehicle device. In addition, since the status image 2g is not the button images 2d and 2e, it is difficult to hinder the operation of the driver who tries to find the desired button image 2d. Therefore, by maintaining the brightness and saturation of the inactive status image at a high level, the vehicle display device 100 can reliably report the state information using the inactive display area while maintaining high operability. Can do.

  In addition, in this embodiment, the button image 2d acquired from the navigation device 50 and the button image 2e generated by the video drawing unit 22 are displayed in the main display region 42 and the complementary display region 43 that are arranged in parallel. As described above, when the configuration for generating the button images 2d and 2e is different for each display area, the brightness and saturation of the button images 2d and 2e are likely to vary. Then, the inactive button image is displayed on the display screen with higher brightness or saturation than the active button image, and there is a concern that the driver's eyes may be attracted.

  However, when the complementary display area 43 becomes an inactive display area, the button image 2e which is an inactive button image is displayed with low brightness and saturation. Therefore, the situation where the button image 2e attracts the eyes of the driver or the like rather than the button image 2d which is the active button image can be prevented in advance. As described above, the effect of improving the operability of the driver and the like by reducing the brightness and saturation of the inactive button image is remarkably exhibited in the form in which the button images 2d and 2e are generated by different configurations. It is.

  In the above embodiment, the control circuit 20 corresponds to the “image display adjustment unit” described in the claims, the video composition unit 23 corresponds to the “image acquisition unit” described in the claims, and the operating device 30 claims The main display area 42 corresponds to the “first display area” described in the claims, and the complementary display area 43 corresponds to the “second display area” described in the claims. The navigation device 50, the audio device 51, the air conditioner control device 86, and the vehicle display device 100 correspond to the “on-vehicle device” recited in the claims.

(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although one embodiment by the present invention was described, the present invention is not interpreted limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and is applied to various embodiments and combinations within the range which does not deviate from the gist of the present invention. be able to.

  In the above embodiment, when the complementary display area 43 is switched to the inactive display area, the brightness and saturation of the button image 2e that has become the inactive button image are reduced, thereby improving the operability by the driver or the like. I was trying to improve. However, when the main display area 42 is switched to the inactive display area, the brightness and saturation of the button image 2d displayed in the main display area 42 may be reduced. In addition, the inactive button image does not have to be lowered in both brightness and saturation, and may not attract the eyes of the driver or the like by a decrease in only one of brightness and saturation.

  In the above embodiment, the brightness and saturation are maintained even if the status image 2g is displayed in the inactive display area. However, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, when the audio image 5a is displayed in the main display area 42 that is the active display area and the information image 5b is displayed in the complementary display area 43 that is the inactive display area, the audio information is displayed. The status image 2g in the image portion 5c is preferably toned down. This is because the status image 2f, which is the active status image of the audio image 5a, and the status image 2g, which is the inactive status image of the information image 5b, express information related to each other. As described above, when the information represented by the status image overlaps, the driver or the like can quickly grasp the status information by toning down one of the information. In the information image 5b shown in FIG. 7, the tone-down portion is indicated by a broken line.

  The above embodiment has been described using an example in which the button image 2e of the information image 5b is toned down. However, the button image 2e toned down is not limited to that included in the information image 5b. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the button image 2e of the television operation image 9b displayed in parallel with the television image 9a may be toned down. As in FIG. 7, in the television operation image 9b of FIG. 8, the button image 2e that is toned down is shown by a broken line.

  In the above embodiment, the button image 2e displayed in the complementary display area 43 with a small display area on the display screen 40a is toned down. However, the tone down is not limited to a button image displayed in a display area having a small display area. For example, the button image 2d displayed in the main display area 42 having a larger display area than the complementary display area 43 may be toned down when the main display area 42 becomes an inactive display area.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle display device 100 acquires the main image 2a including the button image 2d generated by the navigation device 50, and generates the complementary image 2b including the button image 2e by the video drawing unit 22. The main image 2a and the complementary image 2b are displayed in parallel on the display screen 40a. However, both the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b including the button images 2d and 2e may be generated by the video drawing unit 22. Alternatively, both the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b may be acquired from an in-vehicle device such as the navigation device 50 connected to the vehicle display device 100.

  In the above embodiment, the user operation for moving the pointer image 2 c from the active display area to the inactive display area is a switching request for switching the active ideological area between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43. However, the switching request may not be input by a user operation for moving the pointer image 2c. For example, an input of a user operation for pressing a switching button provided in the operation device 30 may be a switching request for switching the active display area between the main display area 42 and the complementary display area 43. Alternatively, for example, in a vehicle display device that selects a button image using a touch panel or the like, the active display area may be switched by pressing the main display area or the complementary display area.

  In the above embodiment, the navigation image 3a, the audio image 5a, and the like have been described as examples of the main image 2a or the complementary image 2b. However, the main image 2a and the complementary image 2b are not limited to the images exemplified in the above embodiment as long as they are various images for notifying the passenger of information. For example, when a communication device such as a portable music player or a mobile phone is connected to the audio device 51, an operation image for operating these devices with the operation device 30 is displayed as the main image 2a or the complementary image 2b. It may be displayed on the screen 40a.

  In the above embodiment, the control circuit 20 has the main control unit 21, the video drawing unit 22, and the video composition unit 23 as functional blocks of two microcomputers, that is, the control microcomputer 25 and the drawing microcomputer 26. However, the configuration of the control circuit 20 is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the main control unit 21, the video drawing unit 22, and the video composition unit 23 may be functional blocks of one microcomputer mounted on the control circuit. Alternatively, the main control unit 21, the video drawing unit 22, and the video synthesis unit 23 may be configured as a control circuit by an analog circuit that does not execute the program.

  In the above embodiment, the information output to the global CAN 80 is once acquired by the navigation device 50 and then acquired by the control circuit 20 by being output from the navigation device 50 to the local CAN 81. However, the control circuit 20 may be directly connected to the global CAN 80 and acquire information through the global CAN 80 instead of through the local CAN 81.

  In the said embodiment, the liquid crystal display device 40 was a display apparatus provided with the display pixel of 1280 dots x 480 dots. However, the number of display pixels of the liquid crystal display device is not limited to the above embodiment. The vehicle display device may further include a liquid crystal display device having a larger number of display pixels. The vehicle display device may include a display device using a plasma display panel or an organic EL display instead of the liquid crystal display device.

1 display image, 2a main image, 2b complementary image, 2c pointer image, 2d, 2e button image, 2f, 2g status image, 3a navigation image, 3b navigation image, 5a audio image, 5b information image, 5c audio information image section, 5d air conditioner information image section, 9a television image, 9b television operation image, 20 control circuit (image display adjusting means), 21 main control section, 22 video drawing section, 23 video composition section (image acquisition means), 25 control microcomputer, 26 drawing microcomputer, 30 operation device (input means), 40 liquid crystal display device, 40a display screen, 41 liquid crystal panel, 41a boundary line, 42 main display area (first display area), 43 complementary display area (second display area) ), 45 Backlight, 50 Navigation device (on-vehicle device) 51 Audio device (vehicle device), 80 Global CAN, 81 Local CAN, 86 Air conditioner control device, 100 Vehicle display device (vehicle device)

Claims (5)

A display device for a vehicle comprising a display screen mounted on a vehicle, wherein a plurality of display areas for displaying button images to be selected for operating an in-vehicle device mounted on the vehicle are formed in parallel with the display screen. There,
An input means for inputting a switching request for switching an active display area in which the button image can be selected among the plurality of display areas formed on the display screen by a user operation;
When the switching request for switching the active display area is input to the input means, at least one of brightness and saturation of the inactive button image as the button image displayed in the inactive display area is displayed as the active display. Image display adjustment means for adjusting the brightness and saturation of the active button image as the button image to be displayed in the region ,
In the plurality of display areas, a status image for informing state information of the in-vehicle device is displayed,
The image display adjustment unit is configured to display the brightness of the inactive status image as the status image to be displayed in the inactive display region, even when the switching request for switching the active display region is input to the input unit. saturation the vehicular display device comprising that you adjust brightness and saturation substantially identical to become as active status image as the status image displayed on the active display area. The display screen has, as the display area, a first display area and a second display area having a smaller display area than the first display area ,
The image display adjustment unit is configured to display the second display as the inactive display region when the switching request for switching the active display region from the second display region to the first display region is input to the input unit. The at least one of brightness and saturation of the inactive button image displayed in the area is adjusted to be lower than the active button image displayed in the first display area as the active display area. The vehicle display device according to 1. The button image displayed in the first display area further comprises an image acquisition means for acquiring from the in-vehicle device ,
The display screen displays the button images acquired by the image acquisition unit to the first display area, that you display the button image generated by the image display adjusting unit to the second display region The vehicle display device according to claim 2 , wherein the display device is a vehicle display device. The display screen moves in the active display area in response to an input of the user operation to the input means, and a pointer image that makes the active button image selected by being superimposed on the active button image, The vehicle display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the display is performed in the active display area . Said input means, from said active display region toward the non-active display areas in parallel with the active display area, according to claim 4, characterized in Rukoto receives the user operation to move the pointer image as the switching request vehicle display device according to.

Images