Patent ID: 11922089
Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B  H | IPC B  G

Claim 6:
7. A vehicle controller that is configured to control a plurality of display units disposed in a vehicle interior, the vehicle controller comprising:
a single display processing unit that is configured to perform preprocessing on a plurality of link images for the plurality of display units such that each of the plurality of link images is able to be output to a corresponding one of the plurality of display units, the plurality of link images being displayed in a linked manner across the plurality of display units; and
a plurality of image output units each of which is configured to output a respective one of the plurality of link images to the corresponding one of the plurality of display units after the plurality of link images are subject to the preprocessing by the single display processing unit, wherein
the single display processing unit is configured to perform the preprocessing on the plurality of link images by performing the preprocessing on a mixed image formed by synthesizing the plurality of link images into a frame, and
each of the plurality of image output units is configured to:
specify a region of the respective one of the plurality of link images in the mixed image that is subject to the preprocessing by the single display processing unit; and
output the respective one of the plurality of link images to the corresponding one of the plurality of display units, wherein

the mixed image is formed by synthesizing the plurality of images in each of frames that are displayed in a chronological order to provide an animation,
the single display processing unit is configured to sequentially perform, for each of the frames, the preprocessing on the mixed image, and
each time the single display processing unit sequentially performs the preprocessing, each of the plurality of image output units is configured to:
specify a region of the respective one of the plurality of link images in the mixed image that is subject to the preprocessing; and
sequentially output the respective one of the plurality of link images to the corresponding one of the plurality of display units, wherein

when each of the plurality of display units has a different frame rate, which is a number of images per unit time for the plurality of link images when displaying the animation, the mixed image is formed by synthesizing the plurality of link images at a frame rate corresponding to a highest frame rate of a first display unit among the plurality of display units that corresponds to a first link image of the plurality of link images,
a second link image of the plurality of link images corresponding to a second display unit of the plurality of display units having a lower frame rate than the highest frame rate is synthesized with the first link image in every Nth frame, wherein N is a number according to a ratio of the highest frame rate to the lower frame rate, whereas the second link image is synthesized as empty data with the first link image in other frames,
a first image output unit of the plurality of image output units corresponding to the first display unit is configured to, each time the single display processing unit sequentially performs the preprocessing:
specify a region of the first link image in the mixed image that is subject to the preprocessing; and
sequentially output the first link image to the first display unit, and

a second image output unit of the plurality of image output units corresponding to the second display unit is configured to, in every Nth frame:
specify a region of the second link image in the mixed image that is subject to the preprocessing; and
sequentially output the second link image to the second display unit.