Abstract:
An assist display apparatus is designed for displaying help information on a monitor screen in association with a plurality of controls which are arranged on an audio mixing apparatus and which are operable by a user for mixing audio signals. In the assist display apparatus, a help information storage section stores help information of each of the plurality of the controls arranged on the audio mixing apparatus, the help information being capable of assisting the user in operating the controls. A receiving section receives an operation event caused by one of the plurality of the controls which has been operated by the user on the audio mixing apparatus. A display section can present a multiple of frames including an instruction frame and other frame in an overlap manner with each other on the monitor screen, and displays the help information associated with the operation event received from the audio mixing apparatus in the instruction frame disposed on top of other frame.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field Of The Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates generally to an assist display apparatus and a computer program which are capable of easily displaying the descriptions of factions and so on associated with manual controls of an audio mixing apparatus having numerous and multifunctional controls.  
           [0003]    2. Prior Art  
           [0004]    Conventionally, electronic equipment having various manual controls are known to have a so-called help function for displaying the functional descriptions about these controls.  
           [0005]    For example, patent document 1 indicated below discloses a help display technology. Namely, in an electronic music apparatus having a plurality of switches of different functions for different modes, each of these switches and a help indication are associated with each other. Without executing a function assigned to that switch, a help indication screen for describing the function assigned to that switch in a current operation mode is displayed on a monitor of the electronic music apparatus.  
           [0006]    Patent Document 1 is Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application Hei 5-27753 (Patent No. 3306755)  
           [0007]    Audio mixing apparatuses are designed to mix audio signals inputted from many input channels in a desired manner, impart various effects (reverberation for example) to the mixed signals if necessary, and output the resultant audio signals to two or more channels. Such an audio mixing apparatus has numerous manual controls such as switches and level-adjusting faders and volumes on its console. Because many functions are assigned to these controls, it is difficult for ordinary operators and sometimes even for expert operators to remember all of these functions of the controls.  
           [0008]    Further, the monitor devices installed on audio mixing apparatuses are often too small, thereby making it difficult for operators to easily read help information displayed on the monitor screen. Meanwhile, expert operators who fully recognize the operations on the console may not need all or some of help functions.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an assist display apparatus and program for an audio mixing apparatus having manual and multifunctional controls, the assist display apparatus and program being adapted to provide more help information to users with ease of operation and to remove unnecessary help functions from expert users who need no more help information because they have already well versed in the operations supported by those help functions.  
           [0010]    In carrying out the invention and according to one aspect thereof, there is provided an assist display apparatus for displaying help information on a monitor screen in association with a plurality of controls which are arranged on an audio mixing apparatus and which are operable by a user for mixing audio signals. The inventive assist display apparatus comprises a help information storage section that stores help information of each of the plurality of the controls arranged on the audio mixing apparatus, the help information being capable of assisting the user in operating the controls, a receiving section that receives an operation event caused by one of the plurality of the controls which has been operated by the user on the audio mixing apparatus, and a display section that can present a multiple of frames including an instruction frame and other frame in an overlap manner with each other on the monitor screen and that displays the help information associated with the operation event received from the audio mixing apparatus in the instruction frame disposed on top of other frame.  
           [0011]    Preferably, the display section displaces the instruction frame to back of other frame when a predetermined time has passed after a point of time at which the help information was displayed in the instruction frame.  
           [0012]    Alternatively, the display section closes the instruction frame when a predetermined time has passed after a point of time at which the help information was displayed in the instruction frame.  
           [0013]    Alternatively, the display section hides the instruction frame from a view when a predetermined time has passed after a point of time at which the help information was displayed in the instruction frame.  
           [0014]    Alternatively, the display section reduces a size of the instruction frame or relocates a position of the instruction frame such that the instruction frame does not hinder a view of other frame, when a predetermined time has passed after a point of time at which said help information was displayed in said instruction frame.  
           [0015]    Preferably, the inventive assist display apparatus further comprises a setting section that sets on or off of an instruction mode, so that the display section operates when the instruction mode is on for displaying the help information associated with the operation event received from the audio mixing apparatus in the instruction frame disposed on top of other frame.  
           [0016]    In carrying out the invention and according to another aspect thereof, there is provided an assist display program designed for displaying help information on a monitor screen in association with a plurality of controls which are arranged on an audio mixing apparatus and which are operable by a user for mixing audio signals. The help information is capable of assisting the user in operating the controls and is stored in a storage in correspondence to each of the controls. The inventive assist display program is executable by a computer connected to the audio mixing apparatus via a communication interface for carrying out a process comprising the steps receiving an operation event caused by one of the plurality of the controls which has been operated by the user on the audio mixing apparatus, reading out the help information corresponding to the control operated by the user from the storage in response to the operation event, and displaying the read help information associated with the operation event received from the audio mixing apparatus in an instruction frame disposed over other frame on the monitor screen.  
           [0017]    Preferably, the displaying step displaces the instruction frame to back of other frame when a predetermined time has passed after a point of time at which the help information was displayed in the instruction frame.  
           [0018]    Preferably, the process further comprises the step of setting on or off of an instruction mode, so that the displaying step displays the help information associated with the operation event received from the audio mixing apparatus, when the instruction mode is on, in the instruction frame disposed over other frame on the monitor screen. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    This invention will be described in further detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of an audio mixing apparatus to which the present invention is applied.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is an exemplary external view of controls arranged on a mixing console.  
         [0022]    FIGS.  3 ( a ) through  3 ( c ) are a diagram illustrating how help information is displayed on a remote PC.  
         [0023]    FIGS.  4 ( a ) and  4 ( b )] are a flowchart indicative of processing flows in the remote PC.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 is a flowchart indicative of an operation of a mixer setting &amp; editing application. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]    [0025]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration of an audio mixing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. An audio mixing apparatus  101  has a central processing unit (CPU)  111 , a memory  112 , a communication interface  113 , a digital signal processor (DSP)  114 , an input unit  115 , an output unit  116 , and a mixing console  120 . Reference numeral  110  denotes a bus line. A remote PC  103  is connected to the audio mixing apparatus  101  via the communication interface  113 .  
         [0026]    The CPU  111  is a processing unit for controlling the operation of the entire audio mixing apparatus. The memory  112  is a ROM for storing programs to be executed by the CPU  111  and a RAM for use as a work memory. The communication interface  113  exchanges various kinds of data with the remote PC  103 . The input unit  115  is used to enter a plurality of microphone signals and line signals. The DSP  114  appropriately mixes the microphone signals and line signals entered through the input unit  115  and imparts effects as required, thereby outputting the resultant signals to given output channels of the output unit  116 . The output unit  116  performs digital/analog conversion on the signals to be outputted and outputs the converted signals to a loudspeaker for example. The mixing console  120 , which is operated by the user, has a plurality of controllers  121  and a display  124  on its external panel. Each controller  121  has various switches, faders  122 , and equalizer adjustment dials  123 .  
         [0027]    The remote PC  103  exchanges various data with the audio mixing apparatus  101  via the communication interface  113 , thereby giving various instructions to the audio mixing apparatus  101  and displaying the status of audio mixing apparatus  101 . For a program to realize these functions, the remote PC  103  has a mixer setting &amp; editing application  104 . The mixer setting &amp; editing application  104  has a GUI (Graphical User Interface) editor  105  and an instruction library  106 . The GUI editor  105  is a program for enabling the user to execute, from the remote PC  103 , various settings and editing operations associated with the mixer operation of the audio mixing apparatus  101 . The instruction library  106  contains the help information (or instruction manuals) associated with the controls arranged on the mixing console  120 . The help information is stored in the form of HTML or PDF files for example in a manner by which the pages to be displayed can be readily read out upon operation of each control. A reference numeral  107  denotes a mouse, which is a pointing device.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 2 shows an exemplary external view of the controllers  121  arranged on the mixing console  120 . Reference numeral  200  denotes an example of a controller for one channel. Reference numeral  201  denotes an on/off switch of for that channel, and reference numeral  202  denotes a switch for turning on/off a compressor (an effecting function for compressing the dynamic range of audio signals). Reference numeral  203  denotes a panning adjustment dial for that channel, and reference numerals  204  through  206  denote equalizer adjustment dials for that channel. Reference numeral  207  denotes a fader for use in the level adjustment of that channel. These manual controls are arranged for the predetermined number of channels.  
         [0029]    In the audio mixing apparatus  101  as described above, there are arranged various other controls in addition to the controls shown in FIG. 2, hence it is difficult for the users to recognize and understand all the functions assigned to these controls. The help information may be displayed on a display device  124  arranged on the console of the audio mixing apparatus  101 , but this display device is limited in screen size and therefore cannot display enough information. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the help information is displayed on the remote PC  103  (which has a larger monitor screen) connected to the audio mixing apparatus  101  via the communication interface  113 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 3 shows a manner by which the help information is displayed in the remote PC  103 . Reference numeral  301  denotes a mixer setting &amp; editing GUI window which is a frame displayed on the monitor screen of the remote PC  103  when the mixer setting &amp; editing application  104  is run on the remote PC  103 . Use of this window  301  allows the user to perform various setting and editing operations on the audio mixing apparatus  101 . Reference numeral  302  denotes an instruction mode button displayed in the window  301 . FIG. 3( a ) shows a state in which the instruction mode is off. Clicking the instruction mode button  302  with the mouse  107  from this state turns on the instruction mode. When the instruction mode button  302  is clicked again, the instruction mode is turned off. The instruction mode button is displayed in a different manner depending on its turned-on and turned-off states. For example, different display colors may be used or different graphical representations may be used by which the pressed state of the button is shown when the instruction mode is on and vice versa.  
         [0031]    When a control of any of the controllers  121  on the mixing console  120  of the audio mixing apparatus  101  is operated by the user with the instruction mode being on, an instruction window  304  is displayed as another frame as shown in FIG. 3( b ), and the help information such as the description of the function of the operated control is presented in this window  304 . Further, when another control is operated on the audio mixing apparatus  101 , the contents of the instruction window  304  are rewritten by other help information associated with the operated control. When a predetermined time has passed with none of the controls operated in the active state where the instruction window  304  is displayed in the front of the screen, the instruction window  304  is displaced back to the rear of the main window  301  as shown in FIG. 3( c ). When a control is operated on the audio mixing apparatus  101  while the instruction window  304  is hidden in the rear, the instruction window  304  comes to be displayed in the front again as shown in FIG. 3( b ), thereby displaying the help information such as the description of the function of the operated control.  
         [0032]    When the instruction mode button  302  is clicked in the state where the instruction mode is on as shown in FIG. 3( b ) or FIG. 3( c ), the instruction mode is turned off, thereby closing the instruction window  304 , upon which the working state shown in FIG. 3( a ) is called again.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 4( a ) is a flowchart indicative of the processing flow in the remote PC  103 . In the remote PC  103 , an operating system (OS)  401  is running, in which a task controller for controlling the execution of tasks in accordance with user instructions is operating. When the user gives an instruction to activating the mixer setting &amp; editing application  104 , the mixer setting &amp; editing application  104  is executed as shown in step  402 . The OS  401  includes a so-called window system and other applications of the mixer setting &amp; editing application  104  may be concurrently executed under the control of the task controller.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 4( b ) shows a procedure of mode switching processing, one of the GUI processing operations described in step  502  of the mixer setting &amp; editing application  104  to be described later with reference to FIG. 5. When the instruction mode button  302  described with reference to FIG. 3 is clicked, this processing is executed in the GUI processing. In step  411 , a decision is made whether the current instruction mode is on or off. If the current instruction mode is found to be on, it is turned off in step S 412 , upon which the processing comes to an end. If the current instruction mode is found to be off, it is turned on in step  413 , upon which the processing comes to an end.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 5 is a flowchart indicative of the operation of the mixer setting &amp; editing application. In step  501 , the operation setting information communication processing is executed. This processing detects the operation of each control arranged on the console of the audio mixing apparatus  101 . It should be noted that when a control is operated on the audio mixing apparatus  101 , it is supposed that its operational information be transmitted to the remote PC via the communication interface  113 . In step  502 , various setting GUI processing operations in the mixer setting &amp; editing GUI window  301  are executed. Next, a decision is made whether the instruction mode is on. If the instruction mode is found to be off, the open instruction window if any is closed in step  504  and the timer is turned off in step  505 , upon which the procedure returns to step  501 .  
         [0036]    As described above, clicking the instruction mode button  302  with the instruction mode being off executes the processing shown in FIG. 4( b ) in step  502 , turning on the instruction mode.  
         [0037]    If the instruction mode is found to be on in step  503 , then a decision is made in step  506  whether there is an operation event of any of the controls on the mixing console  120  of the audio mixing apparatus  101 . If an operation event is found, then a decision is made in step  507  whether the instruction window is already open. If the instruction window is found to be not open, then the instruction window is opened in step  508  and displays, in the front of the screen, the instruction manual page corresponding to the operation of the control detected in step  506  as the help information. Then, a decision is made whether the timer is off in step  509 . If the timer is found to be off, the timer is turned on (initialized) in step  510 , upon which the procedure goes to step  512 . If the instruction window is found to be already open in step  507 , then this instruction window is moved to the front of the monitor screen in step  511 , displaying the instruction manual page corresponding to the detected control operation (namely, the instruction manual page is read from the instruction library  106 ). After step  511 , the procedure goes to step  510  to initialize the timer. If no control operation event is found in step  506 , then the procedure goes to step  512 .  
         [0038]    In step  512 , the value of the timer is read to determine whether a predetermined time has passed after the turning on of the timer (the initialization thereof). If the predetermined time is found to have passed, then the procedure goes to step  513  to put the instruction window into the rear. In step  514 , the timer is turned off, upon which the procedure returns to step  501 . If the predetermined time is found to have not passed, then a decision is made in step  515  whether an operation for activating any window other than the instruction window has been done. If no such an operation is found, then the procedure returns to step  501  with the instruction window kept displayed in the front, thereby continuing the mixer setting &amp; editing processing. If any window other than the instruction window is found to have been activated, then the procedure goes from step  515  to step  513 , putting the instruction window into the rear.  
         [0039]    It should be noted that, if an operation for ending the mixing setting &amp; editing application has been done in the GUI processing in step  502 , then predetermined end processing is executed to end the above-mentioned processing.  
         [0040]    The following briefly describes in which flow shown in FIG. 5 the help display operation described with reference to FIG. 3 is executed. First, when the instruction mode is off, the processing operations shown in steps  501  through  505  are repeated to execute the mixer setting &amp; editing processing while executing communication with the audio mixing apparatus lot.  
         [0041]    When the instruction mode is turned on, the processing flow of steps  501  to  502  to  503  to  506  to  512  to  515  to  501  is repeated to continue the mixer setting &amp; editing processing. It should be noted that, at this point of time, no control operation has been done and therefore the timer is off; it is assumed that, when the timer is off, the procedure goes from step  512  to step  515 . Also, at this point of time, the instruction window has not yet displayed; it is assumed that the procedure returns from step  515  to step  501 .  
         [0042]    When a control of the audio mixing apparatus is operated with the instruction mode being on, the procedure goes from step  506  to step  507  and the instruction window is displayed to execute a help display operation and turn on the timer in the flow of step steps  507  to  508  to  509  to  510  to  512 . Until the predetermined time has passed, the procedure goes from step  512  to step  515 . If any window other than the instruction window has not been activated, the procedure returns from step  515  to step  501 . When the predetermined time has passed, the procedure goes from step  512  to step  513 , thereby automatically putting the instruction window back into the rear.  
         [0043]    It should be noted that, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the instruction window is put into the rear after passing of a predetermined time; alternatively, any one of the following manners of handling the instruction window may be employed:  
         [0044]    (1) the instruction window is closed after a predetermined time;  
         [0045]    (2) the instruction window is hidden (minimized) from a view of the user after a predetermined time;  
         [0046]    (3) the instruction window is reduced in size or relocated such that the instruction window does not hinder the viewing of other windows after passing of a predetermined time; and  
         [0047]    (4) the instruction window is put into the rear or otherwise processed in any one of the above-mentioned manners not after the passing of a predetermined time but the detection of a particular operation done on the mixing console  120  or the remote PC  103 .  
         [0048]    In the above-mentioned embodiment, help information is opened for display separately in the instruction window  304 . Alternatively, a help information display area may be arranged (or opened) in the mixer setting &amp; editing window  301  to display help information in this area.  
         [0049]    The instruction library  106  itself or a part or all of the help information contained therein may be supplied from another computer (a server) connected separately from the remote PC. Namely, necessary help information may be downloaded from an external computer. Such an external computer may be connected via a communication protocol or a communication interface such as TCP/IP (Internet connection), IEEE1394, USB, RS-232C, or any of various wireless interfaces.  
         [0050]    As described and according to the invention, a computer connected to audio mixing apparatuses, which generally have numerous and multifunctional controls, receives the event information about operations done on the audio mixing apparatus, and displays the help information associated with each operation done, so that the present invention allows the communication of more help information to users with ease of operation on a larger monitor screen of the computer than that of the audio mixing apparatuses. In addition, the present invention allows the detachment of those help functions if skilled users need no more assist because they have already well versed in the operations supported by those help functions and, if necessary, the detachment of the computer itself from the audio mixing apparatus.