Patent Publication Number: US-2019189041-A1

Title: Display device and electronic shelf label system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-240551, filed Dec. 15, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to a display device and an electronic shelf label system. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In general, display shelves for displaying products are installed in stores such as supermarkets or retail stores. On these display shelves, a plurality of products are displayed, and price tags and point-of-purchase advertisements made of paper, which are associated with the respective products, are stuck. However, when the products are replaced or when the prices of the products fluctuate, employees must manually replace the price tags and point-of-purchase advertisements made of paper associated with the respective products on the display shelves. Thus, the price tags and point-of-purchase advertisements made of paper are disadvantageous in that the employees&#39; workloads are heavy. 
     Therefore, in recent years, progress has been made towards a paperless system by mounting electronic shelf labels (ESL) which can display shelf label images including product information items on products, instead of price tags and point-of-purchase advertisements made of paper, on the display shelves. This can reduce the employees&#39; workloads. 
     With the spread of such a paperless system, it has been newly requested that the shelf label images be easily changed on site. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present application relates generally to a display device and an electronic shelf label system. 
     According to one embodiment, a display device includes a display, a touchpanel, a memory and a processor. The display displays a shelf label image including a product information item of a product displayed on a display shelf. The touchpanel in or on the display detects a contact position of an object. The processor executes a program stored in the memory, makes a state of the touchpanel from an inactive state to an active state when an external terminal is connected to the display device, detects a type of an action, based on the contact position of the object detected by the touchpanel in the active state, changes the shelf label image displayed on the display in accordance with the type of the action. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic shelf label system according to one embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing an example of an appearance of a display device displaying a shelf label image. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the display device. 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing an example of a main functional configuration of the display device. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram for explaining a touch detection function of a touchpanel. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure carried out by the display device. 
         FIG. 7  is a flowchart for explaining a part of the process shown in  FIG. 6  more specifically. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram showing a specific example of an image editing process associated with tapping. 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing a specific example of an image editing process associated with dragging. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram showing a specific example of an image editing process associated with spreading. 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram showing a specific example of an image editing process associated with pinching. 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram showing a specific example of another image editing process associated with spreading. 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram showing a specific example of another image editing process associated with pinching. 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram showing a specific example of another image editing process associated with dragging. 
         FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the electronic shelf label system differing from that of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 16  is a flowchart showing an example of a procedure carried out by the electronic shelf label system shown in  FIG. 15 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, a display device comprises a display, a touchpanel, a memory and a processor. The display displays a shelf label image including a product information item of a product displayed on a display shelf. The touchpanel in or on the display detects a contact position of an object. The processor executes a program stored in the memory. The processor makes a state of the touchpanel from an inactive state to an active state when an external terminal is connected to the display device. The processor detects a type of an action, based on the contact position of the object detected by the touchpanel in the active state. The processor changes the shelf label image displayed on the display in accordance with the type of the action. 
     According to one embodiment, an electronic shelf label system comprises a display device, a user terminal and a server device. The display device displays a shelf label image including a product information item of a product displayed on a display shelf. The user terminal is a terminal operated separately from the display device. The user terminal comprises a display, a touchpanel and a communication module for connecting to another device. The touchpanel in or on the display detects a contact position of an object. The server device comprises a storage that stores an image data item of the shelf label image displayed by the display device. The user terminal receives the image data item of the shelf label image. The user terminal displays the shelf label image on the display. The user terminal transmits a positional information item indicating the contact position of the object detected by the touchpanel to the server device. The server device receives the positional information item. The server device detects a type of an action based on the received positional information item. The server device changes the image data item of the shelf label image stored in the storage in accordance with the type of the action. The server device transmits an image data item of the shelf label image changed to the display device via the user terminal. 
     According to one embodiment, an electronic shelf label system comprises a display device and a user terminal. The display device displays a shelf label image including a product information item of a product displayed on a display shelf. The user terminal is a terminal operated separately from the display device. The user terminal comprises a display, a touchpanel and a communication module for connecting to the display device. The display displays an image. The touchpanel in or on the display detects a contact position of an object. The user terminal receives an image data item of the shelf label image. The user terminal displays the shelf label image on the display. The user terminal detects a type of an action of user, based on a positional information item indicating the contact position of the object detected by the touchpanel. The user terminal changes the image data item of the shelf label image in accordance with the type of the action. The user terminal transmits an image data item of the shelf label image changed to the display device. 
     Embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosure is merely an example, and proper changes within the spirit of the invention, which are easily conceivable by a person having ordinary skill in the art, are included in the scope of the present invention as a matter of course. In the specification and drawings, structural elements that have the same or similar functions as or to those described in connection with preceding drawings are denoted by the same reference symbols, and an overlapping detailed description thereof is omitted unless necessary. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic shelf label system according to an embodiment. The electronic shelf label system shown in  FIG. 1  is a system used in stores such as supermarkets or retail stores, and is composed of a display device  10 , a portable terminal  20 , a communication terminal  30 , and a server device  40 .  FIG. 1  shows only one display device  10  for convenience. In reality, the electronic shelf label system includes a plurality of display devices  10 . 
     The display device  10  is a so-called electronic shelf label (ESL), and is mounted on a display shelf on which a plurality of products are displayed. The description herein assumes that one display device that is horizontally elongated is mounted on one row of the display shelf. However, there are no limitations, and it is also possible that a plurality of display devices are mounted on one row of the display shelf. That is, it is also possible that one display device is mounted for each fixed number of products of the products displayed on one row of the display shelf. 
     The display device  10  displays a shelf label image showing an information item on a product displayed on the display shelf (hereinafter, referred to as “product information item”). The product information item is an information item indicating at least a product name and a price of a product indicated by the product name. The product information item may further indicate a comment on the product (for example, “Bargain”, “Manager&#39;s Choice”, or “Sold Out”), as well as the product name and the price. 
     An example of an appearance of the display device  10  displaying the shelf label image is herein described with reference to  FIG. 2 . The display device  10  shown in  FIG. 2  is mounted on a front edge of a display shelf DS on which products are displayed. In the case of  FIG. 2 , the display device  10  shows one shelf label image P including four product information items D 1  to D 4 . The product information item D 1  included in the shelf label image P indicates that a product name of a product a is “A”, and its price is “100 yen”. The same is true of the other product information items D 2  to D 4 . Thus, a detailed description thereof is omitted herein. 
     In  FIG. 2 , four product information items are displayed by the one display device  10 . However, there are no limitations, and it is also possible to adopt the structure wherein shelf label images each showing one product information item are displayed in a time-divisional manner. 
       FIG. 1  is referred to again. The portable terminal  20  is a terminal (user terminal) possessed by an employee (staff member or user) at a store, and is connected to the display device  10  to activate a touch detection function of the display device  10 . The present embodiment assumes the case where the portable terminal  20  is a charging terminal which can supply power to the display device  10 , and is connected via a connector provided in the display device  10  with a wire. However, there are no limitations, and for example, the portable terminal  20  may be a terminal which can transmit an instruction signal for activating the touch detection function of the display device  10  to the display device  10 , and which is connected to the display device  10  via wireless means. 
     Also, in general, power is unnecessary for display shelves, unless chilled products or frozen products are displayed on the display shelves. It is therefore difficult to supply power to the display device  10  mounted on the display shelf stably. Thus, in general, the display device  10  does not execute a complex process that consumes much power. However, since the portable terminal  20  is a charging terminal as described above, the display device  10  can be supplied with power stably. This makes it possible to execute an image editing process, which will be described later, stably. 
     The communication terminal  30  is a relay (router) which is provided near the display device  10 , for example, on the display shelf on which the display device  10  is mounted, and connects the display device  10  and the server device  40  so that they can communicate with each other. 
     The server device  40  is provided in a store&#39;s office, an information management facility for accumulating information items on the store, etc. Alternatively, the server device  40  may be a server device which executes a cloud computing service. Although not shown in  FIG. 1 , the server device  40  comprises a first storage device which stores a product information item, a shelf label image generator which generates a shelf label image (for example, an initial image) based on the product information item stored in the first storage device, a communication module which enables communication with the display device  10 , and a second storage device which stores an image data item indicating a shelf label image that is currently displayed by the display device  10 . 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the display device  10 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , a nonvolatile memory  12 , a CPU  13 , a main memory  14 , a communication module  15 , a display module  16 , a power supply  17 , and a connector  18  are connected to the display device  10  via a bus  11 . If the display device  10  and the portable terminal  20  are not connected with a wire, the connector  18  may be omitted from the configuration of the display device  10 . Further, the nonvolatile memory  12  and the main memory  14  constitute a storage device of the display device  10 . 
     The nonvolatile memory  12  stores various programs including, for example, an operating system (OS) and a program for updating a shelf label image (which will be described later, and hereinafter referred to as an “image update program”). 
     The CPU  13  is, for example, a processor which executes various programs stored in the nonvolatile memory  12 . The CPU  13  executes control over the operation of the entire display device  10 . 
     The main memory  14  is used as, for example, a work area that is necessary when the CPU  13  executes various programs.  FIG. 3  shows only the nonvolatile memory  12  and the main memory  14 . However, the display device  10  may comprise other storage devices, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid state drive (SSD). 
     The communication module  15  has the function of controlling communication with the server device  40  via the communication terminal  30 . Also, the communication module  15  can carry out a wireless communication function via, for example, wireless LAN and Wi-Fi (registered trademark). 
     The display module  16  comprises a panel display  16 A, and a touchpanel  16 B (sensor capable of carrying out a touch detection function) configured to detect a contact position of an object (for example, a finger) on a screen of the panel display  16 A. The touchpanel  16 B is integrally formed on the panel display  16 A. The panel display  16 A is, for example, an electronic-paper type display comprising an electrophoretic element, etc. In addition, -capacitive type or mutual-capacitive type), a surface capacitive type, a resistive film type, an ultrasonic surface-acoustic-wave type, an optical type, etc. 
     The power supply  17  supplies power to each module of the display device  10 . The connector  18  is a terminal portion (plug) for connecting to the portable terminal  20  with a wire. The CPU  13  activates the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B constituting the display module  16  when detecting that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the connector  18 . The contact position contacted by a finger on the screen thereby can be detected. 
     A main functional configuration of the display device  10  carried out when the CPU  13  executes the above image update program will be next described with reference to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing an example of the main functional configuration of the display device  10 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , the display device  10  comprises a terminal connection detector  101 , a gesture detector  102 , an image editing processor  103 , a display processor  104 , etc. 
     The terminal connection detector  101  detects that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10 . For example, the terminal connection detector  101  detects that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10 , based on a connection signal generated when the portable terminal  20  is connected to the connector  18  of the display device  10  with a wire. Alternatively, the terminal connection detector  101  detects that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10 , based on an instruction signal transmitted from the portable terminal  20  via wireless means. The terminal connection detector  101  also detects that the portable terminal  20  is detached from the display device  10 , based on the above connection signal and instruction signal. 
     The terminal connection detector  101  activates the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B constituting the display module  16  (switches the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B to an active state), when detecting that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10 . In contrast, the terminal connection detector  101  deactivates the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B (switches the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B to an inactive state), when detecting that the portable terminal  20  is detached from the display device  10 . 
     In this manner, the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B is activated only when the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10 . This can prevent the touchpanel  16 B from being operated by a person other than employees (for example, a child). 
     The touchpanel  16 B is configured to detect the occurrence of events such as “touch (contact)”, “move (slide)”, and “release”, relating to a touch operation, when the touch detection function is active. 
     The “touch” event is an event indicating that an object (finger) contacts the screen. The “move” event is an event indicating that a contact position contacted by the finger moves while the finger contacts the screen. The “release” event is an event indicating that the finger is released from the screen. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B is activated for each area defined by grid lines GA and GB 1  to GBn- 1 . Further, the above events include a grid information item by which an area can be identified, as an information item indicating a contact position contacted by a finger.  FIG. 5  assumes the case where the touchpanel  16 B is divided into areas G 11  to G 2 n, that is, 2×n areas. The length in the lateral direction of one area is, for example, 5 mm to 1 cm. In addition, the length in the longitudinal direction of one area is, for example, half the length in the longitudinal direction of the touchpanel  16 B. In the present embodiment, the grid lines GA and GB 1  to GBn- 1  are invisible. However, the grid lines GA and GB 1  to GBn- 1  may be represented by lines having a thickness that can be visually recognized when being approached closer than usual. Further, as the structure wherein the touch function is activated for each of the above areas, it is possible to adopt the structure wherein an electrode for touch is provided for each area or the structure wherein a touch signal is supplied to each area in a time-divisional manner. 
     In this manner, the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B is activated for each of the above areas. Thus, the occurrence of the above events can be detected broadly to a certain extent, that is, without the necessity to detect details. Accordingly, power consumption can be reduced. 
     The gesture detector  102  receives the “touch”, “move” and “release” events detected by the active touchpanel  16 B, and detects an employee&#39;s gesture (type of movement or type of action), based on the received events. 
     The image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process associated with the employee&#39;s gesture detected by the gesture detector  102  for a shelf label image displayed by the display module  16 . An image data item indicating the edited shelf label image is output to the communication module  15  by the image editing processor  103 , and transmitted (transferred) to the server device  40  via the communication terminal  30  by the communication module  15 . An image data item stored in the second storage device of the server device  40  is thereby rewritten by the edited image data item, and the electronic shelf label system is updated. 
     The display processor  104  outputs an image data item of a shelf label image to the panel display  16 A constituting the display module  16 , and causes the shelf label image to be displayed. 
     An example of a procedure carried out by the main functional configuration of the display device  10  when the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10  will be herein described with reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 6 . 
     First, the terminal connection detector  101  detects that the portable terminal  20  is connected to the display device  10  (step Si). Then, the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B constituting the display module  16  is switched from an inactive state to an active state. The terminal connection detector  101  makes a state of the touchpanel  16 B from an inactive state to an active state (step S 2 ). 
     Next, the gesture detector  102  detects (identifies) an employee&#39;s gesture, based on the occurrence of each event detected by the touchpanel  16 B. The gesture detector  102  detects a type of an action of a user, based on the contact position of the object detected by the touchpanel  16 B in the active state. The image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process of editing a shelf label image in accordance with the gesture detected by the gesture detector  102 . The image editing processor  103  changes the shelf label image by the displayed by the display in accordance with the type of the action of the user (step S 3 ). 
     Subsequently, the image editing processor  103  outputs an image data item of the shelf label image edited in the process of step S 3  to the communication module  15 . The image data item of the edited shelf label image is thereby transmitted to the server device  40  via the communication terminal  30  by the communication module  15 , and the electronic shelf label system is updated (step S 4 ). 
     Then, the display processor  104  outputs the image data item of the shelf label image edited in the process of step S 3  to the display module  16 , causes the edited shelf label image to be displayed on the panel display  16 A (step S 5 ), and ends the process herein. 
     Further, the terminal connection detector  101  switches the touch detection function of the touchpanel  16 B from an active state to an inactive state, when detecting that the portable terminal  20  is detached from the display device  10 . 
     A detailed procedure of step S 3  shown in  FIG. 6  will be next described with reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 7 . 
     First, the gesture detector  102  determines whether a “move” event is received (step S 11 ). 
     If it is determined that the “move” event is not received, that is, only “touch” and “release” events are received, in the process of step S 11  (NO in step S 11 ), the gesture detector  102  detects that a “tap” gesture is made in an area (contact position) indicated by a grid information item (positional information item) included in the received “touch” event (step S 12 ). 
     The “tap” gesture is a gesture indicating that a finger contacts one point on the screen and is released without being moved, that is, one point on the screen is pressed. Further, the “tap” gesture in the present embodiment also includes “double tap”, which means pressing one point on the screen twice successively. 
     Then, the image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process associated with “tap” gesture detected by the gesture detector  102  (step S 13 ). 
     To be specific, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging an image portion (first portion) including a predetermined product information item, which is displayed in the area indicated by the grid information item included in the “touch” event, and an image portion (second portion) including another product information item, which is displayed next to the first portion. That is, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging an image portion displayed at a position contacted by a finger and an image portion displayed next to the image portion. 
     This situation is shown in  FIG. 8 .  FIG. 8  is a diagram showing a specific example of the image editing process associated with the “tap” gesture. As shown in  FIG. 8 , the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging an image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1 , which is displayed at a position contacted by a finger, and an image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2 , which is displayed next to the image portion P 1 . Through this process, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2  is displayed at the position where the image portion P 1  was displayed, and the image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1  is displayed at the position where the image portion P 2  was displayed. 
     Accordingly, an employee interchanges the positions of the product (product a) of the product name A indicated by the product information item D 1  and a product (product b) of a product name B indicated by the product information item D 2 . In addition, at that time, the employee can handle the interchange between the product a and the product b simply by “tapping” the displayed image portion P 1  including the product information item Dl. 
       FIG. 8  illustrates the case where the image portion P 1  displayed at the “tapped” position and the image portion P 2  displayed next to the “tapped” position on the right are interchanged. The present embodiment is not limited to this, and it can be optionally determined for which of the right and left image portions, the image portion displayed at the “tapped” position is exchanged. 
       FIG. 7  is referred to again. If it is determined that the “move” event is received, that is, each of the “touch”, “move” and “release” events is received, in the above-described process of step S 11  (YES in step S 11 ), the gesture detector  102  determines whether one or two grid information items are included in each of the “touch” and “move” events (step S 14 ). 
     If it is determined that one grid information item is included in each of the “touch” and “move” events in the process of step S 14  (“One” in step S 14 ), the gesture detector  102  detects that a “drag(-and-drop)” gesture is made (step S 15 ). The “drag(-and-drop)” gesture is a gesture by which a finger is moved from the area indicated by the grid information item included in the “touch” event to an area indicated by a grid information item included in the “move” event. 
     Next, the image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process associated with the “drag” gesture detected by the gesture detector  102  (step S 16 ). 
     To be specific, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging an image portion (first portion) including a predetermined product information item, which is displayed in the area indicated by the grid information item included in the “touch” event, and an image portion (second portion) including another product information item, which is displayed in the area indicated by the grid information item included in the “move” event. That is, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging an image portion displayed at a position contacted by a finger and an image portion displayed at a position from which the finger is released. 
     This situation is shown in  FIG. 9 .  FIG. 9  is a diagram showing a specific example of the image editing process associated with the “drag” gesture. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the image editing processor  103  executes the process of interchanging the image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1 , which is displayed at the position contacted by the finger, and an image portion P 3  including the product information item D 3 , which is displayed at a position, from which the finger is released after being moved. That is, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the image portion P 3  including the product information item D 3  is displayed at the position where the image portion P 1  was displayed, and the image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1  is displayed at the position where the image portion P 3  was displayed. 
     Accordingly, the employee interchanges the positions of the product (product a) of the product name A indicated by the product information item D 1  and a product (product c) of a product name C indicated by the product information item D 3 . In addition, at that time, the employee can handle the interchange between the product a and the product c simply by “dragging” the displayed image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1  and “dropping” it at the position where the image portion P 3  including the product information item D 3  is displayed. 
       FIG. 7  is referred to again. If it is determined that two grid information items are included in each of the “touch” and “move” events in the above-described process of step S 14  (“Two” in step S 14 ), the gesture detector  102  compares the positions of two areas indicated by the two grid information items included in the “touch” event and the positions of two areas indicated by the two grid information items included in the “move” event. Based on a result of this comparison, the gesture detector  102  determines whether the positions of the two areas are further away from each other than they were before being moved or they are closer to each other than they were before being moved (step S 17 ). 
     If it is determined that the positions of the two areas are further away from each other than they were before being moved in the process of step S 17  (“Further away” in step S 17 ), the gesture detector  102  detects that a “spread” gesture is made (step S 18 ). 
     Then, the image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process associated with the “spread” gesture detected by the gesture detector  102  (step S 19 ). 
     To be specific, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of enlarging an image portion including a predetermined product information item, which is displayed near the two areas (for example, between the two areas) indicated by the two grid information items included in the “touch” event, greater than it originally was. 
     This situation is shown in  FIG. 10 .  FIG. 10  is a diagram showing a specific example of the image editing process associated with the “spread” gesture. As shown in  FIG. 10 , the image editing processor  103  executes the process of enlarging the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2 , which is displayed near the positions contacted by two fingers, in accordance with the distance between the two fingers that are moved away from each other. More specifically, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of enlarging the image portion P 2 , if at least one of the two fingers move away at least from an area in one stage to an area in the other stage of the two upper and lower stages. That is, as shown in  FIG. 10 , the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2  is displayed with emphasis greater than the other image portions. 
     For example, it is assumed that the employee wishes to display the product (product b) of the product name B indicated by the product information item D 2  as a bargain. In this case, the employee can handle this simply by “spreading” the displayed image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2 . 
       FIG. 7  is referred to again. If it is determined that the positions of the two areas are closer to each other than they were before being moved in the above-described process in step S 17  (“Closer” in step S 17 ), the gesture detector  102  detects that a “pinch” gesture is made (step S 20 ). 
     Next, the image editing processor  103  executes an image editing process associated with the “pinch” gesture detected by the gesture detector  102  (step S 21 ). 
     To be specific, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of shrinking the image portion including the predetermined product information item, which is displayed near the two areas (for example, between the two areas) indicated by the two grid information items included in the “touch” event, smaller than it originally was. 
     This situation is shown in  FIG. 11 .  FIG. 11  is a diagram showing a specific example of the image editing process associated with the “pinch” gesture. As shown in  FIG. 11 , the image editing processor  103  executes the process of shrinking the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2 , which is displayed near the positions contacted by two fingers, in accordance with the distance between the two fingers that are moved closer to each other. More specifically, the image editing processor  103  executes the process of shrinking the image portion P 2 , if at least one of the two fingers move closer at least from an area in one stage to an area in the other stage of the two upper and lower stages. That is, as shown in  FIG. 11 , the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2  is displayed smaller than the other image portions. In other words, the image portions other than the image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2  are displayed greater than the image portion P 2 . 
     For example, it is assumed that the employee wishes to display the products except the product (product b) of the product name B indicated by the product information item D 2  with emphasis as bargains. In this case, the employee can handle this simply by “pinching” the displayed image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2 , not by enlarging each of the image portions including the respective product information items on the products except the product b by “spreading” them. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates the case where the image portion including the predetermined product information item, which is displayed near the positions contacted by the two fingers, is enlarged greater than it originally was, as the image editing process associated with the “spread” gesture. However, the image editing process associated with the “spread” gesture is not limited to this. For example, as shown in  FIG. 12 , it is also possible to further display (insert) a comment recommending the product of the product information item included in the image portion displayed near the positions contacted by the two fingers, specifically, characters such as “Bargain”.  FIG. 12  illustrates the case where the “spread” gesture is made, and thus, the characters “Bargain” are displayed in the upper stage of the display and the product name and the price are displayed in the lower stage of the display. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the case where the image portion including the predetermined product information item, which is displayed near the positions contacted by the two fingers, is shrunk smaller than it originally was, as the imager editing process associated with the “pinch” gesture. However, the image editing process associated with the “pinch” gesture is not limited to this. For example, as shown in  FIG. 13 , it is possible to display (insert) a comment to the effect that the product of the product information item included in the image portion displayed near the positions contacted by the two fingers is sold out, that is, characters “Sold Out”, instead of the product information item.  FIG. 13  illustrates the case where only the characters “Sold Out” are displayed. However, it is also possible to display the characters “Sold Out” in the upper stage of the display and display the product name and the price in the lower stage of the display as shown in  FIG. 12 . 
     In the present embodiment, the case where an image portion including a product information item included in a shelf label image is edited (changed) through an image editing process has been described. However, as shown in  FIG. 14 , it is also possible to change the area (display position) where the image portion including the product information item is displayed by detecting an employee&#39;s gesture made on a partition line included in the shelf label image.  FIG. 14  illustrates the case where a partition line L 1  located between the displayed image portion P 1  including the product information item D 1  and the displayed image portion P 2  including the product information item D 2  is moved (dragged) to the right. In this case, the shelf label image is edited, such that the area where the image portion P 1  is displayed becomes wider and the area where the image portion P 2  is displayed becomes narrower. 
     In the present embodiment, the case where a shelf label image is edited by the display device  10  has been described. However, for example, it is also possible that the portable terminal  20  is a smartphone or a tablet terminal, and the shelf label image is edited by the server device  40  in accordance with the employee&#39;s operation of the portable terminal  20 . In this case, the process of editing the shelf label image is executed by the server device  40 , while the employee just need to operate the portable terminal  20  on site. Thus, the employee can easily change the shelf label image on site. The configuration in this case is shown in  FIG. 15 . 
       FIG. 15  is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the electronic shelf label system in the case where the shelf label image is edited, not by the display device  10 , but by the server device  40 . 
     The display device  10  shown in  FIG. 15  is not a device comprising a touchpanel unlike that of  FIG. 1 , and may be any device that can simply display the shelf label image on a display. The display device  10  comprises a storage device storing an image data item of the shelf label image displayed on the display. 
     The portable terminal  20  is a device comprising a touchpanel, such as a smartphone or a tablet terminal, and is connected to the display device  10  to be able to communicate with the display device  10  with a wire or via wireless means. In addition, the portable terminal  20  is connected to the server device  40  to be able to communicate with the server device  40  via the communication terminal  30  via wireless means. 
     The server device  40  comprises a processor having the same functions as the gesture detector  102  and the image editing processor  103  described above. In addition, the server device  40  comprises a storage device (second storage device) storing an image data item of a shelf label image displayed by the display device  10 . 
     An example of a procedure carried out by the electronic shelf label system shown in  FIG. 15  will be herein described with reference to the flowchart of  FIG. 16 . 
     First, the portable terminal  20  connects to the display device  10  with a wire or via wireless means, and acquires an image data item of a shelf label image that is currently displayed by the display device  10  (step S 21 ). If the display device  10  is not provided with the storage device storing the image data item of the shelf label image, the portable terminal  20  acquires the image data item from the server device  40 . 
     The shelf label image indicated by the acquired image data item is displayed on the display of the portable terminal  20 . The employee performs an edit operation of the shelf label image on the display. 
     In response to this operation, the portable terminal  20  generates a positional information item indicating a contact position of an object detected by the touchpanel, and transmits it to the server device  40  (steps S 22  and S 23 ). 
     The server device  40  receives the positional information item transmitted from the portable terminal  20  (step S 24 ). Then, the server device  40  detects the employee&#39;s gesture based on the received positional information item (step S 25 ). 
     The server device  40  executes an image editing process associated with the detected employee&#39;s gesture for the image data item of the shelf label image stored in the second storage device (step S 26 ). 
     Then, the server device  40  transmits the edited image data item to the portable terminal  20 . The edited image data item is further transmitted to the display device  10  by the portable terminal  20  (step S 27 ). A shelf label image indicated by the edited image data item is thereby displayed by the display device  10 . 
     Here, the case where the server device  40 , which have acquired a positional information item from the portable terminal  20 , executes an image editing process, transmits the edited image data item to the portable terminal  20 , and updates the shelf label image has been described. However, there are no limitations, and the image editing process may be executed by the portable terminal  20 . In this case, the portable terminal  20  generates a positional information item in the above-described process of step S 22 , and then detects the employee&#39;s gesture based on the generated positional information item and executes an image editing process associated with the detected employee&#39;s gesture. The edited image data item is transmitted to the display device  10  to update the shelf label image, and also transmitted to the server device  40  to rewrite the image data item stored in the second storage device. 
     If the image editing process is executed by the portable terminal  20  as described above, the employee may execute the image editing process, not only by operating the touchpanel, but also by operating an input interface (for example, a keyboard or a mouse) corresponding to the portable terminal  20 . 
     As described above, according to the present embodiment, the display device and the electronic shelf label system which enable a shelf label image to be easily changed on site can be provided. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions. For example, in the present embodiment, the structure wherein the horizontally elongated display device  10  is provided is adopted. However, it is also possible to adopt the structure wherein a plurality of display devices are joined horizontally to be horizontally elongated like the above display device. In this case, it is also possible that a touchpanel is provided for each individual display device, or a touchpanel is mounted on the display devices joined together.