Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6469698?dq=5787445
Timestamp: 2017-09-19 21:09:42
Document Index: 581385970

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 24', 'art 24', 'art 24', 'art 25', 'art 25', 'arts 25', 'art 26', 'art 25', 'art 26', 'art 122', 'art 122', 'art 122', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'arts 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 123', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'arts 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 123', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'arts 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 123', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 121', 'art 123', 'arts 121', 'art 123']

Patent US6469698 - Image display apparatus - Google Patents
An image display apparatus includes an image reading part for reading an image from an image recording medium, a position reading part for reading absolute-position information indicative of a position, from the image recording medium, a storage medium which stores a plurality of place-name data corresponding...http://www.google.com/patents/US6469698?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6469698 - Image display apparatus
Publication number US6469698 B2
Application number US 09/218,113
Also published as US20020036647
Publication number 09218113, 218113, US 6469698 B2, US 6469698B2, US-B2-6469698, US6469698 B2, US6469698B2
Inventors Hidehiko Fukahori
US 6469698 B2
An image display apparatus includes an image reading part for reading an image from an image recording medium, a position reading part for reading absolute-position information indicative of a position, from the image recording medium, a storage medium which stores a plurality of place-name data corresponding to the absolute-position information, and a display part for selecting and displaying particular place-name data corresponding to the absolute-position information.
position information circuit which detects latitude and longitude information;
a storage medium which stores a plurality of place-name data corresponding to the latitude and longitude information, said place-name data being composed of a plurality of place-name data hierarchically indicating the same area with respect to the same latitude and longitude information;
reading circuit which reads said plurality of hierarchical place-name data from the storage medium on the basis of the latitude and longitude information;
display device which displays the plurality of hierarchical place-name data read by said reading circuit;
changing circuit which changes an order of hierarchy of the plurality of hierarchical place-name data; and
setting circuit which stores the order of hierarchy changed by said changing circuit, as an order of hierarchy according to which said display device provides the next display.
2. A display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said reading circuit, in its initial state, reads the plurality of hierarchical place-name data in order from a minimum hierarchical level.
wherein said setting circuit erases the stored order of hierarchy if a predetermined variation occurs in the time information.
4. A display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said setting circuit erases the stored order of hierarchy if a predetermined variation occurs between the previously read latitude and longitude information and the presently read latitude and longitude information.
selecting circuit which selects the place name data stored in said storage medium, on the basis of said latitude and longitude information, said circuit selecting said selected place-name data in the order of hierarchy; and
display device which displays said place-name data selected in the order of hierarchy.
In contrast, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Hei 8-240854, since the filing apparatus has a geographic database, a camera does not need a large storage capacity. However, a user needs to perform conversion to a place name each time he/she takes a photograph, and must perform an awkward operation for this purpose. In addition, since a converted place name and image information are respectively recorded on separate media, the image information recorded on one medium may not accurately reflect the converted place name recorded on another medium. Moreover, although individual users have different tastes as to the manner in which position information is converted into a place name, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Hei 8-240854 has no description to cope with such a demand. For example, if individual users are to convert “LONGITUDE 139°41′06″” and “LATITUDE 35°33′48″” into a place name, whether to convert the position information into “◯◯ Inc.”, “Ohta-ku”, “Tokyo” or “Japan” depends on the tastes of the respective users, but there is no proposal to meet this demand.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an image display apparatus capable of automatically converting absolute-position information into place-name information and displaying the same.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing the arrangement of an image display apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention;
The operation of Step S103 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3. The absolute-position information read by the position information reading part 3 is displayed in the absolute-position display part 24. More specifically, “LONGITUDE 139°41′06″” and “LATITUDE 35°33′48″” are respectively displayed in the longitude display part 24 a and the latitude display part 24 b. In the converted place-name display part 25, the result obtained by comparing the absolute-position information with the place-name database 4 is displayed at a plurality of hierarchal levels which respectively correspond to different degrees of coarseness of geographical resolution. Specifically, “LONGITUDE 139°41′06″” and “LATITUDE 35°33′48″” are compared with the place-name database 4, so that “1. ◯◯ Inc.” is displayed in the display part 25 a as the minimum resolution hierarchal display and “2. Shimomaruko”, “3. Ohta-ku”, “4. Tokyo” and “5. Japan” are respectively displayed in the display parts 25 b to 25 e in the order of coarseness of geographical resolution.
In the selected place-name display part 26, “◯◯ Inc.” is displayed which corresponds to the place name selected at the hierarchal level of the display part 25 a, and during this state,-if a user presses a decision button (not shown), the converted place name is defined as “◯◯ Inc.”
If the user desires to convert the absolute-position information into the place name “4. Tokyo” instead of the place name “1. ◯◯ Inc.” which corresponds to the minimum hierarchal level, the user may change the selected hierarchal level through an operating member (not shown). If the user changes the selected hierarchal level by operating the operating member (not shown), a place name corresponding to a newly selected hierarchal level is blinked in the above-described manner. For example, if the user operates the operating member (not shown) to blink “4. Tokyo” and presses the decision button (not shown), the converted place name is defined as “Tokyo” in the selected place-name display part 26.
The absolute-position information read in Step S202 is displayed in the absolute-position display part 122. More specifically, “LONGITUDE 139°41′06″” and “LATITUDE 35°33′48″” are respectively displayed in the longitude display part 122 a and the latitude display part 122 b. In the converted place-name display part 121, the result obtained by comparing the absolute-position information with the place-name database 104 is displayed at a plurality of hierarchal levels which respectively correspond to different degrees of coarseness of geographical resolution. Specifically, “LONGITUDE 139°41′06″” and “LATITUDE 35°33′48″” are compared with the place-name database 104, so that “1. ◯◯ Inc.” is displayed in the display part 121 a as the minimum resolution hierarchal display and “2. Shimomaruko”, “3. Ohta-ku”, “4. Tokyo” and “5. Japan” are respectively displayed in the display parts 121 b to 121 e in the order of coarseness of geographical resolution.
This embodiment is preset so that the display part 121 a corresponding to the minimum resolution hierarchal level is first selected, and FIG. 7 shows that the display part 121 a is blinking to indicate its selected state. In the selected place-name display part 123, “◯◯ Inc.” is displayed which corresponds to the place name selected at the hierarchal level of the display part 121. This is because, in general photographs, a strongest connection appears between a photographed image and a place name corresponding to the minimum resolution hierarchal level. During this state, if the user presses a decision button (not shown), the converted place name is defined as “◯◯ Inc.”
For example, it is assumed that “LONGITUDE 139°44′56″” and “LATITUDE 35°40′03″” are compared with the place-name database 104 for the purpose of place-name conversion. Since the display example shown in FIG. 9 is intended for the first frame, the place-name conversion is performed in a place-name conversion mode which is prepared as the initial values described above in connection with Step S212 of FIG. 8. Specifically, “1. Patent Office” is displayed in the display part 121 a as the minimum resolution hierarchal display and “2. Kasumigaseki”, “3. Chiyoda-ku”, “4. Tokyo” and “5. Japan” are respectively displayed in the display parts 121 b to 121 e in the order of coarseness of geographical hierarchal resolution. Since the example shown in FIG. 9 is preset so that the display part 121 a corresponding to the minimum resolution hierarchal level is first selected, the display part 121 a blinks and “Patent Office” which corresponds to a place name selected from the hierarchal levels of the display part 121 is displayed in the selected place-name display part 123.
FIG. 10 shows one display example in which the order of hierarchy is changed compared to the display shown in FIG. 7. In the display example shown in FIG. 10, the order of hierarchy in the converted place-name display part 121 is changed so that the order of hierarchy starts not from the minimum hierarchal level “◯◯ Inc.” but from the maximum hierarchal level “Japan”. Accordingly, “5. Japan” is displayed in the display part 121 a as the minimum resolution hierarchal display and “4. Tokyo”, “3. Ohta-ku”, “2. Shimomaruko” and “1. ◯◯ Inc.” are respectively displayed in the display parts 121 b to 121 e in the order of fineness of geographical hierarchal resolution. The display part 121 a is blinking and “Japan” which corresponds to a place name selected from the hierarchal levels of the display part 121 is displayed in the selected place-name display part 123.
FIG. 11 shows one display example in which the position of hierarchy (place name) is changed compared to the display shown in FIG. 7. In the display example shown in FIG. 11, the position of hierarchy is changed from the display part 121 a (“1. ◯◯ Inc.”) to the display part 121 c (“3. Ohta-ku”). Accordingly, the display part 121 c is blinking and “Ohta-ku” which corresponds to a place name selected from the hierarchal levels of the display part 121 is displayed in the selected place-name display part 123.
Although the above-described embodiment is arranged so that only one hierarchal position is selected, it is also possible to adopt an arrangement capable of selecting a plurality of hierarchal positions. For example, according to this arrangement, if the display parts 121 a and 121 c of FIG. 7 are selected, “◯◯ Inc. Ohta-ku” is displayed in the selected place-name display part 123.
Cooperative Classification H04N2201/3277, H04N1/32101, H04N2201/3273, H04N2201/3274
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:FUKAHORI, HIDEHIKO;REEL/FRAME:009768/0010