Patent ID: 8624927

Claim:
A display apparatus comprising: display means for displaying information on a display screen; distance detecting means for detecting a distance from the display screen to the face of an operator; and control means for causing the information to be enlarged or educed on the display screen in response to a change of the detected distance, wherein the distance detecting means includes imaging means for capturing an image of the face of the operator who is viewing the display screen, and the control means detects the distance from the display screen to the face of the operator by detecting a ratio of a face image of the operator to the captured image, wherein the control means determines a magnification ratio of the image according to a ratio or difference in detection size of the face image with respect to a reference size, wherein the control means causes the magnification ratio of the image to increase when the detected distance from the display screen to the face of the operator changes in one direction from a start distance and causes the magnification ratio to decrease when the detected distance changes in an opposite direction, and wherein the control means is configured to detect a specific face change in the image of the face of the operator, wherein in response to the specific face change, the magnification ratio is maintained at its last changed ratio even when the distance from the display screen to the face of the operator is returned toward the start distance and further, when the specific face change no longer is detected, the magnification ratio is increased or decreased again when the detected distance from the display screen to the face of the operator changes in said one or opposite direction once again.