Patent ID: 7420527

Claim:
An image displaying device which is connected with a plurality of terminals to store image data through a network that permits two-way communications and which acquires image data from each terminal, thereby displaying an image, said image displaying device comprising: a communication unit at the displaying device side that performs two-way communications with each of said terminals, an image data acquisition controlling unit that acquires image data from a relevant terminal in such a way that when the image data acquisition controlling unit acquires image data from the relevant terminal by controlling said communication unit at the displaying device side, the image data acquisition controlling unit instructs other terminals to suspend transmission, thereby suspending transmission of image data, an image displaying unit that displays an image in response to the image data acquired as the result of control by said image data acquisition controlling unit, and a mode switching unit that switches a split display mode to and from a sequential display mode, so that, in the split display mode, the image displaying unit displays images based on individual image data on divided sections of one screen, and in the sequential display mode, the image displaying unit displays one image based on the individual image data on a full screen, wherein the image data acquisition controlling unit controls, in the sequential display mode, the communication unit at the display device side in such a way that the image data acquisition controlling unit designates a specific terminal as the relevant terminal until the transmission terminal is switched and continues to acquire image data, and the image data acquisition controlling unit sends to the terminals, other than the relevant terminal, a request to suspend transmission, requests the relevant terminal for transmission of image data for one image or continuous transmission of image data until an instruction to switch the source of image transmission is issued, so that while the image based on the image data output from the relevant terminal is being displayed, the other terminals do not output image data, and thereafter requests the switched terminal to transmit image data.