Display device capable of displaying slide show, control method thereof, and storage medium

Abstract

Disclosed are a display device capable of displaying a slide show, a control method thereof, and a storage medium. A display device that displays images acquired via a network includes a display unit configured to display information, and one or more controllers configured to register a plurality of pieces of address information including address information of image data accessible using a first protocol and address information of image data accessible using a second protocol, and acquire a plurality of pieces of image data based on the plurality of registered pieces of address information and sequentially display the plurality of acquired pieces of image data on the display unit.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates generally to information processing, and more particularly to information processing systems capable of displaying photographic images as a slide show on a display unit. Examples of devices applicable to information processing systems include business machines such as copiers, printers, scanners, fax machines, and multifunction peripherals (MFPs), as well as general information processing devices such as personal computers (PCs) and mobile terminals. Background Technology

[0002] Devices such as digital photo frames are known to use image files stored on storage devices such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory or Secure Digital (SD) cards to provide slideshows. Recently, some products with such slideshow functionality, such as MFP image processing devices (information processing devices), have been released.

[0003] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-524114 discusses a digital signage system that enables slideshows with the same content on multiple display devices by delivering slideshow information from a management service (distribution server) to multiple display devices. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The prior art, including that described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2015-524114, has room for improvement in the method for acquiring target images for a slideshow. This prior art is configured to perform a slideshow using images collected at one location, such as an internal storage device (including a Secure Digital (SD) card and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory) or a distribution server, and therefore cannot support slideshows using images present in multiple locations.

[0005] This disclosure relates to a display device capable of performing a slideshow using image data present in multiple locations.

[0006] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a display device displays an image acquired via a network, the display device comprising: a display unit configured to display information; and one or more controllers configured to: register multiple pieces of address information, the multiple pieces of address information including address information of image data accessible using a first protocol and address information of image data accessible using a second protocol; and acquire multiple pieces of image data based on the multiple registered address information and sequentially display the multiple acquired image data on the display unit.

[0007] Further features of this disclosure will become clear from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0008] Figure 1 An example of network configuration is shown in the diagram.

[0009] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of a multi-functional peripheral device (MFP).

[0010] Figure 3 The diagram illustrates the software configuration of MFP.

[0011] Figure 4 The image shows the top-level view of the extended application settings screen.

[0012] Figure 5 The image shows an example of the basic settings editing screen.

[0013] Figure 6 The image shows an example of a new slide registration screen.

[0014] Figure 7 The illustration shows an example of the top-level screen of the expanded application settings screen when the "Specify slides one by one" option is selected for the "Specify slides" option.

[0015] Figure 8 The illustration shows an example of the top-level screen of the expanded application settings screen when the option to specify slides is "Specify slides from folders together".

[0016] Figure 9 The image shows an example of a folder settings editing screen.

[0017] Figure 10 The diagram shows Figure 9 This is an example of how information set in the context of an application is displayed on the top layer of the extended application settings screen.

[0018] Figure 11A The illustration shows the extended application start button displayed in the MFP's display unit, and Figure 11B The image shows an example of an application execution screen.

[0019] Figure 12 The diagram illustrates the sequence of settings used to execute extended applications.

[0020] Figure 13 The diagram illustrates the sequence used to execute extended applications.

[0021] Figure 14 This is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing between the extended application and the server.

[0022] Figure 15This is a flowchart illustrating the process of registering slideshow settings in an extended application.

[0023] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating the process used to display a slideshow in an extended application.

[0024] Figure 17 This is a flowchart illustrating the process used in an extended application to acquire slideshow image data.

[0025] Figure 18 The illustration shows that in Figure 15 An example of settings data stored in the slide settings area shown.

[0026] Figure 19 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process used to change the order in which slides are displayed.

[0027] Figure 20A The illustration shows an example display of the first process in the display order editing screen, and Figure 20B The illustration shows an example display of the second process in the order editing screen.

[0028] Figure 21A The illustration shows an example display of the first process in editing the screen according to the first modified display order, and Figure 21B The illustration shows an example display of the second process of editing the screen according to the first modified display order.

[0029] Figure 22A The illustration shows an example display of the first process in editing the screen according to the second modified display order, and Figure 22B The illustration shows an example display of the second processing step in editing the screen according to the second modified display order.

[0030] Figure 23 The illustration shows an example of the settings values ​​for each slide registered in the new slide registration screen.

[0031] Figure 24 The image shows an example of the basic settings editing screen.

[0032] Figure 25 The illustration shows an example of slideshow registration information maintained in an extended application.

[0033] Figure 26 The illustration shows an example of metadata maintained in extended applications.

[0034] Figure 27 An example of a slide combination is shown.

[0035] Figure 28 An example of an alternative slide is shown.

[0036] Figure 29 This is a flowchart illustrating the slide display process.

[0037] Figure 30 The image shows an example of an error screen configuration.

[0038] Figure 31 This is a flowchart illustrating the process used to acquire slideshow image data in an extended application. Detailed Implementation

[0039] Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following exemplary embodiments do not limit the present disclosure to the scope of the appended claims. Not all combinations of configurations and processes described in the exemplary embodiments are essential to the solutions of the present disclosure. Equivalents may replace some or all of the configurations and processes described in the exemplary embodiments. Furthermore, some configurations and processes may be omitted.

[0040] <System>

[0041] Exemplary embodiments will now be described. The first exemplary embodiment will be described with a focus on a system specifically designed for environments where there is a need to perform slideshows using images located in multiple positions on a multifunction peripheral device (MFP) or image forming apparatus.

[0042] Consider the following example scenario: In a university with a large campus, public guidance information is displayed in the display unit of each of several MFPs installed in office work windows across several university buildings. The public guidance information may include introductions to various circles. The following example focuses on MFPs with the ability to read data from internal storage. For each MFP to display the public guidance information, all image data generated by each circle needs to be stored in the internal storage of all MFPs. If a circle needs to replace an image in the guidance information content, storing the relevant image in all MFPs across multiple university buildings is cumbersome. Alternatively, a method can be considered that achieves the same operation using digital signage that receives data distributed from a distribution server. In this case, registering and storing the target image only in the distribution server eliminates the need to store the target image in all digital signage across multiple university buildings. However, circle members who want to replace the image need to register the relevant image in the distribution server. From a security perspective, in many cases, only specific server administrators are allowed to operate the distribution server. In this scenario, circle members need to pass the image to the server administrator, who then needs to register and store the image in the distribution server. It is easy to see that these processes are time-consuming. Therefore, for example, the system is configured to provide a slideshow by combining images stored on a server that can only be operated by a server administrator with images stored on a server that can be operated by any user other than the server administrator. This configuration enables the content of the slideshow to be edited in a flexible manner. The system according to a first exemplary embodiment will now be described. Figure 1 An example of system configuration is shown in the diagram.

[0043] like Figure 1 As shown, in the display system 1 according to this exemplary embodiment, MFP 10, web server 20, file server (Server Message Block (SMB) 1) 30, file server (SMB 2) 40, and information processing device 60 are interconnected via network circuit 50. MFP 10 is an image processing device (information processing device) used as an image forming apparatus for forming images on a sheet and an image reading apparatus for reading documents. MFP 10 is used as a display device for displaying information. Web server 20, file server (SMB 1) 30, and file server (SMB 2) 40 are general servers. Information processing device 60 is a general information processing device such as a personal computer (PC).

[0044] Each of web server 20, file server (SMB 1) 30, file server (SMB 2) 40, and information processing device 60 includes a central processing unit (CPU), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), and storage devices. Each of these devices operates when the CPU, comprising one or more processors, circuit systems, or combinations thereof, loads a program stored in the ROM and storage devices into the RAM and then executes the program. Each of web server 20, file server (SMB 1) 30, file server (SMB 2) 40, and information processing device 60 also includes a network interface (I / F) to enable communication with MFP 10. MFP 10 can retrieve data from web server 20 via Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Similarly, MFP 10 can retrieve data from file servers (SMB 1) 30 and (SMB 2) 40 via SMB protocols. MFP 10 can then display the retrieved data on a display unit provided on MFP 10. Specifically, by executing the extended application 310, the MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment can collect images located at multiple locations and provide a slideshow. The extended application 310 will now be described in detail. Although, for simplicity in this example, only one MFP 10 is connected to the network circuit 50, multiple MFP 10s can be connected to the network circuit 50. The image slideshow can be performed by each MFP 10. As used herein, the term "unit" generally refers to software, firmware, hardware, circuitry, or a combination thereof for achieving the purpose.

[0045] <Sequences used by the system>

[0046] When a user uses the extended application 310 in MFP 10, the user first performs the setup process. Figure 12The diagram illustrates the sequence of settings performed on extension application 310. In step 12-010 (hereinafter referred to as step S12-010), the user sends a settings screen request to extension application 310 from a web browser operating on information processing device 60 connected to MFP 10 via network circuit 50. Extension application 310 has a server function that provides web page (Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) data) to external devices. Upon receiving the settings screen request from the web browser operating on information processing device 60, then in step S12-020, extension application 310 transmits the top-level screen 401 of its settings screen to the web browser. In step S12-030, the user performs application settings. In step S12-040, the user transmits a settings registration request to extension application 310. In step S12-050, the settings content transmitted in step S12-040 via the settings registration request is stored in embedded multimedia card (eMMC) 109. In step S12-060, the extended application 310 transmits the registration result screen to the web browser. This completes the setup process.

[0047] Once the above setup process is completed, the extended application 310 becomes ready to be used. Figure 13The diagram illustrates the sequence for executing extended application 310. When the user executes settings using the automatic application startup setting (“automatic transition”) option 503 in the basic settings editing screen 501 (described below), a startup timing is detected based on the settings in step S13-010. In step S13-040, MFP 10 issues an execution command to extended application 310. This execution command can be issued even if a startup timing is not detected in step S13-010. When the user presses the extended application startup button 1106 displayed on the display unit 105 of MFP 10 in step S13-020, the display unit 105 issues an application execution request to MFP 10 in step S13-030. When a startup timing is detected in step S13-010 or when an application execution request is issued in step S13-030, MFP 10 issues an execution command to extended application 310 in step S13-040. Upon receiving the execution instruction, in step S13-050, the extended application 310 confirms the setting value from the eMMC 109. In step S13-060, the extended application 310, based on the setting value confirmed in step S13-050, sends an image file retrieval request to servers such as web server 20, file server (SMB1) 30, and file server (SMB2) 40. In step S13-070, the server transmits the image file to the extended application 310. Upon receiving the image file from the server, in step S13-080, the extended application 310 sends a display instruction to the display unit 105. In step S13-090, the display unit 105 displays the image file received from the server based on the setting value confirmed in step S13-050. Basic operations for image display are performed in this manner.

[0048] The following describes the operations of the extended application 310 when retrieving images from multiple servers. Figure 14This is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing between the extended application 310 and the server. In step S14-010, the extended application 310 reads the slide setup information to identify the content of the information. Starting from the next step, the extended application 310 performs processing to obtain an image from the registered server based on the slide setup information. The case where two different slides are set will be described below. In step S14-020, the extended application 310 sends an image metadata retrieval request to server 1 registered in the first slide of the slide setup information. Image metadata refers to information about the date and time of the update of the predetermined image and its size. In step S14-030, server 1, which received the request in step S14-020, transmits the predetermined image metadata. In step S14-040, the extended application 310 compares the image metadata received in step S14-030 with the pre-stored image metadata to confirm whether the two metadata fragments are different. When the two metadata fragments are different, the extended application 310 executes steps S14-050 to S14-070. On the other hand, when the two metadata fragments are identical, since slide image acquisition is not required, the extended application 310 executes step S14-080 and subsequent steps to acquire the next slide image. In step S14-050, the extended application 310 sends an image data acquisition request to the server 1 registered in the slide setup information. In step S14-060, the server 1, upon receiving the request, transmits the predetermined image data. Communication between the extended application 310 and the server is performed based on the protocol type registered in the slide setup information. For example, when the protocol type is SMB, the SMB protocol is used. When the protocol type is HTTP, the HTTP protocol is used. In step S14-070, the extended application 310 stores the image metadata and image data acquired in steps S14-030 and S14-060, respectively, in the image forming apparatus. The stored image metadata is used as the "pre-stored image metadata" in step S14-040 in the next step. Extended application 310 performs steps S14-080 to S14-130 on the information registered in the second slide of the slide setup information. These steps are the same as steps S14-020 to S14-070 for the first slide, and their repeated descriptions will be omitted. In step S14-140, extended application 310 displays each slide based on image data obtained from the server.

[0049] <mfp>

[0050] Figure 2 This is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of an MFP. For example... Figure 2 As shown, the MFP 10 includes a CPU 101, ROM 102, RAM 103, a display controller 104, a display unit 105, an operation controller 106, and an operation unit 107. The MFP 10 also includes an eMMC host controller 108, an eMMC 109, a read controller 110, a read unit 111, a record controller 112, and a record unit 113. The MFP 10 also includes a Universal Serial Bus (USB) host controller 114, a modem 115, a network control unit (NCU) 116, and a network interface card (NIC) 117.

[0051] CPU 101 is the control unit (processor or controller) for every device connected to the system bus 118. When power is on, CPU 101 executes the boot program stored in ROM 102. Typically, the boot program loads the main program stored in storage into RAM 103, then transfers control to the top level of the loaded main program. RAM 103 serves not only as the location for loading the main program but also as the working area for the main program. CPU 101 executes the following reference... Figures 15 to 17 The described control program is implemented Figures 15 to 17 The processing described below.

[0052] Display controller 104 is a display control unit (controller) that controls image rendering on display unit 105. For example, display unit 105 is a full-bitmap liquid crystal display (LCD) with a wide video graphics array (WVGA) size. On the other hand, operation controller 106 is an operation control unit (controller) that controls inputs from operation unit 107 provided on MFP 10. Operation unit 107 includes a touch panel stacked on display unit 105 and is capable of detecting user touch operations.

[0053] The reading unit 111 is configured to read documents and includes a line sensor and a camera. The reading unit 111 is a device that drives and uses the line sensor and camera. The reading unit 111 is optionally equipped with an automatic document feeder (not shown) and is capable of automatically reading multiple documents. The reading unit 111 is connected to the reading controller 110. The CPU 101 communicates with the reading unit 111 via the reading controller 110.

[0054] Recording unit 113 is an image forming unit that forms an image on recording paper using an electrophotographic method. Recording unit 113 is connected to recording controller 112. CPU 101 communicates with recording unit 113 via recording controller 112.

[0055] USB host controller 114 is responsible for USB protocol control and acts as an intermediary for access to USB devices such as USB memory (not shown).

[0056] Modem 115 is configured to modulate and demodulate signals used for fax communications.

[0057] Modem 115 is connected to NCU 116. The signal modulated by modem 115 is transmitted to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via NCU 116.

[0058] NIC 117 exchanges data bidirectionally with mail and file servers via LAN.

[0059] The MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment includes an eMMC 109 as a storage device. Solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs) can be used instead of the eMMC 109. The CPU 101 accesses the eMMC 109 via an eMMC host controller 108.

[0060] Figure 3 The diagram illustrates the software configuration of MFP 10. (Reference) Figure 3 The unit drawn with solid lines is a software module implemented when the CPU 101 executes the main program loaded into RAM 103 by the bootloader.

[0061] The execution of each module of the main program (described below) is managed and controlled by the operating system (OS) 301. OS 301 includes a device driver 308, which acts as an intermediary for communication with hardware devices including a display controller 104, an operation controller 106, and a read controller 110.

[0062] The user interface (UI) 302 provides the user with various kinds of information and accepts various instructions from the user via the display unit 105 and the operation unit 107.

[0063] The job controller unit 303 accepts jobs including copying, printing and faxing jobs and controls the execution of the accepted jobs.

[0064] Storage unit 306 is a software module in eMMC 109 that physically stores images transmitted and received via fax, as well as user settings and manages these data fragments.

[0065] For example, in the MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment, when the job controller unit 303 receives a fax job, the scanning unit 307 receives the job request and controls the reading unit 111 to scan the document. The scanning unit 307 then stores the scanned fax image data in the storage unit 306. The fax image data stored in the storage unit 306 is read by the fax unit 304 and then transmitted to a communication partner via fax through the modem 115 and NCU 116. Alternatively, image data received from the communication partner via fax through the modem 115 and NCU 116 is captured by the fax unit 304 and then stored in the storage unit 306.

[0066] The MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment includes a virtual machine (VM) / framework (FW) unit 309. Extended applications 310 include arbitrary programs described in a scripting language. Applicable examples of language systems include interpreters for interpreting and executing bytecode. And Lua. The VM / FW unit 309 has the function of installing any program described in a scripting language or a predetermined high-level language into the extension application 310 and uninstalling any program from the extension application 310. The VM / FW unit 309 also acts as an intermediary between the functionality implemented by the arbitrary program installed in the extension application 310 and existing functionality. The VM / FW unit 309 interprets and executes the described scripting language. These units enable the MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment to easily implement login applications, slideshows, and other arbitrary functions, while maintaining the characteristics of function addition and separation.

[0067] The UI device controller 311 serves as an intermediary for the output of various information from the UI 302 and extended applications 310 to the display unit 105, and for the transmission of user operations on the operation unit 107 to the UI 302 and extended applications 310. Details will be described below.

[0068] Figure 11A An example of an extended application start button 1106 displayed on the display unit 105 of an MFP 10 is illustrated, and Figure 11B An example of an application execution screen is illustrated. The button name of the displayed extended application start button 1106 is the button name set in the basic settings editing screen 501. The display unit 105 of the MFP 10 may include a button 1105 displaying a counter check screen for confirming counter values ​​and a button 1104 displaying a status check screen for confirming job and equipment status. The extended application 310 is started when the user presses the extended application start button 1106 displayed on the display unit 105 of the MFP 10 or when the timer set by the automatic application start setting ("Automatic Transition") option 503 in the basic settings editing screen 501 arrives. When the extended application 310 is started, it displays information on the display unit 105 of the MFP 10 according to the information set in the new slide registration screen 601 or the folder settings editing screen 901.

[0069] <Setup Screen>

[0070] Figures 4 to 10 An example of the setup screen for the extended application 310 is illustrated. These setup screens are displayed on a web browser operating on an information processing device 60 connected to the MFP 10 via network circuitry 50. Figures 4 to 10 The illustration shows an example of the setup screen for an extended application 310 that sequentially displays a slideshow of specified image files on the display unit 105 of an MFP 10.

[0071] Figure 4 The diagram illustrates the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen for the extension application 310. The application information area 402 displays the version and size of the extension application 310. The basic settings area 403 displays the settings made in the basic settings editing screen 501, which appears when the edit button 404 is pressed.

[0072] Figure 5 The illustration shows what happens when the button is pressed. Figure 4 This is an example of the basic settings editing screen 501 displayed when the edit button 404 is pressed. The basic settings editing screen 501 includes a button name option 502, an automatic application of startup settings ("Automatic Transition") option 503, a "Slide Display Time" option 504, and a slide assignment method option 505. The slide assignment method option 505 is an option to select from two methods: one for assigning slides together from a folder, and the other for assigning slides one by one, to specify the method for displaying the target image file. When pressed... Figure 5 When the confirmation button 506 is pressed, the settings configured through the aforementioned options are registered in the extended application 310. Figure 5 When the Cancel button 507 is pressed, the settings made through the above settings options are canceled, and the system returns to the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen of the extended application 310.

[0073] When the "Specify slides one by one" option is selected in the basic settings editing screen 501 and the confirmation button 506 is pressed, the top screen 401 of the settings screen of the extended application 310 displays a slide management area including the "Register new slides" button 405.

[0074] Figure 6 The illustration shows an example of a new slide registration screen 601 displayed when the user presses the "Register New Slide" button 405 on the top screen 401 of the settings screen of the extension application 310. For the background option 602, the user selects "Specify image using path", "Specify image using URL", or "Specify color". When selecting "Specify image using path" or "Specify image using URL", the user can specify (register) the path to the image file or the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the image file using the file location option 603. When selecting "Specify image using path", the user sets a username and password for accessing the image file using the username option 604 and password option 605. When the confirmation button 609, which serves as a connection check button, is pressed, a connection check is performed based on the information set through the file location option 603, username option 604, and password option 605 in the new slide registration screen 601.

[0075] When "Specify Color" is selected for background option 602, the user sets the background color using background color option 606. The new slide registration screen 601 also includes a "Show Text on Slide" option 607 for specifying whether text should be displayed on the slide. The new slide registration screen 601 also includes text display settings options 608, which include "Text to Display," "Font," "Font Size," "Font Color," "Scrolling Speed," and "Scrolling Direction." When the OK button 609 is pressed, the user... Figure 6 The settings options are registered in the extension application 310, and control the top-level screen 401 that returns to the settings screen of the extension application 310. Figure 7 The illustration shows an example of the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen of the extended application 310 displayed after pressing the confirmation button 609. The top-level screen 401 of the extended application 310's settings screen displays a list 701 of slides registered in the new slide registration screen 601. The extended application 310 displays image files on the display unit 105 of the MFP 10 according to the order displayed in list 701. Slides displayed in list 701 can be deleted by pressing the delete button 702. Figure 6 When the cancel button 610 in the middle is pressed, via Figure 6 The settings options in the settings menu are canceled, and the control returns to the top-level screen 401 of the settings menu of the extended application 310.

[0076] Figure 11B Slides 1107, 1108, and 1109 in the example are as follows: Figure 7 The example shown in list 701 illustrates how slides are displayed when specified. Extended application 310 displays each slide in list 701 sequentially according to the time period specified in the "Slide Display Time" option 504 in the basic settings editing screen 501. (Reference) Figure 11B The example shown displays slide 1107. Slide 1108 is displayed when the time period specified by the "Slide Display Time" option 504 has elapsed. Slide 1109 is displayed when the time period specified by the "Slide Display Time" option 504 has elapsed again. Slide 1107 is displayed after slide 1109, that is, the above display sequence is repeated.

[0077] Figure 8 The illustration shows an example of the top-level screen 401 of the extended application 310's settings screen when the slide assignment method option 505 in the basic settings editing screen 501 is selected as "Assign slides from folders together" and the OK button 506 is pressed. When "Assign slides from folders together" is selected in the slide assignment method option 505 in the basic settings editing screen 501, the top-level screen 401 of the extended application 310's settings screen displays the folder settings area 801. The folder settings area 801 displays the content set in the folder settings editing screen 901 that appears when the Edit button 802 is pressed.

[0078] Figure 9 The illustration shows an example of the folder settings editing screen 901 displayed when the edit button 802 is pressed. The user sets the path (folder path) to the folder where the target image file is stored in the "Path to Folder" option 902.

[0079] The user also sets the username and password used to access the folder in username option 903 and password option 904, respectively. By pressing the "Check Connection" button 906, the user checks the connection using the settings information set in "Path to Folder" option 902, username option 903, and password option 904. The user selects either "by filename" or "by updated date and time" for the "Show order of files in the folder" option 905.

[0080] Based on the setting selected for the "Display order of files in folder" option 905, image files (image data in the folder path) stored in the folder set for the "Path to folder" option 902 are displayed sequentially in the display unit 105 of the MFP10. Although the user sets the "Display order of files in folder" option 905 to "by filename" or "by updated date and time" in this case, other methods for setting the display order of files in folder can also be applied.

[0081] when Figure 9 When the confirmation button 907 is pressed, the settings configured through the aforementioned options are registered in the extension application 310, and the system returns to the top-level screen 401 of the extension application 310's settings screen. The folder settings area 801 in the top-level screen 401 of the extension application 310's settings screen is then displayed... Figure 9 The information set in the screen. Figure 10 The diagram shows Figure 9 This is an example of how information set in the settings menu is displayed in the top-level screen 401 of the extended application 310. When pressed... Figure 9 When the Cancel button 908 is pressed, the settings made through the above settings options are canceled, and the system returns to the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen of the extended application 310.

[0082] <Control Flow>

[0083] The following will refer to Figures 15 to 17 The process for registering and displaying settings for the extended application 310 according to this exemplary embodiment is described in detail.

[0084] Figure 15 This is a flowchart illustrating the process for registering slideshow settings in extended application 310 according to this exemplary embodiment.

[0085] Figure 15 The registration process shown is handled by a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) applet. The relevant registration process is configured to respond when a user uses... Figure 1 The information processing device 60 shown is invoked when its web browser accesses a predetermined URL. The related registration process is part of a process for configuring a slideshow application (not shown) installed in the extension application 310. As described above, the VM / FW unit 309 interprets the scripting language describing the related process, and the CPU 101 executes the interpreted content via the VM / FW unit 309.

[0086] In step S15-001, CPU 101 displays the above reference on a web browser. Figures 4 to 10 The presentation displays images, and users can set up the slideshow using various options.

[0087] In step S15-002, CPU 101 stores the slideshow settings made in step S15-001 in the slideshow settings area 1500. For convenience, the above description assumes that the settings are registered in the extended application 310. Figures 4 to 10 However, in a precise sense, the settings are entirely stored in the slideshow application assigned to the extension application 310. Figure 3 The slide setting area 1500 on the storage unit 306 shown below. (Refer to the following...) Figure 18 Describe in detail the settings data stored in slide settings area 1500.

[0088] Figure 16 This is a flowchart illustrating the process for displaying a slideshow on an extended application 310 according to this exemplary embodiment.

[0089] Figure 16 The processing shown for displaying a slideshow is part of the processing for configuring a slideshow application installed in extension application 310. Like Figure 15 As shown in the registration process, the VM / FW unit 309 interprets the script language describing the relevant process, and the CPU 101 executes the interpreted content via the VM / FW unit 309.

[0090] This process occurs when the user presses... Figure 11A The button 1106 shown arrives at the timer set in the Automatic Application Startup Settings ("Automatic Transition") option 503 in the Basic Settings Editing screen 501, and then... Figure 13 It is invoked in step S13-040 shown.

[0091] In step S16-001, CPU 101 reads from slide setup area 1500... Figure 15 The slideshow settings stored in step S15-002.

[0092] In step S16-002, CPU 101 begins image data acquisition processing.

[0093] To simplify the description, Figure 14 The illustration shows the image display in step S14-140 after the image data has been stored in steps S14-070 and S14-130. However, in a precise sense, the processing for displaying the slideshow and the image data acquisition processing operate asynchronously and in parallel. More specifically, image data acquisition is performed each time a slideshow display is requested. Then, image data is acquired one at a time, and the acquired image data is subsequently used for display until the slideshow display is complete. The flow of the image data acquisition process will be described in detail below.

[0094] In step S16-003, the CPU 101 instruction display unit 105 displays a message indicating that preparation is in progress.

[0095] In step S16-004, CPU 101 sets index i to 1. Then, the process proceeds to the next step.

[0096] When on Figure 5 When the slide assignment method option 505 shown is "Assign slides one by one", index i indicates... Figure 7 The display order of list 701 shown. When for Figure 5 When the slide assignment method option 505 shown is selected as "Assign slides from folder together", index i indicates based on Figure 9 The "Show order of files in folder" option 905 shown in the diagram sets the order in which files are displayed. Setting index i to 1 means indicating the first image.

[0097] In step S16-005, CPU 101 determines whether a request to disable the slideshow application has been issued. The VM / FW unit 309 according to this exemplary embodiment is configured to issue a disable request to the extended application 310 when the user touches any point on the screen of display unit 105 during operation of the slideshow application. VM / FW unit 309 is also configured to issue a disable request to the extended application 310 when any key on operation unit 107 is pressed. If the user performs the above operations, a disable request is issued and the process ends. Although not shown in detail due to its limited relevance to this disclosure, CPU 101 issues a request to VM / FW unit 309 at this time to forcibly disable the image data acquisition process (described below). When the disable request is not issued ("No" in step S16-005), the process proceeds to step S16-006.

[0098] In step S16-006, CPU 101 determines whether the display of the i-th image is complete. If the display is not complete ("No" in step S16-006), the process proceeds to step S16-007. On the other hand, if the display is complete ("Yes" in step S16-006), CPU 101 skips the process for displaying the i-th image. Then, the process proceeds to step S16-009.

[0099] In step S16-007, CPU 101 determines whether the i-th image has been cached in cache region 1600 through the image data acquisition process that began in step S16-002. Cache region 1600 is allocated in... Figure 3 The image is stored in storage unit 306 as shown. The term "cache" refers to the state where the cached image is valid and available for slideshow display. When the i-th image has been cached ("Yes" in step S16-007), the process proceeds to step S16-008. On the other hand, when the i-th image has not been cached ("No" in step S16-007), the process returns to step S16-005.

[0100] In step S16-008, the CPU 101 displays the i-th cached image on the display unit 105. When... Figure 6 When the background option 602 shown is set to "Specify Color", the CPU 101 does not actually acquire the image in the image data acquisition process (described below), but it is assumed that the image has been cached. In this case, the CPU 101 draws the background using the specified color in step S16-008. Detailed descriptions will be omitted as they are not directly relevant to the present invention. As discussed below, an error state indicating that the acquisition of the i-th image data has failed can be set to the cache area 1600 through the image data acquisition process. In this case, the image data pre-stored in the slideshow application indicating that the i-th image cannot be displayed is displayed on the screen.

[0101] In step S16-009, CPU 101 uses... Figure 6 The "Display text on slide" option 607 shown determines whether a text string is set to be displayed in the i-th image. When the text string is set to be displayed ("Yes" in step S16-009), the process proceeds to step S16-010. On the other hand, when the text string is not set to be displayed ("No" in step S16-009), the process proceeds to step S16-011.

[0102] In step S16-010, CPU 101 is based on Figure 6 The display text setting option 608 shown displays the text string of the i-th image. The CPU 101 also updates the display appropriately according to the scrolling direction setting.

[0103] In step S16-011, CPU 101 determines the time period that has elapsed since the start of displaying the i-th image, in order to determine the passage Figure 5 The process checks whether the predetermined time period set by option 504, "Showtime of a slide," has elapsed. If the predetermined time has elapsed ("Yes" in step S16-011), the process proceeds to step S16-012. On the other hand, if the predetermined time has not elapsed ("No" in step S16-011), the process returns to step S16-005.

[0104] In step S16-012, CPU 101 increments index i by 1. In step S16-013, CPU 101 determines whether the i-th image indicated by the incremented index i exists. If the i-th image exists ("Yes" in step S16-013), the process returns to step S16-005. On the other hand, if the i-th image does not exist ("No" in step S16-013), the process returns to step S16-004.

[0105] Figure 17 This is a flowchart illustrating the process for acquiring slideshow image data in extended application 310 according to this exemplary embodiment.

[0106] Figure 17 The process shown for acquiring slideshow image data is part of the process for configuring the slideshow application installed in extension application 310. Like Figure 16 As shown in the display processing, the VM / FW unit 309 interprets the script language describing the related processing, and the CPU 101 executes the interpreted content via the VM / FW unit 309.

[0107] As mentioned above, in Figure 16 In step S16-002 shown, this process is started so that it can operate asynchronously and in parallel with the display process.

[0108] In step S17-001, CPU 101 determines whether the setting of the slide specification method read in step S16-001 is "Specify slides together from folder". Figure 5 When the slide assignment method option 505 shown is set to "Assign slides from folder together" ("Yes" in step S17-001), the process proceeds to step S17-002. On the other hand, when the slide assignment method option 505 is not set to "Assign slides from folder together" ("No" in step S17-001), the process proceeds to step S17-003.

[0109] In step S17-002, CPU 101 is based on Figure 9 The setting of option 905, "Display order of files in the folder," identifies target image files and determines their display order. More specifically, based on option 902, CPU 101 accesses the specified folder using the SMB protocol. Then, for example, when option 905 is set to "by filename," CPU 101 retrieves a list of filenames stored in the folder. CPU 101 then sorts the retrieved list by filename order and identifies a predetermined number of files as target image files from top to bottom. Finally, for subsequent processing, when "Specify slides one by one" is specified as the slide assignment method, CPU 101 converts each path of the identified files into the same format as the internal path information.

[0110] In step S17-003, CPU 101 disables the cache state of all image data pre-stored in cache area 1600 at once.

[0111] In step S17-004, CPU 101 sets index i to 1. Then, processing proceeds to the next step. Like... Figure 16 As described in step S16-004, index i indicates the display order of the files. Setting index i to 1 means indicating the first image.

[0112] In step S17-005, CPU 101 determines whether the i-th image needs to be cached. This determination is equivalent to... Figure 14 The sequence in step S14-040 is shown. More specifically, CPU 101 compares the image metadata received in step S14-030 with the image metadata pre-stored in cache area 1600 to confirm whether the image metadata has been updated. When the update date and time of the received image metadata are later than the update date and time of the pre-stored image metadata, CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated. Alternatively, when the size of the received image metadata is different from the size of the pre-stored image metadata, CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated. Furthermore, when the relevant image metadata is not pre-stored in cache area 1600, CPU 101 considers that the image metadata has been updated. When CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has not been updated ("No" in step S17-005), the process proceeds to step S17-006. On the other hand, when CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated ("Yes" in step S17-005), the process proceeds to step S17-007.

[0113] In step S17-006, CPU 101 enables the cache state of the i-th image, which was previously disabled in step S17-003. Then, processing proceeds to step S17-011. Figure 16 In step S16-007 shown, CPU 101 determines that the i-th image has been cached. Figure 16 As described in step S16-008 shown, when for Figure 6 When the background option 602 shown is selected as "Specify Color", the CPU 101 determines that the i-th image has been cached and enables the cache state, even though no image is actually retrieved.

[0114] In step S17-007, CPU 101 determines whether to... Figure 6 The background option 602 shown is a path or a URL. When a path is specified ("Specify image using path" is selected) (SMB in step S17-007), CPU 101 determines that access based on the SMB protocol will be used. Then, the process proceeds to step S17-008. On the other hand, when a URL is specified ("Specify image using URL" is selected) (http in step S17-007), CPU 101 determines that access based on the HTTP protocol will be used. Then, the process proceeds to step S17-009.

[0115] In step S17-008, CPU 101 uses the SMB protocol to access the data from the network. Figure 6 The file location option 603 shown in the figure specifies the path to obtain the i-th image data. The CPU 101 also requests SMB authentication based on the authentication information set by the username option 604 and the password option 605. When the acquisition process is complete, the process proceeds to step S17-010.

[0116] In step S17-009, CPU 101 uses the HTTP protocol to access... Figure 6 The URL specified by file location option 603 shown in the figure is used to retrieve the i-th image data. The process proceeds to step S17-010 if the retrieval process completes normally or is canceled for some reason.

[0117] In step S17-010, CPU 101 determines whether the acquisition of the i-th image data in step S17-008 or S17-009 was successful. If the image data acquisition is successful ("Yes" in step S17-010), the process proceeds to step S17-011. On the other hand, if the image data acquisition is canceled and fails for some reason ("No" in step S17-010), the process proceeds to step S17-012. Examples of typical reasons for canceling image data acquisition include disconnection due to network circuit failure, SMB authentication failure, and timeout due to HTTP server crash. Image data acquisition may be canceled when a file in the specified path is deleted. Since the MFP 10 according to this exemplary embodiment has a very small storage unit 306 available for caching operations, the acquisition of image data exceeding a predetermined size will be canceled.

[0118] When image data acquisition is completed normally ("Yes" in step S17-010), in step S17-011, CPU 101 stores the acquired i-th image data in cache area 1600. At the same time, CPU 101 updates the image metadata of the i-th image data with the acquired information and enables the cache state of the i-th image.

[0119] On the other hand, when image data acquisition fails ("No" in step S17-010), in step S17-012, CPU 101 sets the cache state of the i-th image data to an error state. Therefore, as Figure 16 As shown, the prepared instruction cannot display the image data of the i-th image on the screen.

[0120] In step S17-013, CPU 101 increments index i by 1.

[0121] In step S17-014, CPU 101 determines whether there is a request to display the i-th image indicated by the incremented index i. If there is a request to display the i-th image ("Yes" in step S17-014), the process returns to step S17-005. On the other hand, if there is no request ("No" in step S17-014), CPU 101 ends the image data acquisition process.

[0122] As referenced above Figure 16 and 17 Based on Figure 9 The "File display order in the folder" option 905 shown here acquires image data sequentially according to the file display order. Then, the CPU 101 displays the slideshow sequentially based on the acquired image data. Therefore, the user can start displaying the slideshow sequentially from the acquired image data without waiting for the image data acquisition to complete. More specifically, to minimize the waiting time for image data display, acquiring image data according to the file display order, as described above, is most suitable. However, slideshow display can also be achieved using other image data acquisition methods.

[0123] Figure 18 The diagram shows what needs to be stored. Figure 15 An example of the settings data in slide settings area 1500 shown.

[0124] When the confirmation button 506, 609, or 907 is pressed in the basic settings editing screen 501, the new slide registration screen 601, or the folder settings editing screen 901, the settings data is stored in the slide settings area 1500 in step S15-002. As described above, the slide settings area 1500 is allocated to a dedicated area for slideshow applications in the storage unit 306 on the eMMC 109.

[0125] The values ​​registered in button name option 502, "Slide display time" option 504, and slide assignment method option 505 are... Figure 18 The values ​​in the folder settings editing screen 901 are set to descriptions 2004, 2026, and 2025 respectively. When the OK button 907 is pressed in the folder settings editing screen 901, the value of the item describing 2002 in settings data 2001 is set. When the OK button 609 is pressed in the new slide registration screen 601, the value of the item describing 2003 in settings data 2001 is set. The values ​​registered in the "Path to Folder" option 902, username option 903, and password option 904 in the folder settings editing screen 901 are... Figure 18 The text is set to describe 2005 to 2008. (Reference) Figure 18 In the example shown, since description 2008 concerns password information, the value registered in password option 904 is set in an encrypted manner. The values ​​registered in "File display order in folder" option 905 corresponding to "Order by filename" or "Order by updated date and time" are... Figure 18 The description is set to 2009. The values ​​registered in background option 602 corresponding to "Specify image using path", "Specify image using URL", or "Specify color" are... Figure 18 The description is set to 2010. The location value and filename registered in file location option 603 are... Figure 18 The values ​​in options 604 (username) and 605 (password) are set to describe 2011 and 2012 respectively. Figure 18 The text is set to describe 2013 to 2015. (Reference) Figure 18 In the example shown, because description 2015 is about password information, the value registered in password option 605 is set in an encrypted manner. The value corresponding to background color option 606 is... Figure 18 The description is set to 2016. Examples of options for background color option 606 include "white, black, red, yellow, green, and blue". The values ​​registered in option 607, "Display text on slides", are... Figure 18 The value is set to describe 2017. The value registered in the item for display text setting option 608 is... Figure 18 The text is set to describe 2018 to 2023. Examples of "Font" options include "Normal, Bold, Italic, and Bold + Italic". Examples of "Font Size" options include "Large, Medium, and Small". Examples of "Font Color" options include "White, Black, Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue". Examples of "Scrolling Speed" options include "Slow, Normal, and Fast". Examples of "Scrolling Direction" options include "No Scrolling, Right to Left, Left to Right, Top to Bottom, and Bottom to Top". When registering multiple slides in the new slide registration screen 601, the number of slides is generated according to the slide display order. Figure 18 The information indicated in the description of 2003.

[0126] The settings status of each slide is managed through management table 21901. This configuration improves display responsiveness when settings are displayed in a list format on the settings list screen (not shown). Figure 23 The illustration shows an example of the settings values ​​registered for each slide in the new slide registration screen 601. Figure 23 As shown, management table 21901 includes information bars 21902 to 21915. As described above, each slide designated as the display target is managed through management table 21901. Information bar 21903 stores a method for specifying the image to be used in the slideshow. According to this exemplary embodiment, since text information can be applied to the image to be used in the slideshow, the display target image is displayed as a "background". This information is specified via background option 602. Information bar 21904 stores information about the location of the image file to be used in the slideshow. This information is set via file location option 603 or "path to folder" option 902. Information bar 21905 stores information about the username to be used to access the image. This information is set via username option 604 or 903. Information bar 21906 stores password setting information. This information stores the value of the checkbox state according to the "set / change password" option 605 or 904. Information bar 21907 stores information about the password. This information is set via the checkbox of password option 605 or 904. Information bar 21908 stores information about the background color. This information is set via background color option 606. Information bar 21909 stores information about whether to display text on the slide. This information stores the value based on the input state of the checkbox for "Show text on slide" option 607. Information bar 21910 stores information about the text to be displayed. This information is set via "Text to display" option 608. Information bar 21911 stores information about the font. This information is set via font option 608. Information bar 21912 stores information about the font size. This information is set via font size option 608. Information bar 21913 stores information about the font color. This information is set via font color option 608. Information bar 21914 stores information about the scrolling speed of the text. This information is set via scrolling speed option 608. Information bar 21915 stores information about the scrolling direction. This information is set via scrolling direction option 608.

[0127] <Display order settings processing>

[0128] According to this exemplary embodiment, the display order of slides designated as display targets can be changed. Reference will be made below. Figure 19 , 20A Section 20B describes the settings for the display order of the slideshow. Figure 19 This is a flowchart illustrating a process for changing the display order of slides according to this exemplary embodiment. This flowchart is implemented when the CPU 101 executes the extended application 310. Figure 20A The illustration shows an example display of the first process in the display order editing screen. Figure 20B The illustration shows an example display of the second process in the order editing screen. Figure 20A and 20B The diagram illustrates the following: Figure 19 Example of setting the display order in management table 21901.

[0129] In step S21501, the extended application 310 determines whether the "Edit Display Order" button 406 has been pressed in the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen. If the "Edit Display Order" button 406 has not been pressed ("No" in step S21501), the process returns to step S21501. Then, the extended application 310 repeats the process. If the "Edit Display Order" button 406 has been pressed ("Yes" in step S21501), the process proceeds to step S21502.

[0130] In step S21502, the extended application 310 performs processing for displaying the display order editing screen. In the display order editing screen, the user performs a display order change operation.

[0131] An example of displaying the order editing screen is shown in Figure 20A and 20B The following is shown. The display order editing screen 21601 includes a "Move Up" button 21605, a "Move Down" button 21606, an OK button 21607, a Cancel button 21608, and a list display area 21609. The list display area 21609 displays a list of slides registered in the New Slide Registration Screen 601. The list display area 21609 includes slide display order information 21603 indicating the display order of the slides and file name information 21604 indicating the file name of the target image file to be displayed. The list display area 21609 also includes display text information 21610 registered in the New Slide Registration Screen 601, and a slide selection option 21602 for selecting slides. According to this exemplary embodiment, the list display area 21609 also includes path information 21611 indicating the path information for displaying the target image file. When a user selects a slide using the slide selection option 21602 in the display order editing screen 21601, and then presses the "Move Up" button 21605 or the "Move Down" button 21606, the display order in the list display area 21609 is changed.

[0132] Figure 20A The illustration shows an example of sequentially registering image files for each network path. More specifically, the image file for "server1" is registered as the first through third image in display order, the image file for "server2" is registered as the fourth image in display order, and the image file for "server3" is registered as the fifth image in display order. In this state, the user selects the checkbox for slide selection option 21602 corresponding to the fourth image "samp01.png", and then selects the "Move Up" button 21605 twice. As a result of this operation, Figure 20A The display order in the text has been changed to Figure 20B The display order is shown in the diagram. Then, the user selects the checkbox for slide selection option 21602 corresponding to the third image "picture03.jpg", and then selects the "Move Down" button 21606 twice. As a result of this operation, the same display order as indicated by management table 21901 is displayed in display area 21609.

[0133] In step S21504, the extended application 310 determines whether the confirmation button 21607 in the display order editing screen 21601 has been pressed. When the extended application 310 determines that the confirmation button 21607 has been pressed ("Yes" in step S21504), the process proceeds to step S21505. On the other hand, when the extended application 310 determines that the confirmation button 21607 has not been pressed ("No" in step S21504), the process proceeds to step S21506.

[0134] In step S21505, the extended application 310 updates the display order settings (order information) based on the information regarding the display order change operation in step S21503, and then displays the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen. Then, the process exits this flowchart.

[0135] In step S21506, the extended application 310 determines whether the cancel button 21608 has been pressed in the display order editing screen 21601.

[0136] When the extended application 310 determines that the cancel button 21608 has not been pressed ("No" in step S21506), the process returns to step S21503.

[0137] On the other hand, when the extended application 310 determines that the cancel button 21608 has been pressed ("Yes" in step S21506), the process proceeds to step S21507.

[0138] In step S21507, the extended application 310 cancels the display of the order change operation content and then displays the top-level screen 401. Then, the process exits the flowchart.

[0139] While buttons are used as a means to perform operations that change the display order, the UI is not limited to this. For example, the following modifications can also be applied.

[0140] (First revision)

[0141] The first modification is configured to perform a display order change operation by moving the slide names displayed in a list using drag-and-drop operations. Figure 21A The illustration shows an example display of the first processing step in editing the screen according to the first modified display order. Figure 21B The illustration shows an example display of the second process of editing the screen according to the first modified display order.

[0142] The display order editing screen 21701 includes a list display area 21702 for displaying a list of slides registered in the new slide registration screen 601. The list display area 21702 displays image name information in list form. When the user selects a slide whose display order needs to be changed from the list display area 21702, moves the slide to the desired display order using drag-and-drop operation 21703, and then presses the confirmation button 21704, the display order is changed. When the user presses the cancel button 21705, the CPU 101 cancels the information about the display order changed via drag-and-drop operation 21703, and then displays the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen of the extended application 310.

[0143] (Second revision)

[0144] The second modification is configured to perform a display order change operation by moving the slide thumbnails using drag-and-drop operations. Figure 22A The illustration shows an example display of the first process in editing the screen according to the second modified display order. Figure 22B The illustration shows an example display of the second processing step in editing the screen according to the second modified display order.

[0145] The display order editing screen 21801 includes a thumbnail display area 21802. The thumbnail display area 21802 is a list of thumbnails displaying a list of thumbnail images for the slideshow. These thumbnail images are displayed by obtaining image files from an image file path or image file URL specified by the file location option 603 and then caching them as thumbnail images. When the user selects a thumbnail of a slideshow whose display order they want to change from the thumbnail display area 21802, moves the thumbnail to the desired display order position using drag-and-drop operation 21803, and then presses the confirmation button 21804, the display order is changed. When the user presses the cancel button 21805, the CPU 101 cancels information about the display order changed via drag-and-drop operation 21803 and then displays the top-level screen 401 of the settings screen of the extension application 310.

[0146] <Note>

[0147] The above configuration enables the collection and display of image data located at multiple locations from a preset path. As described above, this exemplary embodiment allows the paths of images located at multiple locations to be registered as targets for a slideshow, and then a display order change operation is performed. This method is excellent in terms of usability because the user does not need to worry about the display order when registering the image paths, thus allowing the user to change the display order using intuitive operations such as drag and drop. The method also enables the display of thumbnails of currently available images indicated by the image paths, making it easier to grasp the current display order of the slideshow.

[0148] The first exemplary embodiment has been described above with a focus on an example of collecting image data existing in multiple locations from a preset path and displaying it normally. However, in this configuration for acquiring images from multiple locations via a network, situations may arise where some of the multiple images cannot be accessed. The second exemplary embodiment will now be described with a focus on the case of appropriately handling slides corresponding to unaccessible images when acquiring image data existing in multiple locations via a network to provide a slideshow. The second exemplary embodiment can provide a display device capable of appropriately handling slides corresponding to unaccessible images when sequentially displaying and acquiring image data existing in multiple locations via a network to provide a slideshow. Except for the feature portions, the configuration of the second exemplary embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first exemplary embodiment. Therefore, in the following description, the same components are assigned the same reference numerals, and their detailed descriptions may be omitted.

[0149] <Setup Screen>

[0150] Figure 24 The diagram shows Figure 5 The basic settings editing screen and slide image error handling options are shown. The basic settings editing screen 30501 includes button name option 30502, automatic application of start settings ("Automatic Transition") option 30503, "Slide Display Time" option 30504, slide assignment method option 30505, an OK button 506, and a Cancel button 507. The above configuration is consistent with... Figure 5 Options 501 to 505 and buttons 506 and 507 correspond to this. Option 30508, the slide image error handling method, is used to select the slide display handling method when a normal image cannot be downloaded from the server based on the information set in the slide.

[0151] Alternate Image Selection Method Option 30509 is an option for selecting the image to display when selecting an alternative image display in the slide image error handling method option 30508. When "Use Default Image" is selected, the image integrated into the extended application 310 is used. When "Use Registered Image" is selected, the image registered by the user through the "Register Alternate Image" option 30510 is used. The "Register Alternate Image" option 30510 is an option for registering images stored in the user's local environment to the device. When the user selects the "Register Alternate Image" button and then presses the "Reference" button, the file in the user's local environment is registered.

[0152] Image Data Acquisition and Processing

[0153] The following will refer to Figure 31 This describes the process for acquiring slideshow image data. This process is part of the process for configuring the slideshow application installed in extension application 310. VM / FW unit 309 interprets the scripting language describing the related process, and CPU 101 executes the scripting language via VM / FW unit 309.

[0154] In step S321-001, CPU 101 determines whether the method option 505 for specifying slides has selected "Specify slides from folder". Figure 5 When the slide assignment method option 505 shown is "Assign slides together from folder" ("Yes" in step S321-001), the process proceeds to step S321-002. On the other hand, when "Assign slides one by one" is selected ("No" in step S321-001), the process proceeds to step S321-003.

[0155] In step S321-002, CPU 101 is based on Figure 9 The "Show order of files in folder" option 905 shown identifies the target image files and determines their display order.

[0156] In step S321-003, CPU 101 disables the cache state of the image data pre-stored in cache area 2100 once.

[0157] In step S321-004, CPU 101 sets index i to 1. Then, processing proceeds to the next step. Index i indicates the display order. Setting index i to 1 means indicating the first image.

[0158] In step S321-005, CPU 101 determines whether the i-th image needs to be cached. This determination is equivalent to... Figure 14 The sequence in steps S14-040 is shown. More specifically, CPU 101 compares the image metadata received in step S14-030 with the image metadata pre-stored in cache area 2100 to confirm whether the image metadata has been updated. When the update date and time of the received image metadata are later than the update date and time of the pre-stored image metadata, CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated. Alternatively, when the size of the received image metadata is different from the size of the pre-stored image metadata, CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated. Furthermore, when the relevant image metadata is not pre-stored in cache area 2100, CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated. When CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has not been updated ("No" in step S321-005), the process proceeds to step S321-006. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the image metadata has been updated ("Yes" in step S321-005), the process proceeds to step S321-007.

[0159] In step S321-006, CPU 101 enables the cache state of the i-th image, which was previously disabled in step S321-003. Then, the process proceeds to step S321-012.

[0160] In step S321-007, CPU 101 determines whether to... Figure 6 The background option 602 shown is a path or a URL. When a path is specified ("Specify image using path" is selected) (SMB in step S321-007), CPU 101 determines that access based on the SMB protocol will be used. Then, the process proceeds to step S321-008. On the other hand, when a URL is specified ("Specify image using URL" is selected) (http in step S321-007), CPU 101 determines that access based on the HTTP protocol will be used. Then, the process proceeds to step S321-009.

[0161] In step S321-008, CPU 101 uses the SMB protocol to access data from... Figure 6 The file location option 603 shown in the figure specifies the path to obtain the i-th image data. The CPU 101 also requests SMB authentication based on the authentication information set by the username option 604 and the password option 605. When the acquisition process is complete, the process proceeds to step S321-010.

[0162] In step S321-009, CPU 101 obtains data from the source via the HTTP protocol. Figure 6 The URL specified by file location option 603 shown in the figure is used to retrieve the i-th image data. When the retrieval process is complete, the process proceeds to step S321-010.

[0163] In step S321-010, CPU 101 confirms whether image data has been successfully acquired. If a network error, SMB ID / PASSWORD authentication error, or invalid image data format error occurs, the acquisition process is deemed to have failed. If image data acquisition is successful ("Yes" in step S321-010), the process proceeds to step S321-011. Conversely, if image data acquisition fails ("No" in step S321-010), the process proceeds to step S321-014.

[0164] In step S321-014, CPU 101 increments the number of retries by 1. Then, the process proceeds to step S321-015.

[0165] In step S321-015, CPU 101 checks whether the number of retries is equal to or less than a predetermined value. If the number of retries is equal to or less than the predetermined value ("Yes" in step S321-015), the process returns to step S321-007. Then, CPU 101 performs image data retry processing. On the other hand, if the number of retries exceeds the predetermined value ("No" in step S321-015), CPU 101 cancels the current slide image data acquisition. Then, the process proceeds to step S321-012.

[0166] In step S321-011, CPU 101 stores the acquired i-th image data in cache area 2100. Simultaneously, CPU 101 updates the image metadata of the i-th image data to the acquired information and enables the cache state of the i-th image.

[0167] In step S321-012, CPU 101 increments index i by 1.

[0168] In step S321-013, CPU 101 determines whether there is a request to display the i-th image indicated by the incremented index i. If there is a request to display the i-th image ("Yes" in step S321-013), the process returns to step S321-005. On the other hand, if there is no request ("No" in step S321-013), CPU 101 terminates the image data acquisition process.

[0169] <Managing Data>

[0170] Figure 26 The illustration shows that in Figure 14 Here is an example of the metadata stored in the metadata storage operation in steps S14-130. This metadata includes information columns 316-01 to 316-04. Information column 316-01 manages information about the protocol for each image. Information column 316-02 manages information about the path for each image. Information column 316-03 manages information about the size of each image retrieved from the server. Information column 316-04 manages information about the update date and time for each image retrieved from the server. More specifically, the metadata for "\\server1\dir1\path\image1.jpg" in the SMB protocol includes the size "10000" and the update date and time "January 1, 2021".

[0171] Figure 25 The illustration shows that in Figure 12 This is an example of the slide setup information stored in the setup storage operation in step S12-050. In this example, four different slides are registered. The slide setup information includes information bars 315-01 to 315-04. Information bar 315-01 manages information about the slide number. Information bar 315-02 manages information about the text string to be displayed in each slide. Information bar 315-03 manages information about the protocol used to access each image to be displayed in each slide. Information bar 315-04 manages information about the image path used to access each image to be displayed in each slide. More specifically, the first slide displays the text string "test1", downloads the image "\\server1\dir1\path\image1.jpg" based on the SMB protocol, and displays the image. Information for four different slides is registered in this way. Although the same protocol is used for all images in this example, different protocols can be used for each slide.

[0172] Note that, Figure 26 The metadata in the memory stores three different metadata fragments, while Figure 25 The slide settings information in the document stores four different slide information fragments. Figure 26 The metadata in the file stores metadata about the combination of protocol and image path, while Figure 25 The slide setup information stores information for each slide. Therefore, even when slides 1 and 4 reference the same image, the slide setup information stores four pieces of information.

[0173] <Text combination>

[0174] When a slideshow is provided, a second exemplary embodiment enables the attachment of information such as text to images. Figure 27 The illustration shows an example configuration for combining slide images based on information registered in the slide setup information. Image 317-01 indicates the appearance of image data registered in the slide. Information 317-02 indicates text string data registered in the slide.

[0175] When text combination settings have been performed in advance, the image data of combined image 317-01 and the text string data of information 317-02 are used to generate image 317-03 for slide display.

[0176] Error Handling

[0177] According to this exemplary embodiment, if the target image for the slideshow cannot be obtained, then display error handling is performed. Figure 28 The illustration shows an example of a slide arrangement where image data cannot be displayed. This exemplary embodiment is configured to retrieve image data from a server. During image data retrieval, image data may not be retrieved correctly due to changes in server-side settings.

[0178] If normal image data acquisition fails, the image data cannot be drawn and displayed, and the slide images to be displayed cannot be combined. In such cases, error handling is used in the slide image display process. There are various error handling methods, such as... Figure 5 As shown in the exemplary embodiment, this allows the user to select a desired error handling method from a variety of error handling methods according to the user's preferences. The first error handling method corresponds to "Do not display slides". This method skips the playback of slides where image data acquisition failed. The second error handling method corresponds to "Display only text strings". As shown in Figure 318-01, this method only displays the registered text strings in the slides without drawing the display of image data that could not be acquired. The third error handling method corresponds to "Display alternative images and text strings". As shown in Figure 318-02, this method combines the image data indicating that the image data cannot be drawn with the registered text strings and displays the combination as a slide. The fourth error handling method corresponds to "Display only alternative images". As shown in Figure 318-03, this method only displays the image data (alternative image data) indicating that the image data cannot be drawn. The fifth error handling method corresponds to "Display blank". As shown in Figure 318-04, this method displays neither image data nor text string data (text string data or text data used for combination), but instead displays blank. The error handling method to be used can be specified for the entire slideshow or for each individual slide. Predefined error handling methods can be specified without prompting the user.

[0179] Figure 29 The diagram shows Figure 14 The slides in steps S14-140 show the details of the processing.

[0180] In step S319-010, CPU 101 checks whether there is a displayable slide in the image information set in the slide setup information. For example, if downloading an image from the server fails, slide display cannot be performed in the failure state. In this case, CPU 101 checks whether there is at least one displayable slide.

[0181] When there is at least one displayable slide ("Yes" in step S319-010), the process proceeds to step S319-030. On the other hand, when there is no displayable slide ("No" in step S319-010), the process proceeds to step S319-020.

[0182] In step S319-020, CPU 101 displays Figure 30 The error message 320-00 indicates that there is no slide to display, and then the extended application 310 ends.

[0183] In step S319-030, CPU 101 confirms whether each individual slide is a displayable slide. When each individual slide is a displayable slide ("Yes" in step S319-030), the process proceeds to step S319-040. On the other hand, when each individual slide is not a displayable slide ("No" in step S319-030), the process proceeds to step S319-050.

[0184] In step S319-040, CPU 101 displays Figure 27 The slideshow shows the combined images. Then, the process proceeds to step S319-060.

[0185] In step S319-060, CPU 101 waits for a predetermined time period. Then, the process proceeds to step S319-070.

[0186] In step S319-050, the process is based on Figure 24 The settings for option 30508 in the slide image error handling method are performed to one of steps S319-051 to S319-054 and S319-070.

[0187] In steps S319-051 to S319-054, CPU 101 executes the error handling process set by slide image error handling method option 30508. Then, the process proceeds to step S319-070.

[0188] In step S319-070, CPU 101 proceeds to the next slide. Then, processing returns to step S319-030.

[0189] Performing the above controls enables the display of error messages that reflect the user's intent if an image cannot be acquired normally.

[0190] (Other exemplary embodiments)

[0191] This disclosure can be applied to systems consisting of multiple devices as well as devices consisting of a single device. For example, functionality can be achieved by configuring software modules to be executed by an external server and obtaining the results of the processing performed by the external server. For example, a storage unit for storing data can be deployed in an external server.

[0192] This disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above, but can be modified in various ways (including organic combinations of these exemplary embodiments) without departing from its spirit and scope. These modifications are not excluded from the scope of this disclosure. More specifically, all configurations obtained by suitably combining the exemplary embodiments described above and their modifications are also intended to be included in this disclosure.

[0193] The exemplary embodiments described above are configured to provide a slideshow application as an extended application. However, the effects of this disclosure can also be reliably achieved by configuring the slideshow application as part of the main program of the embedded software, rather than as an extended application.

[0194] The exemplary embodiments described above are configured to support two different protocols (SMB and HTTP). However, the supported protocols are not limited to this. For example, this exemplary embodiment can also be configured to support the WebDAV protocol. Alternatively, this exemplary embodiment can be configured to store path information of external storage devices that can be attached to and removable from the display device (such as USB memory and Secure Digital (SD) cards that can be stored in the display device) and internal storage devices (built-in storage devices) such as the eMMC 109. Thus, image data can be collected from a wide range of paths and then displayed. Conversely, a similar effect can be achieved even if this exemplary embodiment is configured to support only the SMB protocol.

[0195] According to the exemplary embodiment described above, user authentication information for accessing a folder using the SMB protocol can be stored (retained) separately in conjunction with network path settings. However, for example, a similar effect can be achieved even without storing user authentication information in conjunction with network path settings, by only supporting URLs accessible via the HTTP protocol that do not require user identification.

[0196] According to the above exemplary embodiments, through Figure 6 The preset text strings in the "Display text on slide" option 607 and "Text to display" option 608 shown are overlaid on the displayed image. However, the effects of this disclosure can be achieved even without the text string overlay.

[0197] According to the exemplary embodiments described above, not only can images obtained from a pre-registered network path be displayed, but also images with a specified background color can be displayed. However, background color display is not required for this disclosure. Similar effects can be achieved even without this feature.

[0198] According to the exemplary embodiments described, it is possible to Figure 5 The slide assignment method option 505 shown selects either "Assign slides from folder together" or "Assign slides one by one". However, "Assign slides from folder together" is not required for this disclosure. A similar effect can be achieved even without this feature. Instead, different effects can be obtained by expanding the settings for "Assign slides from folder together". For example, the settings for... Figure 9 The "Show order of files in folder" option 905 shows an option to select "by filename" or "by update date and time". Adding "by size" and allowing the selection of ascending or descending order provides more refined display settings.

[0199] As a known technique entirely different from this disclosure, a mechanism for delivering application settings values ​​is known. Applying this technique enables the sharing (copying) of a setting for the slideshow application of this disclosure across multiple display devices. This configuration allows the same image to be displayed on multiple display devices even without a distribution server for digital signage, as described above in the background section of this disclosure. This disclosure can be combined with such techniques. Using this combination, for example, replacing image data on an SMB server with the same filename, makes it possible to change the content of a slideshow executed on multiple display devices simultaneously without changing the network paths registered on the multiple display devices.

[0200] Other embodiments

[0201] Embodiments of this disclosure can also be implemented by a computer of a system or apparatus that reads and executes computer-executable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on a storage medium (which may also be more fully referred to as a 'non-transitory computer-readable storage medium') to perform one or more functions of the above embodiments and / or includes one or more circuits (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)) for performing one or more functions of the above embodiments, and by a method performed by a computer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading and executing computer-executable instructions from the storage medium to perform one or more functions of the above embodiments and / or controlling one or more circuits to perform one or more functions of the above embodiments. The computer may include one or more processors (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor unit (MPU)) and may include separate computers or networks of separate processors to read and execute computer-executable instructions. The computer-executable instructions may be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or storage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), storage devices for distributed computing systems, optical discs (such as CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs). TM One or more of the following: flash memory devices, memory cards, etc.

[0202] The embodiments of the present invention can also be implemented by providing software (programs) that perform the functions of the above embodiments to a system or device via a network or various storage media, and the computer or central processing unit (CPU) or microprocessor unit (MPU) of the system or device reads out and executes the program.

[0203] While this disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the appended claims is to be given the broadest interpretation in order to cover all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.< / mfp>

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising a display unit and capable of performing multiple functions including a copying function, the display unit being configured to display an image acquired via a network, the image forming apparatus comprising: One or more controllers, wherein the one or more controllers are configured to: It can perform copying functions and display multiple images one after another as a slideshow using a virtual machine; Register multiple address information from multiple locations on the network, including address information of image data accessible using a first protocol and address information of image data accessible using a second protocol, the multiple address information being used to perform a display as a slideshow; When activated as a slideshow function, image data acquisition processing is performed to obtain multiple image data from multiple locations on the network based on the multiple registered address information; as well as The image data display process performs the sequential display of the multiple acquired image data as a slideshow on the display unit.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first protocol is the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol and the second protocol is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein user authentication information for accessing each piece of image data indicated by the plurality of address information is stored separately in association with the plurality of address information.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, As the multiple address information, the path of the storage device built into the image forming apparatus or the path of the storage device that can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus can be registered.

5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to provide a webpage for registering multiple address information.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of address information includes at least a network path conforming to the first protocol and a network path conforming to the second protocol.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to set display order information for the plurality of registered address information.

8. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to provide a webpage for setting the display order information.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the webpage used to set the display order information deploys the list of the plurality of registered address information.

10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the display order information is changed by operation of a button deployed on the webpage.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the display order information is changed by dragging and dropping a list of the plurality of registered address information.

12. The image forming apparatus of claim 8, wherein the webpage for setting the display order information includes a list of thumbnails corresponding to the plurality of registered address information.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the display order information is changed by dragging and dropping a list of thumbnails.

14. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more controllers are further configured to accept a designation of a text string to be overlaid on an image corresponding to the plurality of registered address information.

15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image forming apparatus for forming an image on a sheet.

16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image reading device for reading documents.

17. A control method for controlling an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus including a display unit and capable of performing multiple functions including a copying function, the display unit being configured to display an image acquired via a network, the control method comprising: It can perform copying functions and display multiple images one after another as a slideshow using a virtual machine; Register multiple address information from multiple locations on the network, including address information of image data accessible using a first protocol and address information of image data accessible using a second protocol, the multiple address information being used to perform a display as a slideshow; When activated as a slideshow function, image data acquisition processing is performed to obtain multiple image data from multiple locations on the network based on the multiple registered address information; as well as The image data display process performs the sequential display of the multiple acquired image data as a slideshow on the display unit.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program, the program being executed by a processor to implement a control method for controlling an image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus including a display unit and capable of performing a plurality of functions including a copying function, the display unit being configured to display an image acquired via a network, the control method comprising: It can perform copying functions and display multiple images one after another as a slideshow using a virtual machine; Register multiple address information from multiple locations on the network, including address information of image data accessible using a first protocol and address information of image data accessible using a second protocol, the multiple address information being used to perform a display as a slideshow; When activated as a slideshow function, image data acquisition processing is performed to obtain multiple image data from multiple locations on the network based on the multiple registered address information; as well as The image data display process performs the sequential display of the multiple acquired image data as a slideshow on the display unit.

19. An image forming apparatus comprising a display unit and capable of performing multiple functions including a copying function, the display unit being configured to display an image acquired via a network, the image forming apparatus comprising: One or more controllers, wherein the one or more controllers are configured to: It can perform copying functions and display multiple images one after another as a slideshow using a virtual machine; Register multiple address information from multiple locations on the network, the multiple address information indicating the destination for acquiring multiple image data, and the multiple address information being used to perform a display as a slideshow; When activated as a slideshow function, image data acquisition processing is performed to obtain multiple image data from multiple locations on the network based on the multiple address information, and... The image data display process performs a slideshow on the display unit, sequentially displaying the multiple acquired image data as a slideshow. The slideshow includes slides showing successful image data acquisition based on address information and slides showing failed image data acquisition based on address information. The slideshow includes predetermined information.

Images