Display device for showing an image of a vehicle's surroundings

Abstract

Display device (1) displaying an image of a vehicle's surroundings, comprising: a camera (17) capturing an image of the vehicle's surroundings; and a display monitor (13) located inside the vehicle for superimposing the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17) and a first distance indicator line (22) and a second distance indicator line (23), wherein the first distance indicator line (22) indicates a first predetermined distance from the vehicle and the second distance indicator line (23) indicates a second predetermined distance from the vehicle, the second distance indicator line (23) being positioned further away from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line (22), and the first distance indicator line (22) being wider than the second distance indicator line (23), each having a main line (22a) and a plurality of lines from the first distance indicator line (22) or the second distance indicator line (23).which have different colors and are arranged adjacent to each other, touching the main line in one direction of movement of the vehicle.

Description

AREA OF INVENTION This invention relates generally to a display device that presents an image of a vehicle's surroundings. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Among conventional methods for assisting novice drivers unfamiliar with parallel and / or perpendicular parking maneuvers during a parking operation, one method is known, for example, the one described in JP H11-334470 A. A parking assistance system disclosed in JP H11-334470 A includes a CCD camera mounted at the rear of a vehicle for capturing an image from behind the vehicle and a monitor display for showing the image captured by the CCD camera. The monitor display overlays the vehicle's predicted driving position, based on a steering angle, with the image from behind the vehicle. The predicted driving position includes a line indicating the vehicle's direction of travel and distance indicator lines showing the distances from the vehicle.The distance indicator lines include the distance indicator line that is positioned close to the vehicle and another distance indicator line that is positioned further away from the vehicle than the distance indicator line that is shown close to the vehicle. JP H07-174576 A discloses a method for displaying information about an intersection and a device for providing road information that enables easy identification of road types at the intersection by providing a suitable display setting for a driver who is colorblind or has color vision deficiencies, or for a vehicle occupant who is impaired by reflections from a display screen, so that it better corresponds to the individual visual ability. In particular, the method for displaying information and the display device enable the driver and the vehicle occupant to identify different types of roads by means of arrows that have different patterns and widths.Additionally, the method for displaying information and the display device allow the driver and vehicle occupants to set a display style based on a user's visual ability through a "style for displaying types of roads and direction" using elements such as shapes, colors, and light-dark intensity. In the predicted driving position of the vehicle shown in JP H11-334470 A, the lines closer to the vehicle and the lines farther away are depicted, specifically the distance indicator line positioned closer to the vehicle and the distance indicator line positioned farther away, but with approximately the same widths. Consequently, a person with normal vision and a person with color vision deficiency may find it difficult to identify the distance indicator lines. In this case, the parking assist system may not function optimally. The method and device disclosed in JP H07-174576 A allow a person with color vision deficiency to set the display setting based on their visual ability; however, they do not facilitate a better sense of distance relative to the vehicle. Additionally, according to the method and device disclosed in JP H07-174576 A, the display settings must be modified to suit the individual needs of a person with normal vision and a person with color vision deficiency, which can lead to misidentification of lines or malfunction in the case of an unsuitable display setting. DE 10 2004 012 604 A1 relates to a method for operating a display system in a vehicle for driving to a suitable parking space. DE 10 2004 018 205 A1 relates to a device for supporting a parking maneuver of a vehicle with a reversing camera for recording a reversing image of the space behind the vehicle and with a screen for displaying the reversing image. DE 100 15 897 A1 relates to a parking aid device for assisting in parking a vehicle, in particular a parking aid device for scanning a rear image by means of a camera. There is therefore a need for a display device that presents an image of a vehicle's surroundings, includes a distance indicator line that shows a distance, and enables both a person with normal vision and a person with color vision deficiency to easily get a sense of the distance without changing any display settings. PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION In light of the foregoing, the present invention provides a display device having the features of claim 1, 5 or 6. Preferred embodiments are specified in the dependent claims. In particular, the display device, which displays an image of a vehicle's surroundings, includes a camera that captures an image of the vehicle's surroundings and a display monitor provided inside the vehicle for superimposing the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera and a first distance indicator line and a second distance indicator line, wherein the first distance indicator line shows a first predetermined distance from the vehicle and the second distance indicator line shows a second predetermined distance from the vehicle, wherein the second distance indicator line is positioned further away from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line and the first distance indicator line is wider than the second distance indicator line. According to the described object, the structure above allows both a person with normal vision and a person with color vision deficiency to easily get a sense of distance without changing any display settings. According to the described object, the image of the vehicle's surroundings contains an image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera in the direction of the vehicle's movement. With the structure according to the described object, both the person who has normal vision and the person who has color vision deficiency will certainly have a sense of distance from the vehicle in the direction of the vehicle's movement. According to the described item, the display device, which represents the image of the vehicle's surroundings, further includes a third distance indicator line, which is positioned further away from the vehicle than the second distance indicator line, and the second distance indicator line is wider than the third distance indicator line. With the structure according to the described object, both the person who has normal vision and the person who has color vision deficiency will certainly have a sense of distance from the vehicle without changing the display setting. In accordance with the described object, the display monitor superimposes the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera, the first distance indicator line, the second distance indicator line, and a pair of lines, the pair of lines being arranged on the right and left sides such that the lines extend in a direction along which the vehicle is predicted to move, and the first distance indicator line and the second distance indicator line extend laterally relative to the pair of lines. With the structure according to the object described above, both the person with normal vision and the person who has a color vision deficiency will certainly be able to perceive the distance to the vehicle during a parking maneuver without changing the display setting. According to the described item, the first distance indicator line and / or the second distance indicator line are formed by a plurality of lines that have different colors and are arranged adjacent to each other in the direction of movement of the vehicle. According to the described item, the first distance indicator line contains a main line and a shaded area that is shown along the main line. The structure, as described above, prevents the main line from running into a background screen, thus enabling improved visibility of the first distance indicator line, which is positioned closer to the vehicle, for a person with color vision deficiency. According to the described item, the first distance indicator line contains the main line and a yellow line that is shown along the main line. According to the described object, the structure described above enables a person with color vision deficiency to have improved visibility of the indicator line, which is positioned closer to the vehicle. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a display device for showing an image of the vehicle's surroundings according to the embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a representation showing the screen of a display monitor during the parallel parking procedure. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a predicted driving position displayed on the screen shown in Fig. 2. (For explanatory purposes, only the predicted driving position is extracted and shown.) DETAILED DESCRIPTION An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A display device 1 for showing an image of a vehicle's surroundings is applicable during a reversing parking maneuver that includes a perpendicular parking maneuver (a parking mode in which a vehicle is parked perpendicular to, for example, a curb of a road) and a parallel parking maneuver (a parking mode in which a vehicle is parked parallel to, for example, a curb of a road, and in which the vehicle is parallel to the curb or the road at the beginning of the parking maneuver). The embodiment shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 3 is an example in which the display device 1 is used to show the image of the vehicle's surroundings, for example, for a parking assistance system to support perpendicular parking. As shown in Fig. 1, the display device 1 (i.e., which serves as the parking assistance system) for displaying the image of the vehicle's surroundings according to the embodiment includes a control unit 16, a camera 17 (according to the embodiment, a camera is used to capture an image behind the vehicle), a steering sensor 2 for detecting a steering angle of a steering wheel, a gearshift switch 3 for detecting whether a gearshift lever of a transmission is in a reverse position, parking switches 4, 4 for selecting a parking mode, for example parallel parking or perpendicular parking, a speed sensor 5 for the right wheel and a speed sensor 6 for the left wheel for detecting the wheel speed of a right driven wheel and a left driven wheel, respectively, a loudspeaker 8, a display monitor 13 and an image recognition device 15 for detecting a pair of parking lines 35, 35, which is provided between a pair of parking lines. As shown in Fig. 1, the controller 16 includes a CPU 11 for performing control functions, a graphics unit 12 for drawing graphics on the display monitor 13, a superposition circuit 9 for superimposing a graphics signal and an image captured by the camera 17 on the display monitor 13, a synchronization-separation circuit 10 for extracting synchronization signals from the image captured by the camera 17 and supplying the synchronization signals to the graphics unit 12, the image recognition device 15 for detecting the pair of parking lines 35, 35 by receiving signals from the camera 17 and subsequently recognizing the pair of parking lines 35, 35, and a voice generation circuit 7 for outputting an artificially generated voice to the loudspeaker 8. The image recognition circuit 15 can be provided separately from the controller 16. As shown in Fig. 1, signals from the camera 17, the steering sensor 2, the gearshift switch 3, the parking switches 4, 4 and the wheel speed sensors 5, 6 are input into the control unit 16. Based on these signals, the control unit 16 displays the image from behind the vehicle and the subsequently described predicted driving position 20 superimposed on a screen 14 of the display monitor 13, and the speaker 8 issues voice commands to a driver. In the display device 1 for showing the image of the vehicle's surroundings, which has the configuration described above, when the vehicle's ignition is switched on and the gearshift lever is moved to the reverse gear position, a parking aid screen appears on the display monitor 13, where the image behind the vehicle and the predicted driving position 20 are superimposed, as shown in Fig. 2. Under this condition, selector switches (the parking switches 4, 4) for activating, for example, the parking aid for parallel parking or perpendicular parking appear on the display. According to the embodiment, the parking aid for perpendicular parking is selected. When screen 14 displays, in an overlay, the image behind the vehicle and the predicted driving position 20, the driver maneuvers the vehicle, holds the steering wheel in a suitable position, and reverses the vehicle, either looking at screen 14 or physically looking backwards. To complete the parking maneuver correctly between the pair of parking lines 35, 35, the driver counter-steers and continues to reverse the vehicle to the furthest rearward position of the pair of parking lines 35, 35, once the vehicle is positioned parallel to the pair of parking lines 35, 35. As shown in Fig. 2, the predicted driving position 20 includes a pair of lines 21, 22, located on the right and left sides of the display monitor, respectively (i.e., serving as a pair of lines, each extending in a direction along which the vehicle is predicted to move). These lines interact with a steering operation and are modifiable so that they extend in a direction along which the vehicle is expected to move. The predicted driving position 20 also includes distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 (i.e., serving as a first distance indicator line 22, a second distance indicator line 23, and a third distance indicator line 24), each displaying predetermined distances from the vehicle. These lines interact with the steering operation and change position to display a distance from the vehicle.Vehicle width extension lines 25, 25, which serve as a reference to the predicted driving position of the vehicle when the vehicle is moving straight ahead in reverse, are also superimposed on the image from behind the vehicle and are displayed on screen 14 of the display monitor 13. The vehicle width extension lines 25, 25 are shown to overlap with the predicted driving position 20 when the vehicle is moving straight ahead. A bumper 30 of the vehicle is shown at a bottom area of ​​screen 14, as depicted in Fig. 2. The distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 comprise the first distance indicator line 22, which indicates a first predetermined distance from the vehicle; the second distance indicator line 23, which indicates a second predetermined distance from the vehicle; and the third distance indicator line 24. The second distance indicator line 23 is positioned farther from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line 22. The third distance indicator line 24 is positioned farther from the vehicle than the second distance indicator line 23. In the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3, the distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 extend in a lateral direction relative to the pair of lines 21, 22, which are arranged to the right and left, respectively; that is, the distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 extend in a horizontal direction as shown in Figure 2.In particular, the first and second ends of the distance indicator lines 22 and 23 are connected to the pair of lines 21, 21. A first end and a second end of the indicator line 24 are connected to the pair of lines 21, 21 at their respective distal ends, located to the right and left, respectively. The first distance indicator line 22 is, for example, approximately 0.5 meters from the rear end of the vehicle's bumper 30, and the second distance indicator line 23 is positioned approximately 1.0 meter from the rear end of the vehicle's bumper 30. The driver determines the vehicle's position relative to the target parking space by looking at the distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24. According to this embodiment, the first distance indicator line 22 is positioned closest to the end of the vehicle's bumper 30. As shown in Fig. 2, the first distance indicator line 22 is wider than the second distance indicator line 23, and the second distance indicator line 23 is wider than the third distance indicator line 24. This means that the distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 are displayed in different widths according to their respective distances from the vehicle, so that the closer the line is to the vehicle, the wider it appears. The structure described above clearly indicates that indicator line 22 is closer to the vehicle than indicator line 23, and indicator line 23 is closer to the vehicle than indicator line 24. This allows both people with normal vision and those with color vision deficiencies to reliably perceive the distance. For example, if the first distance indicator line 22 is displayed in red, it will appear darker to a person with reduced sensitivity to red, potentially making it more difficult for them to see it.By representing the first distance indicator line 22 as wider than the second distance indicator line 23 according to the embodiment, the first distance indicator line 22 is identified with good perspective relative to the second distance indicator line 23, thus ensuring the sense of distance. The first distance indicator line 22 preferably includes a main line 22a and additional areas 22b and 22c (i.e., they serve as a shaded area and a highlighted area respectively), which have different colors or darker tones to the main line 22a and are shown along the main line 22a. This means that the first distance indicator line 22 is preferably formed by a plurality of lines having different colors or darker tones and arranged adjacent to each other in a direction of movement of the vehicle. In particular, according to the embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3, the first distance indicator line 22 includes the main line 22a, the shaded area 22b, which is shown along a region of the main line 22a closer to the vehicle, and the highlighted area 22c, which is shown along a region of the main line 22a further away from the vehicle. According to this embodiment, the additional areas 22b and 22c are shown along both sides of the main line 22a in the direction of vehicle movement, but they are not limited to this, and the additional area may be shown along only one side of the main line 22a. For example, only one of the shaded area 22b and the highlighted area 22c may be shown. Additionally, the main line 22a is preferably shown in a color that attracts the attention of a person with normal vision, for example, red. The shaded area 22b is preferably shown in, for example, black. The highlighted area 22c is preferably shown in yellow, a color that is easily recognizable by a person with color vision deficiency. According to the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the first distance indicator line 22 is formed by the lines which each have different colors and widths (the main line 22a, the shaded area 22b and the highlighted area 22c), but the first distance indicator line 22 can also be formed by lines which have approximately the same widths. The main line 22a, which forms the indicator line 22, is preferably wider than the second distance indicator line 23. According to the embodiment, the distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 are shown as solid lines, but they are not limited to solid lines and can be designed as dashed lines, alternating long and short dashed lines, or any other line type, as long as they serve as an indicator of the distance. A concept for the distance indicator lines can also include a plurality of rectangular markers arranged in a straight line. Additionally, the first distance indicator line 22 need not necessarily extend over the entire distance between the pair of lines 21, 22, which are arranged to the right and left, respectively, and can be shown only in the vicinity of the lines 21, 22 of the pair. According to the embodiment, three distance indicator lines 22, 23, and 24 are shown, but two or four distance indicator lines can also be shown. The pair of lines 21, 21 is preferably depicted such that they gradually become wider in areas closer to the vehicle to provide a better sense of distance. Other lines included in the predicted driving position 20, except for the first distance indicator line 22, are shown in yellow. The vehicle width extension lines 25, 25 are preferably shown in blue to ensure visibility for a person with color vision deficiencies. Furthermore, the vehicle width extension lines 25, 25 can be shown in such a way that they gradually become wider in areas closer to the vehicle. The application of the display device 1, which shows the vehicle's surroundings, is not limited to the parking assistance system that supports perpendicular parking. The display device 1, which depicts the vehicle's surroundings, can be used for the parking assistance system that supports parallel parking or on-street parking (a parking maneuver in which a vehicle is parked on the side of a road), or it can be used for a system for guiding a vehicle forward movement that is suitable for the parking assistance system. Furthermore, the display device 1 can be used to depict the vehicle's surroundings for devices other than the parking assistance system. According to the embodiment, the vehicle's surroundings include behind the vehicle, in front of the vehicle, and to the sides of the vehicle.The image of the vehicle's surroundings is not limited to the image captured by camera 17 from behind the vehicle, as shown in the embodiment, and can include images captured by a front camera or a side camera. Furthermore, the configuration of the display device is not limited to the configuration described above.

Claims

Display device (1) displaying an image of a vehicle's surroundings, comprising: a camera (17) capturing an image of the vehicle's surroundings; and a display monitor (13) located inside the vehicle for superimposing the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17) and a first distance indicator line (22) and a second distance indicator line (23), wherein the first distance indicator line (22) indicates a first predetermined distance from the vehicle and the second distance indicator line (23) indicates a second predetermined distance from the vehicle, the second distance indicator line (23) being positioned further away from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line (22), and the first distance indicator line (22) being wider than the second distance indicator line (23), each having a main line (22a) and a plurality of lines from the first distance indicator line (22) or the second distance indicator line (23).which have different colors and are arranged adjacent to each other, touching the main line in one direction of movement of the vehicle. Display device (1) which displays the image of a vehicle's surroundings according to claim 1, wherein the image of the vehicle's surroundings includes an image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17) in a direction of movement of the vehicle. Display device (1) which displays the image of a vehicle's surroundings according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a third distance indicator line (24) which is positioned further away from the vehicle than the second distance indicator line (23), wherein the second distance indicator line (23) is wider than the third distance indicator line (24). Display device (1) displaying the image of a vehicle's surroundings according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display monitor (13) superimposes the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17), the first distance indicator line (22), the second distance indicator line (23) and a pair of lines (21, 21), wherein the lines (21, 21) of the pair of lines (21, 21) are arranged to the right and left respectively, so that they extend in a predicted direction of movement of the vehicle, and the first distance indicator line (22) and the second distance indicator line (23) extend laterally relative to the pair of lines (21, 21). Display device (1) which displays an image of the surroundings of a vehicle, comprising: a camera (17) which captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle;and a display monitor (13) provided inside the vehicle for superimposing the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17) and a first distance indicator line (22) and a second distance indicator line (23), wherein the first distance indicator line (22) indicates a first predetermined distance from the vehicle and the second distance indicator line (23) indicates a second predetermined distance from the vehicle, the second distance indicator line (23) is positioned further away from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line (22), and the first distance indicator line (22) is wider than the second distance indicator line (23), and the first distance indicator line (22) has a main line (22a) and a shaded area (22b) that is displayed along and touches the main line (22a). Display device (1) which displays an image of the surroundings of a vehicle, comprising: a camera (17) which captures an image of the surroundings of the vehicle;and a display monitor (13) provided inside the vehicle for superimposing the image of the vehicle's surroundings captured by the camera (17) and a first distance indicator line (22) and a second distance indicator line (23), wherein the first distance indicator line (22) indicates a first predetermined distance from the vehicle and the second distance indicator line (23) indicates a second predetermined distance from the vehicle, the second distance indicator line (23) is positioned further away from the vehicle than the first distance indicator line (22), and the first distance indicator line (22) is wider than the second distance indicator line (23), wherein the first distance indicator line (22) has a main line (22a) and a yellow line that is displayed along and touches the main line (22a).

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