Patent Application
20130033434
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an apparatus comprising a display. In particular, they relate to an apparatus comprising a display that has a curved side portion.
It is now common for electronic apparatus to have a display as part of their user interface. A display can be used to provide content to a user. This content may, for example, be information content for consumption by a user or control content that enables a user to control the apparatus.
It is also now possible to combine input and output functions at a display by using a touch sensitive display. Such a display enables a user to control the apparatus by touching the display.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: a display comprising a central portion and a curved side portion; a memory storing pages of content; and a display controller configured to control simultaneously the central portion of the display to display at least a portion of a first page of content and the curved side portion of the display to display additional information not forming part of the first page of content.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a method comprising: controlling a central portion of a display to display at least a portion of a first page of content; and controlling a curved side portion of the display to display, simultaneously, additional information not forming part of the first page of content.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to perform: controlling a central portion of a display to display at least a portion of a first page of content; and controlling a curved side portion of the display to display, simultaneously, additional information not forming part of the first page of content.
According to various, but not necessarily all, embodiments of the invention there is provided a display controller configured to control simultaneously a central portion of a display to display first content and a curved side portion of the display to display additional information not forming part of the first content.
For a better understanding of various examples of embodiments of the present invention reference will now be made by way of example only to the accompanying drawings in which:
The Figures schematically illustrate an apparatus 10 comprising:
a display 12 comprising a central portion 14 and a curved side portion 16, 16A, 16B; a memory 24 storing pages 40 of content 26; and a display controller 20 configured to control simultaneously the central portion 14 of the display 12 to display at least a portion of a first page 40N of content 26 and the curved side portion 16A of the display 12 to display additional information 40AN+1 not forming part of the first page 40N of content 26.
The curved side portion 16A of the display 12 may provide a preview screen that previews content configured to follow content displayed in the central portion 14 of the display 12.
The apparatus 10 may be a portable electronic device. It may, for example, be hand-portable that is, having dimensions that enable the apparatus to be supported on a palm of one hand. This size also enables the apparatus to be carried easily within a user's apparel such as a shirt or jacket pocket of a small hand-bag. The apparatus 10 may have functionality not described. It may for example be a personal electronic storage device (local storage and/or remote storage) and/or a personal media (e.g. sound and/or photographs and/or video) recorder and/or a personal media player and/or a communications device (e.g. mobile cellular network and/or wireless local area network and/or Ethernet and/or Bluetooth etc).
The apparatus 10 comprises a display 12 which is controlled by a display controller 20 to display content 26. In this example, the content 26 is read from a memory 24 by a processor 22 and then provided to the display controller 20.
The display 12 comprises a central portion 14 and at least a curved side portion 16. One example of such a display is illustrated in
The apparatus 10 comprises a housing 15 that supports a display 12. The apparatus 10 has a front face 30, a left-side face 34B, a right-side face 34A and a rear face 32.
The display 12 comprises a central portion 14 at the front face 30, a right-side curved side portions 16A at the right-side face 34A and a left-side curved side portions 16B at the left-side face 34B.
The right-side curved side portion 16A of the display 12 forms at least part of the right-side face 34A of the apparatus 10. The left-side curved side portion 16B of the display 12 forms at least part of the left-side face 34B of the apparatus 10.
The curved side portions 16A, 16B are significantly more curved than the central portion 14, which in this example is flat.
A virtual line 17A separates the central portion 14 of the display 12 from the right side curved portion 16A of the display 12. The virtual line 17A runs the length of the apparatus 10 and is parallel to the side faces 34A, 34B. A virtual line 17B separates the central portion 14 of the display 12 from the left side curved portion 16B of the display 12. The virtual line 17B runs the length of the apparatus 10 and is parallel to the side faces 34A, 34B and the virtual line 17A.
The curvature of the sides of the apparatus 10 is in this example variable. For example, the right-side starts to curve at the dashed line 17A. Initially the radius of curvature is large, but it decreases rapidly as one moves along the surface of the apparatus 10 from the front face 30 to the right-side face 34A and then increases again as one moves along the surface of the apparatus 10 from the right-side face 34A towards the back face 32. This creates a curved or rounded right-side face 34A for the apparatus 10. The left-side of the apparatus 10 similarly curves so that the apparatus 10 is left-right symmetric.
The curved side portion 16A of the display 12 follows the curved surface of the apparatus 10. For example, the right-side curved portion 16A starts to curve at the dashed line 17A. Initially the radius of curvature is large, but it decreases rapidly as one moves along the left-side curved portion 16A towards the right-side face 34A.The curved portion 16A of the display 12 between the line 17A where curvature starts and the rightmost extent of the display 12 defines an elongate display strip 18A. The elongate display strip 18A has a length and the curvature of the left-side curved portion 16A is substantially constant along the whole or a majority of that length.
The curved side portion 16B of the display 12 follows the curved surface of the apparatus 10. For example, the left-side curved portion starts to curve at the dashed line 17B. Initially the radius of curvature is large, but it decreases rapidly as one moves along the left-side curved portion 16B towards the left-side face 34B. The left-side curved portion 16B of the display 12 between the line 17B where curvature starts and the leftmost extent of the display 12 defines an elongate display strip 18B. The elongate display strip 18B has a length and the curvature of left-side curved portion 16B is substantially constant along the whole or a majority of that length.
The display 12 may be a flexible display. In this case, the curved side portion 16A, 16B of the display 12 may be formed by flexing the flexible display and retaining the display 12 in a flexed state.
In the illustrated example, the curved side portions 16A, 16B of the display 12 curve over the respective edges of the apparatus 10.
In other embodiments, not illustrated, the curved side portions of the display may curve beyond the respective edges of the apparatus 10 onto the rear face 32 of the apparatus 10.
Referring back to
The curved side portion 16A of the display 12 may provide an elongate preview screen 18A that previews content configured to follow content displayed in the central portion 14 of the display 12.
The content 26 stored in the memory 24 may be arranged logically as pages.
A rightmost edge portion 42BN−1 of the preceding page 40N−1 of content is displayed on the left curved side portion 14B of the display 12 in the elongate display strip 18B. A leftmost edge portion 42AN+1 of the following page 40N+1 of content is displayed on the right curved side portion 14A of the display 12 in the elongate display strip 18A.
Referring back to
As schematically illustrated in
At block 56, the display controller 20 is used to control a curved side portion 16A of the display 12 to display, simultaneously, additional information not forming part of the first page of content.
The additional information may provide a preview function for the next page of content.
In some embodiments, the display 12 may be a touch sensitive display and the display controller 20 may be capable of not only controlling the content of the display 12 but also be capable of detecting touch inputs by a user at the display 12.
At block 56, when the display controller 20 is used to control a curved side portion 16A of the display 12 to display, simultaneously, additional information not forming part of the first page of content, then the additional information may comprise control information displayed for touch actuation by a user. For example, it may define a selectable icon or element.
The display controller 20 may be configured to control incorrect touch input via the curved side portions 16A, 16B.
At block 70, when touch input is detected at N (N>0) different areas of the curved side portion 16A, then the method 66 moves to block 71.
At optional block 71, if the total area of the curved side portion 16A that is touched at the N different areas of the curved side portion 16A exceeds a threshold A(N,O), then the method 66 moves to block 75 where the touch input at the curved side portion 16A is ignored. Otherwise, the method moves to block 72. The threshold A(N, O) is, in this example, a function of the number N of different areas where the curved side portion 16A is touched and also a function of an orientation of the apparatus 10. The orientation may, for example, be determined using a three-axis accelerometer which is arranged to measure gravity along three orthogonal axes. In other examples, the threshold may be a constant.
At optional block 72, if the N putative inputs at the N different areas of the curved side portion 16A are stationary or too many of them are stationary then the method 66 moves to block 73 otherwise the method moves to block 75 where the touch input at the curved side portion 16A is ignored. If M of the N putative inputs are stationary, then if N−M<T(N, O) the method moves to block 75. The threshold T(N, O) is, in this example, a function of the number N of different areas where the curved side portion 16A is touched and also a function of an orientation of the apparatus 10. The orientation may, for example, be determined using a three-axis accelerometer which is arranged to measure gravity along three orthogonal axes. In other examples, the threshold T may be a constant e.g. 1.
At optional block 73, if a duration of a touch input exceeds a threshold D(O) then the method 66 moves to block 75 where the touch input at the curved side portion 16A is ignored otherwise the method moves to block 74 where the touch input at the curved side portion 16A of the display 12 is registered. The threshold D(O) is, in this example, a function of an orientation O of the apparatus 10. The orientation may, for example, be determined using a three-axis accelerometer which is arranged to measure gravity along three orthogonal axes. In other examples, the threshold D may be a constant.
Implementation of display controller 20 can be in hardware alone (a circuit, a processor . . . ), have certain aspects in software including firmware alone or can be a combination of hardware and software (including firmware).
The display controller 20 may be implemented using instructions that enable hardware functionality, for example, by using executable computer program instructions in a general-purpose or special-purpose processor that may be stored on a computer readable storage medium (disk, memory etc) to be executed by such a processor.
The display controller 20 comprises at least one processor 21; and at least one memory 23 including computer program code 25, the at least one memory 23 and the computer program code 25 configured to, with the at least one processor 21, cause the display controller 3 apparatus at 20 to perform the method of any of
The processor 21 is configured to read from and write to the memory 23. The processor 21 may also comprise an output interface via which data and/or commands are output by the processor and an input interface via which data and/or commands are input to the processor 21.
The memory 23 stores a computer program 25 comprising computer program instructions that control the operation of the apparatus 10 when loaded into the processor 21. The computer program instructions 25 provide the logic and routines that enables the apparatus to perform the methods illustrated in
The computer program may arrive at the apparatus 10 via any suitable delivery mechanism. The delivery mechanism may be, for example, a computer-readable storage medium, a computer program product, a memory device, a record medium such as a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or digital versatile disc (DVD), an article of manufacture that tangibly embodies the computer program 25. The delivery mechanism may be a signal configured to reliably transfer the computer program 25. The apparatus 10 may propagate or transmit the computer program 25 as a computer data signal.
Although the memory 23 is illustrated as a single component it may be implemented as one or more separate components some or all of which may be integrated/removable and/or may provide permanent/semi-permanent/dynamic/cached storage.
References to ‘computer-readable storage medium’, ‘computer program product’, ‘tangibly embodied computer program’ etc. or a ‘controller’, ‘computer’, ‘processor’ etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having different architectures such as single /multi-processor architectures and sequential (Von Neumann)/parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), application specific circuits (ASIC), signal processing devices and other processing circuitry. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logic device etc.
As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following:
This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term “circuitry” would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term “circuitry” would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other network device.”
As used here ‘module’ refers to a unit or apparatus that excludes certain parts/components that would be added by an end manufacturer or a user. The display controller may be a module.
The blocks illustrated in the
Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in the preceding paragraphs with reference to various examples, it should be appreciated that modifications to the examples given can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed.
Features described in the preceding description may be used in combinations other than the combinations explicitly described.
Although functions have been described with reference to certain features, those functions may be performable by other features whether described or not.
Although features have been described with reference to certain embodiments, those features may also be present in other embodiments whether described or not.
Whilst endeavoring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.
