Display apparatus and image processing apparatus with flexible menu items and control method thereof

Abstract

A display apparatus comprises: a user interface (UI) generator which generates a UI having a plurality of regions in which at least one of a plurality, of menu items is displayed to select an operation; a display unit which displays the UI; a user input unit which receives a command to edit the menu items; and a controller which controls the UI generator to edit an arrangement of the menu items on the UI according to the command.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a display apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown therein, the display apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a user interface (UI) which is displayed on a display unit 120. For example, the display apparatus 100 may be realized as a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a PDA, and a PMP. Alternatively, the display apparatus 100 may comprise a TV.

As shown therein, the display apparatus 100 comprises a UI generator 110, a display unit 120, a user input unit 130 and a controller 140. The UI generator 110 generates a UI which comprises at least one of a plurality of menu items to select an operation of the display apparatus 100. The display unit 120 displays the UI which is generated by the UI generator 110. The display unit 120 may comprise a liquid crystal display (LCD) to display the UI thereon. The user input unit 130 receives a command from a user to edit the menu item. The user input unit 130 may comprise a plurality of buttons to receive a command from a user.

The controller 140 controls overall operations of the display apparatus 100. The controller 140 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention controls the UI generator 110 to edit the arrangement of the menu items according to a user's command. The edition of the menu items according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises an omission, an addition and a movement of the menu items. The movement of the menu items may comprise an addition of the hidden menu item when the omission and addition of the menu items is performed consecutively.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the UI according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown therein, a UI 10 comprises a plurality of regions 12 in which a plurality of menu items 11 is displayed. The respective menu items 11 are shaped in an icon to select the operation of the display apparatus 100. The UI 10 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises the plurality of regions 12 which are divided into a grid shape. The respective menu items 11 are disposed in one of the plurality of regions 12. Each of the menu items 11 has a rectangular shape. Each of the menu items 11 has a predetermined size not to overlap each other when they are arranged in two or more neighboring regions. Each of the menu items 11 displays an image indicating a operation of the display apparatus 100. The operation of the display apparatus 100 comprises DMB, game, camcorder, text, e-mail, etc. The UI 10 is displayed by a user's setting. The UT 10 may further comprise a background image 23 (referred to in FIG. 4A) which is displayed as a background of the plurality of menu items 11.

The UI 10 in FIG. 2A is displayed initially when a user selects a menu setting. The plurality of menu items 11 is disposed in a horizontal direction in the UI 10 in FIG. 2A. The plurality of menu items 11 may comprise a main menu, i.e., the highest menu. The controller 140 controls the UT generator 110 according to a user's input, to hide one of the plurality of menu items 11 displayed in the UI 10, add a menu item to the UI 10 or move one of the a menu items 11 displayed on the region 12 of the UI 10 to another region 12. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a menu item 1a displayed on the UI 10 in FIG. 2A may be hidden from the UI 10 in FIG. 2B. A menu item 11b, which is not displayed in the UI 10 in FIG. 2A, is added to the UI 10 in FIG. 2B. Also, a menu item 11c disposed in the right end of the UI 10 in FIG. 2A is moved to the bottom end of the UI 10 in FIG. 2B. FIGS. 3A to 3C illustrate various examples of the UI 10 in which the menu items 11 are disposed according to a user's preference.

With the omission of the menu item 11 which is not frequently used, a user may select the menu items 11 quickly and easily. With the addition of the menu item to the main menu which is frequently used by a user, a user may select the menu item more quickly and easily. When the background image 23 preset by a user is displayed in the UI 10, the menu items 11 are disposed in a region 12 which does not cover the background image 23, thereby meeting a user's demand (refer to FIGS. 4A to 4E).

The operation of the display apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A to 10. FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate the omission, addition and movement of the menu item 11 of the display apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 5 to 10 are flowcharts of the display apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 5, the controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to display a plurality of menu items 21 in one of the plurality of regions 12 of the UI 20, according to a user's command (S100). Then, the, controller 140 receives a user's input to edit the menu item 21a (S110). When a user's input comprises one of the omission, addition or movement of the menu items 21, the controller 140 performs the concerned operation (S120 to S140).

When a user's input comprises the omission of the menu item 21 (S120), as shown in FIG. 6, the controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to highlight one of the plurality of menu items 21a through 21n in the UI 20 (S121). For example, a menu item 21a of the UI 20 in FIG. 4A is highlighted. The controller 140 controls the highlight of the menu item 21a to move to another one of the menu items 21 according to a user's command (S122). In this case, a user's command may be input through the user input unit 130 comprising up/down/left/right buttons. The controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to hide one of the menu items 21 selected by a user from the UI 20, while moving the highlight (S123). As shown in FIG. 4E, a menu item 21b may be hidden from the UI 20.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to display a region number on respective regions 22 in the UI 20 as shown in FIG. 7 (S221). For example, the region number may be displayed on the respective regions 22 of the UI 20 as shown in FIG. 4B. Then, the controller 140 receives the region number by a user's input (S222). The region number may be selected through the user input unit 130 comprising a number button. For example, a region number 13 may be input to the controller 140 as shown in FIG. 4B. The controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to hide the menu item 21a (refer to FIG. 4E) corresponding to the selected region number, from the UI 20 (S223).

When a user's input comprises the addition of the menu item (S130), the controller 140 controls the UI generator 110 to display the plurality of menu items 24 which are included in the UI 20 (S131). As shown in FIG. 4C, the plurality of menu items 24 which is not included in the UI 20 may be displayed as a text.

Then, the controller 140 determines the menu items 24 to be added according to a user's selection among the plurality of menu items 24 (S132). As shown in FIG. 4C, the menu item 24 may be determined as a menu item to be added according to a user's selection while moving the highlight to the plurality of menu items 24. FIG. 4C illustrates the selection of the menu item 24 corresponding to “music.”

Then, the controller 140 highlights one of the plurality of regions 22 (S133), and moves the highlight to another region 22 according to a user's command (S134). While moving the highlight, the controller 140 determines a region 22 in which a menu item to be added by a user's selection is disposed (S135). As shown in FIG. 4B, a highlighted region 22a may be selected by a user. The controller 140 controls the menu item selected by a user to be added to the region selected by a user (S136). As shown in FIG. 4D, a menu item 22c corresponding to “music” may be added to the region 22a selected by a user. According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operations of S133 to S135 may be performed earlier than the operations of S131 and S132.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the controller 140 performs the operations of S231 and S232 as shown in FIG. 9. The operations of S231 and S232 are identical or similar to the operations of S131 and S132. The controller 140 controls the region number to be displayed on the respective regions 22 of the UI 20 (S233). For example, the region number may be displayed on the regions 22 as shown in FIG. 4B. Then, the controller 140 receives the region number by a user's input (S234), and determines the region 22 in which the added menu item 21 is disposed according to the selected region number (S235). The controller 140 controls the menu item selected by a user to be displayed on the region selected by a user (S236). According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operations of S233 to S235 may be performed earlier than the operations of S231 and S232.

When a user's input comprises the movement of the menu item 21 (S140), the controller 140 highlights one of the plurality of menu items 21 in the UI 20 (S141), and moves the highlight to another one of the menu items 21 according to a user's command (S142). The controller 140 determines the menu item 21 to be moved according to a user's selection, while moving the highlight (S143). According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operations of S141 to S143 may be replaced by the selection of the region number.

Then, the controller 140 highlights one of the plurality of regions 22 (S144), and moves the highlight to another region 22 according to a user's command (S145). The controller 140 determines the region 22 to which the menu item is moved by a user's selection, while moving the highlight (S146). According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operations of S144 to S146 may be replaced by the selection of the region number. The controller 140 controls the menu item selected by a user to move to the region selected by a user (S147).

FIGS. 11A and 11B illustrate a display apparatus 100 according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, a UI generator 110 generates a sub UI 30 having a sub region 32 to dispose sub menu items 31a and 31b of a menu item 21 therein.

The sub region 32 of the sub UI 30 is larger than a region 22 of the UI 20. As shown in FIG. 11B, the two sub menu items 31a and 31b are respectively displayed in the sub region 32 which is formed by dividing the region 22 into two parts.

When a second sub menu item (not shown) of the sub menu items 31a and 31b exists, the second sub menu item may be displayed throughout the plurality of regions 22. Here, the menu item 21 is the highest menu since the menu item 21 is displayed on an elementary unit region 22. The second sub menu item is the lowest menu since the second sub menu item is displayed throughout the region 22.

Accordingly, when the menu item 21 is displayed, a user may acknowledge that there is not a more superior menu and may not perform unnecessary operations. When the sub menu items 31a and 31b are displayed, a user acknowledges that a superior or sub menu exists since the sub menu items 31a and 31b are displayed in neither the elementary unit region 22 nor the maximum unit region 22. Thus, a user moves to the superior or sub menu, thereby selecting the menu item without difficulty. When the second sub menu item is displayed, a user recognizes that there is no more sub menu, thereby preventing an unnecessary menu edit.

The controller 140 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be realized by a computer program. In this case, the controller 140 may comprise a read only memory (ROM) storing a computer program therein, a random access memory (RAM) loading the computer program and a microprocessor such as a central processing unit (CPU) operating the computer program.

When adding the menu item, a menu item may be added to a UI which does not have a menu item. The user input unit 130 and the display unit 120 may be realized as a touch screen. Here, a user may directly select the menu item to be hidden, added or moved, on the touch screen.

Meanwhile, the present invention may be realized as an image processing apparatus (not shown) such as a set-top box (not shown) of a TV to process a UI displayed in a TV. Here, the image processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be similar to a display apparatus 100 that excludes the display apparatus 120.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a user may add, hide or move a menu item according to a user's preference, thereby meeting a user' demand. For example, a user may hide or move the menu item which covers a background image, thereby viewing the background image.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a user may edit the menu item according to a user's preference, thereby selecting the menu item quickly and easily. For example, a user may hide a menu item which is not frequently used, thereby simplifying a procedure of selecting the menu item. Also, a user may set a frequently-used sub menu as a main menu, thereby selecting the sub menu quickly.

Further, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a user may acknowledge a current stage in selecting menus, thereby selecting the menu item conveniently.

Although a few exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising: a user interface (UI) generator which generates a UI having a plurality of regions in which at least one of a plurality of menu items is displayed to select an operation;a display unit which displays the UI;a user input unit which receives a command to edit the menu items; anda controller which controls the UI generator to edit an arrangement of the menu items on the UI according to the command.

2. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the regions are arranged as a grid.

3. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to hide a menu item of the menu items selected by a user, among the plurality of menu items in the UI.

4. The display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to highlight the menu item to be hidden.

5. The display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to display region numbers on the regions, and controls the UI generator to hide a menu item corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

6. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to add at least one menu item selected by a user among the plurality of menu items, which are not displayed in the UI, to one of the regions selected by the user among the plurality of regions.

7. The display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to display the plurality of menu items, which is not displayed on the UI, on the display unit, and selects the menu item among the plurality of displayed menu items to be added.

8. The display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to highlight the region in which the menu item can be added.

9. The display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to display region numbers on the regions, and controls the UI generator to add the selected menu item to a region corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

10. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to move a menu item selected by a user among the plurality of menu items of the UI, to a region selected by the user among the plurality of regions.

11. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to highlight the menu items to be moved.

12. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to display region numbers on the regions, and moves a menu item corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

13. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to highlight the region to which the menu item can be moved.

14. The display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the controller controls the UI generator to display region numbers on the regions, and controls the UI generator to move the selected menu item to a region corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by a user.

15. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the UI generator generates a sub UI comprising at least one sub region in which at least one sub menu item of the menu items is displayed, and the at least one sub region is larger than the regions of the UI.

16. The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user input unit comprises a touch screen.

17. An image processing apparatus comprising: a user interface (UI) generator which generates a UI comprising a plurality of regions in which at least one of a plurality of menu items is displayed to select an operation;a user input unit which receives a command to edit the menu items; anda controller which controls the UI generator to edit an arrangement of the menu items of the UI according to the command.

18. A method of controlling a display apparatus, the method comprising: generating and displaying a user interface (UI) which comprises a plurality of regions in which at least one of a plurality of menu items is displayed to select an operation;receiving a command to edit the menu items; andediting an arrangement of the menu items of the UI according to the command.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the regions are arranged as a grid.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein the editing the arrangement of the menu items comprises hiding a menu item of the menu items selected by a user among the plurality of menu items of the UI.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the hiding the menu item comprises highlighting the menu item which can be hidden.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the hiding the menu item comprises displaying region numbers on the regions; and hiding the menu item corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

23. The method according to claim 18, wherein the editing the arrangement of the menu items comprises adding at least one menu item selected by a user among the plurality of menu items, which are not displayed on the UI, to a region selected by the user among the plurality of regions.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the adding the menu item comprises displaying the plurality of menu items which is not displayed in the UI; and selecting the menu item to be added among the plurality of displayed menu items.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the adding the menu item comprises highlighting the regions to which the menu item can be added.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the adding the menu item comprises displaying region numbers on the regions; and adding the selected menu item to a region corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

27. The method according to claim 18, wherein the editing the arrangement of the menu items comprises moving a menu item selected by a user among the plurality of menu items displayed on the UI to a region selected by the user among the plurality of regions.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the moving the menu item comprises highlighting the menu items to be moved.

29. The method according to claim 27, wherein the moving the menu item comprises displaying region numbers on the regions; and moving the menu items corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

30. The method according to claim 27, wherein the moving the menu item comprises highlighting the region to which the menu item is moved.

31. The method according to claim 27, wherein the moving the menu item comprises displaying region numbers on the regions, and moving the selected menu item to a region corresponding to a region number of the region numbers selected by the user.

32. The method according to claim 18, further comprising: generating and displaying a sub UI which comprises at least one sub region in which at least one sub menu item of the menu items is displayed, whereinthe at least one sub region is larger than the regions of the UI.