Patent Application
20090027419
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly to a display device capable of magnifying a displayed image with a simple operation, thereby improving visibility.
Japanese Patent Publication Hei 08-87521 discloses a display device having a display panel for displaying a data file thereon, such as a personal computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant) or a mobile phone. In order to improve visibility, the display device can magnify a displayed image so as to display the magnified image on the display panel.
However, when a displayed image is magnified, for example, a part of the page corresponding to the image sometimes extends off the display panel, so that the part cannot be displayed. This means that a user cannot view the whole page at one time. In order to view the whole page, the user has to shift the displayed image up and down or to the right and left by scrolling. This sometimes requires a burdensome operation. While a document file is being displayed, the user reads one line at a time. Therefore, at least the whole character string corresponding to one line is preferably viewable at the same time. However, if the displayed image is simply magnified, each line is interrupted in mid-character string. The user has to scroll the image to read each character string corresponding to one line through the end thereof. Furthermore, after finishing reading the character string corresponding to one line, the user has to scroll the image again so that the head of the character string corresponding to the next line becomes viewable. Therefore, the user has to scroll the image frequently to read through the document.
If an electrophoretic display panel is employed, the electrophoretic display panel requires time for switching from the displayed image to another image.
The user has to wait for a long time. When the user requires frequent switching operation, the user has to wait for a time long enough that the user feels that the switching operation is burdensome.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of magnifying a displayed image with a simple operation for display, thereby enhancing usability.
The present invention features a display device having a display panel, a reading unit, and a control unit. The display panel has a rectangular display region with a first area, and having a longer side and a shorter side with an aspect ratio of a (a>1). The reading unit hat reads a rectangular original image. The control unit controls display of the original image on the display panel.
The control unit includes a magnified-image producing unit, an image defining unit, a display control unit. The magnified-image producing unit that magnifies the original image by a predetermined scale to produce a magnified image. The image defining unit that divides the magnified image by a divisional line extending in parallel with either one of a longer side direction and a shorter side direction, to define a partial magnified image having a predetermined width and an area equal to or less than the first area. The display control unit displays a whole of the partial magnified image in the display region.
According to the display device of the present invention, the partial magnified image includes the range from one end through the other end of the original image. Therefore, the display panel displays the range from the one end through the other end of the magnified image corresponding to the range from the one end through the other end of the original image. For example, if the original image has been processed from a document file, the user can view the range from one end through the other end of the original image in the direction parallel to the division line without scrolling the image on the screen. This operation reduces complexity in operating the display device when the original image is magnified for display.
The present invention features a device having a display unit, a reading unit, a magnified-image producing unit, a control unit, and an image determination unit. The display unit has a rectangular data display region. The reading unit reads original image data corresponding to a rectangular original image. The magnified-image producing unit produces magnified image data from the original image data according to a magnification scale inputted by a user for displaying magnified image which is magnified with the original image. The control unit outputs at least a part of the magnified image data or the original image data to the display unit and displaying either the at least a part of the magnified image or the original image in the data display region. The image determination unit divides the magnified image in a first direction to define a partial magnified image having a predetermined width. The first direction is either one of a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction. The partial magnified image includes a range from one end through the other end in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, and has an area equal to or less than an area of the data display region. The control unit outputs a part of the magnified image data corresponding to the partial magnified image to the display unit, thereby displaying the partial magnified image in the data display region as a whole.
According to the display device of the present invention, the partial magnified image includes at least the range from the one end through the other end in the second direction. Therefore, the user can view the range from the one end through the other end at one time in the second direction without scrolling the image on the screen. This operation reduces complexity in operating the display device when the original image is magnified for display.
The particular features and advantages of the invention as well as other objects will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Embodiments according to the present invention will be described referring to the accompanied drawings. The directions “front”, “rear”, “above”, “below”, “right”, and “left” are used throughout the description to define the various parts of a display device when the display device is disposed in an orientation in which it is intended to be used.
Referring to
The display panel 2 includes an electrophoretic display panel. In the display panel 2, two substrates facing each other are arranged at a predetermined interval through a spacer so as to form a sealed space. The front substrate configured to face the user is transparent. A display liquid obtained by dispersing particles in a dispersion medium is filled in the sealed space. The color of the particles is different from the color of the dispersion medium. The display panel 2 further includes a means for applying an electric field to the display liquid. The display panel 2 has a display region of a predetermined area. When the electric field is applied across the display liquid, the particles in the display liquid are moved to the transparent substrate side, thereby bringing the color of the particles onto the panel surface. When an electric field is applied in the opposite direction, the particles are moved to the back side of the display panel, thereby bringing the color of the dispersion medium onto the panel surface. By controlling the direction of the electric field to be applied to the display liquid in this way, an image can be displayed on the display panel 2.
In an upper portion of the main body 4 above the display panel 2, a memory card slot 5 for receiving a memory card 6 is provided. An original image is read from the memory card 6 into the display device 1 via the memory card slot 5.
As shown in
The CPU 11 is a processing unit for controlling the display device 1 as a whole. The CPU 11 is connected to the ROM 12, the RAM 13, the acceleration sensor 14, the memory card I/F 15, the display panel driver 16, and the key I/F 17.
The ROM 12 is an unrewritable memory. The ROM 12 stores various control programs to be executed by the CPU 11, and fixed value data to be referred to when each of the control programs is executed.
The RAM 13 is a rewritable memory for storing various kinds of data required for the control programs to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 includes a page number memory 13a, a current-page start memory 13b, a current-page scaling memory 13c, a page data expansion region 13d, and a video RAM 13e. The page number memory 13a stores the page number of the image which is displayed on the display panel 2. The current-page start memory 13b stores the display start position S of the display image. The current-page scaling memory 13c stores magnification scales of the display image. In this embodiment, the current-page scaling memory 13c stores one of the magnification scale values 100%, 133%, 200%, and 266%, depending on the user's selection. The page data expansion region 13d is a region in which the original image data read from the memory card 6 is expanded at the magnification scale stored in the current-page scaling memory 13c. At least a part of the original image data expanded in the page data expansion region 13d is transmitted to the video RAM 13e. The video RAM 13e stores display data produced based on the data transmitted from the page data expansion region 13d.
The acceleration sensor 14 detects the acceleration of gravity to determine the orientation of the display panel 2 relative to the user. The memory card I/F 15 allows data transmission and reception between the CPU 11 and the memory card 6 inserted into the memory card slot 5. The display panel driver 16 is connected to the display panel 2. The display panel driver 16 transmits the display data outputted from the video RAM 13e to the display panel 2, and then displays the display image on the display panel 2. The key I/F 17 is connected to keys 7. The key I/F 17 allows the user to input an instruction to magnify or contract each image to the control circuit 3 through the keys 7.
The keys 7 include a back key 7a, a next key 7b, a magnification key 7c, and a contraction key 7d. The back key 7a and the next key 7b are provided below the display panel 2 on the front surface of the main body 4. The magnification key 7c and the contraction key 7d are arranged between the back key 7a and the next key 7b. The magnification key 7c accepts a display image magnification instruction. The contraction key 7d accepts a display image contraction instruction. A power switch 8 is provided at a portion of the main body 3 above the display panel 2. When the user turns the power switch 8 on, the CPU 11 starts sending electricity to the display panel 2 and the control circuit 3.
On the other hand, the memory card 6 readable by the display device 1 includes a plurality of page-data storage regions 6-1, 6-2 . . . and 6-n (n is an integer larger than 1) to store the original image data corresponding to each original image. In each page-data storage region, page display data corresponding to the original image for each page, and page attribute data indicating the attribute of the page display data are stored together. The page attribute data indicates the orientation of the data corresponding to the original image for each page, i.e. in which mode the data is created: in a portrait mode or in a landscape mode. If the page display data is a text file, the page attribute data indicates the orientation of the character string contained in the file, i.e. in which style the text file has been created, in a horizontal writing style or in a vertical writing style. The page display data has a page number. The page display data is managed by the page number. In this description, the horizontal writing style is a writing format in which sentences are written or printed horizontally like English language. The vertical writing style is a writing format in which sentences are written or printed vertically like Japanese or Chinese language.
Next, the operation of the display device 1 having the above configuration will be described. As the user inserts the memory card 6 into the memory card slot 5 to display the original image stored in the memory card 6, the CPU 11 accesses a page-data storage region 6-i (i is an integer equal to or more than 1 and equal to or less than n) which stores the page display data having a predetermined page number, and then loads the page display data from the page-data storage region 6-i. The control circuit 3 displays the image corresponding to the page display data on the display panel 2. In this embodiment, when the page display data stored in one page-data storage region is displayed to be fitted to the size of the display panel 2 (standard size), the rectangular image displayed on the display panel 2 is referred to as a page image P. Furthermore, as to the magnified image WP produced by magnifying the page image P, the image actually displayed on the display panel 2 is referred to as a partial magnified image WPs.
In this case, the control circuit 3 displays the page image P so that the longer side direction thereof coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. If the page image P has been created in the portrait mode (vertically oriented), the control circuit 3 uses the display panel 2 in a portrait manner, as shown in
As shown in
On the other hand, when the user depresses the contraction key 7d while the page image P is displayed on the display panel 2 in a magnified state, the page image P is contracted in the order reverse to the magnification. Therefore, the user can magnify the page image P by one of the magnification scales 100%, 133%, 200%, and 266%, by depressing the magnification key 7c and the contraction key 7d as required.
For example, when the user depresses the magnification key 7c while the page image P is displayed on the display panel 2 as shown in
When the page image P is magnified by 200%, a division boundary D appears in parallel with the shorter side direction as shown in
When the page image P is magnified by 266%, a division boundary D appears in parallel with the longer side direction as shown in
As shown in
As clear from
In this embodiment, as shown in
Next, the relation between the display region height H indicated by
Generally, the display region height H has the following relations relative to the aspect ratio a of the display panel 2 and to the magnification scale of the page image P, depending on the attribute of the page image P. For example, in order to represent the size of the display panel 2, the length of the shorter side is expressed by L, and the length of the longer side is expressed by aL, as shown in
(1) The case in which the page image P is in a vertical writing style-landscape mode or a horizontal writing style-portrait mode and magnified by a magnification scale of a-fold or larger and n0-fold or smaller (n0 is an integer equal to 2 or larger) will be described.
The partial magnified image WPs is divided into n0 number of images. The divided images are combined vertically in a state that the orientation of the characters is maintained, thereby producing a combined image. In this case, the combined image has a height of n0H. Since the combined image cannot be displayed if the n0H exceeds the longer side length aL of the display panel 2, the display region height H has to satisfy the following conditions.
n0H≦aL
H≦(a/n0)L [Equation 1]
In this embodiment, since the magnified image WP magnified by a magnification scale of n0-fold has a longer side length n0a2L of 100, the following conditions has to be satisfied.
H≦(a/n0)L=(1/n02)n0aL=100/(n02) [Equation 2]
Specifically,
H≦100/(n02) [Equation 3]
(2) The case in which the page image P is in a vertical writing style-landscape mode or horizontal writing style-portrait mode and magnified by a magnification scale of n0-fold or larger and n0·a-fold or smaller will be described.
The partial magnified image WPs is divided into n0-number of images. The divided images are combined vertically in a state that the orientation of the characters is maintained, thereby producing a combined image. In this case, the combined image has a height of n0H. Since the combined image cannot be displayed if the n0H exceeds the longer side length L of the display panel 2, the display region height H has to satisfy the following conditions.
n0H≦L
H≦(1/n0)L [Equation 4]
In this embodiment, since the magnified image WP magnified by a magnification scale of n0·a-fold has a longer side length n0a2L of 100, the following conditions has to be satisfied.
H≦(1/n0)L=(1/n02·a2)n0a2L=100/(n02·a2) [Equation 5]
Specifically,
H≦100/(n02·a2) [Equation 6]
(3) The case in which the page image P is in a vertical writing style-portrait mode or horizontal writing style-landscape mode and magnified by a magnification scale of n1-fold or larger and n1·a-fold or smaller (n1 is an integer equal to 1 or larger) will be described.
The partial magnified image WPs is divided into 2n1-number of images. The divided images are combined vertically in a state that the orientation of the characters is maintained, thereby producing a combined image. In this case, the combined image has a height of 2n1H. Since the combined image cannot be displayed if the 2n1H exceeds the longer side length aL of the display panel 2, the display region height H has to satisfy the following conditions.
H≦aL
H≦(a/(2n1))L [Equation 7]
In this embodiment, since the magnified image WP magnified by a magnification scale of n1·a-fold has a longer side length n1aL of 100, the following conditions has to be satisfied.
H≦(1/(2n1))anL [Equation 8]
Specifically,
H≦100/2n2 [Equation 9]
The aspect ratio has to be equal to the following value or smaller.
√{square root over (2)} [Equation 10]
When the page image P is magnified by a-fold, the partial magnified image WPs is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P, and the display region is divided into two regions at the same time. Since the page image P has a shorter side length L and a longer side length aL, the a-folded magnified image WP has a shorter side length of aL and a longer side length of a2L.
Since the combined image cannot be displayed if the longer side length a2L of the partial magnified images WPs to be divided to two images is equal to or larger than the longer side length L of the display region, the following conditions have to be satisfied.
(a2/2)L≦L [Equation 11]
Specifically,
a2≦2
a≦√{square root over (2)} [Equation 12]
Similarly, when the page image P is magnified by a-fold, the partial magnified image WPs is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P, and then divided into three or four images, the respective aspect ratios have to be equal to the following values or smaller.
√{square root over (3)}
√{square root over (4)}=2 [Equation 13]
(4) The case in which the page image P is in a vertical writing style-portrait mode or horizontal writing style-landscape mode, and magnified by a magnification scale of (n0-1)-fold or larger and n0-fold or smaller (n0 is an integer equal to 2 or larger) will be described.
The partial magnified image WPs is divided into n0-number of images. The divided images are combined vertically in a state that the orientation of the characters is maintained, thereby producing a combined image. In this case, the combined image has a height of n0H. Since the combined image cannot be displayed if the n0H exceeds the shorter side length L of the display panel 2, the display region height H has to satisfy the following conditions.
n0H≦L [Equation 14]
In this embodiment, since the magnified image WP magnified by a magnification scale of n0-fold has a shorter side length n0L of 100, the following conditions has to be satisfied.
H≦(1/n0)L [Equation 15]
Specifically,
H≦100/(n2) [Equation 16]
Hereinafter, the uppermost end of an image such as a page image P or a magnified image WP is referred to as a page head, and the lowermost end thereof is referred to as a page end. The vertical and horizontal directions of an image are defined when the image is positioned in an appropriate manner. The page head of the partial magnified image WPs is referred to as a display start position S. Settings can be made for the display start position S as required to change the partial magnified image WPs.
Referring to
In this embodiment, since the page data has a horizontal writing style-portrait mode attribute, the description is given with reference to a magnification display table 12c3 shown in
When a page image P is magnified by 133%, since the “view orientation” indicates horizontal orientation, the partial magnified image WPs obtained by magnifying the page image P by 133% is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P, and then displayed so that the line direction coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. Also, since “not applicable” is indicated as the “display panel division method”, the partial magnified image WPs is displayed on the display panel 2 without dividing the partial magnified image WPs (see
When a page image P is magnified by 200%, since the “view orientation” indicates vertical orientation, the partial magnified image WPs obtained by magnifying by 200% is displayed so that the column direction coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. Since the “display panel division method” indicates “division into two images in the longer side direction”, the display panel 2 is divided into two sections vertically in the longer side direction by the division boundary D. The partial magnified image WPs is divided into two images, and the divided images are arranged one above the other (see
When a page image P is magnified by 266%, the “view orientation” indicates horizontal orientation, the partial magnified image WPs obtained by magnifying the page image P by 266% is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P, and then displayed so that the line direction coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. Since the “display panel division method” indicates “division into two images in the shorter side direction”, the display panel 2 is divided into two sections vertically in the shorter side direction by the division boundary D. The partial magnified image WPs is divided into two images, and the divided images are arranged one above the other (see
In this embodiment, both when the page data has the vertical writing style-portrait mode attribute, and when the page data has the horizontal writing style-landscape mode attribute, the magnification scale is limited to equal to or less than 200%. Even when the user further depresses the magnification key 7c after the magnification scale reaches 200%, the magnification scale remains unchanged.
Referring to
Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the user has depressed either the magnification key 7c or the contraction key 7d (See
On the other hand, if the user has depressed neither the magnification key 7c nor the contraction key 7d (S2: No), the CPU 11 then determines whether or not the user has depressed the next key 7b (S6). When the user depresses the next key 7b, the CPU 11 performs a page forward process (S10) on the page image P or the partial magnified image WPs displayed on the display panel 2. The CPU 11 switches to the next page image P in the page forward direction or the partial magnified image WPs on the page end side.
If the user has depressed the next key 7b (S6: Yes), the CPU 11 refers to the display region height table 12b and then acquires the display region height H corresponding to the magnification scale selected by the user (S8). Next, the CPU 11 executes a page forward process to determine the display start position S of the next partial magnified image in the page forward direction (S10). In a display process (S12), the CPU 11 displays the partial magnified image WPs determined based on the display start position S on the display panel 2.
On the other hand, if the user has not depressed the next key 7b (S6: No), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the user has depressed the back key 7d (S14). When the user depresses the back key 7d, the CPU 11 performs a page return process (S18) on the page image P or the partial magnified image WPs displayed on the display panel 2. The CPU 11 switches to the previous page image P or to the partial magnified image WPs on the page head side in the page returning direction. Unless the user has depressed back key 7d (S14: No), the CPU 11 returns to S2. If the user has depressed the back key 7d (S14: Yes), the CPU 11 refers to the display region height table 12b and then acquires the display region height H corresponding to the magnification scale selected by the user (S16). Next, the CPU 11 executes the page return process to determine the display start position S of the next partial magnified image in the page returning direction (S18). In the display process (S12), the CPU 11 displays the partial magnified image WPs determined based on the display start position S on the display panel 2. The CPU 11 returns to S2 after the display process (S12).
Referring to
The CPU 11 acquires the display start position S of the page image P or the partial magnified image WPs currently displayed on the display panel 2, from the current-page start memory 13b. The CPU 11 adds the display region height H to the acquired display start position S, and then determines whether or not the value obtained by addition is equal to 100 or larger (S102).
Referring to
Referring to
As shown in
In this case, as shown in
Referring again to
On the other hand, if the value obtained by adding the display region height H to the display start position S is smaller than 100 (S102: No), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the condition expressed by the following (Equation 1) is satisfied (S106).
(Display start position S)+(Display region height H)×2<100 (Equation 1)
If (Equation 1) is satisfied (S106: Yes), the CPU 11 updates the display start position S by adding the display region height H to the display start position S stored in the current-page start memory 13b (S108). As a result, in the next display process (S12), the CPU 11 displays the partial magnified image WPs adjacent to the page end side of the partial magnified image WPs currently displayed on the display panel 2.
On the other hand, if (Equation 1) is not satisfied (S106: No), the CPU 11 updates the display start position S by subtracting the display region height H from “100” corresponding to the page end. In the next display process (S12), the CPU 11 starts displaying the partial magnified image WPs from the page end, corresponding to the display region height H.
In the page forward process (S10), the CPU 11 updates the display start position S based on the display region height H preset for each magnification scale so as to shift the display start position S sequentially in the page forward direction. In the display process (S12), the CPU 11 displays the partial magnified image WPs defined by the display start position S on the display panel 2, and then displays the next partial magnified image WPs adjacent to the page end side in the page forward direction.
Referring to
The CPU 11 acquires the display start position S of the partial magnified image WPs currently displayed on the display panel 2, from the current-page start memory 13b. The CPU 11 determines whether or not the display start position S is 0 (page head) or smaller (S182).
If the display start position S is “0” (S182: Yes), the CPU 11 determines that the partial magnified image WPs starting from the page head and corresponding to the display region height H is currently displayed on the display panel 2. Specifically, the CPU 11 determines that the magnified image WP has no undisplayed region on the page head side. Therefore, the CPU 11 determines that the image to be displayed next in the page returning direction is the page display data for the previous page.
The CPU 11 subtracts “1” from the page number stored in the page number memory 13a, and sets the next display start position S by subtracting the display region height H from 100 (S184). In the next display process (S12), the CPU 11 starts displaying the partial magnified image WPs from the end of the previous page and corresponding to the display region height H.
On the other hand, if the display start position S is larger than “0” (S182: No), the CPU 11 determines that the magnified image WP still has an undisplayed region on the page head side of the currently displayed partial magnified image WPs. The CPU 11 next determines whether or not the value obtained by subtracting the display region height H from the display start position S is “0” or smaller (S186). If the value obtained by subtracting the display region height H from the display start position S is larger than 0 (S186: No), the value obtained by subtracting the display region height H from the display start position S is set to the next display start position S (S190). In the next display process (S12), the CPU 11 displays the undisplayed region of the magnified image WP adjacent to the page head side on the display panel 2 as a partial magnified image WPs.
On the other hand, if the value obtained by subtracting the display region height H from the display start position S is “0” or smaller (S186: Yes), the display start position S is set to “0” (S188). In the next display process (S12), the CPU 11 starts displaying the partial magnified image WPs corresponding to the display region height H from the page head on the display panel 2.
A partial magnified image WPs is selected from the magnified image WP in the next display process (S12) by the display start position S determined in the page forward process (S10) or in the page return process (S18). The selected partial magnified image WPs is then displayed on the display panel 2.
Referring to
The CPU 11 determines each magnification scale, and then stores the determined magnification scale in the current-page scaling memory 13c (S42). In this embodiment, the four magnification scales 100%, 133%, 200%, and 266% are settable in the magnification order for the display device 10. The CPU 11 determines the magnification scale of the image to be displayed next, depending on the magnification scale stored in the current-page scaling memory 13c (magnification scale of the image currently displayed on the display panel 2), and depending on the number of times the user depresses the magnification key 7c or the contraction key 7d.
Next, the CPU 11 refers to the page attribute data of the page display data having the page number stored in the page number memory 13a (page number of the currently displayed image), and then determines whether or not the character string in the page display data is provided in the vertical writing style (S44). Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the page display data has been created in the portrait mode (S46, S48). The CPU 11 then refers to the magnification display table 12c corresponding to the page attribute data of the page display data currently displayed on the display panel 2. Specifically, if the character string is provided in the vertical writing style (S44: Yes), and the page orientation is based on the portrait mode (S46: Yes) at the same time, the CPU 11 then refers to a vertical writing style-portrait mode magnification display table 12c1 (
On the other hand, if the character string is provided in the horizontal writing style (S44: No), and the page orientation is based on the portrait mode (S48: Yes) at the same time, the CPU 11 refers to a horizontal writing style-portrait mode magnification display table 12c3 (
According to the referred magnification display table 12c, the CPU 11 determines the view orientation and the display panel division method (S58). In the next display process (S12), the CPU displays the page image P or the partial magnified image WP on the display panel 2, according to the referred magnification display table 12c.
Referring to
The CPU 11 reads the page display data of the page number stored in the page number memory 13a from the memory card 6, and then expands the read page display data by the magnification scale stored in the current-page scaling memory 13c, in the page data expansion region 13d (see
Among the page display data expanded in the page data expansion region 13d, the CPU 11 transfers the data equivalent to the partial magnified image WPs starting from the display start position S and corresponding to the display region height H, to the video RAM 13e. The CPU 11 then produces display data corresponding to the partial magnified image WPs, based on the view orientation and the display panel division method determined according to the magnification display table 12c (S124). The CPU 11 then outputs the produced display data to the display panel driver 16 to display the data on the display panel 2 (S126).
Referring to
Between the two divided display regions, the upper region is referred to as a divided region X, and the lower region is referred to as a divided region Y. As described in
As shown in
As shown in
Referring to
The page display data expanded in the page data expansion region 13d is processed so that display data is produced in the video RAM 13e. As shown in
As shown in
For easier comprehension, the above description is based on the magnification display to be employed when the page image P has the horizontal writing style-portrait mode attribute. Hereinafter, the page display data attributes other than the horizontal writing style-portrait mode attribute are described with reference to
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
As shown in
According to the display device 1 of this embodiment, even when a page image P is magnified, the character string corresponding to one line of the page image P can be displayed on the display panel 2 at the same time from the head through the end thereof. These operation reduces operational complexity when the text obtained by magnifying the page image P processed from a document file is read.
The display panel 2 according to the first embodiment has been described on the precondition that the aspect ratio (longer side length/shorter side length) thereof is 1.33. Therefore, if the line direction of the page image P to be displayed on the display panel 2 coincides with the shorter side direction of the display panel 2 (in this embodiment, the page image P is the horizontal writing style-portrait mode document, or the vertical writing style-landscape mode document), and the page image P is magnified by 133%, the partial magnified image WPs is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P so that the line direction of the partial magnified image WPs coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. The partial magnified image WPs is thus displayed on the display panel 2. Specifically, the length of the line direction of the magnified image magnified by 133% is equal to the length of the longer side of the display panel 2. Therefore, the longer side direction of the display panel 2 can be utilized by rotating the partial magnified image WPs by 90 degrees relative to the page image P. As a result, the character string corresponding to one line is displayed on the display panel 2 at the same time from the head through the end thereof.
Whenever the page image P is magnified by 200% regardless of the attribute of the page image P, the physical length x of the partial magnified image WPs in the line direction (=line direction length of the page image P×2) is equal to or larger than the length of the display panel 2 in the longer side direction. This means that the character string corresponding to one line of the partial magnified image WPs partially extends off the display panel 2 even when the partial magnified image WPs is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P. Therefore, the partial magnified image WPs is divided into two images in the line direction so that the divided images are arranged one above the other for display. This simple operation enables the character string corresponding to one line to be displayed on the display panel 2 at the same time from the head through the end.
If the line direction of the page image P to be displayed on the display panel 2 coincides with the shorter side direction of the display panel 2 (in this embodiment, the page image P is in the horizontal writing style-portrait mode, or the vertical writing style-landscape mode), and the page image P is magnified by 266%, the partial magnified image WPs is divided into two images in the line direction so that the divided images are arranged one above the other. At the same time, the partial magnified image WPs is rotated by 90 degrees relative to the page image P so that the line direction of the partial magnified image WPs coincides with the longer side direction of the display panel 2. The divided partial magnified images WPs are combined and displayed on the display panel 2. Therefore, the longer side direction of the display panel 2 can be used effectively.
Referring next to
For easier comprehension, while the CPU 11 is executing the main process according to the second embodiment, the input to the magnification key 7c or to the contraction key 7d is disabled, and the image magnified only by either 100% or 133% is displayed on the display panel 2. The page image P has the horizontal writing style-portrait mode attribute.
In the main process according to the second embodiment, first, the CPU 11 reads the acceleration (acceleration of gravity) detected by the acceleration sensor 14 (S202). The acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor 14 enables the CPU 11 to confirm how much the display device 1 is inclined relative to the vertical direction. Therefore, based on the detected acceleration, the CPU 11 determines in which way the longer side of the display panel 2 is oriented vertically (hereinafter, referred to as portrait orientation) or horizontally (hereinafter, referred to as landscape orientation).
Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the orientation of the display panel 2 coincides with the view orientation (S204). A description is given based on the precondition that the display panel 2 is in the portrait orientation, and on the precondition that a page image P magnified by 100% is displayed thereon. In this case, the page image P is in the portrait orientation for display (see magnification display table 12c3 in
When the user depresses the next key 7b (8214: Yes), the CPU 11 acquires the display region height H corresponding to the magnification scale (S216), executes a page forward process (S218), and then executes a display process (S226). As a result, the next image in the page forward direction is displayed on the display panel 2. The page forward process (S218) is the same as the page forward process (S10) described with reference to
On the other hand, when the user depresses the back key 7a (3220: Yes), the CPU 11 acquires the display region height H corresponding to the magnification scale (S222), executes a page return process (S224), and then executes the display process (S226). As a result, the next image in the page returning direction is displayed on the display panel 2. The page return process (S224) is the same as the page return process (S18) described with reference to
While these processes are being repeated, the user happens to rotate the display device 1 so that the display panel 2 becomes in the landscape orientation. If the display panel 2 is changed from the portrait orientation to the landscape orientation, the view orientation does not coincide with the orientation of the display panel 2 (S204: No). Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the display panel 2 is in the portrait orientation (S206). If the display device 1 is in the portrait orientation (S206: Yes), the CPU 11 sets the view orientation to the portrait orientation, and sets the magnification scale to be stored in the current-page scaling memory 13c to 100% (S208). As a result, in the display process (S226), the CPU 11 displays the page image P magnified by 100% in the portrait orientation on the display panel 2 which is used in the portrait orientation.
On the other hand, if the display panel 2 is used in the landscape orientation (S206: No), the CPU 11 sets the view orientation to the landscape orientation, and sets the magnification scale to be stored in the current-page scaling memory 13c to 133% (S210). As a result, in the display process (S226), the CPU 11 displays the page image P magnified by 133% on the display panel 2 which is used in the landscape orientation.
In the main process (S200) according to the second embodiment, the user simply changes the orientation of the display panel 2, thereby switching the magnification scale of the page image P between 100% and 133% for display. Even when the page image P is magnified by 133%, the character string corresponding to one line is displayed on the display panel 2 at one time from the head through the end thereof. This improves visibility by image magnification, and requires less operational complexity at the same time.
It is understood that the foregoing description and accompanying drawings have described the present invention. The present invention is not restricted to the disclosed embodiments. Various modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The foregoing embodiments have been described on the precondition that the display panel 2 consists of an electrophoretic panel. However, the display panel 2 is not restricted to the electrophoretic panel but any other types of panels such as a liquid crystal panel.
In the foregoing embodiments, the magnification scale has been selected from 133%, 200%, and 266%. These values are decided based on the aspect ratio (1.33) of a typical display panel. Therefore, if the aspect ratio of the display panel 2 is changed, these magnification scales are also changed as required.
Each magnification scale does not have to be fixed. An arbitrary value can be set for the magnification scale by the user. In this case, the CPU 11 compares the magnification scale preset based on the aspect ratio of the display panel 2 with the arbitrary magnification scale set by the user, and then refers to the most suitable magnification display tables 12c.
In the foregoing embodiments, the CPU 11 acquires the attribute of the page image P by referring to the page attribute data stored in the memory card 6. However, the CPU 11 can also determine the attribute of the page image P by analyzing the loaded page display data. If the display device 1 has an optical character recognition (OCR) function, the CPU 11 can determine whether a sentence included on the page image P is in the horizontal writing style or in the vertical writing style and processes the determination result as the page attribute data. If the CPU 11 determines the attribute in this manner, the present invention is applicable to the case in which the page attribute data does not contain one of horizontal writing style/vertical writing style information and portrait mode/landscape mode information.
In the foregoing embodiments, the page image P has been processed from a document file. However, the present invention is also applicable to the page image P which has been processed from a non-document file. This is because the user sometimes needs to display a non-document file such as a graph or a table in a predetermined direction at the same time.
In the foregoing embodiments, the division boundary D for dividing the display region of the display panel 2 is displayed. The displayed division boundary D makes the arrangement of the divided partial magnified images WPs easily viewable, thereby improving visibility. However, the divided partial magnified image WPs can be displayed without displaying the division boundary D.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-019814 | Jan 2006 | JP | national |
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-019814 filed Jan. 27, 2006. This application is also a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/JP2007/051171 filed Jan. 25, 2007 in Japan Patent Office as a Receiving Office. The contents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2007/051171 | Jan 2007 | US |
| Child | 12181179 | US |
