This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Applications No. 2011-030117, filed Feb. 15, 2011; and No. 2011-254803, filed Nov. 22, 2011, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to an electronic apparatus.
Some of electronic apparatus used to, for example, read and view electronic books or publications comprise an open and close structure as of books. Such an electronic apparatus comprises a pair of units connected with a hinge. The pair of units each displays documents, images, web pages and other information, and these displayed items are read and viewed while the units are open.
The display portion of the units displaying information items such as documents is enclosed by a frame, which is a part of the housing of the unit. With this structure, the display portion of one unit and that of the other unit are separated by each frame, which makes it difficult for the read to see the two display units as one large display portion.
A general architecture that implements the various features of the embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate the embodiments and not to limit the scope of the invention.
Various embodiments will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In general, according to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a first housing, a first display and a transparent first panel. The first display in the first housing includes a first display portion. The first panel covers the first display portion and includes a first flat surface portion and a first curved surface portion along an outer edge of the first flat surface portion. The first display portion displays images in a location corresponding to the first flat surface portion and a location corresponding to the first curved surface portion respectively at different aspect ratios from each other.
The first embodiment will now be described with reference to
As shown in
One of the hinges 5 is provided over from the upper end of an inner end portion of the first unit 3 to the upper end of an inner end portion of the second unit 4. The other hinge 5 is provided over from the lower end of an inner end portion of the first unit 3 to the lower end of an inner end portion of the second unit 4. It is alternatively possible to take such a structure a hinge is provided for only one of the upper and lower ends in order to allow various types of wires such as control lines and power lines connecting between the first unit 3 and the second unit 4 to pass therethrough.
The pair of hinge portions 5 comprise a first shaft portion 11 and a second shaft portion 12, respectively. It should be noted that the first shaft portion 11 and the second shaft portion 12 are hidden in
The protruding portion 6 is provided over from one of the hinge portion 5 to the other hinge portion 5. The protruding portion 6 is formed to have a length and a thickness to be easily graspable by the user. The protruding portion 6 comprises a removable battery unit and various types of interfaces such as a jog dial.
The first unit 3 comprises a first housing 21, a first display 22, a first touch panel 23 and a first panel 24.
As shown in
The first housing 21 houses various electronic parts such as the first display 22, first touch panel 23 and a printed circuit board 29. For example, an MPU is mounted on the printed circuit board 29. The MPU serves to control the electronic apparatus 1.
The first display 22 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. It should be noted that the first display 22 is not limited to this type, but it may alternatively be some other type of display such as the organic electroluminescence display.
The first display 22 is formed into roughly a rectangular shape, and comprises the first display portion 31. The first display portion 31 is exposed from the opening 28 of the first housing 21 to the outside of the first housing 21. The first display 22 displays an image on the first display portion 31 under the control of, for example, the MPU mentioned above. It should be noted here that the term “image” used in this specification is defined as including various types of data displayable on the screen such as characters, symbols, numerals, documents, images, moving images and web pages, and thus the term is not limited to illustrations or photographs.
The MPU has the function of correct images to be displayed on the first display 22 and a second display 42, which will be explained later.
The first touch panel 23 is a rectangular-shaped part having transparency, and it covers the first display portion 31 via a gap. The first touch panel 23 has a sensor of, for example, an electro-static type, and it senses the movement of a finger on the first panel 24.
The first panel 24 is formed of, for example, a transparent resin or glass material. The first panel 24 is mounted on the first housing 21 such as to close the opening 28. In this manner, the first display 22 and the first touch panel 23 are protected. The first panel 24 covers the first display portion 31 over the first touch panel 23.
As shown in
As shown in
The second unit 4 comprises a second housing 41, a second display 42, a second touch panel 43 and a second panel 44.
As shown in
The second housing 41 houses various electronic parts such as the second display 42, second touch panel 43 and a printed circuit board 49.
As in the case of the first display 22, the second display 42 is, for example, a liquid crystal display. It should be noted also here that the second display 42 is not limited to this type, but it may alternatively be some other type of display such as the organic electroluminescence display.
The second display 42 is formed into roughly a rectangular shape, and comprises a second display portion 51. The second display portion 51 is exposed from an opening 48 of the second housing 41 to the outside of the second housing 41. The second display 42 displays an image on the second display portion 51 under the control of, for example, the MPU mentioned above.
As shown in
The second touch panel 43 is a rectangular-shaped part having transparency, and it covers the second display portion 51 via a gap. The second touch panel 43 has a sensor of, for example, an electro-static type, and it senses the movement of a finger on the second panel 44.
The second panel 44 is formed of, for example, a transparent resin or glass material. The second panel 44 is mounted on the second housing 41 such as to close the opening 48. In this manner, the second display 42 and the second touch panel 43 are protected. The second panel 44 covers the second display portion 51 over the second touch panel 43.
As shown in
As shown in
In order to make the screens further close to each other, the base 25 and frame 26 are not formed by fitting them to each other, but formed as an integral unit. Also, the base 45 and frame 46 are formed as an integral unit. In this manner, the thickness is decreased by the thickness of a portion which may have been created by the fitting assembly. Further, the first housing 21 and the second housing 41 are each formed by sheet metal, thereby achieving a thin but solid structure. As mentioned above, the first panel 24 and the second panel 44, and the first housing 21 and second housing 41 formed of the metal sheet are molded respectively as an integral unit, and therefore it is expected to be able to make the screens even more closer to each other.
Similarly, the MPU corrects the image segment corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 of the second display potion 51. In this manner, the image segment corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 is viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image displayed in the portion corresponding to the second flat surface portion 53 as seen through the second curved surface portion 54. That is, the second display portion 51 displays the corrected image segment in the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54.
According to the electronic apparatus 1 of the above-described structure, the first panel 24 exposes the first display portion 31 from the first flat surface portion 33 and the first curved surface portion 34 to the outside of the first housing 21. As shown in
Further, the second panel 44 exposes the second display portion 51 from the second flat surface portion 53 and the second curved surface portion 54 to the outside of the second housing 41. The second curved surface portion 54 is formed along the end portion 47 of the second housing 41 into an arc shape in its cross section to make the first unit 3 and the second unit 4 to pivot with regard to each other. With such a structure that the second display portion 51 is exposed from the second curved surface portion 54, the second display portion 51 can be placed close to the end portion 47 of the second housing 41.
The first curved surface portion 34 and the second curved surface portion 54 are set to be adjacent to each other. With the above-described structure, the first display portion 31 and the second display portion 51 are set close to each other, and thus the first display portion 31 and the second display portion 51 can be viewed more easily as they are seen as one large display portion.
The first display portion 31 displays the corrected image segment in the portion corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34 in such a manner that the image segment is viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image of the portion corresponding to the first flat surface portion 33 as seen through the first curved surface portion 34. Thus, the distortion of the image, which may occur when the image of the first image portion 31 is exposed directly from the first curved surface portion 34, can be resolved.
On the other hand, the second display portion 51 displays the corrected image segment in the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 in such a manner that the image segment is viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image of the portion corresponding to the second flat surface portion 53 as seen through the second curved surface portion 54. Thus, the distortion of the image, which may occur when the image of the second image portion 51 is exposed directly from the second curved surface portion 54, can be resolved.
The communication portion 201 is a communication module such as a wireless or wired LAN, through which various types of data of images (video) and the like are received via a network such as the Internet or a home network. The receiving portion 202 is a receiver device such as a television receiving tuner, and receives BS digital broadcast waves and digitalized terrestrial broadcast waves to obtain image (video) signals superimposed on the broadcast waves. The memory portion 203 is a memory device such as HDD or SSD, and stores the image (video) signal, etc. in accordance with an instruction from the control portion 205. The GUI generating portion 204 generates various types of GUI images in accordance with an instruction from the control portion 205.
The control portion 205 has the function of controlling various functional blocks of the electronic apparatus 1. For example, the control portion 205 stores the images received by the communication portion 201 and the receiving portion 202 on the memory portion 203. Further, the control portion 205 makes the decode portion 206 to decode the images stored on the memory portion 203 or the images received by the communication portion 201 and the receiving portion 202. Further, the control portion 205 instructs the GUI generating portion 204 to generate GUI images in accordance with the operating system, and outputs the GUI images generated by the GUI generating portion 204 to the image conversion portion 207. The decode portion 206 decodes the data of the image input from the control portion 205 and output the decoded data to the image conversion portion 207.
The image conversion portion 207 corrects the images input from the control portion 205 and the decode portion 206. That is, the image conversion portion 207 corrects the width or the like of the image segment to be displayed at the locations corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34 and the second curved surface portion 54 of the images to be displayed on the first display portion 31 and the second display portion 51 as described above in
Note that the above-described functional blocks are realized by various types of hardware mounted on the electronic apparatus 1 or various types of software to be executed by a processor such as MPU.
Next, with reference to
The first lens 61 is interposed between the first display 22 and the first touch panel 23. That is, the first lens 61 is interposed between the first display 22 and the first panel 24. An air layer 62 (gap) is interposed between the first lens 61 and the first display 22, and the first lens 61 has saw-shaped projections and recesses facing on the side of the air layer 62. It should be noted here that it is not absolutely necessary to have an air layer between the first lens 61 and the first display 22, but it is preferable that the location of the air layer 62 should be filled with a transparent substance (material) having a refractive index significantly differing from that of the first lens 61.
The first lens 61 is a lens which magnifies the image displayed on the first display portion 31. As the first lens 61 refracts light, the image can be viewed further to the position close to the end portion 27 of the first housing 21 than the position originally supposed to be seen in the first curved surface portion 34. In other words, the first lens 61 refracts the light irradiated from the first display portion 31 over to the side of the end portion 27. Thus, the first lens 61 makes it possible for the user to be able to see the image segment of the portion corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34 of the first display portion 31 at the position off from the first display portion 31.
The image which is made to be seen by the first lens 61 is distortedly viewed, and therefore in order to avoid this, the MPU of the printed circuit board 29 corrects the image segment of the portion corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34. In this manner, the image segment of the portion corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34 can be viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image displayed on the portion corresponding to the first flat surface portion 33 as seen through the first lens 61.
As shown in
The second lens 64 is interposed between the second display 42 and the second touch panel 43. That is, the second lens 64 is interposed between the second display 42 and the second panel 44. An air layer 65 (gap) is interposed between the second lens 64 and the second display 42, and the second lens 64 has projections and recesses facing on the side of the air layer 65. As mentioned above, it is alternatively possible here that the location of the air layer 65 is filled with a transparent substance (material) having a low refractive index.
The second lens 64 is a lens which magnifies the image displayed on the second display portion 51. As the second lens 64 refracts light, the image can be viewed further to the position close to the end portion 47 of the second housing 41 than the position originally supposed to be seen in the second curved surface portion 54. Thus, the second lens 64 makes it possible for the user to be able to see the image segment of the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 of the second display portion 51 at the position off from the second display portion 51.
The image which is made to be seen by the second lens 64 is distortedly viewed, and therefore in order to avoid this, the MPU corrects the image segment of the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54. In this manner, the image segment of the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 can be viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image displayed on the portion corresponding to the second flat surface portion 53 as seen through the second lens 64.
According to the electronic apparatus 1 of the above-described structure, as the first lens 61 refracts light, the image can be viewed further to the position close to the end portion 27 of the first housing 21 than the position originally supposed to be seen in the first curved surface portion 34. In this manner, the first display portion 31 and the second display portion 51 can be viewed more easily as they are seen as one large display portion.
The first display portion 31 displays the corrected image in the portion corresponding to the first curved surface portion 34 so as to make the corrected image viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image displayed on the portion corresponding to the first flat surface portion 33 as seen through the first lens 61. In this manner, the distortion of an image, which may occur when displaying the image through the first lens 61, can be removed.
Further, as the second lens 64 refracts light, the image can be viewed further to the position close to the end portion 47 of the second housing 41 than the position originally supposed to be seen in the second curved surface portion 54. In this manner, the first display portion 31 and the second display portion 51 can be viewed more easily as they are seen as one large display portion.
The second display portion 51 displays the corrected image in the portion corresponding to the second curved surface portion 54 so as to make the corrected image viewed at a proportional size equal to that of the image displayed on the portion corresponding to the second flat surface portion 53 as seen through the second lens 64. In this manner, the distortion of an image, which may occur when displaying the image through the second lens 64, can be removed.
Next, with reference to
The first display 22 is, for example, a flexible LCD. Note that the first display 22 is not limited to this type, but it may alternatively be some other display having flexibility. A first display portion 31 of the first display 22 is exposed from a first flat surface portion 33 and a first curved surface portion 34 to the outside of the first housing 21. The first touch panel 23 has flexibility and is layered on an inner surface of the first panel 24.
A second display 42 and a second touch panel 43 are curved in agreement with a second curved surface portion 54.
The second display 42 is, for example, a flexible LCD. Note that the second display 42 is not limited to this type, but it may alternatively be some other display having flexibility. A second display portion 51 of the second display 42 is exposed from a second flat surface portion 53 and a second curved surface portion 54 to the outside of the second housing 41. The second touch panel 43 has flexibility and is layered on an inner surface of the second panel 44.
According to the electronic apparatus 1 having the above-described structure, the first display 22 is curved in agreement with the first curved surface portion 34. With this structure, the first display portion 31 is set further closer to an end portion 27 of a first housing 21.
The second display 42 is curved in agreement with the second curved surface portion 54. With this structure, the second display portion 51 is set further closer to an end portion 47 of a second housing 41.
Next, with reference to
In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, each directed to a double-screen device in which the panel to cover the display portion has a curved surface portion, there are some cases where a part of the display portion cannot be viewed from the user depending on the inclining angle of the display screen.
For example, the case where the first unit 3 and the second unit 4 are opened by an angle of 90° in the first embodiment as shown in
The light from a pixel P1 on the first display portion 31 is viewed by the user, for example, through the trace indicated by the arrow L1 in
On the other hand, the light from a pixel P2 on the first display portion 31 totally reflects on an interface between the first panel 24 and the air to, in some cases, pass through the trace indicated by the arrow L2 in
Similarly, the case where the first unit 3 and the second unit 4 are opened by an angle of 90° in the third embodiment as shown in
That is, of the first display portion 31, the image of a further part of the section covered by the first curved surface portion 34 cannot be viewed in some cases depending on the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4. This is also the case for the second display portion 51. In order to avoid this inconvenience, the electronic apparatus 1 of this embodiment detects the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4, and adjusts it such that the display positions of the images to be displayed on the first and second display portions 31 and 51 are set to the positions which can be viewed from the user side.
The operation of the first unit 3 will now be described as a representative example. The operation of the second unit 4 is similar to that of the first unit 3 and therefore an explanation thereof will be omitted.
In the case where the first and second units 3 and 4 are opened by an angle of, for example, 180° as shown in
The region R colored in black in the first display portion 31 in
It is alternatively possible that the electronic apparatus 1 picks up the image of the face or eyes of the user for its position, and the display position of the image G is adjusted in accordance with the position of the user's face or eye and the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4. In other words, even in the case where, for example, the first and second units 3 and 4 are opened at an angle of 180°, the above-described adjustment may be carried out when the angle of the first display portion 31 with respect to the position of the user's face or eye is smaller than a predetermined angle.
The angle detection portion 301 detects the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4. The control portion 205 determines the position where the image G is to be displayed in accordance with the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4 detected by the angle detection portion 301. In other words, the image G is displayed in different positions depending on the opening angle detected by the angle detection portion 301.
In the case where, for example, the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4 is smaller than 90°, the control portion 205 pulls the position to display the image G over to the ouster side of the first display portion 31. The operation of the control portion 205 is not limited to this, but it is alternatively possible that the control portion 205, when the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4 is smaller than several predetermined angles such as 150°, 120°, 90° and 60°, pulls the position to display the image G over to the ouster side of the first display portion 31, stepwise. It is also possible that the control portion 205 pulls the position to display the image G over to the ouster side of the first display portion 31 while interlocking with the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4.
As shown in
The control portion 205 determines the position of the user by recognizing, for example, the user's face from the image picked up by the image pick-up portion 302. Then, the control portion 205 adjusts the display position of the image G in accordance with the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4 and the user's position.
In the electronic apparatus 1 having the above-described structure, the first and second displays 22 and 42 each display the image G in different positions in accordance with the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4. With this structure, even in the case where the opening angle between the first and second units 3 and 4 is set smaller, it is possible to prevent the portions of the image displayed in the inner edge portion of each of the first and second display portions 31 and 51 from becoming not viewable from the user.
The first and second displays 22 and 42 each display the image G in different positions in accordance with the position of the user detected by the image pick-up portion 302. With this structure, it is possible to prevent the portions of the image displayed in the inner edge portion of each of the first and second display portions 31 and 51 from becoming not viewable from the user, which may occur depending on the user's position.
In the above-described embodiments, the first and second curved surface portions 34 and 54 and some parts are described by such expressions as curvature and arc, but these portions may not necessarily be of a smooth arc shape. In other words, it is alternatively possible that the panel is bent into, for example, a polygonal shape in the vicinity of the inner edge portion, to make an ark shape as a whole.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2011-030117 | Feb 2011 | JP | national |
2011-254803 | Nov 2011 | JP | national |