Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to an electronic picture frame and an image display method thereof, and more particularly, to an electronic picture frame which displays images stored in an external memory or an embedded memory on a display, and an image display method thereof.
Electronic picture frames are devices for displaying still images or moving images stored in a memory on a screen. Conventional electronic picture frames display only a single image on a screen or display images stored in a single memory. That is, conventional electronic picture frames are limited in the extent to which they can display images on a screen. Accordingly, since such electronic picture frames provide only a simple function for displaying images, a user may be unable to watch images stored in a desired format in diverse kinds of memory, and therefore the electronic picture frames may be ineffective.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention address at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and other disadvantages not described above. Also, the present invention is not required to overcome the disadvantages described above, and an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may not overcome any of the problems described above.
An aspect of the present invention provides an electronic picture frame which implements an image display function with diverse forms and provides a user with images stored in diverse kinds of memories in an exciting and effective way so as to increase the effectiveness of the electronic picture frame and an image display method thereof.
According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image display method for an electronic picture frame, the method including displaying a plurality of images on a first area of a screen, scrolling through the plurality of images on the screen, and displaying one of the plurality of images which are being scrolled through on a second area of the screen.
The plurality of images displayed on the first area may be thumbnail images which have a smaller size than the image displayed on the second area.
An image displayed at a preset position of the first area from among the plurality of images, which are being scrolled through, may be displayed on both the first area and the second area of the screen for a preset period of time.
The method may further include changing the number of images displayed on the first area according to a user command.
The images displayed on the first area may include images which have been displayed on the second area, and images which have not been displayed on the second area.
In displaying one of the plurality of images, which are being scrolled through, on the second area of the screen, an image at a particular position from among the plurality of images may be enlarged, moved to the second area, and displayed on the second area, and the process of enlarging and moving the image at the particular position is shown gradually.
The method may further include changing at least one of a direction and rate of scrolling through the plurality of images according to a user command.
The image displayed on the first area may be at least one image which has not been displayed on the second area.
According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic picture frame including a display unit, a signal processing unit which processes a plurality of images so that the plurality of images are scrolled through and displayed on a first area of the display unit, and a control unit which controls the signal processing unit to display one of the plurality of images, which are being scrolled through, on a second area of the display unit.
The plurality of images displayed on the first area may be thumbnail images which have a smaller size than the image displayed on the second area.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to display an image displayed at a preset position of the first area from among the plurality of images, which are being scrolled through, on both the first area and the second area of the screen for a preset period of time.
The electronic picture frame may further include a command input unit which receives a user command to change the number of images displayed on the first area.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to display at least one of images which have been displayed on the second area and images which have not been displayed on the second area on the first area.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit so that an image at a particular position from among the plurality of images is enlarged, moved to the second area, and displayed on the second area, and the process of enlarging and moving the image at the particular position may be shown gradually.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to change at least one of a direction and rate of scrolling through the plurality of images according to a user command.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to display at least one image, which has not been displayed on the second area, on the first area.
According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image display method for an electronic picture frame, the method including reading out images from a plurality of storage areas, and displaying the images read out from each of the plurality of storage areas on a respective display area of a screen.
In the displaying operation, the images may be displayed using at least one of a first display method of displaying a single image on a single display area in a fixed way and a second display method of displaying a plurality of images sequentially on a single display area.
The method may further include receiving a user command to select a storage area which is capable of providing images, wherein in reading out the images, the selected storage area is accessed to read out the images.
The displaying operation may include decoding the images stored in the plurality of storage areas alternately so that the images stored in each of the plurality of storage areas can be displayed on a respective display area.
The displaying operation may further include performing signal processing so that the position and size of the decoded images change gradually when the images are displayed on the plurality of display areas.
According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic picture frame including a signal processing unit which performs signal processing of images read out from a plurality of storage areas, and a control unit which controls the signal processing unit to display the images read out from each of the plurality of storage areas on a respective display area of a screen.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to display the images using at least one of a first display method of displaying a single image on a single display area in a fixed way and a second display method of displaying a plurality of images sequentially on a single display area.
The electronic picture frame may further include a command input unit which receives a user command to select a storage area which is capable of providing images, wherein the control unit accesses the selected storage area to read out the images.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to decode the images stored in the plurality of storage areas alternately so that the images stored in each of the plurality of storage areas can be displayed on a respective display area.
The control unit may control the signal processing unit to change the position and size of the decoded images gradually when the decoded images are displayed on the plurality of display areas.
The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the following description, like drawing reference numerals are used for like elements, even in different drawings. The matters defined in the description, such as detailed construction and elements, are provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. However, the present invention can be practiced without those specifically defined matters. Also, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention with unnecessary detail.
Referring to
The external memory connecting unit 110 includes a first connecting unit 110-1, a second connecting unit 110-2, . . . , and an Nth connecting unit 110-n, and each connecting unit 110-1, 110-2, . . . , and 110-n may be connected to a respective external memory such as a Secure Digital (SD) memory, a Compact Flash (CF) memory, or a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory. In such an external memories, images such as photos may be compressed and stored into Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), bitmap, or Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) formats. In addition, the external memory connecting unit 110 may be connected directly to an external device in which images are stored such as a personal computer or a digital camera.
The internal memory 120 stores programs and various data to operate the electronic picture frame 100, and stores images such as photos in JPEG format.
The signal processing unit 130 decodes images stored in an external memory which is connected to the external memory connecting unit 110, or in the internal memory 120. If an image stored in the external memory or the internal memory 120 is a photo, the photo may have been mostly compressed in JPEG format and stored, in which case the signal processing unit 130 decodes the JPEG image. Subsequently, according to the control of the control unit 160, the signal processing unit 130 performs scaling and splitting so that the image can be displayed in a user's desired form.
The display unit 140 displays the image output by the signal processing unit 130. The image may be displayed on the display unit 140 in diverse forms as illustrated in
The command input unit 150 receives user commands to control the operation of the electronic picture frame 100 and transmits the user commands to the control unit 160. The command input unit 150 may include button keys or touch keys to input user commands, may receive user commands from a remote control (not shown), or may be a touch panel which is coupled with the display unit 140. Using such a command input unit 150, the user selects a memory or folder in which a desired image is stored and selects an image display method supported by the electronic picture frame 100.
The control unit 160 controls the operation of the electronic picture frame 100 according to a user command input received through the command input unit 150. That is, control unit 160 controls the signal processing unit 130 and the display unit 140 to display images, which are stored in external memories connected to the external memory connecting unit 110 or the internal memory 130, on the display unit 140 using an image display method selected by a user command. This operation of the control unit 160 will be described in more detail below.
Referring to
Referring to
Alternatively, the image at the center of the thumbnail 220 may be gradually enlarged and displayed on the main screen 210. In addition, the image displayed on the main screen 210 may be gradually reduced and displayed on the thumbnail screen 220.
The thumbnail screen 220 in
In
If the screen 200 is initially displayed according to a user command, thumbnail images may be displayed on the thumbnail screen 220, but no image may be displayed on the main screen 210. The thumbnail images displayed on the thumbnail screen 220 include images which have been displayed on the main screen 210 and images which are not displayed on the main screen 210.
In
In
The preset position on the thumbnail screen 220 may vary according to a user command, and the scrolling rate may vary according to a user command.
In
Referring to
Alternatively, as illustrated in
An image stored in the CF memory is gradually enlarged, moved, and displayed on the first display area 310. The image is then gradually reduced and moved, and disappears from the first display area 310. Another image stored in the CF memory is displayed on the first display area 310 in the same manner. On the second display area 330, the images are displayed in the same manner. In this manner, the images alternately appear on and disappear from the first display area 310 and the second display area 330.
In
Furthermore, in
As illustrated in
By this process, the user can see the images displayed in diverse methods via the electronic picture frame 100.
As illustrated in
Subsequently, the control unit 160 controls the signal processing unit 130 and the display unit 140 to display one of the images that is displayed on the first area on a second area (S540). That is, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Subsequently, the signal processing unit 130 decodes the images stored in the selected storage area (S640), and the display unit 140 displays the decoded images on the screen using the selected image display method (S660). In other words, the control unit 160 controls the signal processing unit 130 to decode the images stored in the selected memory and performs scaling and splitting of the decoded images. Consequently, the images in the USB memory can be processed by the signal processing unit 130 and displayed on the first display area, and the images in the CF memory can be processed by the signal processing unit 130 and displayed on the second display area.
In
As can be appreciated from the above description of an electronic picture frame, images are displayed in diverse forms so that the user can view the images in an interesting way, and the user can view images distributed in various types of memories in a desired way.
The foregoing exemplary embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Also, the description of the exemplary embodiments of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims, and many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2008-0055771 | Jun 2008 | KR | national |
The application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/004,141 filed Aug. 27, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/051,706 filed Oct. 11, 2013, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,788,973, issued on Sep. 29, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/370,257 filed Feb. 12, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,576,254, issued on Nov. 5, 2013, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0055771, filed on Jun. 13, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17004141 | Aug 2020 | US |
Child | 18174340 | US | |
Parent | 14051706 | Oct 2013 | US |
Child | 17004141 | US | |
Parent | 12370257 | Feb 2009 | US |
Child | 14051706 | US |