Patent Application
20110090166
The present patent document relates to graphical display processing and in particular, to graphical display processing for disparate graphical display technologies.
The electronics we use today, in particular the mobile gadgets we carry with us, are expanding to include more and more functionality. In particular, specialized technologies are being developed to solve specific problems associated with certain electronic components.
One example is the development of new screen types. Numerous new display technologies offer advantages that cannot be duplicated by other display technologies.
One such example is the recent improvements in displays based on reflective technologies such as electronic paper displays (EPDs). Displays based on reflective technologies offer advantages that cannot be duplicated by displays that are backlit such as liquid crystal displays (LCD). For example, EPDs may be easily viewed in the presence of large amounts of ambient light such as sunlight and EPDs are less tiring on the eyes after extensive viewing.
However presently, EPDs are monochrome, slow to update, and have optical qualities that are adversely affected by applying a touch-sensitive layer on top of them. Because interactive layers such as touch screens do not work with EPDs, it is not possible to access control elements from an external input. For example it is difficult to implement control elements such as Graphical User Interface (GUI) buttons, in an electronic paper display to select a command to invoke an action, such as click a hyperlink or play a movie. Electronic paper displays may be adequate for static, passive reading activities, but are not designed well for interactive use.
In view of the foregoing, an object according to one aspect of the present patent document is to provide an improved apparatus and process for using different graphical display technologies to enable user interactivity. Preferably the apparatus and processes address, or at least ameliorate one or more of the problems described above. To this end, an electronic device is provided; the electronic device comprises: an electronic paper display coupled to the device; and a second display coupled to the device, wherein the second display is configured to display a portion of the electronic paper display.
In certain embodiments, the second display is a liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal display may further be a touch screen display. The liquid crystal display may also be a color display.
In another embodiment, the second display is configured to allow the electronic paper display to be panned via input on the second display.
In yet another embodiment, the electronic device is a portable handheld device although in other embodiments the device is not required to be portable or handheld.
In other embodiments of the electronic device, the second display is used to show an enlarged view of the electronic paper display.
In another embodiment, a user interface may be further overlaid on the second display. The user interface may be used to allow user input to the electronic device.
In other embodiments, the electronic paper display and the second display are connected, coupled, attached, or configured on the electronic display in any number of ways. For example, the electronic device may further comprise a frame and the electronic paper display and the second display are encased by the frame.
In another embodiment, a process for incorporating different graphic display technologies on an electronic device is provided, the process comprises the steps of: manufacturing an electronic device with an electronic paper display and a second display based on a different graphical technology from the electronic paper display, and configuring the device to display a portion of the electronic paper display within the second display.
In one embodiment, the process includes further configuring the device to include a graphical user interface overlaid on the second display. In another embodiment of the process provided, the second display is a liquid crystal display. In further embodiments, the liquid crystal display may be a touch screen display or a color display. The process may occur in the manufacture of a handheld portable device or other devices.
In yet another embodiment, the device is further configured to allow the electronic paper display to be panned via input on the second display.
In another embodiment, the device is further configured to display the portion of the electronic paper display in an enlarged view on the second display.
In one embodiment, the device is further configured to use a single buffer that spans the electronic paper display and the second display.
a shows a conceptual top view of a dual-display electronic device 200 where the content of graphical data in a frame buffer is displayed in a primary graphical display.
b shows a conceptual top view of a dual-display electronic device 200 where the content of graphical data in a frame buffer is displayed in a primary graphical display and a portion of graphical data is displayed in the secondary graphical display of the device.
c shows a conceptual top view of a dual-display electronic device 200 where the content of graphical data in the secondary graphical display is different from
One embodiment of this invention provides an electronic display device with dual graphical displays based on disparate graphical display technologies, where the technology of one graphical display enables a richer interaction with the digital content delivered from a display buffer to both graphical displays. Another embodiment of this invention provides an electronic display device with a separate, secondary window which a user may employ to interact with data in the primary display. Selecting a portion of data displayed in a secondary window through a touch or drag interface allows a user to interact with data in the primary display.
Allowing a user to interact with data in the primary display via the secondary display is especially important when the primary display is of a type that is not well suited to accept user interaction. For example, a display buffer containing information for a primary electronic paper display might contain information, such as color data or rapidly changing data, which cannot be output directly to the primary display. Consequently, some conversion exists that modifies or reduces that information (e.g., color to monochrome conversion) before the information is passed to the primary display. Unlike the primary display which may have limited display or interactive capabilities a secondary color LCD display can display the source data in its entirety.
In various embodiments, the primary display may include different limitations that require data conversion from the display buffer and make a secondary display advantageous. For example, the data in the display buffer may need to be reduced in resolution to properly display on the primary display. As another example the primary display may not have a sufficiently high refresh rate and the data in the buffer may need a reduction in the rate at which it is displayed. For example, an electronic paper display may not be able to display full motion video. In such an embodiment, a secondary LCD display may be included which can display full motion video at full rate.
Secondary display 102 has underlying display technology that is different from primary display 101. Secondary display 102 shows graphical data 103b, which consists of data rendered in frame buffer 103. The quality and capabilities of data rendered in frame buffer 103 is not reduced in graphical data 103b. Graphical data 103b is richer than graphical data 103a. Graphical data 103b may or may not be additionally processed to meet the display requirements of the underlying display technology of secondary display 102. That is, the format of graphical data 103b may be the same format as data rendered in frame buffer 103. For example, primary display 101 could be a monochrome Electronic Paper Display (EPD) and secondary display 102 could be a color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The format of data rendered into frame buffer 103 could be the same format used by the LCD. In this example, if frame buffer 103 has color data, graphical data 103a displayed in primary display 101 has color attributes filtered out on the monochrome EPD. Graphical data 103b displayed in secondary display 102, however, retains the color attributes and is displayed in color on the color LCD.
The underlying display technology of secondary display 102 provides a means to deliver coordinate information to its physical display. One embodiment of delivering coordinate information to secondary display 102 could be touch-sensitive input from a user, such as drag or gesture. A second embodiment of delivering coordinate information to secondary display 102 could be touch-sensitive navigation input from a separate control input mechanism, such as a stylus.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is that secondary display 102 is touch sensitive, and through touch-sensitive input, allows graphical data 103b to be scrolled up, down, left, and right. A user can interact with secondary display 102 to scroll or pan around graphical data 103b. By using secondary display 102 to scroll or pan in this manner, a user has greater capabilities in 102 to interact with the same content that is available in physical display 101.
Embodiments of the invention are not intended to be limited to scrolling and panning. In other embodiments, manipulations such as zoom in and zoom out to facilitate changing font size or resolution are included. In addition, although secondary display 102 can be referred to as “zoom display”, secondary display 102 is not required to zoom. In addition, other important manipulations may be present in other embodiments such as interaction with user interface elements. User interface elements may consist of graphical buttons, lists, or other graphic interface controls.
In operation of the embodiment shown in
A preferred embodiment of the invention is that frame buffer 103 is of the same graphical format as secondary display 102. This graphical format can be post-processed into the format of primary display 101. When frame buffer 103 is of the same graphical format as secondary display 102, display 102 can be panned instantly merely by changing the pointer location of the secondary display 102 source.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is that the underlying display technology of secondary display 102 allows for color. This allows any underlying color data filtered out from graphical data 103a targeted to primary display 101 to be revealed in color when graphical data 103b is viewed in secondary display 102. Color capability for secondary display 102 is especially preferred to improve usability where primary display 101 is monochrome, such as in EPDs.
a shows exemplary graphical data rendered in frame buffer 103 spanning the combined areas of primary display 101 and secondary display 102. Graphical data 103a has the same content as frame buffer 103, but graphical data 103a is filtered to meet the underlying display technology of primary display 101.
b also shows exemplary graphical data rendered in frame buffer 103, where a subset of the same content of 103 is displayed as graphical data 103b in secondary display 102.
In one embodiment, secondary display 102 is further configured to allow user interaction with the graphical data through the secondary display 102. The preferred embodiment of secondary display 102 is a touch screen. A user may engage with the touch screen of secondary display 102 to interact with graphical data 103b. Because graphical data 103b is a subset of graphical data 103, the secondary display 102 allows a user to effectively interact with the graphical data displayed on the primary display 101 via the secondary display 102.
In the embodiment shown in
For example, in the case where primary display 101 includes a GUI element linked to an underlying control, e.g., a GUI button, a user can access and interact with the control by engaging with secondary display 102.
Although the data illustrated as residing in frame buffer 103 has been illustrated in
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/252,817, filed Oct. 19, 2009, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/253,447, filed Oct. 20, 2009, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61252817 | Oct 2009 | US | |
| 61253447 | Oct 2009 | US |
