Patent Application
20060051050
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable multimedia audio and video recorder/player, more particularly to a module and a method for controlling a portable multimedia audio and video recorder/player.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the portable audio and video recreation becomes more popular, the portable audio and video recorder/player usually comes with a thin, light, short and compact structure and integrates the functions of a music playback, a video playback, a digital photo album, a digital audio recording and a digital video recording, etc to create a new mobile audio/video application mode and satisfy the personal portable digital audio and video requirements. Such portable audio and video recorder/player has become a very popular electronic consumer product now.
However, some of the functions (such as a digital recording of a television program) of the foregoing portable audio and video recorder/player still have to be connected with a computer system and controlled indirectly by computer software, and the operating modules of many computer software or audio and video player are very professional or too complicated and discourage users from using the portable audio and video recorder/player, or having problem of using it without some training.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide a portable audio and video recorder/player that can maximize its functions and operate independently under the environment without a computer system and allow users to control the audio and video recorder/player with simple operations.
To achieve the foregoing objective, an operating interface management program is installed into the module for controlling audio and video recorder/player in accordance with the present invention, and the operating interface management program shows certain operating function menus on a display module of the recorder/player, and builds a scrolling component into the recorder/player as a basis for executing the foregoing operating function menus. The foregoing operating function menu comprises a main menu and a plurality of submenus for the functional options attached to the main menu; the foregoing scrolling component comprises a knob and a movement sensing system, and the knob is fixed into an opening on a side of the housing of a recorder/player and capable of rotating about the vertical axis of the opening and moving along the horizontal axis of the opening; the foregoing movement sensing system senses the extent of turning of the knob and determines whether or not a transversal movement is taken place, and reflects the detected result to the functional options of the main menu as to select one of the functional options.
The present invention allows a portable audio and video recorder/player to maximize its functions and operate independently under the environment without a computer system, and also simplifies the control and operation of the press buttons, such that users can control the recorder/player with simple operations.
To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
Please refer to
a digital photo display module 101 capable of providing a digital photo display function;
a MPEG compatible video playback module 102 capable of providing a video playback function;
a MP3 compatible audio playback module 103 capable of providing an audio playback function;
an audio/video recording module 104 capable of providing a video and an audio recording functions;
a television reception module 105 capable of providing a television reception function;
a control module 106 capable of controlling the digital photo display module 101, the MPEG video playback module 102, the MP3 compatible audio playback module 103, the audio/video recording module 104 and the television reception module 105 for executing the required digital photo browsing function, video playback function, audio playback function, audio/video recording function, or television reception function;
an internal storage module 107 capable of storing the digital photo file processed by the digital JPEG photo display module, the digital video file processed by the MPEG video playback module, the digital audio file processed by the digital MP3 audio playback module and the digital audio/video file processed by the digital audio/video recording module;
a display module 108 capable of displaying a digital photo or a digital video image processed by the digital photo display module 101, the video playback module 102, or the television reception module 105, and the display module 108 is a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD) module;
an audio output module 109 for outputting a audio/video signal processed by the audio/video playback module 102, the audio playback module 103 and the television reception module 105;
an audio/video input/output interface 110, being connected to an external audio/video source device 30 or an external display device 31 as to input an audio/video signal from the external audio/video source device 30 or output an audio/video signal to the external display device 31; and
a universal serial bus (USB) data communication interface 111 for externally connecting to one or more sets of multimedia processing host devices 32 to expand the multimedia processing functions.
The present invention is designed according to the aforementioned control modules such that a portable multimedia audio and video recorder/player 10 can maximize its function and operates independently in an environment without a computer system and simplifies the operating press buttons to let users control the recorder/player with simple operations.
Please refer to
The foregoing operating function menu further comprises a main menu 51 and a plurality of submenus 52 for each functional option attached to the main menu 51.
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The movement sensing system senses the extent of the upward or downward turning and reflects the result to the functional options 512˜517 of the main menu 51 as to select one of the functional options. The selected functional option will be displayed in a rotational symbol mode and in the circular display area 511, so that a user can see the desired selected function easily and clearly for entering the corresponding functional option into the functional submenus 521, 522, 533, 524, 525, 526.
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In FIGS. 2A˜2E, the external look of the multimedia recorder/player according to the present invention and a display screen 11 are shown.
On the left side of the recorder/player 10, the following are provided:
an audio/video input terminal slot 12 for receiving the signal input line for the connection of the recorder/player 10 with an audio/video equipment such as a television, a video recorder/player or a digital camera;
an audio/video output terminal slot 13 for receiving the signal output for the connection of the recorder/player 10 with an equipment such as a television or a stereo;
an earphone jack 14;
a universal serial bus (USB) port 15 for connecting a USB cable for the connection of the recorder/player 10 to the USB host device;
a power connector slot 16 for receiving a cable of a power adapter for charging a battery inside the recorder/player 10; and
a microphone receptor hole 17 for digital audio recording.
On the right side of the recorder/player 10, the following are provided:
a knob 71, having the functions as described above;
a reset button 18 for resetting the setting to the factory default setting by pressing this button with a tiny needle thru the hole, when a function of the recorder/player 10 is locked or cannot work properly; and
a key lock button 19 for disabling the functions of all function keys by pulling down this slide switch.
At the top of the recorder/player 10, the following are provided:
a rewind button 20 for jumping to the previous file by pressing this button once while playing a file;
a stop button 21 for stopping the playback and returning to the previous menu by pressing this button while playing a file;
a play/pause button 22 for playing a file or pausing the playback by pressing this button while playing a file;
a forward button 23, for jumping to the next file by pressing this button once while playing a file;
a power on/off button 24 for turning on or off the power of the recorder/player by pressing this button; and
a display mode button 25 for switching the display mode to an audio/video output mode by pressing this button when the audio/video output is connected to other video equipment and displaying the screen of the recorder/player on the connected video equipment, and such screen includes a user interface and a multimedia content.
In the control method and mode as shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, the reverse button 20, the stop button 21, the play/pause button 22 and the forward button 23 can fully play their functions.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 093126686 | Sep 2004 | TW | national |
