JP2008305091A - Screen display device and its menu display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a plurality of menu items in one screen frame in an easy to view way, relating to a screen display device and a menu display method for use with the screen display device. <P>SOLUTION: A computer 1 has a comparison means for comparing the size of the display area of a hierarchical menu screen where a plurality of menu items are classified into a plurality of hierarchies to a menu size used when the hierarchical menu screen is displayed with all the menu items being expanded, and a menu display means for displaying the hierarchical menu screen in a display area while changing the pattern of expanding the plurality of menu items according to the comparison result of the comparison means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen display device that displays a hierarchical menu screen including a plurality of layers and a menu display method in the screen display device.

  Conventionally, screen display devices that perform screen display are known. For example, a portable notebook personal computer has an openable display unit, and a menu screen is displayed along with images, graphics, symbols, and the like on a liquid crystal display panel incorporated in the display unit.

Regarding this type of screen display device, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a screen display device that automatically adjusts the display interval of each screen frame according to the display order when a plurality of screen frames are displayed in an overlapping manner. Has been.
Japanese Patent No. 2803766

  The above-described conventional screen display device displays a plurality of screen frames in an overlapping manner with their display intervals adjusted.

  However, some menu screens displayed on the screen display device may have many menu items in one screen frame. When displaying such a menu screen, the correspondence between the number of menu items and the size of the display area may not be appropriate, such as the size of the display area on the screen is small for many menu items. The menu screen could not be displayed easily.

  In addition, if the size of the screen frame or the display font is changed, the number of menu items that can be displayed in the display area may change. With these changes, the menu screen may become difficult to see.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and it is an object of the present invention to display a plurality of menu items in a single screen frame in a screen display device and a menu display method in the screen display device. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a size of a display area for displaying a hierarchical menu screen in which a plurality of menu items are divided into a plurality of hierarchies, and when the hierarchical menu screen is displayed by expanding all the menu items. A screen display device comprising: a comparison means for comparing the menu sizes of the menu items; and a menu display means for changing a development pattern of a plurality of menu items according to a comparison result of the comparison means and displaying a hierarchical menu screen in a display area And

  Further, the present invention compares the size of the display area of the hierarchical menu screen in which a plurality of menu items are divided into a plurality of hierarchies and the menu size when displaying the hierarchical menu screen by expanding all of the plurality of menu items, A menu display method for changing a development pattern of a plurality of menu items according to the comparison result and displaying a hierarchical menu screen in a display area is provided.

  As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in the screen display device and the menu display method in the screen display device, a plurality of menu items can be easily displayed in one screen frame.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. In addition, the same code | symbol is used for the same element and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  A notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “computer”) 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes a computer main body 3 and a display unit 5 that can be opened and closed with respect to the computer main body 3.

  The display unit 5 incorporates a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) 7, and the display screen of the LCD 7 is located substantially at the center of the display unit 5.

  The computer 1 has a function as a screen display device for displaying a hierarchical menu screen (hierarchical menu screens 50, 60, 70 and the like described later) obtained by dividing a plurality of menu items into a plurality of layers by the LCD 7.

  The display unit 5 is attached to the computer main body 3 so as to be rotatable between an open position and a closed position. The computer main body 3 has a thin box-shaped casing, and a keyboard 9, a power button 11 for powering on / off the computer 1, a touch pad 15, and a click button 17 are arranged on the upper surface thereof. ing.

  Further, the computer 1 can play back audio / video (AV) content (in HD DVD Video standard) stored in DVD media in the HD DVD standard. A slot 19 for inserting and removing DVD media is provided on the front surface of the computer main body 3.

  2, the computer 1 includes a CPU 101, a north bridge 103, a main memory 105, a graphics controller 107, a video memory (VRAM) 107a, a south bridge 109, a BIOS-ROM 111, a sound controller 113, and a hard disk drive (HDD). 117, HD DVD drive 119, embedded controller / keyboard controller IC (EC / KBC) 121, network controller 123, digital TV tuner 125, and the like.

  The CPU 101 is a processor that controls the operation of the computer 1 and executes various programs loaded from the HDD 117 to the main memory 105. Various programs executed by the CPU 101 include an operating system, an HD DVD player application program for reproducing HD DVD Video standard AV content, a TV application for enabling viewing of digital TV broadcasts, a menu display control program 131, and the like. Exists. The CPU 101 also executes a BIOS (Basic Input Output System; a program for hardware control) stored in the BIOS-ROM 111.

  The north bridge 103 is a bridge device that connects the local bus of the CPU 101 and the south bridge 109. The north bridge 103 also includes a memory controller that controls access to the main memory 105. The north bridge 103 also has a function of executing communication with the graphics controller 107 via a PCI Express standard serial bus or the like.

  The graphics controller 107 is a display controller that controls the LCD 7 used as a display monitor of the computer 1. The graphics controller 107 has image processing functions such as blend processing, scaling processing, and luma key processing. A display signal generated by the graphics controller 107 is sent to the LCD 7. The display signal can also be sent to an external TV or HDMI monitor via an interface provided in the computer main body 3.

  The south bridge 109 controls each device on a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and each device on an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus. Further, the south bridge 109 incorporates an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller for controlling the HDD 117 and the HD DVD drive 119. Further, the south bridge 109 has a function of executing communication with the sound controller 113. The sound controller 113 is a sound source device and outputs audio data to be reproduced to the speaker 113a.

  The embedded controller / keyboard controller IC (EC / KBC) 121 is a one-chip micro integrated with an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the keyboard 9, the touch pad 15, and the click button 17. It is a computer. When the touch pad 15 is operated, an operation signal is generated, and the cursor displayed on the display screen of the LDC 7 moves based on the operation signal. Further, the EC / KBC 121 has a function of powering on / off the computer 1 in accordance with the operation of the power button 11 by the user.

  The computer 1 includes a digital TV tuner 125 to enable viewing of digital TV broadcasts. By causing the CPU 101 to execute the above-described TV application, TV images based on digital broadcast waves received by the tuner 125 are displayed on the LCD 7. To display.

  The computer 1 stores menu data for displaying the hierarchical menu screen in the HDD 117.

  Next, the operation content of the display control process of the hierarchical menu screen performed by the menu display control program 131 will be described with reference to FIGS. The menu display control program 131 is executed by the CPU 101 when an application program (for example, the aforementioned HD DVD player application program) is being executed.

  When the CPU 101 starts the operation according to the menu display control program 131, the CPU 101 reads the menu data stored in the HDD 117, and determines whether or not the display area for displaying the hierarchical menu screen is sufficient according to the read menu data. (S1).

  In this case, the CPU 101 performs an operation as a comparison unit. When the menu item is expanded, the number of lines for displaying the menu item is increased and the vertical size is changed. Therefore, the vertical size of the display area and a plurality of menu items are selected according to the menu data. It is determined whether or not the display area is sufficient by comparing with the menu size when all menu items are expanded and the hierarchical menu screen is displayed.

  Then, the CPU 101 adopts the vertical size required when the menu items expanded as the menu size are arranged and displayed one line at a time, and compares this size with the vertical size of the display area.

  For example, in the hierarchical menu screen 50 shown in FIG. 4, the menu items are the highest-level items 51a, 51b, 51c (represented as “TV”, “video”, and “music”, respectively) displayed at the highest level, and the respective items. There are menu items 52a, 52b, and 52c displayed at the lower level, and the vertical size required when all these menu items are arranged and displayed one line at a time (from "TV" display to "keyword search"). Menu size).

  The display area is a rectangular area such as the display area 41 of the screen frame (window) 40 shown in FIG.

  Here, when the display area is sufficient, that is, when the menu size is smaller than the size of the display area, the CPU 101 proceeds to S2, but when the display area is not enough, that is, the menu size is larger than the size of the display area. When it is larger, the operation proceeds to S3.

  When the CPU 101 advances the operation to S2, the CPU 101 operates as a menu display means, sets the expansion pattern indicating how to expand when expanding a plurality of menu items as all expansion, and expands all menu items below the top item. Display in the display area.

  Further, when the CPU 101 advances the operation to S3, the CPU 101 operates as a menu display unit, expands the menu item for only the selected top item selected by the user among the top items, with the expansion pattern as a partial expansion. Display in the display area.

  Subsequently, the CPU 101 advances the operation to S4, performs an operation as a determination unit, and determines whether or not the window size (screen size of the screen frame) has been changed. If it is determined that the window size has been changed, the process returns to S1, and if not, the operation proceeds to S5.

  When the CPU 101 advances the operation to S5, it determines whether or not the application is terminated. When it is determined that the application is terminated, the menu display control program 131 is terminated. Otherwise, the process returns to S4.

  When the CPU 101 sets the expansion pattern to full expansion in S2, for example, as shown in the hierarchical menu screen 50 shown in FIG. 4, the menu items 52a displayed at the lower levels of all the top items 51a, 51b, 51c. , 52b, 52c are all expanded and displayed. In the hierarchical menu screen 50, the menu items having the same hierarchy are aligned with each other, and the lower menu items are indented by shifting the display position to the right with respect to the upper menu items.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 101 changes the development pattern to S3 in S3, only the selected top item 51b selected in advance by the user among the top items 51a, 51b, 51c, for example, as in the hierarchical menu screen 60 shown in FIG. The menu item 52b displayed at the lower level is expanded and displayed, and the other top-level items 51a and 51c are displayed without being expanded (the menu items 52a and 52c are not displayed). Note that the selection top item 51b is selected by the CPU 101 as a selection unit by the user performing a selection operation using the keyboard 9 before starting the menu display control program 131, for example.

  As described above, the computer 1 compares the size of the display area with the menu size, and displays the hierarchical menu screen by changing the expansion pattern when expanding a plurality of menu items according to the comparison result.

  Therefore, since the hierarchical menu screen can be displayed in conformity with the display area at that time, the number of menu items becomes appropriate corresponding to the size of the display area, and the hierarchical menu screen is displayed in an easy-to-read manner.

  In addition, when the menu size is smaller than the size of the display area, it is fully expanded and menu items are displayed for all top-level items, so you can see the entire hierarchical menu screen at once, which The user can easily grasp whether there is such a menu item, and convenience when operating while viewing the hierarchical menu screen is enhanced.

  Furthermore, when the menu size is larger than the size of the display area, partial expansion is performed and only some top-level items are expanded, but even in that case, the top-level items are displayed, so the minimum necessary Information can be provided, and the contents of the lower-level menu items can be grasped to some extent from the contents of the top-level item, so that there is no trouble in the operation performed by viewing the hierarchical menu screen.

  In the case of partial expansion, the menu item is expanded for the selected top-level item selected in advance by the user. Therefore, when the menu item is partially expanded, it is possible to give priority in a form according to the user's request. .

  When the window size is changed, the size of the display area is compared with the menu size again, so even if the number of menu items that can be displayed in the display area changes as the window size changes, the appropriate number of menu items The hierarchical menu screen can be displayed with. In addition, even if the window size is not changed, the number of menu items that can be displayed in the display area may change due to the change of the display font. A screen can be displayed.

  In the above description, the top menu items 51a, 51b, 51c and the menu items 52a, 52b, 52c displayed at the lower level have been described as an example, but the present embodiment has been described. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the present invention can also be applied to a hierarchical menu screen 70 having a three-layer structure including menu items 53 displayed below the menu items 52c.

  In this case, when any one of the top items 51a, 51b, 51c is selected, the menu items 52a, 52b, 52c in the second layer are expanded and the menu item 53 in the third layer is not expanded. The menu item 53 may be expanded when a two-level menu item (for example, the menu item 52c) is selected, but when any one of the highest level items 51a, 51b, 51c is selected, the menu item 53 is displayed below it. You may expand all the menu items that will be displayed.

  In the case of partial expansion, only the top item selected by the user is expanded, but at least one of the top items selected by the user may be expanded. For example, only the top item corresponding to the running application may be expanded.

  The above description is the description of the embodiment of the present invention, and does not limit the apparatus and method of the present invention, and various modifications can be easily implemented. In addition, an apparatus or method configured by appropriately combining components, functions, features, or method steps in each embodiment is also included in the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the computer 1 is assumed to be a portable notebook personal computer, for example, but the present invention is not limited to a notebook personal computer.

It is a perspective view showing the appearance of a computer concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure inside the computer of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement procedure of the menu display process by the menu display control program of the computer of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the hierarchy menu screen displayed when a display area is large. It is a figure which shows an example of the hierarchy menu screen displayed when a display area is small. It is a figure which shows an example of another hierarchy menu screen displayed when a display area is large.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Computer, 7 ... LCD, 50, 60, 70 ... Hierarchical menu screen, 51, 51b, 51c ... Top item, 52, 52b, 52c, 53 ... Menu item, 101 ... CPU, 107 ... Graphics controller, 117 ... Hard disk drive, 123 ... Network controller, 131 ... Menu display control program,

Claims (7)

Comparing means for comparing a size of a display area for displaying a hierarchical menu screen in which a plurality of menu items are divided into a plurality of levels and a menu size when the plurality of menu items are expanded to display the hierarchical menu screen When,
A screen display device comprising: menu display means for changing the development pattern of the plurality of menu items according to the comparison result of the comparison means and displaying the hierarchical menu screen in the display area.   The menu display means expands the menu item for only a part of the plurality of top items displayed on the top layer of the layer menu screen when the expansion pattern is changed, or the plurality of top items. The screen display device according to claim 1, wherein the menu item is changed to any one of all expansions for expanding the menu item for all upper items. A selection means for selecting at least one of the top items;
The menu display means displays the hierarchical menu screen expanded in the partial expansion on the selected top item selected by the selection means among the plurality of top items in the display area. The screen display device according to claim 2.   The menu display means changes the development pattern to the full development when the menu size is smaller than the size of the display area, and changes the development pattern when the menu size is larger than the size of the display area. The screen display device according to claim 2, wherein the screen display device is changed to partial expansion.   The comparison means compares the size of the display area with the menu size, and the vertical size of the display area and the vertical size required when the plurality of menu items are arranged and displayed one line at a time. The screen display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the size of the direction is compared. A determination means for determining whether or not the screen size of the screen frame including the display area has been changed;
The comparison means compares the size of the display area and the menu size when it is determined by the determination means that the screen size has been changed. Screen display device. Comparing the size of the display area of the hierarchical menu screen in which a plurality of menu items are divided into a plurality of levels and the menu size when the hierarchical menu screen is displayed by expanding all of the plurality of menu items;
A menu display method for changing the development pattern of the plurality of menu items according to the comparison result and displaying the hierarchical menu screen in the display area.

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