Image display apparatus, menu display method therefor, image display system, and storage medium

• US 20040243943A1
• Filed: 07/08/2004
• Published: 12/02/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Yuichi, Mori, Shigeki
• Application Number:
  US10/887,449
• Publication Number:
  US 20040243943A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/841
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42214 using alphanumerical characters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4312 involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/485 End-user interface for client configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/45 Picture in picture , e.g. displaying simultaneously another television channel in a region of the screen

Abstract

There are provided an image display apparatus and method which are always capable of displaying the whole of menus at a plurality of hierarchical levels and realize a user-friendly interface, a menu display system including at least one menu display apparatus of the above type, and a computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the menu display method.

Claims

1-35. -35. (Canceled).

36. An image display apparatus having menus of a plurality of hierarchical levels, comprising:

menu display means for displaying menu data set to each hierarchical level of the menus in a screen display area;

determination means for determining, when said menu display means displays new menu data at another hierarchical level in addition to menu data at at least one hierarchical level already displayed, whether or not the new menu data can be placed within the screen display area; and

display control means for carrying out, if the new menu data cannot be placed within the screen display area, a replacement process for replacing a plurality of items of the menu data at one of the at least one hierarchical level already displayed, with other menu data set to the one of the hierarchical levels, and a display process for displaying the resulting menu data in the screen display area.

37. An image display apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the replacement process is repeatedly carried out at each hierarchical level until the new menu data can be placed within the screen display area.

38. An image display apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the menu data comprises image data.

39. An image display apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the menu data comprises at least one character code, the character code being converted to image data by using menu display font data, said menu display means displaying the image data as a menu.

40. An image display apparatus according to claim 36, including input means capable of controlling said menu display means from outside of the image display apparatus.

41. An image display apparatus according to claim 39, having a WWW browser function, and wherein font data of the WWW browser is used as the menu display font data.

42. An image display method for controlling an image display apparatus having menus of a plurality of hierarchical levels, method comprising the steps of:

displaying menu data set to each hierarchical level of the menus in a screen display area;

determining, when new menu data at another hierarchical level are to be displayed in addition to menu data at at least one hierarchical level already displayed in said menu displaying step, whether or not the new menu data can be placed within the screen display area; and

carrying out, if the new menu data cannot be placed within the screen display area, a replacement process for replacing a plurality of items of the menu data at one of the at least one hierarchical level already displayed, with other menu data set to the one of the hierarchical levels, and a display process for displaying the resulting menu data in the screen display area.

43. An image display method according to claim 42, wherein the replacement process is repeatedly carried out at each hierarchical level until the new menu data can be placed within the screen display area.

44. An image display method according to claim 42, wherein the menu data comprises image data.

45. An image display method according to claim 42, wherein the menu data comprises at least one character code, wherein the menu displaying step includes converting the character code to image data by using menu display font data, and displaying the image data as a menu.

46. An image display method according to claim 42, including the step of controlling displaying the menus from outside of the image display apparatus.

47. An image display method according to claim 45, wherein the image display apparatus has a WWW browser function, and wherein font data of the WWW browser is used as the menu display font data.

48. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing an image display for an image display apparatus having menus of a plurality of hierarchical levels, the program comprising:

a displaying module for displaying menu data set to each hierarchical level of the menus in a screen display area;

a determination module for determining, when new menu data at another hierarchical level are to be displayed in addition to menu data at at least one hierarchical level already displayed by said displaying module, whether or not the new menu data can be placed within the screen display area; and

a control module for carrying out, if the new menu data cannot be placed within the screen display area, a replacement process for replacing a plurality of items of the menu data at one of the at least one hierarchical level already displayed, with other menu data set to the one of the hierarchical levels, and a display process for displaying the resulting menu data in the screen display area.