Management system of monitor

• US 20060026274A1
• Filed: 06/03/2005
• Published: 02/02/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Baek, Joung-hum, Cho, Cheon-yong
• Granted Patent: US 7,911,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/08 Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/02 Details of power systems and of start or stop of display operation
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2370/047 using display data channel standard [DDC] communication
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/003 Details of a display terminal, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto specific for a CRT G09G1/165; for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A management system of a monitor including at least one first monitor, a first computer to supply a video signal to the at least one first monitor having a first controller to transmit monitor information about the at least one first monitor through a network, a second monitor, and a second computer having a database to store the monitor information received through the network, and a second controller to display a graphic user interface to display the monitor information stored in the database on the second monitor. With this configuration, the monitor management system checks and/or manages a plurality of monitors connected to a plurality of computers connected to each other through a network from another computer.

Claims

1. A management system of a monitor comprising:

at least one first monitor;

at least one first computer to supply a video signal to the respective at least one first monitor and comprising a respective first controller to transmit monitor information about the respective at least one first monitor through a network;

a second monitor; and

a second computer comprising a database to store the monitor information received through the network, and a second controller to display a graphic user interface displaying the monitor information stored in the database on the second monitor.

2. The management system according to claim 1, wherein the monitor information comprises at least one of EDID (Extended Display Identification) data provided to the at least one first controller from the at least one first monitor, user information associated with a user of the at least one first monitor, and computer information about the at least one first computer.

3. The management system according to claim 2, wherein the EDID data comprises at least one of a serial number and a model number of the at least one first monitor.

4. The management system according to claim 2, wherein the user information comprises at least one of a user identification set to the user of the at least one first monitor, a user name of the user of the at least one first monitor and an installation place of the at least one first monitor.

5. The management system according to claim 4, wherein the computer information comprises at least one of a computer name associated with the at least one first computer, an IP address of the at least one first computer, an operating system of the at least one first computer, communicability of a data communication line between the at least one first computer and the at least one first monitor, an activating state of the at least one first controller, and a used-hour of the at least one first monitor.

6. The management system according to claim 5, wherein the at least one first controller displays a user interface to input at least one of the user information and the IP address information of the at least one first computer on the at least one first monitor, and transmits the user information and/or the IP address information of the at least one first computer input through the user interface through the network.

7. The management system according to claim 2, wherein the graphic user interface comprises a list table to display the monitor information stored in the database.

8. The management system according to claim 7, wherein the list table comprises a first field to dipslay the EDID data.

9. The management system according to claim 8, wherein the list table further comprises a second field to display at least one of the user information and the computer information.

10. The management system according to claim 8, wherein when the EDID data corresponding to the at least one first monitor displayed on the list table is selected, the second controller displays an information block to display the monitor information about the corresponding at least one first monitor on the graphic user interface.

11. The management system according to claim 10, wherein the information block comprises a system block to display the EDID data and the computer information, and a user block to display the user information.

12. The management system according to claim 11, wherein the graphic user interface further comprises a system tab and a user tab respectively corresponding to the system block and the user block, and

the second controller displays one of the system block and the user block on the graphic user interface according to a selection of the system tab and the user tab.

13. The management system according to claim 7, wherein the second controller transmits a control signal to the at least one first computer through the network, and the at least one first controller controls an operational state of the at least one first monitor on the basis of the control signal received through the network.

14. The management system according to claim 13, wherein the graphic user interface further comprises:

a check box to select at least one of the EDID data corresponding to the at least one first monitor displayed on the list table; and

a control signal check box comprising at least one of a power button to turn on/off power of the at least one first monitor, an OSD (On Screen Display) control button to restrict OSD functions supported by the at least one first monitor and a displaying state control button to adjust a displaying state of an image displayed on the first monitor, and

when one of the control buttons in the control signal check box is clicked, the second controller transmits a control signal corresponding to the clicked control button to the at least one first computer associated to the at least one first monitor selected through the check box through the network.

15. The management system according to claim 14, wherein the displaying state control button comprises at least one of an auto adjustment control button to allow the at least one first monitor to perform an auto adjustment function, and a screen control button to reset a size and/or a position of a screen displayed on the at least one first monitor.

16. The management system according to claim 7, wherein the graphic user interface further comprises an input label box to input given input information about the at least one first monitor therethrough.

17. The management system according to claim 7, wherein the graphic user interface further comprises a file save button, and the second controller saves the monitor information stored in the database as a text file when the file save button is selected.

18. The management system according to claim 17, wherein the second computer further comprises a text viewer program to view the text file, the graphic user interface further comprises a file open button, and the second controller opens the text file using the text viewer program if the file open button is selected.

19. The management system according to claim 14, wherein the user graphic interface further comprises a delete button, and the second controller deletes the monitor information about the at least one first monitor selected through the check box from the database when the delete button is selected.

20. The monitor management system according to claim 1, wherein the first and second controllers are an application program run on operating systems of the at least one first computer and the second computer, respectively.

21. A graphic user interface (GUI) used with a monitor management system having a plurality of monitors corresponding to a respective plurality of computers each having a controller connected to each other through a network, the GUI comprising:

a list table to display monitor information regarding each of the plurality of monitors;

a check box to select one of the plurality of monitors;

a display table to display system information and user information regarding the selected one of the plurality of monitors a control signal check box to select a control signal to control the selected one of the plurality of monitors; and

an input label box to enter additional information regarding the selected one of the plurality of monitors.

22. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the list table comprises a plurality of fields to display different types of the monitor information.

23. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the list table comprises:

a serial number field to display a serial number of each of the plurality of monitors;

a model name field to display a model name of each of the plurality of monitors;

a computer name field to display a name of each of the plurality of computers corresponding to each of the plurality of monitors;

a controller driving state field to display a driving state of the controller of each of the plurality of computers; and

a user name field to display a name of a user of each of the plurality of computers.

24. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the display table comprises:

a system block to display the system information; and

a user block to display user information.

25. The GUI according to claim 24, further comprising:

a display tab to display to select the display block; and

a user tab to select the user block.

26. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the control signal check box comprises a power control button to turn on/off the power of the selected one of the plurality of monitors.

27. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the control signal check box comprises an OSD (On Screen Display) control button to restrict OSD operations on the selected one of the plurality of monitors.

28. The GUI according to claim 21, wherein the control check box comprises a displaying state control button to adjust a displaying state of the selected one of the plurality of monitors.

29. The GUI according to claim 28, wherein the displaying state control button comprises an automatic control button to control the selected one of the plurality of monitors to perform an auto adjustment operation.

30. The GUI according to claim 28, wherein the displaying state control button comprises a graphic control button to reset a size and/or position of a display area of the selected one of the plurality of monitors.

31. The GUI according to claim 28, wherein the displaying state control button comprises a factory mode control button to convert the displaying state of the selected one of the plurality of monitors into a factory mode.

32. The GUI according to claim 21, further comprising:

a file save button to save the monitor information as a text file;

a file open button to open a file containing the monitor information; and

a file delete button to delete the monitor information.

33. The GUI according to claim 21, further comprising a menu bar.

34. The GUI according to claim 33, the menu bar comprises a sort menu button comprising:

a serial number select bar to select one of the plurality of monitors according to a serial number;

a model number select bar to select bar to select one of the plurality of monitors according to a model number;

a user name select bar to select one of the plurality of monitors according to a name of a user of a corresponding one of the plurality of computers; and

a status select bar to select one of the plurality of monitors according to a status of the controller of a corresponding one of the plurality of computers.

35. A method of managing monitors, comprising:

transmitting monitor information from at least one first computer through a network, the monitor information relating to a respective monitor;

receiving and storing the transmitted monitor information through the network at a second computer; and

displaying a graphic user interface displaying the stored monitor information on a second monitor corresponding to the second computer.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the monitor information comprises at least one of EDID (Extended Display Identification) data provided to the at least one first computer from the respective monitor, user information associated with the respective monitor, and computer information about the at least one computer.

37. The method according to claim 35, wherein the graphic user interface comprises a list table to display the stored monitor information.

38. A method of managing monitors, comprising:

connecting a plurality of computers to each other through a network, each of the plurality of computers having a corresponding monitor connected thereto;

transmitting monitor information regarding each monitor through the network from the corresponding computer; and

receiving the transmitted monitor information through the network and controlling each of the computers to manage the corresponding monitor based on the received monitor information.

39. The method according to claim 38, wherein the transmitted monitor information is received at a server computer.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein the server computer stores the transmitted information in a database.

41. The method according to claim 38, wherein the monitor information comprises at least one of EDID (Extended Display Identification) data provided to each of the plurality of computers from the corresponding monitor, user information associated with a user of the corresponding monitor, and computer information about each of the plurality of computers.

42. The method according to claim 41, wherein the EDID data comprises at least one of a serial number and a model number of the corresponding monitor.

43. The method according to claim 41, wherein the user information comprises at least one of a user identification associated with the user of the corresponding monitor, a user name associated with the user of the corresponding monitor, and an installation place of the corresponding monitor.

44. The method according to claim 41, wherein the computer information comprises at least one of a computer name associated each of the plurality of computers, an IP address of each of the plurality of computers, an operating system of each of the plurality of computers, communicability of a data communication line between each of the plurality of computers and the corresponding monitor, an activating state of a controller of each of the plurality of computers, and a used-hour of the corresponding monitor.