Mobile communication terminal with dual-display unit having function of editing captured image and method thereof

• US 20070035616A1
• Filed: 08/11/2006
• Published: 02/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Park, Yeon-Woo, Lee, Sang-Hyuck, Cheon, Jee-Young
• Granted Patent: US 7,471,890 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/14.160
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00307 with a mobile telephone apparatus constructional features of portable telephone sets H04M1/0202; mobile radio systems H04W84/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00411 the display also being used for user input, e.g. touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00424 using a list of graphical elements, e.g. icons or icon bar
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/0044 for image preview or review, e.g. to help the user position a sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00493 Particular location of the interface or console
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00496 Constructional details of the interface or console not otherwise provided for, e.g. rotating or tilting means
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2007/145 Handheld terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2101/00 Still video cameras
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0084 Digital still camera
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/0096 Portable devices

Abstract

A mobile communication terminal with a camera and a dual-display unit, whereby, in an image capturing mode, a first display unit displays an image of a subject received through a camera in real time and a second display unit displays a still image of the subject captured according to an image capture command signal received from a user, and in an image editing mode, when one of at least two or more images displayed on the first display unit is selected, the selected image is displayed on the second display unit, and at the same time, when a certain function icon provided to the first display nit is selected, a function allocated to the selected function icon is executed. An image of a camera preview and a captured image are displayed on each different display unit, so a user can capture a moment an image is to be captured and check the recently captured image by naked eyes, enhancing user convenience and providing fun to users.

Claims

1. A method of capturing an image in a wireless communication device, the method comprising steps of:

displaying a real-time image via an image capturing device on a first display unit;

inputting a user command to capture a certain image from the real-time image; and

simultaneously displaying the captured image on a second display unit and the real-time image on the first display unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second display units is touch-screen.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein both first and second units are touch-screens.

4. A method of controlling a mobile communication device, wherein the mobile communication device comprises an image capturing device, the method comprising:

displaying a real-time image obtained via the image capturing device on a first screen; and

displaying one or more images captured from the real-time image on a second screen in order to facilitate an image modification of the captured image, wherein at least one of the first and second screen is touch-screen.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

simultaneously displaying the real-time image on the first screen and the captured image on the second screen after the one or more captured images are displayed on the second touch-screen,

6. The method of claim 4, wherein both first and second screens are touch-screens.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more captured images are displayed on the second touch-screen sequentially according to the order of image taken.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein a menu is displayed immediately after the one or more images displayed on the second touch-screen are captured.

9. The method of claim 4, wherein the one or more captured images are displayed in a thumbnail image format.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a total number of thumbnail images allowed to be displayed is based on a display capability of the mobile communication device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the display capability of the mobile communication device is based upon at least one of its display attributes memory size, processor power, and battery power.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the image modification is performed by utilizing an image editing tool displayed in one of the touch-screens.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein a total number of the image editing tool allowed to be displayed is related to a display capability of the mobile communication device, wherein the display capability of the mobile communication device is based upon at least one of its display attributes, memory size, processor power, and battery power.

14. A mobile communication apparatus, comprising:

a body with a first portion having a first touch-screen and a second portion having a second touch-screen;

a camera operatively connected with the body and used to capture images;

a memory used to store images captured by the camera; and

a processor, cooperating with the touch-displays, the camera, and the memory to perform the steps of,

in camera mode, displaying a real-time image on a first touch-screen and one or more captured images on a second touch-screen, wherein the captured images are displayed as one of many display formats;

in image editing mode, displaying a selected image that is selected from the one or more captured images on the second touch-screen and an edited image on the first touch-screen, wherein the selected image is modified by utilizing image function icons shown in the second touch-screen to output the edited image.

15. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein after a first one or more captured images are displayed on the second touch-screen, displaying the real-time image on the first touch-screen and the captured images on the second touch-screen simultaneously.

16. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein after a first edited image is displayed on the first touch-screen, displaying the selected image on the second touch-screen and the edited image on the first touch-screen simultaneously.

17. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the mobile phone comprises two or more multiple touch-screens.

18. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the captured images are obtained from a movie file stored in the memory previously or from a streaming video file transmitted from external storage.

19. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the display formats comprise a slide-show format that sequentially shows images according to the order of image taken by a capturing device.

20. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the display formats comprise a single frame format that shows a single image which most recently captured image.

21. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the image function icons are automatically displayed on the second touch-screen immediately after obtaining the selected image.

22. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the camera mode and the image editing mode are selectable by a user.

23. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the image function icons are related to an image editing function, an image transfer function, and/or an image zooming function.

24. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected image is scaled and displayed on the first touch-screen by manipulating an image zooming icon.

25. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected image is processed after a user performs a drag and drop function for the selected image onto at least one of the image function icons.

26. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected image are scaled with respect to a movement of an indicator shown on the second touch-screen.

27. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 26, wherein a scaling ratio of the selected image is determined by a distance between a position of the indicator and a predefined reference position shown in the second touch-screen.

28. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 27, wherein the scaling ratio of the selected image increases in proportion with the distance between the position of the indicator and the reference position.

29. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected image is obtained by touching one of the captured images displayed on the second touch-screen with a pointing device for a certain amount of time.

30. The mobile communication apparatus of claim 14, wherein the selected image is obtained by double-tapping one of the captured images displayed on the second touch-screen via a pointing device within a certain amount of time.

31. A wireless communication apparatus, comprising:

a body with a first portion and a second portion that are movable relative to each other, each portion having at least one display screen, whereby the body can be opened such that two or more display screens are visible, and closed such that only one or no display screen is visible;

a processor cooperating with the display screens to perform the steps of,

displaying a first type of image on at least one display screen, and

displaying a second type of image on at least another display screen

such that the user is allowed to view a relationship between the types of images

and perform image manipulation thereon

by selecting options provided on at least one display screen via touch sensitive inputting.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the first type of image is a real-time image being obtained by an image capture device and the second type of image is a still-image previously stored in memory.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the first type of image is a non-manipulated original image and the second type of image is a manipulated version of the original image.

34. A mobile communication apparatus, comprising:

a body with a first portion having a first image display and a second portion having a second image display, whereby the body can be unfolded such that both displays are visible to a user or folded such that neither display is visible to the user;

a camera operatively connected with the body and used to capture images;

a memory used to store images captured by the camera; and

a processor, cooperating with the displays, the camera, and the memory to perform the steps of,

displaying on the first image display, a real-time image of an object, and

displaying on the second image display, one or more still images of the same object,

such that the user is allowed to visually compare such images and perform functions on one or more still images via a touch screen input allowing selection of options provided in a menu displayed on the second image display.