APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING DISPLAY OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20100171753A1
• Filed: 12/28/2009
• Published: 07/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: KWON, Yong-Jin
• Granted Patent: US 9,262,072 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/593
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3218 of display devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling display of an electronic device are provided. The method includes selecting a specific area of a screen by a user, and switching a display on/off status of the selected specific area of a screen. Wherein, the switching of the display on/off status comprises determining whether display of the specific area is on or off, and, if it is determined that the display of the specific area is on, supplying current to a pixel corresponding to the specific area, and, if it is determined that the display of the specific area is off, discontinuing the supply of the current to the pixel in the specific area.

Claims

1. A method for controlling display of an electronic device, the method comprising:

selecting, by a processor, a specific area of a screen by a user; and

switching, by a display unit, a display on/off status of the selected specific area of the screen.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the switching of the display on/off status comprises:

determining whether display of the specific area is on or off; and

if it is determined that the display of the specific area is on, supplying current to a pixel corresponding to the specific area, and, if it is determined that the display of the specific area is off, discontinuing the supply of current to the pixel in the specific area.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the supplying or discontinuing the supply of the current to the pixel uses an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) capable of supplying or discontinuing the supply of current for each pixel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the switching of the display on/off status comprises:

determining whether display of the specific area is on or off; and

if it is determined that the display of the specific area is on, determining and displaying a color value to be displayed in the specific area, and, if it is determined that the display of the specific area is off, displaying a preset color value in the specific area.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected specific area comprises at least one of a touched area and an inner portion of a closed curve formed by a touch shape.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein preset information is displayed in the selected specific area.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the preset information comprises at least one of a time, a date, a message reception status, a schedule, and a memo.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising switching a locking function on/off status if an area where the display on/off status is switched is greater than or equal to a preset size.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

recognizing, by a touch input unit, a touch and providing a corresponding attribute to the processor; and

generating and controlling, by a display manager of the processor, graphic information, which corresponds to the corresponding attribute, to be displayed on the display unit.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the recognizing of the touch comprises recognizing at least one of a screen touch position, a screen touch direction, a screen touch shape, and a number of screen touches.

11. An apparatus for controlling display of an electronic device, the apparatus comprising:

a processor for identifying a specific area of a screen selected by a user; and

a display unit for switching a display on/off status of the specific area of the screen under the control of the processor.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor determines whether display of the specific area is on or off, and controls the display unit to supply current to a pixel corresponding to the specific area if it is determined that the display of the specific area is on, and to discontinue the supply of current to the pixel in the specific area if it is determined that the display of the specific area is off.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the display unit is an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) capable of supplying or discontinuing the supply of current for each pixel.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor determines whether display of the specific area is on or off, and controls the display unit to determine and display a color value to be displayed in the specific area if it is determined that the display of the specific area is on, and to display a preset color value in the specific area if it is determined that the display of the specific area is off.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a touch input unit for selecting the specific area of the screen by a user'"'"'s touch, wherein the specific area comprises at least one of a touched area of the screen and an inner portion of a closed curve formed by a touch shape.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor controls the display unit to display preset information in the selected specific area.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the preset information comprises at least one of a time, a date, a message reception status, a schedule, and a memo.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor switches a locking function on/off status if an area where the display on/off status is switched is greater than or equal to a preset size.

19. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

a touch input unit for recognizing a touch and for providing a corresponding attribute to the processor; and

a display manager of the processor for generating and controlling graphic information, which corresponds to the corresponding attribute, to be displayed on the display unit.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the touch input unit recognizes at least one of a screen touch position, a screen touch direction, a screen touch shape, and a number of screen touches.