MULTIMEDIA REPRODUCTION DEVICE AND MENU SCREEN DISPLAY METHOD

• US 20110010667A1
• Filed: 07/13/2010
• Published: 01/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Nakayama, Ryuji, Umemura, Kojiro, Sakai, Masaharu, Hiramatsu, Shuji
• Granted Patent: US 8,463,103 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/810
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 27/34 Indicating arrangements indicating means incorporated in magazine or cassette G11B23/046 and G11B23/0875; indicating measured values in general G01D

Abstract

A small-size digital device requires preferable operability and userfriendliness of the user interface. In a multimedia reproduction device (10), an operation unit (40) acquires an instruction concerning content reproduction via a user operation. A read-out unit (44) reads out a content from an external recording medium mounted as a content data storage area. A Storage unit (80) holds data on a plurality of function icons symbolizing a plurality of content reproduction function types and data on a plurality of media icons symbolizing the external recording medium types. A display processing unit (46) processes menu screen display and content reproduction. A menu unit (48) generates image data on a menu screen where a plurality of function icons and a plurality of media icons are arranged two-dimensionally according to a user function.

Claims

1. A multimedia player capable of playing back digital contents, comprising:

a menu controller which generates image data for an on-screen menu including a plurality of icons;

a display processor which displays the on-screen menu; and

a reader which reads, from a storage, a menu item image for a content corresponding to an icon which is selected from the plurality of icons in the on-screen menu by a user, wherein

the menu controller updates the image data for the on-screen menu so that the menu item image read by the reader is displayed in the on-screen menu with at least a part of the menu item image displayed on a background of the on-screen menu.

2. The multimedia player according to claim 1, wherein,

when the menu item image includes a foreground image and a background image, the menu controller updates the image data for the on-screen menu by visually blending the menu item image with the plurality of icons by superimposing the foreground image on the plurality of icons which are superimposed on the background image.

3. The multimedia player according to claim 1, wherein,

the plurality of icons are a plurality of medium icons representing respective types of external storage mediums that can be installed in the multimedia player,

the reader reads the menu item image from an external storage medium represented by a selected medium icon.

4. The multimedia player according to claim 1, wherein,

when the reader fails to read the menu item image from the storage, the menu controller updates the image data for the on-screen menu so that text information of the content description is displayed in the on-screen menu instead of the menu item image.

5. The multimedia player according to claim 1, wherein,

at least the part of the menu item image displayed on the background of the on-screen menu is displayed with a background image of the on-screen menu side by side, the background image being displayed irrespective of user'"'"'s manipulation to select an icon.

6. The multimedia player according to claim 1, wherein,

at least the part of the menu item image displayed on the background of the on-screen menu is displayed in front of a background image of the on-screen menu by alpha blending, the background image being displayed irrespective of user'"'"'s manipulation to select an icon.

7. A method of displaying an on-screen menu by an apparatus capable of playing back digital contents, comprising:

displaying an on-screen menu including a plurality of icons;

reading, from a storage, a menu item image for a content corresponding to an icon which is selected from the plurality of icons in the on-screen menu by a user; and

updating the image data for the on-screen menu so that the menu item image is displayed in the on-screen menu with at least a part of the menu item image displayed on a background of the on-screen menu.

8. The method of displaying an on-screen menu according to claim 7,

when the menu item image includes a foreground image and a background image, the updating updates the image data for the on-screen menu by visually blending the menu item image with the plurality of icons by superimposing the foreground image on the plurality of icons which are superimposed on the background image.

9. A computer program product for displaying an on-screen menu by an apparatus capable of playing back digital contents, comprising:

a displaying module which displays an on-screen menu including a plurality of icons;

a reading module which reads, from a storage, a menu item image for a content corresponding to an icon which is selected from the plurality of icons in the on-screen menu by a user; and

a updating module which updates the image data for the on-screen menu so that the menu item image is displayed in the on-screen menu with at least a part of the menu item image displayed on a background of the on-screen menu.

10. The computer program product according to claim 9,

when the menu item image includes a foreground image and a background image, the updating module updates the image data for the on-screen menu by visually blending the menu item image with the plurality of icons by superimposing the foreground image on the plurality of icons which are superimposed on the background image.

11. A computer readable recording medium which stores a computer program product according to claims 9.