DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED METHODOLOGY OF PERFORMING TOUCH-BASED IMAGE SCALING

• US 20110109581A1
• Filed: 05/06/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Furue, Nobuki, Iwase, Ayako, Iriya, Shinichi, Saitou, Yuji, Ozawa, Hiroyuki
• Granted Patent: US 10,152,222 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/62 Control of parameters via user interfaces

Abstract

A digital image processing device is provided that improves operability when performing a scaling up/scaling down operation. Based on a single trajectory when a touch position on a display screen of a display portion moves, a center point and ratio used to scale up or scale down the image are set. In this way, for example, it is possible to scale up and scale down the image by an easy touch operation of simply tracing the trajectory with a single finger (namely, by a single-touch operation).

Claims

1. A digital image processing device, comprising:

a touch-screen display interface enabling touch control to a user of the image processing device while displaying image data; and

an interface processor to identify a single touch gesture of the user applied to a surface of the touch-screen display, the single touch gesture designating an area of the displayed image data as a focal center of an image zoom operation.

2. The digital image processing device of claim 1, wherein the digital image processing device is a navigation device.

3. The digital image processing device of claim 1, wherein the single touch gesture is a partial outline of the area of the displayed image data.

4. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein the partial outline is an arcuate trajectory.

5. The digital image processing device of claim 4, wherein the arcuate trajectory is defined by at least three points.

6. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein initiation of the partial outline by the user in a first direction defines a zoom-in, zoom operation.

7. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein initiation of the partial outline by the user in a second direction defines a zoom-out, zoom operation.

8. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein a degree of zoom is based on a length of the partial outline.

9. The digital image processing device of claim 8, wherein the length is defined by predetermined increment portions, and the degree of the zoom operation is varied in accordance with a number of increment portions forming the length of the single touch gesture.

10. The digital image processing device of claim 1, wherein the single touch gesture is a complete outline of the area of the displayed image data, and upon the user continuously retracing the complete outline, a degree of zoom is varied upward or downward depending upon a direction of the retrace.

11. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein the partial outline is used to delineate areas of the displayed image data that are to be excluded from the zoom operation.

12. The digital image processing device of claim 3, wherein the zoom operation provides a zoom overlay of only the designated image area relative to the displayed image data.

13. The digital image processing device of claim 3 wherein a degree of zoom is based upon a rate at which the single touch gesture is completed on the surface of the touch-screen display.

14. A digital image processing device, comprising:

means for enabling touch control to a user of the image processing device while displaying image data; and

means for identifying a single touch gesture of the user applied to a surface of the means for enabling touch control, the single touch gesture designating an area of the displayed image data as a focal center of an image zoom operation.

15. A method of processing a digital image at a digital image processing device, comprising:

enabling touch control to a user of the image processing device while displaying image data at a touch-screen display; and

identifying a single touch gesture of the user applied to a surface of the touch-screen display, the single touch gesture designating an area of a displayed image area as a focal center of an image zoom operation.

16. The digital image processing method of claim 15, wherein the digital image processing device is a navigation device.

17. The digital image processing method of claim 15, wherein the single touch gesture is a partial outline of the area of the displayed image data.

18. The digital image processing method of claim 17, wherein the partial outline is an arcuate trajectory.

19. The digital image processing method of claim 18, wherein the arcuate trajectory is defined by at least three points.

20. The digital image processing method of claim 17, wherein initiation of the partial outline by the user in a first direction defines a zoom-in, zoom operation.

21. The digital image processing method of claim 17, wherein initiation of the partial outline by the user in a second direction defines a zoom-out, zoom operation.

22. The digital image processing method of claim 17, wherein a degree of zoom is based on a length of the partial outline.

23. The digital image processing method of claim 22, wherein the length is defined by predetermined increment portions, and the degree of the zoom operation is varied in accordance with a number of increment portions forming the length of the single touch gesture.

24. The digital image processing method of claim 15, wherein the single touch gesture is a complete outline of the area of the displayed image data, and upon the user continuously retracing the complete outline, the method further comprising:

varying the degree of zoom upward or downward depending upon a direction of the retrace.

25. The digital image processing method of claim 17, wherein the partial outline is used to delineate areas of the displayed image data that are to be excluded from the zoom operation.

26. The digital image processing method of claim 15, wherein the zoom operation provides a zoom overlay of only the designated image area relative to the displayed image data.

27. The digital image processing method of claim 15 wherein a degree of zoom is based upon a rate at which the single touch gesture is completed upon the surface of the touch-screen display.

28. A computer readable storage medium encoded with computer program instructions for causing a digital imaging processing device to implement a method of digital image processing, comprising:

enabling touch control to a user of the image processing device while displaying image data at a touch-screen display; and

identifying a single touch gesture of the user applied to a surface of the touch-screen display, the single touch gesture designating an area of a displayed image area as a focal center of an image zoom operation.