METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING A MENU

• US 20120017176A1
• Filed: 07/15/2011
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Shim, Jung-hyun, Choi, Won-young, Han, Kuk-Hyun
• Application Number:
  US13/183,973
• Publication Number:
  US 20120017176A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/825
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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

Abstract

A method and apparatus for displaying a menu. The method includes displaying a menu page including menu items on a menu region of a display; allocating an information region on a portion of the menu region; dividing and reconfiguring the menu page in units of small pages according to a size of a reduced menu region caused by a simultaneous display of the information region and the menu page; and displaying the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a menu, the method comprising:

displaying a menu page including menu items on a menu region of a display;

allocating an information region on a portion of the menu region;

dividing and reconfiguring the menu page in units of small pages according to a size of a reduced menu region caused by a simultaneous display of the information region and the menu page; and

displaying the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the menu items displayed on the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region maintain sizes and alignments of the menu items as originally displayed on the menu page of the menu region of the display.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising updating and displaying page indicator information that indicates a number of reconfigured menu pages.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the page indicator information further includes information identifying a menu page currently being displayed on the reduced menu region.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing the menu pages divided in units of the small pages, if a page change input is received.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, when a half of the menu region is allocated as the information region, dividing and reconfiguring the menu page comprises:

dividing the menu page in half;

displaying an upper portion of the menu page on the reduced menu region; and

storing a lower portion of the menu page as a next reduced menu page.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying a doubled number of page indicators indicating a number of reconfigured menu pages.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when the information region includes a region for inputting a search condition for searching a menu, re-aligning the menu items in the reduced menu region according to an input search condition.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a menu item in the reduced menu region; and

executing an application corresponding to the selected menu item on the information region.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a computer program for executing a method of displaying a menu, the method comprising:

displaying a menu page including menu items on a menu region of a display;

allocating an information region on a portion of the menu region;

dividing and reconfiguring the menu page in units of small pages according to a size of a reduced menu region caused by a simultaneous display of the information region and the menu page; and

displaying the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region.

11. An apparatus for displaying a menu, the apparatus comprising:

a display unit for displaying a menu page including menu items; and

a control unit for allocating an information region on a portion of a menu region for displaying the menu page, dividing and reconfiguring the menu page in units of small pages according to a size of a reduced menu region caused by a simultaneous display of the information region and the menu page, and displaying the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the menu items displayed on the reconfigured menu page on the reduced menu region maintain sizes and alignments of the menu items as originally displayed on the menu page of the menu region of the display.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the control unit updates and displays page indicator information that indicates a number of reconfigured menu pages.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the page indicator information further comprises information indicating a menu page currently being displayed on the reduced menu region.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an input unit for receiving an input.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the control unit changes the menu pages divided in the units of the small pages when a page change input is received by the input unit.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein, if a menu item in the reduced menu region is selected by the input unit, the control unit executes an application corresponding to the selected menu item on the information region.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, if a half of the menu region is allocated as the information region, the control unit divides the menu page in half, displays an upper portion of the menu page on the reduced menu region, and stores a lower portion of the menu page as a next reduced menu page.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the control unit displays a doubled number of page indicators indicating a number of reconfigured menu pages.

20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, if the information region includes a region for inputting a search condition for searching a menu, the control unit re-aligns the menu items in the reduced menu region according to an input search condition.