DISPLAY METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20150042633A1
• Filed: 03/27/2014
• Published: 02/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo (Beijing) Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Peng, Gang
• Granted Patent: US 9,639,113 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/212
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/00 Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00 architectures of general purpose stored program computers G06F15/76
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1677 for detecting open or closed state or particular intermediate positions assumed by movable parts of the enclosure, e.g. detection of display lid position with respect to main body in a laptop, detection of opening of the cover of battery compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1423 controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1446 display composed of modules, e.g. video walls
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1454 involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2330/021 Power management, e.g. power saving
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2356/00 Detection of the display position w.r.t. other display screens
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

The present invention relates to communication technology and provides a display method and an electronic device capable of solving the problem associated with limited operation space due to a small screen of an electronic device. In particular, the method comprises: detecting a trigger event when the first display unit displays a first content and the second display unit is in a first power consumption state; determining whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result; generating a switching instruction when the determination result indicates that the trigger event satisfies the predetermined condition; and switching the second display unit from the first power consumption state to a second power consumption state and displaying the first content on the second display unit in response to the switching instruction. The first power consumption state has a lower power consumption than the second power consumption state. The present invention can be applied in a display of an electronic device.

Claims

1. A display method, applied in an electronic device comprising or being connected with a first display unit and further comprising or being connected with a second display unit, the method comprising:

detecting a trigger event when the first display unit displays a first content and the second display unit is in a first power consumption state;

determining whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result;

generating a switching instruction when the determination result indicates that the trigger event satisfies the predetermined condition; and

switching the second display unit from the first power consumption state to a second power consumption state and displaying the first content on the second display unit in response to the switching instruction, wherein the first power consumption state has a lower power consumption than the second power consumption state.

2. The display method of claim 1, wherein the switching instruction comprises a first sub-instruction for instructing the second display unit to be switched from the first power consumption state to the second power consumption state and a second sub-instruction for instructing the second display unit to display the first content, and

said switching the second display unit from the first power consumption state to the second power consumption state and displaying the first content on the second display unit in response to the switching instruction comprises:

obtaining the first content;

transmitting the first content and the switching instruction to the second display unit to enable the second display unit to display the first content in response to the first and second sub-instructions.

3. The display method of claim 2, wherein the second display unit displays the first content in response to the first and second sub-instructions by:

receiving a part of the first content and displaying it immediately;

or

receiving the first content completely and then displaying it.

4. The display method of claim 1, wherein the first display unit is in a third power consumption state before the switching instruction is generated, and

the method further comprises, after the switching instruction is generated:

switching the first display unit from the third power consumption state to a fourth power consumption state having a lower power consumption than the third power consumption state in response to the switching instruction.

5. The display method of claim 4, wherein the switching instruction comprises a third sub-instruction for instructing the first display unit to be switched from the third power consumption state to the fourth power consumption state and a fourth sub-instruction for instructing the first display unit to stop displaying the first content.

6. The display method of claim 1, wherein said displaying the first content on the second display unit comprises:

obtaining a direction corresponding to an operation performed by a user;

determining a display position of the first content based on the direction to obtain position information; and

displaying the first content at a position corresponding to the position information based on the position information.

7. The display method of claim 6, wherein the second display unit is a display, and

said displaying the first content at a position corresponding to the position information based on the position information comprises:

obtaining an identifier of the display corresponding to the position information; and

displaying the first content on the display based on the identifier of the display.

8. The display method of claim 6, wherein the second display unit is a projector, and

said displaying the first content at a position corresponding to the position information based on the position information comprises:

determining a projection direction of the projector based on the position information, the position information containing a direction parameter representing the projection direction of the projector; and

projecting the first content to a position corresponding to the direction parameter for displaying using the projector based on the direction parameter.

9. The display method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises a distance sensor,

said detecting a trigger event comprises detecting a distance between the first display unit and a nearby object using the distance sensor, and

said determining whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result comprises determining whether the distance is shorter than a predetermined distance, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the distance is shorter than the predetermined distance.

10. The display method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device further comprises an image capture device,

said detecting a trigger event comprises obtaining an instruction image using the image capture device,

said determining whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result comprises determining whether the instruction image is a predetermined image, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the instruction image is the predetermined image, and

said generating a switching instruction when the determination result indicates that the trigger event satisfies the predetermined condition comprises generating the switching instruction based on the instruction image.

11. The display method of claim 1, wherein said detecting a trigger event comprises detecting an application corresponding to the first content, and

said determining whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result comprises determining whether the application is a predetermined application to obtain a determination result, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the application is the predetermined application.

12. An electronic device comprising or being connected with a first display unit and further comprising or being connected with a second display unit, the electronic device further comprising:

a detection unit configured to detect a trigger event when the first display unit displays a first content and the second display unit is in a first power consumption state;

a determination unit configured to determine whether the trigger event satisfies a predetermined condition to obtain a determination result;

a generation unit configured to generate a switching instruction when the determination result indicates that the trigger event satisfies the predetermined condition; and

a first switching unit configured to switch the second display unit from the first power consumption state to a second power consumption state and display the first content on the second display unit in response to the switching instruction, wherein the first power consumption state has a lower power consumption than the second power consumption state.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the switching instruction comprises a first sub-instruction for instructing the second display unit to be switched from the first power consumption state to the second power consumption state and a second sub-instruction for instructing the second display unit to display the first content, and

the first switching unit comprises:

a first obtaining module configured to obtain the first content; and

a transmission module configured to transmit the first content and the switching instruction to the second display unit to enable the second display unit to display the first content in response to the first and second sub-instructions.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the second display unit is configured to receive a part of the first content and display it immediately, or receive the first content completely and then display it.

15. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the first display unit is in a third power consumption state before the switching instruction is generated, and

the electronic device further comprises:

a second switching unit configured to switch, after the switching instruction is generated the first display unit from the third power consumption state to a fourth power consumption state having a lower power consumption than the third power consumption state in response to the switching instruction;

the switching instruction comprises a third sub-instruction for instructing the first display unit to be switched from the third power consumption state to the fourth power consumption state and a fourth sub-instruction for instructing the first display unit to stop displaying the first content.

16. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the first switching unit comprises:

a second obtaining module configured to obtain a direction corresponding to an operation performed by a user;

a determination module configured to determine a display position of the first content based on the direction to obtain position information; and

a display module configured to display the first content at a position corresponding to the position information based on the position information.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the second display unit is a display, and

the display module comprises:

an obtaining sub-module configured to obtain an identifier of the display corresponding to the position information; and

a display sub-module configured to display the first content on the display based on the identifier of the display.

18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the second display unit is a projector, and

the display module comprises:

a determination sub-module configured to determine a projection direction of the projector based on the position information, the position information containing a direction parameter representing the projection direction of the projector; and

a projection sub-module configured to project the first content to a position corresponding to the direction parameter for displaying using the projector based on the direction parameter.

19. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the electronic device further comprises a distance sensor,

the detection unit comprises a first detection module configured to detect a distance between a first display unit and a nearby object using the distance sensor, and

the determination unit comprises a first determination module configured to determine whether the distance is shorter than a predetermined distance, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the distance is shorter than the predetermined distance.

20. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the electronic device further comprises an image capture device,

the detection unit comprises a third obtaining module configured to obtain an instruction image using the image capture device,

the determination unit comprises a second determination module configured to determine whether the instruction image is a predetermined image, wherein the predetermined condition is satisfied when the instruction image is the predetermined image, and

the generation unit comprises a generation module configured to generate the switching instruction based on the instruction image when the determination result indicates that the trigger event satisfies the predetermined condition.