Display apparatus and display method

• US 5,714,972 A
• Filed: 02/14/1996
• Issued: 02/03/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kimura, Tomohiro, Tanaka, Koichiro, Nagaishi, Yasuo, Tatsuta, Akihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): WU, XIAO MIN
• Application Number:
  US08/601,653
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 345/127, 345/121, 345/123, 345/131, 345/159, 345/169, 345/168, 345/163, 345/158, 345/2, 345/1, 348/39, 395/341
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0354 with detection of 2D relative movements between the device, or an operating part thereof, and a plane or surface, e.g. 2D mice, trackballs, pens or pucks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A position detector 1 detects the position of a display screen 4, an image memory 2 stores image information, a selector 3 selects a portion of the image information stored in the image memory 2 in accordance with the position of the display screen 4 detected by the position detector 1 and supplies the selected portion to the display screen 4, and the display screen 4 displays the selected image information. The invention is characterized in that when it is assumed that the entire image information stored in the image memory 2 is drawn in a viewing field space fixed relative to the eye, the selector 3 selects the image information to be drawn on the display screen 4 lying in the viewing field space.

Claims

1. A display apparatus comprising:

a movable display screen adapted to be physically moved on a surface of a base,

position detecting means for detecting a position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base,

image storing means for storing image information for an entire image, and

selecting means for selecting a portion of the image information stored in the image storing means in accordance with the position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base and for causing the selected portion of the image information to be displayed on the movable display screen such that a relation of the displayed portion to the entire image is easily recognized from the position of the movable display screen relative to the base.

2. A display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the position detecting means detects the position of the movable display screen on the basis of at least one of three parameters including an amount of movement, a velocity of movement, and an acceleration of movement of the movable display screen.

3. A display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

signal transmission from the selecting means to the movable display screen is performed via a wireless or wired transmission path.

4. A display apparatus comprising:

a movable display screen physically movable, on a surface of a base, to differing positions with respect to a viewing field space,

position detecting means for detecting a position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base,

image storing means for storing image information for an entire image, and

selecting means for selecting a portion of the image information stored in the image storing means in accordance with the position of the movable display screen on the base and for causing the selected portion of the image information to be displayed on the display screen,

wherein, when an entire image information stored in the image storing means corresponds to the viewing field space, the selecting means selects a part of the image information corresponding to a subspace of the viewing field space that the movable display screen occupies such that a relation of the displayed portion to the entire image is easily recognized from the position of the movable display screen relative to the base.

5. A display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the position detecting means detects the position of the display screen on the basis of at least one of three parameters including an amount of movement, a velocity of movement, and an acceleration of movement of the display screen.

6. A display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

signal transmission from the selecting means to the display screen is performed via a wireless or wired transmission path.

7. A display apparatus comprising:

a movable display screen physically movable, on a surface of a base, to differing positions with respect to a viewing field space,

position detecting means for detecting a position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base,

image storing means for storing image information,

enlarging/reducing means for accepting image information from the image storing means and for enlarging or reducing a size of the image information to be drawn in a viewing field space, and

selecting means for selecting a portion of the image information held in the enlarging/reducing means in accordance with a position of the movable display screen on the base and for causing the selected portion of the image information to be displayed on the movable display screen,

wherein, when an entire image information held in the enlarging/reducing means corresponds to the viewing field space, the selecting means selects a part of the image information corresponding to a subspace of the viewing field space that the movable display screen occupies such that a relation of the displayed portion to the entire image is easily recognized from the position of the movable display screen relative to the base.

8. A display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

the position detecting means detects the position of the display screen on the basis of at least one of three parameters including an amount of movement, a velocity of movement, and an acceleration of movement of the display screen.

9. A display apparatus according to claim 7, wherein

signal transmission from the selecting means to the display screen is performed via a wireless or wired transmission path.

10. A display apparatus comprising:

a movable display screen physically movable, on a surface of a base, to differing positions with respect to a viewing field space,

position detecting means for detecting the position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base,

image storing means for storing image information,

selecting means for selecting a portion of the image information stored in the image storing means in accordance with the position of the movable display screen on the base and for causing the selected portion of the image information to be displayed on the movable display screen, and

enlarging/reducing means for accepting the image information selected by the selecting means and for enlarging or reducing a size of the selected image information to be drawn in the viewing field space,

wherein, when an entire image information stored in the image storing means is enlarged or reduced in size and drawn in the viewing field space, the selecting means selects a part of the image information corresponding with a subspace of the viewing field space that the movable display screen occupies such that a relation of the displayed portion to the entire image is easily recognized from the position of the movable display screen relative to the base.

11. A display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

signal transmission from the enlarging/reducing means to the movable display screen is performed via a wireless or wired transmission path.

12. A display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein

the position detecting means detects the position of the display screen on the basis of at least one of three parameters including an amount of movement, a velocity of movement, and an acceleration of movement of the display screen.

13. A display method comprising the steps of:

providing a movable display screen physically movable, on a surface of a base, to differing positions with respect to a viewing field space,

detecting a position of the movable display screen on the surface of the base,

designating, on the basis of the detected position, a subspace that the movable display screen occupies in the viewing field space when an entire image information corresponds to the viewing field space, and

supplying, for display purposes, the portion of the entire image information corresponding to the subspace portion of the viewing field space occupied by the movable display screen such that a relation of the displayed portion to the entire image is easily recognized from the position of the movable display screen relative to the base.