Scrolling navigational display system

• US 6,034,688 A
• Filed: 09/15/1997
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Transcom Incorporated (Rockwell International Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sony Transcom Incorporated (Rockwell International Corporation), Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Evensen, Karen Louise, Greenwood, Wayne Eugene, Cooper, Alan Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Sax, Steven P.
• Application Number:
  US08/929,742
• Time in Patent Office: 904 Days
• Field of Search: 345/352, 345/351, 345/340-350, 345/326, 345/327-339, 345/136, 345/353-357, 348/94
• US Class Current: 715/784
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1632 Pen holder integrated in the computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0489 using dedicated keyboard keys or combinations thereof

Abstract

A user-interface system adapted to navigate through a plurality of menus is disclosed. The system comprises a display system comprising a display having a category area on a first portion of the display, the category area displaying a plurality of categories, including a currently displayed category. Each of the plurality of categories has a plurality of items. The display also has a marquee area on a second portion of the display, which displays items of the currently displayed category. The system further comprises a scrolling mechanism for scrolling through items of each category of the plurality of categories. The marquee area is updated by the scrolling mechanism to display the corresponding items in each category. The scrolling mechanism also indicates a position of a currently displayed item of a currently displayed category by updating the category area. Various embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A display system comprising:

a marquee area on a first portion of a display, said marquee area displaying one of a plurality of items as a current item;

a category area on a second portion of the display, said category area displaying one of a plurality of categories as a current category, said current category being associated with the current item; and

a scrolling mechanism for scrolling through the plurality of items ordered by the plurality of categories,

wherein said marquee area is updated by the scrolling mechanism to display successive items from the plurality of items as the current item, and said category area is updated to display the one of the plurality of categories associated with the current item as the current category.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor coupled to said display, and

an interface through which said processor and the display communicate, said interface including a plurality of communication lines of which at least one communication line is used to transmit digital data.

3. The system according of claim 2, further comprising a control handset including the scrolling mechanism coupled to the processor through a second plurality of communication lines, wherein said control handset communicates with the processor by transmitting said digital data through said second plurality of communication lines to said processor.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said scrolling mechanism comprises a direction controller having a plurality of indicia representative of a predetermined direction for scrolling through the plurality of categories and through a plurality of items within a currently displayed category.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said scrolling mechanism further comprises a selection button for selecting an item or a category.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the scrolling mechanism is a data wheel coupled to the processor through a second plurality of communication lines, wherein said data wheel communicates with the processor by transmitting said digital data through said second plurality of communication lines to said processor.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said display further comprises a touch-sensitive screen and wherein entry of the current category or the current item is provided by pressing the category area or the marquee area.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a skipping mechanism that provides entry of one of the plurality of categories as the current category, said marquee area being updated by the skipping mechanism to display one of the plurality of items associated with the current category as the current item and updating said category area to display the current category.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a stylus coupled to said display, said stylus being used to enter information.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of categories are user selectable entertainment options and said current item is one of a plurality of items within a selected entertainment option, said current item being selected by a user.

19. The system of claim 1, further comprising a stylus coupled to said display, said stylus being used to enter information.

11. In an electronic unit, a user interface system comprising:

a marquee area on a first portion of a display, said marquee area displaying one of a plurality of items as a current item;

a category area on a second portion of the display, said category area displaying one of a plurality of categories as a current category, said current category being associated with the current item; and

a scrolling mechanism for scrolling through the plurality of items ordered by the plurality of categories,

wherein said marquee area is updated by the scrolling mechanism to display successive items from the plurality of items as the current item, and said category area is updated to display the one of the plurality of categories associated with the current item as the current category;

wherein the plurality of categories are user selectable entertainment options and said current item is one of a plurality of items within a selected entertainment option, said current item being selected by a user.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

a processor coupled to said display, and

an interface through which said processor and the display communicate, said interface including a plurality of communication lines of which at least one communication line is used to transmit digital data.

13. The system according of claim 12, further comprising a control handset including the scrolling mechanism coupled to the processor through a second plurality of communication lines, wherein said control handset communicates with the processor by transmitting said digital data through said second plurality of communication lines to said processor.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said scrolling mechanism comprises a direction controller having a plurality of indicia representative of a predetermined direction for scrolling through the plurality of categories and through a plurality of items within a currently displayed category.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said scrolling mechanism further comprises a selection button for selecting an item or a category.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the scrolling mechanism is a data wheel coupled to the processor through a second plurality of communication lines, wherein said data wheel communicates with the processor by transmitting said digital data through said second plurality of communication lines to said processor.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein said display further comprises a touch-sensitive screen and wherein entry of the current category or the current item is provided by pressing the category area or the marquee area.

18. The system of claim 11, further comprising a skipping mechanism that provides entry of one of the plurality of categories as the current category, said marquee area being updated by the skipping mechanism to display one of the plurality of items associated with the current category as the current item and updating said category area to display the current category.

20. A method for displaying items comprising:

providing a display having a marquee area on a first portion of a display, said marquee area displaying one of a plurality of items as a current item, said display also having a category area on a second portion of the display, said category area displaying one of a plurality of categories as a current category, said current category being associated with the current item;

scrolling through the plurality of items ordered by the plurality of categories;

updating the marquee area to display successive items from the plurality of items as the current item;

updating the category area to display the one of the plurality of categories associated with the current item as the current category.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising activating a selector to select the current item.

22. A computer program embodied in data signals, said computer program for displaying a plurality of items where each item is associated with one of a plurality of categories, said computer program comprising:

a first segment for displaying a current item from the plurality of items in a first display area;

a second segment for displaying a category associated with the current item in a second display area;

a third segment for providing an indicator that indicates the category associated with the current item;

a fourth segment for receiving a control signal to cause successive items to be displayed sequentially in the first display area as the current item, said successive items ordered by the associated categories.

23. The computer program of claim 22 wherein the control signal includes a forward direction and a reverse direction and the items are sequentially displayed in a forward order when the forward direction is received, and the items are sequentially displayed in a reverse order when the reverse direction is received.

24. The computer program of claim 22 the first segment further comprises displaying a preceding item and a succeeding item in the first display area, and the second segment further comprises displaying a preceding category and a succeeding category the second display area, wherein the categories are displayed with an orientation and order parallel to the items.

25. The computer program of claim 24 wherein the third segment further comprises providing the indicator generally adjacent to the category associated with the current item at a position that is suggestive of the relative location of the current item within the category associated with the current item.

26. The computer program of claim 22 further comprising a fifth segment for receiving a select signal to cause the current item to be selected.