Display of menu items on a computer screen

• US 6,100,889 A
• Filed: 05/19/1999
• Issued: 08/08/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sciammarella, Eduardo, Herndon, Kenneth, Proehl, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US09/314,709
• Time in Patent Office: 447 Days
• Field of Search: 345/326-358, 345/145-146, 345/439, 345/437, 345/438
• US Class Current: 715/815
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

Multiple items forming a menu are displayed on a screen in a computer system. As the user refers to a menu item via an input device, that particular item is displayed in increased size. As soon as the user moves to another menu item, this newly referenced item becomes larger than the other menu items, while the previously referenced item is reduced to its original size. If the user-referenced item has a sub-menu associated with it, then the size of that sub-menu increases--while the menu size is decreased--as the user moves from the menu to the sub-menu.

Claims

1. A computer system for displaying on a screen a plurality of items forming a menu and each of said menu items representing an operation to be performed by said computer system, said system comprising:

an input device operable by a user to refer to and obtain a menu item from said menu items;

a programmable microprocessor for increasing a respective size of said menu item to a predetermined size which is larger than any respective size of those other menu items displayed on said screen; and

said microprocessor being further programmed to display another plurality of items which pertain only to said menu item and which form a sub-menu on said screen when said user refers to said menu item on said screen, wherein the size of said sub-menu is larger than the size of said menu on said screen.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to reduce the size of said menu to another predetermined size while said sub-menu is displayed as yet another preselected size on said screen.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein said sub-menu becomes substantially the same size as the size of said menu prior to its reduction.

4. The system according to claim 3, wherein said microprocessor is further programmed to obtain a sub-menu item from said displayed sub-menu items in response to operation of said input device by said user to refer to said sub-menu item and to increase a respective size of said obtained sub-menu item to still another size which is larger than any respective sizes of those other sub-menu items displayed on said screen.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein said microprocessor is further programmed to reduce the size of said sub-menu to said reduced another predetermined size of said menu and to increase the size of said menu to substantially the same as the size of the submenu prior to its reduction if said user no longer refers to any of said sub-menu items.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein said microprocessor is further programmed to remove said sub-menu from display on said screen if said user no longer refers to said menu item to which said sub-menu pertains.

7. A computer system for displaying objects on a screen, comprising:

a microprocessor programmed to display a plurality of items forming a menu, each of said menu items representing an operation to be performed by said computer system;

an input device operable by a user to refer to each said menu item;

said microprocessor being further programmed to display another plurality of items associated with a preselected menu item in said first-mentioned plurality of items, said second-mentioned plurality of items forming a sub-menu on said screen when said user refers to said preselected menu item on said screen; and

said microprocessor being additionally programmed to increase said sub-menu to a predetermined size such that the size of said sub-menu is larger than a respective size of said menu on said screen.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to decrease the size of said menu to another predetermined size on said screen.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to obtain a sub-menu item from said second-mentioned plurality of items in said sub-menu when said input device is operated to refer to said sub-menu item, and to increase the respective size of said sub-menu item which is larger than any respective size of those other menu items or sub-menu items displayed on said screen.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to reduce the respective size of said sub-menu item when said sub-menu item no longer is referred to by said input device, and to make the respective size of said sub-menu item substantially the same as the respective sizes of those other sub-menu items.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to reduce the increased size of said sub-menu to the size of said menu and to increase the size of said menu to be substantially the same as the increased size of said sub-menu prior to its reduction when said input device no longer refers to any of said sub-menu items in said sub-menu.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said microprocessor is programmed to remove said sub-menu and sub-menu items from said display when said input device no longer refers to said preselected menu item associated with said sub-menu.