Secondary user interface

• US 6,437,809 B1
• Filed: 06/04/1999
• Issued: 08/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ostendo Technologies Inc.
• Original Assignee: xSides Corporation
• Inventors: Campbell, Scott, Nason, D David, OʼRourke, Thomas C
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Application Number:
  US09/325,370
• Time in Patent Office: 1,173 Days
• Field of Search: 345/778, 345/764, 345/779, 345/835, 345/840, 345/788, 345/792, 345/661, 345/665, 345/503, 345/522, 345/531, 345/543, 345/545, 345/547, 345/568, 345/564, 709/328, 709/321, 709/323, 709/329, 348/476, 348/564-565, 348/584, 348/588
• US Class Current: 715/778
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 1/16 the pattern of rectangular co-ordinates extending over the whole area of the screen, i.e. television type raster
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 1/165 Details of a display terminal using a CRT, the details relating to the control arrangement of the display terminal and to the interfaces thereto details suitable for both CRT and flat panel G09G5/003; specific for a flat panel G09G3/2092
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/14 Display of multiple viewports

Abstract

An alternate display content controller provides a technique for controlling a video display separately from and in addition to the content displayed on the operating system monitor. Where the display is a computer monitor, the alternate display content controller interacts with the computer utility operating system and hardware drivers to control allocation of display space and create and control one or more parallel graphical user interfaces adjacent the operating system desktop. An alternate display content controller may be incorporated in either hardware or software. As software, an alternate display content controller may be an application running on the computer operating system, or may include an operating system kernel of varying complexity ranging from dependent on the utility operating system for hardware system services to a parallel system independent of the utility operating system and capable of supporting dedicated applications. The alternate display content controller may also include content and operating software delivered over the internet or any other LAN. The alternate display content controller may also be included in a television decoder/settop box to permit two or more parallel graphical user interfaces to be displayed simultaneously.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system for displaying an image on a video display system, the computer system having an operating system display interface that enables an operating system user interface to be displayed in a portion of a first display area, comprising:

adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system to create a second display area that is outside the control of the computer operating system display interface; and

writing the image to the second display area so that the image is displayed in conjunction with the operating system user interface, wherein the method is performed by one of a service of the operating system and an application program.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, when the method is performed as a service of the operating system, the image appears to be displayed as part of the initialization of the video display system by the operating system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein, when the method is performed by launching an application program, the image appears to be displayed on the second display area when the application program is launched.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting of the display resolution parameters of the video display system is performed by function calls to driver software of the video display system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting of the display resolution parameters further comprises decreasing the size of the first display area.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the image is displayed on a part of the first display area as well as on the second display area so that at least a part of the image appears to continuously overwrite the operating system user interface while the image is displayed.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of the image is written such that the portion of the image is displayed along with the operating system user interface in a manner that prohibits the operating system user interface from overwriting the portion of the image.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system increases the number of pixels of the displayable area of the video display system.

9. A system for displaying an image on a video display system of a computer system, the computer system having an operating system display interface that enable an operating system user interface to be displayed in a portion of the display area, comprising:

display controller having

display adjustment facility that adjusts the display resolution parameters of the video display system to create a second display area that is outside the control of the computer operating system display interface; and

display transfer mechanism that writes the image to the second display area so that the image is displayed in conjunction with the operating system user interface;

wherein the display controller is invoked as one of a service of the operating system and an application program.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein, when the display controller is invoked as a service of the operating system, the image appears to be displayed as part of the initialization of the video display system by the operating system.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein, when the display controller is invoked by launching an application program, the image appears on the second display area when the application program is launched.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the display adjustment facility adjusts the display resolution parameters of the video display system by performing function calls to driver software of the video display system.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the display adjustment facility decreases the size of the first display area.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the image is displayed on a part of the first display area as well as on the second display area, so that at least a part of the image appears to continuously overwrite the operating system user interface while the image is displayed.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein the display transfer mechanism writes at least a portion of the image such that the portion of the image is displayed along with the operating system user interface in a manner that prohibits the operating system user interface from overwriting the portion of the image.

16. The system of claim 9 wherein the display adjustment facility changes the resolution of the video display system to increase the number of pixels of the displayable area of the video display system.

17. A computer-readable memory medium containing instructions for controlling a computer processor in a computer system to display an image on a video display system, the computer system having an operating system display interface that enables an operating system user interface to be displayed in a portion of a first display area, by:

adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system to create a second display area that is outside the control of the computer operating system display interface; and

writing the image to the second display area so that the image is displayed in conjunction with the operating system user interface, wherein the instructions to display the image are performed by one of a service of the operating system and an application program.

18. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein, when the instructions are performed as a service of the operating system, the image appears to be displayed as part of the initialization of the video display system by the operating system.

19. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein, when the instructions are performed by launching an application program, the image appears to be displayed on the second display area when the application program is launched.

20. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein the adjusting of the display resolution parameters of the video display system is performed by function calls to driver software of the video display system.

21. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein the adjusting of the display resolution parameters further comprises decreasing the size of the first display area.

22. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein the image is displayed on a part of the first display area as well as on the second display area so that at least a part of the image appears to continuously overwrite the operating system user interface while the image is displayed.

23. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein at least a portion of the image is written such that the portion of the image is displayed along with the operating system user interface in a manner that prohibits the operating system user interface from overwriting the portion of the image.

24. The computer-readable memory medium of claim 17 wherein the adjusting the display resolution parameters of the video display system increases the number of pixels of the displayable area of the video display system.