Electronic information display apparatus, electronic information display method, recording medium, and program

• US 7,191,399 B2
• Filed: 10/16/2003
• Issued: 03/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Adrea LLC (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ukita, Yoshitaka, Kanai, Takeshi, Ohtani, Hisao
• Primary Examiner(s): BASHORE, WILLIAM L
• Application Number:
  US10/685,482
• Publication Number:
  US 20040148574A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,244 Days
• Field of Search: 715/517, 715/702, 715/730, 709/217
• US Class Current: 715/251
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• 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 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1688 the I/O peripheral being integrated loudspeakers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor

Abstract

The present invention is intended to display page space layout images substantially similar to the page space images of actual newspapers and magazines and, on the basis of these images, display news items having legible character size. Display blocks for displaying images based on the electronic information having the image information of a page space having a plurality of news items and the news-item contents information associated with each news item and operation means such as a jog lever are arranged. Page space images of a newspaper for example are displayed on these display block and news-item markers corresponding to news items are displayed. When the news-item marker corresponding to a desired news item is selected, an image of the news-item contents information associated with the news-item indicated by the displayed news-item marker is displayed on the display block.

Claims

1. An electronic information display apparatus comprising:

display means for displaying an image based on electronic information at least having image information of a page space having a plurality of partitions of news items and news-item contents information associated with each of said plurality of partitions of news items;

operation means for executing information display onto said display means;

image information display control means for displaying an image of said page space image information among said electronic information onto said display means;

news-item marker display control means for displaying news-item markers each corresponding to each of said news items in said page space image information displayed on said display means in response to an operation executed through said operation means; and

news-item contents information display control means for if a desired one of said news-item markers is selected from among said displayed news-item markers by an operation executed through said operation means, displaying onto said display means an image of said news-item contents information associated with the news-item partition in which said selected news-item marker is displayed,

wherein said image information display control means displays said image of said page space image information among said electronic information onto said display means without said news-item markers until said operation is executed through said operation means.

2. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said news-item marker display control means displays each of said news-item markers in each of said plurality of news-item partitions in said page space image information displayed on said display means.

3. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said news-item marker display control means displays each of said news-item markers a predetermined distance from header of each news item.

4. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operation means has a jog lever having a switch which is operated upward, downward, and in a push direction;

said news-item marker display control means displays said news-item markers when said jog lever is switched upward or downward with a screen based on said page space image information displayed on said display means and, every time said jog lever is switched upward or downward, shifts candidate selection display to another of said news-item markers with one of them displayed as a selection candidate; and

said news-item contents information display control means, when said jog lever is switched in the push direction, determines that the news-item marker displayed as selection candidate at that moment has been selected and displays the news-item contents information indicated by said selected news-item marker onto said display means.

5. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operation means has a zoom-in button and a zoom-in display control means which, when said zoom-in button is pressed with an image of said news-item contents information displayed on said display means by said news-item contents information display control means, displays said image of said news-item content information in a magnified manner.

6. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means has two display screens and said image information display control means displays images of said page space image information onto said two display screens in a two-page spread manner.

7. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said news-item contents information display control means displays said image of said news-item contents information onto one of the two display screens of said display means, which is other display screen from the display screen on which said news-item markers are displayed.

8. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said operation means has a page-turning button and said image information display control means, when said page-turning button is pressed, sequentially displays the images of the subsequent page space image information onto said two display screens in a two-page spread manner.

9. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display means has one display screen and said news-item contents information display control means displays a window in one portion of said display screen in said display means and displays an image of said news-item contents information into said window.

10. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electronic information is captured from a semiconductor memory.

11. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electronic information is captured via a network.

12. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electronic information display apparatus is a display apparatus of a mobile information terminal apparatus.

13. The electronic information display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electronic information display apparatus is a display apparatus of an electronic book.

14. An electronic information display method comprising the steps of:

image information displaying step for displaying, among electronic information at least having image information of a page space having a plurality of partitions of news items and news-item contents information associated with each of said plurality of partitions of news items, an image of said page space image information onto display means without news-item markers;

news-item marker display control step for displaying news-item markers each corresponding to each of said news items in said page space image information displayed on said display means in response to an operation executed through operation means; and

news-item contents information display control step for displaying, if desired one of said news-item markers is selected from among said plurality of displayed news-item markers by an operation executed through said operation means, onto said display means an image of said news-item contents information associated with the news-item partition in which said selected news-item marker is displayed.

15. The electronic information display method according to claim 14, wherein the news-item marker display control step displays each of said news-item markers in each of said plurality of news-item partitions in said page space image information displayed on said display means.

16. The electronic information display method according to claim 15, wherein the news-item marker display control step displays each of said news-item markers a predetermined distance from a header of each news item.

17. The electronic information display method according to claim 14, wherein said operation means has ajog lever having a switch which is operated upward, downward, and in a push direction;

the news-item marker display control step displays said plurality of news-item markers when said jog lever is switched upward or downward with a screen based on said page space image information displayed on said display means and, every time said jog lever is switched upward or downward, shifts candidate selection display to another of said news-item markers with one of them displayed as a selection candidate; and

the news-item contents information display control step, when said jog lever is switched in the push direction, determines that the news-item marker displayed as selection candidate at that moment has been selected and displays the news-item contents information indicated by said selected news-item marker onto said display means.

18. The electronic information display method according to claim 14, wherein said operation means has a zoom-in button and a zoom-in display control step which, when said zoom-in button is pressed with an image of said news-item contents information displayed on said display means by the news-item contents information display control step, displays said image of said news-item content information in a magnified manner.

19. The electronic information display method according to claim 14, wherein said display means has two display screens and the image information display control step displays images of said page space image information onto said two display screens in a two-page spread manner.

20. The electronic information display method according to claim 19, wherein the news-item contents information display control step displays said image of said news-item contents information onto one of the two display screens of said display means, which is other display screen from the display screen on which said news-item markers are displayed.

21. The electronic information display method according to claim 19, wherein said operation means has a page-turning button and the image information display control step, when said page-turning button is pressed, sequentially displays the images of the subsequent page space image information onto said two display screens in a two-page spread manner.

22. The electronic information display method according to claim 14, wherein said display means has one display screen and said news-item contents information display control step displays a window in one portion of said display screen in said display means and displays an image of said news-item contents information into said window.

23. A computer-readable program for having a computer execute the steps of:

image information displaying step for displaying, among electronic information at least having image information of a page space having a plurality of partitions of news items and news-item contents information associated with each of said plurality of partitions of news items, an image of said page space image information onto display means without news-item markers;

news-item marker display control step for displaying news-item markers each corresponding to each of said news items in said page space image information displayed on said display means in response to an operation executed through operation means; and

news-item contents information display control step for displaying, if desired one of said news-item markers is selected from among said displayed news-item markers by an operation executed through said operation means, onto said display means an image of said news-item contents information associated with the news-item partition in which said selected news-item marker is displayed.

24. A recording medium recording a computer-readable program for displaying electronic information, said program has computer execute the steps of:

image information displaying step for displaying, among electronic information at least having image information of a page space having a plurality of partitions of news items and news-item contents information associated with each of said plurality of partitions of news items, an image of said page space image information onto display means without news-item markers;

news-item marker display control step for displaying news-item markers each corresponding to each of said news items in said page space image information displayed on said display means in response to an operation executed through operation means; and

news-item contents information display control step for displaying, if desired one of said news-item markers is selected from among said displayed news-item markers by an operation executed through said operation means, onto said display means an image of said news-item contents information associated with the news-item partition in which said selected news-item marker is displayed.

25. An electronic information display apparatus comprising:

a display configured to display an image based on electronic information at least having image information of a page space having a plurality of partitions of news items and news-item contents information associated with each of said plurality of partitions of news items;

a operation controller configured to control information display onto said display;

an image information display controller configured to display an image of said page space image information among said electronic information onto said display;

a news-item marker display controller configured to display news-item markers each corresponding to each of said news items in said page space image information displayed on said display in response to an operation executed through said operation controller; and

a news-item contents information display controller configured to display onto said display an image of said news-item contents information associated with the news-item partition in which said selected news-item marker is displayed if a desired one of said news-item markers is selected from among said displayed news-item markers by an operation executed through said operation controller,

wherein said image information display controller is configured to display said image of said page space image information among said electronic information onto said display without said news-item markers until said operation is executed through said operation controller.