Electronic apparatus capable of adjusting display direction and display-direction adjusting method thereof

• US 7,353,069 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2006
• Issued: 04/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quanta Computer
• Original Assignee: Quanta Computer
• Inventors: Tsai, Hsin-Feng
• Primary Examiner(s): HARTMAN JR, RONALD D
• Application Number:
  US11/377,395
• Publication Number:
  US 20070032886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 746 Days
• Field of Search: 345/158, 345/204, 345/649, 345/656, 345/658, 700/17, 700/83
• US Class Current: 700/17
• 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 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• 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

Abstract

An electronic apparatus capable of adjusting display direction and display-direction adjusting method thereof are disclosed. The electronic apparatus includes a sensing unit, a processing unit, and a display unit. The sensing unit is for outputting a sensing signal according to a placement status of the electronic apparatus. The processing unit is for generating a control signal according to the sensing signal. The display unit is for adjusting display direction under the control of the control signal.

Claims

1. An electronic apparatus capable of adjusting display direction, comprising:

a sensing unit, for outputting a sensing signal according to the orientation of the electronic apparatus, the orientation being one of a plurality of different possible orientations, including at least a first orientation and a second orientation;

a processing unit, for generating a control signal according to the sensing signal;

a display unit, for adjusting display direction under the control of the control signal; and

a look-up table, wherein

the look-up table includes a plurality of parameters, the parameters respectively corresponding to the different possible orientations of the electronic apparatus, and

when the electronic apparatus is in an initial state, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus in the initial state according to the parameter among the plurality of parameters that corresponds to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus;

wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes from the first orientation to a second orientation, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus according to the relationship between first data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus and second data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation.

2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sensing unit is an accelerometer.

3. The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sensing unit comprises:

a first sensor, for sensing magnitude of a first force applied to the electronic apparatus in a first direction; and

a second sensor, for sensing magnitude of a second force applied to the electronic apparatus in a second direction;

wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction;

wherein the accelerometer outputs the sensing signal according to the magnitude of the first force and the second force.

4. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises:

a peripheral controller, for outputting a first signal according to the sensing signal;

a system controller, for outputting a driving signal according to the first signal; and

a display controller, for outputting the control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

5. The electronic apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the peripheral controller comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

6. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises:

a micro-controller, for outputting a second signal according to the sensing signal;

a peripheral controller, for outputting a third signal according to the second signal;

a system controller, for outputting a driving signal according to the third signal; and

a display controller, for outputting a control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

7. The electronic apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the micro-controller comprises an analog-to-digital converter.

8. An electronic apparatus capable of adjusting display direction, comprising:

a sensing unit, for outputting a sensing signal according to an orientation of the electronic apparatus, the orientation being among a plurality of possible orientations;

a processing unit, for generating a control signal according to the sensing signal;

a display unit, for adjusting display direction under the control of the control signal; and

a look-up table and a relationship table, wherein the look-up table has a plurality of parameters, when the electronic apparatus is in an initial state, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus in the initial state according to a parameter among the plurality of parameters corresponding to the orientation of the electronic apparatus;

wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus by looking up in the relationship table, the relationship between a first orientation among the plurality of possible orientations of the electronic apparatus before the change in orientation and a second orientation among the plurality of possible orientations of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation, according to a comparison between first data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the first orientation and second data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the second orientation.

9. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sensing unit is an accelerometer.

10. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the sensing unit comprises:

a first sensor, for sensing magnitude of a first force applied to the electronic apparatus in a first direction; and

a second sensor, for sensing magnitude of a second force applied to the electronic apparatus in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction,

wherein the accelerometer outputs the sensing signal according to the magnitude of the first force and the magnitude of the second force.

11. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processing unit comprises:

a peripheral controller, for outputting a first signal according to the sensing signal;

a system controller, for outputting a driving signal according to the first signal; and

a display controller, for outputting the control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

12. The electronic apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the peripheral controller comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).

13. The electronic apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processing unit comprises:

a micro-controller, for outputting a second signal according to the sensing signal;

a peripheral controller, for outputting a third signal according to the second signal;

a system controller, for outputting a driving signal according to the third signal; and

a display controller, for outputting a control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

14. The electronic apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the micro-controller comprises an analog-to-digital converter.

15. A display-direction adjusting method, applied to an electronic apparatus, the electronic apparatus comprising a sensing unit, a processing unit and a display unit, the display-direction adjusting method comprising:

determining the orientation of the electronic apparatus by the sensing unit;

outputting a sensing signal to the processing unit according to the orientation of the electronic apparatus by the sensing unit;

generating a control signal according to the sensing signal by the processing unit; and

adjusting the display direction of the display unit according to the control signal;

wherein the electronic apparatus comprises a look-up table, the look-up table including a plurality of parameters, the parameters respectively corresponding to different possible orientations of the electronic apparatus, including a first orientation and a second orientation,

wherein when the electronic apparatus is in an initial state, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus in the initial state according to the parameter among the plurality of parameters that corresponds to the first orientation;

wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes from the first orientation to a second orientation, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus according to the relationship between first data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus and second data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation.

16. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 15, wherein the step of determining the orientation of the electronic apparatus by the sensing unit comprises using an accelerometer to determine the orientation of the electronic apparatus.

17. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 16, wherein the step of using an accelerometer to determine the orientation of the electronic apparatus comprises:

using a first sensor to sense magnitude of a first force applied to the electronic apparatus in a first direction; and

using a second sensor to sense magnitude of a second force applied to the electronic apparatus in a second direction, perpendicular to the second direction

wherein the accelerometer outputs the sensing signal according to the magnitude of the first force and the magnitude of the second force.

18. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 15, wherein the step of generating the control signal according to the sensing signal by the processing unit comprises:

using a peripheral controller of the processing unit to output a first signal according to the sensing signal;

using a system controller of the processing unit to output a driving signal according to the first signal; and

using a display controller of the processing unit to output a control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

19. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 18, wherein the step of using the peripheral controller to output the first signal comprises using an analog-to-digital converter.

20. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 15, wherein the step of generating the control signal according the sensing signal by the processing unit comprises:

using a micro-controller of the processing unit to output a second signal according to the sensing signal;

using a peripheral controller of the processing unit to output a third signal according to the second signal;

using a system controller of the processing unit to output a driving signal according to the third signal; and

using a display controller of the processing unit to output a control signal to control the display direction of the display unit according to the driving signal.

21. The display-direction adjusting method according to claim 20, wherein the step of using the micro-controller to output the second signal comprises using an analog-to-digital converter.

22. A display-direction adjusting method, applied to an electronic apparatus, the electronic apparatus comprising a sensing unit, a processing unit and a display unit, the display-direction adjusting method comprising:

determining the orientation of the electronic apparatus determined by the sensing unit;

outputting a sensing signal to the processing unit according to the orientation of the electronic apparatus by the sensing unit;

generating a control signal according to the sensing signal by the processing unit; and

adjusting the display direction of the display unit according to the control signal;

wherein the electronic apparatus has a look-up table and a relationship table;

wherein the look-up table has a plurality of parameters, when the electronic apparatus is in an initial state, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus in the initial state according to a parameter, among the plurality of the parameters, that corresponds to the orientation of the electronic apparatus; and

wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus by looking up in the relationship table the relationship between a first orientation of the electronic apparatus before the change in orientation and a second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation, according to a comparison between first data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the first orientation and second data indicating the sensing signal corresponding to the second orientation.

23. An electronic apparatus capable of adjusting display direction, comprising:

a sensing unit, for outputting a sensing signal according to the orientation of the electronic apparatus;

a processing unit, for generating a control signal according to the sensing signal, wherein the processing unit sets up a look-up table according to data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to each of a plurality of orientations of the electronic apparatus; and

a display unit, for adjusting display direction under the control of the control signal;

wherein the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus according to the look-up table and data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to a first orientation of the electronic apparatus.

24. The electronic apparatus according to claim 23, wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes from the first orientation to a second orientation, the processing unit determines the display direction of the electronic apparatus according to the relationship between first data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus and second data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation.

25. The electronic apparatus according to claim 24, wherein when the orientation of the electronic apparatus changes from the first orientation to a second orientation, the processing unit compares first data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus with second data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation according to the relationship among the parameters of the look-up table, so as to determine the display direction of the electronic apparatus.

26. The electronic apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the processing unit further sets up a relationship table according to the relationship among the parameters of the look-up table to indicate the relationship among the corresponding orientations of the electronic apparatus.

27. The electronic apparatus according to claim 26, wherein when the electronic apparatus changes the orientation of the electronic apparatus from the first orientation to a second orientation, the processing unit looks up in the relationship table the relationship between first data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the first orientation of the electronic apparatus and second data indicating the sensing signal outputted according to the second orientation of the electronic apparatus after the change in orientation, so as to determine the display direction of the electronic apparatus.