Displaying a plurality of images in a stack arrangement

• US 7,446,784 B2
• Filed: 11/18/2005
• Issued: 11/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha (Canon Inc.)
• Inventors: Shellshear, Andrew John, Crew, Laurence
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung; Kee M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SAMS, MICHELLE L
• Application Number:
  US11/281,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20060214953A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,082 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/679
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting

Abstract

A method (700) of displaying a plurality of images is disclosed. The method (700) displays the images in a stack arrangement. The stack may be a perspective stack and a non-perspective stack. Another method (1200) of displaying a plurality of images is also disclosed. The method (1200) displays the images in a stack following any arbitrary path. The methods (700) and (1200) are particularly advantageous for displaying a collection of images of irregular sizes and aspect ratios. The methods (700) and (1200) maintain the regular geometric layout of a stack of images and also ensure that the size of the minimum visible area of each image in the stack remains the same irrespective of the aspect ratio of a particular image.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a plurality of images, each image having an associated aspect ratio and at least one of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said method comprising the steps of:

selecting a side of the plurality of images;

displaying a first of said images and a second of said images substantially behind said first image, said first image being scaled so that the aspect ratio of said first image is maintained, and said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so that the aspect ratio of said second image is maintained.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said second image is scaled according to a predetermined ratio with respect to said first image.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said plurality of images are displayed in a perspective stack.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein said perspective stack is a three dimensional (3D) perspective stack.

5. A method according to claim 3, wherein said predetermined ratio is based on the number of images being displayed.

6. A method according to claim 3, wherein the selected sides of said first image and said second image are adjacent to a predetermined point.

7. A method according to claim 3, wherein said distance (dist) is the distance along an interval from an edge of said first space to an edge of said second space and is determined as follows:

dist=l.(i/n)^0.4

where;

i=0 for the first space, i=1 for the second space, i=2 for a third space following the second space, and so on;

l represents the length of the interval; and

n represents the number of spaces.

8. A method according to claim 3, wherein the spaces are target rectangles.

9. A method according to claim 3, wherein the spaces are parallelograms.

10. A method according to claim 3, wherein the spaces are trapezoids.

11. A method according to claim 6, wherein said perspective stack vanishes at said predetermined point.

12. A method according to claim 6, wherein said predetermined point falls within a predetermined boundary within which said images are being displayed.

13. A method according to claim 6, wherein said predetermined point falls outside a predetermined boundary within which said images are being displayed.

14. A method according to claim 2, wherein said second image is positioned with respect to the first image according to an offset vector.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the selected side of said second image is positioned with respect to the selected side of said first image according to said offset vector.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein said plurality of images is displayed in a non-perspective stack.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein said predetermined ratio is equal to one.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein said plurality of images are displayed in a stack which follows an arbitrary path.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein said predetermined ratio is based on the distance of the centre point of said second image on said path with respect to the center point of said first image on said path.

20. A method according to claim 2, wherein said distance is based on said predetermined ratio.

21. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selected side of said first image is fitted to a corresponding side of a first space having a plurality of edges and the selected side of said second image is fitted to a corresponding side of a second space having a plurality of edges.

22. A method of displaying a plurality of images on a display device, each image having first and second dimensions defining an aspect ratio and at least one image of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said method comprising the steps of:

selecting a side of the plurality of images; and

displaying a first of said images, and displaying a second of said images substantially behind said first image, the first and second dimensions of said first image being scaled so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said first image, and

the first and second dimensions of said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said second image, wherein at least one of the first and second scaled dimensions of said second image is determined, by a processor, according to a predetermined ratio with respect to a corresponding scaled dimension of said first image.

23. A method according to claim 22, wherein said predetermined ratio is varied.

24. A method according to claim 23, wherein said plurality of images is displayed in a perspective stack.

25. A method according to claim 24, wherein said predetermined ratio is based on the number of images being displayed.

26. A method according to claim 24, wherein said perspective stack is a three dimensional (3D) perspective stack.

27. A method according to claim 24, wherein the first dimensions of said first image and said second images are adjacent to a predetermined point.

28. A method according to claim 27, wherein said predetermined point falls within a predetermined boundary within which said images are being displayed.

29. A method according to claim 27, wherein said predetermined point falls outside a predetermined boundary within which said images are being displayed.

30. A method according to claim 27, wherein said perspective stack vanishes at said predetermined point.

31. A method according to claim 23, wherein said second image is positioned with respect to the first image according to an offset vector.

32. A method according to claim 31, wherein said second image is positioned with respect to said first image according to said offset vector.

33. A method according to claim 32, wherein said plurality of images is displayed in a non-perspective stack.

34. A method according to claim 33, wherein said predetermined ratio is equal to one.

35. A method according to claim 32, wherein said plurality of images is displayed in a stack which follows an arbitrary path.

36. A method according to claim 35, wherein said predetermined ratio is based on the distance of the centre point of said second image on said path with respect to said first image.

37. A method according to claim 22, wherein the regions are trapezoids.

38. A method according to claim 22, wherein the regions are parallelograms.

39. A method of display a plurality of images on a display device, said method comprising the steps of:

selecting a side of the plurality of images;

displaying a first of said plurality of images, and a second of said images substantially behind the first image, said first image being scaled so that the aspect ratio of said first image is maintained, and

said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so that the aspect ratio of said second image is maintained, wherein said second image is positioned according to a predetermined ratio based on said predetermined first space.

40. An apparatus for displaying a plurality of images on a display device, each image having first and second dimensions defining an aspect ratio and at least one image of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said apparatus comprising:

selection means for selecting a side for the plurality of images; and

display means for displaying a first of said images, and a second of said images substantially behind said first image, the first and second dimensions of said first image being scaled so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said first image, and the first and second dimensions of said second image being scaled based on a distance between a selected side of the first image and a selected side of the second image, so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said second image, and wherein at least one of the first and second scaled dimensions of said second image are determined, by a processor, according to a predetermined ratio with respect to a corresponding scaled dimension of said first image.

41. An apparatus for displaying a plurality of images, each image having an associated aspect ratio and at least one of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said apparatus comprising:

selection means of selecting a side for the plurality of images;

a display means for displaying a first of said images, and a second of said images substantially behind said first image, said first image being scaled so that the aspect ratio of said first image is maintained, and said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so that the aspect ratio of said second images is maintained.

42. A computer readable storage medium, having a program recorded thereon, where the program is configured to make a computer execute a procedure to display a plurality of images on a display device, each image having a first and second dimensions defining an aspect ratio and at least one image of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said program comprising:

code for selecting a side for the plurality of images;

code for displaying a first of said images, and a second of said images substantially behind said first image, the first and second dimensions of said first image being scaled so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said first image;

the first and second scaled dimensions of said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so as to maintain the aspect ratio of said second image, and wherein at least one of the first and second scaled dimensions of said second image is determined, by a processor, according to a predetermined ratio with respect to a corresponding scaled dimension of said first image.

43. A computer readable storage medium, having a program recorded thereon for displaying a plurality of images, each image having an associated aspect ratio and at least one of said images having a different aspect ratio to at least one other of said images, said program comprising:

code for selecting a side for the plurality of images; and

code for displaying a first of said images, and a second of said images substantially behind said first image, said first image being scaled so that the aspect ratio of said first image is maintained; and

said second image being scaled based on a distance between the selected side of the first image and the selected side of the second image, so that the aspect ratio of said second image is maintained.