Apparatus, method, and program for display control

• US 8,726,193 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2007
• Issued: 05/13/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Kondo, Hirohito, Hoshi, Akari, Akagawa, Satoshi, Tsuyuhara, Tomohiro, Jin, Zhezhu
• Primary Examiner(s): TILLERY, RASHAWN N
• Application Number:
  US11/958,748
• Publication Number:
  US 20080178124A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,338 Days
• Field of Search: 715/856, 715/857, 715/858, 715/859, 715/860, 715/861, 715/862, 345/157, 345/158, 345/160
• US Class Current: 715/856
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04892 Arrangements for controlling cursor position based on codes indicative of cursor displacements from one discrete location to another, e.g. using cursor control keys associated to different directions or using the tab key arrangements for controlling cursor position based on coordinate signals G06F3/038
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42204 User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4221 Dedicated function buttons, e.g. for the control of an EPG, subtitles, aspect ratio, picture-in-picture or teletext
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV

Abstract

A display control apparatus includes the following elements. An accepting unit accepts selection of one of objects displayed in a window in either a cursor mode, in which a cursor is moved to select an object, or a pointer mode, in which a pointer is moved to select an object, one of the modes being selected by a user. When an instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is given, a display control unit erases the pointer and displays the cursor such that the cursor selects an object closest to a position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased.

Claims

1. A display control apparatus comprising:

an accepting unit that accepts selection of one of objects displayed on a screen in either a cursor mode in which a cursor is moved to select the object or a pointer mode in which a pointer is moved to select the same object, one of the modes being selected by a user; and

a display control unit that, when an instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is given, erases the pointer and displays the cursor such that the cursor selects an object closest to a position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased,

wherein after the pointer mode is selected, the pointer is movable over an entire screen area in response to user input and remains visible and stationary at any point on the entire screen when no user input is received,

wherein the position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased due to the given instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is a point where no object is displayed on the screen.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for erasing moves the cursor or the pointer in response to an operation on an arrow key disposed on a remote control.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the objects displayed on the screen are characters or images linked to other data sets, and

when a predetermined object is selected by the cursor or the pointer and an operation of determining the selected object is performed, the means for erasing displays a window related to a data set linked to the object selected by the cursor or the pointer.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the pointer mode is selected and the means for erasing moves the pointer to the upper edge of the screen in response to user input, the means for erasing scrolls up the screen.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the pointer mode is selected and the means for erasing moves the pointer to a lower edge of the screen in response to user input, the means for erasing scrolls down the screen.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a remote control including a button that, when pressed and released, switches from a current mode being one of the cursor mode and the pointer mode to the other one of the cursor mode and the pointer mode.

4. A method for display control, comprising:

accepting selection of one of objects displayed on a screen in either a cursor mode in which a cursor is moved to select the object or a pointer mode in which a pointer is moved to select the same object, one of the modes being selected by a user; and

when an instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is given, erasing the pointer and displaying the cursor such that the cursor selects an object closest to a position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased,

wherein after the pointer mode is selected, the pointer is movable over an entire screen area in response to user input and remains visible and stationary at any point on the entire screen when no user input is received,

wherein the position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased due to the given instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is a point where no object is displayed on the screen.

5. A computer readable storage medium storing computer readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform a method comprising:

accepting selection of one of objects displayed on a screen in either a cursor mode in which a cursor is moved to select the object or a pointer mode in which a pointer is moved to select the same object, one of the modes being selected by a user; and

when an instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is given, erasing the pointer and displaying the cursor such that the cursor selects an object closest to a position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased,

wherein after the pointer mode is selected, the pointer is movable over an entire screen area in response to user input and remains visible and stationary at any point on the entire screen when no user input is received,

wherein the position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased due to the given instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is a point where no object is displayed on the screen.

6. A display control apparatus comprising:

circuitry configured to;

accept selection of one of objects displayed on a screen in either a cursor mode in which a cursor is moved to select the object or a pointer mode in which a pointer is moved to select the same object, one of the modes being selected by a user; and

erase the pointer, when an instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is given, and control display the cursor such that the cursor selects an object closest to a position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased,

wherein after the pointer mode is selected, the pointer is movable over an entire screen area in response to user input and remains visible and stationary at any point on the entire screen when no user input is received,

wherein the position where the pointer was displayed just before being erased due to the given instruction to switch the pointer mode to the cursor mode is a point where no object is displayed on the screen.