Image display apparatus and image display method

• US 8,826,180 B2
• Filed: 03/17/2011
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ogura, Tomotaka, Morimoto, Tetsuo, Kasahara, Shunichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Augustine, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US13/050,432
• Publication Number:
  US 20110234633A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,265 Days
• Field of Search: 715/863, 715/802, 715/811, 715/821, 715/828, 715/831
• US Class Current: 715/828
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

An image display apparatus includes: a storage section for storing a plurality of content items sorted using categories of a higher level; a display section for displaying either of the content items or the categories; an operating section generating a first operation signal according to a first operation performed with a weak pressing force and a second operation signal according to a second operation performed with a pressing force stronger than that of the first operation; and a control section receiving the input of the first operation signal and the second operation signal and controlling a display image displayed on the display section.

Claims

1. An image display apparatus comprising:

a storage section to store a plurality of content items sorted using categories of a higher level;

a display section to display either the content items in a contents display screen or the categories in a category display screen;

an operating section to generate a first operation signal according to a first operation performed with a first pressing force and a second operation signal according to a second operation performed with a second pressing force, the first and second pressing forces being different in magnitude; and

a control section to receive input of the first operation signal and the second operation signal and to control a display image displayed on the display section, wherein the control section controls the storage section and the display section such that;

when the contents display screen is displayed, the first operation causes the content items displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the category display screen, and the second operation causes a transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen, resulting in the categories being displayed on the display section instead of the content items; and

when the category display screen is displayed, the first operation causes a transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen, resulting in the content items being displayed on the display section instead of the categories, and the second operation causes the categories displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the contents display screen,

wherein a first transient screen intervenes when the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen takes place and a second transient screen intervenes when the transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen takes place, the second transient screen being different from the first transient screen.

2. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the operating section generates different operation signals associated with switching directions in which the content items and the categories are sequentially switched; and

first, second, third, and fourth operation signals are generated as combinations of the pressing forces and the switching directions.

3. An image display apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the contents display screen is a screen displaying the contents substantially throughout a screen of the display section; and

the category display screen is a screen simultaneously displaying a plurality of the categories on the screen of the display section.

4. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first transient screen displays content items which belong to a same category as the content items displayed on the contents display screen and which have not been displayed yet.

5. An image display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second transient screen displays all content items belonging to categories selectable on the category display screen.

6. An image display apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

the first transient screen displays content items which belong to a same category as the contents displayed on the contents display screen and which have not been displayed yet;

and

the second transient screen displays all content items belonging to categories selectable on the category display screen.

10. The image display apparatus of claim 4, wherein the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen comprises scrolling from the contents display screen to the first transient screen then to the category display screen.

13. The image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second pressing force is stronger than the first pressing force.

16. The image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen comprises scrolling from the contents display screen to the category display screen.

17. The image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first transient screen displays content items that have not been displayed yet.

18. The image display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second transient screen displays content items of a selected category.

7. An image display method comprising the steps of:

storing a plurality of content items using categories of a higher level;

displaying either the content items or the categories on a display section;

generating a first operation signal according to a first operation performed with a first pressing force and a second operation signal according to a second operation performed with a second pressing force, the first and second pressing forces being different in magnitude; and

inputting the first operation signal and the second operation signal to a control section controlling a display image displayed on the display section, the control section exercising control such that;

when the contents display screen is displayed, the first operation causes the content items displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the category display screen, and the second operation causes a transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen, resulting in the categories being displayed on the display section instead of the content items; and

when the category display screen is displayed, the first operation causes a transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen, resulting in the content items being displayed on the display section instead of the categories, and the second operation causes the categories displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the contents display screen,

wherein a first transient screen intervenes when the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen takes place and a second transient screen intervenes when the transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen takes place, the second transient screen being different from the first transient screen.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen comprises scrolling from the contents display screen to the category display screen.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the second pressing force is stronger than the first pressing force.

19. The image display method of claim 7, wherein the first transient screen displays content items that have not been displayed yet.

20. The image display method of claim 7, wherein the second transient screen displays content items of a selected category.

8. An image display apparatus comprising:

a storage section to store a plurality of content items sorted using categories of a higher level;

a display section to display either the content items or the categories;

an operating section to generate a first operation signal according to a first operation performed with a first pressing force and a second operation signal according to a second operation performed with a second pressing force, the first and second pressing forces being different in magnitude; and

a control section to receive input of the first operation signal and the second operation signal and to control a display image displayed on the display section, wherein the control section controls the storage section and the display section such that;

when the contents display screen is displayed, the first operation causes the content items displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the category display screen, and the second operation causes a transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen, resulting in the categories being displayed on the display section instead of the content items; and

when the category display screen is displayed, the first operation causes a transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen, resulting in the content items being displayed on the display section instead of the categories, and the second operation causes the categories displayed at the display section to be sequentially switched without causing a transition to the contents display screen,

wherein a first transient screen intervenes when the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen takes place and a second transient screen intervenes when the transition from the category display screen to the contents display screen takes place, the second transient screen being different from the first transient screen.

9. The image display apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

the display section displays the category display screen instead of the contents display screen when the second operation is performed while the contents display screen is displayed; and

the display section displays the contents display screen instead of the category display screen when the first operation is performed while the category display screen is displayed.

12. The image display apparatus of claim 8, wherein the transition from the contents display screen to the category display screen comprises scrolling from the contents display screen to the category display screen.

15. The image display apparatus of claim 8, wherein the second pressing force is stronger than the first pressing force.