Image display apparatus and operating method thereof

• US 9,237,296 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2009
• Issued: 01/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Jung, Dae Young, Bae, Hae Jin, Lee, Jae Kyung, Lee, Kun Sik, Kim, Gyu Seung
• Primary Examiner(s): Kumar, Pankaj
• Assistant Examiner(s): BROWN, RUEBEN M
• Application Number:
  US12/630,471
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306800A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,231 Days
• Field of Search: 715/838, 715/835, 715/712, 725/56, 725/38, 725/44
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00448 horizontally
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00453 arranged in a two dimensional array
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00461 marking or otherwise tagging one or more displayed image, e.g. for selective reproduction
• 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 21/4263 involving specific tuning arrangements, e.g. two tuners
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4314 for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/440263 by altering the spatial resolution, e.g. for displaying on a connected PDA
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/482 End-user interface for program selection broadcast systems using EPGs H04H60/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/84 Generation or processing of descriptive data, e.g. content descriptors systems specially adapted for using meta-information in broadcast systems H04H60/73
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/50 Tuning indicators; Automatic tuning control

Abstract

A method for operating an image display apparatus includes providing input signals to the image display apparatus, displaying at least one image on a display based on the input signals, generating a plurality thumbnail images based on the input signals, and displaying a thumbnail-image list which includes a plurality of generated thumbnail images.

Claims

1. An operating method of an image display apparatus, comprising:

receiving a first input signal;

displaying a first image on a display based on the first input signal;

receiving a second input signal;

generating a plurality of thumbnail images which includes a thumbnail image of a second image, the thumbnail image of the second image generated based on the second input signal;

displaying a first thumbnail-image list including the plurality of thumbnail images including the thumbnail image of the second image, wherein the first thumbnail-image list is displayed in response to a command signal received during a time when the first image is displayed, the first thumbnail-image list further including a first object indicating a full-view mode;

displaying a second thumbnail-image list comprising a plurality of thumbnail images in response to selection of the first object, wherein the second thumbnail-image list further comprises a second object related to a recently-viewed channels item; and

displaying a third thumbnail-image list comprising a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to recently viewed channels in response to selection of the second object,

wherein the second object is a channel align item for aligning the plurality of thumbnail images, the method further comprising;

displaying a channel align screen including the recently-viewed channels in response to selection of the channel align item, wherein the third thumbnail-image list is displayed according to the recently-viewed channels item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of thumbnail images are generated by:

(1) forming the second image based on the second input signal;

(2) forming a thumbnail image corresponding to the second image formed in (1); and

(3) repeating (1) and (2) one or more times for additional images to generate a corresponding number of additional ones of the plurality of thumbnail images.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of thumbnail images are generated by:

(1) decoding the second image from the second input signal;

(2) converting a format of the decoded second image;

(3) encoding the second image in the converted format to generate a corresponding thumbnail image; and

(4) repeating (1) to (3) one or more times for additional images to generate a corresponding number of additional ones of the thumbnail images.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first input signal and the second input signal are received through different channels or from different sources.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating at least one of the thumbnail images, and

displaying the updated thumbnail image in the first thumbnail-image list.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first thumbnail-image list comprises:

displaying source information corresponding to each thumbnail image in the list,

wherein the source information corresponding to each thumbnail image in the list is different.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a size of the first image is greater than a size of the thumbnail image corresponding to the first image.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a size of one or more of the thumbnail images displayed in the second thumbnail-image list is different from a size of one or more thumbnail images displayed in the first thumbnail-image list.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a screen including the thumbnail-images in the first thumbnail-image list includes one or more thumbnail images corresponding to a number of previously-deleted input image signals, and wherein the first thumbnail-image list is displayed by changing at least one of brightness, contrast, fade, or transparency of the thumbnail images corresponding to previously-deleted image signals so that the corresponding thumbnail images are distinguished from other ones of the thumbnail images in the list.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second input signal is received before the first image is displayed.

11. An image display apparatus, comprising:

a display to display at least one image;

an input configured to receive first and second input signals; and

a controller to control the display to display a first image based on the first input signal and to display a first thumbnail-image list including thumbnail images of the first image and a second image generated based on the second input signal, wherein the first thumbnail-image list is displayed in response to a command signal received during a time when the first image is displayed, and the first thumbnail image list displays a first object indicating a full-view mode displaying a second thumbnail image list on the entire display,

wherein the controller controls the display to display a second thumbnail-image list comprising a plurality of thumbnail images in response to selection of the first object, wherein the second thumbnail-image list displays a second object related to a recently-viewed channels item,

wherein the controller controls the display to display a third thumbnail-image list comprising a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to recently-viewed channels in response to selection of the second object,

wherein the second object is a channel align item for aligning the plurality of thumbnail images, and

wherein the controller further controls the display to display a channel align screen including the recently-viewed channels in response to selection of the channel align item, wherein the third thumbnail-image list is displayed according to the recently-viewed channels item.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

a channel-browsing processor to extract the thumbnail images in the first thumbnail-image list in response to the command signal received from an external device.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second input signal is received before the first image is displayed.