Method and apparatus for managing image display in a digital image display apparatus

• US 20070109598A1
• Filed: 11/17/2005
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Theis, Richard, Garbow, Zachary, Wallenfelt, Brian, Paterson, Kevin, Clark, Timothy
• Granted Patent: US 7,853,898 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.160
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3247 Data linking a set of images to one another, e.g. sequence, burst or continuous capture mode

Abstract

A digital device automatically arranges digital images for display in a stack-based arrangement, wherein images are grouped in multiple stacks according to at least one grouping criterion, and the user can scroll over groups of images. Preferably, the digital device automatically selects a mascot image from each group as the top of the corresponding stack. When the images are displayed using a digital display apparatus, the user can scroll through the mascot images only, without reviewing the other images in each stack. When the user finds a mascot image of interest, he may optionally scroll down the images in the stack. Preferably, images are grouped according to power-on session, and mascots are chosen based on user interaction history.

Claims

1. A method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images, comprising the steps of:

assigning each image of a plurality of digitally stored images to a respective group of a plurality of groups of said digitally stored images, said assigning step being performed automatically by a digital data processing device;

displaying successive images of said plurality of images on a display of a digital data processing device responsive to user navigation input selections, wherein said user navigation input selections include a first next image input selection and a second next image input selection, wherein receiving said first next image input selection from a user while displaying a first image in a first group of images on said display causes an image from a next group of images to be displayed on said display, and wherein receiving said second next image input selection from a user while displaying said first image in a first group of images on said display causes a next image from said first group of images to be displayed on said display.

2. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

designating a respective mascot image from each said group of said plurality of groups of said digitally stored images, said designating a respective mascot step being performed automatically by a digital data processing device;

wherein receiving said first next image input selection from a user which displaying said first image in said first group of images on said display causes the designated mascot image from said next group of images to be displayed on said display.

3. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 2, wherein said step of designating a respective mascot image from each group comprises designating a respective mascot image based on a history of user interaction with said plurality of digitally stored images.

4. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 1, wherein said assigning step and said displaying step are performed by the same digital data processing device.

5. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 4, wherein said digital data processing device is a digital camera which captures said digitally stored images.

6. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 1, wherein said step of assigning each image to a respective group comprises assigning each image to a respective group using at least one of the set consisting of:

(a) a respective power-on session identifier associated with each image; and

(b) a respective timestamp associated with each image.

7. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 1, wherein said user navigation input selections further include a first previous image input selection and a second previous image input selection, wherein receiving said first previous image input selection from a user while displaying said first image in said first group of images on said display causes an image from a previous group of images to be displayed on said display, and wherein receiving said second previous image input selection from a user while displaying said first image in a first group of images on said display causes a previous image from said first group of images to be displayed on said display.

8. The method for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images of claim 1, wherein receiving said second next image input selection while displaying a last image of a group causes a first image of the group to be displayed on said display.

9. A program product for displaying a plurality of digitally stored images, comprising:

a plurality of instructions recorded on signal-bearing media and executable by at least one digital data processing device, wherein said instructions, when executed by at least one digital data processing device, cause the at least one digital data processing device to perform the steps of;

automatically designating a respective mascot image from each group of a plurality of groups of digitally stored images, at least some of said groups containing a plurality of digitally stored images;

displaying successive images of said plurality of images on a display of a digital data processing device responsive to user navigation input selections, wherein said user navigation input selections include a next group input selection and a next image input selection, wherein said next group input selection causes the designated mascot image from a next group of images to be displayed on said display, and wherein said next image input selection causes a next image from a current group of images to be displayed on said display.

10. The program product of claim 9, wherein said designating step, and said displaying step are performed by the same digital data processing device.

11. The program product of claim 9, wherein said plurality of instructions further cause the at least one digital data processing device to perform the step of automatically assigning each said digitally stored image to a respective said group of said digitally stored images.

12. The program product of claim 11, wherein said step of automatically assigning each image to a respective group comprises assigning each image to a respective group using at least one of the set consisting of:

(a) a respective power-on session identifier associated with each image; and

(b) a respective timestamp associated with each image.

13. The program product of claim 9, wherein said step of designating a respective mascot image from each group comprises designating a respective mascot image based on a history of user interaction with said plurality of digitally stored images.

14. The program product of claim 9, wherein said user navigation input selections further include a previous group input selection and a previous image input selection, wherein said previous group input selection causes the designated mascot image from a previous group of images to be displayed on said display, and wherein said previous image input selection causes a previous image from a current group of images to be displayed on said display.

15. The program product of claim 9, wherein receiving said second next image input selection while displaying a last image of a group causes a first image of the group to be displayed on said display.

16. A digital data apparatus for displaying digital images, comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory for storing processor-executable instructions;

a display for displaying digitally stored images; and

a display program comprising a plurality of instructions executable by said processor, said display program automatically assigning each image of a plurality of digitally stored images to a respective group of a plurality of groups of said digitally stored images;

wherein said display program displays successive images of said plurality of images on said display responsive to user navigation input selections, wherein said user navigation input selections include a first next image input selection and a second next image input selection, wherein, for at least a first subset of said digitally stored images, receiving said first image input selection from a user while displaying an image of the first subset causes said display program to display an image of a next group of images following the group to which the image of the first subset belongs, and wherein receiving said second next input selection from a user while displaying the image of the first subset causes said display program to display a next image from the group to which the image of the first subset belongs.

17. The digital data apparatus of claim 16, wherein said digital data apparatus is a digital camera further comprising an optical sensor array for capturing said digital images.

18. The digital data apparatus of claim 16,

wherein said display program further comprises a mascot selection function for automatically designating a respective mascot image from each said group of said plurality of groups of said digitally stored images;

and, said designating a respective mascot step being performed automatically by a digital data processing device;

wherein said next group input selection causes the designated mascot image from a next group of images to be displayed on said display.

19. The digital data apparatus or claim 18, wherein said mascot selection function automatically designates a respective mascot image from each said group based on a history of user interaction with said plurality of digitally stored images.

20. The digital data apparatus of claim 16, wherein said display program automatically assigns each image to a respective group using at least one of the set consisting of:

(a) a respective power-on session identifier associated with each image; and

(b) a respective timestamp associated with each image.