Display device using three-dimensional gui

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to an information terminal that accesses the Internet, and particularly to an information terminal that uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to facilitate menu selection.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

As the first prior art, as a terminal for displaying information on the Internet, for example, the terminal described in Nikkei Byte "Windows CE 2.0 Japanese version announced Handheld PC with impaired portability", April 1998 issue, page 22. There is. These have built-in software for accessing the Internet, and have a "bookmark" function that stores the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the Internet that is frequently accessed. The bookmark is selected from the list displayed as a character string.

【0003】

Further, as a second prior art, examples of displaying a menu using three-dimensional graphics are shown in JP-A-9-97153, JP-A-9-97154, and JP-A-9-97162.

【0004】

Further, as a third prior art, those in which a tablet is added to a remote controller for controlling a device are shown in JP-A-8-98280 and JP-A-9-152924.

【0005】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

According to the first prior art, when viewing the contents of a bookmark, it is selected from a list of characters, so that there is a problem that the operation is troublesome on a device having a small screen.

【0006】

In addition, the second prior art discloses that 3D graphics enable easy-to-read display, but it is a menu for video servers and does not disclose means for supporting bookmarks on the Internet. ..

【0007】

Further, in the third prior art, a function of converting handwritten characters written on a tablet built in a remote controller into a character code and transferring the characters to a device is disclosed, but a function of controlling a three-dimensional display is disclosed. It has not been.

【0008】

Therefore, the first object of the present invention is to provide an Internet terminal that can easily access desired information from a large number of bookmarks even if the screen resolution is small.

【0009】

A second object of the present invention is to provide a remote control device for improving the operability of an Internet terminal.

【0010】

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention is characterized by providing a means for associating the contents of the bookmark with the texture data for displaying three-dimensional graphics, and a means for automatically creating the texture data.

【0011】

Further, for the second purpose described above, the remote controller for controlling the device is provided with a tablet having a display function.

【0012】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration to which the present invention is applied. The Internet terminal 20 is equipped with communication software for accessing the Internet, browser software for browsing information, software for exchanging e-mails, and the like. Here, the mobile phone 30 is connected as a communication device assuming an in-vehicle system. However, for home use, a modem may be connected instead of a mobile phone. In addition, the information on the Internet is displayed on the display 10. The display 10 can be used as an in-vehicle TV or a home TV. Further, the Internet terminal 20 is operated by the remote controller 40.

【0013】

In browser software, the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of frequently accessed websites can be stored as a bookmark. When connecting to the URL of a registered bookmark, a method is generally adopted in which the contents of the bookmark are displayed in a list and the cursor is selected at a desired location. This method is not a problem for devices with a large screen resolution (about 1024 pixels x 768 pixels) such as personal computers, but the number of bookmarks that can be displayed at one time is extremely large for devices with a small resolution (320 pixels x 240 pixels) such as in-vehicle terminals. It becomes less and the selection operation becomes troublesome.

【0014】

Therefore, in order to make the contents of the bookmark easier to see, Fig. 2 shows an example using a 3D graphics display. In this figure, the "content", which is the content of the bookmark, is arranged on the circular table 60 on the display 10. Table 60 is divided into eight genres such as "weather" 68, "news" 69, and "travel" 70. These genres are represented by icons that make them recognizable at first glance. These genre icons are always displayed facing the front. The reason for this is to be able to always show the user what kind of genre there is. The content is displayed by the icon behind the icon of each genre. For example, the icon 63 of the "home page 1" is displayed as an icon with a pattern representing the features of the "home page 1". Behind "Homepage 1" 63 is "Homepage 2" 62, and behind it is "Homepage 3" 61. This placement order is determined by the degree of "favorite" of the user. In other words, the one in the foreground has the highest degree of "favorite", and the degree of "favorite" decreases as it goes to the back. Here, by performing a three-dimensional display accompanied by a perspective conversion process, the figure in the foreground is displayed larger and becomes smaller as it becomes behind. This is convenient for improving visibility when the content desired by the user is placed in front.

【0015】

FIG. 3 shows a remote controller for operating this screen. The remote controller 40 includes a button 401 for controlling power on / off, a menu button 402 for displaying a list of bookmarks shown in FIG. 2, buttons 403 to 407 for controlling the screen, and number keys. When the right arrow button 406 is pressed once in the display state shown in FIG. 2, the table 60 is rotated to the left and the "weather" icon 68 is displayed so as to be in front. When the left arrow button 403 is pressed once in the display state shown in Fig. 2, the table 60 is rotated to the right and the "Travel" icon 70 is displayed so that it faces the front.

【0016】

If the up arrow button 404 is pressed in the display state of FIG. 2, the icon behind the "news" icon 69 is enlarged and displayed as shown in FIG. If you press the select button 407 in this state, you will be connected to the Internet linked to "Homepage 1" 63. To select "Homepage 2" 62 from the display state shown in FIG. 4, press the up arrow button 404 again to display "Homepage 2" 62 facing forward, and then press the selection button 407 in that state.

【0017】

FIG. 5 shows the software configuration of the Internet terminal 20. OS500 is for managing the entire operation of the Internet terminal 20, and manages tasks. The device driver consists of driver software for data communication with the mobile phone 30, driver software for receiving instructions from the remote control, driver software for screen control of the display 10, and the like. Internet browser software 502 is software for displaying information on the Internet. The three-dimensional display software 504 displays a menu or the like in three dimensions based on the information received from the Internet browser software 502. In order to display the menu in three dimensions, the process of pasting the texture on the quadrilateral polygon is performed here. The link table 505 is a database for performing the display shown in FIG.

【0018】

FIG. 6 shows the contents of the link table 505. There are 5051 for "weather", 5052 for "news", 5053 for "travel", etc. for each genre. In each table, there are numbers, linked URLs, and icon numbers. The number indicates the degree of favorite, and the number 0 has the highest degree. For example, in the "news" genre, it corresponds to "homepage 1" 63 on the screen of FIG. When registering the contents in this table, the user specifies the registration number by indicating the degree of favorite, selects the most suitable pattern for the homepage from the pre-registered icons, and selects the icon number. You can also add new icons yourself. In that case, reduce the display screen image of the homepage to make it an icon.

【0019】

FIG. 7 is a display example in which the part with the URL link is automatically detected from the display information of the WWW instead of the contents of the bookmark, and the link can be listed. The right half of the display 10 is the normal display format, and the contents of the WWW are displayed as they are. In the left half, only the linked parts on the right screen are extracted and displayed by 3D graphics. If the full screen of the home page cannot be displayed on the right screen, it is necessary to control the display by scrolling. Therefore, in such a case, it is not possible to grasp all the situations of the links shown on the page at once. On the left screen, you can list the link destinations, which improves operability. In the case of such a display, favorites cannot be registered, so the order of registration in tables 5051 to 5053 shown in FIG. 6 is the order in which they appear on the page. In addition, it is necessary to specify the icon automatically. For each icon, create a pattern using the character part with the link, and register the correspondence with the link information by the icon number.

【0020】

Figure 8 shows the best remote controller for sending emails. The remote control 40 has only general buttons on the front side, but has a tablet on the back side integrated with a liquid crystal display. When a character is written on the tablet with the pen 41, the character is recognized in the remote controller 40, the character is converted into a character code, and the character is transmitted to the Internet terminal 20. FIG. 8 shows a state in which when the character "special" is written on the tablet, the character is sent to the terminal 20 in a character code, and as a result, the character is displayed on the display 10.

【0021】

The tablet can also be used to control the screen shown in FIG. Specifically, when the pen 41 is moved to the left on the tablet, the weather icon 68 in FIG. 2 comes to the center. If you move the pen 41 to the right, the travel icon 70 will come to the center. When the pen 41 is moved upward, the display shown in FIG. 4 is displayed. In this state, tapping the tablet once with the pen 41 leads to "Homepage 1". In FIG. 9, as another embodiment of the remote controller 40, the surface on which the buttons are present has a lid structure, and the tablet appears when the lid is opened.

【0022】

In still another embodiment, FIG. 10 shows a tablet on the back side of a lid for covering the surface on which the button is present.

【0023】

FIG. 11 shows an internal block diagram of the Internet terminal 20. The CPU 204 is a processor that controls the entire terminal 20. Although not particularly limited, here, the 32-bit RISC processor is used as the core, and peripheral control functions such as communication function, liquid crystal display controller, A / D converter, D / A converter, and parallel input / output are integrated in the chip. , A so-called single-chip microcomputer is assumed. Examples of a microcomputer suitable for this include HD6417707 manufactured by Hitachi, Ltd. Details of the HD6417707 can be found in the SH7707 Hardware Manual. The EPROM207 is a read-only memory that can be erased by ultraviolet rays, and is a memory for storing the boot program of the CPU 204. DRAM208 Is a dynamic RAM, which is used as the main memory of the CPU 204. The flash memory 209 is a memory that stores the program shown in FIG. 5 and data that cannot be erased even when the power is turned off, for example, the table and icon data shown in FIG. Memory. The graphics processor 211 displays an image on the display 10. The functions of the graphics processor 211 include a drawing function for drawing a figure in the graphics memory 213 according to an instruction from the CPU 204, and a drawing function for periodically reading an image drawn by the drawing function and displaying the display 10 on the display 10. It has a display function for displaying images. In order to perform the display as shown in FIG. 2, all the icon data to be displayed is copied from the flash memory 209 to the graphics memory 213. These icon data are texture data. After that, the previous term drawing function draws the texture to be displayed on the screen from the textures in the display area of the graphics memory 213 while transforming the texture.

【0024】

The NTSC encoder converts the RGB image data output by the display function into an NTSC signal. The NTSC signal is an analog television signal used in Japan and the United States. USB (Universal Serial) The Bus) controller is for connecting the terminal 20 to a device having a USB interface. USB is an interface used in personal computers (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computers). Therefore, peripheral devices such as a mouse for a personal computer and a CCD camera can be connected to the terminal 20. The modem controller 215 is for connecting the telephone line 112 and the terminal 20, and is necessary for accessing the Internet. Further, the D / A converter 216 converts the digital data sent from the CPU 204 into analog data and sends it to the analog amplifier 217. Audio data is generated using these. The mode setting SW203 specifies the operation mode of the terminal 20. For example, the normal operation mode and the program version upgrade mode are switched. In the version upgrade mode, after the flash memory 209 is erased all at once, a new program is downloaded from another device on the Internet via the telephone line 112 and written to the flash memory 209. By doing so, the program of the terminal 20 can be easily updated anywhere. Further, the CPU 204 has a plurality of built-in communication ports. By providing the light receiving element 205 in one of them, it is possible to receive a signal from the remote controller 40. In addition, an RS-232C driver 206 is provided to enable RS-232C communication. Since RS-232C communication is a standard interface that has been used conventionally, it can be connected to a personal computer or the like. The PCMCIA card slot 210 is a function expansion interface of the terminal 20. PCMCIA is an interface developed for notebook-type personal computers and is suitable for expanding the functions of small devices. Examples that can be mounted in the slot 210 include an expansion memory and a hard disk.

【0025】

FIG. 12 shows an example of an Internet terminal using a mouse 50 instead of the remote controller 40. The mouse 50 and the terminal 20 are connected by an RS-232C connection cable 201. The mouse 50 has a pushbutton switch 51. Further, the cursor 11 is displayed on the screen of the display 10 according to the movement of the mouse 50. The screen display is controlled by the mouse 50 and the push button switch 51 of the mouse. The situation is shown in FIG.

【0026】

FIG. 13 shows an example in which the screen area is divided into five areas (a) to (e) and the screen is controlled according to which area the cursor is in. If the cursor is on the left side of the screen as in (1), display the cursor with a mark pointing to the left. If you press the push button switch 51 once in this state, the display is changed so that the genre icon on the left side is in the center. Press twice to display the next genre icon. If the cursor is on the right side as in (2), the display of the cursor will change to the mark pointing to the right, and if you press the push button switch in this state, the display will be changed so that the genre icon on the right side will be in the center. When the cursor is on the top as in (3), it means that the genre in the center is selected instead of the mark that points to the top. If the push button switch 51 is pressed in this state, the display changes to the one shown in FIG. If you move the cursor to the center in this state, the user will be notified that you are in the homepage selection mode instead of the mark shown in (5). If you press the push button switch 51 in this state, you will be connected to the Internet. Also, when the cursor is moved downward, the cursor changes to a mark pointing down. If you press the push button switch in this state, a display that returns to the front is displayed.

【0027】

By changing the display pattern of the cursor according to the display position of the cursor in this way, the user can understand at a glance how the screen is controlled when the push button switch 51 is pressed. In addition, the above-mentioned five types of cursor alignment can be operated more smoothly by giving a range.

【0028】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, by displaying the bookmark contents by 3D graphics, it is possible to display many bookmark contents while maintaining the hierarchical structure even on an Internet terminal having a small screen. , The operability can be improved.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

Overall view of the Internet terminal.

[Figure 2]

An example of 3D display of bookmarks.

[Fig. 3]

An example of a remote control.

[Fig. 4]

Display example when selecting an icon.

[Fig. 5]

An example of software configuration for an Internet terminal.

[Fig. 6]

Linked table example.

[Fig. 7]

3D menu display example of link information.

[Fig. 8]

Example of remote control with tablet 1.

[Fig. 9]

Example 2 of a remote control with a tablet.

[Fig. 10]

Example 3 of a remote control with a tablet.

[Fig. 11]

Internal block diagram of an internet terminal.

[Fig. 12]

An internet terminal that uses a mouse instead of a remote control.

[Fig. 13]

Example of changing the cursor display pattern at the cursor display position [Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Display, 20 ... Internet terminal, 30 ... Mobile phone, 40 ... Remote control, 50 ... Mouse, 60 ... For placing icons placed in 3D space Round table, 61 ~ 70 ... icons, 204 ... CPU, 208 ... DRAM, 209 ... flash memory, 211 ... graphics processor, 213 ... graphics memory, 500 ... OS, 501 ... device driver, 502 ... internet browser software, 504 ... 3D display software, 505 ... link table.