Abstract:
This specification discloses system and method of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents. A zoom region around the cursor is zoomed by the area zoom factor, rendering an area zoomed image for display. The user can then adjust the zoom of the display area. The area zoomed image is zoomed by the contents zoom factor, rendering a contents zoomed image for display. The user can then zoom the display contents. The system thus achieves the effects of zooming the display area and display contents.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to system and method that adjust zoom factors and, in particular, to system and method of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents, respectively. 
         [0003]    2. Related Art 
         [0004]    With great progress in electronic technology, various kinds of auxiliary tools have been developed. For example, when a user starts a default magnifier in an operating system (OS), the OS opens a display area at the very top of the screen. The image around the cursor is immediately magnified in the opened display area according to the zoom factor designated by the user. The user can then view the magnified image and operate the OS. 
         [0005]    However, the above-mentioned magnified area is limited to the top of the screen. This is not convenient for the user to operate. Therefore, some people propose a kind of magnifier with a movable display area for the convenience of operation. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned magnifiers with fixed and movable display area do not allow the user to adjust the display area. 
         [0006]    Besides, some people propose the function of local magnification. That is, after setting a magnification region, the region and the contents therein are magnified and displayed in a display area. The magnification region and the contents therein are magnified by the same zoom factor and displayed. The advantage is that the user can operate on the magnified contents. However, such a magnification function does not support further magnification of the contents in the magnification region. 
         [0007]    Therefore, the display areas of the above-mentioned magnifiers or the magnification function either do not allow further adjustment or only support one magnification setting when starting it and magnifying the selected magnification region according to the designated zoom factor. They do not have the function of adjusting the display area in real time. In addition, the above-mentioned magnifiers or magnification function only support one magnification. In other words, they can only magnify the display contents or magnify the contents in the selected magnification region. In this case, both the magnification region and the contents therein are magnified by the same zoom factor. Therefore, current magnifiers and magnification functions do not support comprehensive magnifying effects for the display area and display contents. 
         [0008]    In summary, the prior art always has the problem that the display area and display contents cannot be zoom independently. It is therefore imperative to provide a satisfactory solution. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In view of the foregoing, the invention proposes system and method that adjust the zoom factors of display area and display contents. 
         [0010]    The disclosed system of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents includes: an extracting module, a zooming module, a displaying module, a receiving module, and an adjusting module. 
         [0011]    The extracting module extracts the screen image as an original image. The zooming module takes the cursor position as the center and zooms the original image according to an area zoom factor, rendering an area zoomed image. It further zooms the area zoomed image according to a contents zoom factor, rendering a contents zoomed image. The displaying module shows the display area according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image. It then displays the area zoomed image and contents zoomed image in the display area. The receiving module receives area adjusting parameter or contents adjusting parameter. When receiving the area adjusting parameter, the adjusting module sets the area zoom factor according to the area adjusting parameter. When receiving the contents adjusting parameter, the adjusting module sets the contents zoom factor according to the contents adjusting parameter. 
         [0012]    The disclosed method of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents includes the steps of: extracting the screen image as an original image; taking the cursor position as the center of a zoom region and zooming the zoom region of the original image according to an area zoom factor as an area zoomed image; showing a display area according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image and displaying the area zoomed image in the display area; zooming the area zoomed image according to a contents zoom factor as a contents zoomed image; displaying the contents zoomed image in the display area; receiving area adjusting parameter or contents adjusting parameter; setting an area zoom factor according to the received area adjusting parameter; and setting a contents zoom factor according to the received contents adjusting parameter. 
         [0013]    The system and method disclosed above differ from the prior art in that the invention magnifies the zoom region around the cursor position of the original image into the area zoomed image according to the area zoom factor. The area zoomed image is further zoomed into the contents zoomed image according to the contents zoom factor. The invention uses the area zoom factor and the contents zoom factor to magnify the display area and the display contents, respectively. Therefore, the invention provides comprehensive zoom effects for the display area and display contents. 
         [0014]    Using the above-mentioned technique, the invention simultaneously achieves the goals of zooming display area and display contents. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below illustration only, and thus is not limitative of the present invention, and wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the disclosed system that adjusts the zoom factors of display area and display contents; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the disclosed method that adjusts the zoom factors of display area and display contents; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3A  is a schematic view of the screen image for adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3B  is a schematic view of the display area according to the invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 3C  is a schematic view of the contents zooming according to the invention; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 3D  is a schematic view of the area zooming according to the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements. 
         [0023]    The following paragraphs first describe the disclosed system of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents. Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a block diagram of the system of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents according to the invention. The zoom factor adjusting system  10  includes: an extracting module  11 , a zooming module  12 , a displaying module  13 , a receiving module  14 , and an adjusting module  15 . 
         [0024]    When the invention starts, the zoom factor adjusting system  10  first extracts the screen image as an original image using the extracting module  11 . Since the technology of extracting the screen image is very mature, it is not further described herein. Any existing screen extraction technology can be used in the extracting module  11  of the invention. 
         [0025]    Afterwards, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zoom the image in the zoom region of the original image into an area zoomed image according to the area zoom factor. The zoom region centers at the cursor position. That is, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  first finds the position of the cursor on the original image. The cursor position is then taken as the center. The zooming module  12  extracts the zoom region of the original image accordingly. Finally, the zooming module  12  zooms the zoom region of the original image into the area zoomed image according to the area zoom factor. 
         [0026]    The above-mentioned zoom region can be a geometrical shape, such as rectangle, circle, etc. The zoom region shape can be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. The zoom region size can also be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. That is, the size of the zoom region can be adjusted. The image zooming technique used by the zooming module  12  on the image can be interpolation, extrapolation, vector method, etc. The image zooming technique is very mature and is not further described herein. Please refer to existing image zooming techniques. 
         [0027]    More explicitly, suppose the size of the original image extracted by the extracting module  11  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  is “640×480”. The cursor position is assumed to be (200,200), and the zoom region is a circle of radius “50”. The zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  first finds the corresponding cursor position (200,200) in the original image, which is exactly (200,200) in the original image. A circular region of radius “50” is obtained with (200,200) on the original image as the center. The coordinate sets of the extracted zoom region are then (250,200), (249,201), (248,202), . . . , (201,249), (200,250), (199,249), . . . , (151,201), (150,200), (151,199), . . . , (199,151), (200,150), (201,151), . . . , (248,198), and (249,199). The zooming module  12  then zooms the image enclosed by the above-mentioned coordinate sets of the original image according to the area zoom factor. This is only one example and should not be used to restrict the scope thereof. 
         [0028]    After the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the zoom region centered at the cursor position in the original image according to the area zoom factor into the area zoom image, the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the display area according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image. The area zoomed image is shown in the display area. 
         [0029]    Afterwards, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the area zoomed image into a contents zoomed image according to the contents zoom factor. 
         [0030]    Afterwards, the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the contents zoomed image in the display area. 
         [0031]    It should be noted that the contents zoom factor is normally set as “1”. When the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the area zoomed image into the contents zoomed image according to the contents zoom factor, the area zoomed image does not change because the contents zoom factor is set as “1”. That is, the contents zoomed image is the same as the area zoomed image. This prevents the display difference between the area zoomed image and the contents zoomed image when the zoom factor adjusting system  10  starts. 
         [0032]    In addition, when the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the displaying area according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image, the display area replaces the cursor control. That is, the display area moves with the mouse, and its central position is the cursor position. The operating function of the mouse is temporarily disabled. It is enabled again when the zoom factor adjusting system  10  stops. 
         [0033]    In the case, as the operating function of the mouse is temporarily disabled, the user cannot use the mouse to perform any operation. When the user hits a key or key combination on the keyboard or clicks a key or key combination on the mouse, the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the area adjusting parameter or contents adjusting parameter. 
         [0034]    When the user operates to trigger a specific operation event, it is received by the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10 . The specific operation event corresponding to the area adjusting parameter and the contents adjusting parameter can be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. This is only one example of the invention and should not be used to restrict the scope thereof. 
         [0035]    More explicitly, a keyboard key event is pressing a single keyboard key, such as pressing the single “E” key. A keyboard key combination event is an operation of depressing at least two keys simultaneously, such as pressing the keys “Ctrl+Alt+↑” simultaneously. A mouse key combination event is an operation of pressing mouse keys simultaneously. For example, one can simultaneously press the left key of the mouse and roll the roller thereof. A keyboard mouse key combination is an operation of simultaneously pressing a keyboard key and a mouse key. For example, it is an operation of simultaneously pressing the key “E” and rolling the roller of the mouse. The above-mentioned examples should not be used to restrict the scope of the invention. 
         [0036]    When the user triggers a specific operation event following the above-mentioned operation, the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the area adjusting parameter or contents adjusting parameter corresponding to the specific operation event. It means that user wants to operate the zoom factor adjusting system  10 . According to the area adjusting parameter or contents adjusting parameter received by the receiving module  14 , the adjusting module  15  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  adjusts the zoom factor. 
         [0037]    After the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the area adjusting parameter, the adjusting module  15  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  sets the area zoom factor according to the area adjusting parameter. After the area zoom factor is reset, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the zoom region centered at the cursor position of the original image into a new area zoomed image. The displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  displays the display area according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image and displays the area zoomed image in the display area. This achieves the effect of adjusting the zoom of the display area. 
         [0038]    After the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the contents adjusting parameter, the adjusting module  15  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  sets the contents zoom factor according to the contents adjusting parameter. After the contents zoom factor is reset, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the area zoomed image into a new contents zoomed image according to the new contents zoom factor. The displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  displays the contents zoomed image in the display area. This achieves the effect of adjusting the zoom of the display contents. 
         [0039]    Besides, the disclosed zoom factor adjusting system  10  can further includes a timing module  16  for counting the extraction time. Each time the timing module  16  of zoom factor adjusting system  10  counts one extraction time, the extracting module  11 , the zooming module  12 , and the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  are re-executed. That is, the screen image is extracted again as the original image. A new area zoomed image or contents zoomed image is then obtained and displayed again. 
         [0040]    When the extraction time interval of the timing module  16  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  is set shorter, the area zoomed image or contents zoomed image obtained by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  is updated more frequently. The extraction time can be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. 
         [0041]    In general, when the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  displays the contents zoomed image in the display area, the center of the contents zoomed image is commonly disposed at the center of the display area. In addition, one can also associate one position in the contents zoomed image to a specific position in the display area. Then the designated position in the contents zoomed image is shown at the specific position in the display area. This is more convenient. 
         [0042]    The following paragraphs use one embodiment to explain the operation and procedure of the invention. It also demonstrates the display interface of the invention. Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2  for the description.  FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the disclosed method of adjusting the zoom factors of display area and display contents. 
         [0043]    Please refer to  FIG. 3A , which is a schematic view of the screen image of zoom factor adjustment according to the invention. As shown in the drawing, a first object  21  and a second object  22  are shown in the screen image. The cursor  23  is at the first object  21 . The dashed line refers to the zoom region  24  predetermined by the system. The zoom region  24  can be a polygonal geometrical shape, such as rectangle, circle, etc. The zoom region at the first object  21  is predetermined to be a rectangular zoom region  24 . The zoom region at the second object  22  is predetermined to be a circular zoom region  24 . The shape of the zoom region  24  can also be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. For example, the zoom region  24  of the first object  21  can be a circular zoom region  24 , and the zoom region  24  of the second object  22  can be a rectangular zoom region  24 . The following example assumes that the zoom region  24  is rectangular, but should not be used to restrict the scope of the invention. In fact, the zoom region can have any polygonal shape. The size of the zoom region  24  can be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. In other words, the size of the zoom region  24  is adjustable. 
         [0044]    Please refer to  FIG. 3B , which is a schematic view of the display area of the disclosed zoom factor adjusting system. When the invention starts, the zoom factor adjusting system  10  first uses the extracting module  11  to extract the screen image as the original image. That is, the screen image in  FIG. 3A  is extracted as the original image (step  100 ). 
         [0045]    Afterwards, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  finds the position of the cursor  23  in the original image. The cursor position in the original image is then taken as the center to obtain the zoom region  24 . Here the area zoom factor of the system is assumed to be “2”. The zooming module  12  thus zooms the zoom region  24  into the area zoomed image according to the area zoom factor “2” (step  200 ). 
         [0046]    After the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the zoom region  24  centered at the cursor position  23  according to the area zoom factor “2” into the area zoomed image, the displaying module  13  thereof shows the display area  25  according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image. It further shows the area zoomed image in the display area  25  (step  300 ). The display result is shown in  FIG. 3B . 
         [0047]    Besides, the default contents zoom factor of the system is assumed to be “1”. The zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  further zooms the area zoomed image into the contents zoomed image according to the contents zoom factor (step  400 ). Since the contents zoom factor of the system is assumed to be “1” here, the area zoomed image is not further zoomed. Instead, they are exactly the same. The displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  then shows the contents zoomed image in the display area  25  (step  500 ). This prevents any display difference due to the difference between the area zoomed image and the contents zoomed image. 
         [0048]    Please refer to  FIG. 3C , which is a schematic view of adjusting the zoom factor of the display contents according to the invention. When the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the display area  25 , the display area  25  replaces the control of the cursor  23 . That is, the display area  25  moves with the mouse. Moreover, the central position of the display area  25  is the position of cursor  23 . The operating functions of the mouse are temporarily disabled. They are enabled again until the zoom factor adjusting system  10  stops. 
         [0049]    At this moment, since the operating functions of the mouse are temporarily disabled, the user cannot perform any mouse operation. Suppose specific operation events of setting contents adjusting parameter predetermined by the system are keyboard key combinations “Ctrl+Alt+↑” and “Ctrl+Alt+↓”. The keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+↑” means that the contents adjusting parameter should be increased by “1”. The contents adjusting parameter is predetermined to be the same as the contents zoom factor. The keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+↓.” means that the contents adjusting parameter should be decreased by “1”. 
         [0050]    When the user presses the keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+↑”, the system determines that the contents adjusting parameter should be increased by “1”. Since the contents adjusting parameter is set to be the same as the contents zoom factor in the beginning, it is increased from “1” to “2”. The receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the contents adjusting parameter “2” (step  600 ). 
         [0051]    Afterwards, the adjusting module  15  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  resets the contents zoom factor as “2” according to the contents adjusting parameter “2” received by the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  (step  800 ). 
         [0052]    In this case, since the contents zoom factor is reset as “2”, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the area zoomed image into a new contents zoomed image according to the newly set contents zoom factor “2” (step  400 ). The displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the contents zoomed image in the display area  25  (step  500 ). The result is shown in  FIG. 3C . This achieves the effect of adjusting the zoom of the display contents. 
         [0053]    Please refer to  FIG. 3D , which is a schematic view of adjusting the zoom factor of the display area according to the invention. Suppose specific operation events of setting contents adjusting parameter predetermined by the system are keyboard key combinations “Ctrl+Alt+→” and “Ctrl+Alt+←”. The keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+→” means that the area adjusting parameter should be increased by “1”. The area adjusting parameter is predetermined to be the same as the area zoom factor. The keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+←” means that the area adjusting parameter should be decreased by “1”. 
         [0054]    When the user presses the keyboard key combination “Ctrl+Alt+→”, the system determines that the area adjusting parameter should be increased by “1”. Since the area adjusting parameter is set to be the same as the area zoom factor “2” in the beginning, it is increased from “2” to “3”. The receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  receives the area adjusting parameter “3” (step  600 ). 
         [0055]    Afterwards, the adjusting module  15  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  resets the area zoom factor as “3” according to the area adjusting parameter “3” received by the receiving module  14  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  (step  700 ). 
         [0056]    In this case, since the area zoom factor is reset as “3”, the zooming module  12  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  zooms the zoom region  24  centered at the cursor position of the original image into a new area zoomed image according to the newly set area zoom factor “3” (step  200 ). The displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the display region according to the shape and size of the area zoomed image. It further shows the area zoomed image in the display area  25  (step  300 ). The result is shown in  FIG. 3D . This achieves the effect of adjusting the zoom of the display area. 
         [0057]    Generally speaking, when the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  shows the contents zoomed image in the display area  25 , the center of the contents zoomed image is commonly shown at the center of the display area  25 . However, one may also assign one position in the contents zoomed image to be displayed at a specific position in the display area  25 . The designated position of the contents zoomed image is then displayed at the specific position in the display area  25 . The invention is thus more convenient for users. 
         [0058]    The display method of showing the center of the contents zoomed image at the center of the display area  25  as described above is only one example, and should not be used to restrict the scope of the invention. 
         [0059]    Besides, the invention can use the zoom factor adjusting system  10  to repeatedly count the extraction time (step  900 ). When the timing module  16  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  counts one extraction time, the extracting module  11 , the zooming module  12 , and the displaying module  13  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10  re-execute their jobs. That is, the screen image is extracted again as the original image. A new area zoomed image or contents zoomed image is then obtained and displayed. 
         [0060]    With a shorter extraction time interval used by the timing module  16  of the zoom factor adjusting system  10 , the area zoomed image or contents zoomed image obtained by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  can be updated more frequently. The extraction time can be predetermined by the zoom factor adjusting system  10  or set by the user. 
         [0061]    In summary, the invention first zooms the zoom region centered at the cursor position in the original image into the area zoomed image according to an area zoom factor. The area zoomed image is then zoomed into the contents zoomed image according to the contents zoom factor. The display area is adjusted in real according to the area zoom factor. Moreover, the display contents are adjusted according to the contents zoom factor. Therefore, the invention is superior to the prior art by providing comprehensive zoom functions for the display area and display contents. 
         [0062]    The disclosed technique can solve the problems in the prior art that the display area and display contents cannot be zoomed. It achieves the goals of adjusting the zooms of display area and display contents simultaneously. 
         [0063]    Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.