Abstract:
The present invention discloses a method of magnifying a portion of a display of a portable communication device, which is implemented in the portable communication device including a magnification software being executed to perform the steps of taking a selected location of the display of the portable communication device as a magnifying point; selecting the portion of the display based on the magnifying point and the magnifying area; and obtaining a magnified portion by multiplying the selected portion of the display by the magnification. By utilizing the present invention, letters and icon within the magnified portion will be larger than letters and icons in other portions of the display.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to screen magnifying methods and more particularly to a method of magnifying an interesting portion of display of a portable electronic device such as cellular phone or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Over the past several decades there has been a simultaneous growth in information technology and electronics, bringing a great convenience to human being. Also, they are closely related to our daily life and work. In addition, people have an increasing demand to the quality of the information products as they are available in an even faster pace. For keeping up with the trend, manufacturers constantly develop new information products with additional and/or enhanced features. This is particularly true for the portable communication products (e.g., cellular phones, PDAs, etc.) in information products since portable communication products have become indispensable communication tools for most people in their daily life. The portable communication products have features of short messages sending in addition to its default communication capability. Further, the portable communication products are advantageous for being compact and easily carried by the hand. As such, the portable communication products have become a very important, general personal communication tool.  
         [0003]     It is understood that the information product market is very competitive due to the wide popularity of the portable communication products. In view of many different types of cellular phone and PDA being commercially available, it is highly possible that a portable communication product not meeting the quality demand of consumer will be eliminated from the market. Thus, an indicator about whether technology owned by a portable communication product manufacturer is more advanced than that of other competitive ones can be decided based on whether portable communication products produced by that manufacturer can provide a more convenient service and a more effective operation.  
         [0004]     The trend of developing portable communication products is slimness, compactness, and multifunction. As such, internal space of the portable communication product is reduced significantly. Further, mechanisms of the portable communication product are more difficult to design due to the addition of many advanced features. The display of the portable communication product is reduced accordingly. For showing a fine and pleasing picture on the small screen of the display, the display is typically set at a high resolution mode. This in turn further decreases the sizes of icons, numbers, and letters shown on display. Hence, a myopic or presbyopic user may not clearly see or even cannot see the content shown on the display.  
         [0005]     A user may set the display at a low resolution mode for the purpose of clearly seeing pictures shown on the display. However, it not only contradicts the spirits of providing a high resolution mode on the display but also causes the display to show a smaller picture. Thus, a user has to repeatedly use horizontal and vertical scrolls to adjust the screen to an optimum position for operation. This can bring a lot of trouble and inconvenience in use. A user may use one hand to hold a magnifying lens to view the display and the other hand to hold the portable communication product if the user does not want to set the display at a low resolution mode. However, the user cannot use a pen to click an icon on the display or press a key on the portable communication product in such case. This in turn is inconvenient. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method of enabling a user to see a magnified icon or letter(s) on the display set at a high resolution mode without modifying the existing configuration.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     A primary object of the present invention is to provide a method of magnifying a portion of a display of a portable communication device. The method is implemented in the portable communication device including a magnification software. When the portable communication device runs the magnification software the magnification software performs the steps of taking a selected location of the display of the portable communication device as a magnifying point; selecting the portion of the display based on the magnifying point and the magnifying area; and obtaining a magnified portion by multiplying the selected portion of the display by the magnification. By utilizing the present invention, letters and icon within the magnified portion will be larger than letters and icons in other portions of the display.  
         [0007]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  shows a screen full of icons and associated descriptive words on a conventional display;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  shows the screen with one icon and its descriptive word being magnified by the method of the invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart illustrating a process of running an object magnification software according to the invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart illustrating a process of magnifying an object in a magnifying shape mode according to the invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a screen of setting parameters according to the invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  shows pixels before and after magnification respectively; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  schematically depicts a predetermined portion on the screen according to the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     Referring to  FIGS. 1, 2 , and  5 , there is shown a method of magnifying a portion of display in accordance with the invention. The method is implemented in a portable communication device including a magnification software  1  having at least one magnifying shape mode  10  each having a magnifying area  12  and a magnification  14 . In a case of the portable communication device runs the magnification software  1 , a selected location of the display of the portable communication device is taken as a magnifying point. A portion of the display is then selected based on the magnifying point and the magnifying area  12 . Also, a magnified portion is obtained by multiplying the selected portion of the display by the magnification  14 . Letters and icon within the magnified portion will be larger than letters and icons in other portions of the display. As an end, the problem of experiencing a blurry outline of letters or icon on a high resolution display in the prior art can be solved.  
         [0016]     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 5  again, in a preferred embodiment of the invention the magnification software  1  further comprises a magnifying icon  16 . In a case of the portable communication device runs the magnification software  1 , a magnifying icon  16  is shown on the display  2 . Clicking the magnifying icon  16  will enable the portable communication device to perform a subsequent processing based on the magnifying shape mode  10 . In a case of the magnifying shape mode  10  activated, the magnifying shape mode  10  continuously selects the portion of the display by following the trace of the magnifying point. And the selected portion is magnified a specific magnification. The magnifying shape mode  10  will stop any subsequent actions if no magnifying point is read by the magnifying shape mode  10  in a predetermined period of time. The magnifying icon  16  is a moveable icon as any icons shown on a typical Window screen. A user can use an optical pen to press the magnifying icon  16  and drag the same to a desired place on the display. Preferably, the new location of the magnifying icon  16  does not cover any other icons or portions on the display to be operated.  
         [0017]     For further understanding the invention, a PDA having a touch screen is taken as an exemplary example. Referring to  FIG. 3  in conjunction with  FIG. 2 , in a case of the magnification software  1  is run by an optical pen on the touch screen based display, the PDA performs the following steps to activate the magnifying shape mode  10 .  
         [0018]     In step  301 , a magnifying icon  16  is shown on the display  2 .  
         [0019]     In step  302 , it is determined whether a clicking signal is generated on the display  2 . If yes, the process goes to step  303 . Otherwise, the process loops back to itself.  
         [0020]     In step  303 , record the location of the clicking signal.  
         [0021]     In step  304 , it is determined whether the clicked location is within the range of the magnifying icon  16 . If yes, the process goes to step  305 . Otherwise, the process jumps to step  313 .  
         [0022]     In step  305 , perform the selected magnifying shape mode  10 .  
         [0023]     In step  306 , it is determined whether a next clicking signal is read. If yes, the process goes to step  307 . Otherwise, the process jumps to step  308 .  
         [0024]     In step  307 , continue to perform the selected magnifying shape mode  10 .  
         [0025]     In step  308 , the optical pen is determined to have left the screen of the display  2  (i.e., no more new magnifying point being generated).  
         [0026]     In step  309 , it is determined whether a clicking signal is generated o the display  2 . If yes, the process goes to step  310 . Otherwise, the process loops back to itself.  
         [0027]     In step  310 , record the location of the clicking signal.  
         [0028]     In step  311 , it is determined whether the clicked location is within the range of the magnifying icon  16 . If yes, the process goes to step  312 . Otherwise, the process loops back to step  305 .  
         [0029]     In step  312 , disable the selected magnifying shape mode  10 .  
         [0030]     In step  313 , process the clicking signal as usual.  
         [0031]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , in a case of the selected magnifying shape mode  10  activated to perform magnification, the PDA performs the following steps.  
         [0032]     In step  401 , record the location of the read magnifying point.  
         [0033]     In step  402 , it is determined whether the recorded magnifying point is the same as a previously recorded magnifying point. If yes, the process goes to step  403 . Otherwise, the process jumps to step  405 .  
         [0034]     In step  403 , it is determined whether the recorded magnifying point has not changed for a predetermined period of time. If yes, the process goes to step  404 . Otherwise, the process loops back to step  401 .  
         [0035]     In step  404 , the optical pen is determined to have left the screen of the display  2  (i.e., no more new magnifying point being generated). The magnifying shape mode is disabled immediately (i.e., the process ends).  
         [0036]     In step  405 , a portion of the display  2  is selected based on the magnifying point and the magnifying area  12 . Also, a magnified portion is obtained by multiplying the selected portion of the display by the magnification  14 . The process ends.  
         [0037]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , in the invention the magnification software  1  comprises a parameter set table  18  for specifying the magnifying shape mode  10 . The magnifying shape mode  10  comprises a magnifying area  12  and a magnification  14 . In a case of the selected portion of the display  2  magnified by running the magnification software  1 , pixels in the portion are magnified the magnification  14 . Referring to  FIG. 6 , four adjacent pixels A, B, C, and D in the portion are shown. In the upper part of the figure, the pixels A, B, C, and D are shown in their apparent sizes. In the lower part of the figure, the pixels A, B, C, and D are magnified two times in which the magnified pixel A, B, C, or D is represented by two original pixels disposed laterally. Referring to  FIG. 7  in conjunction with  FIG. 5 , the magnifying area  12  is the center of the selected place. Next, it is shown by pixels set in the magnifying area  12 . For example, if the magnifying shape mode  10  is a rectangle and if the magnifying point is pixel E with the magnifying area  12  having a length of 100 pixels and a width of 80 pixels, then there are 100 pixels at either end of the pixel E and 80 pixels at either side thereof respectively. Such rectangular area is set as the magnifying area  12 . Thus, a user may, as desired, set the magnifying area  12  and the magnification  14  for optimally increasing the apparent size of the icon and/or associated letters in the magnifying point  10 .  
         [0038]     While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.