Abstract:
A method and apparatus for scrolling a display, the scrolling corresponding to the movement of a cursor, which scrolling can be performed on an information apparatus, such as a set top box (STB). The present invention enables a user to control the cursor on the screen via an input device so the cursor moves in an active window having display content. When the cursor is moved to the edge of the window, the window is scrolled to change the displaying region, and the cursor is moved sequentially to about the middle position of the new window.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for scrolling a display, the scrolling corresponding to the movement of a cursor and, more particularly, to performing such scrolling on an information apparatus field such as set top box (STB).  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    The conventional STB is connected to a television. A user can surf on the Internet via a network interface provided by the STB and watch TV programs via a TV tuner. The user can choose to watch TV or to surf on the Internet. The STB provides network connectivity, enabling the user to surf on the Internet without the need of a personal computer. The STB serves as a multi-function work platform, which is a great improvement for information devices.  
           [0005]    However, when the prior art STB is serving as an Internet module and a user wants to scroll a displayed web page, the user has to move the cursor to a scroll bar and then click on a scroll arrow to cause the displayed web page to move upward or downward, which is very inconvenient for the user.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The object of the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use operating interface for a user.  
           [0007]    With regard to this objective, a method of scrolling a display according to the movement of a cursor is disclosed. The method includes step A: receiving a cursor moving signal; step B: judging if the position of the cursor will be out of the active window; if it is not, proceeding to step C; if it is, proceeding to STEP D; step C: moving the cursor; and step D: scrolling the active window along the moving direction of the cursor. A predetermined scroll distance for step D is a half page, and the cursor will be placed at a middle position of the window, which is then scrolled according to the movement of the cursor.  
           [0008]    The present invention further provides a set top box for receiving networking signals to link to a website and outputting an image signal to a television, and a user may view the content of the website via the television. The set top box provides an input device for the user to control the movement of a cursor in an active window display. The set top box provides the following functionality: condition  1 : moving the cursor if the sequential movement of the cursor will not be out of the active window; condition  2 : scrolling the window display along the movement of the cursor if the cursor will not be out of the active window. Condition  2  further includes two conditions: the scrolling distance of the window is equal to a preset value when the remaining content exceeds the size of display; and the scrolling distance of the window is less than the preset value when the remaining content is less than the size of the display.  
           [0009]    Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the environment according to the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is the hardware structure of a set top box.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 is a first drawing of the continuous screen display of the embodiment according to the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 is a first drawing of a series of screen displays of the embodiment according to the present invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 is a second drawing of a series of screen displays of the embodiment according to the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 is a third drawing of a series of screen displays of the embodiment according to the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of an alternative embodiment according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0018]    Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing of the environment according to the present invention. A set top box (STB)  10  is connected to a television  30  and able to receive a network signal  51  and a television signal  52 . A user can watch TV programs and surf on the Internet via the television  30 . An input device  18  with an infrared transmitter  183  is used for providing control instructions to an infrared receiver  15  of the STB  10 . Generally, the input device  18  is a remote control  181  or a keyboard. As shown in FIG. 1, the remote control  181  includes a cursor direction button  182  and the infrared transmitter  183 . The infrared light sent by the infrared transmitter  183  is received by the infrared receiver  15  of the STB  10 .  
         [0019]    Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 illustrates the hardware structure of a set top box. Many components of the STB  10  are similar to those found in a typical computer. The STB  10  comprises a processor  11 , a system bus  111 , a memory device  12  (such as DRAM, a hard disk, a memory card), a sound processing unit  13 , an image processing unit  14 , the infrared receiver  15 , a network interface  16 , a tuner  17  and the input device  18 . Networking signals  51  (such as from Internet) are received by the network interface  16 , and TV tuner signals  52  are received by the tuner  17 . However, in some cases, both the network signals  51  and the TV signals  52  are sent to the STB  10  via an identical cable. Since the characteristics of the present invention are not concerned with the particular hardware characteristics of the STB  10 , there will be no more description of the hardware and associated functionality of the STB  10 .  
         [0020]    A characteristic of the STB  10  is that the user can control the movement of a cursor  21  via the input device  18 , and so the cursor  21  moves within an active window  20  of a website. The user can utilize the cursor  21  to scroll the active window to change the content of the displaying region of the window  20 . In the embodiment, the size of the window  20  is identical to the size of the screen of the television  30 . However, the size of the window  20  on the screen of the television  30  is adjustable, or there may be a plurality of windows  20 .  
         [0021]    Please refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention. The method of moving the cursor in the window  20  is shown in FIG. 3. First, the user uses the cursor direction button  182  on the remote control  18  to control the cursor  21  to move in various directions such as up, down, left and right (step  301 ). The command signal is sent to the infrared receiver  15  of the STB  10  via the infrared transmitter  183 , and is then processed by the STB  10 . In the embodiment, the infrared transmitter  183  utilizes the Information Data Association (IDA) transmission standard and a PS 2  interface to connect to the STB  10 . The processor  11  converts a scan code transmitted from the infrared transmitter  183  to a key code or a mouse event code, and the STB  10  controls the movement of the cursor  21  on the screen according to the cursor direction button  182  as manipulated by the user. The present invention need not, however, be limited to the above-mentioned input device.  
         [0022]    In the embodiment, a predetermined distance for the movement of the cursor  21  is 5 pixels, and a predetermined scroll distance for the display is half a page. The user can setup different predetermined distances for the cursor  21  and different predetermined scroll distances for the display. As shown in FIG. 4, the STB  10  needs to determine whether the cursor is separated from a boundary  23  of the window  20  by less than a fixed distance, such as 5 pixels (step  302 ), or determine whether the cursor  21  will move out of the window  20 . In FIG. 4, the cursor  21  is separated from the boundary  23  of the window  20  by more than 5 pixels; when the user clicks the cursor direction button  182  to move the cursor  21 , the cursor  21  will move 5 pixels corresponding to the command (step  303 ). However, as shown in FIG. 5, when the cursor  21  is separated from the boundary  23  of the window  20  by less than 5 pixels or the command will require the cursor  21  to move out of the window  20 , the STB  10  needs to judge whether the remaining display content is over half a page (step  304 ).  
         [0023]    Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 a first drawing of a series of screen displays of the embodiment according to the present invention. The content of a web page shown in window  20  is “ABCDEFGH”, and the remaining content of the web page at the right side is “IJKLMN”. Since the cursor  21  is separated from the boundary  23  of the window  20  by less than 5 pixels and the remaining content is over half a page, the STB  10  controls a scroll bar  22  to scroll a half page of the displaying screen to right (step  305 ), so the displayed content will be changed to “EFGHIJKL” as shown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, in order to prevent the cursor  21  from being remaining at the right boundary  23  of window  20 , which would cause the display to scroll continuously, the STB  10  places the cursor  21  at the middle position of the window  20  along the moving direction (step  307 ).  
         [0024]    When the user wants to continue browsing the remaining content, the user needs to move the cursor  21  away from the boundary  23  of the window  20  by less than 5 pixels. Since the remaining content “MN” is not enough for a half page, the STB  10  controls the scroll bar  22  to scroll the displaying screen to the edge of the content (step  306 ), and the displayed content will change to “GHIJKLMN”, as shown in FIG. 7. Finally, the STB  10  places the cursor  21  at the middle position of the window  20  along the moving direction (step  307 ).  
         [0025]    Please refer to FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing of an alternative embodiment according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the STB  10  controls the scroll bar  22  to scroll a half page of the displaying screen regardless of whether or not the remaining content is sufficient for a half page. As shown in FIG. 8, the right side of the window  20  is a small blank region.  
         [0026]    The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, for those skilled in this field the preferred embodiments can be easily adapted and modified to suit additional applications without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements based upon the same operating principle. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretations so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.