Patent Publication Number: US-2016246387-A1

Title: Electronic Device, Operation Control Method, and Computer Program Product

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/JP2013/079466, filed on Oct. 30, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     Embodiments described herein relate generally to an electronic device, an operation control method, and a computer program product. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Typically, along with the advance of the computer technology, programs and services has become available on various electronic devices. 
     In order to use a program or a service on an electronic device, it is necessary to provide a user interface suitable for the concerned program or service. In this regard, for the purpose of allowing a user to perform various operations with one hand, a pointing device has been proposed, which can implement a stick operation and a click operation of a pointer with a single operating module. 
     However, it is difficult to implement a so-called swipe operation with a conventional pointing device, in which the user touches the screen of a touch-sensitive panel with a finger and slides the finger (runs the finger) in a particular direction, that is, the user drags a finger over a certain distance in a short period of time. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A general architecture that implements the various features of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention. 
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary external perspective view of a television broadcast display device according to a first embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary external front view of a remote controller according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a cursor key of the remote controller according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of the television broadcast display device according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a controller of the television broadcast display device according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 6  is an exemplary diagram illustrating operation information according to the first embodiment; 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  are exemplary flowcharts of a sequence of an operation control process according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is an exemplary diagram illustrating the relationship among operation information, dead threshold value, intermediate data, and pointer movement amount and click bit according to the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a controller of a television broadcast display device according to a second embodiment; 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary diagram illustrating operation information and divided data according to the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 12  is an exemplary flowchart of a sequence an operation control process according to the second embodiment; and 
         FIG. 13  is an exemplary flowchart of a sequence of an operation information dividing process according to the second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In general, according to one embodiment, an electronic device comprises a receiver, a first determining module, a second determining module, a calculator, and a controller. The receiver receives operation information at a regular time interval. The operation information includes an amount of movement by an operation of an operating module in association with click information. The click information indicates that the operating module is pressed. The first determining module determines, when the operating module is pressed based on the click information, whether or not the amount of movement in the received operation information is equal to or greater than a first threshold value. The second determining module determines, when the amount of movement is equal to or greater than the first threshold value, whether or not a predetermined period of time elapses from an initial press to the operating module. The calculator determines, when the predetermined period of time has elapsed from the initial press to the operating module, that a swipe operation has been performed with the operating module and calculates an amount of movement of a pointer to be a greater value than an amount of movement in a drag operation. The controller controls movement of the pointer based on the calculated amount of movement of the pointer and the click information. 
     The following embodiments will describe examples of a television broadcast display device to which an electronic device is applied. However, in the embodiments, the electronic device is not limited to a television broadcast display device, and can alternatively be implemented in any electronic device that performs operations based on cursor operations and click operations. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , a television broadcast display device  100  according to a first embodiment is configured of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and includes a housing  101  that is supported by a support  103  and that has a rectangular external appearance in the front view, and an image display panel  102  that is capable of displaying a variety of information such as still images and moving images. 
     Herein, operation information on an operation with a remote controller  150  is sent to the television broadcast display device via infrared communication. As a result, a cursor  111 , which is displayed on the image display panel  102  of the television broadcast display device  100 , becomes operable. Using the remote controller  150  according to the first embodiment, stick operations and click operations of the cursor  111  as well as dragging an icon  110  and swipes on the screen are feasible. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the remote controller  150  includes a power button  201  for switching ON and OFF the television broadcast display device  100 ; volume buttons  202  and  203  for varying audio volume; a return button  204 ; a home button  205 ; a menu button  206 ; and a stick  211 . 
     The television broadcast display device  100  according to the first embodiment is what is called a smart television on which programs and services provided via the Internet are implementable in addition to broadcasting programs provided from broadcast waves. The home button  205  is used to return to the home screen of the smart television. The return button  204  is used to return to a previous screen. The menu button  206  is used to display a menu screen. 
     The stick  211  is used for selecting various programs and services from the menu screen displayed on the television broadcast display device  100 . The stick  211  can be pressed as a button to perform a click operation, and can be moved vertically and horizontally (in X-Y planar directions) within an operation area  212 . In the first embodiment, the operation in which the stick  211  is moved vertically and horizontally (in the X-Y planar directions) is referred to as a stick operation. In the first embodiment, by a stick operation, the cursor  111  can be moved. Moreover, during a click, a stick operation to the cursor  111 , in other words, a drag operation can also be performed. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, a user&#39;s operation to click and promptly move the stick  211  in a particular direction before releasing the stick  211  corresponds to a swipe operation on the touch-sensitive panel in which a user touches the screen with a finger (runs a finger) and slides the finger in a particular direction. 
     As illustrated in the cross-sectional diagram in  FIG. 3 , the stick  211  includes a slide knob  301 , a ring cover  302 , an elastic member  303 , a click receiving button  304 , a stick member  305 . By pressing down the slide knob  301 , the elastic member  303  is pressed and a face  301 A presses the stick member  305  (in the negative direction along the Z axis). As a result, the click receiving button  304  is pressed. In response to the press onto the click receiving button  304 , the remote controller  150  sends a click bit ON to the television broadcast display device  100 . In response to no press to the click receiving button  304 , the remote controller  150  sends a click bit OFF to the television broadcast display device  100 . 
     Moreover, the slide knob  301  is movable in the X-Y planar directions only within the operation area not blocked by the ring cover  302 . Along with the motion of the slide knob  301  in the X-Y planar directions, the remote controller  150  uses two linear variable resisters (not illustrated) to detect position coordinates in the x-axis direction from a resistance value in the x-axis direction and detect position coordinates in the y-axis direction from a resistance value in the y-axis direction, and sends the position coordinates in the x-axis direction as the amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the position coordinates in the y-axis direction as the amount of movement in the y-axis direction to the television broadcast display device  100  at a regular time interval of 100 ms, for example. Thereby, a stick operation can be implemented. 
     The remote controller  150  according to the first embodiment sends, to the television broadcast display device  100 , at the abovementioned regular time interval, operation information including the amounts of movement of the stick  211  in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction in association with the click bits. In the following, the amounts of movement of the stick  211  in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction are referred to as operation data, while the data that represents operation data associated with the click bits and that is sent from the remote controller  150  to the television broadcast display device  100  is referred to as operation information. 
     Given below is the explanation of the television broadcast display device  100  according to the first embodiment. The television broadcast display device  100  is a stationary image display device that receives airwaves of digital broadcasting and retrieves image signals from the received airwaves to display images on programs. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , the television broadcast display device  100  includes an antenna  412 , an input terminal  413 , a tuner  414 , and a demodulator  415 . The antenna  412  captures the airwaves of a digital broadcast and sends broadcast signals of the airwaves to the tuner  414  via the input terminal  413 . 
     The tuner  414  tunes into the broadcast signals of a desired channel from input broadcast signals of the digital broadcast and supplies the broadcast signals to the demodulator  415 . The demodulator  415  demodulates the broadcast signals to obtain digital image signals and audio signals, and sends the demodulated signals to a later-described selector  416 . 
     Meanwhile, the television broadcast display device  100  also includes input terminals  421  and  423 , an A/D converter  422 , a signal processor  424 , a speaker  425 , and an image display panel  426 . 
     The input terminal  421  receives analog image signals and analog audio signals from outside, while the input terminal  423  receives digital image signals and digital audio signals from outside. The A/D converter  422  receives the analog image signals and the analog audio signals from the input terminal  421 , converts them into digital signals, and sends the digital signals to the selector  416 . 
     The selector  416  selects one of the digital image signals and the digital audio signals from the demodulator  415 , the A/D converter  422 , and the input terminal  423 , and supplies the selected signals to the signal processor  424 . 
     The signal processor  424  performs predetermined signal processing and scaling to the input image signal and supplies the processed image signal to the image display panel  426 . Moreover, the signal processor  424  performs predetermined signal processing to the input digital audio signal, converts the digital audio signal into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker  425 . The television broadcast display device  100  includes at least a TS demultiplexer and a MPEG decoder, and signals are decoded by the MPEG decoder and input to the signal processor  424 . 
     Moreover, the signal processor  424  generates OSD (On Screen Display) signals for display on the image display panel  426 . 
     The speaker  425  receives the audio signals from the signal processor  424  and outputs an audio based on the audio signals. 
     The image display panel  426  is configured of a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display. The image display panel  426  displays an image based on the image signals supplied from the signal processor  424 . 
     The television broadcast display device  100  further includes a controller  427 , an operating module  428 , a light receiver  429 , an HDD (Hard Disk Drive)  430 , a memory  431 , and a communication I/F  432 . 
     The controller  427  generally controls various operations in the television broadcast display device  100 . The controller  427  is a microprocessor that incorporates a CPU (Central Processing module) that receives the operation information from the operating module  428  and the operation information from the remote controller  150  via the light receiver  429 , to control the individual elements according to the operation information. The light receiver  429  according to the first embodiment receives infrared light from the remote controller  150 . 
     Herein, the controller  427  makes use of the memory  431 . The memory  431  mainly includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores a control program to be executed by the CPU incorporated in the controller  427 , a RAM (Random Access Memory) that provides a work area for the CPU, and a nonvolatile memory that stores a variety of configuration information and control information. 
     The HDD  430  functions as a recorder on which digital image signals and digital audio signals selected by the selector  416  are recorded. Provided with the HDD  430 , the television broadcast display device  100  can record the digital image signals and the digital audio signals selected by the selector  416  on the HDD  430 . Moreover, the television broadcast display device  100  can reproduce images and audio from the digital image signals and the digital audio signals recorded on the HDD  430 . 
     The communication I/F  432  is connected to various communication devices (such as a server) via a public network  450  and can receive programs and services available on the television broadcast display device  100  as well as can send a variety of information. 
     Given below is the explanation of a functional configuration of the controller  427 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the controller  427  according to the first embodiment implements a first application  501 , a second application  502 , an operating system  503 , and a mouse driver  504 . 
     The mouse driver  504  receives the operation information from the light receiver  429  and transfers it to the operating system  503  (hereinafter, referred to as OS  503 ) as the amount of movement of the pointer of the cursor  111  (hereinafter, referred to as pointer movement amount”) and a click operation. As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the mouse driver includes a receiver  511 , a first determining module  512 , a second determining module  515 , a calculator  513 , and a sending module  514 . 
     The receiver  511  receives operation information from the remote controller  150  at a regular time interval via the light receiver  429 . As described earlier, the operation information contains operation data (x, y) and a click bit and is expressed as (x, y, click bit). Herein, x represents the amount of movement of the stick  211  in the x-axis direction, and y represents the amount of movement of the stick  211  in the y-axis direction. The click bit is set to either ON or OFF, as described earlier. The regular time interval is set to 100 ms, for example. However, it should be not limited thereto. The receiver  511  can be configured to receive the operation information from the operating module  428 . 
       FIG. 6  illustrates an example of the operation information. As illustrated in  FIG. 6 , the receiver  511  receives, at the regular time interval, operation information on the stick  211  including the amount of movement in the x-axis direction (for example, x1, x2, . . . ), the amount of movement in the y-axis direction (for example, y1, y2, . . . ), and a click bit in association with one another. 
     When the click bit contained in the operation information received by the receiver  511  indicates ON, the first determining module  512  determines whether or not the operation data, that is, the amount of movement contained in the received operation information is equal to greater than a first dead threshold value. On the other hand, when the click bit contained in the operation information received by the receiver  511  indicates OFF, the first determining module  512  determines whether or not the operation data, that is, the amount of movement contained in the received operation information is equal to greater than a second dead threshold value. 
     Herein, the first dead threshold value and the second dead threshold value represent threshold values for regarding a minute movement of the stick  211  as no movement of the pointer (cursor  111 ). In the first embodiment, with the click bit ON, that is, during a click operation, the first dead threshold value is greater than the second dead threshold value with the click bit OFF, that is, in no click operation. For example, the first dead threshold value can be set to 50 and the second dead threshold value can be set to 20. However, they should not be limited to such an example. 
     When the operation data in the operation information is equal to or greater than the first dead threshold value, the second determining module  515  determines whether or not a predetermined period of time elapses from a time at which the click bit in previously received operation information is determined to be ON, that is, from the first indication of the ON of the click bit in the operation information. 
     The calculator  513  calculates the pointer movement amount based on the operation data. More particularly, for each set of operation information, the calculator  513  multiplies the operation data (the amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction) by a predetermined velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-axis direction). 
     The calculator  513  considers the ON of the click bit determined by the second determining module  515  as a start of a swipe operation. Also, when the second determining module  515  determines the operation data to be equal to or greater than the first dead threshold value and that the predetermined period of time has not elapsed from the determination of the ON of the click bit in the previously received operation information, the calculator  513  identifies the execution of a swipe operation using the stick  211  of the remote controller  150 . 
     Herein, the swipe operation generally refers to an operation in which the user touches the screen of the touch-sensitive panel with a finger and slides the finger (runs the finger) in a particular direction. In the first embodiment, a swipe operation with the stick  211  of the remote controller  150  is defined to be a user&#39;s operation to press and click the stick  211  and promptly move the clicked stick  211  in a predetermined distance in a short period of time, and then stop clicking the stick  211  and release the press. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates the example that the operation information denoted by a reference numeral  601  is of a swipe operation. Upon the determination of a swipe operation, the calculator  513  multiplies the operation data by the first velocity parameter and calculates the pointer (cursor  111 ) movement amount. 
     Meanwhile, when the second determining module  515  determines that the operation data is equal to or greater than the first dead threshold value but that the predetermined period of time has elapsed from the determination of the ON of the click bit in the previously received operation information, the calculator  513  determines that the swipe operation has been terminated and a normal drag operation has been performed using the stick  211  of the remote controller  150 . Upon the determination of the drag operation, the calculator  513  multiples the operation data by a second velocity parameter smaller than the first velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount, and returns the velocity parameter to the value prior to the execution of the swipe operation. Thus, in the swipe operation, the pointer movement amount calculated by the calculator  513  is greater than the pointer movement amount calculated in the drag operation. 
     When the first determining module  512  determines that the click bit in the operation information indicates OFF (including a case in which the click bit turns to OFF after the execution of the swipe operation is determined), the calculator  513  regards the OFF of the click bit as a normal cursor movement, that is, a stick operation with no clicks and multiplies the operation data by a third velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount. Herein, the third velocity parameter is greater than the second velocity parameter and smaller than the first velocity parameter. Hence, when the click bit indicates OFF, that is, a stick operation with no press to the stick  211 , the pointer moves at a faster speed than in the drag operation but moves at a slower speed than in the swipe operation. 
     In the first embodiment, after the elapse of the predetermined period of time since the determination of the ON of the click bit, the calculator  513  calculates the pointer movement amount for the drag operation by multiplying the operation data by the second velocity parameter. However, the present embodiment should not be limited thereto. Alternatively, the calculator can be configured to obtain the pointer movement amount by multiplying the operation data by the third velocity parameter in case of no click operation (OFF of the click bit) after the elapse of the predetermined period of time. 
     Meanwhile, when the first determining module  512  determines that the operation data is smaller than the first dead threshold value or the second dead threshold value, the calculator  513  determines no movement of the pointer (the cursor  111 ) and sets the pointer movement amount to zero. 
     For each set of operation information, the sending module  514  sequentially sends, to the OS  503 , a pair of the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-axis direction) and the click bit. The sending timing coincides with the regular time interval with which the operation information is received. 
     The OS  503  controls the entire television broadcast display device  100 . The OS  503  receives the pointer movement amount and the click bit from the mouse driver  504  at the regular time interval as the interval of reception of the operation information. Moreover, the OS  503  performs a process in accordance with the received pointer movement amount and click bit. Furthermore, as necessary, the OS  503  sends the received pointer movement amount and click bit from the mouse driver  504  to the first application  501  and the second application  502 . Herein, the OS  503  represents an example of a controller. 
     The first application  501  and the second application  502  represent programs that are executed on the OS  503  for the purpose of providing services to the users from the television broadcast display device  100 . The first application  501  and the second application  502  receive the pointer movement amount and the click bit from the OS  503 , and perform various kinds of processing according to the received pointer movement amount and click bit. 
     Explained below with reference to  FIGS. 7 and 8  is the operation control process by the mouse driver  504  as configured above according to the first embodiment. Every time the receiver  511  of the mouse driver  504  receives operation information from the remote controller  150  at the regular time interval, the operations illustrated in  FIGS. 7 and 8  are performed. 
     When the receiver  511  receives the operation information, the first determining module  512  determines whether or not the click bit in the operation information received by the receiver  511  indicates ON (Step S 31 ). If the click bit is ON (Yes at Step S 31 ), the first determining module  512  regards that as a start of a swipe operation and determines whether or not the operation data contained in the operation information is equal to or greater than the first dead threshold value (Step S 32 ). 
     If the operation data is equal to or greater than the first dead value (Yes at Step S 32 ), the second determining module  515  determines whether or not the predetermined period of time elapses since the determination of the ON of the click bit in the previously received operation information, that is, the first indication of the ON of the click bit in the operation information (Step S 33 ). 
     If the predetermined period of time has not passed since the first indication of the ON of the click bit in the operation information (Yes at Step S 33 ), the calculator  513  identifies a user&#39;s swipe operation with the remote controller  150  which has sent the operation information (Step S 34 ). Subsequently, the calculator  513  sets the first velocity parameter as the velocity parameter (Step S 35 ), and multiplies the operation data by the first velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (Step S 36 ). The sending module  514  sends the pointer movement amount and the click bit to the OS  503  (Step S 37 ). 
     Meanwhile, at Step S 33 , when the amount of movement is equal to or greater than the first dead threshold value but the predetermined period of time has elapsed since the first indication of the ON of the click bit in the operation information (No at Step S 33 ), the calculator  513  identifies a user&#39;s termination of the swipe operation and drag operation with the remote controller  150  which has sent the operation information (Step S 38 ). The calculator  513  sets the second velocity parameter for the drag operation as the velocity parameter (Step S 39 ), and multiplies the operation data by the second velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (Step S 36 ). Then, the sending module  514  sends the pointer movement amount and the click bit to the OS  503  (Step S 37 ). 
     At Step S 32 , when the amount of movement is smaller than the first dead threshold value (No at Step S 32 ), the calculator  513  changes the operation data to zero (i.e., the amount of movement in the x-axis direction to zero and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction to zero) (Step S 40 ). Then, the calculator  513  calculates the pointer movement amount as zero (Step S 36 ), and the sending module sends the pointer movement amount (=0) and the click bit to the OS  503  (Step S 37 ). 
     At Step S 31 , when the click bit in the received operation information indicates OFF (No at Step S 31 ), the first determining module  512  determines whether or not the operation data included in the received operation information is equal to or greater than the second dead threshold value (Step S 51 ). If the operation data is equal to or greater than the second dead threshold value (Yes at Step S 51 ), the calculator  513  sets the third velocity parameter as the velocity parameter (Step S 53 ), and multiplies the operation data by the third velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (Step S 36 ). Then, the sending module  514  sends the pointer movement amount and the click bit to the OS  503  (Step S 37 ). 
     On the other hand, if the operation data is smaller than the second dead threshold value (No at Step S 51 ), the calculator  513  changes the operation data to zero (i.e., the amount of movement in the x-axis direction to zero and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction to zero) (Step S 52 ). Then, the calculator  513  calculates the pointer movement amount as zero (Step S 36 ), and the sending module sends the pointer movement amount (=0) and the click bit to the OS  503  (Step S 37 ). 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship among the operation information, the dead threshold value, intermediate data, and the pointer movement amount and click bit according to the first embodiment. In  FIG. 9 , the first dead threshold value is set to 50 while the second dead threshold value is set to 20. Moreover, in  FIG. 9 , the first velocity parameter is set to 0.3, the second velocity parameter is set to 0.05, and the third velocity parameter is set to 0.1. Furthermore, the intermediate data is defined to be data containing the pair of the click bit and the movement amount when changed to zero since the movement amount is smaller than the first or second dead threshold value. 
     In  FIG. 9 , the area indicated by a reference numeral  901  represents execution of a stick operation with no clicks with the remote controller  150 . The area indicated by a reference numeral  902  represents a user&#39;s releasing the finger from the stick  211  of the remote controller  150 . The areas indicated by reference numerals  903  and  904  represent execution of a swipe operation. In the area indicated by the reference numeral  903 , a click of the stick  211  is regarded as start of a swipe operation, and when the stick  211  is moved, a stick operation is identified. In the area indicated by the reference numeral  903 , the calculator  513  calculates the pointer movement amount using the first velocity parameter (0.3). As a result, the velocity of the pointer movement becomes fastest. After the area indicated by the reference numeral  903  (the elapse of the predetermined period of time), the calculator  513  identifies the termination of the swipe operation and calculates the pointer movement amount using the second velocity parameter (0.05). When the user stops clicking the stick  211  at the position of the reference numeral  904 , the calculator  513  regards the stop as a motion of the cursor with no clicks, calculates the pointer movement amount using the third velocity parameter (0.1), and returns the pointer movement amount to the original value. 
     Moreover, reference numerals  905  to  908  indicate the data during the execution of a drag operation. That is, in the area indicated by the reference numeral  905 , a user&#39;s click operation to the stick  211  is regarded as a start of a swipe operation. However, since the operation data is smaller than the first dead threshold value, the calculator  513  sets the pointer movement amount to zero. After the area indicated by the reference numeral  905  (after the elapse of the predetermined period of time), the calculator  513  identifies a drag operation. However, since the operation data is smaller than the first dead threshold value in the area indicated by the reference numerals  906  and  907 , the calculator  513  maintains the pointer movement amount at zero. When the operation data exceeds the first dead threshold value in the area indicated by the reference numeral  908 , the calculator  513  identifies a drag operation and calculates the pointer movement amount using the second velocity parameter (0.05). 
     Thus, in the first embodiment, when having determined that the operation data is equal to or greater the first dead threshold value and that the predetermined period of time has not elapsed since the determination of the ON of the click bit in the previously received operation information, the mouse driver  504  determines the execution of a swipe operation with the stick  211  of the remote controller  150 . In the swipe operation, the mouse driver  504  changes the pointer movement amount to a faster velocity than that in the drag operation or stick operation. Because of this, in the first embodiment, even with use of the remote controller  150  including the stick  211 , a swipe operation can be implemented at an increased pointer moving speed from a slow moving speed and a small pointer movement amount by the drag operation. 
     In the first embodiment, after the elapse of the predetermined period of time since the time at which the click bit in the previously received operation information is determined to be ON, the mouse driver  504  sets a reduced pointer movement amount for the drag operation. Hence, in the first embodiment, even with use of the remote controller  150  including the stick  211 , the drag operation can be more reliably implemented. 
     Second Embodiment 
     In a second embodiment, the mouse driver  504  divides the operation information received from the remote controller  150  to increase a simulated sampling count. 
     The configuration of the remote controller  150  according to the second embodiment as well as the overall configuration of the television broadcast display device  100  are identical to those in the first embodiment. In the second embodiment, the operation information on the remote controller  150  is also sent to the television broadcast display device  100  via infrared communication. However, in the second embodiment, the speed of the infrared communication is lower than those of other modes of communication. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 10 , the controller  427  according to the second embodiment implements the first application  501 , the second application  502 , the operating system  503 , and a mouse driver  1004 . Herein, the first application  501 , the second application  502 , and the operating system  503  have identical functions to those in the first embodiment. 
     The mouse driver  1004  receives the operation information from the light receiver  429  and transfers that to the OS  503  as the pointer movement amount or the click operation of the cursor  111 . As illustrated in  FIG. 10 , the mouse driver  1004  includes the receiver  511 , the first determining module  512 , the second determining module  515 , a calculator  1013 , a sending module  1014 , and a dividing module  1001 . Herein, the receiver  511 , the first determining module  512 , and the second determining module  515  identical to those in the first embodiment. 
     Upon every receipt of the operation information from the receiver  511  at the regular time interval, the dividing module  1001  divides the operation information into a predetermined number n-sets of divided data. Moreover, based on the predetermined number and the operation data, the dividing module  1001  calculates, from the operation data (the amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction) included in the received operation information, second operation data that indicates the amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the amount of movement in the y-axis direction (a second amount of movement in the x-axis direction and a second amount of movement in the y-axis direction) in the n-sets of divided data. Herein, the second operation data may differ or be the same for the n-sets of divided data. In the second embodiment, the dividing module  1001  divides the operation data by the predetermined number of sets, that is, equally divides the operation data into the n-sets to calculate the second operation data that is smaller than the operation data, and sets the second operation data in each set of divided data. Moreover, as described later, a pointer movement amount based on the second operation data is sent to the OS  503  at time intervals which correspond to equal divisions of the regular time interval. In other words, in the second embodiment, regarding the operation information obtained at the regular time interval, the operation data and the regular time interval are evenly divided to linearly interpolate sampling points. 
     Moreover, the dividing module  1001  copies the click bit from the operation information to each set of divided data. 
     The calculator  1013  calculates the pointer movement amount based on the second operation data calculated by the dividing module  1001 . More particularly, for each set of divided data, the calculator  1013  multiplies the second operation data (the second amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the second amount of movement in the y-axis direction) by a predetermined velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-direction). 
     The sending module  1014  sends, for each set of divided data, a pair of the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the point movement amount in the y-axis direction) calculated by the calculator  513  and the click bit at a timing which matches the time intervals obtained by dividing the regular time interval as the interval of reception of the operation information by the predetermined number n. 
     Thus, in the second embodiment, the mouse driver  1004  divides the operation information received at the regular time interval into the n-sets of divided data, and sequentially sends the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-axis direction) and the click bit to the OS  503  at the time intervals as the divided regular time intervals corresponding to the sets of divided data. Thereby, the cursor  111  is controlled under the OS  503 , the first application  501 , or the second application  502  at a shorter time interval than the regular time interval representing the reception interval of the operation information. This signifies a simulated increase in the sampling count of the operation information to the number n. 
       FIG. 11  illustrates an example of the operation information and the divided data according to the second embodiment.  FIG. 11  illustrates an example of the predetermined number n=4. As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , the receiver  511  receives, at the regular time interval, the operation information on the stick  211  containing the amount of movement in the X-axis direction (for example, x1, x2, . . . ), the amount of movement in the Y-axis direction (for example, y1, y2, . . . ), and a click bit in association with one another. Then, the dividing module  1001  divides the operation information into four sets of divided data as illustrated in  FIG. 11 . In the operation information illustrated in  FIG. 11 , for example, the area indicated by a reference numeral  1101  represents a swipe operation. The operation information in this area is divided into four sets of divided data as indicated by a reference numeral  1102 . The calculator  1013  calculates the second operation data for each set of divided data as one-fourth of the operation data (for example, x1/4 of x1, y1/4 of y1) and sets the calculated second operation data in the divided data. The click bit in the original operation information is copied to each set of divided data. 
     Explained below with reference to  FIG. 12  is an operation control process by the mouse driver  1004  as configured above according to the second embodiment. Every time the receiver  511  of the mouse driver  1004  receives operation information from the remote controller  150  at the regular time interval, the processing illustrated in  FIG. 12  is performed. 
     Herein, the operations from Step S 31  to Step S 40  excluding Steps S 36  and S 37  are performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. After the velocity parameter is set, the dividing module  1001  divides the operation information (Step S 81 ). This completes the process. 
       FIG. 13  is a flowchart of an exemplary sequence of the operation information dividing process according to the second embodiment. Firstly, the dividing module  1001  generates the predetermined n-sets of divided data by dividing the received operation information (Step S 91 ). Then, the dividing module  1001  divides, by the number n, each of the amounts of movement in the x-axis direction and in the y-axis direction as the operation data contained in the operation information and sets the obtained value for the amount of movement of each set of divided data as the second operation data (the second amount of movement in the x-axis direction and the second amount of movement in the y-axis direction) (Step S 92 ). 
     Then, the dividing module  1001  copies the click bits from the operation information to the respective n-sets of divided data (Step S 93 ). 
     Subsequently, for each set of divided data, the calculator  1013  multiplies the second operation data (the second movement amount in the x-axis direction and the second movement amount in the y-axis direction) by the predetermined velocity parameter to calculate the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-axis direction) (Step S 94 ). 
     Then, the sending module  1014  sequentially sends, to the OS  503 , the pointer movement amounts calculated at Step S 94  and the click bits for the respective sets of divided data at the time interval as 1/n of the regular time interval (Step S 95 ). As a result, the OS  503  controls the display of the pointer according to the received pointer movement amounts and the click bits. Thus, in all of the operations including a drag operation, a stick operation, and a swipe operation, the sampling count increases in a simulated manner. 
     As described above, in the second embodiment, the mouse driver  504  receives the operation information at the regular time interval from the remote controller  150 , divides it into the predetermined number of sets of divided data, sets a smaller amount of movement as the second operation data for each set of divided data, and sends, to the OS  503 , the pointer movement amount (the pointer movement amount in the x-axis direction and the pointer movement amount in the y-axis direction) based on the divided second operation data and the click bit at the time interval as the divided regular time interval by the predetermined number. Hence, according to second embodiment as in the first embodiment, even with a simulated increase in the sampling count of the operation information, even at a slow moving speed of the pointer, the swipe operation can be implemented with the pointer moving at an increased speed. Moreover, even when the operation information is sent from the remote controller  150  to the television broadcast display device  100  via lower-speed infrared communication, the cursor  111  (the pointer) can be smoothly moved. 
     Meanwhile, in the second embodiment, regarding the operation information, the dividing module  1001  evenly divides the operation data and the regular time interval by the predetermined number n and increases the sampling points by linear interpolation. However, it should not be limited thereto. Alternatively, for example, regarding the operation information, the dividing module  1001  can be configured to differently divide the operation data (the amount of movement) and the regular time interval to interpolate the sampling points. Examples of such an interpolation method include Bezier interpolation. 
     Moreover, in the second embodiment, the division of the operation information, the calculation of the second operation data and the pointer movement amount are performed by the mouse driver  1004 . However, alternatively, the mouse driver  1004  and the OS  503  can be configured in such a manner that some or all operations are performed by the OS  503 . 
     Furthermore, in the second embodiment, the click bit is set to ON when the stick  211  of the remote controller is clicked, and the click bit is set to OFF when the stick  211  is not clicked, and the click bit is sent to the television broadcast display device  100 . In the television broadcast display device  100 , the mouse driver  1004  or the OS  503  determines whether or not the stick  211  is clicked from the on/off status of the click bit. However, it should not be limited thereto. Alternatively, for example, when the stick  211  of the remote controller  150  is clicked, the click bit (=ON) is sent to the television broadcast display device  100 . With no click on the stick  211 , the click bit is not sent to the television broadcast display device  100 . Thus, in the television broadcast display device  100 , the mouse driver  1004  or the OS  503  can determine whether or not the stick  211  is clicked from receipt or no receipt of the click bit. 
     Further, the above embodiments have described the example of the communication between the television broadcast display device  100  and the remote controller  150  via infrared communication. However, the communication is not limited to infrared communication, and wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) can be alternatively used. 
     An operation control program executed in the television broadcast display device  100  according to the embodiments is stored in advance in the memory  431  such as a ROM, and is provided as a computer program product. 
     The operation control program executed in the television broadcast display device  100  according to the embodiments can be recorded as an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a flexible disk (FD), or a DVD (Digital versatile Disk); and can be provided as a computer program product. 
     Further, the operation control program executed in the television broadcast display device  100  according to the embodiments can be stored in a computer connected to a network such as the Internet, downloaded via the network, and provided as a computer program product. Also, the operation control program executed in the television broadcast display device  100  according to the embodiments can be provided or distributed as a computer program product via a network such as the Internet. 
     The operation control program executed in the television broadcast display device  100  according to the embodiments has a configuration including the modules of the mouse driver  504  (the receiver  511 , the first determining module  512 , the second determining module  515 , the calculator  513 , the sending module  514 , the dividing module  1001 , the calculator  1013 , and the sending module  1014 ). As the actual hardware, the CPU reads the operation control program from the memory  431  such as a ROM and executes the operation control program to load the above modules on the memory  431  such as a RAM and generate the receiver  511 , the first determining module  512 , the second determining module  515 , the calculator  513 , the sending module  514 , the dividing module  1001 , the calculator  1013 , and the sending module  1014  on the memory  431  such as a RAM. 
     The various modules of the system mentioned herein can be implemented as software applications, hardware and/or software modules, or components of one or more computers such as servers. Although the various modules are explained separately, they can partially or entirely share the same fundamental logic or code. 
     While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.