Patent Publication Number: US-2009219452-A1

Title: Electronic apparatus and display control method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-050877, filed Feb. 29, 2008, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field 
     One embodiment of the present invention relates to a television control technique, and particularly to an electronic apparatus and display control method, which allows a comfortable operation in a case where the television displays an operation menu to switch inputs. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     According to the generally-known art, an external apparatus connected to a television via an HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) digital bus is operated from the television by communication utilizing an HDMI-CEC control signal. 
     For example, Jpn Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-41584 discloses a technique of operating a television and an external apparatus connected thereto via an HDMI digital bus by using a common operation button of a single remote controller unit. In this technique, the objects of operation can be switched between by mode setting (TV mode or external apparatus mode) by a push of the operation button. 
     According to the technique disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-41584, however, when the television displays an operation menu for input switching, if operation buttons corresponding to both the operation menu and the external apparatus are pushed, the push of the operation buttons is recognized as an operation for controlling the external apparatus. In this case, the operation menu cannot be operated. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A general architecture that implements the various feature 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 schematic diagram snowing an example of the configuration of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary block diagram showing the configuration of the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary schematic diagram showing a configuration of a remote control unit for use in a remote control operation of the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is an exemplary diagram showing the relationship between an operation button provided in the remote control unit shown in  FIG. 3  and an input mode; 
         FIG. 5  is an exemplary flowchart for explaining a process sequence executed by the electronic apparatus of the embodiment in reply to a received remote control code; 
         FIG. 6  is an exemplary diagram showing an example of an on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is an exemplary diagram showing another example (display for selection by a lateral movement) of the on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 8  is an exemplary diagram showing still another example (display for angle-of-view adjustment by selection) of the on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 9  is an exemplary diagram showing still another example (display for picture quality adjustment by selection) of the on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; 
         FIG. 10  is an exemplary diagram showing still another example (display for subtitle adjustment by selection) of the on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment; and 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary diagram showing still another example (display for sound switch by selection) of the on-screen display in the electronic apparatus of the embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Various embodiments according to the invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. In general, according to one embodiment of the invention, an electronic apparatus which displays image data input from an input source on a display screen, the apparatus includes: a communication unit which communicates with an external apparatus; a menu display processing unit which displays an operation menu to operate the electronic apparatus on the display screen; a receiving unit which receives a control signal transmitted from a remote control unit; and a control unit which determines whether the operation menu is displayed on the display screen when the control signal received by the receiving unit is a control signal adapted for both control of the external apparatus and operation of the operation menu, and executes operation of the operation menu in accordance with the received control signal when the operation menu is displayed on the display screen. 
     An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     First, a configuration of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The electronic apparatus is implemented as, for example, a television  10 . In the following description of the embodiment, the electronic apparatus is described as the television  10 , but it may be an electronic apparatus having only a monitoring function connected to a tuner. 
     The television  10  is connected to an external apparatus  12  via an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia interface) cable  11 . The external apparatus  12  may be, for example, a DVD recorder. The television  10  and the external apparatus  12  are both adapted to an HDMI-CEC (Consumer Electronics Control) control signal. The HDMI-CEC control signal can transfer a control signal received from a remote control unit  13  for the television  10  to an apparatus connected to the television  10  via the HDMI cable  11 . For example, when the remote control unit  13  transmits a playback instruction signal (remote control code) to instruct playback of a recorded program, the television  10  receives the playback instruction signal. When the television  10  determines that the received playback instruction signal is a control signal for the external device  12 , for example, a DVD player, connected via the HDMI cable  11 , it transmits a playback instruction signal to the DVD player via the HDMI cable  11 , thereby controlling (playing back) the DVD player. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to the electronic apparatus adapted to the HDMI-CEC control signal, but is not limited thereto. The electronic apparatus may be of any type as far as it is configured to display the on-screen display  100  and control an external apparatus connected thereto by the remote control unit  13 . 
     When the user pushes an input switch button of the remote control unit  13 , the television  10  receives an input switching signal (remote control code to instruct input switching) transmitted from the remote control unit  13 . When the television  10  receives the input switching signal, it displays the on-screen display  100 . On the on-screen display (OSD operation menu)  100 , an operation menu to switch between a plurality of input sources provided on the television  10  is displayed. In the state where the on-screen display  100  is displayed, the user can select one of the input sources (DTV, ATV, HDMI1, HDMI2 and HDMI3) displayed on the on-screen display  100  by operating a cross button or the like of the remote control unit  13 . 
     The configuration of the television  10  will now be described with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the television  10  comprises a controlling unit  21 , a remote control receiving unit  22 , a network connecting unit  23 , a display unit  24  and a storage unit  25 . 
     The control unit  21  is a central controlling device, which exercises control over operations of the television  10  and transmission and reception of a variety of commands. The remote control receiving unit  22  is a receiving unit which receives control signals (remote control codes) or the like transmitted from the remote control unit  13 . The network connecting unit  23  is a communication unit which carries out communications with an external apparatus through the HDMI cable  11  described above. The display unit  24  is a display processing unit which displays video data input from the input source on a display screen of a display panel in the television  10 . The display  24  also carries out a process of displaying the on-screen display  100  on the display screen under the control of the control unit  21 . The storage unit  25  is a storage device, such as a flash memory, which stores the received control signals (remote control codes) or the like. 
     The remote control unit  13 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , comprises a power supply button  111 , a mode change switch  110 , an input switch button  112 , direction buttons  113 - 116 , an enter button  117 , etc. The mode change switch  110  switches between a “TV mode” for transmitting a control signal which controls the television  10  and a “link mode” for controlling the external apparatus  12  connected to the television  10  via the HDMI cable  11 . The input switch button  112  is an operation button to display the on-screen display  100  ( FIG. 6 ) on the television  10 . When the user pushes the input switch button  112 , the on-screen display  100  is displayed on the television  10 . When the input switch button  112  is pushed again, the input source for the television  10  can be changed to one of the input sources (DTV: digital broadcast, ATV: analog broadcast, and HDMI1-3: apparatuses connected to the HDMI cable  11 ) currently selected on the on-screen display  100 . For example, when the input source is switched to DTV, video data contained in broadcast data received by a digital broadcast tuner in the television  10  is displayed on the display screen of the television  10 . Alternatively, for example, when the input source is switched to ATV, video data contained in broadcast data received by an analog broadcast tuner in the television  10  is displayed on the display screen of the television  10 . 
     The input source can also be switched (selected) by up and down keys  113  and  114  of the direction keys  113 - 116 . 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram showing operations executed by the buttons of the remote control unit  13  in the respective input modes. 
     In the case where the “TV mode” has been set by the mode change switch  110  and when the on-screen display  100  is displayed, the input switch button  112  functions as an operation button to switch the input source to display video data to be displayed among the input sources displayed on the on-screen display  100 . The direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  and direction keys (left and right keys)  115  and  116  function as operation buttons to control operations of the television  10 . 
     In the case where the “TV mode” has been set by the mode change switch  110  and when the on-screen display  100  is not displayed, the input switch button  112  functions as an operation button which instructs to turn on and off the display of the on-screen display  100 . The direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  and direction keys (left and right keys)  115  and  116  function as operation buttons to control operations of the television  10 . 
     In the case where the “link mode” has been set by the mode change switch  110  and when the on-screen display  100  is displayed, the input switch button  112  functions as an operation button to switch the input source of the television  10  among the input sources displayed on the on-screen display  100 . The direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  also function as operation buttons to switch the input source of the television  10  among the input sources displayed on the on-screen display  100 . The direction keys (left and right keys)  115  and  116  function as operation buttons to control the external apparatus  12 . When the direction key (left or right key)  115  or  116  is pushed, the on-screen display  100  is erased (if a control signal adapted to an external apparatus is received through the receiving unit with the operation menu displayed on the display unit, the television  10  erases the operation menu and processes the received control signal as a control signal adapted to the external apparatus). 
     In the case where the “link mode” has been set by the mode change switch  110  and when the on-screen display  100  is not displayed, the input switch button  112  functions as an operation button which instructs to turn on and off the display of the on-screen display  100 . The direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  and the direction keys (left and right keys)  115  and  116  function as operation buttons to control the external apparatus  12 . 
     In the above embodiment, the input source switch menu displayed on the on-screen display  100  is selected by up and down key movement ( FIG. 6 ). However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment. For example, as shown in  FIG. 7 , the input source switch menu displayed on the on-screen display  100  may be selected by left and right key movement. In this case, the direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  are not effective for the on-screen display  100 , whereas the direction keys (left and right keys)  115  and  116  are effective for the on-screen display  100 . 
     The operation menu displayed on the on-screen display  100  is not limited to the switching among the input sources. For example, as shown in  FIG. 8 , angle-of-view adjustment may be displayed on the on-screen display  100 . In this case, the angle-of-view can be adjusted to desired one of “4:3”, “16:9”, “Super Live”, “Cinema”, etc. by selection operation. Further, as shown in  FIG. 9 , picture quality adjustment may be displayed on the on-screen display  100 . In this case, the picture quality can be adjusted to desired one of “Standard”, “Dynamic”, “Mild”, “User Preset”, etc. by selection operation. Further, as shown in  FIG. 10 , subtitle adjustment may be displayed on the on-screen display  100 . In this case, the language of the subtitle may be switched to “English”, “French”, “Off (no subtitle)”, etc. by selection operation. Furthermore, as shown in  FIG. 11 , sound adjustment may be displayed on the on-screen display  100 . In this case, the language of the sound may be switched to “English”, “French”, “German”, etc. by selection operation. Thus, various display forms are applicable to the operation menu displayed on the on-screen display  100 . 
     A control method applicable to the electronic apparatus of this embodiment will now be described with reference to the flowchart shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     When the television  10  receives a control signal (remote control code) transmitted from the remote control unit  13 , the television  10  determines whether it is set to a “link mode” or not (block S 101 ). In block S 101 , if it is determined that the television  10  is set to the “link mode” (YES in block S 101 ), the television  101  determines whether the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal effective for the on-screen display  100  (block S 102 ). In block S 102 , if it is determined that the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal effective for the on-screen display  100 , that is, if the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal (remote control code) assigned to the direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  ( FIG. 3 ) of the remote control unit  13  (YES in block S 102 ), the television  10  determines whether the on-screen display  100  is displayed or not (block S 103 ). 
     In block S 103 , if the television  10  determines that the on-screen display  100  is displayed (YES in block S 103 ), the television  10  processes the received control signal (remote control code) as control corresponding to the on-screen display  100  (block S 104 ). For example, if the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal (remote control code) corresponding to the direction keys (up and down keys)  113  and  114  of the remote control unit  13 , the television  10  selects a target input source from the input sources ( FIG. 6 ) displayed on the on-screen display  100  and switches the current input source of the television  10  to the selected input source. More specifically, a plurality of items respectively corresponding to a plurality of input sources are displayed on the on-screen display  100 . The items corresponding to input sources that are candidates for selection are highlighted. For example, each time the direction key (up or down key)  113  or  114  is operated by the user, the highlighted item is moved up or down. 
     Thus, if the control signal received from the remote control unit  13  is a control signal effective for an external apparatus and also effective for the on-screen display  100  (a control signal for switching input sources), in other words, if the received control signal is a control signal adapted for both the control of the external apparatus and the control of a selecting operation for the operation menu displayed as the on-screen display  100 , the television  10  determines whether the on-screen display  100  is displayed or not. Then, on the condition that the on-screen display  100  is displayed, the television  10  processes the received control signal (remote control code) as a control signal adapted for the on-screen display  100 . Thus, the control unit  21  executes the process for switching among input sources in accordance with the received control signal. 
     On the other hand, if it is determined that the television  10  is not in the “link mode” but in the “TV mode” (NO in block S 101 ), the television  10  processes the received control signal (remote control code) as a control signal adapted for the television  10  (block S 108 ). 
     In block S 102 , if the television  10  determines that the received control signal (remote control code) is not a control signal effective for the on-screen display  100 , for example, that the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal adapted for the direction key (left or light key)  115  or  116  of the remote control unit  13  ( FIG. 3 ) (NO in block S 102 ), the television  10  determines whether the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal effective for the external apparatus (connected apparatus)  12  (block S 105 ). In block S 105 , if it is determined that the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal effective for the external apparatus  12  (YES in block S 105 ), the television  10  processes the received control signal (remote control code) as a control signal adapted for the external apparatus (connected apparatus)  12  (block S 106 ). In block S 106 , the television  10  transmits the received control signal (remote control code) to, for example, the external apparatus (connected apparatus)  12  through the HDMI cable  11  to control the external apparatus (connected apparatus)  12 . 
     In block S 105 , if it is determined that the received control signal is not a control signal effective for the external apparatus  12  (NO in block S 105 ), the television  10  determines whether the received control signal (remote control code) is a control signal effective for the television  10  (block S 107 ). In block S 107 , if it is determined that the received control signal is effective for the television  10  (YES in block S 107 ), the television  10  processes the received control signal (remote control code) as a control signal to control the operations of the television  10 , and executes the process designated by the received control signal (remote control code) (block S 108 ). If it is determined that the received control signal is not effective for the television  10  (NO in block S 107 ), the television  10  regards the signal as an ineffective control signal and terminates the process (block S 109 ). 
     An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus and display control method, which can operate an operation menu for switching inputs displayed in a television even when operation buttons corresponding to both the operation menu and an external apparatus are pushed. 
     As described above, according to this embodiment, if the received control signal is adapted for both the control of the external apparatus and the selecting operations for the operation menu displayed as the on-screen display  100 , the television  10  determines whether the on-screen display  100  is displayed or not. Depending on the determination result, the television  10  selectively executes the process of switching among input sources according to the received control signal or the process of transmitting the received control signal to the external apparatus. Therefore, the switching among input sources can be carried out even in the link mode. 
     The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment only, but the elements thereof can be modified without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention when practiced. 
     Further, some of the plurality of elements of the above embodiment described above may be suitably combined, so that various inventions may be achieved. For example, some of the elements may be deleted from all elements of the embodiment. Furthermore, elements of different embodiments may be suitably combined. 
     While certain embodiments of the inventions 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 methods and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the methods and systems 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.