Patent ID: 8601394

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a processing device; and a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to: cause a first plurality of menu items to be visually displayed within a first portion of a display element; cause a first marker to be visually displayed within the first portion of the display element; and in response to receiving an indication of a first manually-operable control being operated to select a first menu item of the first plurality of menu items that is in the vicinity of the first marker, cause the first menu item to become displayable on as part of a second plurality of menu items displayed on a racetrack menu that the processing device is able to cause to be displayed on the display element along with a visual portion of an audio/visual program, but separately from the visual display of the first plurality of menu items, wherein the racetrack menu has a ring shape caused by the processing device to be positioned about the periphery of the display element such that no portion of the visual portion of the audio/visual program is displayed outside the ring shape of the racetrack menu, wherein causing the first menu item to be displayable on the racetrack menu comprises further causing the processing device to: display the first menu item on the racetrack menu as one of the second plurality of menu items displayed on the racetrack menu at a time when the sequence of instructions further cause the processing device to cause the racetrack menu to be displayed on the display element; and enable the first menu item to be selectable by operation of a second manually-operable control along with all other menu items of the second plurality of menu items, wherein: the racetrack menu has a geometric shape comprised of a plurality of sides comprising a first side, a second side and a third side; the processing device is caused to display the first plurality of menu items divided among a plurality of scrollable columns of menu items comprising a first column and a second column; the first column corresponds to the first side; the second column corresponds to the second side and third side; the first menu item is displayed within the second column; and in response to receiving an indication of the first manually-operable control being operated to select the first menu item, the processing device is further caused by the sequence of instructions to select to cause the first menu item to become displayable within the second side in response to there being a lesser quantity of menu items of the second plurality of menu items being caused to be displayed on the second side than the quantity of menu items of the second plurality of menu items being caused to be displayed on the third side so as to balance the quantities of menu items being displayed on the second and third sides.