Patent ID: 7641126

Claim:
A thermostat comprising: a user interface including a display screen and a button positioned directly adjacent to the display screen; a controller coupled to the user interface and causing a display image to be displayed on the display screen, wherein the display image includes a defined display image region that forms only part of the display image and that is positioned directly adjacent to the button to collectively form a softkey, the display image region is defined, at least in part, by one or more visible boundary lines in the display image, the display image region includes a first portion for displaying a visible function label that defines the function of the softkey, and a second portion for displaying one of two or more available function settings for the softkey, wherein the first portion and the second portion are divided, at least in part, by a visible partitioning line segment displayed on the display; and the controller also monitoring the user interface, and changing the visible function setting displayed in the second portion of the display image region from a first function setting to a second function setting of the two or more available function settings in response to a user activating the button of the softkey.