JP2007179609A - Content information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operability and retrieval performance at a music selecting operation by user. <P>SOLUTION: A content information display device is equipped with: a storage section where a plurality of contents and content names of the plurality of contents are stored; a display section having first and second regions for displaying the content names of the contents stored in the storage section; and a control section for controlling the display of the display section. The control section controls so that: a simple listing display is displayed on the first region for displaying the predetermined number of character strings from a head of the content names of the plurality of contents; a selected status display is displayed for showing which content is selected with respect to the character strings displayed in the simple listing display; and also the content name of the contents of which the selected status has been displayed is displayed on the second region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a display and user operation mechanism and control in a control device having a title display and music selection (selective reproduction) mechanism such as a music player and a video reproduction device.

As shown in Patent Document 1, since the appearance of MD, the track name (song title) display has been widely adopted for music players, but the current track name is used because the display area is narrow due to restrictions such as cost and mounting area. Although it can be displayed, there are not many that support a list display that displays an array of multiple track names. In particular, the narrowness of the display area is serious in a mobile product in which the display area is secured only about 2 to 3 lines as shown in FIG. 2, and usually only one song currently selected (or played) as shown in FIG. Only the track name and the total number of songs are displayed. Further, as in Patent Document 2, a method for enabling music selection by keyword search or the like has been devised.
JP 05-325515 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-111550

  However, even though the number of songs that can be recorded has increased explosively from the conventional tens to several thousand due to the increase in storage capacity and the advancement of compression technology due to the adoption of hard disks and semiconductor memories, If the user interface based on the display of one song with a very poor view is used, there is a big problem in terms of operability such as search.

  Although a method such as enlarging the display area for performing a practical list display is conceivable, there is a physical limit to the size in order to maintain portability, which further increases manufacturing costs and power consumption. Therefore, it is often not realistic. In addition, when selecting a song by keyword search, it is not intuitive, so there are problems before operability for daily use, and both the display area for keywords and the operation keys that can be used for character input have more area and area. Again, this is not realistic because it requires cost.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-described conventional problems, and is to provide good operability during music selection even in a device having a small display area of about 2 to 3 lines such as a portable audio player.

  The content information display device of the present invention includes a storage unit that stores a plurality of contents and content names of the plurality of contents, a first region that displays the content names of the contents stored in the storage unit, and a second region And a control unit that controls display on the display unit, and the control unit displays a predetermined number of character strings from the beginning of content names of a plurality of contents in the first region. A list display is displayed, a selection state display indicating which content is selected for the character string displayed in the simple list display is displayed, and the selection state display is displayed in the second area. Control to display the content name of the content. In other words, in an audio player having a horizontal display area of about 2 to 3 lines, the name of the track being played is displayed at the bottom line as shown in FIG. Displays the playback information such as status, total number of tracks, number of tracks being played, repeat operation, etc., but if the user knows the sequence of track names on the playlist to some extent, the number near the selected track Using the fact that the searchability is greatly improved even if only the first few letters of the track name of the track can be viewed together, the track name being selected is displayed on the bottom line as shown in FIG. The first 1 to 2 characters of the track names of several nearby tracks including the track currently selected in the play list that holds the playback order in the row of are displayed vertically, and spread easily in the horizontal direction. List perform the display.

  With this configuration, the content before and after the currently selected content can be overlooked in the simple list display.

  In addition, the control unit displays the same number of character strings as the predetermined number of character strings from the top of the content name displayed in the second area in the first area. Or when the content having the content name displayed in the second area is relative to the first area in the sequence of contents having the same character string in succession. The relative position display graph showing the position is controlled to be displayed, that is, in the case of languages with relatively few character types compared to the Chinese character area such as English, the track name starting with the same character is There are many possibilities, and when track names starting with the same character are continuously arranged on the playlist, the track names starting with non-identical characters as shown in FIG. It displays a graph showing the relative position on the playlist to change points such as the end of the location and playlists.

  In addition, the control unit is configured to control to display a relative position display graph in the first region and to control to display the continuous identical character string, that is, playback. If the list is arranged in the order of the track name rather than just the playback order, it may not only start with the same character, but the leading multiple characters may match widely. Display the position graph together with the matching character string.

  In addition, the simple list display and the relative position display graph can be switched, that is, when the play list is explicitly instructed regardless of whether the first character of the track name is matched or the like, Change the display from the simple list display, and the next change point as shown in FIG. 9 (for example, the change point when it is arranged by album name or author name as in the case of the end of the playlist or the track name) A graph showing the relative position on the playlist until is displayed.

  As described above, the portable media player device of the present invention can improve the operability and searchability at the time of music selection without changing the hardware of an existing system accompanied by cost increase such as display device expansion.

  The present invention has the advantage that existing display and key input devices can be used as they are, and the burden on the user for improving the operability and searchability at the time of music selection is improved without increasing new costs and power consumption.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the portable audio player according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 3, the operation unit 12 includes various operation keys (see 2 to 4 in FIG. 2) for performing an operation for determining the operation of the apparatus. The display unit 5 is a display such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display that is displayed to the user. The memory 11 is a storage unit for storing content data such as music and video and content information such as title names and album names. Examples of the memory 11 include a semiconductor memory and a hard disk. The memory 11 may be a built-in memory built in the apparatus or a removable memory card. The output unit 13 outputs audio of content stored in the memory 11. The processor 10 processes the input from the operation unit 12 and the content and content information stored in the storage unit 11 to control the display of the display unit 5, and controls the output unit 13 to perform audio output. It is a control part.

  In the first embodiment, the device of the present invention is a portable audio player, but it may be a content information display device for displaying content information such as content titles stored therein.

  FIG. 2 is an outline view of the portable audio player according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The portable audio player according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention includes a processor 10, a battery, a main body and a housing 1 including a memory 11 for storing music data, and the like, mainly fast forward / rewind, and forward / return at the time of music selection. Direction key 2 for up / down / left / right input to input volume level, playback key 3 to input playback / pause and menu decision, stop key 4 to input stop / cancel, and content information The display unit 5 for displaying.

  1 and 4 to 5 show screens displayed on the display unit 5. Among these, FIG. 1 shows a screen display during normal music reproduction, which is composed of a reproduction stop state display 6, a reproduction time display 7, a current / total number of tracks display 8, and a reproduction / selected track name display 9. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a playlist of total music data stored in the memory in the portable audio player.

  Normally, the screen displayed on the display unit 5 when the music is not selected, such as during music playback, is the screen during normal music playback as shown in FIG. The playback stop status display 6 shows a triangle during playback, a square when stopped, and two triangles when fast forward / rewind, and a playback time display 7 shows the playback position on the currently playing track in time, The total track number display 8 displays the track number and the total number of tracks being reproduced, and the reproduction / selection track name display 9 displays the track name of the currently reproduced track.

  In this state, when the user operates the direction key 2 to the left or right during reproduction, or when the reproduction is stopped by pressing the stop key 4, the music selection state is entered. In addition, by providing a music selection mode key for shifting to a music selection state (selection state), the music selection state may be entered, or a combination of a plurality of keys may be entered. At this time, the display format of the conventional apparatus is such that only the current / total number of tracks display 8 and the playback / selected track name display 9 change according to the left / right input of the music selection operation.

  However, in the portable audio player of the present invention, when the music selection state is entered, the control unit controls the display of the display unit 5 to be displayed in the format of FIG. FIG. 4 shows a screen display of the display unit 5, and the display unit 5 is classified into a first region 41 and a second region 42. This is the same as the conventional display of the current / total track number display 8 displayed in the first area and the playback / selected track name display 9 displayed in the second area. , The first area 41 is displayed in the upper row of the first area 41, displaying a list of the first characters of neighboring tracks before and after the playlist including the current track, and further, the characters corresponding to the position of the current track name are highlighted. It is different from the prior art in that it indicates a selection state display such as blinking or bold emphasis.

  When the direction key 2 is input to the right in the music selection state, the currently selected track becomes the next one, the current / total number of tracks display 8, the playback / selected track name display 9, and the one character list display. Each character displayed in the selected state changes to the next one. On the other hand, when the direction key 2 is input to the left, the currently selected track becomes the previous one, and the corresponding track display is similarly displayed. The direction key 2 is operated to input a reproduction key 3 in a state where an arbitrary track is selected, and a track to be reproduced is determined.

  In the portable audio player of the first embodiment, the position of the selection state display is moved to the right, but a display method in which the list display is shifted to the left and the selection state display is arranged in the center may be used. However, in a low power consumption liquid crystal screen, the reaction speed is slow and an afterimage is likely to appear. Therefore, a display mode in which the area of the screen display to be rewritten is reduced is better, and a display method of shifting the selection state display is preferable. In addition, when three or more display areas can be secured, the list display in which one character at the head of the track in the first line in FIG. 4 is arranged is expanded, and the first two in accordance with the number of lines in the display area as shown in FIG. A list display in which characters or more are arranged can be used as the first area 41. In this case as well, the operations of the top line and the bottom line are the same as in the case of the two-line display, and the middle line is the top line except for the list display after the first two characters of the track near the selected track. Works almost the same.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart of preparations made in advance by the user in the first embodiment of the present invention. In order for a user to be able to play music with a portable audio player, the user purchases the music by downloading it using a recording medium such as a CD or the Internet (100), and constructs a music library on a personal computer ( 101). After that, a list of songs to be written in the memory 11 of the portable audio player called a reproduction list or a transfer list is created (102), and the song contents are actually written into the memory 11 of the portable audio player (103). . For this reason, in most cases, the user himself / herself determines the songs to be recorded in the audio player in the process of downloading, ripping, etc., and it is considered that the user knows to some extent the sequence of track names on the playlist.

  Similarly, they are often arranged in the order of classification of the same album, the same author, etc. In this case as well, it is assumed that the user knows the arrangement of the track names on the playlist to some extent. For this reason, even if only the first few characters of the track names of several tracks in the vicinity of the selected track can be viewed together, the search performance is greatly improved. For example, let us consider a case in which the music is recorded as shown in FIG. In the conventional apparatus that displays in the format of FIG. 1 even at the time of music selection, the user selects music according to the procedure shown in the flowchart of the conventional music selection method in FIG.

  First, the selected track name display 9 is confirmed (111), and it is determined whether it is the desired music (112). If it is not the desired music, the direction key 2 is operated left or right to send the track (114). Further, the next song is confirmed (111). If it is the desired song, the playback key 3 is operated to start playback (113). In this conventional method, it is necessary to confirm (111) the currently selected track name display 9 for each desired song, so that the positional relationship between the currently confirmed song and the desired song on the list is determined. A proportionally large amount of time is required.

  If there is a simple list display displayed in the first area of the display unit 5 in the portable audio player according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the detailed arrangement order is usually stored by the person who has determined the recorded music. Even if it is ambiguous, it can be assumed that the track name can be easily inferred if only the first letter is understood. For example, in FIG. 12, there is only “Mrs. In the one-character list display as shown in FIG. 4, it can be inferred that the character “mi” at the right end indicates “Mrs. Gumble and Cheese Bagel” of the ninth track. For this reason, it is not necessary to check the contents of the selected track name display 9 one by one while the direction key 2 is operated three times to the right from the “Dynamite Genki” selection state of the sixth track, and it is faster and easier. In the display processing on the device side, the waiting time of the inserted display can be reduced even in the case of continuous music feed so that the user can visually recognize it.

  Similarly, if there is no first character of the desired track name in the at least one character list display, there is no need to confirm the contents of the selected track name display 9, and as shown in the flowchart showing the music selection method of the present invention in FIG. The user confirms 9 characters in the 1 character list display (115), and if there is no initial of the desired song among them, the track is sent at high speed (117), and if there is a desired initial Only the music title is confirmed (111) in the same manner as the normal music selection. Of course, during high-speed feeding, the user does not pay attention to the title name display for each song, and the display on the device can be rewritten at high speed ignoring the visibility (or the meaningful display itself may not be performed). ).

  Thereby, the search time can be shortened according to the number of tracks that can be displayed in a list. For example, if you want to select the 14th track “Silver Harmonica”, ignore the contents of the track name display 9 until the word “Silver” appears in the 1-character list display, and focus only on the 1-character list display. It is possible to send the track at a high speed by continuously pushing 2 to the right, thereby reducing the burden on the user for music selection, and also having the effect of ignoring the visibility and reducing the display waiting time of the device.

  As described above, the content information display device (portable audio player) according to the first embodiment displays a predetermined number of characters from the top of the content names of a plurality of contents in the first area of the display unit 5, and the first area By displaying the predetermined content name of the plurality of contents displayed on the second area in the second area, even if a large number of music contents are recorded, any music can be searched at high speed. .

(Embodiment 2)
A portable audio player (content information display device) according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. Note that a description of the same configuration as that of the content information display apparatus according to the first embodiment will be omitted.

  6 to 11 show display screens in the music selection state displayed on the display unit 5 of the portable audio player of the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing albums stored in the memory in the portable audio player. The music 11 of the two albums shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is stored in the memory 11 of the portable audio player of the second embodiment. FIG. 14 shows the reproduction order of the music data stored in the memory 11. It is a play list shown. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the operation sequence of the second embodiment at the time of content reproduction. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to these drawings and the drawings shown in the first embodiment.

  In the portable audio player of the first embodiment, there is no problem when the music piece as shown in FIG. 12 is stored in the memory 11, but when the music piece as shown in FIG. 13 is stored in the memory 11, All the characters displayed in the one character list display of the portable audio player of Embodiment 1 become the same, and the meaning of the list is not made.

  In the portable audio player according to the second embodiment, when the track names starting with the same character continue for a certain number or more, the control unit controls the display screen in the music selection state to display the relative position display format in FIG. Is displayed in the first area 41. For example, when the predetermined character strings of a plurality of contents to be displayed in the simple list display displayed in the first area 41 of FIG. 4 are all the same, instead of the simple list display of the first embodiment, Display is performed using the relative position display graph of the second embodiment.

  Conventionally, in order to visually indicate the position of the current track number, as shown in FIG. 8, an absolute position display indicating the position of the current track number with respect to the total number of tracks has been performed. In contrast to the absolute position display, the relative position display displays the first character of the currently selected or playing music at the left end of the first area 41, and the first area 41 has the first character in the center. When the music stored in the memory 11 in which the character displayed at the left end of the area 41 and the first character are common are arranged side by side, in which position the currently selected music is located It is a relative indication.

  For example, in FIG. 6, the seventh track “liberty” of the album of FIG. 5 is at a position of about 50% in the sequence having a track name starting with “l”, and the first character 41 is at the left end of the first area 41. Display of “l”, a graph indicating the position of about 50% in the center relative position display, a display of 7/15 indicating the track number and the total number of tracks on the right end, and the track name “liberty” in the second area 42 Display. This graph display showing the relative position provides better visibility compared to the case where “l” is simply arranged on the screen as in the portable audio player of Embodiment 1, and the user can view the contents of the track name display 9 during the music selection operation. It is easy to determine whether or not the track can be sent at high speed while ignoring and holding the direction key 2 to the right. At this time, depending on the display size in the horizontal direction of the display unit 5, not only the first character but also two or more characters as shown in FIG. Can be displayed. Depending on the number of characters displayed at the left end, the display width of the graph (the number of dots in the case of a dot matrix display device) will be reduced, and if the number of characters increases too much, the visibility of the graph will be clearly reduced. Although the display of the column is not realistic, the relative position graph display with a plurality of characters at the beginning may further improve the line-of-sight compared to the display of the relative position with only the first character.

  Also, in the case of a portable audio player that stores both the songs in FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 and holds the reproduction list shown in FIG. 14 in the memory, it is not due to the continuation of the characters displayed in the one character list display. A similar relative position graph can be displayed by user operation. In the portable audio player according to the second embodiment of the present invention, by inputting the up and down direction of the direction key 2 in the music selection state, the format shown in FIG. The absolute position graph display of the tracks arranged in the album order, the relative position graph display in the album of the tracks arranged in the album order in the format of FIG. 9, and the track names of the total tracks arranged in the album order of the format in FIG. Four types of music selection / display methods for 1 character list display, playback order 1 character list display of rearrangement list (playlist) shown in FIG. 14 in the format of FIG. Instead it is selected.

  In the absolute position graph display of the tracks arranged in the album order, as shown in FIG. 8, the icon display showing the whole on the left of the first area 41, the graph showing the absolute position in the center, the current / total number of tracks on the right, The track name being selected is displayed in the area 42 of 2. In the case of the relative position graph display in the album of the tracks arranged in the album order, the display is as shown in FIG. 9, and the graph shows the album name on the left of the first area 41 and the relative position in the album in the center. The current / total number of tracks is displayed on the right, and the track name is displayed in the second area 42. The reproduction order single character list display of FIG. 10 has the same format as the single character list display of track names arranged in the order of the album of FIG. 4 (see FIGS. 12 and 13). In the reproduction order single character list display of FIG. 11, the track name single character list display format is the same as the track name single character list display arranged in the album order of FIGS. Is different from using the playlist shown in FIG. 14 instead of the entire music list.

  As a result, even when the playback order and album order are not arranged in the character order (A → Z, a → n, etc.), the music selection / display method at the time of music selection can be switched to enable high-speed music selection and the memory 11 It is possible to provide intuitive operability as compared with the track position display based on a simple numerical display by switching between the entire music in the album and the position display graph in the album.

  The operation of the portable audio player at this time is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 15, and it is determined whether or not there is a user input for shifting to the music selection state (104). If there is user input and the music selection state, it is determined whether or not the music selection state display has been switched by the user input (106), and if the music selection state display has been switched in step 106, the display unit 5 display is selected. Switch to the display method (107). Thereafter, if there is a music selection instruction by user input (108), the selected music is reproduced. (109).

  As described above, the portable media player device of the present invention can improve the operability at the time of music selection without changing the hardware of the existing system, and the portable media player according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention. It is obvious that the function of the present invention can be applied to a system having a display area size and a screen left-right ratio different from those of an audio player, and another system in which content list display other than the audio player is effective.

  The content information display device according to the present invention improves user operability when selecting content. Therefore, in a device having a title display and music selection (selection reproduction) mechanism, such as a music player or a video reproduction device, a display and user operation mechanism, Useful for control.

Reproduction liquid crystal display screen diagram in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Outline drawing in Embodiment 1 of the present invention System configuration diagram according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Simplified list two-line display screen in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Simplified list three-line display screen in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Relative position graph display screen in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Relative position graph display screen with headings in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Absolute position graph display screen in the second embodiment of the present invention Album relative position graph display screen in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Album order simple list display screen in embodiment 2 of the present invention Reproduction order simple list display screen in the second embodiment of the present invention Storage album “Cisapon no Best” song list according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Storage album “English-Japanese dictionary?” Song list in Embodiment 2 of the present invention Playlist diagram in the second embodiment of the present invention Control flowchart in Embodiment 2 of the present invention User work flow chart in Embodiment 1 of the present invention User selection flowchart according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention List selection music selection flowchart according to the first embodiment of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Portable audio player 2 Direction key 3 Play / decision key 4 Stop / cancel key 5 Display part 10 Processor 11 Memory 12 Operation part 13 Output part 41 1st area | region 42 2nd area | region

Claims (4)

A storage unit storing a plurality of contents and content names of the plurality of contents;
A display unit having a first region and a second region for displaying the content name of the content stored in the storage unit;
A control unit for controlling the display of the display unit,
The controller is
A simple list display that displays a predetermined number of character strings from the top of content names of a plurality of contents is displayed in the first area, and which content is selected for the character strings displayed in the simple list display In addition to displaying a selection status display indicating
Control to display the content name of the content that is displayed in the selection state in the second area;
Content information display device. The control unit displays the same number of character strings as the predetermined number of character strings from the top of the content name displayed in the second area, and continuously displays the predetermined number or more in the first area. Or if you want to be displayed,
Relative position indicating the relative position of the content of the content name displayed in the second area in the first area in the sequence of contents having the same continuous character string The content information display device according to claim 1, wherein the content information display device is controlled to display a position display graph. The content information display device according to claim 2, wherein the control unit controls to display a relative position display graph in the first region and controls to display the continuous identical character string. The content information display device according to claim 2, wherein the simple list display and the relative position display graph can be switched.

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