CA2099457A1 - Message displaying method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The calendar corresponding to the year and the month designated by the user is displayed on a TV screen, and a day is designated on the calendar. The date data is stored in a register. A list of characters for creating a message is displayed on the TV screen so as to designate the charac-ters to be displayed. The thus-obtained message data are stored in a register. When the count data of a clock counter is coincident with the date data, the message data are decoded and displayed on the TV screen.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION
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- MESSAGE DISPLAYING METHOD AND APPARATUS THEREFOR

BACKGROUNo ~,F 1l~ I VENTION

Field of the Invention _ _ The present invention relates to a message displaying method and an apparatus therefor which are suitable for displaying a specific message on a specified day.
Description of the Related Art With the development of TVs and VTRs having higher functions, they have long been provided with an on-screen function. The on-screen function is a function of display-ing specified characters ~channel number, TV/or VTR, timer) on a TV screen. This function is realized by a microcompu-ter which is pro~ided therewithin with a video RAM, a character ROM, etc. Some of recent VTRs have not only a practical func~ion such as displaying TV or VTR but also a tasteful function such as displaying a certain message on the birthday of the user. In order to execute this func-tion, the user must take the following steps. First, an arbitrary "year" i5 displayed on the screen, and the "year"
number is incremented or decremented o designate the desired "year". An arbitrary "month" is next displayed on the screen, and the "month" number is incremented or decre-mented to designate the desired "month". Similarly, an arbitrary "day" is next displayed on the screen, and the , . . .
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"day" number is incremented or decremented to designate the desired "day". Finally, arbitrary English characters and figures are displayed on the screen, and they are changed in alphabetical order or backward, and in descending or ascending order, respectively, until the desired message is created.
However, the above-described procedure for displaying a message on the birthday of the user is so complicated that the user is required to spend much time and labor for creating the message.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

.: _ Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the above-described problems in the related art and to provide a message displaying method and an apparatus therefor which enable a message stored in advance to be displayed on a designated date by a simple operation To achieve this aim, a message displaying apparatus .; according to the present invention comprises:
a year and month inputting means for inputting data on a year and a month a calendar generating means for generating a calendar of the input year and month;
an on-screen means which includes a video RAM for storing character codes of characters, numerals and the like, and which displays the contents of the video RAM read out thereof on a display unit;

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a calendar displaying means for writing the calendar generated by the calendar generating means into the video RAM and displaying the calendar on the display unit;
a day designating means for designating the desired day in the calendar;
a designated date storing means for storing the desig-nated date;
a message inputting means for inputting the message;
a message storing means for storing the input message;
a clock counter means for counting a clock; and a message displaying means for comparing the date obtained from the clock counter means wi~h the designated date, writing the message stored in the message storing means into the video RAM and displaying the message on a display unit when both dates are cGincident with each other.
The message displaying means thus displays the message stored in advance on the designated date.
In this way, by designating a year and a month, the corresponding calendar is displayed. Since it is possible to designate a day in the calendar, it is very easy to input a specific day.
It is preferable to designate the day by displaying a cursor on the calendar displayed on the screen, moving the cursor by the operation of a cursor key and pressing down a .

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2~99'~7 designation key when the cursor is positioned on the desired day.
It is preferable to designate the year and the month by inputting numbers by a plurality of numeral keys.
The above and other objects, features and advantages o the present invention will become clear from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying single drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a message displaying apparatus according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 shows an example of the remote controller in the embodiment shown in Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the embodi-ment shown in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 shows an example of the calendar displayed on the screen; and Fig. 5 shows a list of characters for creating a message which is displayed on the screen.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

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The present invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is an explanatory view of an embodiment of a message displaying apparatus according to the present .. . .
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invention, Fig. 2 shows an example of the remote controller in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the operation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.
In Fig. 1, the reference numeral 1 represents an on-screen circuit for displaying characters on a TV screen 10 which is provided therewithin with a video RAM 2.
Character codes corresponding to the characters being displayed on the TV screen 10 are stored in the video RAM 2 at the address corresponding to the position of the TV
screen at which the characters are to be displayed. The video RAM 2 is accessed in correspondence with the scanning of the horizontal scanning lines of TV signals, so that the addresses of the video RAM 2 are allotted to the positions of the TV screen 2 at which the chara ters are displayed.
That is, the positions on the TV screen 2 correspond to the addresses of the video RAM 2 by one to one. ~ot only the character codes corresponding to the characters being displayed themselves bui also attribute codes for ornament-ing (e.gO, coloring, flickering, coloring in a different color and underlining) the characters are stored in the video RAM 2. The on-screen circuit 1 also includes a character ROM la which is accessed at the address with the character code read out of the video RAM 2 as the address code, an attribute controller for judging what ornament is designated by the attribute code read out of the video RAM

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2~99~57 2, and an ~Gs synthesizer lc for outputting an RGB signal for displaying the characters on the TV screen 10 on the basis of the character ROM la and the attribute controller lb.
The reference numeral 3 denotes a command inputting circuit for commanding the display of a calendar, the display of a list of characters for creating a message, etc.
as a command displayed on the TV screen 10. The command input circuit 3 outputs commands in accordance with the ~; operations of various keys of a remote controller 11 shown in Fig. 2. In other words, the command input circuit 3 receives an infrared signal or the like supplied from the remote controller 11 and demodulates it so as to generate the corresponding command.
The xeference numeral 4 represents a CPU for judging the command output from the command input circuit 3 and executing the operation designated by the command. The CPU
4 also includes a counter 5 for counting the clock signal ,j output from an oscillator included in the CPU 4 and output-ting a signal regarding the time, registers 6, 7 for storing later-described date data and message data, respectively, and a coincidence detector 8 for comparing the content of the counter 5 and the date data stored in the register 6, ^ and detecting the coincidence. The reference numeral 9 represents a RAM for storing the results of various calcula-tions and time data.

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2099~7 At least the command inputting circuit 3, the on-screen circuit 2 and the CPU 4 are included in one microcomputer.
Fig. 2 shows the structure of the remote controller 11.
The remote controller 11 is provided with numeral keys 12, a cursor key 13, a Year and Month key 14, a designation key 15, a message key 16 and an End key 17. When these keys are operated, a signal subjected to a predetermined modification is output from a transmission portion 18. This signal is, for example, an amplitude-modulated infrared signal.
The operation of displaying a certain message on the user's birthday on the TV screen 10 will now be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in Fig. 3.
In order to dscide the date as the birthday, the Year and Month 11 key for designating a "year" and a "month"
provided on the remote controller 11 is first pressed down.
The program for displaying a year and a month i5 read out of the ROM of the CPU 4, and the CPU operates in correspondence with the program and assumes the state of waiting for the concrete designation of a "year" and a "month". When the numeral key 12 i~ pre~sed down~ the signals indicating the "year" and the "month" are generated (S1).
~ hen the signals indicating the "year" and the "month"
are fetched by the CPU 4, the calendar which is specified by the "year" and the "month" is displayed on the TV screen 10 , .
(S2). In this embodiment, the day of the week of the first . ' .
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day of the "month" is calculated, and thereafter the charac-ter codes indicating the calendar of the designated "year"
and "month" are written in~o the video RAM 2. In this way, the CPU 4 generates the calendar in correspondence with the input "year" and "month", and supplies the calendar to the on-screen circuit 1~ At this time, the attribute code for ornamen ing the characters which are displayed in accordance with the character codes is stored at the address immediately before the addrsss at which the character codes are stored. When the attribute code and the character codes stored in the video RAM 2 are read out in correspondence with the scanning position of the hori.zontal scanning line . . .
. - of the TV signal, the character data corresponding to the : character codes as well as the attribute code are read out of the address of the character ROM la which corresponds to the read character codes. The attribute controller lb :~ judges what ornament is designated by the read attribute . .
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code. An RGB signal corresponding to the outputs of the character ROM la and the attribute controller lb is output from the RGB synthesizer lc, thereby displaying the calendar shown in Fig. 4 in the TV screen 10 (S2). In the initial state, the number 1992 indicating the "year", and the .~.
characters "JUNE" indicating the "month" are displayed in, for example, blue, the characters "SU, MO, TU, WE, TH, FR, SA" indicating the day of ths week are displayed in, for example, green, and the numbers "1" to "30" indicating the :

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20~9~7 days are displayed in, for example, white. The attribute codes corresponding to such displays are stored in the video RAM 2.
When the user operates the cursor key 13 on the remote controller 11 while watching the calendar displayed on the TV screen 10 (S3), it is easy to move the cursor to the position (e.g., 24) corresponding to the "birthday", as surrounded by the broken line in Fig. 4.
If the designation key 15 is pressed down in this state (YES: S4), the program within the ROM is operated, and the attribute code for changing the color of "24" displayed in white into a red color is stored at the corresponding address of the RAM 2. By this operation, "24" is displayed in red on the TV screen 10, and the user can confirm the designated "day". From the address data of the RAM 2 which indicates the position at which the cursor 15 is stopped, the day which the position represents is judged, and from the ~udgement, the data indicating the "day" is obtained by calculation. The data indicating the "year" and the "month" are also calculated from the contents stored in the video RAM 2, and the date data showing the "year", "month"
and "day" are temporarily stored in the register 6 within the CPU 4 (S5).
When the message key 16 for commanding the display of the liet o~ the characters for creating a message is pres~ed ' , , . .

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down (YES: S6), the CPU 4 executes a program of the ROM
within the CPU 4 so as to generate a list of characters, and the video RAM 2 stores the character codes represen~ing the list of the characters for generating a message and at-tribute codes for ornamenting these character codes.
; Similar data processing to that in the case of displaying a calendar is executed, whereby English capitals and small letters, for example, are displayed on the TV screen 10 in white, as shown in Fig. 5 (S7). ~-; A message is then input by operating the cursor key 13 and the designation key 15 (S8). For example, in the case of inputting "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" as a message for the birthday, the cursor is first placed at the position at which "H" is to be displayed, and the designation key 15 is pressed down.
By this operation, on the basis of the program of the ROM
within the CPU 4, the character code representing "H" and ~
the attribute code for displaying "H" in red are stored in ~-the video RAM 2 at the address which corresponds to the ~acant space in he below portion of the TV screen 10. The above-described data processing is executed, so that the character "H" is displayed in red in the below portion of the TV screen 10. The designation of "H" is thus finished.
The cursor is then moved to the position of "A" and the designation key 15 is pressed down, and the character code representing "A" and the attribute code for displaying "A"
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The designation of "A" is thus finished. Similar operations are executed with respect to the other characters "PPY
BIRTHDAY", and the characters "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" are finally displayed in red in the below portion of the TV screen 10.
~- When the designation of the characters for the message is finished, and the End key 17 on the remote control 11 is pressed down IYES: S9), the message data which correspond to "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" are calculated from the character codes which are stored in the video RAM 2 at the address corre-sponding to the position of the TV screen 10 at which "HAPPY
BIRTHDAY" are displayed in red. The message data are temporarily stored in the register 7 within the CPU 4 (S10).
The date data and the message data stored in the registers (6), (7), respectively, are written at predeter-mined addresses of the RAM 9 (S11).
The CPU 4 is provided with the counter 5 for counting the current clock. The count data of the counter 5 is used for detecting the arrival of the designated date. In other words, the date data i~ ~et again in the register 6 and, the , -- 11 --"

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If the count value of the counter 5 is coincident with the date data (YES, S12), the character codes corresponding to the message data stored in the RAM 9 are written at a predetermined address of the video RAM 2, and the message "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" is displayed on the TV screen 10 for a predetermined time (S13). The message may be displayed either in red or by red flickering, and the ornament of the characters may be determined, as desired.
As described above, since the calendar of the desired "year" and "month" is displayed on the TV screen and a list of characters for creating a message is also displayed on the TV screen, the operation of displaying a message on the desired date is greatly simplified so that the user is freed from the complicated operation, and the operation time is shortened.
While there has been described what is at present considered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made thereto, and it is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

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Claims (7)

1. A message displaying method for displaying a message stored in advance on the designated date, said method comprising the steps of:
designating a year and a month;
displaying a calendar of the designated year and month;
designating a day by utilizing the displayed calendar;
storing the data on said date on the basis of the designated day;
displaying a list of characters;
creating a message by selecting desired characters from the displayed characters;
and storing the created message.

2. A message displaying method according to Claim 1, wherein the designation of said day is executed by display-ing a cursor on said calendar, moving said cursor by the operation of a cursor key, and operating a designation key when said cursor is placed on the desired day.

3. A message displaying method according to Claim 2, wherein the designation of said year and said month is executed by inputting numerals by a plurality of numeral keys.

4. A message displaying apparatus for displaying a message stored in advance on the designated date, said apparatus comprising:

a year and month inputting means for inputting data on a year and a month;
a calendar generating means for generating a calendar of the input year and month;
an on-screen means which includes a video RAM for storing character codes of characters, numerals and the like, and which displays the contents of the video RAM read out thereof on a display unit;
a calendar displaying means for writing said calendar generated by said calendar generating means into said video RAM and displaying said calendar on said display unit;
a day designating means for designating the desired day in the calendar;
a designated date storing means for storing the desig-nated date;
a message inputting means for inputting said message;
a message storing means for storing the input message;
a clock counter means for counting a clock; and a message displaying means for comparing the date obtained from said clock means with said designated date, writing said message stored in said message storing means into said video RAM and displaying said message on said display unit when both dates are coincident with each other.

5. A message displaying apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said year and month inputting means is a plurality of numeral keys, and said year and month are input by numerals through said numeral keys.

6. A message displaying apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein said message inputting means selects a character being input from a character table displayed on said display unit.

7. A message displaying apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein the selection of said character is executed by moving a cursor on said character table, and designating said character being input in accordance with the position of said cursor.