GB2340364A

GB2340364A - On-Screen information display apparatus.

Info

Publication number: GB2340364A
Application number: GB9905180A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Katsushi Shimamoto
Original assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Current assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corp
Priority date: 1998-08-06
Filing date: 1999-03-05
Publication date: 2000-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-05
Also published as: GB2340364B; NZ334010A; GB9905180D0; JP2000056749A

Description

2340364 ON-SCREEN INFORMATION DISPLAY APPARATUS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an information display_ apparatus generating a customizable on-screen display.

On-screen displays are used by various types of audiovisual equipment, including video cassette recorders, television sets, digital video disc players, satellite broadcast tuners, and the like to assist the user in making settings of the equipment, by displaying the values of the settings. The on-screen display appears on the same screen as the television or video picture normally displayed by the equipment.

Referring to FIG. 1, in conventional equipment, the apparatus related to the on-screen display includes the video signal-processing circuit 1 of the equipment, a display control circuit 2 that adds the on-screen display to the picture signal output by the video signal-processing circuit 1, a character memory 3 storing character patterns displayed by the display control circuit 2, an output connector 4 through which the signal from the display control circuit 2 is supplied to an external picture display device (not visible) such as a cathode-ray tube or flat panel display, a system control circuit 5, an on-screen display memory 6 storing the content of each on-screen display in a coded form, a setting memory 7 storing settings made by the user, a plurality of control switches 8 by which the user can enter selections, a remote control transmitter 9, a remote control receiving circuit 10 receiving control signals 11 from the remote control transmitter 9, and a plurality of remote control switches 12 attached to the remote control transmitter 9. Switches 8 and 12 are, for example, pushbutton switches. For simplicity, only one control switch 8 and one remote control switch 12 are shown 1 in the drawing.

FIG. 2 shows an example of an on-screen display listing a menu of settings that can be made on a video cassette recorder. The on-screen display comprises the following elements: a frame 31, a background 32, a caption 33, a cursor 34, and menu selection items 35, 36, 37, 38, 39.

To generate the display in FIG. 2, the system control circuit 5 reads coded information from the on-screen display memory 6 specifying the format and style of the display; that is, specifying the elements to be displayed, and the styles in which they are to be displayed. The style of an element refers to attributes such as the color of the element. For the caption 33 and items 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, the system control circuit 5 also reads coded character strings from the on-screen display memory 6, and coded information from the setting memory 7 indicating the current values of relevant settings. The system control circuit 5 assembles this coded information into display instructions, which are sent to the display control circuit 2.

The display control circuit 2 converts the instructions from the system control circuit 5 to a video signal representing the on-screen display. For character strings, the display control circuit 2 reads the necessary character patterns from the character memory 3. The display control circuit 2 replaces part or all of the video signal received from the video signal-processing circuit 1 with the video signal of the on-screen display, causing the display to appear in, for example, one corner of the screen of the external picture display device, or to fill the entire screen.

While the on-screen display is being displayed, if the system control circuit 5 receives input from the switches 8 and 12, the system control circuit 5 takes action such as moving the cursor 34 up or down, changing the setting of the 2 item selected by the cursor 34, or displaying a further menu of settings. In this way the user can select desired settings, which the system control circuit 5 stores in the setting memory 7.

The settings that the user can select include the display styles of the elements of the on-screen displays, enabling the user to customize the onscreen displays to suit his or her preferences. The on-screen display style settings are stored with other settings in the setting memory 7, and remain valid until changed again by the user.

The ability to customize the on-screen displays is a feature that many users find attractive, and some find necessary (color-blind users, for example), but the customIzation process is not without certain pitfalls. If the user is allowed to customize the on-screen display freely, it becomes possible to select styles that make mutually adjacent elements hard or impossible to distinguish. For example, if the user selects the same color for both the cursor 34 and the menu items 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, then the menu item selected by the cursor may become invisible, so that the user cannot see the current selection. As a result, the user may make other unwise settings, such as setting the background 32 to the same color, making the entire menu display Invisible. At that point, further operations become difficult.

One possible solution to this problem is to limit the style selections so that adjacent elements are always displayed in readily distinguishable styles. For example, the user could be limited to a selection of two colors for the caption 33 and menu items 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, two different colors for the background 32, and two still different colors for the cursor 34. This solution is unattractive, because the limitations may prevent the user from selecting the most preferred combination of styles.

3 SUMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide ample scope for customizing an on-screen display, without allowing the display to become hard to see.

The invented information display apparatus comprises:

an information display means generating an information display having a plurality of elements; a style input means by which the user can designate the display styles of the elements; and a control means causing the information display means to display the elements in the designated styles, but forcing each mutually adjacent pair of elements to be displayed in readily distinguishable styles.

The control means may limit the style input means to input of styles differing from the styles of adjacent elements.

Alternatively, the control means may permit input of any style, but automatically change the styles of adjacent elements so that they do not match or resemble the input style.

Alternatively, the control means may permit input of any style, and separate mutually adjacent elements by a border if their styles match or resemble one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the attached drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional information display apparatus; FIG. 2 shows an example of an on-screen display; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an information display apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention; FIG. 4 shows a menu color on-screen display generated by the first embodiment; 4 FIG. 5 lists the color selections available for customizing the on-screen displays in the first embodiment; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an information display apparatus according to a second embodiment; FIG. 7 shows a menu tone on-screen display generated by the second embodiment; FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an information display apparatus according to a third embodiment; FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D show examples of filling patterns used in the third embodiment; FIG. 10 shows a menu pattern on-screen display generated by the third embodiment; FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an information display apparatus according to a fourth embodiment; FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an information display apparatus according to a fifth embodiment; FIG. 13 shows a menu tone on-screen display generated by the fifth embodiment; and FIG. 14 shows an example of a character with a border.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings, in which like parts are indicated by like reference characters.

Referring to FIG. 3, a first embodiment comprises the above-described video signal-processing circuit 1, display control circuit 2, character memory 3, output connector 4, system control circuit 5, on-screen display memory 6, setting memory 7, control switches 8, remote control transmitter 9, remote control receiving circuit 10, and remote control switches 12. The first embodiment also comprises a novel color comparison circuit 13, a color setting control circuit 14, and a color memory 15.

The system control circuit 5 comprises, for example, a microprocessor executing a control program stored in a readonly memory. The on-screen display memory 6 is a storage area in, for example, the same read-only memory. The setting memory 7 is a storage area in a non- volatile rewritable memory. The color memory 15 is a storage area in a randomaccess memory, storing coded information indicating the colors of the various elements of the on-screen displays. The color memory 15 is shown within the on-screen display memory 6 to indicate that default values of these colors are also stored in the on-screen display memory 6. The default values can be transferred from the on-screen display memory 6 to the color memory 15 or setting memory 7 to initialize the color settings. The color setting control circuit 14 controls the writing of color settings in the color memory 15. The color comparison circuit 13 compares the colors of different elements in the on-screen display.

The first embodiment generates at least two on-screen displays. One is the menu display already shown in FIG. 2. Another is the menu color on- screen display in FIG. 4, which also has a frame 31, a background 32, a caption 33, and a cursor 34, but has different menu selection items. The 'frame' item 16 enables the user to select the color 16a of the frame in the on-screen displays. Similarly, the 'background' item 17, 'caption' item 18, 'cursor' item 19, and 'item' item 20 enable the user to select the colors 17a, 18a, 19a, and 20a of these elements of the on-screen displays. The 'itemr item 20 selects the color of all of the items 16 to 20 in FIG. 4, and all of the items 35 to 39 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 tabulates the available color selections for each element of the on-screen displays. Information equivalent to this table Is stored in coded form in the onscreen display memory 6.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be 6 described.

To customize the on-screen display in FIG. 2, the user uses one of the switches 8 and 12 to enter a command calling up the menu color on-screen display in FIG. 4. The system control circuit 5 reads coded information describing the elements of the menu color on-screen display from the onscreen display memory 6. To determine the colors in which to display these elements, however, the system control circuit 5 reads color settings from the setting memory 7, instead of using the default values in the on-screen display memory 6. The color settings read from the setting memory 7 are stored temporarily in the color memory 15. On the basis of these color settings and the information read from the on-screen display memory 6, the system control circuit 5 supplies instructions to the display control circuit 2, which reads the necessary character patterns from the character memory 3 and generates a video signal that replaces part or all of the video signal from the video signal-processing circuit 1. As a result, the display shown in FIG. 4 appears on the screen of a display device (not visible) connected to the output connector 4.

Initially, this display indicates the color settings stored in the setting memory 7. Each element in FIG. 4 is displayed in the Indicated color: the frame 31 is yellow, the background 32 Is blue, the caption 33 and cursor 34 are green, and the characters of all of the menu selection items 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are white.

To change one of the color settings, the user operates one of the switches 8 and 12 to move the cursor to the setting to be changed, then operates another of the switches to change the setting. For example, to change the cursor color, the user operates a switch marked with an up or down arrowhead symbol to move the cursor 34 to the position shown in FIG. 4, then operates a switch marked 'change' to change 7 the setting.

Each time the 'change' switch is pressed, the system control circuit 5 advances the setting according to the order in FIG. 5, and the color comparison circuit 13 compares the new setting with the settings of adjacent elements in the on-screen display. If the new setting is the same as the setting of any adjacent element, the color comparison circuit 13 informs the system control circuit 5, which advances the setting again. This process is repeated as many times as necessary until a new setting different from the settings of all adjacent elements is obtained. The system control circuit 5 then sends the display control circuit 2 a new character string, changing the name of the setting on the on-screen display.

From the state in FIG. 4, the first time the user presses the 'change' switch, the system control circuit 5 advances the cursor color from green (color 5 in FIG. 5) to yellow (color 6). The color comparison circuit 13 compares the colors of the background 32 and menu selection item 19, which are the elements adjacent to the cursor 34. " The new setting (yellow) dif f ers f rom the background color (blue) 'and the item color (white), so it is accepted, and the word 'green' 19a in FIG. 4 changes to the word 'yellow.' The color of the cursor 34, however, remains green for the time being.

If the user presses the 'change' switch again, the system control circuit 5 advances the cursor color setting from yellow (6) to white (7). The color comparison circuit 13 f inds that the new color (white) is the same as the item color. The system control circuit 5 therefore advances the cursor color setting again, to black (8). This color is different from the background color and item color, so the indication 19a on the screen changes from 'yellow' to black.'

If the user presses the 'change' switch once again, the 8 system control circuit 5 advances the cursor color setting from black (8) to blue (1), wrapping around from the right end to the left end of the order in FIG. 5. Since blue is also the background color, however, it is skipped; the system control circuit 5 advances the cursor color again to red (2).

Proceeding in this way, the user can cycle through all available choices for the cursor color. To select one of the choices, the user presses another one of the switches 8 and 12, a switch marked 'set,' for example. The color setting control circuit 14 then writes the code of the selected color into the color memory 15, and the system control circuit 5 instructs the display control circuit 2 to display the cursor 34 in the selected color.

The user can proceed to change the colors of the other elements in the display in the same way. When a satisfactory combination of colors is reached, the user presses another one of the switches 8 and 12 to finalize the selections and exit the menu color on-screen display. At this point, the system control circuit 5 transfers the new color settings from the color memory 15 to the setting memory 7. The new color settings will be applied to any on-screen displays that the user calls up later, such as the on-screen display In FIG. 2. The new color settings will remain valid until such time as they are changed again by use of the menu color on-screen display in FIG. 4.

By allowing the user to select any color that does not match the color of an adjacent element, the first embodiment gives the user a large number of color selections for each element in the on-screen displays.

By automatically skipping colors that match the colors of adjacent elements, the first embodiment simplifies the color selection process for the user.

In a variation of the first embodiment, the color 9 comparison circuit 13 skips not only colors that match the colors of adjacent elements, but also colors that are hard to distinguish from the colors of adjacent elements. For example, yellow can be skipped if the color of an adjacent element is white.

In another variation, each time the user presses the 'change' switch, the system control circuit 5 instructs the display control circuit 2 to display the selected element in the new color, and the color setting control circuit 14 writes the code of the new color into the color memory 15, obviating the need for a separate 'set' switch.

Many other variations in the details of the switch operations are possible.

Next, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment is suitable for use with a monochrome display.

Referring to FIG. 6, the second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in having a brightness comparison circuit 40, a brightness setting control circuit 41, and a brightness memory 42, instead of a color comparison circuit, color setting control circuit, and color memory. The other elements in FIG. 6 are the same as in the first embodiment.

The second embodiment also generates on-screen displays such as the menu screen shown in FIG. 2. Instead of being distinguished by different colors, the elements of these onscreen displays are distinguished by different brightness levels or tones.

To customize the on-screen displays, the user operates one of the switches 8 and 12 to call up the menu tone onscreen display shown in FIG. 7. The selection items 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 in this display use numbers from one (white) to sixteen (black) to indicate the brightness levels of the onscreen display elements. Each element in FIG. 7 is also displayed at the indicated brightness level.

By using the switches 8 and 12, the user can change the brightness levels by the procedure described in the first embodiment. Each time the user presses a 'change' switch, for example, the system control circuit 5 increments the brightness of the selected element by one, unless the brightness is already at the maximum black level (16), in which case the system control circuit 5 returns the brightness to the minimum white level (1).

Each time the system control circuit 5 increments the brightness level of an element, the brightness comparison circuit 40 compares the incremented level with the brightness levels of the adjacent elements. If any adjacent element has the same brightness level, the system control circuit 5 increments the brightness level again. This process continues until a brightness level different from the brightness levels of all adjacent elements is obtained, at which point the number in parentheses on the screen is changed to indicate the new brightness level.

When the user presses a 'set' switch, the brightness comparison circuit 40 writes the new brightness level into the brightness memory 42, and the actual brightness of the selected element on the screen changes to the new level. When the user exits the menu tone on-screen display, the brightness levels stored in the brightness memory 42 are transferred to the setting memory 7, and are applied to all subsequent on-screen displays, until the user uses the menu tone on-screen display to change the brightness levels again.

The second embodiment provides the same advantages for a monochrome onscreen display that the first embodiment provided for a color on-screen display.

In a variation of the second embodiment, the brightness comparison circuit 40 rejects brightness levels that are close to the brightness level of any adjacent element and thus hard to distinguish. For example, the brightness comparison circuit 40 can require the brightness of each 11 element to differ by at least N levels from the brightness of each adjacent element, where N is a fixed integer greater than one.

In another variation, the brightness levels are indicated on the menu tone on-screen display as percentages of a maximum or minimum brightness level. Alternatively, the brightness levels can be indicated by words or symbols, instead of by numbers.

Next, a third embodiment will be described. The third embodiment is useful when only a small number of different colors or brightness levels can be displayed. For example, the third embodiment is applicable to a bi- level monochrome display that switches each picture element or pixel to an on state or an off state, but does not display intermediate shades.

Referring to FIG. 8, the third embodiment has a pattern comparison circuit 50, a pattern setting control circuit 51, and a pattern memory 52, instead of the color comparison circuit, color setting control circuit, and color memory of the first embodiment. The pattern memory 52 stores a code indicating a filling pattern or texture for each element of the on- screen display. FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D show examples of a fine-textured pattern, a coarse-textured pattern, a horizontally ribbed pattern, and a pattern in which a white interior is surrounded by a black border.

The third embodiment generates on-screen displays in which adjacent elements are displayed in different patterns of the type shown in FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D. To customize the on-screen displays, the user operates one of the switches 8 and 12 to call up the menu pattern on- screen display shown in FIG. 10. The selection items 55, 56, 57, 58, 59 in this display use letters from A to D to indicate the patterns shown in FIGs. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D, respectively. Each element in FIG. 10 is also displayed in the indicated 12 pattern.

By using the switches 8 and 12, the user can change the patterns by the procedure explained in the preceding embodiments. As the user repeatedly presses a 'change' switch, for example, the system control circuit 5 cycles through the available patterns in a predetermined order, skipping patterns that are found by the pattern comparison circuit 50 to match the patterns of adjacent elements. When the user presses a 'set' switch, the pattern setting control circuit 51 writes the selected pattern into the pattern memory 52. When the user exits the menu pattern on-screen display, the pattern codes stored in the pattern memory 52 are transferred to the setting memory 7, and are applied to subsequent on-screen displays.

The third embodiment provides the same advantages as the first and second embodiments, providing a wide range of style selections while assuring that adjacent elements are distinguishably displayed.

Next, a fourth embodiment will be described.

In the preceding embodiments, to change the style of an element to a style that is already used for an adjacent element, the user must first change the style of the adjacent element. In FIG. 4, for example, to change the cursor color from green to white, the user must first change the item color from white to black. If the user does not first change the item color, white is not displayed as a choice for the cursor color, and the user may be unaware that this choice exists.

The fourth embodiment displays all possible choices for each element, lets the user make any choice, and changes the style settings of adjacent elements, if necessary, to ensure that they are different.

Referring to FIG. 11, the fourth embodiment adds a color switching circuit 60 to the configuration of the first 13 embodiment. The fourth embodiment also changes the operation of the system control circuit 5 and color comparison circuit 13, as explained below. The fourth embodiment uses the menu color on-screen display already shown in FIG. 4, and the table shown in FIG. 5.

When the menu color on-screen display is being displayed, if the user presses one of the switches 8 and 12 (the 'change' switch), the system control circuit 5 changes the displayed setting of the selected element to the next choice shown in FIG. 5. The color comparison circuit 13 does not yet compare the new setting with the settings of adjacent elements. The user can see all of the color choices listed in FIG. 5, even if some of these colors are already used for adjacent elements.

When the user presses another one of the switches 8 and 12 (the 'set switch), the color setting control circuit 14 writes the new setting into the color memory 15, the color switching circuit 60 reads the settings of adjacent elements from the color memory 15, and the color comparison circuit 13 compares the newly written setting with the settings read by the color switching circuit 60. If the setting of an adjacent element matches the new setting written by the color setting control circuit 14, the color switching circuit 60 automatically alters the setting of the adjacent element to a setting that does not match the setting written by the color setting control circuit 14, and does not match the setting of any further adjacent element. Alterations made by the color switching circuit 60 are written by the color switching circuit 60 directly into the color memory 15. When the color switching circuit 60 has completed any necessary alterations, the system control circuit 5 reads the color settings of all elements from the color memory 15, and instructs the display control circuit 2 to display the elements in their new colors.

14 In altering the settings of adjacent elements, the color switching circuit 60 can follow various rules. As one example, the color switching circuit 60 can select the next available setting in the order shown in FIG. 5, or the reverse of that order. As another example, the color switching circuit 60 can alter the existing color to a complementary color, black being considered complementary to white, so as to ensure a clear color contrast between adjacent elements.

By giving priority to maximizing the user's range of choice for the currently selected element, instead of protecting the existing color settings of adjacent elements, the fourth embodiment allows the user to select from the full range of colors available for each element.

By automatically altering the color settings of adjacent elements, the fourth embodiment relieves the user of the need to change these settings himself.

In a variation of the fourth embodiment, when the color switching circuit 60 alters a color setting automatically, the system control circuit 5 draws the user's attention to the alteration by instructing the display control circuit 2 to display the altered setting in blinking characters, for example, or by activating an alarm tone, an alarm lamp (not visible), or the like. If the user dislikes the result of the automatic alteration, the user can then make further changes.

In another variation, the color switching circuit 60 alters the colors of adjacent elements if they closely resemble the color newly written in the color memory 15.

In another variation, the customized style attribute is the brightness or pattern attribute, as in the second or third embodiment.

Next, a fifth embodiment will be described.

Referring to FIG. 12, the fifth embodiment is similar I I to the second embodiment, but has an additional border generating circuit 70 that adds borders to the character patterns stored in the character memory 3.

The fifth embodiment operates in the same general way as the second embodiment, using a menu tone on-screen display as shown in FIG. 13 to enable the user to customize the brightness levels of the on-screen display elements. The fifth embodiment differs from the second embodiment in the following regards, however.

One difference is that when displaying choices of brightness levels, the system control circuit 5 does not skip any brightness levels, even if the brightness comparison circuit 40 finds a matching brightness level in an adjacent element. The user is allowed to select any brightness level for any element, regardless of the brightness levels of adjacent elements.

The other difference is that if the user selects a brightness level close or equal to the brightness of an adjacent element, then when writing the selected brightness level into the brightness memory 42, the brightness setting control circuit 41 also writes a code designating the display of aborder between the selected element and the adjacent element. If one of the two elements is the caption element or the item element, the border is generated by the border generating circuit 70. Otherwise, the border is generated by the display control circuit 2 itself.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a character delineated from its background 71 by a border 73. The border 73 comprises the pixels horizontally and vertically adjacent to the foreground 72 of the character. The foreground 72 and background 71 have identical or nearly identical brightness levels. The border 73 is given a contrasting brightness level, making the character readily distinguishable from the background.

16 In the on-screen display in FIG. 13, the caption 33 and menu selection items 65, 66, 67, and 69 have nearly the same brightness level as the adjacent background 32, so the border generating circuit 70 generates a border around each character, making the characters easily visible. The brightness level of the cursor 34 differs sufficiently from the brightness level of menu selection item 68 that no border is necessary.

The fifth embodiment provides the user with unrestricted control over the brightness of each on-screen display element, while using contrasting borders as necessary to ensure the visibility of each element.

In a variation of the fifth embodiment, the user selects a color or filling pattern for each element, as in the first or third embodiment, and contrasting borders are generated to separate adjacent elements having the same color or pattern, or having colors or patterns that are hard to distinguish.

In the preceding embodiments, elements were distinguished by their colors, brightness, and filling patterns, but the invention can also be practiced with respect to other style attributes. For example, adjacent elements having otherwise similar attributes can be distinguished by causing one of the elements to blink.

The color comparison circuit 13 and color setting control circuit 14 in the first embodiment, and analogous elements in other embodiments, can be incorporated into the system control circuit 5.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that further variations are possible within the scope claimed below.

17

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An information display apparatus for displaying information on a screen, comprising: an information display means generating an information display, having a plurality of elements, on said screen; a style input means operated by a human user to designate styles in which said elements are displayed; and a control means causing said information display means to display said elements in the styles designated by said human user, and forcing said information display means to display each mutually adjacent pair of said elements in readily distinguishable styles.

2. The information display apparatus of claim 1, wherein said styles comprise colors.

3. The information display apparatus of claim 1, wherein said styles comprise brightness levels.

4. The information display apparatus of claim 1, wherein said styles comprise filling patterns.

5. The information display apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said control means accepts input of a style designation for one of said elements, from said style input means, only if the designated style differs from the styles of all of the elements that are adjacent to said one of said elements.

6. The information display apparatus of claim 5, wherein said control means causes said information display means to display, for each one of said elements, a selection of available styles, skipping those styles that substantially 18 match the styles of any of said elements that are adjacent to said one of said elements.

7. The information display apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein said control means comprises: a color comparison circuit comparing each style designated by said human user using said style input means with the styles of adjacent elements; and a color,switching circuit automatically altering the styles of adjacent elements that substantially match the style designated by the user.

8. The information display apparatus of any of claims I to 4, wherein said control means comprises: a color comparison circuit comparing each style designated by said human user for one of said elements with the styles of adjacent elements; and a border generating circuit generating a border separating said one of said elements from any of said adjacent elements that have styles substantially matching the style designated by said human user.

9. A method of customizing an on-screen display having a plurality of elements, comprising the steps of: accepting Input from a human user designating styles in which said elements are displayed; and forcing each mutually adjacent pair of said elements to be displayed in readily distinguishable styles.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said styles comprise colors.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said styles comprise brightness levels.

19 12. The method of claim 9, wherein said styles comprise filling patterns.

13. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, wherein said step of forcing comprises the further step of: allowing said human user to designate, for each one of said elements, only styles differing from the styles of all of the elements that are adjacent to said one of said elements.

14. The method of claim 13, comprising the further step of: displaying, for each said one of said elements, a selection of available styles, skipping styles that substantially match the styles of any of said elements that are adjacent to said one of said elements.

15. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, comprising the further steps of: comparing each style designated by said human user with the styles of adjacent elements; and automatically altering the styles of adjacent elements that substantially match the style designated by said human user.

16. The method of any of claims 9 to 12, comprising the further steps of: comparing each style designated by said human user for one of said elements with the styles of adjacent elements; and generating a border separating said one of said elements from any of said adjacent elements that have styles substantially matching the style designated by said human user.

17. Apparatus for displaying information on a screen, the style of different features of the display being selectable by a user, the apparatus comprising means for automatically changing the selected style of features to ensure that the features are visually distinguishable.

18. Apparatus for displaying information on a screen substantially as hereinbefore described as any of Embodiments 1 to 5 with reference to the accompanying drawings.

19. A method for generating an information display on a screen substantially as hereinbefore described in connection with any of Embodiments 1 to 5 and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

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