JP2003023490A - Portable terminal and information display method in the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable telephone set having low power consumption. SOLUTION: The portable telephone set 100 includes a battery voltage detection part 130 for detecting the voltage of a battery loaded on the portable telephone set 100, an LCD 158 showing information, and an LCD driver 156 which is connected to the LCD 158 and controls the LCD 158. In the LCD driver 156, the smaller the consumption current is, the smaller is the display region of LCD 158. The portable telephone set 100 also includes a control part, which is connected to the battery voltage detection part 130, a storage 140 and the LCD driver 156, and controls LCD driver 156, so that the size of the display region of LCD 158 is reduced and information is displayed on LCD 158, by using reduction font stored in a reduction font data storage part 148, when the voltage of the battery becomes smaller than the threshold.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to information display technology for mobile phones, and more particularly, to use for as long a time as possible even when the remaining capacity of the battery mounted on the mobile phone is low or the capacity of the battery is low. Technology that enables

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Unlike a wired telephone, a mobile phone can provide services without the need to build a large-scale infrastructure like laying a telephone line, no matter where you are or where you are. It has many advantages such as being able to reach the other party. As a result, the penetration rate of mobile phones is growing at an extremely high rate, and the number of mobile phones is approaching the number of wired phones.

The convenience of the above-mentioned mobile phone is that the circuit scale for realizing the mobile phone can be reduced, so that the battery for supplying power to the mobile phone can be miniaturized. It has been further increased by being able to make it smaller. The mobile phone has an essential problem that the size of the display unit is small in order to realize the portability. Most of the recent mobile phones have a mail sending / receiving function and display the content of the received mail on the display unit. The total number of characters in the received email differs for each email. If the size of the characters to be displayed is set based on the number of characters that can be displayed on the display unit, when a mail with a small number of characters is received, a mail with a small number and a small number of characters is displayed. There are the following techniques for solving such a situation.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-55392 discloses a mobile phone which displays characters on a display unit in an appropriate display character size. The mobile phone disclosed in this publication has a display circuit for displaying characters, a detection circuit for detecting the number of characters to be displayed on the display circuit, and a change circuit for changing the size of characters displayed on the display circuit. A comparison circuit that compares the number of characters detected by the detection circuit and the number of characters that can be displayed with the size of the character changed by the change circuit, and based on the comparison result by the comparison circuit, more of the characters to be displayed, And a control circuit for controlling the display circuit to display in the largest possible character.

According to this mobile phone, the changing circuit automatically enlarges the characters according to the number of characters displayed on the display circuit.
By switching the reduction, the user of the mobile phone can easily see the display and can display more characters.

[0006]

In spite of the above-mentioned convenience of the mobile phone, the mobile phone has an essential problem that it may become unusable when the battery level is low. By the display method disclosed in the above publication,
Although it is possible to realize a display that is easy for the user to read, it is not possible to extend the usable time while ensuring the display of information to the user when the battery level of the mobile phone is low.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and can be used for as long as possible even when the remaining battery level is low, and can ensure the presentation of information to the user. , To provide an information display method in a mobile terminal.

[0008]

A mobile terminal according to the first invention is a mobile terminal for displaying information. For mobile terminals,
A battery that supplies power to its own circuit is installed. The mobile terminal controls display means for displaying information in a display area in which the size of the area can be changed and display means for changing the size of the display area and displaying the information. And the control means of. When the display area is changed to a smaller size, the control means controls the display means so as to reduce all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced. including.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, even if the display area displayed by the display means is reduced, all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced is displayed. . Therefore, desired information can be presented to the user even if the display area becomes small. Further, in an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), which is one of the display means, the smaller the display area, the smaller the current consumption of the driver controlling the LCD, and thus the smaller the power consumption of the entire mobile terminal. This extends the time when the mobile terminal can be used. As a result, it is possible to provide a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible while securing the amount of displayed information as much as possible.

In addition to the configuration of the first invention, the mobile terminal according to the second invention further includes a detection means for detecting the remaining battery level. The control means includes means for controlling the display means so as to change the size of the display area and display the information based on the detection result of the detection means.

According to the second aspect of the invention, when the detection means detects that the remaining battery level is low, the control means reduces the display area and causes the display means to display information. As a result, the amount of information displayed to the user is secured as much as possible and the time during which the mobile terminal can be used is extended. As a result, it is possible to provide a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible even when the remaining battery level is low.

The mobile terminal according to the third invention is a mobile terminal for displaying information. A battery that supplies electric power to its own circuit is attached to the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal is configured by a display unit for displaying information in a display area in which the size of the area can be changed, a setting unit for the user of the mobile terminal to set the size of the area, and a setting unit configured by the setting unit. And a control means for controlling the display means so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area based on the contents. The control means, when changing the display area small,
A means for controlling the display means is provided so as to reduce the display of all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced.

According to the third aspect of the invention, when the user of the portable terminal sets the mode for reducing the display area (power saving mode), the control means reduces the display area and causes the display means to display information. . As a result, the amount of information displayed to the user is secured as much as possible and the time during which the mobile terminal can be used is extended. As a result, it is possible to provide a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible based on the setting made by the user.

A portable terminal according to a fourth aspect of the invention is the first to third aspects.
In addition to the configuration of any one of the above aspects, the control means includes means for controlling the display means so as to change the size of the characters displayed on the display means and display the information.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a portable terminal in which the amount of information displayed to the user can be secured as much as possible by reducing the size of the characters even if the display area becomes small.

An information display method according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is an information display method in a mobile terminal that displays information. A battery that supplies electric power to its own circuit is attached to the mobile terminal. The information display method includes a display step of displaying information in a display area in which the size of the area can be changed, and a control step of controlling the display step so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area. Including and The control step includes a step of controlling the display step so that when the display area is changed to a smaller size, all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced is displayed in a reduced size. .

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, even if the display area displayed in the display step is reduced, all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced is reduced. To be done. Therefore, desired information can be presented to the user even if the display area becomes small. Further, in the LCD, which is one of the display devices, the smaller the display area is, the smaller the current consumption of the driver controlling the LCD is, and the smaller the power consumption of the entire mobile terminal is. This extends the time when the mobile terminal can be used. As a result, it is possible to provide an information display method in a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible while securing the amount of displayed information as much as possible.

The information display method according to the sixth aspect of the present invention further includes a detection step of detecting the remaining battery level in addition to the configuration of the fifth aspect. The control step includes a step of controlling the display step so as to change the size of the display area and display information based on the result detected in the detection step.

According to the sixth aspect, when it is detected in the detection step that the remaining amount of the battery is low, the display area is reduced and the information is displayed in the control step.
As a result, the amount of information displayed to the user is secured as much as possible and the time during which the mobile terminal can be used is extended. As a result, it is possible to provide an information display method in a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible even when the remaining battery level is low.

The information display method according to the seventh invention is an information display method in a portable terminal for displaying information. A battery that supplies electric power to its own circuit is attached to the mobile terminal. The information display method includes a display step of displaying information in a display area in which the size of the area can be changed, a setting step of setting the size of the area by a user of the mobile terminal,
And a control step of controlling the display step so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area based on the contents set by the user in the setting step. The control step includes a step of controlling the display step so that when the display area is changed to a smaller size, all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced is displayed in a reduced size. .

According to the seventh aspect, when the user of the portable terminal sets the mode for reducing the display area (power saving mode), the control step reduces the display area,
Display information. As a result, the amount of information displayed to the user is secured as much as possible and the time during which the mobile terminal can be used is extended. As a result, it is possible to provide an information display method in a mobile terminal that can be used for as long as possible based on the setting made by the user.

The information display method according to the eighth aspect of the present invention is the fifth to fifth aspects.
In addition to the configuration of the seventh aspect of the invention, the control step includes a step of controlling the display step so as to display the information by changing the size of the character displayed in the display area in the display step.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information display method in a portable terminal in which the amount of information displayed to a user can be secured as much as possible by reducing the size of characters even if the display area becomes small. You can

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

The mobile terminal of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone that displays received mail, but has a communication function and is a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that displays received information.
It may be a mobile terminal such as t), or a mobile terminal that does not have a communication function and displays information stored in itself. In the following description, the mobile terminal is assumed to be a mobile phone.

The mobile phone 100 according to this embodiment has a display control function of receiving a mail from another mobile phone 100 or another computer and displaying the content thereof. This display control function is realized by minimizing the power consumption of the mobile phone 100.

Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile phone 100 includes a control unit 110 for controlling the entire mobile phone 100, a communication unit 120 for communicating with other mobile phones 100 and computers, and a mobile phone 100. A battery voltage detection unit 130 that detects the voltage of the attached battery, a storage unit 140 that stores a program executed by the control unit 110, data received via the communication unit 120, and font data for executing the program. , And the input / output unit 150.

The storage unit 140 is a program storage unit 142.
And a data storage unit 144, a standard font data storage unit 146, and a reduced font data storage unit 148.
The program storage unit 142 stores the program executed by the control unit 110. The data storage unit 144 stores the operation mode of the mobile phone 100, the threshold value of the battery voltage for switching the display area, and the like. The standard font data storage unit 146 stores font data of display characters, display character number data, character spacing data, and line spacing data when characters are displayed using the entire display area of the LCD of the mobile phone 100. Reduced font data storage unit 1
48 is font data of display characters when displaying using half of the display area of the mobile phone 100LCD,
The display character number data, character spacing data, and line spacing data are stored. For example, the standard character font is 8-point font data, and the reduced character font is 6-point font data, respectively.
46 and the reduced font data storage unit 148.

The input / output unit 150 includes an operation unit 152 including a numeric keypad and the LCD 15 for displaying a telephone number input to the operation unit 152 and displaying a received mail.
8 and a display unit 154 including an LCD driver 156 for controlling the LCD 158, a voice input unit 160 including a microphone for inputting voice, and a voice output unit 162 including a speaker for outputting voice.

A user of the portable telephone 100 inputs a telephone number of another telephone device 100 or an operation mode setting (automatic switching mode, power saving mode) to the operation unit 152.

The LCD 158 is, for example, a color LCD having a width of 30 mm and a length of 36 mm. LCD driver 156
Is a full screen display of LCD 158 (horizontal 30 mm x vertical 36
mm) and the half display mode corresponding to the half screen display of LCD 158 (horizontal 30 mm × vertical 18 mm) are switched to control LCD 158. The current consumption of the LCD driver 156 is 1 mA in the full display mode, and in the half display mode,
It is 0.6 mA. As described above, the smaller the display area of the LCD 158, the smaller the current consumption of the LCD driver 156.

The mobile phone 100 has a display control function for controlling the display unit 154 of the mobile phone 100. When the power saving mode is set by the user of the mobile phone 100, the display control function can be performed on the LCD regardless of the remaining battery level.
The driver 156 is driven in the half display mode. Even if the power saving mode has not been set by the user of the mobile phone 100, if the remaining battery level falls below the threshold value (for example, the threshold voltage of 3.6V against the rated voltage of 4.0V), L
The CD driver 156 is driven by switching from the full display mode to the half display mode. At this time, the control unit 110 controls the number of characters displayed on the full display screen to be the same as the number of characters displayed on the half display screen.

Such a display control function is provided by the mobile phone 1.
00 hardware and software executed by the control unit 110. Generally, such software is stored as a program in the storage unit 140, and is read and executed by the control unit 110 as needed.

The control unit 110 of the mobile phone 100 is realized by a computer, and has a CPU and an OS (Operating).
System), including the environment to execute the program. The program of the present invention is a program that realizes a display control function in such a computer. Therefore, the most essential part of the present invention is a program recorded in a recording medium such as various memories.

Referring to FIG. 2, the program executed by mobile phone 100 according to the present embodiment has the following control structure.

At step (hereinafter, step is abbreviated as S) 100, control unit 110 of mobile phone 100
It is determined whether the user of this mobile phone 100 has selected the automatic switching mode. This determination is made based on the operation mode input by the user of mobile phone 100 using operation unit 152 and stored in data storage unit 144. If the automatic switching mode is selected (S10
If YES, the process proceeds to S102. If not (NO in S100), the process proceeds to S106.

At S102, control unit 110 detects the voltage of the battery mounted on mobile phone 100. This process is performed via the battery voltage detection unit 130. S1
At 04, control unit 110 determines whether or not the detected battery voltage is higher than a threshold value. At this time, the threshold voltage is set to 3.6V with respect to the rated voltage of the battery being 4.0V. If the detected voltage is larger than the threshold value (S1
(YES in 04), the process proceeds to S108. If not (NO in S104), the process proceeds to S110.

At S106, control unit 110 determines whether or not the power saving mode is selected for mobile phone 100. This determination is made based on the operation mode input by the user of the mobile phone 100 using the operation unit 152 and stored in the data storage unit 144, similarly to the process in S100. If the power saving mode is selected (YES in S106), the process proceeds to S110. If not (NO in S106), the process proceeds to S
Moved to 108.

At S108, control unit 110 instructs LCD driver 156 to draw in the full display mode.
The area drawn at this time is 30 mm long × 36 mm wide,
The number of characters to be displayed is 72 characters, which is 8 horizontal characters × 9 vertical characters.

At S110, control unit 110 instructs the LCD driver 156 to draw in the half display mode. At this time, the displayed area is 30 mm in width and 18 in length.
mm, the number of characters displayed is 72 horizontal 12 characters x vertical 6 lines
It is a character.

At S112, control unit 110 causes LCD 158 to display data via LCD driver 156. The data displayed at this time is the data storage unit 14
4 is the data stored in 4. This data is, for example, data representing the text of an email received from another mobile phone 100.

At S114, control unit 110 determines whether or not the power supply of mobile phone 100 has been turned off. When the power is turned off (YES in S114), this process ends. If not (NO in S114), the process is returned to S110, the operation mode of the mobile phone 100 is determined again, and the data is displayed on the LCD 158 in the full display mode or the half display mode.

The operation of the mobile phone 100 based on the above structure and flowchart will be described.

[Automatic Switching Mode] The case where the user of this mobile phone 100 sets the automatic switching mode will be described. Since the automatic switching mode is selected (S1
00), the battery voltage is the battery voltage detection unit 130.
Is detected by (S102). If the detected battery voltage is higher than the threshold value (YES in S104)
S), the data is displayed in the full display mode (S108) (S112). FIG. 3 shows a display example on the LCD 158 at this time.

When the automatic switching mode is selected and the detected battery voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold value (NO in S104), the half display mode (S11) is selected.
0), data is displayed on the LCD 158 (S11).
2). An example of the display on the LCD 158 at this time is shown in FIG.
Shown in.

[Power Saving Mode] The operation of the mobile phone 100 when the user of the mobile phone 100 selects the power saving mode without selecting the automatic switching mode will be described.

Since the automatic switching mode is not selected (NO in S100), it is determined whether or not the power saving mode is selected (S106). This mobile phone 100
If the power saving mode is selected by the user of (S1
Yes in 06), in half display mode (S110),
The data is displayed on the LCD 158 (S112). An example of display on the LCD 158 at this time is shown in FIG.

When the automatic switching mode is not selected (NO in S100) and the power saving mode is not selected (NO in S106), the full display mode (S108) is displayed on the LCD 158. The data is displayed (S112). FIG. 3 shows a display example on the LCD 158 at this time.

As described above, according to the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, when it is detected that the remaining battery capacity of the mobile phone is low, the display area on the LCD is reduced, The data is displayed. The smaller the display area of the LCD, the lower the power consumption of the LCD driver, and thus the longer the mobile phone can be used. Also,
When the power saving mode is set by the user of the mobile phone, the display area of the LCD is reduced and information is displayed. The smaller the display area of the LCD, the lower the power consumption of the LCD driver, and thus the longer the mobile phone can be used. As a result, it is possible to provide a mobile phone that can be used for as long as possible even when the battery level is low and the battery capacity is low.

In the above description, the same number of characters (72 characters) is displayed when the display area of the LCD is changed, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, about 50 characters, which is 70% of 72 characters, may be displayed.

The embodiments disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a control block diagram of a mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a control procedure in the mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a display example (No. 1) of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a display example (No. 2) of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 mobile phone, 110 control unit, 120 communication unit,
130 battery voltage detection unit, 140 storage unit, 142 program storage unit, 144 data storage unit, 146 standard font data storage unit, 148 reduced font data storage unit, 150 input / output unit, 152 operation unit, 154 display unit, 156 LCD driver 158LCD, 160
Voice input unit, 162 voice output unit.

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G09G 3/20 680 G09G 3/20 680T 5K067 3/36 3/36 H04B 7/26 X H04B 7/26 G06F 1/00 332Z F-term (reference) 5B011 DA06 EA10 EB09 GG03 LL11 LL15 5B019 CA07 HD00 HE00 5C006 AA21 AB01 AF64 BB11 BC16 FA47 5C080 AA10 BB05 CC03 DD26 DD29 EE21 EE26 JJ01 JJ02 JJ07 KK07 KK47 5K027 AA11 BB17 FF22 GG02 MM17 5K067 AA43 BB04 EE02 FF23 FF31 KK05

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A portable terminal for displaying information, wherein the portable terminal is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to its own circuit, and the portable terminal has a display capable of changing a size of an area. A display unit for displaying the information in an area, and a control unit for controlling the display unit so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area, and the control unit, A means for controlling the display means so as to reduce the display of all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced when the display area is reduced. Including mobile terminals. 2. The portable terminal further includes a detection unit for detecting the remaining amount of the battery, and the control unit changes the size of the display area based on the detection result of the detection unit. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising means for controlling the display means so as to display the information. 3. A portable terminal for displaying information, wherein the portable terminal is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to its own circuit, and the portable terminal has a display capable of changing the size of the area. A display unit for displaying the information in an area, a setting unit for the user of the mobile terminal to set the size of the area, and a size of the display area based on the contents set by the setting unit. And a control means for controlling the display means so as to display the information.
When the display area is changed to a smaller size, the control means controls the display means so as to reduce the size of any or all of the information displayed before the display area is reduced. A mobile terminal, including means for doing so. 4. The control means includes means for controlling the display means to change the size of characters displayed on the display means to display information.
The mobile terminal according to any one of 1. 5. A method of displaying information in a mobile terminal for displaying information, wherein the mobile terminal is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to its own circuit, and the information display method changes the size of a region. A display step of displaying the information in a display area capable of performing, and a control step of controlling the display step so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area. When the display area is changed to a small size, the step of controlling the display step to reduce the display of all or part of the information displayed before the display area is reduced. Information display method including. 6. The information display method further includes a detection step of detecting the remaining amount of the battery, and the control step determines the size of the display area based on a result detected in the detection step. The information display method according to claim 5, further comprising a step of controlling the display step so as to change and display the information. 7. A method for displaying information in a mobile terminal for displaying information, wherein the mobile terminal is equipped with a battery for supplying electric power to its own circuit, wherein the information display method changes the size of the area. A display step of displaying the information in a display area that can be set, a setting step in which the size of the area is set by the user of the mobile terminal, and based on the contents set by the user in the setting step, And a control step of controlling the display step so as to display the information by changing the size of the display area, wherein the control step reduces the display area when the display area is changed to a smaller size. A method for displaying information, including a step of controlling the display step so as to display reduced information on any or all of the information that was displayed before. 8. The control step includes a step of controlling the display step so that the size of the character displayed in the display area in the display step is changed to display information. ~ The information display method described in any one of 7 to 7.