JP2005244285A - Menu display method, video display apparatus, and television receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a menu display method or the like for reserving a display region of a lowermost layer as wider as possible with respect to its superordinate layer and properly displaying characters of items to be displayed on the superordinate layer within a range of the display region assigned to the superordinate layer in the case of displaying an OSD menu of a multilayer structure. <P>SOLUTION: A storage section 13 stores a first display pattern and a second display pattern including characters whose size is smaller than that of characters included in the first display pattern as a prescribed character selected as the display of a plurality of menue items. A central control section 9 selects at least part of characters to be displayed on prescribed menu items from the second display pattern and arranges and displays the selected characters whithin displayable region of menue items in the display section 7 as its control when all the characters to be displayed on the menu items are selected from the first display pattern and arranged and the arranged characters exceed the displayable region. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a menu display method for performing OSD menu display with a multi-hierarchy structure, and a video display device and a television device having an OSD menu display function.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a main menu item list and a sub-menu item list associated with the main menu item when one of these items is selected are displayed on the right side of the main menu item. A multi-item display of the hierarchy is performed. As a result, it is possible to display menu items over multiple items while organizing them.

On the other hand, in recent on-screen display (hereinafter referred to as OSD) display technology, since the number of adjustment items is wide or large, the display format is composed of a multi-layered structure composed of a plurality of items and a cursor. It is possible to display a plurality of display items for each layer, and adopt a format in which items are displayed further in the lower layer by selecting and placing the cursor on one of these items It is common.
JP-A-5-207343

  In the menu display form having the above multi-hierarchy structure, when a plurality of items of a certain hierarchy are displayed simultaneously, the display area of all items in the same hierarchy is all taken into consideration in consideration of the visual balance etc. Although it is possible to ensure evenly, if the difference in the number of characters between each item is significant, the space between adjacent items may be different for each item, and the display format is unbalanced for the user And can cause discomfort.

  Further, in the menu item display format, the lower layer items are displayed simultaneously by selecting one item of the upper layer menu, so it is necessary to display both the upper layer and the lower layer. Then, the displayable area in the lower layer needs to be displayed for control operation, and for example, the display area is displayed so that the display area is preferentially secured with respect to the display area of the upper layer for simple display. There are many. Therefore, the upper layer display area must be limited to a certain area, and at this time, it is difficult to secure the upper layer display area as much as possible.

  Furthermore, for example, in the operation of changing the setting value of the television device, if the operation cannot be performed while referring to the result on the screen, the menu item selection operation is performed again when the result is not what the user desires. (E.g., pressing a menu key), a problem arises in terms of operability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when displaying an OSD menu having a multilayer structure, the lowermost display area is secured as much as possible with respect to the upper layer, and at the same time, displayed on the upper layer. An object of the present invention is to provide a menu display method, a video display device, and a television device that can appropriately display characters of a power item within a range of a display area assigned to the upper layer. is there.

  A first technical means is a menu display method capable of displaying a plurality of menu items divided into a plurality of layers, wherein the first display pattern and the predetermined character selected as the display of the plurality of menu items are One of the second display patterns composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern can be selected, and a predetermined menu item to be displayed by the operation for displaying the menu item is displayed. The menu item displayable areas allocated for displaying the menu items in the hierarchy are all equal in size, and when all the characters to be displayed in the menu items are selected from the first display pattern and arranged. When it is determined that the area exceeds the menu item displayable area, at least a part of the characters to be displayed on the menu item is selected and arranged from the second display pattern. Is obtained is characterized in that the controls to display.

  In the second technical means, the menu item in the first technical means in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged and displayed is a hierarchy other than the lowest hierarchy. The item is included in the item.

  According to a third technical means, in the first technical means, the plurality of hierarchies include at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy, and the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy simultaneously. Menu items that are displayed on the screen and that are arranged and displayed by selecting at least some of the characters to be displayed in the menu items from the second display pattern are included in the first hierarchy. .

  According to a fourth technical means, in any one of the first to third technical means, the display pattern of the selected character is managed in block units of a certain size, and the first display pattern is one Each block is composed of one character, and the second display pattern is composed of a plurality of blocks having a number of characters different from the number of blocks.

  According to a fifth technical means, in any one of the first to fourth technical means, the first display pattern is a full-width display, and the second display pattern is a half-width display. Is.

  A sixth technical means is a video display device capable of displaying video information and displaying a menu by dividing a plurality of menu items into a plurality of hierarchies, as a predetermined character selected as a display of the plurality of menu items. A storage unit having a first display pattern and a second display pattern composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern, an operation means for performing an operation for displaying a menu item, Control so that the display unit for displaying a predetermined menu item to be displayed by operating the operation means and the menu item displayable area allocated to display the menu item in the same hierarchy are all equal in size. A control unit for selecting the menu item displayable area when all of the characters to be displayed on the predetermined menu item are selected from the first display pattern and arranged. When it is determined that the character is in the selected state, control is performed so that at least a part of the characters to be displayed in the predetermined menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged in the menu item displayable area of the display unit. It is characterized by doing.

  A seventh technical means is the sixth technical means in which a menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged and displayed is a hierarchy other than the lowest hierarchy. The item is included in the item.

  According to an eighth technical means, in the sixth technical means, the plurality of hierarchies are composed of at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy, and the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy simultaneously. Menu items that are displayed on the screen and that are arranged and displayed by selecting at least some of the characters to be displayed in the menu items from the second display pattern are included in the first hierarchy. .

  According to a ninth technical means, in any one of the sixth to eighth technical means, the character display pattern stored in the storage unit is managed in block units of a certain size. Is composed of one character for one block, and the second display pattern is composed of a number of characters different from the number of blocks in the plurality of blocks.

  According to a tenth technical means, in any one of the sixth to ninth technical means, the first display pattern is a full-width display, and the second display pattern is a half-width display. Is.

  An eleventh technical means is a television device capable of receiving a broadcast signal and displaying it as video information on a screen and displaying a menu by dividing a plurality of menu items into a plurality of hierarchies. Storage unit having a first display pattern and a second display pattern composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern as predetermined characters selected for display, and an operation for displaying a menu item And a display unit for displaying a predetermined menu item to be displayed by the operation unit in a state of being superimposed on the video information. And a control unit for controlling all the menu item displayable areas allocated to display the menu items on the same hierarchy so as to have an equal size. When all the characters to be displayed in a predetermined menu item are selected from the first display pattern and arranged, when it is determined that the state exceeds the menu item displayable area, it should be displayed in the predetermined menu item At least a part of the characters is selected from the second display pattern and is controlled to be arranged and displayed in the menu item displayable area of the display unit.

  A twelfth technical means is the eleventh technical means in which a menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged and displayed is a hierarchy other than the lowest hierarchy. The item is included in the item.

  According to a thirteenth technical means, in the eleventh technical means, the plurality of hierarchies are composed of at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy, and the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy are: Menu items displayed on the screen at the same time and arranged and displayed by selecting at least a part of the characters to be displayed in the menu items from the second display pattern are included in the first hierarchy. is there.

  According to a fourteenth technical means, in any one of the eleventh to thirteenth technical means, the character display pattern stored in the storage unit is managed in blocks of a certain size. Is composed of one character for one block, and the second display pattern is composed of more characters than the number of blocks in the plurality of blocks.

  A fifteenth technical means is characterized in that, in any one of the eleventh to fourteenth technical means, the first display pattern is a full-width display and the second display pattern is a half-width display. Is.

  According to the present invention, when displaying a menu having a multi-layer structure, the lowermost display area is secured as much as possible with respect to the upper layer, and at the same time, characters of items to be displayed on the upper layer are assigned to the upper layer. It becomes possible to display appropriately within the range of the display area. That is, it is possible to appropriately select characters having a size corresponding to the displayable area of all menu items in the upper layer and display the video data and the display area in the lowermost layer as much as possible.

  Further, in the present invention, even when the number of characters to be displayed for a certain menu item is larger than that for other menu items, it is possible to select a character with an appropriate display format for the allocated menu item display area. I can suppress disturbing as much as possible.

  In addition, the present invention has a constant display size and display position of the pre-assigned menu item display area, so that operational confusing is unlikely to occur, and even if the display language is a language that the user cannot understand, the user's experience. It is possible to understand the position of the menu item display area at the time of operation based on the dynamic memory ability, and to understand the operation process conceptually.

  Further, according to the present invention, the OSD display format has a multilayer structure, and even when the upper layer and the lower layer are displayed at the same time, one layer does not interfere with the display area of the other layer, Further, it is possible to store and display characters of items to be displayed on the upper layer or the lower layer in an appropriate display area.

  Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to store the character size of the item with the larger number of characters in an appropriate display area even when the number of characters is extremely different between the items in the same hierarchy. It is possible to provide a video display device capable of displaying all items of this hierarchy on the screen within the assigned display area without disturbing the display area of the hierarchy below this hierarchy.

  Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to store the character size of the item with the larger number of characters in an appropriate display area even when the number of characters is extremely different between the items in the same hierarchy. A television that allows a user to operate from a certain distance by remote control means while recognizing on the screen the result of the screen display state etc. whose settings have been changed without disturbing the display area below this hierarchy An apparatus can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an image display device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an example of a screen display state for selecting a language used for OSD display in the image display device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character display pattern stored in the storage unit of the image display device illustrated in FIG. 1.

  In the present embodiment, referring to FIG. 1, a receiving unit 2 that detects a television broadcast signal received through an antenna 1 that receives a television broadcast signal and outputs a video signal and an audio signal; 1 has an external information input unit 3 including an external input terminal for inputting predetermined video / audio information from the outside, an external memory slot, and the like. Then, the video signal and / or audio signal to be displayed or output is selected by the switching unit 4 for selecting either the broadcast signal or the externally input video / audio information for display. The video signal is transmitted to the video processing unit 5, and the audio signal is transmitted to the audio processing unit 6.

  The video information signal-processed by the video processing unit 5 is displayed on a display unit 7 (for example, a display element such as a CRT device, a plasma display device, a liquid crystal display device, or an organic / inorganic EL device), and the audio processing unit 6 performs signal processing. The audio information is output to audio output means 8 such as a speaker.

  When processing such a video signal or audio signal, predetermined control processing is performed in the central control unit 9 (for example, CH switching, input switching, volume adjustment, etc.) according to user setting value control. As operation means for the user to operate such control processing, for example, an operation unit 10 capable of button operation, a remote operation unit 12 such as a remote controller, and a predetermined radio control signal generated by this key operation are received. A wireless operation means comprising the light receiving unit 11 is used. The various setting values set by these operating means are stored in the storage unit 13 so that the output state of video or audio information can be maintained.

  In addition, when the user performs set value control for these video signals or audio signals, a control signal is generated by an input operation of a key (for example, a menu key) on the operation unit 10 or a remote controller, thereby the storage unit 13. The central control unit 9 (microcomputer) calls various character or symbol patterns for displaying the OSD menu items stored in the screen, and as a result, the video information displayed on the screen is partially overwritten or It is displayed in a semi-transparent state so that it can be viewed. Thereby, the user can operate while recognizing the result of the setting value changed by viewing the video information on the screen.

  Next, an example showing that display according to the multilingual specification of the image display device can be realized through an example of a screen display state for selecting a language used for OSD display in the image display device according to the present invention. explain.

  In order to display the screen of FIG. 2, in this embodiment, for example, a menu key (not shown) for calling up a menu display of the remote control unit 12 and a predetermined item from the displayed menu item are moved up and down, left and right, etc. The display can be selected by using a direction instruction key (not shown) that can be selected by moving the direction to, and a decision key or a decision key (not shown) for selecting and determining the selected item. That is, for example, a predetermined menu item group is extracted and displayed by the character information called from the storage unit 13 by pressing the menu key, and the cursor is moved to the item “Setup Language” among these items by the direction indication key. The language to be used when displaying menu items by pressing the Enter key or the Enter key to select this item with the cursor placed on (English, German, French, Spanish, etc. in the figure) ) Is selected, and menu items are displayed in the language to be displayed.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a character display pattern stored in the storage unit 13 in the image display apparatus according to the present invention. In the storage unit 13, the address management is managed in block units of a fixed angle size. When characters to be displayed are displayed on the screen, these characters are indicated by instructions from the microcomputer (central control unit 9) or the character generator. Is called in block units. As a feature of the present invention, for example, as shown in the upper part of FIG. 3, a display pattern composed of one character per block, and in addition, as shown in the lower part of FIG. For example, there are two or more characters per block, and the number of blocks and the number of characters are not the same). Further, depending on the specifications of the character generator, the background color and the character color in each block called in this way can be set as appropriate in the setting value switching control on the software.

  By having the storage unit 13 storing the display pattern having such a configuration, the number of characters to be displayed on the display screen of the OSD is the same as the number of characters in other languages or a plurality of menu item groups having the same language. For example, when the number of characters of the other items displayed in parallel in the sub-menu display format is extremely large, the item having the extremely large number of characters can be displayed in a display area as short as possible.

  FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the OSD display format in the menu display method, video display apparatus, and television apparatus according to the present invention.

The contents displayed as the menu screen are mainly the following four.
(1) Notation indicating that the menu screen is displayed (“Menu” at the upper left of the screen).
(2) The item name of the highest layer selected on the menu screen (“[Card Still setup]” on the upper side of the screen).
(3) Various item display (left side of the screen) in the hierarchy (second layer) one level below the menu item selected in the top layer.
(4) Display of the layer (third layer) on which the set value can be changed associated with the contents of one item among the menu items of the second layer (right side of the screen).

  In these contents, partitions 14, 15, and 16 are set for each displayable area where the character can be displayed. The background color or the character color of each displayable area is, for example, the setting value switching on the software described above. By using a method such as control, it is set differently for each. With such a configuration, the hierarchy partitioning can be displayed in a clear state, so that it becomes possible for the user to clearly recognize which hierarchy the cursor position moved as a result of the operation is moved.

  Then, the cursor is positioned so that the currently selected item (here, “Slide show” 17a) among the items of the second layer (partition 15) displayed on the left side can be visually recognized differently from the other items. The display for allowing the setting change regarding the selected item to be visually recognized is displayed as the third layer display on the right side of the second layer (partition 16). The displayable area relating to the display of the third layer secures a wider display area than the displayable area relating to the display of the second layer, which is the upper layer.

  This menu screen is preferentially displayed for video information transmitted from a tuner or an external input terminal that receives a broadcast signal and displayed on the screen. Here, “priority” means that the menu screen is not completely overwritten or overcoated on the entire screen with respect to the video information, and this menu screen is displayed so as to overwrite a part of the entire screen. Or by performing video processing such that the video information is displayed in a semi-transparent state.

  The main feature of the present invention is that, as shown in the example of the OSD pattern display of FIG. 4, for example, in the item display area in which the number of uniform blocks (here, 12 blocks, for example) is assigned to each item, The number of characters in the item “Slide show Start” 17a is 16 characters including spaces between words, and in order to display in 12 blocks, at least some characters out of all 16 characters are packed and displayed. There is a need. Therefore, among the characters of this item “Slide show Start”, for example, a display pattern in which the portion of “Slide Show” (all 10 characters) is composed of 5 blocks is provided in the storage unit 13 in advance, and the assigned block When it is necessary to display with more than a few characters, such a display pattern is called from a character generator such as a microcomputer and controlled to be displayed on the screen.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of the image display apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display state for selecting the use language of OSD display in the image display apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the Example of the character display pattern memorize | stored in the memory | storage part of the image display apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure shown about one Embodiment of the OSD display format in the menu display method, video display apparatus, and television apparatus which concern on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Antenna, 2 ... Reception part, 3 ... External information input part, 4 ... Switching part, 5 ... Video processing part, 6 ... Audio | voice processing part, 7 ... Display part, 8 ... Audio | voice output means, 9 ... Central control part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Operation part, 11 ... Light-receiving part, 12 ... Remote operation part, 13 ... Memory | storage part, 14, 15, 16 ... Partition.

Claims (15)

A menu display method capable of displaying a plurality of menu items in a plurality of layers,
As the predetermined character selected as the display of the plurality of menu items, either the first display pattern or the second display pattern composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern can be selected. Yes,
A predetermined menu item to be displayed by an operation for displaying the menu item is displayed,
All menu item displayable areas allocated to display menu items in the same hierarchy are of equal size,
When all the characters to be displayed on the menu item are selected from the first display pattern and arranged, when it is determined that the state exceeds the menu item displayable area, it should be displayed on the menu item. A menu display method, wherein at least a part of characters is controlled to be selected and displayed from the second display pattern.   The menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from a second display pattern and displayed in an array is an item included in a layer other than the lowest layer. Item 14. A menu display method according to Item 1. The plurality of hierarchies are composed of at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy,
The first hierarchy and the second hierarchy are displayed on the screen at the same time,
The menu item according to claim 1, wherein a menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from the second display pattern and displayed in an array is included in the first hierarchy. Display method. The display pattern of the selected character is managed in blocks of a certain size,
The first display pattern is composed of one character for one block,
4. The menu display method according to claim 1, wherein the second display pattern is configured with a number of characters different from the number of blocks of the plurality of blocks with respect to a plurality of blocks. 5. The first display pattern is a full-width display,
5. The menu display method according to claim 1, wherein the second display pattern is configured by half-width display. A video display device capable of displaying video information and displaying a menu by dividing a plurality of menu items into a plurality of layers,
A storage unit having a first display pattern and a second display pattern composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern as the predetermined character selected as the display of the plurality of menu items;
An operation means for performing an operation for displaying the menu item;
A display unit for displaying predetermined menu items to be displayed by operation of the operation means;
A control unit for controlling the menu item displayable areas allocated to display the menu items in the same hierarchy so as to be all equal in size.
When the control unit determines that all of the characters to be displayed in the predetermined menu item are selected from the first display pattern and arranged and exceeds the menu item displayable area, Video display, wherein at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged and displayed in the menu item displayable area of the display unit. apparatus.   The menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from a second display pattern and displayed in an array is an item included in a layer other than the lowest layer. Item 7. The video display device according to Item 6. The plurality of hierarchies are composed of at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy,
The first hierarchy and the second hierarchy are displayed on the screen at the same time,
7. The video according to claim 6, wherein a menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from a second display pattern and displayed in an array is included in the first hierarchy. Display device. The character display pattern stored in the storage unit is managed in blocks of a certain size,
The first display pattern is composed of one character for one block,
The video display device according to claim 6, wherein the second display pattern is configured with a number of characters different from the number of blocks of the plurality of blocks with respect to a plurality of blocks. The first display pattern is a full-width display,
The video display device according to claim 6, wherein the second display pattern is configured by half-width display. A television device capable of receiving a broadcast signal and displaying it as video information on a screen and displaying a menu by dividing a plurality of menu items into a plurality of layers,
A storage unit having a first display pattern and a second display pattern composed of characters smaller in size than the first display pattern as the predetermined character selected as the display of the plurality of menu items;
Remote operation means for enabling the operation means for displaying the menu item to be configured by a remote operation unit and a light receiving unit;
A display unit for displaying a predetermined menu item to be displayed by the operation means in a state of being superimposed on the video information;
A control unit for controlling the menu item displayable areas allocated to display the menu items in the same hierarchy so that they are all equal in size,
When the controller determines that all of the characters to be displayed in the predetermined menu item are selected from the first display pattern and arranged, the control unit determines that the state exceeds the menu item displayable area. The television is controlled so that at least a part of characters to be displayed in a predetermined menu item is selected from the second display pattern and arranged and displayed in the menu item displayable area of the display unit. John equipment.   The menu item in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu item is selected from a second display pattern and displayed in an array is an item included in a layer other than the lowest layer. Item 12. The television device according to Item 11. The plurality of hierarchies are composed of at least a first hierarchy and a second hierarchy lower than the first hierarchy,
The first hierarchy and the second hierarchy are displayed on the screen at the same time,
12. The television set according to claim 11, wherein menu items in which at least a part of characters to be displayed in the menu items are selected from a second display pattern and arranged and displayed are included in the first hierarchy. John equipment. The character display pattern stored in the storage unit is managed in blocks of a certain size,
The first display pattern is composed of one character for one block,
The television apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second display pattern is configured with a number of characters larger than the number of blocks of the plurality of blocks with respect to a plurality of blocks. The first display pattern is a full-width display,
The television apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the second display pattern is configured by half-width display.