JP2007004369A - Electronic book display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic book display device allowing a reader to read an electronic book from the part last finished while previously knowing an outline without reading the already read part again. <P>SOLUTION: Outline display data storing an outline to a predetermined position is associated with character display data of the electronic book to be stored in a storage part 12. When reading is finished, display history data are stored in the storage part 12. In the next reading, the outline display data previously associated with a position, which is stored in the display history data, are displayed when a page including the position is displayed. In this way, when the position associated with the display history data is displayed in resuming reading the electronic book, the outline to the position can be previously known, and it is not necessity for rereading the previous pages. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention attaches a bookmark when browsing an electronic book, and not only displays a page with a previous bookmark when resuming browsing of the electronic book from the bookmark, but also provides an overview up to the previously viewed portion, etc. This is related to an electronic book display device that can assist when browsing again.

  As an alternative to books, newspapers, magazines, etc., an electronic book display device that can download electronic book data such as printed characters and manga from the web or read it from an external storage medium and read it on a display device. It has been known.

  In a conventional electronic book display device, when it is desired to interrupt browsing in the middle, a so-called bookmark can be attached. When resuming browsing, if the bookmark is designated, a page with a bookmark is displayed on the screen, so that browsing can be resumed from the last reading.

However, readers do not always remember the contents read up to the previous time, and may forget the details of the outline and the names of the characters. Here, if the reader has forgotten the synopsis or the like even if he / she tries to read a new part with only the bookmark function as a mark indicating the previous reading, as in the past, the previous page is again displayed. There was a situation that had to be read again.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-125921

  In Patent Document 1, a bookmark mark can be attached by adding date and color information as attribute data when attaching a bookmark mark. However, the reader who viewed the bookmark only with the date or the color of the bookmark. Cannot read the previous contents of the page with the bookmark.

Thus, there is a need for an electronic book display device that displays a synopsis up to the page so that when the reader starts reading from a page of the document, it is not necessary to read back the part that has already been read.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides the following electronic book display device.

  (1) A display means, a storage means for storing a character display data group constituting a sentence, and an operation input means capable of operating input from the outside, and characters from the storage means in response to a reading start input by the input means Display data is sequentially extracted and displayed on the display means, while the display history is stored as display history data in the storage means in response to an end input of the operation input means, and the display history stored in the storage means An electronic book comprising character display data display control means for sequentially extracting and displaying the character display data from the middle of a sentence including character display data at a position where the end input of the operation input means is made based on data A display device, wherein the storage means includes synopsis display data associated with character display data included in a character display data group constituting the sentence. Synopsis display control means for extracting synopsis display data stored in the storage means based on the display history data stored in the storage means and displaying the extracted synopsis display data on the display means And an electronic book display device.

  According to the invention described in (1), the synopsis display data can be extracted based on the display history data, and the synopsis display data associated with the character display data can be displayed. For example, when displaying character display data from the position stored in the display history data, synopsis display data associated with the character display data to be displayed can be displayed. As a result, no matter where you have finished reading, the outline up to that part is displayed, and even if the reader forgets the contents up to the previous reading, the outline can be grasped by displaying the outline in advance and reading it Can read the new part without having to read it back.

  (2) The electronic display according to (1), wherein the synopsis display control means displays synopsis display data on the display means on condition that a synopsis display request is input by the operation input means. Book display device.

  According to the invention described in (2), the summary display data can be displayed on condition that the summary display request input has been made. Thereby, since the synopsis display data can be viewed at any time while browsing the character display data, the synopsis can be confirmed during the browsing. Also, if the synopsis display request is not input, the synopsis display data is not displayed, so that the demand for reading the continuation immediately without looking at the synopsis can be satisfied.

  (3) Storage means for storing display means, character display data group constituting a sentence, and synopsis display data previously associated with each character display data or specific character display data of the character display data group The character display data of the character display data group constituting the sentence stored in the storage means is sequentially read out, and the position to be displayed on the display means can be arbitrarily designated, and the readout position designation means Character display data display control means for sequentially reading out and displaying the character display data from the position of the character display data designated by the character display, and the character display data or specific character display displayed by the character display data display control means An electronic book display device comprising: synopsis display control means for displaying synopsis display data associated with data in advance.

  According to the invention described in (3), even if there is no display history data, the character display data is sequentially read and displayed from the position of the character display data specified by the reading position specifying means, and the displayed character display data is displayed. Synopsis display data associated in advance is displayed on the screen. Accordingly, the character display data can be read from an arbitrary position without using the so-called bookmark function, and the outline can be grasped and browsed.

  According to the present invention, when displaying character display data from the position stored in the display history data, it is possible to display the synopsis display data associated with the character display data to be displayed in advance, and grasp the synopsis in advance. Provided is an electronic book display device that can read the continuation of character display data without reading back a portion that has already been read.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an electronic book display device 1 according to the present invention. The electronic book display device 1 has a display unit 24 for displaying an electronic book, a button 7a, 7b for turning a page, an input button 8, a synopsis display button 9 for displaying a synopsis, and the like on the front surface. There are buttons for operation. In addition, you may arrange | position the button for operation on the side. The display unit 24 displays character display data and the like read into the electronic book display device 1.

  Further, an external storage device connection unit 20, a power switch, a battery pack, and the like, which will be described later, are provided on the back surface (not shown) of the device. Moreover, you may arrange | position the small speaker for outputting an audio | voice.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the electronic book display device 1. The electronic book display device 1 includes a storage unit 12, an external storage device connection unit 20, an operation input unit 22, a display unit 24, a control unit 26, a character display data display control unit 14, a synopsis display data display control unit 16, and the like. ing.

  The storage unit 12 stores an electronic book control program, character display data, synopsis display data, display history data, and other various programs. The storage unit 12 may be, for example, a main storage device or an IC memory such as a nonvolatile EEPROM (including a flash EEPROM).

  Here, the display history data includes at least data representing the position where the browsing end input is made when the control unit 26 reads the character display data constituting the text of the electronic book and displays it on the display unit 24. . Next, when the reader browses the character display data from the position stored in the display history data, the character display data display control unit 14 reads the display history data from the storage unit 12 and stores the position and characters stored in the display history data. Check against display data. And the character display data including the position which the said display history data memorize | stored is extracted sequentially, and the display on the display part 24 is started. The position stored in the display history data may be in units of pages displayed on the display unit 24, or may be stored in units of lines or characters of the character display data displayed on the display unit 24.

  Here, the synopsis display data refers to data associated with character display data in advance. The synopsis display data may be a synopsis as character information, or may be moving picture data representing the synopsis with animation or the like.

  First, the character display data is divided into a plurality of parts in advance, and the same synopsis code is assigned to the character display data included in the same part. The synopsis code and the synopsis display data are stored in association with the synopsis display data / syntax code correspondence table 80 of FIG. The synopsis display data / speech code correspondence table 80 includes an synopsis code field 82 in which synopsis codes are stored and a synopsis display data field 84 in which synopsis display data is stored. Therefore, when the character display data display control unit 14 displays a page to which certain character display data belongs on the display unit 24, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 displays the synopsis code attached to the character display data to be displayed. The corresponding synopsis display data file is read from the read, synopsis display data / speech code correspondence table 80 and displayed on the display unit 24.

  When a plurality of synopsis codes are included in the page to which the character display data displayed on the display unit 24 belongs, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 selects the first of the character display data in the page. The synopsis display data corresponding to the synopsis code assigned to the character display data is displayed. Further, when the position stored in the display history data can be attached in units of lines of the displayed page, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 adds the character display data included in the line to which the bookmark data is attached. Synopsis display data corresponding to the assigned synopsis code may be displayed.

  The external storage device connection unit 20 is an interface for reading character display data into the storage unit 12. This may be an interface such as USB, which can be input from an external storage device or a computer, and various readers corresponding to so-called memory cards such as SD memory, compact flash (registered trademark), and memory stick. Also good. In addition, downloading by infrared communication may be possible.

  The operation input unit 22 is configured with page turning buttons 7a and 7b for operation and an input button 8, a synopsis display button 9, and the like that are used when the operation based on the detection of the coordinates of the line-of-sight position is not selected. Has been.

  The display unit 24 displays input information and character display data. For example, the display unit 24 is integrally formed with a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an EL display, and the like and a transparent tablet, and character display data and an operation selection screen are displayed on the screen.

  The control unit 26 indicates a control unit that controls the entire electronic book display device 1, and executes various programs stored in the storage unit 12, accepts various selections, and the like. In addition, a character data display control unit 14 and a synopsis display data display control unit 16 are included. For example, it is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O port, and the like. Further, an arithmetic unit dedicated to image processing that operates in cooperation with the central processing unit may be included.

  The character display data display control unit 14 reads the page to which the character display data at the position indicated by the position information included in the display history data belongs from the storage unit 12 and displays the page on the display unit 24.

  The synopsis display data display control unit 16 reads the synopsis display data from the synopsis display data / syntax code correspondence table when the character display data display control unit 14 displays the page to which the character display data belongs on the display unit 24. Display data is displayed on the display unit 24.

[Overview of browsing process]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the browsing process of the electronic book display device 1 according to the present invention. The flow of browsing processing will be described below.

  First, when the reader browses the character display data, the character display data display control unit 14 displays a list of character display data stored in the storage unit 12 on the display unit 24 (step S100). The character display data displayed here may be the file name of each character display data or the title of a book.

  When a list of character display data is displayed in step S100, the control unit 26 accepts selection of character display data to be browsed by the reader. (Step S110). When the selection is accepted, the selected character display data is read from the storage unit 12 into the work area of the control unit 26 (step S120).

  When reading the character display data in step S120, the control unit 26 stores the final page number of the character display data in the storage unit 12 as a variable m (step S130). When this process is completed, the process proceeds to a display process (step S140) of character display data related to the selected electronic book. This process will be described later. The series of processing from step S100 to step S140 described above is repeated until an end instruction is received (step S150).

  Next, when the control unit 26 receives an instruction to end the use of the electronic book display device 1 via the operation input unit 22, the control unit 26 turns off the electronic book display device 1 and ends the operation.

  Specifically, the control unit 26 displays options on the display unit 24 together with a message indicating whether or not to end, and accepts input from the reader. Alternatively, it may be ended by pressing the power button. If the use of the electronic book display device 1 is not terminated, the control unit 26 returns the process to step S100 and starts the character display data browsing process again. In addition, when the use of the electronic book display device 1 is ended, the control unit 26 determines whether or not an end operation has been received in step S275 described later (step S160). If the end operation has not been received, for example, if the power button has been pressed, the currently displayed position in the character display data is stored as display history in the display history data (step S170), The power to the book display device 1 is turned off and the process ends.

[Character display data display processing]
The flow of the character display data display process (step S140 in FIG. 4) will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the control unit 26 determines whether or not a display history is stored in the display history data for the character display data read in step S120 (step S200). Specifically, the control unit 26 searches the storage unit 12 to determine whether a display history is stored in the display history data related to the character display data. If a display history exists in the display history data, the control unit 26 reads the display history data (step S220). The number of pages including the position of the character display data designated by the display history stored in the display history data is stored in the variable n and stored in the storage unit 12 (step S230).

  Conversely, when the control unit 26 determines that there is no display history in the display history data, the control unit 26 displays the character display data on the display unit 24 from the first position. Is set to 1 (step S210). Subsequently, as the user turns the page, the control unit 26 updates the variable n and recognizes the current number of pages. If this process ends, the process moves to a step S240.

  In addition, you may make it designate a page directly, without using display history data. In that case, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 26 displays the table of contents of the character display data read in step S120, prompts the user to select a chapter 50 or a section for which the page is to be displayed, and accepts the selection. The first page of the chapter or section that has been selected is displayed, or if the number of pages is displayed in the table of contents, the reader selects the number of pages 52 and accepts the selection. Also good.

  In step S240, the character display data display control unit 14 displays the page indicated by the variable n stored in step S210 or step S230 on the display unit 24. If this process ends, the process moves to a step S250.

  While displaying the page in step S240, the control unit 26 accepts selection of whether to display synopsis display data associated with the character display data belonging to the page being displayed on the display unit 24 (step S250). Specifically, the control unit 26 receives the press of the synopsis display button 9. If the synopsis display button is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S275.

  When the press of the synopsis display button is accepted in step S250, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 belongs to the page including the position indicated by the display history stored in the display history data based on the bookmark data. Read the synopsis code included in the character display data. When there are a plurality of synopsis codes in the page to which the character display data displayed on the display unit 24 belongs, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 selects the first character display data among the character display data in the page. Read the synopsis code assigned to. Then, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 reads related synopsis display data from the storage unit 12 based on the synopsis display data / speech code correspondence table 80 (step S260).

  Then, the synopsis display data display control unit 16 displays synopsis display data associated with the page to which the character display data at the position indicated by the read bookmark data belongs on the display unit 24 (step S270). FIG. 7 shows an example when synopsis display data is displayed on the display unit 24. A display screen 70 of the synopsis display data is displayed on the front surface of the display unit 24. Along with character information 72 indicating the synopsis, the contents of the synopsis and a moving image expressing the main scenes up to the previous page are displayed. The summary display data to be displayed is not limited to this method, and may be composed of only character information or a moving image. If the electronic book display device 1 can output audio, the audio data may be reproduced by adding audio data to the synopsis display data. The synopsis display data is composed of audio only, and only the audio is reproduced. May be.

  While displaying the page on the display unit 24 in step S240 or displaying the synopsis display data on the display unit 24 or after the display, the control unit 26 waits for acceptance of the end operation (step S275). Specifically, for example, one of the input buttons 8 is set as an end operation button (not shown), and is accepted by pressing the button. If the end operation button is not pressed, the process proceeds to step S280.

  In addition, the control unit 26 waits for reception of a page turning operation while displaying the corresponding page. First, specifically, when the page turning buttons 7a and 7b are pressed, the control unit 26 receives a page turning operation. When the control unit 26 accepts the pressing (step S280), the variable n is incremented (variable n = n + 1) (step S300). If it is determined in step S280 that the page turning buttons 7a and 7b associated with the page turning process have not been pressed, the process proceeds to step S290.

  If the control unit 26 accepts the pressing of the page turning buttons 7a and 7b associated with the page return process in step S290, the variable n is decremented (n = n-1) (step S310), The process proceeds to S320. If the page turning buttons 7a and 7b are not pressed in step S290, or if the reader presses an irrelevant button such as the input button 8, the process returns to step S240, and the control unit 26 displays the page as it is. The display to 24 is continued.

  In step S320, the current page number (variable n) is compared with the final page number (variable m). By this comparison, it is determined whether or not the variable n exceeds the final page number. If the variable n is less than or equal to the variable m, the process returns to step S240 to update the page display. If n = m, this subroutine is terminated, and the process returns to step S150 (FIG. 4).

  In step S275, for example, when the control unit 26 accepts the pressing of the end operation button, a process for accepting the reader's selection as to whether or not to finish browsing the currently displayed character display data is performed (step S340). . This is because the control unit 26 displays a selection screen asking the end of browsing on the display unit 24, and accepts the reader's selection by detecting the pressing of the input button.

  When the selection not to end the browsing is received, the control unit 26 returns the process to step S240. In addition, when the control unit 26 receives a selection indicating that browsing is ended, the control unit 26 further performs a reception process for selecting whether to store the position currently displayed on the display unit 24 in the display history data ( Step S350). Specifically, a screen for selecting whether or not to store display history data is displayed on the display unit 24 and accepts a reader's selection. However, when any of the input buttons 8 is assigned as a display history button Alternatively, it may be performed by recognizing pressing of the display history button.

  If the control unit 26 accepts the selection to save the end state in step S350, the currently displayed position is stored in the storage unit 12 as the display history data display history (step S360). If a selection not to store is accepted, this subroutine is terminated, and the process proceeds to step S150 (FIG. 4).

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it only showed the specific example and does not specifically limit this invention. Further, the effects described in the embodiments of the present invention only list the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects described in the embodiments of the present invention.

It is the figure which showed schematic structure of the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is the block diagram which showed schematic structure of the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a synopsis display data and a synopsis code correspondence table in the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process of the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a display example at the time of the character display data display in the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention. It is a display example at the time of the moving image data display in the electronic book display apparatus 1 which concerns on an example of suitable embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic book display apparatus 7a, 7b Page turning button 8 Input button 9 Synopsis display button 12 Memory | storage part 14 Character display data display control part 16 Synopsis display data display control part 22 Operation input part 26 Control part 24 Display part

Claims (3)

Display means;
Storage means for storing a character display data group constituting the sentence;
An operation input means capable of operating input from the outside,
Character display data is sequentially extracted from the storage means in response to a reading start input by the operation input means and displayed on the display means, while its display history is displayed on the storage means in response to an end input of the operation input means. Based on the display history data stored in the storage means, the character display data is sequentially extracted from the middle of the sentence including the character display data at the position where the operation input means is input based on the display history data stored in the storage means. An electronic book display device comprising character display data display control means for enabling display,
The storage means stores synopsis display data associated with character display data included in a character display data group constituting the sentence,
Synopsis display control means for extracting the synopsis display data stored in the storage means based on the display history data stored in the storage means and displaying the extracted synopsis display data on the display means. Electronic book display device.   2. The electronic book display device according to claim 1, wherein the synopsis display control unit displays synopsis display data on the display unit on condition that a synopsis display request is input by the operation input unit. . Display means;
Storage means for storing a character display data group constituting a sentence, and a synopsis display data pre-associated with each character display data or specific character display data of the character display data group;
Read position designation means that can sequentially read the character display data of the character display data group constituting the text stored in the storage means, and display the display means on the display means;
Character display data display control means for sequentially reading and displaying the character display data from the position of the character display data designated by the reading position designation means;
An electronic book display device comprising: synopsis display control means for displaying synopsis display data associated in advance with the character display data displayed by the character display data display control means or specific character display data.

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