JP2013218418A - Display control device, display control method, display control program and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a display control device allowing a user to find the thumbnail of content that the user desires to view, without requiring an unnecessary burden on the user and with the same ease as conventional controllers.SOLUTION: In an electronic book terminal 100, an electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 classifies each book content of a series whose thumbnail showing content is to be displayed into groups individually specified by series. The control unit 141 displays on a display unit 160 a thumbnail showing content that is the only one content classified into a group. For a group into which plural pieces of content are classified, the control unit 141 displays on the display unit 160 a folder showing a specific thumbnail indicating a title or the group common to the plural pieces of content. When a user designates the folder, the control unit 141 displays on the display unit 160 a thumbnail of each content having the title indicated by the folder.

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to a display control apparatus and a display control method for displaying an object (for example, a thumbnail or the like) for reproducing content on a display unit. The present invention also relates to a display control program for causing a computer to function as such a display control device, and a computer-readable recording medium in which such a display control program is recorded.

  Currently, playback devices capable of playing back content such as music content and video content are widely used.

  Many playback devices sold in recent years have a function of displaying a title list of content stored in the device itself on a display unit and playing back content of a title selected by the user from the title list.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a personal computer that displays a list of titles of all music contents stored in its own device. This personal computer has a function of extracting music content having a specified attribute value and displaying a list of only the titles of the extracted music content when a user specifies a specific attribute value (for example, artist name). ing.

  However, when this function is used, an attribute value is selected until the user reaches the desired content, so that there is a high possibility that the number of selection operations will increase. Therefore, when the user desires to reproduce such music content, the user has to find the title of the desired music content from the list of all music content titles.

JP 2004-220404 A (published on August 5, 2004)

  Recently, electronic book terminals capable of reproducing electronic publication contents have begun to spread.

  Many electronic book terminals have a function of displaying a list of thumbnails of each content stored in its own device and playing back electronic publication content corresponding to the thumbnail selected by the user from the list of thumbnails.

  Some electronic book terminals display a folder related to a book content of a series together with thumbnails of each content of a book. Specifically, the electronic book terminal displays a folder for each series instead of displaying a thumbnail for each content of a series of book contents. When the user designates a folder, the thumbnails of the contents of the corresponding series included in the designated folder are displayed for the first time.

  When the user of this electronic book terminal desires to browse the book content of a series, the user selects the folder of the corresponding series, and further finds and selects the thumbnail of the desired content from the thumbnail list of the content of the corresponding series. become. On the other hand, when it is desired to browse the contents of the book, the user finds and selects the thumbnail of the desired contents from the thumbnail list of the contents of the book. Therefore, when it is desired to browse any content, the user can find the thumbnail more easily than finding the thumbnail of the desired content from the thumbnail list of all the content.

  However, in the above-described conventional configuration, when a user desires to browse a series of book content, the user must always perform two selection operations of selecting a corresponding folder and selecting a thumbnail of the corresponding content.

  (A) and (b) of FIG. 24 are diagrams exemplifying conventional first-tier and second-tier electronic bookcase screens, respectively. In the example of FIG. 24, the magazine titled “Monthly PC Utilization” has only the November issue as a thumbnail display target. Even when the user desires to view the November issue of “Monthly PC Utilization Techniques”, the user selects the corresponding folder 5f on the first-level electronic bookcase screen, and further displays only one on the second-level electronic bookcase screen. The selected thumbnail 5t must be selected. This is troublesome for the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its main purpose is not to waste time and effort to perform two selection operations for content viewing, and the same as in the past. An object of the present invention is to realize a display control apparatus that allows a user to find an object for reproducing desired content with ease.

  In order to solve the above problems, the display control device according to the present invention classifies each content having series information, which is a display target of an object for content reproduction, into a group for each content having the same series information. And means for displaying the object for reproducing the content of the group into which the single content is classified on the display unit, and is related to the plurality of content classified into the same group and common to the plurality of content First display control means for displaying a display object including a title on the display unit, and when the display object displayed by the first display control means is designated by the user, the display object is included in the display object For each of a plurality of contents having a title, the object for reproducing the contents is displayed on the display unit. That the second display control means, and a, is characterized in that. Here, the display object including the title may be the title itself or may include something other than the title.

  According to the above configuration, the user designates a display target including a title common to the plurality of contents for each object of the plurality of contents belonging to the same group as a display target of the object for content reproduction. Is displayed on the display unit as a trigger.

  Therefore, since the display control apparatus according to the present invention displays objects in an organized state within a limited screen area, it is less likely to display a large number of objects. As a result, the display control apparatus according to the present invention is easier than finding an object for reproducing desired content in a state in which objects of all contents that are objects to be displayed are displayed (same as conventional). Now, the user can find an object for reproducing the desired content.

  Further, the display control apparatus according to the present invention displays, for a content that is the display target of only one object in the group, the object for content playback without causing the user to specify the display target. To display. Therefore, the display control apparatus according to the present invention allows the user to appreciate such content only with the trouble of designating the object for content reproduction once.

  As described above, the display control apparatus according to the present invention does not require the trouble of performing the selection operation twice for appreciating the content, and it is possible to obtain the desired content with the same ease as in the past. There is an effect that the user can find out an object to be reproduced.

  In order to solve the above problem, the display control method according to the present invention classifies each content having series information, which is a display target of an object for content reproduction, into a group for each content having the same series information. The process and the object for reproducing the content for the group into which the single content is classified are displayed on the display unit, and are related to the plurality of contents classified into the same group and common to the plurality of contents. A first display control step for displaying a display object including a title on the display unit, and when the display target displayed in the first display control step is designated by a user, a plurality of items related to the image are displayed. 2nd display control which displays the object for reproducing the contents about each of the contents on the display part And it includes a degree, and is characterized in that. Here, the display control method according to the present invention may start the first display control process after the classification process is completed, and the first display control process is performed during the classification process. It may be a start.

  According to said structure, the display control method which concerns on this invention has an effect similar to the display control apparatus which concerns on this invention.

  In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, the first display control unit is the oldest among the plurality of contents classified into the group, regarding a group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified. It is desirable that the thumbnail of the published content is configured to be displayed as a part of the display object. In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, the display control unit assigns to a content among a plurality of contents classified into the group, about a group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified. It is desirable that the thumbnail of the content having the smallest value indicating the order in the group being displayed is displayed as a part of the display object.

  According to the above configuration, the display control device according to the present invention provides a user who wants to read the contents of a certain series of books for the first time and a user who wants to read the contents of a certain series of books again from the beginning. It is possible to quickly search for an object for reproducing the content of the first book to be read on. In addition, the display control apparatus according to the present invention provides an object for reproducing the content of the first periodicals to be read to a user who wants to read the contents corresponding to the periodicals (magazines, etc.) in order from the oldest. There is an additional effect that can be quickly searched.

  In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, when the first display control means has a group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified, the user is most recently selected among the plurality of contents classified in the group. It is desirable that the thumbnail of the content ordered in the above is displayed as a part of the display object.

  According to the above configuration, the display control apparatus according to the present invention quickly finds an object for reproducing a periodic publication from a user who has just ordered a periodic publication (newspaper, magazine, etc.) and has not yet read it. There is a further effect that it can be produced. In addition, the display control device according to the present invention displays the object of the content most recently ordered (for example, purchased or rented), so that the user can easily grasp that all the content has been downloaded, There is an effect that a sense of security can be given.

  In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, the first display control unit is configured to use the most recent content among the plurality of contents classified into the group for a group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified. It is desirable that the thumbnail of the content downloaded to the display control device is displayed as a part of the display object.

  According to the above configuration, the display control apparatus according to the present invention quickly searches for an object for playing back a periodicals for a user who has just downloaded the periodicals (newspapers, magazines, etc.) and has not yet read them. There is a further effect that it can be produced. In addition, since the display control device according to the present invention displays the thumbnail of the most recently downloaded content, the user can easily grasp that all the content has been downloaded and give a sense of security. There is an effect.

  In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, the first display control means displays an image showing the number of thumbnails displayed as a trigger when the display object is designated as the display object. It is desirable to be configured.

  According to the above configuration, the display control apparatus according to the present invention has the further effect that the user can grasp the number of objects for content reproduction to be displayed before the plurality of thumbnails are actually displayed. Play.

  In the display control device according to the present invention, the display control means displays the object of each content that is the display target and does not have the series information together with the object of the content classified into the group only by one. It is desirable to be configured.

  In the display control apparatus according to the present invention, it is desirable that the object is a thumbnail of content that is a display target of the object.

  According to the above configuration, the display control device according to the present invention does not require the trouble of performing the selection operation twice for appreciating the content, and the desired control can be performed with the same ease as in the past. There is a further effect that the user can find out a thumbnail for reproducing the content.

  A program for operating a computer as a display control apparatus according to the present invention, characterized in that the computer functions as each of the above-described means, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded Are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  As described above, the display control apparatus according to the present invention does not require the trouble of performing the selection operation twice for appreciating the content, and it is possible to obtain the desired content with the same ease as in the past. There is an effect that the user can find an object to be reproduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic book terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating incidental information attached to each content ordered by the user using the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1 in a table format. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement which displays the electronic bookshelf screen of the 1st hierarchy among the electronic bookshelf screens which the electronic book terminal of FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a sorted attribute value list used by the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1 for display processing of the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating an electronic bookshelf screen on the first level displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically illustrating a second-tier electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating a second-tier electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 8 is an image diagram showing one page of electronic publication content displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. It is the figure which showed the modification of the folder displayed on the electronic book shelf screen of a 1st hierarchy. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic book terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a sorted attribute value list used by the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1 for display processing of the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating a first-tier electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 13 is another diagram schematically illustrating the first-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 14 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 15 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 16 is another diagram illustrating a sorted attribute value list used by the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1 for display processing of the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. FIG. 17 is another diagram schematically illustrating the first-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 18 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 19 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 20 is another diagram illustrating a sorted attribute value list used by the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1 for display processing of the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. FIG. 21 is another diagram schematically illustrating the first-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 22 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 23 is another diagram schematically illustrating the second-level electronic bookshelf screen displayed on the electronic book terminal of FIG. 1. It is the figure which illustrated typically the electronic book shelf screen of the 1st hierarchy and 2nd hierarchy displayed on the conventional electronic book terminal.

  An electronic book terminal (display control device) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The electronic book terminal according to the present embodiment is configured to download electronic publication content ordered by a user from an online book store through a network.

  In addition, the electronic book terminal according to the present embodiment has a function of displaying a two-level electronic bookshelf screen composed of a first level and a second level. The electronic bookshelf screen is a thumbnail for playing back the electronic publication content ordered by the user (typically, a reduced image of the cover of the book content and magazine content, a reduced image of the first page of the newspaper content, date / morning / This is a screen on which a dedicated image of each newspaper with characters indicating evening edition is displayed.

  The first-level electronic bookshelf screens displayed by the electronic book terminal are “unread / recommended” screens that display a list of unread books, newspapers, magazines, recommended books, and magazine thumbnails. Examples include a “Recently read books” screen that shows a list of thumbnails of the books you have read. The “unread / recommended” screen may be divided into an area where thumbnails of content purchased by the user are displayed and an area where thumbnails of recommended content from the store are displayed.

  On the first-level electronic bookshelf screen, a series of books, newspapers, magazines, and other continuous publication folders are displayed in addition to thumbnails of single-page publications. The folder is displayed individually for each series of publications that are continuously published (hereinafter simply referred to as “series publications”). For example, a book folder of a series is displayed individually for each series. In addition, a series of publications can be rephrased as a set of publications composed of the latest publication and all back issues thereof. In addition, some books in the series are not only sequentially released (published) one volume at a time, but also all or a part of the volumes are simultaneously released. For such books as well, a folder of books in the series is displayed. In addition, the electronic book terminal according to the present embodiment compares the attribute value of the attribute “number of volumes” in the supplementary information described later, so that the new and old of each book content are sequentially published, or at the same time Whether it is published or not, it can be judged.

  When the user designates a folder, the electronic book terminal according to the present embodiment is configured to display a second-level electronic bookshelf screen showing a list of thumbnails of each continuous publication corresponding to the folder. Has been.

  The electronic book terminal according to the present embodiment is characterized by the way in which thumbnails and folders are displayed on the first-level electronic bookshelf screen and the method for displaying thumbnails on the second-level electronic bookshelf screen. The explanation will focus on the characteristics of.

<Configuration of Electronic Book Terminal 100>
A configuration of the electronic book terminal 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the electronic book terminal 100, and FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating incidental information attached to each content ordered by a user in a table format. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic book terminal 100 includes a content acquisition unit 110, a content storage unit 120, a content supplementary information acquisition unit 130, a display control unit 140, an input unit 150, and a display unit 160.

(Content acquisition unit 110)
The content acquisition unit 110 downloads the electronic publication content ordered by the user from the online book store (content distribution server 300) through the network 200 together with the accompanying information.

(Content storage unit 120)
The content storage unit 120 is a storage in which the electronic publication content downloaded by the content acquisition unit 110 and its incidental information are associated and stored in a fixed manner.

(Content Accompanying Information Acquisition Unit 130)
The content supplementary information acquisition unit 130 supplies the supplementary information of each electronic publication content recorded in the content storage unit 120 to the display control unit 140.

(Display control unit 140)
The display control unit 140 controls the display of the display unit 160 based on the electronic publication content recorded in the content storage unit 120 and the accompanying information. The display control unit 140 includes an electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 and a content display processing unit 142.

  The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 refers to the supplementary information of each content supplied from the content supplementary information acquisition unit 130, and selects the content whose thumbnail is to be displayed on the electronic bookshelf screen from the content recorded in the content storage unit 120. select. For example, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 refers to the “last subscription date” in the supplementary information in FIG. 2, and the “last subscription date” is “recently subscribed” as content to be displayed on the “recently read books” screen. Select electronic publishing content that meets the criteria for “read books”.

  The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 also arranges the order of the list of objects (objects consisting of thumbnails and folders) to be displayed on the electronic book shelf screen of the first hierarchy, and the first hierarchy of the contents based on the incidental information of each content. Determines the order of the list of thumbnails displayed on the electronic bookshelf screen.

  The content display processing unit 142 plays back the electronic publication content corresponding to the specified thumbnail and displays it on the display unit 160, triggered by the user specifying the thumbnail displayed on the electronic bookshelf screen.

(Input unit 150)
The input unit 150 is an input device that receives an operation instruction from a user.

(Display unit 160)
The display unit 160 is a display on which various electronic bookshelf screens and electronic publication contents to be reproduced are displayed.

  In addition, although the electronic book terminal 100 may be provided with the input part 150 and the display part 160 separately, it is desirable to provide the touch panel display which plays the role of both the input part 150 and the display part 160. FIG.

<About incidental information>
Before describing the operation of the electronic book terminal 100, some supplementary information will be mentioned.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the incidental information is composed of 33 types of attributes such as “content ID”, “thumbnail image”, etc., but the content incidental information necessarily includes 33 attribute values. Do not mean.

  For example, the incidental information indicating the “number of volumes” is included in the incidental information of the book content of the series, but the attribute value indicating “number of volumes” is not included in the incidental information of the other contents. In addition, the incidental information of content that corresponds to continuous publications includes the attribute values of “series ID”, “series name”, and “series name (Kana)”. The incidental information does not include the attribute values of “series ID”, “series name”, and “series name (Kana)”. Note that a character string indicating the title of the newspaper or magazine is given as the attribute value of the “series name” of the newspaper or magazine. In this way, information representing a group such as a series of books (for example, comics) or a subscribed newspaper or magazine is called “series information”. In the incidental information of content, “series ID”, “series name” and “series” “Name” corresponds to “Series Information”.

  The electronic book terminal 100 according to the present embodiment confirms whether or not each attribute value of “series name” and “series name (kana)” is included in the incidental information of the content, It is configured to determine whether the content corresponds to a single publication or a content that corresponds to a continuous publication (a series of books, newspapers, or magazines). Further, the electronic book terminal 100 is configured to determine whether the content is new or old based on the attribute value of the “number of turns” in the incidental information of the content determined to correspond to a continuous publication. In addition, when the supplementary information of the content does not include “volume number” information, the electronic book terminal 100 can determine whether the content is new or old based on the “sales start date” or “purchase date”.

  The electronic book terminal 100 confirms whether or not the attribute value of “series ID” is included in the incidental information of the content, so that the content is content corresponding to a publication, or It may be configured to determine whether the content corresponds to a continuous publication.

<Operation of Electronic Book Terminal 100>
Next, an operation of the electronic book terminal 100 when an operation instruction for displaying the first-level electronic bookshelf screen is received from the user via the input unit 150 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the electronic book terminal 100, and FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a sorted attribute value list described later. In the following, on the “Unread / Recommended” screen, “Manga Galapamon” series books (Vol. 3 to Vol. 6), magazine “Weekly Sharp” (2/6, 1/30, 1/24) No. 1/16), the November issue of the magazine “Monthly PC Utilization Techniques”, and the 11 contents of the book “Moshi Galapagos ga ...” and “Bonus Utilization Techniques” are examples of thumbnail display. The operation of the electronic book terminal 100 will be described with reference to FIG. This example will be described on the assumption that the user purchased each of the 11 contents on the release date.

  First, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 acquires the supplementary information of all the contents recorded in the content storage unit 120 via the content supplementary information acquisition unit 130, and selects each content (hereinafter, referred to as a thumbnail display target). By performing a sort process for a series of attribute values (specifically, title, series name, volume, release date, and purchase date and time) related to “contents to be displayed as thumbnails”. Then, a sorted attribute value list is created (S1). Specifically, when the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 to be displayed is an “unread / recommended” screen, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 sorts and displays the “purchase date and time” of each target content in descending order using the keys. When the electronic bookcase screen is a “recently read book” screen, the “last subscription date” of each target content is sorted in descending order using the key. Here, the sorted attribute value list is a list in which a series of attribute values to be sorted are arranged in the sort order. Further, the target content refers to content that is not read by the user on the “unread / recommended” screen, for example.

  For example, when the above-mentioned 11 contents are targets for thumbnail display, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 creates a sorted attribute value list including 11 elements shown in FIG.

  After the processing of S1, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 extracts, from all target contents, two or more contents having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)” in the incidental information without omission. (S2). Specifically, each of the target content that corresponds to a continuous publication is grouped by series (in the case of a series of books) or title (in the case of a newspaper or magazine), and each group includes two or more target content. Are extracted without omission (S2).

  In the above-described example, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 includes volumes 3 to 6 of the “Manga Galapamon” series, and 2/6, 1/30, 1/24 and 1/16 of “Weekly Sharp”. Extract a total of 8 contents.

  After the process of S2, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 determines a representative content for each group from all the target contents extracted in S2 (S3). Specifically, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 uses, for each group of contents having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”, the attribute value of each content constituting the group of contents as a key. As a result of sorting the incidental information of the content, the content with the additional information at the head in the sort order is selected as the representative content.

  More specifically, when the electronic bookshelf screen to be displayed is an “unread / recommended” screen, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 has the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”. Sort the incidental information of each content in descending order using the “Purchase Date” or “Download Date” of each target content as a key, and if the electronic bookcase screen to be displayed is the “Recently Read Books” screen, The incidental information of each content is sorted in descending order using the “last subscription date” of each target content having the same “name” and “series name (kana)” as a key. Then, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 determines the content that comes with the incidental information at the head by sorting as the representative content.

  In the above-described example, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 has the volume 2 of “Manga Galapamon”, which is the book content whose purchase date and time is closest to the current time, and “Weekly Sharp” that is the closest to the current time. / 6 is determined as the representative content.

  After the process of S3, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 updates the sorted attribute value list (S4). Specifically, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 associates the folder display designation flag “1” with the attribute value of the content selected as the representative content in the sorted attribute value list in S3, and attributes of the other content The folder display designation flag “0” is associated with the value.

  In the above example, the fourth element from the top of the sorted attribute value list indicating the purchase date and time of Volume 6 of “Manga Galapamon” and the sorted attribute indicating the purchase date and time of No. 2/6 of “Weekly Sharp” The folder display designation flag “1” is associated with the first element of the value list, and the folder display designation flag “0” is associated with the other nine elements. As a result, the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 4A is updated to a list including 11 elements composed of attribute values and folder display designation flags as shown in FIG.

  After the process of S4, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 deletes, from the sorted attribute value list, elements related to the contents that are not selected as the representative contents in S3 among the contents extracted in S2 (S5). The creation process and procedure of the sorted attribute value list are not limited to this, and it is only necessary to finally obtain information to be displayed in units of content, information to be displayed in units of folders, and representative content.

  In the above-described example, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 has the eleventh, tenth, and seventh elements from the top of the sorted attribute value list of the third to fifth volumes of “Manga Galapamon” (FIG. 4B). Element) and each element of 1/30, 1/26 and 1/20 of “Weekly Sharp” (second, third and fifth from the top of the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 4B) Element). As a result, the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 4B is updated as shown in FIG.

  In S6, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 includes the folder display designation flag “1” in the i-th element from the top of the sorted attribute value list (or the top element when the previous step is S5) ( That is, it is determined whether or not the folder display designation flag “1” is associated with the i-th attribute value from the top.

  If it is determined in S6 that the folder display designation flag “1” is not associated with the i-th attribute value from the top (NO in S6), the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 determines that the “purchase date” of the incidental information is A thumbnail for reproduction of the content matching the i-th attribute value (corresponding to “object” in the claims) is displayed (S7). Specifically, the thumbnail image corresponding to the content (attribute “thumbnail image” constituting the incidental information of the content) recorded in the content storage unit 120 is read, and the i th image in the predetermined arrangement order in the electronic bookshelf. The read thumbnail image (playback thumbnail) is displayed at the position. The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 may be configured to create a playback thumbnail from the content data.

  In the above example, thumbnails of the book “If Galapagos ga ...” with accompanying information that the purchase date is “2012/01/15 14:28:15” are arranged in the order along the writing direction of the English text A thumbnail of the book “Bonus Utilization” with accompanying information such as “2012/12/10 09:15:23” is displayed at the third position, and the purchase date is displayed at the fourth position. Displays the thumbnail of the November issue of the magazine “Monthly PC Utilization Techniques” with accompanying information such as “2012/11/23 12:22:23” at the fifth position.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in S6 that the folder display designation flag “1” is associated with the i-th attribute value from the top (YES in S6), the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the “purchase date and time” of the incidental information. "Is displayed a folder with a thumbnail of content (representative content) matching the i-th attribute value (S8: corresponding to" first display control step "in the claims). Specifically, a thumbnail image corresponding to the content recorded in the content storage unit 120 is read, and the read thumbnail image is superimposed on a predetermined folder object at the i-th position in a predetermined arrangement order on the electronic bookshelf. To display.

  In the above example, the thumbnails of the magazine “Weekly Sharp” No. 2/6 with the accompanying information that the purchase date is “2012/02/26 17:32:28” are arranged along the writing direction of the English text. The folder with the thumbnails of the six volumes of the book “Manga Galapamon” with accompanying information that is displayed at the top position and has a purchase date of “2012/01/20 11:10:42” (ie, “Manga” A folder (corresponding to “display object” in the scope of claims) containing a common title “Vol. 3” to “Vol. 6” of “Manga Galapamon” is displayed at the second position.

  In S9, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 determines whether or not the value of i has reached a predetermined upper limit value of the number of thumbnails displayed. When it is determined that the upper limit value has been reached (YES in S9), the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 completes the display process of the first-level electronic bookcase screen. In the present embodiment, the upper limit is set to “100”.

  On the other hand, if it is determined that the upper limit value has not yet been reached (NO in S9), the process proceeds to S10.

  In S10, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 determines whether the value of i has reached the number of elements in the sorted attribute value list (S10). In the above example, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 determines whether the value of i has become 5. When it is determined that the value of i has reached the number of elements in the sorted attribute value list (YES in S10), the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 completes the display processing of the electronic bookcase screen of the first hierarchy.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the value of i has not reached the number of elements in the sorted attribute value list (YES in S10), the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 adds 1 to the value of i (S11), and S6 Return to the process.

  The operation of causing the electronic book terminal 100 to display the first-level electronic bookshelf screen has been described above. In the above example, the electronic bookcase screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the display unit 160 by this operation. become.

  As can be seen from the above description, if there is only one target content in a series of publications such as book content of the same series, newspaper content of the same title, magazine content of the same title, etc., the target content Is displayed on the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. In the example of FIG. 5, the magazine “Monthly PC Utilization Techniques” November issue corresponds to such target content.

  Further, when there are a plurality of target contents in a series of publications, a folder 5f with thumbnails of representative contents selected from the plurality of target contents is displayed in the first-level electronic bookshelf screen. It will be. In the above example, as shown in FIG. 5, the folder 5f with the thumbnail of the magazine “Weekly Sharp” No. 2/6 and the folder 5f with the thumbnail of the third volume of “Manga Galapamon” It is displayed in the electronic bookshelf screen of one layer. In other words, there are multiple contents of a series of publications, such as “Weekly Sharp” and “Manga Galapamon”, as well as series titles (for example, manga) and “titles” that show the series names of subscription newspapers and magazines. It is displayed in such a manner that it can be understood (such as a folder icon display).

  Furthermore, a reproduction thumbnail 5t for reproducing content corresponding to a single publication is also displayed in the electronic bookcase screen of the first hierarchy.

(About the process in which the electronic book terminal 100 displays the second-level electronic bookshelf screen)
When the electronic book terminal 100 receives an operation instruction for designating the folder 5f from the user via the input unit 150, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 includes N pieces of representative content with thumbnails attached to the designated folder 5f. The reproduction thumbnail 5t of the target content is displayed on the display unit 160.

  Specifically, when the N target contents are book contents, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 sorts the incidental information of each book content in ascending order using the “number of volumes” as a key, and sets the N target contents. If the content is newspaper or magazine content, the incidental information of each content is sorted in descending order using “purchase date” or “download date” as a key. Then, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 reads out thumbnail images in the supplementary information of the content for each of the N pieces of content recorded in the content storage unit 120, and each j (j = 1, 2,... For N), the thumbnail images (reproduction thumbnails 5t) of the target content sorted jth from the top are displayed at the jth position in a predetermined arrangement order on the electronic bookshelf.

  When the folder 5f arranged in the lower left of the electronic bookcase screen in FIG. 5 is designated, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays an electronic bookcase screen as shown in FIG. To display. That is, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the thumbnail 5t of “Manga Galapamon” Vol. 3 at the top position in the order of arrangement along the writing direction of the English text in the electronic bookshelf, and at the second and third positions. The thumbnails 5t of the fourth and fifth volumes are displayed, respectively, and the thumbnail 5t of the sixth volume, which is the representative content, is displayed at the fourth position (corresponding to the “second display control step” in the claims). .

  When the folder 5f arranged in the upper left is designated on the electronic bookshelf screen in FIG. 5, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays an electronic bookshelf screen as shown in FIG. 7 as the second-level electronic bookshelf screen. To do. That is, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the thumbnail 5t of “Weekly Sharp” No. 2/6, which is the representative content, at the top position in the arrangement order along the writing direction of English in the electronic bookshelf, The thumbnails 5t of 1/30, 1/23, and 1/16 are displayed at the third and fourth positions, respectively.

  As can be seen from FIG. 6, in the electronic book terminal 100, for the books in the series, the thumbnail 5t of the book with the smallest number of volumes (that is, the oldest published book) is the upper left ( The electronic bookshelf screen is displayed so as to be arranged at a position that is most easily noticeable by the user. In addition, as can be seen from FIG. 7, the electronic book terminal 100 is the magazine (newspaper) having the largest number of magazines (ie, the last published) among the magazines of the same title. The electronic bookshelf screen is displayed so that the thumbnail 5t is arranged at the upper left of the electronic bookshelf.

  When the electronic book terminal 100 receives an operation instruction for designating the reproduction thumbnail 5t from the user, the content display processing unit 142 reads out the content corresponding to the reproduction thumbnail 5t from the content storage unit 120 and reproduces the content. The content is displayed on the display unit 160. As a result, the cover page of the content or one page in the content as illustrated in FIG. 8 (for example, the page that was last opened when the content was most recently played back) is displayed on the display unit 160. It will be.

(Advantage 1 of electronic book terminal 100)
As described above, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 of the electronic book terminal 100 individually defines each content that is a display target of the reproduction thumbnail 5t and corresponds to a continuous publication for each series of publications. Classify into groups. For each group, when only one content is classified for each group, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the reproduction thumbnail 5t of the content on the electronic bookcase screen of the first hierarchy, and a plurality of contents are included in the group. Folder 5f (corresponding to “display object” in claims) on which titles common to the plurality of contents are displayed is displayed on the first-level electronic bookshelf screen.

  The electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays a thumbnail of each content having the title shown in the folder 5f on the second-level electronic bookshelf screen, triggered by the user specifying the folder 5f.

  According to the above configuration, each reproduction thumbnail 5t of a plurality of target contents constituting a series of publications is triggered by the user specifying a folder 5f having a title common to the plurality of target contents. 160. In other words, until the user designates the folder 5f, the reproduction thumbnail 5t of the target content corresponding to the single publication and the target content that is the target of the thumbnail display in a series of publications. Only the thumbnail 5t is displayed on the display unit 160.

  Therefore, the electronic book terminal 100 can cause the user to find the thumbnail of the desired content with less effort (same trouble as in the past) than finding the thumbnail of the desired content from the thumbnail list of all target contents.

  In addition, the electronic book terminal 100 displays a reproduction thumbnail 5t on the first-level electronic bookshelf screen for content that is the target of thumbnail display in a series of publications. That is, the electronic book terminal 100 allows a user who desires to browse such contents to display “the second-level electronic bookshelf screen by designating the folder 5f, and only one is displayed in the electronic bookshelf. It is possible to browse the desired content without taking the waste of “designating the reproduction thumbnail 5t”.

  As described above, the electronic book terminal 100 allows a user to select a thumbnail of a desired content with the same ease as in the past without taking the time and effort of performing a selection operation twice for browsing the content. Can find out.

(Advantage 2 of electronic book terminal 100)
As described above, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 of the electronic book terminal 100 is in ascending order for the number of turns of all book contents of the same series, which is the display target of the reproduction thumbnail 5t on the second-level electronic bookshelf screen. The sort process is performed with. Similarly, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 sorts the purchase dates and times of all magazine contents with the same title, which are the display targets of the reproduction thumbnail 5t on the second-level electronic bookcase screen, in descending order.

  The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 selects the book content with the smallest number of all of the book contents subjected to the sort process and the magazine content purchased last among all the magazine contents subjected to the sort process as “unread” Sort the purchase date and time of all the contents to be displayed on the reproduction thumbnail 5t including the content of the single publication that is the display target of the reproduction thumbnail 5t on the “recommended” screen.

  Then, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 lastly purchased the same title as the folder 5f with the thumbnail of the book content with the smallest volume in the same series as the reproduction thumbnail 5t of the content of the single publication. Folders 5f with thumbnails of magazine contents are displayed in a predetermined arrangement order in the electronic bookcase screen of the first hierarchy. Specifically, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the thumbnail 5t (or the folder 5f attached with the thumbnail) of the content with a relatively old purchase date and time at the end of the “unread / recommended” screen. The playback thumbnail 5t and the folder 5f are displayed side by side as shown in FIG.

  Further, when the folder 5f is designated by the user, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the reproduction thumbnail 5t of the content related to the folder 5f on the second-level electronic bookcase screen. Specifically, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 may display a thumbnail 5t of a book content with a relatively small number of turns on the head side in the electronic bookshelf when a folder 5f related to a series of books is designated. The reproduction thumbnails 5t of the book contents are displayed side by side. Similarly, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 allows each magazine to display a thumbnail 5t of magazine content with a relatively old purchase date and time on the last side in the electronic bookshelf when a folder 5f related to the magazine is designated. Content playback thumbnails 5t are displayed side by side. Then, when the reproduction thumbnail 5t is designated by the user, the content display processing unit 142 reproduces the content corresponding to the reproduction thumbnail 5t and displays it on the display unit 160. Further, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 performs the same process on the newspaper content as the process on the magazine content.

  Here, the book content with the smallest volume in the same series is considered to be the most interesting book content for users trying to read the series for the first time and users trying to read the series from the beginning again. I can say that. Further, it can be said that the user has the highest interest in the magazine content (the highest freshness of information) that has been purchased last among all the magazine content of the same title that has been purchased so far. The same applies to newspaper content.

  With the above configuration, the electronic book terminal 100 displays the folder 5f with the thumbnail of the content that is of high interest to the user in the “unread / recommended” screen. In addition, when the folder 5f is designated by the user, the electronic book terminal 100 is arranged such that the reproduction thumbnail 5t of the content most interesting to the user is located at the upper left in the electronic bookshelf (a position that is easily noticeable to the user). The second-level electronic bookshelf screen is displayed.

  Therefore, the electronic book terminal 100 has an effect of allowing the user to find a thumbnail of content desired to be browsed more easily than before.

(Appendix 1)
In the electronic book terminal 100, instead of the folder 5f in the mode shown in FIG. 5, when the user designates the folder 5f ′, the folder indicating the number N of thumbnails 5t displayed on the second-level electronic bookshelf screen is shown. May be displayed. The electronic book terminal 100 is, for example, an image simulating a cover that overlaps N layers (N = 4 in FIG. 9) as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B. The folder 5f ′ to which an image that is a thumbnail of the representative content is attached may be displayed.

  The electronic book terminal 100 configured in this way makes it easy for the user to purchase a series of books that have been purchased but have not yet started reading while the “unread / recommended” screen is displayed, and a series that is particularly recommended by content providers. It can be grasped. This is because the user who sees the folder 5f of the corresponding series pays attention to the folder 5f because many layers are overlapped, and can grasp the title of the series from the thumbnail attached to the folder 5f.

  For the same reason, the electronic book terminal 100 is a series of books that the user has been reading many times in succession while the “Recently read books” screen is displayed (the user is very interested). Thus, the folder 5f for displaying the thumbnail 5t of the book to be read again can be displayed so as to be easily noticed by the user.

  It should be noted that the electronic book terminal 100 does not use the folder 5f ′ as shown in FIG. 9B for newspaper contents and magazine contents that do not include the attribute value indicating “number of volumes” in the accompanying information. 9 (c) may be displayed. As can be seen by comparing (a) and (c) of FIG. 9, the folder 5f 'and the folder 5f " The title cover overlaps in the attached image. The user confirms how the title covers are overlapped in the images attached to the folder, so that when the folder is opened, the content for which the playback thumbnail 5t is displayed is a book content of a series with “number of turns” ( Whether the user is content that is usually read in the order of the number of volumes, or magazine content or newspaper content that does not have “number of volumes” (content that the user normally wants to read new content) can do.

(Appendix 2)
The electronic book terminal 100 is configured to store each electronic publication content ordered by the user in the content storage unit 120 of the own device, but the present invention is not limited to this. When electronic publication content is provided as a cloud-type content distribution service, the present invention may be implemented as an electronic book terminal 100 ′ as shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, a content distribution server 300 ′ is a distribution server that provides a cloud-type content distribution service.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the electronic book terminal 100 ′ does not include the content storage unit 120 that fixedly stores each electronic publication content ordered by the user.

  The electronic book terminal 100 ′ can also display the first-level electronic bookshelf screen by performing processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 4. However, when the electronic book terminal 100 ′ displays the first-level electronic bookshelf screen, the electronic book terminal 100 ′ performs processing that is partially different from the electronic book terminal 100 as follows.

  That is, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 of the electronic book terminal 100 ′ obtains the incidental information of all the contents ordered by the user (logged-in user of the content distribution server 300 ′) in S1 via the content incidental information acquisition unit 130 ′. And acquired from the content distribution server 300 ′. Further, in S7, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 acquires a playback thumbnail from the content distribution server 300 ′ via the content acquisition unit 110 ′, and acquires it at the i-th position in a predetermined arrangement order in the electronic bookcase. Display thumbnails for playback. Further, in S8, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 obtains a reproduction thumbnail from the content distribution server 300 ′ via the content acquisition unit 110 ′, and obtains the thumbnail at the i-th position in a predetermined arrangement order of the electronic bookcase. A reproduction thumbnail and a predetermined folder object are displayed in an overlapping manner.

  The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 performs the same processing when displaying the reproduction thumbnail 5t on the second-level electronic bookshelf screen.

  When the content display processing unit 142 receives an operation instruction for designating the playback thumbnail 5t from the user, the content display processing unit 142 acquires the content to be played back from the content distribution server 300 ′ via the content acquisition unit 110 ′, and acquires the acquired content. It is reproduced and displayed on the display unit 160. Since the reproduced content is not stored in the electronic book terminal 100 ′, the electronic book terminal 100 ′ acquires the content to be reproduced from the content distribution server 300 ′ every time an operation instruction specifying the reproduction thumbnail 5t is received. It is supposed to be.

(Appendix 3)
The electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 may perform processing for determining representative content as follows. That is, for each book content having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”, the incidental information of each book content may be sorted in ascending order using “sales start date” as a key. For each newspaper content and each magazine content having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”, the incidental information of each content may be sorted in descending order using “sales start date” as a key. And the electronic bookshelf display control part 141 may determine the content in which incidental information comes first by sorting as a representative content.

  For each newspaper content and each magazine content having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”, the incidental information of each content may be sorted in descending order using “download date / time” as a key.

(Appendix 4)
In the above embodiment, the electronic book terminal 100 displays the group of thumbnails 5t and the folder 5f side by side in the writing direction, but the present invention is not limited to this. The electronic book terminal 100 may display the group of thumbnails 5t and the folder 5f side by side from the left side to the right side, or may be displayed side by side from the upper side to the lower side.

(Appendix 5)
The present invention can be implemented not as an electronic book terminal but also as a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a general-purpose PC, or the like in which an electronic book application is installed.

(Appendix 6)
In the above embodiment, the electronic book terminal 100 determines the representative content by sorting the attribute values of each target content constituting a series of publications. However, in the present invention, this processing is not essential. In the present invention, the sort process of S1 is not essential. That is, the positions of the thumbnails 5t and the folders 5f displayed on the electronic book terminal 100 in the first-level electronic bookshelf screen are arbitrary. Similarly, the position of each thumbnail 5t displayed on the electronic book terminal 100 in the second-level electronic bookshelf screen is also arbitrary.

  However, it is preferable that the electronic book terminal 100 displays the folders 5f and the thumbnails 5t in the first-level electronic bookshelf screen in the arrangement order in which the folders 5f are arranged at the top of the thumbnails 5t.

  In addition, the electronic book terminal 100 may be provided with a function that allows a user to create a folder manually. In this case, the electronic book terminal 100 arranges each folder 5f, each manually created folder, and each thumbnail 5t in an arrangement order in which the folder 5f is arranged at the top of the manually created folder and thumbnail 5t. Is preferably displayed in the first-level electronic bookshelf screen.

(Appendix 7)
The present invention is not limited to the electronic book terminal 100 disclosed in the embodiment. The present invention is also implemented as, for example, a video playback device having a function of displaying a thumbnail list for playing back video content or a music playback device having a function of displaying a thumbnail list for playing back music content. Can do.

(Appendix 8)
In the above embodiment, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the second-level electronic bookshelf screen so that the thumbnail 5t of the representative content is displayed at a position corresponding to the “purchase date” or “download date” of the representative content. Although displayed, the present invention is not limited to this.

  In other words, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 sets the thumbnail 5t of the representative content to the top in a predetermined arrangement order in the electronic bookcase screen of the second hierarchy regardless of the “purchase date” or “download date” of the representative content. You may display in a position.

  Specifically, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 determines in S3 each book content having the same “series name” and “series name (kana)” in ascending order using “volume” as a key. The incidental information may be sorted. In addition, for each newspaper content and magazine content with the same “series name” and “series name (kana)”, the incidental information of each content is sorted in descending order using “purchase date” or “download date” as a key. May be. And the electronic bookshelf display control part 141 may determine the content in which incidental information comes first by sorting as a representative content.

  In this case, in the above-described example, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 performs the second volume of “Manga Galapamon”, which is the book content with the smallest number of volumes, and “Weekly Sharp” whose purchase date and time is closest to the current time. No. 6 will be determined as the representative content. As a result, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 updates the sorted attribute value list of FIG. 11A to the sorted attribute value list of FIG. 11B in S4, and the sorted attribute value list of FIG. 11B in S5. The attribute value list is updated to the sorted attribute value list of FIG. Finally, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the first-level electronic bookshelf screen as shown in FIG.

  In S3, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 may sort the book contents not using “number of volumes” but using “purchase date / time” or “download date / time” as a key. In S3, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 may sort using the “number of turns” as a key when the accompanying information of newspaper content or magazine content includes “number of turns”.

  When the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 receives an operation instruction for designating the folder 5f, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the reproduction thumbnails 5t for N target contents including the representative content with the thumbnail attached to the designated folder 5f. Specifically, the following display processing may be performed.

  That is, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 reads out thumbnail images in the supplementary information for each of the N pieces of content recorded in the content storage unit 120, and sets each j (j = 1, 2,... With regard to N), the thumbnail images (reproduction thumbnails 5t) of the target content sorted jth from the top in the sorting process of S3 may be displayed at the jth position in a predetermined arrangement order on the electronic bookshelf.

  In this case, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the thumbnail 5t of the representative content (the target content sorted at the top position in the sorting process in S3) regardless of the “purchase date” or “download date” of the representative content. In the second-level electronic bookshelf screen, the images are displayed at the top position in a predetermined arrangement order.

(Appendix 9)
In the above embodiment, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the folder 5f in which titles common to a plurality of contents are displayed, but instead of this, text that simply represents a title (in the claims) “Corresponding to“ display object ”) may be displayed. When the displayed text is designated by the user, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 displays the reproduction thumbnails 5t of the plurality of contents having the titles represented by the text in the second-level electronic bookshelf screen. May be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the playback thumbnail 5t on the electronic bookcase screens of the first hierarchy and the second hierarchy. The text representing the number (corresponding to the “object” in the claims) may be displayed in a different form from the text replacing the folder 5f. When the displayed text is designated by the user, the content display processing unit 142 may reproduce the content of the corresponding volume or issue having the title represented by the text and display it on the display unit 160.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 replaces the two folders 5f and the three reproduction thumbnails 5t in FIG. 5 with “[Weekly Sharp 2/6] (released 2/6)”. (2/6 purchase), “[Manga Galapamon Volume 6] (released 1/20) (1/20 purchase),“ If Galapagos ... (released 1/15) (1/15 purchase), ”“ Use bonuses ” Five texts may be displayed in the order of "Jutsu (12/10 release) (12/10 purchase)" and "Monthly PC utilization technique November issue (11/23 release) (11/23 purchase)". Note that the turtle brackets in the text indicate that the text is a folder name, and the absence of turtle brackets in the text indicates that the text is a file name.

  Then, when the folder name “[Manga Galapamon Vol. 6] (released 1/20) (1/20 purchase)” is designated, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141, as shown in FIG. The names may be displayed side by side from top to bottom in ascending order of the attribute value of the content attribute “number of turns”. Similarly, when the folder name “[Weekly Sharp 2/6] (released 2/6) (2/6 purchase)” is designated, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141, as shown in FIG. The file names of the contents may be displayed side by side from top to bottom in descending order of the attribute value of the content attribute “purchase date / time” (that is, from the newest purchase date / time).

(Appendix 10)
In the appendix 9, the case where the user purchased each of the 11 contents on the release date has been described as an example, but another example will be given. For example, a user purchases the “Monthly PC Utilization Technique November issue” released on November 23rd, and purchases “Weekly Sharp 1/16 issue” released on January 16th on January 31st. A case where “Manga Galapamon Volume 3” released on October 20 was purchased on December 15 and each of the other 8 contents was purchased on the release date will be described. In this case, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 updates the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 16A to the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 16B in S4, and sorts in FIG. 16B in S5. The completed attribute value list is updated to the sorted attribute value list of FIG. as a result,
As shown in FIG. 17, on the “Unread / Recommended” screen displayed by the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141, the “Monthly PC Utilization Technique November issue (released on November 23)” (2/1 purchase) ) "Is displayed.

  Similarly, in the first and third positions, [Weekly Sharp 2/6] (released 2/6) (2/6 purchase) and [Manga Galapamon Volume 6] (released 1/20), respectively. (1/20 purchase) "" folder name is displayed. Also, in the 4th and 5th positions, "If Galapagos is ... (1/15 release) (1/15 purchase)" and "Bonus utilization technique (12/10 release) (12/10 purchase) "Is displayed.

  That is, as described above, the text displayed on the “unread / recommended” screen is the order in which the attribute value “purchase date / time” of the corresponding content (representative content and content corresponding to a magazine publication) is large ( That is, they are arranged in the order of purchase date and time.

  When the text indicating the folder name is designated by the user, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the file name of each content belonging to the same series and having the title represented by the text in the electronic bookcase screen of the second hierarchy. . For example, when the folder name “[Manga Galapamon Volume 6] (1/20 release) (1/20 purchase)” is specified by the user, the file name of each content is changed to the content name as shown in FIG. The attribute “number of turns” is displayed in order from top to bottom in ascending order of attribute value. Also, for example, when the folder name “[Weekly Sharp 2/6] (released 2/6) (2/6 purchase)” is designated by the user, as shown in FIG. The content attributes “purchase date and time” are displayed in order from the top to the bottom in descending order of the attribute values.

(Appendix 11)
As an example different from Appendix 10, a user purchases the “Monthly PC Utilization Technique November issue” released on November 23rd, and “Weekly Sharp 1/16 issue” released on January 16th. Is purchased on February 7th, “Manga Galapamon Volume 3” released on October 20th is purchased on January 27th, and the other 8 contents are purchased on the release date. In this case, the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141 updates the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 20A to the sorted attribute value list in FIG. 20B in S4, and sorts in FIG. 20B in S5. The completed attribute value list is updated to the sorted attribute value list of FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 21, in the “unread / recommended” screen displayed by the electronic bookshelf display control unit 141, “[Weekly Sharp 1/16] (released 1/16) (2 / The folder name “7 Purchases” is displayed. And the file name “Monthly PC Utilization November (released on November 23) (2/1 purchase)” is displayed in the second position from the top, and “[Manga Galapamon Volume 3” is displayed in the third position from the top. ] (10/20 release) (1/27 purchase) "" folder name is displayed.

  Similarly, in the 4th and 5th positions, "If Galapagos ... (released 1/15) (1/15 purchase)" and "How to use bonus (released 12/10) (12/10 purchase) ) "Is displayed.

  As can be seen from this example, the text displayed on the “Unread / Recommended” screen is the order in which the attribute value of the attribute “purchase date / time” of the corresponding content (representative content and content corresponding to a magazine publication) is large. (That is, in order of purchase date and time).

  When the text indicating the folder name is designated by the user, the electronic bookcase display control unit 141 displays the file name of each content belonging to the same series and having the title represented by the text in the electronic bookcase screen of the second hierarchy. . For example, when the folder name “[Manga Galapamon Volume 3] (10/20 release) (1/27 purchase)” is specified by the user, the file name of each content is changed to the content name as shown in FIG. The attribute “number of turns” is displayed in order from top to bottom in ascending order of attribute value. Also, for example, when the folder name “[Weekly Sharp 1/16] (released on 1/16) (2/7 purchase)” is designated by the user, the file name of each content is changed as shown in FIG. The content attributes “purchase date and time” are displayed in order from the top to the bottom in descending order of the attribute values.

(Appendix 12)
An “object” in the scope of claims refers to an object (for example, a thumbnail, a file icon, a content name, a file name, etc.) whose content is played back when triggered by selection, clicking or tapping.

(Program, recording medium)
Finally, each block included in the electronic book terminals 100 and 100 ′ may be configured by hardware logic. Alternatively, it may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as follows.

  That is, the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program that realizes the functions of the electronic book terminals 100 and 100 'may be recorded so as to be readable by the computer. The electronic book terminal 100, 100 '(or CPU or MPU) may read and execute the program code recorded on the supplied recording medium.

  The recording medium for supplying the program code to the electronic book terminals 100 and 100 ′ is, for example, a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, or a CD-ROM / MO / MD / Disk systems including optical disks such as DVD / CD-R, card systems such as IC cards (including memory cards) / optical cards, or semiconductor memory systems such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM (registered trademark) / flash ROM, etc. can do.

  The electronic book terminals 100 and 100 ′ can achieve the object of the present invention even if they are configured to be connectable to a communication network. In this case, the program code is supplied to the electronic book terminals 100 and 100 'via the communication network. The communication network is not limited to a specific type or form as long as it can supply program codes to the electronic book terminals 100 and 100 '. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, mobile communication network, satellite communication network, etc. may be used.

  The transmission medium constituting the communication network may be any medium that can transmit the program code, and is not limited to a specific configuration or type. For example, wired communication such as IEEE 1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line, infrared light such as IrDA or remote control, Bluetooth (registered trademark), 802. 11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, etc. can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be applied to an electronic book application for an electronic book terminal, a general-purpose PC, a smartphone, or the like.

100, 100 'electronic book terminal (display control device)
110, 110 ′ content acquisition unit 120 content storage unit 130, 130 ′ content supplementary information acquisition unit 140 display control unit 141 electronic bookcase display control unit (classification unit, first display control unit,
Second display control means)
142 content display processing unit 150 input unit 160 display unit 200 network 300, 300 ′ content distribution server

Claims (11)

Classification means for classifying each content having series information, which is a display target of an object for content reproduction, into a group for each content having the same series information;
The display unit displays the object for reproducing the content of a group into which a single content is classified, and includes a title common to the plurality of content classified into the same group and common to the plurality of content. First display control means for displaying the display object on the display unit in a manner different from the object,
When the display object displayed by the first display control means is designated by the user, the display unit displays the object for reproducing the content for each of a plurality of contents having a title included in the display object. And a second display control means for displaying on the display control device.   For the group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified, the first display control means displays the thumbnail of the oldest published contents among the plurality of contents classified in the group. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus is configured to display as a part of an object.   For the group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified, the first display control means determines the order in the group assigned to the contents among the plurality of contents classified in the group. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus is configured to display a thumbnail of the content having the smallest value as a part of the display object.   For the group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified, the first display control means displays the thumbnails of the contents ordered by the user most recently among the plurality of contents classified in the group. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus is configured to display as a part of an object.   For the group in which a plurality of contents corresponding to books or periodicals are classified, the first display control means is a thumbnail of the content most recently downloaded to the display control device among the plurality of contents classified in the group. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control apparatus is configured to display a part as a part of the display object.   The first display control means is configured to display an image showing the number of objects displayed as a trigger when the display object is designated as the display object. The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   The first display control means is configured to display the object of each content which is the display target and does not have the series information, together with the object of the content classified into the group. The display control device according to claim 1, wherein the display control device is a display control device.   The display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the object is a thumbnail of content that is a display target of the object. A classification step of classifying each content having series information as a display target of an object for content reproduction into a group for each content having the same series information;
The display unit displays the object for reproducing the content of a group into which a single content is classified, and includes a title common to the plurality of content classified into the same group and common to the plurality of content. A first display control step of displaying the display object on the display unit in a manner different from the object,
When the display object displayed in the first display control step is designated by the user, the object for reproducing the content is displayed for each of a plurality of contents having a title included in the display object. And a second display control step of displaying on the part.   A display control program for causing a computer to operate as the display control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control program causes the computer to function as each of the means.   A computer-readable recording medium on which the display control program according to claim 10 is recorded.

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