JPH04256921A - Input display controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress unnecessary power consumption without increasing the scale of the controller by controlling a light source which lights an LCD corre sponding to the input to a tablet. CONSTITUTION:The tablet 2 has, for example, 512 electrodes in an X-axial direction and 324 electrodes in a Y-axial direction and then detect 512X324 picture elements. The LCD 22 corresponds to the tablet 21 and has 512 electrodes horizontally and 324 electrodes vertically. A driving circuit 42a applies a specific voltage to the 324 electrodes, one by one, in order and a driving circuit 42b applies a voltage corresponding to image data to the 512 electrodes in order. Thus, the respective picture elements on the LCD 22 are scanned and specific picture elements are displayed on the LCD 22.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input display control device suitable for application to an electronic notebook device (portable computer).

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Portable computers that display information using an LCD are capable of operating on batteries so that they can be used even in locations where no power source is available. However, when this battery is used to illuminate the LCD using a so-called backlight, a large amount of power is consumed, resulting in a short battery life. Therefore, devices are known that automatically turn off the backlight if the keyboard is not operated for a predetermined period of time or more. In this device, when the backlight is turned off and a predetermined input is made again from the keyboard, the backlight is turned on again. In this way, the battery power is prevented from being consumed more than necessary.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in smaller portable computers that do not have a keyboard, it is necessary to turn on the backlight once turned off when the keyboard is operated. I can't. Therefore, it is also possible to provide a special switch for turning on the backlight again when the backlight is turned off, for example, as a result of no input being made for a predetermined period of time. However, doing so not only increases the number of parts and increases costs, but also hinders miniaturization.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent unnecessarily consuming power even in a device without a keyboard without increasing the size or number of parts. It was made so that it could be done.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The input display control device of the present invention includes a tablet that detects input, an LCD that displays a predetermined display in response to input from the tablet, a light source that illuminates the LCD, and a tablet that detects an input. and a control circuit that controls the light source in response to the input of the light source.

[0006]

[Operation] In the input display control device with the above configuration, the LC
A light source illuminating D is controlled in response to input to the tablet. Therefore, unnecessary power consumption can be suppressed without increasing the size of the device.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an embodiment in which the input display control device of the present invention is applied to an electronic notebook device (portable computer). The main body 1 is provided with a power switch 2, which is turned on when the device is used and turned off when the device is discontinued. A brightness adjustment switch 3 is provided to the left of the power switch 2 to adjust the brightness of the screen 8 (brightness of the LCD 22, which will be described later). Further, a case 4 is provided on the side of the main body 1. This case 4 houses a pen 6, which has a switch 7 at its tip and is connected to the main body 1 via a cord 5, when not in use. When this pen 6 is taken out from the case 4, the main body 1 is
It can be placed in a groove 10 horizontally formed in the upper part of the housing. A speaker 9 is provided on the left side of the groove 10 to output a predetermined sound.

There are two switches 11 on the upper right side of the main body 1.
, 12 are provided. The switch 11 is a change-over switch that changes the brightness of the backlight, which will be described later, into, for example, two levels, and the switch 12 is a volume change-over switch that changes the volume of the sound output from the speaker 9 into, for example, three levels. The switch 13 provided on the left side of the main body 1 is
This is a stop switch that is operated when stopping a predetermined operation midway (for example, when stopping the sound being emitted). There is also a memory (IC) card 70 (Fig. 5) on the left side of the main body 1.
A socket 14 is arranged in which a device (see above) is attached. A socket 15 is provided on the rear side of the main body 1. A socket 16 is also provided inside a battery mounting section 1a on the rear side of the main body 1 into which a battery 19 is mounted. For example, RS232C cables, modems, and other adapters are connected to these sockets 15 and 16. Furthermore, on the upper left side of main body 1, there is an
A connection terminal 18 of the adapter 17 is provided.

FIG. 2 shows a more detailed example of the configuration of the screen 8. As shown in FIG. In this example, tablet 21 (X
A tablet 21a for detecting the position in the axial direction and a tablet 21b for detecting the position in the Y-axis direction are provided at the top. An LCD 22 is provided below the tablet 21. The LCD 22 is composed of glass plates 22a and 22b provided above and below, and a liquid crystal 23 inserted between the glass plates 22a and 22b. A fluorescent screen (EL) 26 is arranged below the LCD 22. When the fluorescent screen 26 as a backlight generates light, the light is transmitted to the LCD.
22. Since the tablets 21a and 21b are formed of transparent members, the image displayed on the liquid crystal 23 can be observed from above in the figure. Printed circuit board (PCB)
) 25 is loaded with parts (not shown) and is electrically connected to the LCD 22 via a rubber connector 24. It is also electrically connected to the tablet 21 through a conductive film 27 .

FIG. 3 shows a more detailed example of the structure of the fluorescent screen 26. In this embodiment, an insulating film 33 is placed between the electrode 31 and the light emitting section (the other electrode) 32. By applying a predetermined voltage between the electrode 31 and the light emitting section 32, the light emitting section 32 emits light. The electrode 31 and the light emitting section 32 are formed in a plate shape, and can illuminate the screen 8 uniformly.

[0011] In addition to this, it is also possible to use a fluorescent tube as the backlight. In addition, a fluorescent tube is installed on the side of the main body as a side light, and the light is transmitted to the LC using a light transmission member.
It is also possible to transmit the light to the rear of the D22 so that it can be illuminated.

FIG. 4 shows position detection using a tablet and LC
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the principle of display by D. tablet 2
1 has, for example, 512 electrodes in the X-axis direction,
It has 342 electrodes in the Y-axis direction. This results in
It becomes possible to detect 512×342 pixels. The tablet controller 46 controls the clock generation circuit 45a and sequentially applies a predetermined voltage to each of the 342 electrodes. Next, the clock generation circuit 45b is controlled, and the clock generation circuit 45b is controlled.
A voltage is sequentially applied to the 12 electrodes. That is, the tablet 21 is scanned by clocks generated by the clock generation circuit 45a and the clock generation circuit 45b. When the pen 6 approaches a predetermined position on the tablet 21, a predetermined capacitance is formed between the tablet 21 and the pen 6. When the pen 6 is pressed against the tablet 21, the switch 7 at the tip of the pen 6 is turned on.
The electric charge generated between the terminal and a predetermined electrode on the tablet 21 is detected and supplied to the tablet controller 46 via an amplifier 47. Since the tablet controller 46 manages the clock generation timing of the clock generation circuits 45a and 45b, it is possible to detect the pressed position by the pen 6 on the tablet 21 from the detection signal supplied from the pen 6 and the clock generation timing. can. The tablet controller 46 supplies the thus detected operation coordinates of the pen 6 to the CPU 41. CPU41
constantly monitors the position where the pen 6 presses the tablet 21 and the switch 7 is turned on (pen down) and the position where the pen 6 leaves the tablet 21 and the switch 7 is turned off (pen up). Then, press the pen down to accept the input, and press the pen up to confirm the input.

On the other hand, the CPU 41 is connected to the LCD controller 4.
3 and writes data corresponding to the image to be displayed in the memory (V-RAM) 44. LCD controller 4
3 reads data from the memory 44 and supplies a signal corresponding to the data to the drive circuit 42b. LCD22 is
It has 512 electrodes in the horizontal direction and 342 electrodes in the vertical direction, corresponding to the tablet 21. The drive circuit 42a applies a predetermined voltage to each of the 342 electrodes one by one. Further, the drive circuit 42b sequentially applies voltages corresponding to image data to the 512 electrodes. In this way, each pixel on the LCD 22 is scanned, and the LCD
A predetermined image will be displayed on 22.

FIG. 5 shows a more detailed electrical configuration of the main body 1. The CPU 41 is connected to various ICs via a bus line 57. In addition to the system program for the entire device, the ROM 51 has written therein, for example, a kana-kanji conversion program for the word processor function, a dictionary table therefor, a recognition program for handwritten input, a dictionary table therefor, and the like. The working RAM 52 stores data necessary for operation as needed. A backup battery 54 (separate from the battery 19) is connected to the backup RAM 53, so that necessary data is backed up even when the power to the main body of the apparatus is turned off. The timer IC 55 is connected to the battery 54, counts the clock from the crystal oscillator 56, and outputs the date and time data at that point in time. The above LCD
The controller 43 and tablet controller 46 are also connected to the CPU 41 via a bus line 57.

The audio processing circuit 58 connects the sockets 14 to 1.
A predetermined audio signal is generated in response to an input from 6 or a command from CPU 41, and is output to adder 59. The sound memory 61 is controlled by the CPU 41 and outputs a pre-stored predetermined sound (for example, a warning sound "eh?") to the adder 59. The adder 59 adds the output of the audio processing circuit 58 and the output of the audio memory 61, and outputs the result to the speaker 9 via the audio volume controller 60. A volume changeover switch 12 is connected to the volume controller 60, and the volume can be controlled by operating the switch 12.

The fluorescent screen (backlight section) 26 includes a power supply circuit 64 (when the power switch 2 is turned on, the battery 1
9 or an AC adapter 17) is supplied via an inverter circuit 63. The brightness of the fluorescent screen 26 can be adjusted to two levels via the inverter circuit 63 by switching the selector switch 11 (for example, a brightness suitable for a bright room and a brightness suitable for a dark room).
can be switched to Separately, by controlling the brightness adjustment switch 3, the brightness of the LCD 22 can be controlled to a desired value in multiple stages. The switch 65a is turned on/off depending on whether the battery 19 attached to the main body 1 is a primary battery or a secondary battery. The switch 65b is connected to the battery 19.
The capacitance of the capacitor is detected and the device is turned on/off depending on the size of the capacitance. These switches 65a, 65b, etc. are connected to the key interface 62 via a power supply circuit 64. The key interface 62 is also connected to the brightness adjustment switch 3, the changeover switch 11, the stop switch 13, and the like. The key interface 62 supplies signals corresponding to on/off of these switches to the CPU 41.

An IC card 70 is connected to the socket 14, and the CPU 41 can exchange data, programs, etc. with the IC card 70 via an IC card interface 66. In addition, sockets 15, 1
6 is connected to an adapter 71, and is connected to the CPU 41 via an expansion interface 68.

In this embodiment, in order to prevent unnecessary power consumption, the fluorescent screen 26 (backlight) can be automatically turned off if no input is made for a predetermined period of time or more. It is made possible. Next, the operation for making this setting will be explained. Figure 6
shows a display example of screen 8. Icon display area 81
Various icons 83 are displayed. Furthermore, a predetermined character string can be written in the input display area 82 by performing a predetermined input. In the state of FIG. 6, if you move the pen 6 down to the icon "Settings" 83a, drag it out to the input display area 82, and then move the pen up in the input display area 82,
As shown in FIG. 7, the setting change icon 84 is displayed in an enlarged manner. In the case of the embodiment, this setting change icon 84 is 1
Consists of one page, button 85a or 85
By touching b with the pen 6, the display can be turned backward or forward one page at a time. In FIG. 7, the sixth page is displayed. This page is for backlight control, and in order to reduce power consumption, (1) a mode in which the backlight is automatically turned off when the AC adapter 17 is not connected; (2) a mode in which the backlight is automatically turned off when the AC adapter 17 is not connected; A mode in which the backlight is automatically turned off at any time regardless of its presence (3) A mode in which the backlight is not automatically turned off is selected by touching the corresponding button 86a with the pen 6. is now possible. In this embodiment, mode (1) is selected. Further, the time until the backlight is automatically turned off can be selected by touching the corresponding button 86b with the pen 6 to 20 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes. There is. Example case 1
It is set to minutes. That is, in this embodiment, if no input is made on the tablet 21 with the pen 6 for more than one minute when the AC adapter 17 is not connected, the backlight (fluorescent screen 26) is automatically turned off. It turns out.

Next, the process for controlling the backlight will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9.

When the power switch 2 is turned on, the setting state of the switch 11 is first determined in step S1. The switch 11 is in an off state in which the fluorescent screen 26 is not lit.
It is possible to select and specify one of three modes: a bright (strong) state where the light is lit brightly, or a dark (weak) state where the light is dimly lit. If the switch 11 is set to the off state, step S2
Then, the fluorescent screen 26 is not lit. Also, switch 1
1 is set to a bright or dark state, the process advances to step S3, and the settings on the program are determined. As explained in FIG. 7, the settings on this program include a mode in which the backlight is automatically turned off when the AC adapter 17 is not connected, and a mode in which the backlight is turned off at any time regardless of whether the AC adapter 17 is connected. This means whether the backlight is set to a mode that automatically turns off or a mode that does not turn off the backlight automatically. If a mode in which the fluorescent screen 26 is not automatically turned off is set, the process advances to step S4, and the mode of the switch 11 is determined again. Then, when the switch 11 is switched to bright, the process advances to step S5, and the CP
U41 controls the fluorescent screen 26 via the inverter circuit 63, and lights up the fluorescent screen 26 brightly. Also, switch 1
1 is switched to the dark state, step S6
Then, the fluorescent screen 26 is dimly lit. Further, if the switch 11 is set to the off state, the process advances to step S7, and the fluorescent screen 26 is not turned on. Fluorescent screen 26
If a mode is set in which the phosphor screen 26 is not automatically turned off, steps S4 to S7 are repeatedly executed, and when the switch 11 is switched, the fluorescent screen 26 is turned off in accordance with the setting of the switch 11. The light may be brightly lit, dimly lit, or turned off.

Next, if the AC adapter 17 is not attached, and if the automatic light-off mode is set in the program, the process advances to step S8, and A
It is determined whether the C adapter 17 is attached. If the AC adapter 17 is attached, the light will not turn off automatically after all, so the process advances to step S4, and the fluorescent screen 26 is turned off in accordance with the setting state of the switch 11 as described above.
will be lit brightly, dimly lit, or turned off.

[0022] In the program, a mode is set in which the light is automatically turned off at any time regardless of whether or not the AC adapter 17 is attached, or a mode is set in which the light is automatically turned off when the AC adapter 17 is not attached. If the AC adapter 17 is not attached, the process advances to step S9, and the setting state of the switch 11 is determined. At this time, in step S1, it was determined that the switch 11 was switched to the bright or dark state, and as a result, the process from step S3 onward was completed.
In this step S9, it is determined whether the setting state of the switch 11 is bright or dark. In the bright state, the process proceeds to step S10, where the fluorescent screen 2
6 is brightly lit. Further, in a dark state, the process proceeds to step S11, and the fluorescent screen 26 is dimly lit. In either case, the process then proceeds to step S12, where it is determined whether or not the program settings have been changed. If the program settings have not been changed, step S13
Proceed to and set the time as above (20 seconds, 1 minute or 5 minutes)
It is determined whether or not the pen 6 is placed down on the tablet 21 within the same period. For example, if this set time is set to one minute, and one minute has not elapsed since the last time the pen 6 was lifted up from the tablet 21, the processes of step S12 and step S13 are repeated. If there is a change in the program settings during this time, the process returns to step S3 and the processes from step S3 onwards are executed.

If the pen has not been lowered onto the tablet 21 for a predetermined period of time since the pen was last raised, the process advances to step S14, and the setting state of the switch 11 is determined. If the switch 11 is set to the dark state, the process advances to step S15, and the fluorescent screen 2
6 is turned off. Next, the process advances to step S16, and it is determined whether or not the pen 6 has been moved down onto the tablet 21. If the pen 6 is not brought down onto the tablet 21, step S16 will be repeatedly executed. Therefore, even if the switch 11 is switched to the bright or dark state during this time, this switching is ignored and the fluorescent screen 26 remains unlit. In order to escape from this loop (light out state), it is necessary to move the pen 6 down onto the tablet 21. When pen down is performed, steps S16 to S17
, it is determined whether the switch 11 is turned off. That is, when the user turns off the switch 11 in the standby mode of step S16, the process returns to step S16 again, and it is determined whether or not the pen 6 has been touched on the tablet 21. As a result, if the switch 11 is turned off after the set time has elapsed and the fluorescent screen 26 is turned off, the fluorescent screen 26 will not be illuminated even if the pen 6 moves down on the tablet 21. If it is determined in step S17 that the switch 11 is switched to bright or dark, step S9
, and the fluorescent screen 26 is turned on according to the setting state of the switch
will be lit in either bright or dark state.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S14 that the switching state of the switch 11 is bright, that is, if there is no input from the pen 6 for more than the set time, the switch 11 has been set to the bright state until then. If the fluorescent screen 26 is
The lighting status of is changed from bright to dark. As a result, the lighting state of the fluorescent screen 26 is lowered by one level. Next, the process advances to step S19, and it is determined again whether or not there is an input on the tablet 21 using the pen 6. If there is no input, the process advances to step S20, and it is determined whether the set time has elapsed. If the set time has not elapsed, the process returns to step S19 and the tablet 2 is pressed again.
The presence or absence of a pen input on 1 is determined. If there is no input using the pen 6 on the tablet 21 within the set time, the process returns to step S15 and the fluorescent screen 26 is turned off. Then, the processing from step S16 onwards will be executed. Also, before the set time elapses, the tablet 21
If there is an input using the pen 6, the process advances to step S21, the lighting state of the fluorescent screen 26 is changed from a dark state to a bright state, and the process returns to step S12.

In the above embodiment, when the switch 11 is set to the bright state, the pen 6 is turned on for a predetermined period or more.
Although the lighting state of the fluorescent screen 26 is changed from bright to dark when there is no input from the fluorescent screen, it is also possible to immediately change the lighting state from the bright lighting state to the unlit state. This makes it possible to further suppress wasteful power consumption of the battery.

In the above, the fluorescent screen 26 is controlled in accordance with the input to the tablet, but this tablet is not limited to a capacitance type, but may also be a piezoelectric type or a type that detects light. That is clear. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the fluorescent screen 26 may be a side light placed on the side, rather than a so-called backlight placed behind the LCD 22.

[0027]

As described above, according to the input display control device of the present invention, the light source is controlled in response to the input to the tablet, so the battery can be saved without increasing the size or cost of the device. It becomes possible to suppress unnecessary power consumption. Therefore, it becomes possible to use the battery effectively for a longer period of time.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of a portable computer to which an input display control device of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a screen in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a fluorescent screen in the embodiment of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the electrical connection relationship between the LCD and the tablet in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall electrical connection relationship in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a screen in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a screen in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the operation in the embodiment of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

6 Pen 8 Screen 17 AC adapter 19 Battery 21 Tablet 22 LCD 26 Fluorescent board 41 CPU

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A tablet that detects input, and an LCD that displays a predetermined display in response to the input from the tablet.
An input display control device comprising: a light source that illuminates the LCD; and a control circuit that controls the light source in response to input to the tablet.