JPH0612219A - Cursor display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily discriminate the movable direction of a cursor from the display shape of the cursor by detecting the desired moving direction of the cursor on a display screen and switching the display shape corresponding to this detected direction. CONSTITUTION:When a cursor moving mode is started, the display of the cursor is switched to the display shape corresponding to the movable direction. When the cursor display mode is not set, the display is turned to the same display shape as the conventional cursor or no cursor is displayed. Namely, it can be judged from the display state of the cursor whether the cursor moving mode is set or not and when the cursor moving mode is not set, it can be judged that a dial 10 is used for the other operating mode. When an operator selects the desired moving direction by operating a key 12 of a front panel, a microprocessor 20 detects the moving direction of the cursor. The microprocessor 20 calls the data of the display shape of the cursor corresponding to the moving direction of the cursor from a ROM 18 and switches the display of the cursor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of displaying a cursor used to indicate a desired position on a display screen of a display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 shows an example of conventional cursor display, which is used to indicate a desired position on a display screen of a display device. This cursor can be moved on the display screen by using a dial and operation keys. Since the dial and the key can be attached to the front panel of the display device, they are often used when considering the portability of the display device. In particular, the dial is used in many devices because it can continuously change the amount of change to be controlled.

[0003]

However, when the cursor is moved using a dial or the like having one rotation axis, the direction in which the cursor can be moved at one time is only one-dimensional because the rotation axis is one. I can't. Even if the keys are used, the movement with one key at a time is limited to the one-dimensional direction. However, the display screen is usually two-dimensional. Further, there is one that performs stereoscopic display, and in this case, it is three-dimensional. When moving the cursor in these high-dimensional displays, it is necessary to select the moving direction. At this time, according to the conventional cursor display method, which direction the selected cursor is moving cannot be determined only by looking at the display screen.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cursor display method in which the movable direction of the cursor can be easily identified on the display screen.

[0005]

According to the cursor display method of the present invention, the desired moving direction of the movable cursor is detected on the display screen of the device, and the display shape of the cursor is switched according to the moving direction. Thus, the movable direction of the cursor can be determined while looking at the display screen.

[0006]

1 and 2 are a flow chart of the present invention and a block diagram of one embodiment of a display device used in the present invention, respectively. In FIG. 2, 10 is a dial for controlling the amount of movement of the cursor. Reference numeral 18 denotes a ROM (read only memory) that stores a program of the display method of the present invention and data of the display shape of the cursor according to the moving direction. 20 is a microprocessor for controlling the display device. 22 and 24 are a display control circuit and a display device, respectively.

When the cursor movement mode is entered (step 1 in FIG. 1), the cursor display is switched to a display shape according to the movable direction. If not in cursor movement mode,
The display shape may be the same as that of the conventional cursor shown in FIG. In other words, it can be determined from the display state of the cursor whether or not the cursor is in the moving mode, and if it is not in the moving mode, it can be determined that the dial 10 is used in another operation mode.

When the operator operates the key 12 on the front panel to select a desired moving direction, the microprocessor 20 detects the moving direction of the cursor as shown in step 2. Then, the microprocessor 20 causes the RO
Data of the display shape of the cursor corresponding to the moving direction of the cursor is called from M18, and the display of the cursor is switched as shown in step 3. 4 and 5 show examples of cursor display shapes corresponding to horizontal and vertical movements, respectively. 4a has a shape in which an arrow is added to the tip of the horizontal line, and in FIG. 4b, the horizontal line is thicker and longer than the vertical line. FIG. 5 is also FIG.
Is the same as. When used for stereoscopic display, a cursor display shape indicating movement in the depth direction may be similarly used. Then, as shown in step 4, the cursor moves in a desired moving direction according to the amount of rotation of the dial. If you want to change the cursor movement direction and move it further, step 2
Repeat steps 4 to 4.

[0009]

According to the cursor display method of the present invention, the means for moving the cursor, such as a dial or a key, is limited in the direction in which the cursor can be moved at a time. Even if it needs to be changed each time, the movable direction of the cursor can be identified on the display screen. Therefore, the operator can easily determine the movable direction of the cursor while looking at the display screen, and can comfortably perform the cursor movement operation.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing a flow of a cursor display method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a display device used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional cursor display shape.

FIG. 4 is an example of a cursor display shape corresponding to horizontal movement according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a cursor display shape corresponding to vertical movement according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 step 1 2 step 2 3 step 3 4 step 4 5 step 5 10 dial 12 front panel key 18 ROM (read only memory) 20 display control circuit 22 display device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A movable direction of the cursor can be determined by detecting a desired moving direction of a movable cursor on a display screen of a display device and switching the display shape of the cursor according to the moving direction. Cursor display method characterized by.