KR20100054017A - Method and apparatus for displaying thumbnail image - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A thumbnail image output method is provided to decode the thumbnail image using the synchronization of a screen scroll. CONSTITUTION: An image output apparatus receives a screen scroll signal(S500). The apparatus produces the change rate of the screen scroll signal(S510). If the measured change rate of the screen scroll signal is smaller than the reference output value, the apparatus outputs the thumbnail image by the normal output sequence(S520,S540). If the measured change rate of the screen scroll signal is bigger than the output standard value, the apparatus outputs the thumbnail image according to the preset omission sequence(S530).

Description

Thumbnail image output method and its image output device {Method and apparatus for displaying thumbnail image}

The present invention relates to a thumbnail image output method and an image output apparatus, and more particularly, to a thumbnail image which can reduce decoding delay time by partially outputting an output sequence of a thumbnail image according to a speed of a user's screen scrolling. An output method and an image output apparatus thereof.

Recently, as the number of electronic devices capable of outputting images increases and the performance of the processor for processing images in the electronic devices increases, the number of images stored in the electronic devices increases at the same time. Since images contain moving images as well as still images, a single image occupies a very large memory capacity. However, due to the rapid development of semiconductor technology and the emergence of mobile memory, the capacity of the memory does not bring great inconvenience to the use of electronic devices.

However, when searching a large number of images stored in a large memory inside and outside the electronic device, a processing unit that can decode and display all images quickly and without delay is not available. In particular, in the case of an image, it is difficult to distinguish the image by the text title alone, and the image should be decoded because it is most preferable to distinguish the image by the image itself.

However, since it is difficult to decode many images at once to retrieve an image, most electronic devices generate a thumbnail image. In other words, instead of generating all the pixel data in a number of stored images, a thumbnail image, which is a reduced image, is generated using an image reduction filter or the like and outputs the thumbnail image.

1 illustrates an example of a thumbnail image output through a display unit of a mobile communication terminal. Referring to FIG. 1, a screen is displayed when the user accesses a folder in which a picture is stored in order to search for a picture stored in the mobile communication terminal.

That is, the display unit displays a thumbnail image, which is a preview image, instead of decoded multiple photographs as they are. Therefore, a plurality of pictures may be displayed on the small display unit of the mobile communication terminal. Therefore, the user can select the respective pictures separately.

However, shown in FIG. 1 is only an example of a thumbnail image already output by the mobile communication terminal in a still image. In order to output a total of eight thumbnail images, the corresponding thumbnail images must be decoded and output, thereby causing a delay time. .

In addition, as mentioned above, thumbnail images mainly have a function to intuitively know the contents of the image or image when the user searches for a still image or video, so that the user mainly outputs the thumbnail image for search. Want.

However, in recent years, the capacity of the storage unit or the memory of various mobile communication terminals and other image output devices has been greatly increased, and has been improved to mount dozens or hundreds of gigabytes of external memory. The capital is growing exponentially.

Therefore, when a user accesses a folder to search for a video, the number of thumbnail images to be output far exceeds the six thumbnail images shown on the screen of FIG. 1.

For this reason, the user scrolls through the screen of the mobile communication terminal 100 to search the thumbnail list. If the total number of thumbnail images is 100 or more, for example, the user may search the list of thumbnail images at a high speed. Occurs when scrolling to.

Referring to FIG. 2, when the thumbnail image corresponding to the video file to be searched by the user is PIC 45, only a few thumbnail images are displayed on the mobile communication terminal 100 so that the user scrolls the screen. In FIG. 2, the mobile communication terminal 100 has a touch screen function and flickers. However, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that flicking is used in the same technical meaning as the term scroll.

When the search is started as shown in the figure on the left, the user does not have a big problem to decode and output thumbnail images on the screen in order to flick at low speed, but the user has to flick at high speed to find PIC 45. If you do, there is a problem in outputting all the thumbnail images as shown in the screen on the right. That is, when the screen is scrolled at high speed, the number of thumbnail images to be decoded by the mobile communication terminal 100 is increased rapidly at the same time interval. This is because the microprocessor of the mobile communication terminal 100 decodes the thumbnail images in order according to the first in first out rule according to the screen switching.

However, the performance of the microprocessor included in the mobile communication terminal 100 has a limitation in decoding and outputting a plurality of thumbnail images corresponding to the screen scrolling. This causes a problem that the decoding speed is not synchronized with the scrolling speed of the user when the user scrolls fast.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and when the user scrolls the screen at a high speed, a thumbnail image is output by using an abbreviation order in which a part is omitted in an order of outputting a plurality of thumbnail images. It is an object of the present invention to provide a thumbnail image output method and an image output device thereof.

Other objects of the present invention will become more apparent through the preferred embodiments described below.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a thumbnail image output method is provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the image output device that stores a plurality of thumbnail images having a predetermined output order, the method for decoding and outputting the thumbnail image according to the user's thumbnail image output signal, (a) from the user Calculating a rate of change of the screen scroll signal when a screen scroll signal is received; (b) comparing the rate of change with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; And (c) outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset omission order when the rate of change is equal to or greater than the thumbnail image output reference value, wherein the preset omission order omits some of the output order. Provided is a thumbnail image output method characterized in that order.

When the rate of change is equal to or less than the thumbnail image output reference value, the plurality of thumbnail images may be output according to the output order.

The omission order may be an order of omitting output of N thumbnail images after outputting one thumbnail image of the thumbnail images of the output order.

The omission order may be divided into groups according to the output order, and only a part of the groups may be sequentially selected.

The original data may be stored in the original data storage unit and a thumbnail image corresponding to the original data may be generated.

The image output apparatus may include a touch screen, and the screen scroll signal may be a signal in which coordinate values of the touch screen are continuously changed.

The rate of change of the screen scroll signal may include at least one of a rate of change of abscissa value and a rate of change of ordinate value of the touch screen.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, there is provided an image output device.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in the image output device for storing a plurality of thumbnail images having a predetermined output order, and decoding and outputting the thumbnail image in accordance with the user's thumbnail image output signal, input the screen scroll signal from the user A scroll signal processor for calculating a rate of change of the screen scroll signal when received; A comparison unit comparing the change rate with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; A thumbnail image output unit for outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset skip order when the change rate is equal to or greater than the thumbnail image output reference value; And a storage unit in which the output order, the plurality of thumbnail images and the preset skip order are stored, wherein the preset skip order is an order of omitting some of the output order. do.

The thumbnail image output unit may further include a touch panel, and the scroll signal processing unit may further include a touch driver circuit. The touch panel and the touch driver circuit may be electrically connected to each other so that the screen scroll signal of the user may be transmitted through the touch panel. It may be transferred to the touch driver circuit.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a recording medium is provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is recorded a program for implementing a method for the image output device for storing a plurality of thumbnail images having a predetermined output order, decoding and outputting the thumbnail image according to a user's thumbnail image output signal, A computer-readable recording medium comprising: (a) calculating a rate of change of a screen scroll signal when a screen scroll signal is input from the user; (b) comparing the rate of change with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; And (c) outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset omission order when the rate of change is equal to or greater than the thumbnail image output reference value, wherein the preset omission order omits some of the output order. There is provided a computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for implementing a thumbnail image output method.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the user scrolls the screen at a high speed, the user scrolls the screen because the thumbnail image is output using an abbreviation order in which a part of the plurality of thumbnail images is output. The thumbnail image can be decoded in synchronization with.

In addition, since a part of the original thumbnail image output order is decoded and decoded, an operation load of the image processing apparatus can be reduced.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and in describing the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components are designated by the same reference numerals regardless of the reference numerals. Duplicate explanations will be omitted.

3 is a diagram for describing a method of outputting a thumbnail image by an image output apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

3 shows thumbnail images (Thumb 1 column, Thumb 2 column, Thumb 3 column, ...) stored in the storage unit of the image output apparatus 100. That is, according to the capacity of the storage unit of the image output apparatus 100, since tens to hundreds of still images or moving images may be stored, thumbnail images corresponding to each may also be stored separately. However, it is obvious that the thumbnail image may be stored in a separate thumbnail DB as a separate file, and may be inserted and stored in the header of the original file.

Since the size of the display unit of the image output apparatus 100 is limited, the following description assumes that the total number of thumbnail images that can be output on one screen is 6 when screen scrolling, that is, flicking is not performed.

When the user flicks at a low speed, six thumbnail images are decoded on the screen and output in sequence, so that the problem does not occur. For example, if the user scrolls the screen for about 1 second using a finger, the screen is scrolled about 3 cm. If three new thumbnail images of the six thumbnail images are decoded and outputted, there is no problem. It is possible with power. However, the computing capability of the image output apparatus 100 is different according to the microprocessor mounted in the image output apparatus 100, and thus is not limited to the above-described example.

However, when the user scrolls the screen by about 10 cm for 0.5 seconds by the flicking operation, since only 15 thumbnail images should be decoded and output in only 0.5 seconds, the operation load may be applied to the image output apparatus 100. This may eventually appear as a phenomenon in which the thumbnail image is broken and output on the image processing screen.

However, the user does not have an intention to search all the thumbnail images while flicking at high speed, but flickers with the intention of switching only the screen from the screen on which the thumbnail image is output. This is because flicking at high speed is not for viewing all thumbnail images.

Accordingly, even if the image output apparatus 100 recognizes the user's fast flicking and omits some of the thumbnail images to be output, the user does not feel much inconvenience. In addition, when the user switches the screen at high speed, even if the computing power of the image output apparatus 100 is enough to output all the thumbnail images, the thumbnail images displayed on the screen are correctly recognized due to the visual resolution of the human being. It doesn't work.

Therefore, the image output apparatus 100 according to the present invention first distinguishes between high speed flicking and low speed flicking. The division of the low speed flicking and the high speed flicking by the image output apparatus 100 may be determined by comparing a change amount of the screen scroll signal of the user with a preset threshold value. The division of the low speed and the high speed may be relatively changed by the performance of the microprocessor included in the image output apparatus 100, and a detailed description thereof will be made with reference to FIGS. 5 to 6.

When the user scrolls the screen at low-speed flocking, the thumbnail image is decoded and output in the order stored in the storage unit of the output device 100 or the order arbitrarily designated by the user. That is, the microprocessor sequentially decodes the output from the Thumb 1 column to the bottom and outputs the result to the screen.

However, when the user scrolls the screen with fast flocking, unlike the output sequence described above, the Thumb 6 columns are sequentially selected from the Thumb 7 columns, the Thumb 8 columns,. Does not output That is, the above output sequence omits Thumb 7 and Thumb 8 columns, Thumb 10 columns, and Thumb 11 columns. That is, the only thumbnail images that the microprocessor must decode during fast flocking time are Thumb 6 columns, Thumb 9 columns, and Thumb 12 columns.

That is, the image output apparatus 100 of the present invention omits and outputs a part of the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset skip order. The above-described example shows a case in which thumbnails are output in an abbreviation order of " omit two columns after reproduction of one row. &Quot; However, the above-described " omit two columns after reproduction of one row " is merely an example of an abbreviation order used by the image output apparatus 100 of the present invention, and other omission orders may be used.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case of low-speed flicking, the thumbnail images are output in the normal output order. In the case of high-speed flicking, the thumbnail images are not output in the output order, and only two columns of the group consisting of three columns of thumbnail images are output. Decode and output

That is, in the case of high-speed flicking in FIG. 4, an abbreviation order of outputting thumbnail images is divided into groups according to the output order, and only a part of the groups is sequentially selected. In more detail, a preset skip order is a sequence of grouping thumbnail images in units of three columns from the time when fast flicking starts, and then decoding only the first two columns in one group. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, in a group consisting of Thumb 6 columns, Thumb 7 columns, and Thumb 8 columns, only thumbnail images of the first two columns, Thumb 6 columns and Thumb 7 columns, are reproduced, and decoding of the Thumb 8 columns is omitted.

Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the computational load of the image output apparatus 100 may be remarkably reduced by decoding and outputting thumbnail images according to an abbreviation order in which part of the original output order is omitted during high-speed flicking.

3 and 4 described above, three thumbnail images are arranged in one column for the sake of convenience of description, and include Thumb 1 column, Thumb 2 column, Thumb 3 column,... Although described in units, the omission order of each thumbnail image may be applied. That is, the abbreviation order of "playing back 1 column and skipping 2 rows" may be an order of skipping "replaying 1 thumbnail image and then skipping 2 thumbnail images", and playing the first 2 columns and the last 1 column of the group of 3 columns. Omit "may be" playback of the first two thumbnail images of the three thumbnail images, and omission of the last one thumbnail image ".

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a thumbnail image by an image output apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the image output apparatus 100 receives a screen scroll signal (S500). In the case of a touch screen, the screen may be scrolled by the user's flicking touch input as shown in FIGS. 3 to 4.

The image output apparatus 100 switches the screen according to the screen scroll signal, and calculates a change rate of the screen scroll signal according to the thumbnail image output method of the present invention (S510). For example, when the image output apparatus 100 of the present invention includes a touch screen, the rate of change of the coordinate value at the point where the user's finger touches is calculated. In more detail, in the touch screen, a resistive touch panel may be attached to the bottom of the screen, and contact resistance may be formed on the panel by making coordinates. In this case, the resistance value is increased at the point where the user contacts, and the current value flowing at the corresponding point is changed to determine whether the user is in contact and the contact position.

Therefore, the contact point of the user can be determined by changing the contact point. In the flicking operation as described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4, the coordinate value of the user's contact point changes. For example, the coordinates of the vertical axis change from 10 to 8 or 2. For example, when the rate of change of the coordinate value is set to be calculated in units of 0.5 seconds, it is 4 when the coordinate on the vertical axis is changed from 10 to 8, and 16 when it is changed from 10 to 2.

Thereafter, the image output apparatus 100 compares the change rate of the screen scroll signal measured in step S510 with a preset output reference value (S520). The output reference value is a value used as a criterion for determining whether to output the thumbnail image in the order of omission. For example, the output reference value may be set to 12.

Accordingly, when the rate of change of the screen scroll signal measured in step S510 is 4, since the change rate is smaller than the output reference value 12, the flow proceeds to step S540 to output the thumbnail image in the normal output order.

However, if the rate of change of the screen scroll signal measured in step S510 is 16, since it is larger than the output reference value 12, the flow advances to step S530 to output a thumbnail image according to a preset skip order. Since the order of omission is the same as described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4, description thereof will be omitted. However, the omission order used for the thumbnail image output method of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it may be obvious that the omission order may be used as an omission order when a part of the omission order is omitted.

In the above example, it has been assumed that the output reference value is set to 12. However, this may be differently set according to the performance of the microprocessor included in the image output apparatus 100.

The method of the present invention as described above may be implemented in a program and stored in a computer-readable recording medium (CD-ROM, RAM, ROM, floppy disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, etc.).

6 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of an image output apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the image output apparatus 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a touch panel 600, a touch IC 610, a scroll signal processor 620, a comparator 630, and a controller 640. , A display panel 650 and a storage unit 660. The image output device 100 includes various electronic devices including a mobile communication terminal, a memory such as a PC, a notebook computer, a PDA, an operation processing device, and a display module.

The controller 640, the comparator 630, the scroll signal processor 620, and the touch IC 610 may be configured as one or more logic operation circuits that perform arithmetic processing functions as processing units, each of which is a separate logic. It may be configured as a circuit and electrically connected, or may be functionally separated as a logic circuit.

Although the touch panel 600 and the display panel 650 are separately illustrated, when the image output apparatus 100 has a touch screen function, the display panel 650 and the touch panel 600 are integrally formed or overlapped with each other. It may be formed. The touch panel 600 may generate a touch signal of a user's finger or stylus in various ways. For example, a resistive touch panel, a capacitive touch panel, or an IR touch panel may be used.

The electrical signal generated by the user's finger contact in the touch panel 600 is transmitted to the touch IC 610, and the touch IC 610 calculates a coordinate value of the point where the contact occurs. Accordingly, according to the coordinate value calculated by the touch IC 610, the image output apparatus 100 may perform an operation corresponding to the touch of the user. In addition, the click input, the double click input, the drag input, etc. may be distinguished according to the change pattern of the coordinate value.

The scroll signal processor 620 included in the image output apparatus 100 of the present invention calculates a rate of change of the coordinate value calculated by the touch IC 610. For example, if the coordinate value of the touch panel touched by the user in a 0.5 second time period is changed from horizontal 5, vertical 10 to horizontal 5, vertical 8, the rate of change of the coordinate value is (10-8) /0.5 (sec.) = 4. When the width is changed from the width 5 and the length 10 to the width 5 and the length 2, (10-2) /0.5 (sec.) = 16 is the change rate of the coordinate value.

The rate of change of the coordinate value is calculated by the scroll signal processor 620. The scroll signal processor 620 may be configured as an independent logic circuit as described above, or may be included in the touch IC 610.

The rate of change of the calculated coordinate values is transmitted to the comparator 630. The comparison unit 630 compares a preset output reference value with a change rate of the coordinate value. As a result of the comparison, it is transmitted to the controller whether the rate of change of the coordinate value is larger or smaller than the reference output value. This may be performed by transmitting an enable signal or a disable signal divided into 1s and 0s to the controller 640.

That is, when the enable signal is transmitted to the control unit 640, the control unit 640 decodes the thumbnail image according to a preset skipping order instead of the existing output order to output the display image to the display panel 650.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 3 to 4, the thumbnail images stored in the storage unit 660 are not decoded in the order in which they are stored. Instead, some of them are omitted and only a portion thereof is decoded and output. Therefore, when the user generates the screen scroll signal through the flicking operation on the touch panel 600, and it is determined by the comparator 630 as the high speed scrolling, only a part of the stored thumbnail images is decoded according to the skip order.

However, when the screen is switched to the desired thumbnail image position while the user searches for the desired content through the thumbnail image, the flicking speed returns to normal or stops, so the comparator transmits the disable signal to the controller. That is, the user can adjust the flicking speed through the finger or the stylus. The scroll signal processor and the comparator of the present invention measure the rate of change at a preset time (0.5 seconds interval in the above example) and transmit the change rate to the controller 640. The flicking speed of the output order or the abbreviation order can be selected.

Therefore, the controller 640 decodes and outputs all thumbnail images in the order stored in the storage 660 instead of the skipping order, so that the user can find a desired thumbnail image.

As a result, when the screen is scrolled at a high speed due to the fast flicking operation of the user, the controller 640 may not perform thumbnail image decoding smoothly, and thus may not be normally output from the screen and may not be synchronized with the user's screen scroll input.

Although the above has been described with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art may variously modify and modify the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. It will be appreciated that it can be changed.

1 is an exemplary view of a thumbnail image output through a display unit of a mobile communication terminal.

2 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an operation of scrolling a screen in order for a user of a mobile communication terminal to search for a thumbnail image.

3 is a view for explaining a method for outputting a thumbnail image by the image output apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a view for explaining a method for outputting a thumbnail image by the image output apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of outputting a thumbnail image by an image output apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of an image output apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (9)

In the image output device that stores a plurality of thumbnail images in the output order, the method for decoding and outputting the thumbnail image in accordance with the user's thumbnail image output signal, (a) calculating a rate of change of the screen scroll signal when the screen scroll signal is input from the user; (b) comparing the rate of change with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; And (c) outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset skip order when the rate of change is greater than or equal to the thumbnail image output reference value, And the predetermined skip order is an order of omitting some of the output order. The method of claim 1, And outputting the plurality of thumbnail images in the output order when the rate of change is less than or equal to the thumbnail image output reference value. The method of claim 1, And the omission order is an order of omitting the output of N thumbnail images after outputting one thumbnail image of the thumbnail images in the output order. The method of claim 1, And the omission order is divided into groups according to the output order, and only a part of the groups are sequentially selected. The method of claim 1, The image output device includes a touch screen, And the screen scroll signal is a signal in which coordinate values of the touch screen are continuously changed. The method of claim 5, And the rate of change of the screen scroll signal comprises at least one of a rate of change of abscissa value and a rate of change of ordinate value of the touch screen. An image output apparatus for storing a plurality of thumbnail images having an output order, and decoding and outputting the thumbnail image according to a thumbnail image output signal of a user, A scroll signal processor configured to calculate a rate of change of the screen scroll signal when a screen scroll signal is input from the user; A comparison unit comparing the change rate with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; A thumbnail image output unit for outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset skip order when the change rate is equal to or greater than the thumbnail image output reference value; And And a storage unit for storing the output order, the plurality of thumbnail images, and the preset skip order. And the predetermined skip order is an order of omitting some of the output order. The method of claim 7, wherein The thumbnail image output unit further includes a touch panel, The scroll signal processor further includes a touch driver circuit, And the touch panel and the touch driver circuit are electrically connected so that the screen scroll signal of the user is transmitted to the touch driver circuit through the touch panel. A computer-readable recording medium having a program for implementing a method of decoding and outputting a thumbnail image according to a thumbnail image output signal of a user, the image output device storing a plurality of thumbnail images having a predetermined output order. , (a) calculating a rate of change of the screen scroll signal when the screen scroll signal is input from the user; (b) comparing the rate of change with a preset thumbnail image output reference value; And (c) outputting the plurality of thumbnail images according to a preset skip order when the rate of change is greater than or equal to the thumbnail image output reference value, And the preset skipping order is a program for implementing a thumbnail image output method, wherein a part of the output order is omitted.

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