Graphical user interface touch screen with an auto zoom feature

Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display peripheral interface input device – Light pen for fluid matrix display panel

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C345S215000, C345S440000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06211856

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates, in general, to electronic devices having a relatively small display for providing a graphical user interface, and, in particular, to a hand-held electronic device having a graphical user interface (“GUI”) and “touch screen” for accessing an entire collection of functions of the electronic device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Icons are well known in the art of graphical user interfaces (GUI's) for controlling information processing systems. An icon is a small pictorial representation of some larger set of information. An icon provides information, in a condensed format, about the content or status of the underlying system. Icons are designed to trigger, through visual perception, operator concepts that communicate the content or operation of the system in a quick manner. The system then can be easily accessed or used through actuation of the icon.
An example of a controller unit for a home entertainment system is the Stage 3 Controller unit of Kenwood, described in Kenwood's publicly available manual “STAGE 3/ Setting up your KC-Z1 Controller”, 1996. The control unit includes a hand-held controller with a touch screen functionality for the GUI. The GUI provides a large number of icons that correspond to a large number of system functionalities. The functionalities are activated through the icons on the touch screen. The GUI is user-programmable to select the icons that should be present in the main menu and those that should not. This is due to the relatively small amount of screen space available to the GUI.
Today's home entertainment systems have a large number of functions available to the user. The Kenwood Controller unit uses a GUI to extend the number of functions that are available. The problem with GUI displays for hand-held devices, such as remote controls for consumer electronic devices, for personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other portable data devices, and even for photocopiers is that they are relatively tiny. Adding the touch screen functionality to these displays means the displayed icons have to be large enough to be accessible by a person's fingers or if the icons are tiny, then they must be large enough so that some type of stylus can be used to “touch” the icon. If larger icons are used the number of functionalities to be displayed diminishes. These drawbacks limit the use of touch screen displays on hand-held devices.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a GUI touch screen display on a hand-held device that provides a maximum number of icons on the display yet the features of the icons are easily accessible by a user.
This object is achieved by providing a zoom feature whereby a relatively small icon is provided on the GUI such that its functions are recognizable but not easily accessable by a user, but upon touch of the icon by a user the icon is made larger or magnified so that its functions can be accurately touched by a user's finger or stylus. Assuming the original icon is a picture of a keyboard, the icon in accordance with the invention is large enough to make the displayed keys “recognizable”, but too small to allow individual keys to be conveniently accessed by the user. When the keyboard icon is touched by the user, in one embodiment of the invention, the area of the icon that is touched, e.g., the keys surrounding the “G” key, is magnified or zoomed in, such that this area fills the entire space that was provided for the original keyboard icon. Alternatively in another embodiment, when the keyboard icon is touched by the user, the entire icon becomes larger to basically fill the screen of the GUI or just the area touched becomes large enough to fill the screen of the GUI.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, the user can scroll across the keyboard such that new areas become magnified.
The invention pertains to electronic devices having relatively small displays for providing touch screen GUI's and to hand-held electronic devices, such as remote controls and personal digital assistants, PDA's. The devices include a display for displaying a GUI, and a controller for enabling a user to control the system through a touch screen functionality of the GUI. The GUI provides a lay-out for each of the icons and the controller and GUI in conjunction provide a magnifying functionality that will zoom in on the icon to a magnification convenient for touch screen actuation.
The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the apparatus embodying features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which are adapted to effect such steps, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.


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