JP2000122635A - Screen control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent decline of operability by removing troublesomeness of a user in controlling the direction to a display screen automatically corresponding to the direction of an instrument. SOLUTION: A microprocessor 9 judges whether the direction of a display screen should be switched or not, based on the inclination detected by a gravity sensor 3. In a case of judging to switch the direction, the microprocessor 9 judges whether the direction of the display screen should be switched or not, based on the inclination detected again by the gravity sensor 3 after the elapse of a prescribed time, and then switches the direction of the display screen. The microprocessor 9 switches the direction of the display screen with such a hysteresis characteristic that the switching timing of the display screen direction is delayed relative to a small change of the inclination detected by the gravity sensor 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a screen control device for automatically controlling the direction of a display screen by detecting a tilt of a display device with respect to a vertical direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable information communication terminals operated by batteries have begun to spread as microprocessors have reduced power consumption and improved performance, and many of them have a flat display device such as an LCD. In addition, these information and communication terminals usually have a lot of application software, and their screens are composed of simple numeric keypad screens for telephones and calculators, as well as for reading and writing e-mail, memos and addresses, etc. And a character screen for writing a character. The former is preferably a vertically long screen due to the shape of a device such as a telephone, and the latter is preferably a horizontally long screen so that sentences of many items can be listed.

[0003] Further, these information communication terminals are used by switching various applications. Depending on the application used, there are cases where it is preferable to make the device vertically long and cases where it is more preferable to make the device horizontally long. For example, when the user makes the device vertically long when making a call, it is preferable that the operation screen is also vertically long. Also, when the phone call is ended and the notepad application is started, the landscape screen is easier to see, but the user has to rotate the device by 90 ° for that purpose, which makes the operation cumbersome. Therefore,
The usual countermeasure would be to prepare the operation screen of application software for portrait and landscape.

[0004] However, the device side does not know under what conditions the screen should be made vertically long or horizontally long. For example, when the application is switched so that the previous screen direction is continued when the application is switched, the user places the device horizontally on the desk, and then starts the memo pad application while keeping the portrait screen. Therefore, this configuration complicates the operation because the user must manually switch the screen direction.

Therefore, as a conventional example of this kind, a method is proposed in which a gravity sensor is provided as shown in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-44143, and control is performed so that the screen direction is opposite to the gravity direction of the device. Have been. As another conventional example, a desktop type, that is, a desktop fixed type display that can be rotated by 90 ° is also commercially available.

[0006]

However, in the terminal disclosed in the above publication, the direction of the device frequently changes while walking or in an environment where the terminal is used in a car. There is a problem that the screen direction changes frequently with the change, and therefore, it is very troublesome for the user and the operability is significantly reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and when automatically controlling the direction of a display screen in accordance with the direction of a device, it is not bothersome for a user and it is possible to prevent a decrease in operability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a screen control device that can perform the control.

[0008]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the direction of the display screen is switched when the device is continuously tilted for a predetermined time or more. That is, according to the present invention, the inclination detecting means for detecting the inclination of the display device with respect to the vertical direction, and whether or not to switch the direction of the display screen based on the inclination detected by the inclination detecting means is determined. Control means for switching the direction of the display screen by determining whether to switch the direction of the display screen based on the inclination detected by the inclination detection means again after a predetermined time has elapsed,
A screen control device having the same is provided.

Further, the present invention has been made in order to achieve the above object.
The display screen direction is switched with a hysteresis characteristic such that the switching timing of the display screen direction is delayed with respect to a small change in the inclination. That is, according to the present invention, the inclination detecting means for detecting the inclination of the display device with respect to the vertical direction, and the relationship between the change direction of the inclination detected by the inclination detecting means and the switching timing of the display screen direction is a hysteresis characteristic. There is provided a screen control device having control means for switching a direction of a display screen.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a mobile terminal to which an embodiment of a screen control device according to the present invention is applied.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram showing a gravity sensor of the mobile terminal of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing detection signals of the gravity sensor of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a screen control device according to the present invention, and FIG. It is a flowchart for explaining a process.

FIG. 1 shows, as a portable terminal 1 to which the present invention is applied, a multifunction peripheral having a portable telephone function, a rectangular flat display section 2 such as an LCD, and a data processing function such as a memo pad, a telephone directory, and an address book. Is shown. FIG. 1A shows a portrait screen suitable for starting an application such as a telephone or a calculator, and FIG. 1B shows a landscape screen suitable for starting an application such as a memo pad, an address book, or a mail. Show.

Next, the gravity sensor 3 will be described with reference to FIG. A weight 4 is disposed at the center of the gravity sensor 3,
Pressure sensors 5-1 and 5-2 such as semiconductor pressure sensors are disposed on the left and lower sides of the weight 4, respectively. In the pressure sensors 5-1 and 5-2, the electric resistances R1 and R2 change according to the pressure caused by the weight of the weight 4, so that the bridge circuit 6 including the electric resistances R1 and R2 and the subtractor 7
Thereby, the inclination signal Vcc of the portable terminal 1 with respect to the vertical direction (the direction of gravity) is detected.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the vertical direction of the screen is X and the horizontal direction is Y, and the Y axis is not inclined from the direction of gravity (θ = 0), the inclination signal Vcc becomes Vcc = center voltage, as shown in FIG.
When tilted in the -θ direction from the gravity direction, the center voltage decreases according to the tilt, and conversely, when tilted in the + θ direction from the gravity direction, the center voltage increases in accordance with the tilt. Therefore,
Threshold value Vthl for detecting θ = −45 ° and θ = + 45
Using the threshold value Vthh for detecting the angle, a range of a slope of −45 ° or less, a range of a slope of −45 ° <θ <+ 45 °, and a range of a slope of 45 ° or more are detected.
, Is changed as follows.

In FIG. 4, a gradient signal Vcc is fetched by a microprocessor (μp) 9 via an A / D converter 8, and the microprocessor 9
By performing a process as shown in FIG. 5 based on the value of 0, the screen direction of the flat panel display (LCD) 2 is determined and L
It controls a CD controller (LCDC) 11.

As shown in FIG. 5, the microprocessor 9 first sets the screen direction Dir stored in the internal memory.
Is set (step S1), and then the screen direction Di is set.
r to the LCD controller 11 (step S
2). Next, the inclination signal Vcc is fetched from the gravity sensor 3 (step S3), and it is determined whether the inclination range to which the inclination Vcc belongs is out of the inclination range corresponding to the screen direction Dir (step S4). If not, the process returns to step S3, and if it does, the process proceeds to step S5 and subsequent steps.

In step S5 and subsequent steps, the timer 10 is started and waits until a predetermined time has elapsed (step S5).
5) When the predetermined time has elapsed, the inclination Vcc is taken in again to make a judgment (steps S6 and S7). And the slope Vcc
If the inclination range to which does not deviate from the inclination range corresponding to the screen direction Dir, the flow returns to step S3.
The rotated screen direction (/ Dir) is stored in the internal memory (step S8), and the screen direction switching instruction is
It outputs to the D controller 11 (step S9), and then returns to step S3.

Therefore, even if the direction of a device such as a portable terminal changes frequently in an environment used while walking or in a car, the screen direction is not switched until a predetermined time elapses. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the operability from being lowered.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, thresholds Vth corresponding to inclinations θ = −45 ° and + 45 ° of one direction (Y axis) of the device with respect to the direction of gravity, respectively.
l, the threshold Vthh and the timer 10 are used to prevent the switching from becoming infrequent. However, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. To change the direction of the display screen with a hysteresis characteristic that slows down,
The threshold value Vth1 is provided between θ = 0 ° and −45 °, and θ =
The threshold value Vth2 is provided between -45 ° and -90 °.

A screen direction switching process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the microprocessor 9 sets the screen direction Dir stored in the internal memory (step S11), and then instructs the LCD controller 11 to the screen direction Dir (step S1).
2). Next, the inclination signal Vcc is fetched from the gravity sensor 3 (step S13), and it is determined whether the current screen direction Dir is portrait or landscape (step S14).

When the current screen direction Dir is vertically long, the inclination Vcc is a threshold value Vth between θ = 0 ° and -45 °.
It is determined whether it is 2 or more (step S15-1). And when it is more than threshold value Vth2, it returns to step S13,
On the other hand, if it is lower than the threshold value Vth2, the horizontal direction is set in the memory (S16-1), and the horizontal direction is instructed to the LCD controller 11 (step S17-1), and then the process returns to step S13. If the current screen direction Dir is horizontally long, it is determined whether the inclination Vcc is equal to or smaller than a threshold value Vth1 between θ = −45 ° to −90 ° (step S15-).
2). If it is equal to or less than the threshold value Vth1, step S1
3, if it exceeds the threshold value Vth1, the portrait direction is set in the memory (step S16-2), and the portrait direction is instructed to the LCD controller 11 (step S16).
17-1), and then return to step S13.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the device 1 such as a portable terminal is at the tilt position a of θ = 0 ° and the screen is also vertically long, the device 1 is gradually tilted in the negative direction and θ = −45
Even if the camera is tilted to the tilt position b of °, it is not tilted to the angle corresponding to the threshold value Vth2, so that the portrait orientation is not switched to the landscape orientation (step S15-1 → S13). When the device 1 is further tilted and tilted to an angle corresponding to the threshold value Vth2, the portrait mode is changed to the landscape mode (steps S15-1 → S16-1). Similarly, when the device 1 is now at the tilt position c of θ = 90 ° and the screen is also horizontally long, the device 1 gradually tilts in the + direction and θ = −
Even if the camera is tilted to the tilt position b of 45 °, the horizontal length is not switched to the vertical length because it is not tilted to the angle corresponding to the threshold value Vth1 (step S15-2 → S13). When the device 1 is further tilted and tilted to an angle corresponding to the threshold value Vth1, the landscape is switched to the portrait (step S15-2 → S16-2).

In the above embodiment, two pressure sensors 5-1 and 5-2 are provided. However, when the device 1 can be used from any of four directions, the third pressure sensor shown in FIG. As in the embodiment, four (two pairs) pressure sensors 5 are provided to change the resistance value of each pair by two bridge circuits 6-1 and 6 respectively.
-2 and the subtractors 7-1 and 7-2. In this case, as shown in FIG.
When each output of -1 is an area, the device 1 can detect that the angle is in the first quadrant of the XY coordinates. In addition, it can be detected that the angle is in the second quadrant in the case of a region, the angle of the third quadrant can be detected in the case of a region, and the angle in the fourth quadrant can be detected in the case of a region. Can be detected.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, the direction of the display screen is switched when the device is continuously tilted for a predetermined time or more. Therefore, the direction of the display screen is changed according to the direction of the device. Is automatically controlled, it is possible to prevent the operability from lowering without bothering the user. Further, according to the present invention, the display screen direction is switched with a hysteresis characteristic such that the display screen direction is not switched for a small change in the inclination.
When automatically controlling the direction of the display screen in accordance with the direction of the device, it is possible to prevent the operability from being lowered without bothering the user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a portable terminal to which an embodiment of a screen control device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a gravity sensor of the mobile terminal of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing detection signals of a gravity sensor of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a screen control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a screen switching process.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen switching process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a screen switching process according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram illustrating a gravity sensor according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a screen switching process according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Flat panel display unit 3 Gravity sensor (tilt detecting means) 9 Microprocessor (control means) 10 Timer

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat II (Reference) G09G 5/36 520 G09G 5/36 520K F term (Reference) 5C006 AA03 AB01 AF03 AF44 AF61 AF78 AF81 BB11 BC16 BF22 BF28 BF38 FA05 FA55 5C080 AA10 BB05 DD01 EE01 EE23 FF09 GG02 JJ01 JJ02 JJ03 JJ05 JJ07 KK07 5C082 AA00 AA21 BA02 BA12 BB01 BB22 BB32 CA44 CB03 DA63 DA86 MM09 MM10 5E501 AA04 AA11 AB03 FA05 FB

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A tilt detecting means for detecting a tilt of a display device with respect to a vertical direction, and a determination is made as to whether or not to switch the direction of the display screen based on the tilt detected by the tilt detecting means. And control means for determining whether or not to switch the direction of the display screen based on the tilt detected by the tilt detecting means again after a predetermined time has elapsed, and switching the direction of the display screen. 2. A tilt detecting means for detecting a tilt of the display device with respect to a vertical direction, and a display screen such that a relationship between a change direction of the tilt detected by the tilt detecting means and a switching timing of a display screen direction has a hysteresis characteristic. Control means for switching the direction of the screen.