JP2001350619A - How to display multiple windows - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To facilitate identification and extraction of only necessary information from information displayed on a display device, and to reduce operator fatigue. SOLUTION: In a method of displaying a plurality of windows on a display device, a step of selecting one window from the plurality of windows (step a), and a window selected in the step a (hereinafter, referred to as a selected window).
(A step b) in which the luminance in the display area other than the area is gradually reduced from the selected window toward the outer periphery of the display area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display algorithm of an information device such as a computer for displaying a plurality of windows on a display device. Usually implemented by software. However, as another means, it is also possible to realize in hardware by a hardware logic circuit.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when displaying a plurality of windows on a display device, it is easy for an operator to recognize that a window is being processed in the foreground by changing the display color such as the surroundings of the window or the title bar. However, there was nothing special about the background window. It is common practice to blank the entire display to save power.
Also, a display content change program called a screen saver for the entire display screen is used to prevent burn-in of the display device screen. However, controlling the display content stepwise or partially on the display screen has not been performed.

[0003]

In an information device such as a computer that displays a plurality of windows on a display device, the size of the display device and the resolution have been increased, and the amount of information displayed on one display device has increased. Is growing.

[0004] Therefore, it is displayed in a plurality of windows,
The increase in the amount of information that is actually processed also increases the load on hardware and software resources, leading to an increase in energy consumption with the increase in processing.

On the other hand, an operator who reads information from the display device and operates various devices has a problem in that fatigue and stress increase with an increase in the amount of information. Choose the information you really need from
Since it is necessary to concentrate on the extraction, the attention and the concentration for other operations may be distracted.

However, in the case of a display content change program called a screen saver or the like in order to prevent burn-in of the display device screen, it is difficult to continue the operation because the display is stopped or another display is performed.

The power management function for putting a computer or the like into a standby state is the same, and the problem cannot be solved if the operation is continued for a plurality of windows.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, to reduce the fatigue of a human being as an operator when the operation is continued for a plurality of windows, and to improve the operation environment. It is.

In order to achieve the above object, a method for displaying a plurality of windows according to the present invention comprises the steps of selecting one of the plurality of windows (step a) and the window selected in the step a (hereinafter referred to as “window”). , A selection window) is gradually reduced from the selection window toward the outer periphery of the display region (step b).

In this case, it is preferable that the method further includes a step (step c) of measuring a time during which the selection window is selected, and the step b is executed in accordance with the measurement result of the step c. In this case, it is preferable that the method further includes a step (step d) of reducing the luminance in the region of the selected window according to the measurement result of the step c. In these cases, it is preferable to further include a step (step e) of deleting the display of the window other than the selected window in the display area other than the area of the selected window according to the measurement result of the step c.

In the above case, the step b,
storing a display state before a change is made in d or e (step f), and according to a predetermined input to the display device,
It is preferable to further include a step (step g) of returning to the display state stored in the step f. In this case, the step g is a step of inputting a cursor position (step g1), and based on the cursor position input in the step g1, is stored in the step f in a predetermined range corresponding to the cursor position. It is more desirable to have a step (step g2) of returning to the displayed state. Further, in this case, the step g includes a step of detecting the movement of the cursor position based on the cursor position input in the step g1 (step g3), and a step of detecting the movement of the cursor position in the step g3. To
The method includes a step (step g4) of returning to the display state stored in the step f in the entire range of the display area (step g4), and a step (step g5) of selecting the step g2 and the step g4. And the step g4 are preferably performed selectively.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an example of a display on a display device for displaying a plurality of windows. The display device 1 has several windows for performing a plurality of processes on a background display area 2 also called wallpaper. Is displayed. For the sake of explanation, the first displayed window is the first window 3, the second displayed window is the second window 4, the third displayed window is the third window 5, and the fourth window is displayed. Window is the fourth window 6
And At present, the fourth window 6 is focused and is an operation target window by input / output of an operator or visual monitoring. The other windows, the first to third windows 3 to 5, display the state of the processing requested at the time of window generation, or are in a standby state.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a system constituting the display device. Usually, the CPU 13 is a ROM, an EEPROM,
Main memory 17 such as RAM and storage device 1 such as HDD
8, the processing is performed via the system bus 14, and the result is displayed on the display device 9. In many cases, the control circuit 10 of the display device is an independent substrate in the system device, and includes a CRT control unit 11 that outputs a signal to the display device and a display memory 12 that stores contents to be displayed. The CPU 13 performs a process of generating a window and measures and manages time after the window is generated.
Necessary information is recorded in a storage device 18 such as a HDD or an HDD.

At present, the amount of information that can be displayed on a display device has been dramatically increased with advances in hardware and software technologies. As described above, the resolution of the entire display area is high, and the operator (operator) can acquire a lot of information. However, since the operation target area is wide, fatigue and stress increase, and unnecessary information at that time is increased. Is displayed, which causes a problem of distracting attention and concentration.

Then, when the window is created and becomes active, the OS acquires the window activity time ascertained, and leaves only the required specific window or display portion, and performs processing such as reducing the brightness or not displaying the window. We have developed a display method that enables efficient multi-window display.

FIG. 3 shows a display example in which the brightness decreases toward the periphery of the active window 6. In this example, the luminance is reduced in three steps, but the present invention is not limited to the number of steps, and may be any number. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the shape of the region where the luminance is reduced is similar to the shape of the window, but the present invention is not limited to the shape of the region. For example, a similar effect can be obtained by lowering the luminance around the rectangular display window in an elliptical shape. The operator can arbitrarily set the content of the processing for lowering the brightness and the setting of the start time in advance. Specifically, the operator inputs a set value using a keyboard or a mouse, and the CPU 13 stores the set value in the main memory 17 or the storage device 18.

At the start time, a utility program for realizing the display method of this embodiment is started and executed by the basic software. The details of the activation of the program by the basic software are the same as those of a normal screen saver program, and thus the description is omitted.

According to a computer program for realizing the display method of this embodiment, the CPU 13
The calculation is performed using display data that has an effect of lowering the brightness in the area around the window 6. For example, R, G, B
In the case where one dot is displayed by giving a gradation to each bit, this is an operation of weakening the intensity of the gradation using mask data. As a result, the display data of the designated area has a reduced gradation and a reduced brightness when viewed from the operator. For example, if the display data of the specific display dot is “1010
If the logical product is taken using the data of "0000 1111 0000 1111" in the case of 16 bits of "1010 1010 1010", the display data actually output becomes "0000 1010 0000 1010", which is the same as the case where the luminance is lowered. Display can be realized. By setting the calculation method and the calculation data, it is possible to variously set the degree of luminance reduction and the effect.

Depending on the setting, an operation is also performed on the active fourth window 6 in order to further reduce the luminance.
The brightness of the entire display can be gradually reduced.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a display in which the luminance is further reduced. FIG. 5 shows another processing method, except for the active fourth window 6, in this case, the first to third windows 3.
This is an example in which No. to 5 are not displayed. In this case, there is an effect that unnecessary display information for the operator at that time is eliminated. By not displaying, the burden on the operator can be reduced and the operation efficiency can be improved. Further, display information that is not to be seen by a third party and that is to be concealed can be explicitly set to the display prohibition state. In the display device, the effect of reducing power consumption as the display device is also exhibited by lowering the luminance of the display content.

As a specific processing method, it is possible to change the gradation data as described above, but the display data of each window other than the active fourth window 6 in the display area 2 is deleted. It can also be realized by: In each of the above-described processes, efficient operation can be achieved by saving the display data in a predetermined area of the storage device 18 such as the main memory 17 or the HDD in order to return to the original display state. Basic software (O
Depending on S), the redisplay of windows may be entrusted to each application, and the display of each window may be managed and redisplayed as an OS function.
In actual operation, it may change depending on the display function of the OS, driver software for displaying, the configuration of the display hardware, and the like.

Further, even when the process of lowering the brightness is being performed, another window is displayed using an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse by using some kind of input or moving a cursor, or a window in a standby state is displayed. In some cases, the window to be operated may be changed dynamically.

FIG. 6 shows an example of display in which the display area is changed in accordance with the movement of the cursor. When the program of this example acquires information called an event that an input or a movement of a cursor has been performed from an OS with an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse, the program acquires new cursor position information from the OS, and acquires the information. A process is performed to reduce the luminance around the position of the cursor according to the contents set up to that point. The display area in which the luminance returns to the initial luminance moves due to the movement of the cursor, but the display of the fourth window 6 active at that time can be kept as it is, or the luminance can be lowered.

FIG. 7 shows a display example when the active window is changed by a key input or a movement and selection of a cursor using a keyboard or a mouse. This is an example of a display in which the display area changes according to the newly activated window 5. In this example, the third window 5 is active, and the first, second and fourth windows 3, 4, 6 are inactive.

Even when the brightness is reduced in part or the entire display area by such processing, or when the display area is not partially displayed, a specific event is set in advance to immediately return to the display state before processing. It also has the function of returning to.
For example, restoring information saved by a specific key input combination or interruption from special hardware, or issuing an instruction to redisplay updated information to the application that is displaying each window Realizes that function.

Up to now, the embodiment implemented by software has been described. However, the display data can be changed as described above using hardware as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows a configuration example of the circuit.

Normally, the display is performed by sending the display data to the display device 9 in accordance with the contents stored in the display data 12. Here, a dedicated control register 25 is provided for implementing the present invention, and various necessary information related to window display is held. At the same time, setting information for lowering the luminance or not displaying part of the image is stored in the mask data 24. With this, mask data is output according to the function setting content of the control register, and the display data is set to the logic gate 2
By performing a bit operation at 3, it becomes possible to lower the display brightness or to see the same blanking data as when the display is stopped. For example, if the display data of the specific display dot is "10
If it is 16 bits of "10 1010 1010 1010", "0000 1111 0000 1111"
When the logical product is taken assuming that the mask data is set, the display data actually output is “0000 101
0 0000 1010 ", and it is possible to realize the same display as when the luminance is lowered.

[0027]

As described above, in an information device such as a computer that displays a plurality of windows on a display device, the size of the display device and the resolution have been increased, and the amount of information displayed on one display device has been dramatically increased. When the operation is continued for a plurality of windows while the number of windows is increasing, it is possible to eliminate an operator's fatigue and realize an ideal operation environment.

Also, by reducing the amount of information to be displayed or lowering the display brightness, it is possible to save the resources of hardware and software, thereby realizing the effect of reducing the power consumption of the entire system.

Further, by not displaying a specific portion of the display area, it is possible to prevent the display information from being known from the surroundings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a display example of a display device that displays a plurality of windows.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a system device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example in which luminance decreases toward the periphery of an active window.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example in which the luminance of an active window is also reduced.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example in which a window other than an active window is not displayed.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a display example in which a display area is changed according to movement of a cursor.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a display example in which a display area is changed by moving a cursor or selecting a focus.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a circuit example when display data is changed by hardware.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Display device 2 Display area also called wallpaper in display background 3 First window 4 Second window 5 Third window 6 Fourth window 7 Area for controlling a plurality of windows and display contents 8 Multiple window display system 9 Display device 10 Display device Control circuit 11 CRT control unit 12 display memory 13 CPU 14 system bus 15 input device control unit 16 output device I / O control unit 17 main memory 18 storage device 19 output device 20 keyboard 21 input device (pointing device) 22 by input device Cursor indicating the pointed part 23 Logical operation circuit 24 Storage register 25 Register for setting control information

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A method for displaying a plurality of windows on a display device, comprising: (a) selecting one window from the plurality of windows; and (b) the step (a).
A step of gradually lowering the brightness in a display area other than the area of the window selected in (2) from the selected window toward the outer periphery of the display area. Display method. 2. The method for displaying a plurality of windows according to claim 1, further comprising: (c) measuring a time during which the selection window is selected, wherein the step (c) is performed.
A method of displaying a plurality of windows, wherein the step (b) is executed in accordance with the measurement result of (1). 3. The method for displaying a plurality of windows according to claim 2, further comprising the step of: (d) lowering the luminance in an area of the selected window in accordance with the measurement result of the step (c). How to display multiple windows. 4. The method for displaying a plurality of windows according to claim 2, wherein (e) a display area other than the selected window in a display area other than the selected window area according to the measurement result in the step (c). A method for displaying a plurality of windows, further comprising a step of deleting the display of the windows. 5. The display method of a plurality of windows according to claim 1, wherein (f) a display state before a change is made in the step (b), (d) or (e) is stored. And (g) returning to the display state stored in the step (f) in response to a predetermined input to the display device. 6. The method for displaying a plurality of windows according to claim 5, wherein the step (g) includes: (g1) inputting a cursor position; and (g2) inputting a cursor position input in the step (g1). And returning to the display state stored in the step (f) within a predetermined range corresponding to the cursor position. 7. The method for displaying a plurality of windows according to claim 6, wherein the step (g) comprises: (g3) detecting a movement of the cursor position based on the cursor position input in the step (g1). (G4) returning the display state stored in the step (f) to the display state stored in the step (f) when the movement of the cursor position is detected in the step (g3);
A step of selecting the step (g2) and the step (g4), wherein the step (g2) and the step (g4) are selectively executed. Method.