Method and system for navigating within an image

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a system for navigating within an image displayed specifically segment-by-segment according to a zoom factor.

[0002] Rapid technical progress in the field of mobile communications has led in recent years to the development and provision of a large number of different mobile telephones which, however, generally have a small-area display. Future mobile telephones will be able to receive Internet content such as html pages via the mobile radio network. To show such pages on the small-area displays, it will be necessary to display them segment by segment. This can be implemented in a practical manner by using suitable navigation functions; in particular, suitable zoom and scrolling functions. However, convenient handling of such navigation functions, particularly in the case of portable devices such as mobile telephones, precludes a high degree of miniaturization.

[0003] An object of the present invention therefore, is to provide a method and a system allowing the user to navigate conveniently within an image, particularly where space is at a premium.

[0004] According to the present invention, at least one image segment is displayed according to a zoom factor. Input elements are used either to change the displayed image segment if the zoom factor is less than a zoom threshold value or to move a marker display superimposed on the image segment if the zoom factor is greater than a zoom threshold value.

[0005] The term “image” also encompasses text or Internet content such as ehtml pages, the image being displayable, for example, segment by segment within a window forming a frame represented on a display. Changing an image segment also includes moving it beyond window boundaries, the portion of the image lying outside the window no longer being displayed, which is also known as “scrolling” in the case of texts, in particular.

[0006] Specifically, using the same input element for both changing the image segment and moving the marker allows the following convenient and intuitive navigation through an image displayed on a portable device:

[0007] First, the input element is used to roughly select the desired image segment at a low zoom factor (i.e., overviewable but imprecise display of the image), by changing ior moving the displayed image segment or by scrolling through the image. When the required image segment is displayed, the zoom factor is increased (e.g., automatically after a pre-defined time or manually by user entry of the zoom factor), causing the image to be displayed less overviewably but the corresponding image segment to be displayed more precisely. If the zoom factor is greater than a zoom threshold value, the input element is used to move the marker now displayed. According to embodiments of the present invention, menu items or html links can be selected by the marker, or further movement of the image segment is possible when the marker is placed in a corresponding pre-defined border zone of the window.

[0008] To achieve the object, there is additionally provided a system specifically set up to perform the method according to the present invention or one of its developments.

[0009] Additional features and advantages of the present invention are described in, and will be apparent from, the following Detailed Description of the Invention and the Figures.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows a window represented in a display in five different stages of an exemplary embodiment of a method according to the present invention for navigating through a text.

[0013] FIG. 1a shows text (image) displayed at a zoom factor lower than a pre-defined zoom threshold value. By actuating the input element, the image display is moved in such a way that the image segment (ABC) of interest is displayed (FIG. 1b). The zoom factor is now increased (e.g., manually via a suitable user input or automatically after a time lapse), in order to display the required image segment (ABC) more precisely (FIG. 1c). If the zoom factor is greater than a pre-defined zoom threshold value, a marker m is superimposed on the displayed image segment (image) (FIG. 1d). In addition, actuating the input element no longer results in the image segment (image) being moved but in the marker m being moved. According to an embodiment of the present invention, however, moving the image display takes place when the marker is located in a corresponding border zone of the window. Thus, for example, the image display is moved to the right when the marker is located in a pre-defined left-hand border zone of the window (FIG. 1e) and the image display is shifted downward when the marker is placed in a pre-defined upper border zone of the window (FIG. 1f). When navigating through an html page or a corresponding Internet page in another format, it is possible to mark Internet links using the marker and to select Internet links by actuating an input element; in particular, the input element also used to move the marker.

[0014] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a system according to the present invention, the arrangement being, for example, part of a mobile telephone or of a portable computer.

[0015] To control the system, the representation of display contents and the processes implemented by the system, there is provided a program-controlled processor device PE, such as a microcontroller which can also incorporate a processor CPU and a storage device SPE.

[0016] Depending on the system, other components assigned to the processor device, belonging to the processor device, controlled by the processor device or controlling the processor device, such as a digital signal processor or further memory devices, can be disposed inside or outside the processor device PE-components whose basic operation in conjunction with a processor device will be sufficiently well-known to a person skilled in the art and which, therefore, will not be described in greater detail here.

[0017] There is additionally provided an input element EE which can be implemented by a so-called four direction switch, a joystick, a touchpad, a trackball or equivalent items.

[0018] To display a window framing an image or an image segment, there is provided a display DPL on which there is displayed on the window (superimposed on the image segment) or alongside the window, in addition to a marker (or pointer) m, a first display element (format) which reproduces the format (e.g., portrait or landscape), of the entire image to be displayed.

[0019] In addition, the display DPL is used to display a second display element, a portion of which (zoom) is highlighted, the portion being selected as a function of the current zoom factor of the representation of the image segment. The highlighted portion increases, for example, linearly with the zoom factor.

[0020] A third display element pos is used to display the position of the displayed image segment within the overall image, the position of the third display element relative to a reference point of the first display element being determined by the position of the marker display relative to a reference point of the image.

[0021] The different components of the system can exchange data with the processor CPU via a bus system BUS or input/output interfaces IOS and, if necessary, suitable controllers.

[0022] Depending on the embodiment, the storage device SPE, which can also be one or more volatile and/or nonvolatile memory chips, or parts of the storage device SPE, can be implemented as part of the processor PE (shown in FIG. 2) or can be implemented as an external storage device (not shown in FIG. 2) located outside the processor device PE. The program data, such as the control commands or control procedures used for controlling the system or for controlling the processes carried out on the basis of the system, are stored in the storage device SPE.

[0023] In addition to the embodiments of the present invention explained above, there are a large number of other embodiments coming within the scope of the present invention that are not described further here but which can be easily translated into practice on the basis of the exemplary embodiments illustrated herein.

[0024] Indeed, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, those of skill in the art will recognize that changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the hereafter appended claims.