Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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METHOD OF OPTIMIZING THE DISPLAYING OF IMAGE
MEDIA ON A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present disclosure relates generally to techniques
for displaying image media and, in particular, to techniques
for displaying image media on wireless communications devices.
BACKGROUND
Some wireless communications devices are able to download
image media, such as digital pictures and digital video clips,
from the Web, for example.
Wireless communications devices
having onboard digital cameras can furthermore take digital
pictures or even digital video clips.
However, organizing and presenting image media on a
wireless communications device is challenging, particularly in
view of the small (usually LCD) display screen of these
devices. Traditionally, the image media is presented either
in list format (i.e. a list of image files, folders,
subfolders, etc., usually with a small icon beside each file
name) or as a set of scaled-down, thumbnail images, usually
with file names adjacent each thumbnail. Neither of these two
options is particularly ergonomic since the user must either
sacrifice hierarchical knowledge (location within the folder
structure) or sacrifice the visual representation of the image
(the thumbnail) and rely only on the folder name and file
name.
Neither of these traditional methods of displaying
image media enables the user to efficiently navigate through
his or her image media. In
other words, organizing one's
image media (or finding specific images or videos) has been
traditionally challenging, especially when the user interface
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(UI) is constrained by the small size of the wireless
communications device, i.e. where opening multiple windows
(one of a list, one for the thumbnails) is either unfeasible
or would simply not be helpful. Furthermore, on a non-touch
screen device, navigation using a plurality of input means
(e.g., trackball, thumbwheel, jogdial, buttons, keys, etc.) is
difficult because one has to traverse a list of folders or
files.
Therefore, an improved method of displaying image media
on a wireless communications devices that overcomes these
shortcomings would be highly desirable.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Further features and advantages of the present technology
will become apparent from the following detailed description,
taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a flowchart outlining steps of a method of
displaying image media on a display screen of a wireless
communications device in accordance with the present
technology;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart outlining further steps of the
method of displaying image media in accordance with a variant
of the present technology;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of key components of a wireless
communications device on which the present technology can be
implemented;
FIG. 4 is a screenshot taken from a display screen of a
wireless communications device that concurrently presents, as
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a hybrid view, both a list of folders and thumbnail images;
and
FIG. 5 is a screenshot taken from a display screen of a
wireless communications device that concurrently presents, as
a different hybrid view, the list of folders and thumbnail
images as well as the file name and file size for one
particular image that has been selected by the user.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings,
like features are identified by like reference numerals.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The present technology provides, in general, a method for
displaying image media on a wireless communications device
that entails displaying a hybrid view of the image media by
concurrently presenting a list of folders containing image
media and thumbnail images of the image media. The thumbnail
images can be scaled-down images of digital pictures or
scaled-down frames of digital video. By
simultaneously
presenting both the list of folders and the thumbnail images,
a user of the wireless communications device can more easily
navigate through the image media, find specific images or
video clips, or organize (or re-organize) the image media.
Accordingly, an aspect of the present technology is a
method of displaying image media on a display of a wireless
communications device, the method including a step of
displaying a hybrid view of the image media by presenting a
list of folders containing image media and by concurrently
presenting thumbnail images of the image media corresponding
to at least one of the folders.
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Another aspect of the present technology is a computer
program product that includes code adapted to perform the
steps of the foregoing method when the computer program
product is loaded into memory and executed on a processor of a
wireless communications device.
Yet another aspect of the present technology is a
wireless communications device having an input device for
enabling a user to select image media, a processor and memory
for generating a hybrid view of the image media having both a
list of folders containing the image media and thumbnail
images of the image media, and a display for displaying the
hybrid view of the image media by presenting the list of the
folders containing the image media and by concurrently
presenting thumbnail images of the image media corresponding
to at least one of the folders.
The details and particulars of these aspects of the
technology will now be described below, by way of example,
with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart outlining steps of a method of
displaying image media (e.g. digital photographs or digital
video) in accordance with one implementation of the present
technology. As shown in FIG. 1, after an initial step of
launching an image media application on the wireless
communications device (step 10), the image media application
determines a default general folder (e.g. "My Pictures") based
on the presence of the media card and the contents it contains
At optional step 14, the image media application can further
enable the user of the wireless device to select or specify an
image media source (e.g. camera or device memory). It bears
repeating that step 14 is optional, and as such, FIG. 1 shows
this optional step in dashed lines. In other words, in other
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implementations of this technology, the user may not need to
specify the source of the image media (i.e. it may be preset
based on user preferences, settings, etc. or based on patterns
of use.)
In the particular implementation depicted in FIG. 1, once
the image media application is running and the user has
(optionally) specified the general folder or image media
source, then a subsequent step (step 16) entails generating or
obtaining a list of folders containing image media (e.g.
digital pictures or digital video).
Generating a list of
folders (step 16) can be accomplished by simply compiling a
list of all folder names under the general folder (or under a
specific directory or drive or at a specific location on the
device).
Otherwise, a pre-generated list can be simply
obtained from a cache or other memory location on the device.
As shown at step 18, the image media application (or
other application running on the wireless device) also
generates or obtains "thumbnails" or thumbnail images (i.e.
scaled-down images) of the image media. Step 18 can be done
prior to, concurrent with, or subsequent to step 16. Once the
thumbnails and folder list have been created (steps 16 and
18), a "hybrid view" of both the folders and thumbnails is
generated (at step 20) by the device for rendering onscreen.
At step 22, the device then displays (i.e. renders) the hybrid
view on the display screen of the device by concurrently
presenting both the folders and the thumbnails. In
other
words, this hybrid or compound view simultaneously presents
the folders containing the image media as well as the
thumbnails created from the image media contained in at least
one of the folders. By simultaneously displaying the folders
and the thumbnails in this hybrid view, the user is better
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able to navigate through the image media (e.g. photos and
video), find specific images or video clips, save images or
videos to specific folders, organize or reorganize the images
or videos, etc.
This hybrid view therefore facilitates the
management and accessibility of image media on wireless
communications devices where small display screens (or the
operating systems) generally preclude a user from opening
multiple windows to simultaneously view folder lists and
thumbnails for more efficient handling of the image media.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart outlining further steps of the
method of displaying image media in accordance with a variant
of the present technology. FIG. 2 depicts a variant of the
method shown in FIG. 1 wherein the user can further select
(e.g. highlight or click) one of the thumbnail images in order
to cause the display to further present a file name and file
size, preferably as a footer, i.e. beneath the thumbnail
images. Of course, it will be appreciated that the file name
and file size could be presented elsewhere on the display
(i.e. not necessarily as a footer). Also, in this variant, it
is not necessary that the footer present both the file name
and file size, e.g. the file name alone could be presented.
In the particular implementation depicted in FIG. 2,
after the step (step 22) of displaying the hybrid view (that
concurrently presents a list of folders and thumbnails), the
application optionally further enables the user to select or
specify one of the thumbnails (step 24), for example, by
highlighting or clicking the thumbnail.
This causes the
application to obtain or otherwise determine the file name and
optionally also the file size of the image corresponding to
the thumbnail selected by the user (step 26).
Finally, at
step 28, the file name and file size are displayed as part of
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this modified hybrid view in which the list of folders and the
thumbnails are simultaneously displayed on the display screen
of the wireless device.
This novel method is preferably implemented on a wireless
communications device such as the BlackBerry by Research in
Motion Limited (or on other wireless handhelds, cellular
phones, wireless-enabled laptops, wireless-enabled PDAs, or
other such mobile devices).
FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting certain key
components of a wireless communications device 100. It should
be expressly understood that this figure is intentionally
simplified to show only certain components; the device 100 of
course includes other components beyond what are shown in FIG.
2. The device 100 includes a microprocessor 102 (or simply a
"processor") which interacts with memory in the form of RAM
104 and Flash Memory 106. The
device 100 includes an RF
transceiver 108 for communicating wirelessly with one or more
base stations 200. The device 100 may optionally include a
GPS receiver chipset 110 for receiving GPS radio signals
transmitted from one or more orbiting GPS satellites. In
terms of input/output devices or user interfaces, the device
100 typically includes a display 112 (e.g. a small LCD display
screen), a thumbwheel and/or trackball 114, a keyboard 116, a
USB 118 or serial port for connecting peripheral equipment, a
speaker 120 and a microphone 122. The processor and memory
thus enable the image media application to run on the wireless
device. Thumbwheel/trackball 114 may be a depressible
thumbwheel/trackball that is used for navigation, selection of
menu choices and confirmation of action. For example, when
using thumbwheel/trackball 114 to scroll over a photo,
depressing the trackball will select the photo, triggering an
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enlarged display of the photo.
Keyboard 116 contains
alphanumeric keys to represent a QWERTY arranged keyboard, as
well as a numeric phonepad (i.e., keys 0-9). Further, keyboard
116 may also contain symbol, function and command keys.
Examples of these keys may include a phone send/end key, a
menu key (i.e., bring up different menu items) and an escape
key.
FIG. 4 is a screenshot taken from a display screen of a
wireless communications device that concurrently presents, as
a hybrid view 23, both a list of folders 30 and thumbnail
images 32. This
screenshot is presented merely by way of
example to illustrate one particular implementation of this
technology. Other configurations or arrangements of folders
and thumbnails can of course be utilized. For example, the
thumbnails could be grouped to one side rather than beneath
the list of folders. As another example, the thumbnails could
be grouped directly beneath the selected folder, which might
be useful where the list of folders is so long that it
occupies the visible portion of the display screen, thus
requiring the user to scroll down to see the thumbnails (using
the scroll bar, for example). As
optional features, the
hybrid view 23 can further present one or more sources 34 of
the image media, e.g. "Camera" or "Device Memory". This "data
source" is also referred to as an "executable alias", as shown
in FIG. 4. As further shown in FIG. 4, the folders 30 can be
grouped hierarchically under each of the one or more sources
34. As yet a further option, the hybrid view can additionally
present the general folder 36 or directory (e.g. "My Pictures"
in a header), as depicted in FIG. 4.
FIG. 5 is a screenshot taken from a display screen of a
wireless communications device that concurrently presents, as
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a different hybrid view 23a, the list of folders and thumbnail
images as well as a footer 28 presenting the file name and
file size for one particular image that has been selected by
the user. This screenshot is also presented merely by way of
example to illustrate one particular implementation of this
technology. Other configurations or arrangements can be used.
For example, the file name and file size can be relocated as a
header instead of as a footer, or alternatively, the file name
and file size could be made to appear in parentheses beside
the folder under which it is filed. Other items that may be
added to footer 28 may include photo image tag, classification
keywords, date and time.
In a variant of this hybrid view, the highlighted folder
and image may be of different colours or shades, based on
where the focus is. For example, if the user is in the "Band"
folder and the user's cursor is on the picture of the umbrella
(the top middle photo in FIGS. 4 and 5), the picture of the
umbrella would appear brighter (or highlighted or otherwise
made more noticeable) since the focus is on this photo.
Alternatively, the "Band" folder could also be highlighted but
have a different colour/shade than the photo. As
another
alternative, the "Band" folder could be less bright (i.e. have
a lesser pixel intensity) than the photo (because the focus is
on the photo). As
will be appreciated, these examples of
various techniques for highlighting images and folders can be
varied to achieve different visual effects for aiding the user
in navigating through the images and folders.
The foregoing method steps can be implemented as coded
instructions in a computer program product. In other words,
the computer program product is a computer-readable medium
upon which software code is recorded to perform the foregoing
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steps when the computer program product is loaded into memory
and executed on the microprocessor of the wireless
communications device.
This new technology has been described in terms of
specific implementations and configurations which are intended
to be exemplary only. The scope of the exclusive right sought
by the Applicant is therefore intended to be limited solely by
the appended claims.
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