U.S. patent application number 12/816539 was filed with the patent office on 2010-10-07 for data display apparatus, data display method, data display program and graphical user interface.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Corporation. Invention is credited to Yuichi Abe, Masamichi Asukai, Takatoshi Nakamura, Yoichiro Sako, Toru Sasaki, Katsuya Shirai, Mitsuru Takehara, Toshiro Terauchi.
Application Number | 20100257484 12/816539 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37998333 |
Filed Date | 2010-10-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100257484 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Nakamura; Takatoshi ; et
al. |
October 7, 2010 |
DATA DISPLAY APPARATUS, DATA DISPLAY METHOD, DATA DISPLAY PROGRAM
AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
Abstract
A data display apparatus includes: an extraction condition
setting section that sets, based on an original data row where a
plurality of data are arranged in a predetermined order, an
extraction condition of extraction data that is to be displayed on
a predetermined display section; and an extraction data display
section that displays, out of an extraction data row where the
extraction data extracted from the original data row based on the
extraction condition are arranged in the predetermined order, the
extraction data that are within a predetermined range in a
predetermined display size on the display section.
Inventors: |
Nakamura; Takatoshi;
(Ibaraki, JP) ; Abe; Yuichi; (Tokyo, JP) ;
Sako; Yoichiro; (Tokyo, JP) ; Sasaki; Toru;
(Tokyo, JP) ; Terauchi; Toshiro; (Tokyo, JP)
; Shirai; Katsuya; (Kanagawa, JP) ; Takehara;
Mitsuru; (Tokyo, JP) ; Asukai; Masamichi;
(Kanagawa, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WOLF GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C.
600 ATLANTIC AVENUE
BOSTON
MA
02210-2206
US
|
Assignee: |
Sony Corporation
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
37998333 |
Appl. No.: |
12/816539 |
Filed: |
June 16, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11633314 |
Dec 4, 2006 |
|
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12816539 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/828 ;
715/839 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 27/322 20130101;
G11B 27/34 20130101; G06F 16/64 20190101; G06F 16/68 20190101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/828 ;
715/839 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/048 20060101
G06F003/048 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 9, 2005 |
JP |
JP2005-356975 |
Claims
1. A data display apparatus comprising at least memory and a
processor, the data display apparatus comprising: a cull condition
setting section that sets a cull condition to cull exclusion data
that an extraction data display section does not display from an
original data row where a plurality of images stored in the memory
are arranged, by the processor, in a predetermined order, wherein
each of the plurality of images is associated with a respective
music piece of a plurality of music pieces; and an extraction data
display section that displays images that are within a
predetermined range in an extraction data set where images of the
plurality of images obtained by culling the exclusion data from the
original data row bases on the cull condition are arranged, wherein
a center image of the images is within a predetermined focus frame
on the display section, and wherein the cull condition is based on
ranking of the plurality of music pieces.
2. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the ranking
comprises a ranking of the plurality of music pieces according to a
popularity during a period of time.
3. The data display apparatus of claim 2, wherein the ranking is
selected from the group consisting of a weekly ranking, a monthly
ranking and an annual ranking.
4. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the extraction
data display section displays the images that are within the
predetermined range so that a first set of images from the images
is displayed to the left of the center image and a second set of
images from the images is displayed to the right of the center
image.
5. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the images that
are within the predetermined range are arranged in the
predetermined order comprising an order of release date of music
pieces associated with the images.
6. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cull
condition setting section sets the cull condition based on at least
one threshold, and wherein an image of the plurality of images
obtained by culling the exclusion data from the original data row
based on the cull condition is selected when metadata comprising at
least one evaluation value associated with a music piece associated
with the image indicates that the at least one evaluation value is
above the at least one threshold.
7. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cull
condition setting section comprises a graphical user interface
adapted to receive user input indicative of setting the cull
condition.
8. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein: the plurality of
images in the original data row comprise a plurality of thumbnail
images each associated with a respective music piece of the
plurality of music pieces; and the images of the plurality of
images displayed in the extraction data display section are
enlarged relative to a size of thumbnail images of the plurality of
thumbnail images, wherein the original data raw indicates which
images in the original data raw comprise the images displayed in
the extraction data display section.
9. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein the extraction
data display section: displays the images of the plurality of
images obtained by culling the exclusion data from the original
data row as thumbnail images; and displays a set of the images that
are within the predetermined range as enlarged relative to a size
of the thumbnail images.
10. The data display apparatus of claim 9, wherein the center image
is associated with a music piece that is currently played.
11. The data display apparatus of claim 1, wherein cull information
is displayed near the extraction data set, the cull information
indicating data near the images in extraction data set has been
removed from the original data row, wherein a distance between
adjoining two images of the extraction data set which do not adjoin
one another in the original row and a distance between adjoining
two images in the original data row are substantially same.
12. The data display apparatus of claim 11, wherein the cull
information is a numeric character indicating a number of data
between the two images in the original data row.
13. A method of operating a computer comprising at least one
processor and memory, the method comprising: with the at least one
processor: setting at least one cull condition that defines which
of a plurality of images arranged in a predetermined order and
stored in the memory to extract as extraction data that is to be
displayed on a display section, wherein each image of the plurality
of images is associated with a respective music piece of a
plurality of music pieces; applying the at least cull condition to
the plurality of images to obtain extraction data comprising images
from the plurality of images that the display section displays; and
displaying, in an extraction data set, the extraction data
comprising images of the plurality of images that are arranged in
the predetermined order, and images that are within a predetermined
range, the images are obtained by culling the exclusion data from
the original data row based on the cull condition are arranged,
wherein a center image of the images that are within the
predetermined range is within a predetermined focus frame in a
predetermined display size on the display section, wherein the cull
condition is based on ranking of the plurality of music pieces.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the ranking comprises a ranking
of the plurality of music pieces according to a popularity during a
period of time.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the ranking is selected from
the group consisting of a weekly ranking, a monthly ranking and an
annual ranking.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein the display section displays
the images that are within the predetermined range so that a first
set of images from the images is displayed to the left of the
center image and a second set of images from the images is
displayed to the right of the center image.
17. A computer system comprising at least memory and a processor,
the computer system comprising: a cull condition setting section
for setting a cull condition to cull exclusion data that an
extraction data display section does not display from an original
data row where a plurality of images stored in the memory are
arranged, by the processor, in a predetermined order, wherein each
of the plurality of images is associated with a respective music
piece of a plurality of music pieces; and an extraction data
display section that displays images that are within a
predetermined range in an extraction data set where images of the
plurality of images obtained by culling the exclusion data from the
original data row bases on the cull condition are arranged, wherein
a center image of the images is within a predetermined focus frame
on the display section, and wherein the cull condition is based on
ranking of the plurality of music pieces.
18. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the images that are
within the predetermined range are arranged in the predetermined
order comprising an order of release date of music pieces
associated with the images.
19. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the images that are
within the predetermined range are arranged in the predetermined
order comprising an order of release date of music pieces
associated with the images.
20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein the cull condition
setting section comprises a graphical user interface adapted to
receive user input indicative of setting the cull condition.
Description
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of prior application Ser.
No. 11/633,314, filed Dec. 4, 2006, which claims the priority
benefit of Japanese patent application number 2005-356975, filed in
the Japanese Patent Office on Dec. 9, 2005, each of which is hereby
incorporated by reference to the maximum extent allowable by
law.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a data display apparatus,
data display method, data display program and graphical user
interface, and is preferably applied to a case in which a user is
provided with a user interface to easily retrieve his/her desired
piece of music data from a large amount of music data, for
example.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In recent years, it has become possible that a content
playback device can store a large amount of digital data (content),
such as music and video data, in a large-capacity hard disk. The
content playback device is also capable of acquiring the digital
data from external servers or the like through a high-speed network
or the like and playing pack a piece of content specified by a
user.
[0006] A content playback device that allows a user to easily
select a piece of content is disclosed because it displays
thumbnails, each of which is associated with each piece of content,
in a list format after classifying them by type (media). (see Jpn.
Pat. Laid-open Publication No. 2004-356774, for example)
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] By the way, an audio device that plays back pieces of music
content is capable of storing many pieces of music content
(thousands to ten thousands of music content, for example) in the
internal hard disk. However, because the number of pixels on
display panels or the like is limited, they just display a very
limited number of thumbnail images on one screen and the size of
images is limited.
[0008] If the number of thumbnail images to be displayed on a
screen of the audio device is decreased, a user who is selecting a
piece of music content can easily recognize each thumbnail,
however, it would be troublesome because they may have to perform
many operations, such as move or scroll.
[0009] If the number of thumbnail images to be displayed on a
screen of the audio device is increased, the size of thumbnail
images may be reduced due to the conditions of the display panel.
In this case, the user has difficulty in finding out his/her
desired piece of content because it is difficult to recognize each
thumbnail.
[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above
points and is intended to provide a data display apparatus, data
display method, data display program and graphical user interface
that allows a user to easily recognize a plurality of data
displayed.
[0011] In one aspect of the present invention, a data display
apparatus, data display method and data display program performs
the steps of: setting, based on an original data row where a
plurality of data are arranged in a predetermined order, an
extraction condition of extraction data that is to be displayed on
a predetermined display section; and displaying, out of an
extraction data row where the extraction data extracted from the
original data row based on the extraction condition are arranged in
the predetermined order, the extraction data that are within a
predetermined range in a predetermined display size on the display
section.
[0012] Accordingly, only the extraction data extracted from all
data based on the extraction condition are displayed in a
predetermined display size such that the relative order of
extraction data on the original data row is maintained.
[0013] In another aspect of the present invention, a graphical user
interface, which displays both a selection operation of selecting
data to be displayed on a display section through an input section
and an interface action of an information processing apparatus
based on the selection operation as an image on the display
section, performs the steps of: setting, based on an original data
row where a plurality of data are arranged in a predetermined
order, an extraction condition of extraction data that is to be
displayed on the display section; and displaying, out of an
extraction data row where the extraction data extracted from the
original data row based on the extraction condition are arranged in
the predetermined order, the extraction data that are within a
predetermined range in a predetermined display size on the display
section.
[0014] Accordingly, in response to the input operation, only the
extraction data extracted from all data based on the extraction
condition are displayed in a predetermined display size such that
the relative order of extraction data on the original data row is
maintained.
[0015] In another aspect of the present invention, a data display
apparatus includes: cull condition setting means for setting a cull
condition to cull exclusion data that a display section does not
display from an original data row where a plurality of data are
arranged in a predetermined order; and extraction data display
means for displaying, out of an extraction data row where
extraction data obtained by culling the exclusion data from the
original data row based on the cull condition are arranged in the
predetermined order, data that are within a predetermined range
whose center is a predetermined remarkable data in a predetermined
display size on the display section.
[0016] Accordingly, only the extraction data which are left as a
result of culling the exclusion data from all data are displayed in
a predetermined display size such that the relative order of
extraction data on the original data row is maintained.
[0017] According to an embodiment of the present invention, only
the extraction data extracted from all data based on the extraction
condition are displayed in a predetermined display size such that
the relative order of extraction data on the original data row is
maintained. Thus, the data display apparatus, the data display
method and the data display program allow a user to easily
recognize a plurality of data displayed.
[0018] In addition, according to an embodiment of the present
invention, in response to the input operation, only the extraction
data extracted from all data based on the extraction condition are
displayed in a predetermined display size such that the relative
order of extraction data on the original data row is maintained.
Thus, the graphical user interface allows a user to easily
recognize a plurality of data displayed.
[0019] Furthermore, according to an embodiment of the present
invention, only the extraction data which are left as a result of
culling the exclusion data from all data are displayed in a
predetermined display size such that the relative order of
extraction data on the original data row is maintained. Thus, the
data display apparatus allows a user to easily recognize a
plurality of data displayed.
[0020] The nature, principle and utility of the invention will
become more apparent from the following detailed description when
read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like
parts are designate by like reference numerals or characters.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0021] In the accompanying drawings:
[0022] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an audio
device;
[0023] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the circuit
configuration of the audio device;
[0024] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating the
functional configuration of the audio device;
[0025] FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating the
configuration of a data management table;
[0026] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the information
displayed on a front panel in all music display mode;
[0027] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration
of a focus frame;
[0028] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of
selecting and displaying the pieces of music content;
[0029] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of zoom
change display;
[0030] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of
selecting and displaying the pieces of music content after zoom out
display;
[0031] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of zoom
in display;
[0032] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating methods of
artist classification selection display;
[0033] FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of an
association display process about thumbnail images and content
icons;
[0034] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
metadata;
[0035] FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
priority data;
[0036] FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
an all content row;
[0037] FIGS. 16A and 16B are schematic diagrams illustrating
methods of displaying thumbnail images and cull marks;
[0038] FIGS. 17A through 17C are schematic diagrams illustrating
methods of changing selected content;
[0039] FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display
update process of zoom change operation;
[0040] FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a
thumbnail image display update process;
[0041] FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a display
update process of selection operation;
[0042] FIGS. 21A through 21C are schematic diagrams illustrating a
method of changing a selected piece of content;
[0043] FIGS. 22A through 22F are schematic diagrams illustrating an
example of displaying a cull mark according to another embodiment
of the present invention (1);
[0044] FIGS. 23A and 23B are schematic diagrams illustrating an
example of displaying a cull mark according to another embodiment
of the present invention (2);
[0045] FIGS. 24A and 24B are schematic diagrams illustrating an
example of displaying a thumbnail image according to another
embodiment of the present invention;
[0046] FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
a front panel (1) according to another embodiment of the present
invention; and
[0047] FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of
a front panel (2) according to another embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0048] An embodiment of the present invention will be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(1) Overall Configuration of Audio Device
[0049] In FIG. 1, the reference numeral 1 denotes an audio device
according to an embodiment of the present invention. An insertion
slot 3 is placed on a right side panel 2A of a housing 2. The
insertion slot 3 accepts an optical disc 4 such as Digital
Versatile Disc (DVD) and Compact Disc (CD). An entry slot 5 is
placed below the insertion slot 3. The entry slot 5 accepts a small
memory card 6 such as "MEMORY STICK (Registered Trademark of Sony
Corporation)".
[0050] The audio device 1 also includes the following components: a
content display section 8, such as liquid crystal display, on a
front panel 7; an operation button disposed area 10 on the right of
the content display section 8; and a zoom dial 12 with a selection
dial 11 on the bottom right of the content display section 8 and
the operation button disposed area 10. The zoom dial 12, which is
larger than the selection dial 11, is placed under the selection
dial 11 that is to be used to select music content.
[0051] In addition, the audio device 1 includes time axis bar
display sections TB1 and TB2 (described below) to present pieces of
music content in chronologic order, or in order of time. The time
axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2 are for example equivalent to
a liquid crystal display, being placed below the content display
section 8 and the operation button disposed area 10.
[0052] The audio device 1 is capable of playing back the music
content from the optical disc 4 in the insertion slot 3 and from
the small memory card 6 in the entry slot 5 to output music through
a speaker (not shown) connected to the audio device 1. In addition,
the audio device 1 is capable of reading out the music content from
the optical disc 4 and the small memory card 6 to store it in an
internal hard disk drive.
[0053] Furthermore, the audio device 1 is capable of connecting to
the Internet through a network cable. This allows the audio device
1 to download the desired music content from external servers on
the Internet and then store it in the internal hard disk drive.
[0054] The operation button disposed area 10 includes a group of
operation buttons 9: a playback button 9A, which is to be used to
play back or stop the music data selected by the selection dial 11;
a skip button 9B, which is used to skip the music content; a volume
control button 9C; a recording button 9D; a timer setting button
9E; a user rating button 9F (described later); a menu button 9G,
which is used to switch modes; optional buttons 9H to 9K, to which
various functions may be assigned according to the modes; and a
cancel button 9L. The audio device 1 performs various processes in
accordance with the user's operation of the operation buttons
9.
(2) Circuit Configuration of Audio Device
(2-1) Circuit Configuration
[0055] As shown in FIG. 2, a control section 20 takes overall
control of the audio device 1. In the control section 20, a Central
Processing Unit (CPU) 20A reads out programs, such as basic
programs and content display programs, from a Read Only Memory
(ROM) 20B through a bus 21, and then loads them onto a Random
Access Memory (RAM) 20C to perform processes such as a content
display process.
[0056] The control section 20 for example rips music data from the
optical disc 4 (FIG. 1) that has been inserted into a DVD drive 23
through the insertion slot 3 (FIG. 1). The control section 20 then
encodes the music data in the format of MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3),
Adaptive Transform Acoustic Coding 3 (ATRAC3) or the like to
generate the music content MC. Alternatively, the control section
20 directly reads out the music content MC, which has been already
encoded, from the small memory card 6 that has been inserted into a
memory card drive 24 through the entry slot 5 (FIG. 1). The control
section 20 stores the music content MC in a hard disk drive (HDD)
22.
[0057] The control section 20 also acquires the music content MC
from an external content server (not shown) through a network
interface 25, and then stores it in the hard disk drive 22.
[0058] In addition to that, the control section 20 acquires, from
the external content server and other servers that are connected to
the audio device 1 through the Internet, a thumbnail image SG
including jacket photographs of the music content MC, and metadata
MTD including music names, artist names, and release date of the
music content MC. The control section 20 subsequently reduces the
size of the thumbnail image SG in all directions, and then
compresses the size of thumbnail image SG in horizontal direction
to produce a content icon CA. The control section 20 then stores
the content icon CA in the hard disk drive 22 such that it is
associated with the music content MC.
[0059] By the way, the hard disk drive 22 has enough space to
store, for example, thousands to tens of thousands of pieces of
music content MC.
[0060] A video controller 26A of a display section 26 obtains a
display command from the control section 20 via the bus 21. In
response to the display command, the video controller 26A displays
a plurality of thumbnail images SG of music content MC on the
content display section 8 of the front panel 7. In addition, the
video controller 26A displays a content icon CA on the time axis
bar display sections TB1 and TB2, and also updates, in response to
the display command, the displayed information.
[0061] When a user rotates the selection dial 11 to the right or
left (this operation will be also referred to as "selection
operation"), a rotary encoder (not shown) of an operation input
section 27 in the selection dial 11 generates, in response to the
rotated angle (the amount of rotation), a rotation signal SR1, and
then supplies the rotation signal SR1 to the control section 20
through an input interface 27A and the bus 21.
[0062] In response to that, the control section 20 switches what it
focuses to a right- or left-hand thumbnail image SG on the content
display section 8. In this manner, the control section 20 changes
the selection of the music content MC (described later in
detail).
[0063] When a user rotates the zoom dial 12 to the right or left
(this operation will be also referred to as "zoom change
operation"), a rotary encoder (not shown) of the operation input
section 27 in the zoom dial 12 generates, in response to the
rotated angle, a rotation signal SR2, and then supplies the
rotation signal SR2 to the control section 20 through the input
interface 27A and the bus 21.
[0064] In response to that, the control section 20 changes an
extraction condition that defines which thumbnail images SG the
content display section 8 displays out of all the thumbnail images
SG of the music content MC stored in the hard disk drive 22, and
updates the thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8.
The control section 20 also updates a display pattern of the
content icons CA on the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2
(described later in detail).
[0065] When the operation buttons 9 are pushed, the operation input
section 27 generates a push signal SU, and then supplies the push
signal to the control section 20 through the input interface 27A
and the bus 21. In this case, the control section 20 performs
various processes in response to the operation button pushed (i.e.
the playback button 9A to the cancel button 9L), such as playback
process.
[0066] When the playback button 9A of the operation buttons 9 is
pushed while any music content MC is not being played back, the
control section 20 reads out the piece of music content MC, which
is associated with the focused (or selected) thumbnail image SG,
from the hard disk drive 22, and then supplies the piece of music
content MC to the audio controller 28 via the bus 21.
[0067] The audio controller 28 receives the piece of music content
MC, which was read from the hard disk drive 22, via the bus 21, and
then performs processes in accordance with the encoding format of
the music content MC, such as decoding and Digital-to-Analog (D/A)
conversion, to produce a reproduced signal SA. The audio controller
28 subsequently amplifies the reproduced signal SA by an amplifier
29, and then supplies it to a speaker 30 which then outputs, based
on the reproduced signal, sound.
[0068] In this manner, the audio device 1 displays the thumbnail
image SG of the piece of music content MC stored in the hard disk
drive 22 on the content display section 8 and the like, and also
updates the information displayed on the content display section 8
and the like in response to the selection operation or zoom change
operation of the operation input section 27 about the music content
MC, and then plays back the selected piece of music content MC.
(2-2) Functional Configuration of Audio Device
[0069] FIG. 3 shows the functional configuration of the audio
device 1, detailing the functions of displaying the thumbnail
images SG.
[0070] The hard disk drive 22 stores the following data in a
content storage section 22A: the pieces of music content MC, and
the thumbnail images SG and content icons CA corresponding to the
pieces of music content MC. The hard disk drive 22 also stores
various metadata MTD, such as music names, artist names, release
data and annual ranking of the pieces of music content MC, in a
content metadata storage section 22B.
[0071] The hard disk drive 22 uses a content data management table
TBL1 (FIG. 4A) to manage the pieces of music content MC, which are
stored in the content storage section 22A, their thumbnail images
SG and content icons CA as a file with a predetermined content name
indicated by a content ID. FIG. 4B shows a content metadata
management table TBL2 that manages various metadata MTD, which are
stored in the content metadata storage section 22B, as a file with
a content metadata name indicated by a content ID.
[0072] A display condition setting section 20D of the control
section 20 sets, in accordance with the selection operation of the
selection dial 11 of the operation input section 27 or the zoom
change operation of the zoom dial 12 of the operation input section
27, the display condition that defines which thumbnail images SG
the content display section 8 displays and which content icons CA
the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2 display, and then
supplies the display condition to an arrangement section 20E.
[0073] The arrangement section 20E of the control section 20
obtains the display condition from the display condition setting
section 20D, and then acquires the thumbnail image SG of each piece
of music content MC that matches the display condition from the
content storage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22 through a
content management section 20F. The arrangement section 20E also
acquires the metadata MTD of each piece of music content MC that
matches the display condition from the content metadata storage
section 22B of the hard disk drive 22 through a content metadata
management section 20G.
[0074] The arrangement section 20E selects, based on the metadata
MTD and thumbnail image SG of each piece of music content MC, the
thumbnail images SG to be displayed on the content display section
8 and arranges them by a content display arrangement section EA. A
time axis bar arrangement section 20EB generates display image data
DD by arranging the content icons CA to be displayed on the time
axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2. The arrangement section 20E
supplies the display image data DD to the display section 26.
[0075] Based on the display image data DD, the display 26 displays
a display image: the thumbnail images SG are placed on the content
display section 8 and the content icons CA are placed on the time
axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2.
(3) Configuration of Front Panel
[0076] The audio device 1 according to an embodiment of the present
invention has enough space to store thousands to tens of thousands
of pieces of music content MC in its internal hard disk drive 22.
The front panel 7 is designed to allow a user to easily retrieve
his/her desired piece of music content MC from many pieces of music
content MC without using music or artist names.
(3-1) All Music Display Mode
[0077] As shown in FIG. 5, the front panel 7 of the audio device 1
includes the following components: the content display section 8,
which displays a plurality of pieces of thumbnail images SG (5
pieces, in this case) each of which includes a jacket photograph
and the like of the music content; the time axis bar display
section TB1, where the content icons CA1 to CAn corresponding to
all pieces of music content MC stored in the hard disk drive 22 are
displayed side by side in order of release date (year, month and
day of release); and the time axis bar display section TB2, where
the content icons CA of the pieces of music content MC that have
been culled in a predetermined manner at the time of content
retrieval as low-priority data are displayed side by side in order
of release date (year, month and day of release).
[0078] An all music display mode displays all the content icons CA1
to CAn on the time axis bar display section TB1 in order of release
date (year, month and day of release), and does not display any
content icons CA on the time axis bar display section TB2.
[0079] If the user selects one piece of music content MC by the
selection dial 11, then this piece of music content MC is focused
by the content display section 8. The content display section 8
visually notifies the user of the fact that the piece of music
content MC has been focused by putting a red focus frame FC1 on the
thumbnail image SG of this piece of music content MC. In addition,
the content display section 8 displays its release year and music
name ("1981/Autumn color", in this case) on an red underline UL1
extending upward from the focus frame FC1, and its artist name
("YUNNZU", in this case) under an red underline UL2 extending
downward from the focus frame FC1.
[0080] In this manner, the audio device 1 allows the user to easily
recognize the piece of music content MC, which is currently
selected by the selection dial 11 through the focus frame FC1 of
the content display section 8, by checking the thumbnail image SG,
the characters on the underline UL1 and the characters under the
underline UL2.
[0081] Especially, the audio device 1 can present the piece of
music content MC as an image of the thumbnail image SG. Therefore
the user who does not remember anything like its music and artist
names but its image can easily determine whether this piece of
music content is what he/she wants to retrieve. In addition, that
reminds him/her that this piece of music content MC is there.
Accordingly, this piece of music content MC can be included in
his/her retrieval target.
[0082] The time axis bar display section TB1 on all music display
mode displays the content icons CA1 to CAn in order of release date
(year, month and day), or in order of time. In accordance with
that, the content display section 8 displays the character strings
TX1 to TX3 indicative of the release date of the content icon CA1
to CAn (1968, 1981, and 1990, in this case) on the bottom area of
the content display section 8.
[0083] In addition, the time axis bar display section TB1 surrounds
the five content icons CA, which correspond to the five thumbnail
images SG on the content display section 8, with a red focus frame
FC2 for example. This allows the user to visually understand,
through the focus frame FC2 and the character strings TX1 to TX3 on
the content display section 8, where the piece of music content MC
selected by the focus frame FC1 is located on the time line.
[0084] Especially, as shown in FIG. 6, the time axis bar display
section TB1 surrounds the five content icons CA, which correspond
to the five thumbnail images SG currently displayed on the content
display section 8, with the focus frame FC2. Inside this, the time
axis bar display section TB1 furthermore surrounds the content icon
CA, which corresponds to the thumbnail image SG that is currently
selected by the focus frame FC1 (FIG. 5), with the red focus frame
FC3 and also puts yellow on the whole content icon CA to be
displayed.
[0085] In this manner, the audio device 1 associates the five
thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 with the five
content icons CA inside the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar
display section TB1. Accordingly, the user can easily and
intuitively understand which generation the pieces of music content
MC corresponding to the five thumbnail images SG belong to on the
time axis bar display section TB1.
[0086] In addition, the audio device 1 plays back, after the
thumbnail image SG is selected by the focus frame FC1, the piece of
music content MC of the thumbnail image SG. This allows the user to
listen to the sound of the piece of music content MC.
[0087] In this manner, the audio device 1 allows the user to check
the thumbnail image SG of the piece of music content MC, its
release date, and its actual sound to retrieve the piece of music
content MC. Accordingly, even if the user does not remember the
music name and artist name, he/she can retrieve his/her desired
piece of music content MC.
(3-2) Selection and Display of Music Content
[0088] As shown in FIG. 7, the control section 20 of the audio
device 1 moves the thumbnail images SG on the content display
section 8 by one frame each time the selection dial 11 is rotated
at its minimum angular increment by the user.
[0089] In response to that, the control section 20 of the audio
device 1 moves the focus frame FC of the content display section 8
to the next-frame thumbnail image SG. In addition, the control
section 20 of the audio device 1 moves the focus frame FC2, which
surrounds five of the content icons CA, by one frame.
[0090] At this time, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
displays the release date and music name of the piece of music
content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the
focus frame FC1 ("1980/Hello Summer Time", in this case) on the
underline UL1, and its artist name ("YAMAGAMI TATSUHIRO", in this
case) under the underline UL2.
[0091] When the different thumbnail image SG is selected by the
focus frame FC1, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
starts to play back the piece of music content MC of this thumbnail
image SG, and this allows the user to listen to the sound of this
piece of music content MC.
[0092] Accordingly, each time the focus frame FC1 focuses the
different thumbnail image SG, the control section 20 of the audio
device 1 outputs the sound of the piece of music content MC
corresponding to this thumbnail image SG selected by the focus
frame FC1. In this manner, outputting the sound of the piece of
music content MC helps the user to retrieve his/her desired piece
of music content MC.
[0093] In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1 on
all music display mode sequentially moves, in response to the dial
operation of the selection dial 11, the thumbnail images SG on the
content display section 8. However, the gap between the release
date of the piece of music content MC of the thumbnail image SG and
that of the piece of music content MC of the adjacent thumbnail
image SG may be just one day, or sometimes one year. It is
difficult to recognize how much each dial operation makes the
release date go forward or backward. One way to address this point
is the method of zoom change display described later.
(3-3) Zoom Change Display
[0094] When the zoom dial 12 is rotated through a certain angle to
the right by the user after the thumbnail image SG (FIG. 7) on the
content display section 8 is selected by the focus frame FC1, the
control section 20 of the audio device 1 extracts, based on the
metadata MTD read from the content metadata storage section 22B of
the hard disk drive 22, the number one pieces of music content MC
on the each annual ranking list, as shown in FIG. 8. The control
section 20 subsequently reads out the thumbnail images SG of these
pieces of music content MC from the content storage section 22A,
and displays them on the content display section 8 as an extraction
result of zooming out them out of all the thumbnail images SG.
[0095] At the same time, the control section 20 leaves only the
content icons CA corresponding to the number one pieces of music
content MC on the time axis bar display section TB1, and moves the
rest of the content icons CA to the time axis bar display section
TB2.
[0096] That is to say, the control section 20 displays, on the
content display section 8, the release date of each piece of music
content MC on the top left side of the corresponding thumbnail
image SG. In this manner, the control section 20 presents a
plurality of pieces of number one music content MC each year based
on the annual ranking as signature piece for the year. Among them,
the thumbnail image SG surrounded by the focus frame FC1 is
displayed along with the underline UL1 on which the release year
and music name ("1980/Hello Summer Time", in this case) are
displayed, and the underline UL2 below which the artist name
("YAMAGAMI TATSUHIRO", in this case) is displayed.
[0097] In this case, the piece of music data MC corresponding to
the thumbnail image SG surrounded by the focus frame FC1 is that
year's representative work. However, as for the piece of music
content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the
focus frame FC1 before the zoom change operation is performed,
regardless of whether it is annual number one or not, the content
display section 8 continues to display this thumbnail image SG even
after the zoom change operation.
[0098] It is because the default setting of the audio device 1 is
to display the piece of music content MC selected by the focus
frame FC1 prior to others. Accordingly, when the selection
operation of the selection dial 11 moves the focus frame FC to
select the different thumbnail image SG, the control section 20 of
the audio device 1 zooms out the screen and then moves the focus
frame FC1 such that it surrounds the adjoining thumbnail image SG
on the right or left side of it.
[0099] In addition, in a case in which the content display section
8 displays the thumbnail images SG of the number one pieces of
music content MC based on the annual ranking, the control section
20 of the audio device 1 leaves the content icons CA, which
correspond to the number one pieces of music content MC on the
annual ranking, on the time axis bar display section TB1 in order
of date. The control section 20 picks up (or culls) the content
icons CA corresponding to the second and subsequent place pieces of
music content MC from the time axis bar display section TB1, and
then displays them on the time axis bar display section TB2 in
order of date.
[0100] The control section 20 of the audio device 1 allows the user
to visually check the arrangement state of the five content icons
CA surrounded by the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar display
section TB1, and the content icon CA selected by the focus frame
FC3. Accordingly, the user can recognize which period of time the
representative piece of music content MC, which is on the zoomed
out screen on the content display section 8, belongs to on the time
axis bar display section TB1. In addition, by seeing the blank
spaces between the content icons CA, the user can visually and
intuitively understand that many pieces of music content MC have
been culled because they are not representative each year.
[0101] That is to say, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
allows the user to visually check the arrangement state of the
content icons CA on the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2
through the focus frames FC2 and FC4. Accordingly, the user can
intuitively recognize how the pieces of music content MC extracted
by the zoom change operation are distributed on the time line, and
how the pieces of music content MC culled (those not extracted by
the zoom change operation) are distributed on the time line.
[0102] In this manner, in the audio device 1, the user's dial
operation of the zoom dial 12 picks up the number one pieces of
music content MC based on the annual ranking, and then only
displays those thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8
such that they are zoomed out. Because the audio device 1 presents
only representative pieces of the music content MC, the user can
easily find out his/her desired piece of music content MC.
[0103] Especially, the audio device 1 only displays the thumbnail
images SG corresponding to each year's representative piece of
music content MC on the content display section 8. When the user's
dial operation of the selection dial 11 moves the focus frame FC1
to select the adjoining thumbnail image SG, the thumbnail image SG
of the previous or next year's representative piece of music
content MC will be displayed. This improves the operationality,
relative to the all music display mode, in a case in which the user
retrieves the each year's representative piece by the selection
dial 11.
[0104] In addition, the thumbnail images SG of each year's
representative piece of music content MC helps the user to retrieve
an unknown piece of music content MC, one whose music name and
artist name are not know to him/her.
[0105] In addition, the audio device 1 does not change the size of
the thumbnail images SG and the distance between the thumbnail
images SG even after and before they are zoomed out. This provides
easy-to-see images, and the user may be able to retrieve his/her
desired piece of music content MC without any feeling of
strangeness.
(3-4) Selection and Display of Music Content After Zoom-Out
Display
[0106] As shown in FIG. 9, the control section 20 of the audio
device 1 only displays the thumbnail images SG of each year's
number one piece of music content MC on the content display section
8 such that they are zoomed out. When the selection dial 11 is
rotated at its minimum angular increment by the user to move the
line of thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 by one
frame, the focus frame FC1 then surrounds the adjoining thumbnail
image SG.
[0107] At this time, under the control of the control section 20,
the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1
surrounding five of the content icons CA moves by one frame. In
addition, the focus frame FC4 of the time axis bar display section
TB2 surrounding several of the content icons CA moves by several
frames in accordance with the focus frame FC2.
[0108] In this manner, the audio device 1 associates the five
thumbnail images SG zoomed out on the content display section 8
with the five content icons CA surrounded by the focus frame FC2 of
the time axis bar display section TB1. Accordingly, the user can
easily and intuitively understand which period of time the
representative pieces of music content MC corresponding to the five
thumbnail images SG belong to on the time axis bar display section
TB1.
[0109] In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
displays the release data and music name of the piece of music
content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG selected by the
focus frame FC1 ("1979/Sunset" in this case) on the underline UL1,
and its artist name ("MIZOBUTI TSUYOSHI", in this case) under the
underline UL2.
[0110] In addition, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
starts to play back, after the focus frame FC1 selects the
different thumbnail image SG, the piece of music content MC
corresponding to this thumbnail image SG.
[0111] Accordingly, when the user rotates the selection dial 11 to
select the different thumbnail image SG by the focus frame FC1, the
control section 20 of the audio device 1 outputs the sound of the
piece of music content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image SG
selected by the focus frame FC1. This means that, while retrieving
his/her desired piece of music content MC from a bunch of
representative pieces of music, the user listens to the sound of
the piece of music content MC.
(3-5) Zoom-In Display
[0112] The control section 20 of the audio device 1 for example
only displays the thumbnail images SG (FIG. 9) corresponding to the
each year's representative pieces of music content MC on the
content display section 8, and, when the zoom dial 12 is rotated at
its minimum angular increment by the user to the left, extracts the
each year's second place pieces of music content MC based on the
annual ranking of the metadata MTD read from the content metadata
storage section 22B of the hard disk drive 22 as well as the each
year's number one pieces of music content MC as shown in FIG. 10.
The control section 20 then displays the thumbnail images SG of the
number one and two pieces of music content MC on the content
display section 8.
[0113] Accordingly, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
displays the thumbnail images SG of the number one and two pieces
of music content MC on the each year's ranking on the content
display section 8. Compared to the case in which only the each
year's number one pieces of music content MC are zoomed out
(previous pages), they seem to be slightly zoomed in to the
user.
[0114] At the same time, the control section 20 of the audio device
1 leaves, by the focus frame FC2, only the content icons CA
corresponding to each year's first and second place pieces of music
content MC on the time axis bar display section TB1. Other content
icons CA, which have been culled from the time axis bar display
section TB1, are displayed on the time axis bar display section
TB2.
[0115] In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
for example only displays the thumbnail images SG of each year's
representative pieces of music on the content display section 8,
and, each time the zoom dial 12 is rotated through a certain angle
to the left by the user, zooms in the screen little by little,
which then finally leads to the all music display mode (FIG.
5).
[0116] Accordingly, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
displays the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the first place
pieces of the music content MC on the each year's ranking on the
content display section 8, and, when the user rotates the zoom dial
12 to the left, zooms in the screen to display the thumbnail images
SG of other pieces of music content MC which were also popular in
the same period as the representative pieces of music. In this
manner, the user can change the number of pieces of music he/she
retrieves from, and therefore he/she can find out his/her desired
pieces of music content MC easily.
(3-6) Selection and Display: Classification by Artist
[0117] After the focus frame FC1 of the content display section 8
selects a certain thumbnail image SG (FIGS. 7, 8 and 10, for
example), if the user pushes the menu button 9G and selects an item
of "artist" on a pop-up menu (not shown), the control section 20 of
the audio device 1 reads out all the artist names of the metadata
MTD about all the pieces of music content MC and then extracts only
the pieces of music content MC whose artist are the same as the one
selected by the focus frame FC1. The control section 20 then only
reads out the thumbnail images SG of the extracted pieces of music
content MC from the content storage section 22A to be displayed on
the content display section 8.
[0118] Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 11, the control section 20 of
the audio device 1 only displays, on the content display section 8,
the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the plurality of pieces of
music content MC released from a certain artist. If the user
specifies an artist name, he/she can retrieve his/her desired piece
of music content MC from among them.
[0119] In this case, if there are more than five pieces of music
content MC of the artist, the control section 20 of the audio
device 1 sequentially displays and scrolls the thumbnail images SG,
which had not been displayed, on the content display section 8 in
response to the user's dial operation of the selection dial 11.
[0120] In addition, the control section 20 surrounds, by the focus
frame FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1, an area in
which there are five content icons CA corresponding to five
thumbnail images SG displayed on the content display section 8.
This allows the user to intuitively recognize that how the pieces
of music content MC corresponding to the thumbnail images SG on the
content display section 8 are distributed on the time line. By the
way, in this case, the content icons CA of the pieces of music
content MC of other artists are those surrounded by the focus frame
FC4 of the time axis bar display section TB2. Accordingly, in order
for the user to retrieve the other artists' pieces of music content
MC that were released at the same time as that of a certain artist,
the control section 20 of the audio device 1 allows him/her to
rotate the zoom dial 12 to the left to zoom in the screen.
(4) Procedure of Association Display Process
[0121] A procedure of association display process will be described
with reference to a flowchart in FIG. 12. The association display
process allows the thumbnail images SG, which are displayed on the
content display section 8 of the front panel 7, and the content
icons CA, which are displayed on the time axis bar display sections
TB1 and TB2, to cooperate with one another while being
displaying.
[0122] The control section 20 of the audio device 1 starts a
routine RT1 from its start step and then proceeds to step SP1. At
step SP1, the control section 20 reads out all the thumbnail images
SG of music content MC, which may be displayed on the content
display section 8, from the content storage section 22A of the hard
disk drive 22, and keeps them on the RAM 20C, and then proceeds to
next step SP2.
[0123] At step SP2, the control section 20 reads out, from the
content metadata storage section 22B, the metadata MTD
corresponding to the pieces of music content MC whose thumbnail
images SG were read out from the content storage section 22A of the
hard disk drive 22, and keep them on the RAM 20C, and then proceeds
to next step SP3.
[0124] At step SP3, the control section 20 makes the thumbnail
images SG, which have been kept on the RAM 20C (step SP1), a
predetermined size, and places them side by side at certain
intervals, and displays five thumbnail images SG out of them on the
content display section 8, and then proceeds to step SP4.
[0125] At step SP4, the control section 20 reads out the content
icons CA corresponding to all the pieces of music content MC from
the content storage section 22A of the hard disk drive 22, and
places them on the time axis bar display section TB1 in order of
release data (i.e. in order of time), and then proceeds to next
step SP5.
[0126] At step SP5, the control section 20 checks whether the user
has performed the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12. If the
negative result is obtained, this means that, instead of the zoom
change operation of the zoom dial 12, the selection operation of
the selection dial 11 has been performed. In this case, the control
section 20 proceeds to step SP6. If the affirmative result is
obtained, the control section 20 proceeds to step SP7.
[0127] At step SP6, in response to the user's dial operation of the
selection dial 11, the control section 20 changes the thumbnail
image SG selected by the focus frame FC1 by moving the thumbnail
images SG on the content display section 8 by one frame of the
thumbnail image SG. In accordance with that, the control section 20
moves the focus frame FC2 of the time axis bar display section TB1
by one piece of the content icon CA to associate a moving process
of the thumbnail images SG (which is performed based on the
selection operation of the selection dial 11) with a moving process
of the focus frame FC2, and then proceeds to next step SP8.
[0128] At step SP7, the control section 20 sequentially culls, in
response to the rotated angle of the zoom dial 12, the low-priority
pieces of music content MC to extract the pieces of music content
MC. The control section 20 then displays only the thumbnail images
SG corresponding to the extracted pieces of music content MC on the
content display section 8. The control section 20 also changes the
selection area of the focus frame FC2 on the time axis bar display
section TB1, and the selection area of the focus frame FC4 on the
time axis bar display section TB2 to associate the zoom change
display process of the thumbnail images SG (which is performed
based on the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12) with the
selection area change process of the focus frames FC2 and FC4, and
then proceeds to next step SP8.
[0129] At step SP8, the control section 8 plays back and outputs
the piece of music content MC corresponding to the thumbnail image
SG which is selected by the focus frame FC1 after the moving
process of the thumbnail images SG (step SP6) and the zoom change
display process of the thumbnail images SG (step SP7) are
performed, and then returns to step SP5 to repeat subsequent
processes.
[0130] In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
performs, in response to the user's dial operation of the selection
dial 11 and zoom dial 12, the moving process of the thumbnail
images SG on the content display section 8 and the zoom change
display process. In accordance with that, the control section 20
also performs the selection area change process of the focus frames
FC2 and FC4 on the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2.
(5) Cull and Display
(5-1) Calculation of Priority
[0131] By the way, as mentioned above, in a case in which the audio
device 1 performs the zoom change display, the audio device 1 only
displays, on the content display section 8, the thumbnail images SG
of a part of pieces of music content MC out of all the pieces of
music content MC. Therefore, the audio device 1 may need to extract
some of the thumbnail images SG to be displayed.
[0132] To do that, the audio device 1 calculates priority
evaluation values PV based on the metadata MTD stored along with
each piece of music content, and then, based on the priority
evaluation values PV, extracts the thumbnail images SG to be
displayed on the content display section 8.
[0133] Actually, as shown in FIG. 13, besides attribute data of
music content MC such as music names, artist names and release
date, the audio device 1 stores other kind of data in the content
metadata storage section 22B of the hard disk drive 22 as metadata
MTD: popularity rating data like the total sales numbers AS, the
annual ranking Ry, the monthly ranking Rm and the weekly ranking
Rw, and preference rating data like user rating UR with 9 ratings
input by the users.
[0134] By the way, in the annual ranking, each piece of music
content MC is ranked within first to 100th. In the monthly and
weekly rankings, each piece of music content MC is ranked within
first to 10th. In the user rating UR, each piece of music content
MC is ranked with 9 ratings: the lowest rank is "-3," and the
highest rank is "+5". The user rating UR is adjustable, in
accordance with user's preference, by pushing the user rating
button 9F (FIG. 2).
[0135] Based on the following formulas (1a) to (1d), the audio
device 1 calculates a user weighting Wu, an annual rank weighting
Wy, a monthly weighting Wm and a weekly rank weighting Ww using the
popularity rating data and the preference rating data.
Wu=UR+4 (1a):
Wy=(the total numbers of annual ranking)-Ry (1b):
Wm=(the total numbers of monthly ranking)-Rm (1c):
Ww=(the total numbers of weekly ranking)-Rw (1d):
[0136] In addition, in accordance with the following formula (2),
the audio device 1 calculates the priority evaluation value PV by
multiplying the user weighting Wu, the annual rank weighting Wy,
the monthly weighting Wm and the weekly rank weighting Ww by
predetermined coefficients Fu, Fy, Fm and Fw and adding the total
sales numbers AS to them. In this case, the priority evaluation
value PV is greater than zero.
PV=Fu.times.Wu+Fy.times.Wy+Fm.times.Wm+Fw.times.Ww+AS (2):
[0137] The relationship between the coefficients Fu, Fy, Fm and Fw
is as follows:
Fu>Fy>Fm>Fw (3):
[0138] Accordingly, this means that, as for the priority evaluation
value PV, the user weighting Wu, the annual rank weighting Wy, the
monthly weighting Wm and the weekly rank weighting Ww are sifted
against the total sales numbers AS. FIG. 14 shows the configuration
of the resulting data.
[0139] When the audio device 1 acquires a new piece of music
content MC from the optical disc 4 or the small memory card 6 (FIG.
1) and stores it in the content storage section 22A of the hard
disk drive 22, the audio device 1 calculates its priority
evaluation value PV and then stores it in the content metadata
storage section 22B as metadata MTD.
(5-2) Cull and Display of Thumbnail Images
[0140] For instance, as shown in FIG. 15, assume that all the
pieces of music content MC are pieces of content A to content Z.
The control section 20 of the audio device 1 recognizes the pieces
of content A to Z in order of release date (the row of pieces of
content A to Z in order of release date is also referred to as an
"all content row LC0"). The control section 20 extracts the user's
desired pieces of music content MC by culling the pieces of music
content MC with the low priority evaluation values PV from the all
content row LC0. The control section 20 only displays five
thumbnail images SG corresponding to the extracted pieces of music
content MC on the content display section 8.
[0141] The control section 20 of the audio device 1 can be set to
one of the following five modes: an "all display level LV1" where
the thumbnail images SG corresponding to all the pieces of music
content MC are displayed with the all display mode (FIG. 5); a
"weekly display level LV2" where the thumbnail image SG of the
piece of music content MC ranked number one at the weekly ranking
is displayed; a "monthly display level LV3" where the thumbnail
image SG of the piece of music content MC ranked number one at the
monthly ranking is displayed; an "annual display level LV4" where
the thumbnail image SG of the piece of music content MC ranked
number one at the annual ranking is displayed; and a "highest
evaluation display level LV5" where the thumbnail image SG of the
piece of music content MC with the highest evaluation ("+5") of the
user rating UR is displayed.
[0142] In this case, besides those five display levels LV, there
might be a display level LV, where the thumbnail images SG of the
pieces of music content MC ranked number one and two at the annual
ranking are displayed. However, for ease of explanation, the
description about it will be omitted.
[0143] The control section 20 sets the threshold values TH about
the priority evaluation values PV: five threshold values TH1 to TH5
each of which corresponds to one of the "all display level LV1" to
"highest evaluation display level LV5".
[0144] In fact, when the control section 20 receives a rotation
signal SR2 (which is based on the rotated angle of the zoom dial
12) as a result of the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12,
the control section 20 selects, in response to the rotation signal
SR2, one of the threshold values TH1 to TH5 (the selected one will
be referred to as an "extracted threshold value THA").
[0145] The control section 20 subsequently culls, out of all pieces
of music content MC, the pieces of music content MC (also referred
to as "culled music content MCZ (or exclusion music content MCZ)")
whose priority evaluation values PV are less than the extracted
threshold value THA to extract the pieces of music content MC (also
referred to as "extracted music content MCA") whose priority
evaluation values PV are greater or equal to the extracted
threshold value THA. At this time, the control section 20 displays,
on the content display section 8, five thumbnail images
corresponding to the five pieces of extracted music content MCA
such that the pieces of music content MC (also referred to as
"selected music content MCS") selected by the focus frame FC1 of
the content display section 8 are centered on. In this manner the
control section 20 switches the display level in response to the
zoom change operation to perform the zoom change display.
[0146] By the way, the control section 20 has set the threshold
value TH1 to zero. Accordingly, the control section 20 at the "all
display level LV1" extracts all pieces of music content MC as
extracted music content MCA because the priority evaluation values
PV of all the pieces of music content MC are greater than the
extracted threshold value THA, or the threshold value TH1.
[0147] If the piece of content J in the all content row LC0 is
selected by the focus frame FC1 as the selected music content MCS
and the control section 20 is being set to the all display level
LV1, the control section 20 displays, on the content display
section 8, the five thumbnail images SGH to SGL corresponding to
the pieces of content H to L (these pieces of content H to L are
collectively referred to as a "first level content row LC1 (FIG.
15)") that are located just before and after the piece of selected
music content MCS (or the piece of content J) on the all content
row LC0: the five thumbnail images SGH to SGL are placed side by
side from the left to the right in order of release date as shown
in FIG. 16A (this row of the thumbnail images SGH to SGL is also
referred to as a "first level image row LG1").
[0148] When the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12 is
performed to perform the zoom out display (i.e. to increase the
display level), the control section 20 selects the threshold value
TH2 corresponding to the weekly display level LV2, and, as shown in
FIG. 16B, extracts, from the all content row LC0, the piece of
content J (which is the piece of the selected music content MCS,
being selected by the focus frame FC1) as a main one and other
pieces of content G, I, J, M and R whose priority evaluation values
PV are greater or equal to the threshold value TH2 (the row of
pieces of music content MC (G, I, J, M and R) are collectively
referred to as a "second level content row LC2 (FIG. 15)"). The
control section 20 then displays, on the content display section 8,
the thumbnail images SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR corresponding to
the pieces of content G, I, J, M and R: the five thumbnail images
SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR are placed side by side from the left to
the right in order of release date (this row of the thumbnail
images SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR is also referred to as a "second
level image row LG2").
[0149] Accordingly, the content display section 8 only displays the
thumbnail images SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR of the pieces of the
extracted music content MCA as a result of removing the pieces of
the culled music content MCZ (i.e. the pieces of content H, K, L
and the like) whose priority evaluation values PV are less than the
threshold value TH2 from the all content row LC0 (FIG. 15). In this
case, the size of each thumbnail image SGG, SGI, SGJ, SGM and SGR
is almost the same as that of the all display level LV1.
[0150] In addition, as shown in FIG. 16B, in a case in which there
is the piece of the culled music content MCZ (the piece of content
H, for example) on the all content row LC0 between the pieces of
the extracted music content MCA (the pieces of content G and I, for
example) whose thumbnails images SG are right nest to one another
on the second level image row LG2, the control section 20 displays
a cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 and MT3) between the thumbnail images SG
corresponding to the plurality of pieces of the extracted music
content MCA displayed on the content display section 8 to indicate
the fact that there is the pieces of culled music content MCZ
removed.
[0151] For instance, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 and MT3) includes
one to three vertical lines each of which is right next one
another. The number of lines of the cull mark MT is determined
based on the number of pieces of the culled music content MCZ: the
cull mark MT1 with one line means that there is only one piece of
the culled music content MCZ; the cull mark MT2 with two lines
means that there are two pieces of the culled music content MCZ;
and the cull mark MT3 with three lines means that there are three
pieces of culled music content MCZ.
[0152] Accordingly, on the second level image row LG2 where the
pieces of images are placed in the same order as the all content
row LC0 (i.e. in order of release date), the audio device 1
notifies the user of, by the cull mark MT, the fact that there are
the pieces of the culled music content MCZ between the pieces of
extracted music content MCA whose thumbnail images SG are right
nest to one another, and the approximate number of pieces of the
culled music content MCZ removed.
[0153] By the way, if the zoom dial 12 is rotated several times to
the right as the zoom change operation, the control section 20 of
the audio device 1 sequentially increases the display level LV, for
example, the all display level LV1, the weekly display level LV2,
the monthly display level LV3, the annual display level LV4 and the
highest evaluation display level LV5 in that order.
[0154] In addition, as shown in FIG. 16A, in a case in which the
content display section 8 is displaying the first level image row
LG1, and the piece of content J is being selected by the focus
frame FC1, and then the control section 20 receives a rotation
signal SR1 (which corresponds to the rotated angle of the selection
dial 11) as a result of rotating the selection dial 11 to the
right, the control section 20 switches, in response to the rotation
signal SR1, what the focus frame FC1 is selecting (i.e. the piece
of the selected music content MCS) from the piece of content J to
the piece of content K.
[0155] In this case, the focus frame FC1 is fixedly displayed on
the content display section 8. Therefore, the first level image row
LG1 is scrolled to the left one by one to display new thumbnail
images SG. The focus frame FC1 is then placed on the thumbnail
image SGK corresponding to the piece of content K. In this manner,
the first level image row LG1 is updated.
[0156] In this manner, with the audio device 1, the selection
operation of selecting thumbnail images SG on the content display
section 8 by the selection dial 11 or the zoom dial 12, and the
interface action of the audio device 1 in association with the
selection operation and zoom change operation are performed while
the content display section 8 is displaying them as a display
screen.
[0157] In a case in which the display level LV is set to the all
display level LV1 as shown in FIG. 17A, and the piece of content K
is being selected by the focus frame FC1, and then the dial
operation of the zoom dial 12 is performed to perform the zoom out
display, as shown in FIG. 17B, the control section 20 displays, on
the center, the thumbnail image SGK of the piece of content K which
is equivalent to the piece of the selected music content MCS
selected by the focus frame FC1, and then selects the threshold
value TH2 corresponding to the weekly display level LV2. The
control section 20 subsequently extracts, from the all content row
LC0, the pieces of content I, J, M and R whose priority evaluation
values PV are greater or equal to the threshold value TH2, and then
displays the corresponding thumbnail images SG1, SGJ, SGM and SGR
on the content display section 8.
[0158] That is to say, when the user performs the zoom change
operation to do the zoom out display, the control section 20
displays not only the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the
pieces of music content MC whose priority evaluation values PV are
greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA, but the
thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of the selected music
content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1 regardless of its
priority evaluation value PV (the thumbnail image SGK is displayed,
in this case). Accordingly, even if the displayed information is
updated due to the zoom out display, the control section 20 allows
the user to keep an eye on the thumbnail image SG corresponding to
the piece of the selected music content MCS.
[0159] When the piece of the selected music content MCS selected by
the focus frame FC1 is specified as a operation target for various
kinds of operation, the control section 20 also recognizes the
following items as the operation targets: all the pieces of the
culled music content MCZ between the piece of the selected music
content MCS and the piece of the extracted music content MCA right
next to the piece of the selected music content MCS on the content
row LC (LC0, LC1, or LC2) corresponding to the current display
level LV.
[0160] For instance, the display level LV of the control section 20
is set to the weekly display level LV2 as shown in FIG. 16B, and
the piece of content J is selected by the focus frame FC1 as the
operation target. In this case, when the control section 20 accepts
an operation instruction of repeatedly playing back the pieces of
music content MC, the control section 20 recognizes the pieces of
content K and L, which were culled as the pieces of the culled
music content MCZ, as the operation target to be repeatedly played
back. The control section 20 therefore repeatedly plays back the
pieces of content J, K, L in order of J, K, L, J, K, L, . . . .
[0161] For instance, the content display section 8 displays the
second level image row LG2 as shown in FIG. 16B, and the piece of
content J is selected by the focus frame FC1. In this case, when
the control section 20 of the audio device 1 for example receives
the rotation signal SR1 (which corresponds to the rotated angle of
the selection dial 11) as a result of the rotation of the selection
dial 11 to the right, the control section 20 switches, in response
to the rotation signal SR1, what the focus frame FC is selecting to
the piece of content M which is on the right side of the piece of
content J on the second level content row LC2, as shown in FIG.
17C.
[0162] In addition, if the pieces of the culled music content MCZ
have been removed from between the pieces of the extracted music
content MCA corresponding to the pieces of thumbnail images SG on
the updated second level image row LG2, the control section 20 of
the audio device 1 displays, in response to the number of pieces of
the culled music content MCZ, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 or MT3)
between the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces of the
extracted music content MCA on the content display section 8.
[0163] In this manner, the control section 20 of the audio device 1
selects, in response to the user's dial operation of the zoom dial
12, the extracted threshold value THA, and extracts, from the all
content row LC0, the pieces of the extracted music content MCA
whose priority evaluation values PV are greater or equal to the
extracted threshold value THA such that the thumbnail image SG of
the piece of the selected music content MCS becomes its center, and
displays the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces of the
extracted music content MCA on the content display section 8 along
with the cull mark MT indicating the fact that there are the pieces
of the culled music content MCZ.
(6) Thumbnail Image Display Process
[0164] A thumbnail image display process, where the audio device 1
displays the thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8,
will be described. In this case, the thumbnail image display
process is executed when the zoom change operation of the zoom dial
12 is performed, and when the selection operation of the selection
dial 11 is performed.
(6-1) Display Update Process by Zoom Change Operation
[0165] After the control section 20 of the audio device 1 is
powered on, the control section 20 starts a procedure of a display
update process of the zoom change operation RT2 (FIG. 18), and then
proceeds to step SP11.
[0166] At step SP11, when the user performs the zoom change
operation of the zoom dial 12, the control section 20 receives the
rotation signal SR2 from the operation input section 27, and then
proceeds to next step SP12.
[0167] At step SP12, based on the current display level LV (the all
display level LV1, for example) and the rotation signal SR2
received from the operation input section 27, the control section
20 is switched to the new display level LV (the weekly display
level LV2, for example), and selects the new threshold value TH
(the threshold value TH2, for example) as the extracted threshold
value THA for the new display level LV, and then proceeds to a
subroutine, or a procedure of a thumbnail image display process
SRT1.
[0168] After starting the procedure of the thumbnail image display
process SRT1, the control section 20 proceeds to step SP21, as
shown in FIG. 19. At step SP21, the control section 20 selects one
piece of music content MC (the piece of content J, for example)
from the all content row LC0, and decides the corresponding
thumbnail image SG (the thumbnail image SGJ, for example) as the
one to be displayed on the approximate center of the content
display section 8. At the same time, the control section 20 sets
that piece of music content MC as the start point for searching for
the piece of music content MC that should be displayed right next
to the center thumbnail image in accordance with the display level
MC. The control section 20 subsequently proceeds to next step
SP22.
[0169] At step SP22, the control section 20 decides which direction
the control section 20 will perform the retrieval process of
retrieving the pieces of the extracted music content MCA on the all
content row LC0 from the start point: the retrieval direction is,
in this case, set to left, or the direction of going back in the
past on the release date. The control section 20 subsequently
proceeds to next step SP23.
[0170] At step SP23, the control section 20 perform an
initialization process of setting a parameter j to zero: the
parameter j is used to count the number of thumbnail images SG
displayed on the both sides of the thumbnail image SG corresponding
to the piece of music content MC that has been set as the start
point. The control section 20 subsequently proceeds to next step
SP24.
[0171] At step SP24, for example, the control section 20 performs
an initialization process of setting a parameter i to -1: the
parameter i is used to indicate the number of pieces of the culled
music content MCZ that are to be removed without being displayed on
the both sides of the thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece
of music content MC that has been set as the start point. The
control section 20 subsequently proceeds to next step SP25.
[0172] At step SP25, out of the all content row LC0, the control
section 20 focuses the piece of music content MC that is right next
to the piece of music content MC that has been set as the start
point in the retrieval direction, and reads out its metadata MTD.
The control section 20 also increments the parameter i, and then
proceeds to next step SP26. For example, the control section20
focuses the piece of content I on the right of the piece of content
J (the start point is the piece of content J, for example), and
sets the parameter i to zero.
[0173] At step SP26, the control section 20 checks whether the
priority evaluation value PV included in the metadata MTD of the
piece of music content MC focused at step SP25 is greater or equal
to the extracted threshold value THA which is based on the display
level LV.
[0174] The affirmative result at step SP26 means that the priority
evaluation value PV of the piece of music content MC focused at
step SP25 is greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA,
and that this piece of music content MC is equivalent to the
extracted music content MCA. In this case, the control section 20
proceeds to next step SP27.
[0175] The negative result at step SP26 means that the priority
evaluation value PV of the piece of music content MC focused is
less than the extracted threshold value THA, and that this piece of
music content MC is equivalent to the culled music content MCZ. In
this case, the control section 20 returns to step SP25 to keep
performing the retrieval process of retrieving the piece of music
content MC that should be displayed in the retrieval direction of
the piece of music content MC that has been set as the start point
until it finds out the piece of music content MC whose priority
evaluation value PV is greater or equal to the extracted threshold
value THA.
[0176] At this time, the control section 20 at step SP25 focuses
the next piece of music content MC which is in the retrieval
direction of the piece of music content MC equivalent to the culled
music content MCZ, and also increments the parameter i.
[0177] At step SP27, because it becomes evident at step SP26 that
the piece of music content MC focused at step SP25 is equivalent to
the extracted music content MCA to be displayed on the content
display section 8, the control section 20 increments the parameter
j, and decides the thumbnail image SG of the focused piece of music
content MC to be displayed on a position which is j pieces away
from the piece of music content MC that has been set as the start
point in the retrieval direction. The control section subsequently
moves to next step SP28.
[0178] At step SP28, the control section 20 checks whether the
parameter i is greater or equal to one. The affirmative result at
step SP28 means that at least one piece of the culled music content
MCZ has been already removed until it finds out the thumbnail image
SG that should be displayed right next to the thumbnail image SG
corresponding to the piece of music content MC set as the start
point. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds to next step
SP29.
[0179] In this case, the parameter i is initially set to -1.
Therefore the parameter i shows the number of pieces of the culled
music content MCZ removed.
[0180] At step SP29, the control section 20 displays, in accordance
with the parameter i, the cull mark MT (MT1, MT2 or MT3) on the
content display section 8 such that the cull mark MT is placed
between the thumbnail image SG set as the start point and the
thumbnail image SG of the piece of the extracted music content MCA
adjacent to the start-point thumbnail image SG. The control section
20 subsequently proceeds to next step SP30.
[0181] The negative result at step SP28 means that it is possible
to detect the fact that the piece of music content MC right next to
the piece of music content MC set as the start point is the
extracted music content MCA, and that any pieces of music content
have not been removed as the culled music content MCZ. In this
case, the control section 20 proceeds to step SP30 without
displaying the cull mark MT on the content display section 8.
[0182] At step SP30, the control section 20 checks whether the
parameter j is greater or equal to two: it checks whether the two
thumbnail images SG have been selected to be displayed in the
retrieval direction behind the thumbnail image SG corresponding to
the piece of music content MC set as the start point.
[0183] The negative result at step SP30 means that the two
thumbnail images SG have not been determined to be displayed in the
current retrieval direction, and it may continue the retrieval
process until the two thumbnail images SG are selected. In this
case, the control section 20 returns to step SP24.
[0184] The affirmative result at step SP30 means that the two
thumbnail images SG have been determined to be displayed in the
current retrieval direction, and it may not continue the retrieval
process to find more thumbnail images SG. In this case, the control
section 20 proceeds to next step SP31.
[0185] At step SP31, the control section 20 checks whether the
current retrieval direction is the right of the start point, or the
right of the piece of music content MC set as the start point. The
negative result at step SP31 means that the retrieval direction has
been the left of the piece of music content MC set as the start
point. It means that the two thumbnail images SG of the two pieces
of extracted music content MCA that should be displayed on the
right side of the start-point thumbnail image SG have not been
determined. In this case, the control section 20 proceeds to next
step SP32.
[0186] At step SP32, the control section 20 switches the retrieval
direction from left to right: it is the direction of going forward
in the future on the release date with respect to the piece of
music content MC set as the start point. The control section 20
then returns to step SP23 to determine the two thumbnail images SG
that should be displayed on the right side of the thumbnail image
SG corresponding to the piece of music content MC set as the start
point.
[0187] The affirmative result at step SP31 means that the four
thumbnail images SG to be displayed on the both sides of the
thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of music content MC
set as the start point have been determined. In this case, the
control section 20 proceeds to next step SP33.
[0188] At step SP33, the control section 20 supplies the five
thumbnail images SG determined at step SP31 to the video controller
26A of the display section 26 (FIG. 2) to display the five
thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8. The control
section 20 subsequently proceeds to next step SP34 to end the
procedure of the thumbnail image display process SRT1. After that,
the control section 20 returns to step SP11 of the procedure of the
display update process RT2 of the zoom change operation (FIG. 18)
to repeat a series of process.
[0189] By the way, under the control of the control section 20 of
the audio device 1, a nonvolatile memory (not shown) memorizes the
following information: the information about which piece of music
content MC (the selected music content MCS) the focus frame FC1 was
selecting immediately before the power supply was cut (the piece of
content J, for example); and the information about the display
level LV at that time (the all display level LV1, for example).
After the audio device 1 is powered on again, the control section
20 reads out the information from the nonvolatile memory and uses
it as initialization values about the selected music content MSC
and the display level LV. This allows the audio device 1 to display
the same items, such as thumbnail images SG, on the content display
section 8 as those displayed before the power supply was cut.
(6-2) Display Update Process by Selection Operation
[0190] The control section 20 starts a procedure of a display
update process RT3 of the selection operation (FIG. 20) when the
audio device 1 is powered on. The control section 20 subsequently
proceeds to step SP41. At step SP41, the control section 20
receives the rotation signal SR1 from the operation input section
27 as a result of the user's selection operation of the selection
dial 11, and then proceeds to next step SP42.
[0191] At step SP42, the control section 20 sets, in response to
the rotation signal SR1 received from the operation input section
27, the pieces of the extracted music content MCA, which are placed
on the right or left side of the piece of the selected music
content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1 on the content row LC
of this display level LV, as the new pieces of the selected music
content MCS, and then proceeds to a subroutine, or the procedure of
the thumbnail image display process SRT1.
[0192] For example, the display level LV is set to the weekly
display level LV2, and the piece of content J is the selected music
content MCS. In this case, when the user rotates the selection dial
11 to the right, the control section 20 switches what the focus
frame FC1 is selecting (i.e. the selected music content MCS) from
the piece of content J to the piece of content M which is on the
right side of the piece of content J on the second level content
row LC2 (FIG. 15) corresponding to the weekly display level
LV2.
[0193] In the procedure of the thumbnail image display process
SRT1, the control section 20 displays, on the content display
section 8, the five thumbnail images SG the center of which is the
thumbnail image SG of the piece of the selected music content MCS
as mentioned above, and then returns to step SP41 to repeat a
series of processes.
(7) Operation and Effect
[0194] In the audio device 1 with the above configuration, the
control section 20 generates the all content row LC0 in which all
pieces of music content MC are arranged in order of release date.
The control section 20 also calculates the priority evaluation
value PV of each piece of music content MC. The control section 20
selects the extracted threshold value THA in accordance with the
display level LV set by the user's zoom change operation. The
control section 20 subsequently sets the piece of the selected
music content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1 as the start
point, and then extracts, from the all content row LC0, the pieces
of the extracted music content MCA whose priority evaluation values
PV are greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA. The
control section 20 subsequently displays, on the content display
section 8, the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the pieces of
the extracted music content MCA and the cull mark MT indicating
that there are pieces of the culled music content MCZ such that the
thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of the selected music
content MCS is displayed on the center.
[0195] Accordingly, regardless of the display level LV set, the
maximum number of thumbnail images SG to be displayed on the
content display section 8 of the audio device 1 is always the same.
In addition, the audio device 1 does not change the size of
thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8. This provides
easy-to-see thumbnail images SG.
[0196] In addition, the audio device 1 removes, from the all
content row LC0, the pieces of the culled music content MCZ whose
priority evaluation values PV are less than the extracted threshold
value THA, and displays the thumbnail images SG corresponding to
the rest of them (or the pieces of the extracted music content MCA)
on the content display section 8. This maintains relative order of
each piece of music content MC with respect to the order of release
date, and zooms out only the thumbnail images SG corresponding to
the pieces of music content MC that have the high priority
evaluation values PV and the user may be fond of. In reality, only
five thumbnail images are displayed, however, it seems to the user
that the display area for displaying the pieces of music content MC
becomes enlarged.
[0197] That is to say, when the audio device 1 gradually increases,
in response to the zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12, the
display levels LV from the all display level LV1 to zoom out, the
rotated angle of the zoom dial 12 becomes correlated with the
display levels LV. Therefore, in response to the rotated angle of
the zoom dial 12, the audio device 1 sequentially culls the pieces
of music content MC whose priority evaluation values PV are lower.
This user interface allows the user to intuitively operate.
[0198] In addition, when the selection operation of the selection
dial 11 is performed while the display level LV is high, the audio
device 1 sets the piece of music content MC that is right next to
the piece of the selected music content MCS on the content row LC
corresponding to the current display level LV as new piece of the
selected music content MCS. This means that it moves from the piece
of the selected music content MCS on the all content row LC0 (FIG.
15) to the piece of the extracted music content MCA that is closest
to this piece of the selected music content MCS by skipping the
pieces of the culled music content MCZ. Accordingly, one operation
moves more in comparison with a low display level where displayed
information is zoomed in.
[0199] In order for the user to select a different piece of the
selected music content MCS by the focus frame FC1, the audio device
1 allows the user to perform both the selection operation of the
selection dial 11 and the zoom change operation of the zoom dial
12. This improves efficiency compared to an audio device in which
only the selection operation is allowed.
[0200] For example, on the audio device 1, to change the piece of
the selected music content MCS by the focus frame FC1 from the
piece of content J to the piece of content S on the content display
section 8 where the thumbnail images SG are displayed in the all
display level LV1 as shown in FIG. 16A, the user has to perform the
selection operation nine times like J, K, L, . . . , S if he/she is
only allowed to perform the selection operation of the selection
dial 11.
[0201] By contrast, on the audio device 1 where the zoom change
operation of the zoom dial 12 is allowed, the user switches the
display levels LV from the all display level LV1 (FIG. 16A) to the
weekly display level LV2 (FIG. 16B) by the zoom change operation
(of zooming out, in this case), and performs the selection
operation two times to moves the focus frame FC1 from the piece of
content J to the piece of content R as show in FIG. 21A, and
switches the display levels LV to the all display level LV1 by the
zoom change operation of zoom dial 12 (to zoom in, in this case) as
shown in FIG. 21B, and then performs the selection operation of the
selection dial 11 one time to move the focus frame FC1 from the
piece of content R to the piece of the content S as shown in FIG.
21C. In this manner, performing the operations five times,
including two zoom change operations and three move operations, can
select his/her desired piece of music content. The user can select
his/her desired piece of music content with easy and short term
operation.
[0202] In reality, the audio device 1 selects, in response to the
dial operation of the zoom dial 12, the number one pieces of music
content MC on the annual ranking, monthly ranking, or weekly
ranking, and displays the thumbnail images SG corresponding to the
selected pieces of music content MC on the content display section
8 in order of time. This allows the audio device 1 to classify the
thumbnail images SG by year, month, week or the like and zoom out
them on the content display section 8. In addition, the audio
device 1 can change the piece of the selected music content MCS on
each display level LV. Accordingly, the user can easily retrieve
his/her desired piece of music content MC from many pieces of music
content MC (thousands to ten thousands of music content MC, for
example).
[0203] Furthermore, the audio device 1 displays, between the
adjoining thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8, the
cull mark (FIG. 16B) indicating that there is a piece of the culled
music content MCZ removed from the all content row LC0.
Accordingly, the user can visually and intuitively recognize that
there is the piece of the culled music content MCZ between two
pieces of the extracted music content MCA indicated by the
adjoining thumbnail images SG.
[0204] Furthermore, one of the cull marks MT1 to MT3 is displayed
in accordance with the number of pieces of the culled music content
MCZ removed from the all content row LC0. Therefore, the user can
understand the approximate number of pieces of the culled music
content MCZ. This improves the efficiency of retrieving the desired
piece of music content MC, and makes it possible to complete the
retrieval process in a short period of time.
[0205] Furthermore, on the audio device 1, when the user performs
the zoom change operation to do the zoom out display, the control
section 20 displays not only the thumbnail images SG corresponding
to the pieces of music content MC whose priority evaluation values
PV are greater or equal to the extracted threshold value THA, but
the thumbnail image SG corresponding to the piece of the selected
music content MCS selected by the focus frame FC1 regardless of its
priority evaluation value PV. Accordingly, even if the piece of the
selected music content MCS is not suitable for the display level LV
after the zoom change operation, the control section 20 allows the
user to keep an eye on the thumbnail image SG corresponding to the
piece of the selected music content MCS.
[0206] Furthermore, in a case in which the piece of the selected
music content MCS is specified for the operation target of various
kinds of operations, the audio device 1 also recognizes, on the
content row LC of the current display level, all pieces of the
culled music content MCZ between the piece of the selected music
content MCS and the next piece of the extracted music content MCA
as the operation target. Accordingly, for example, in a case in
which the audio device 1 repeatedly plays back or removes the
pieces of music content MC, the user can specify a plurality of
pieces of music content MC as target at one time without specifying
them one by one.
[0207] The above configuration makes this possible: the control
section 20 of the audio device 1 selects the extracted threshold
value THA in accordance with the display level LV set by the user's
zoom change operation of the zoom dial 12. The control section 20
subsequently sets the piece of the selected music content MCS as
the start point, and then extracts, from the all content row LC0,
the pieces of the extracted music content MCA whose priority
evaluation values PV are greater or equal to the extracted
threshold value THA. The control section 20 subsequently displays,
on the content display section 8, the thumbnail images SG
corresponding to the pieces of the extracted music content MC and
the cull mark MT indicating that there are pieces of the culled
music content MCZ such that the thumbnail image SG corresponding to
the piece of the selected music content MCS is displayed on the
center. This maintains the relative order of each piece of music
content MC, and enlarges only the thumbnail images SG corresponding
to the pieces of music content MC with the high priority evaluation
values PV, which the user may be fond of, so that the user can
easily see them.
(8) Other Embodiment
[0208] In the above-noted embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16B, the
cull mark MT with one to three vertical lines (these lines are next
to one another in the horizontal direction) is displayed between
the thumbnail images SG. However the present invention is not
limited to this. Another shape of cull mark MT may be displayed
near each thumbnail image SG.
[0209] For example, as shown in FIG. 22A, the cull mark MT with one
to three horizontal lines (these lines are next to one another in
the vertical direction) may be displayed below each thumbnail image
SG, and the number of lines may vary according to the number of
pieces of the culled music content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 22B, one
to three objects in a predetermined shape (in the shape of circle,
triangle or the like) may be displayed below each thumbnail image
SG, and the number of objects may vary according to the number of
pieces of the culled music content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 22C, the
cull mark MT, which provides visual effects as if there are other
thumbnail images SG behind each thumbnail image SG, may be
displayed, and the number of thumbnail images behind may vary
according to the number of pieces of the culled music content
MCZ.
[0210] In addition, as shown in FIG. 22D, the cull mark MT in a
predetermined shape (in the shape of rectangle, for example) may be
displayed between the thumbnail images SG, and its color and
brightness may vary according to the number of pieces of the culled
music content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 22E, the cull mark MT with one
vertical line may be displayed between the thumbnail images SG, and
its length may vary according to the number of pieces of the culled
music content MCZ. As shown in FIG. 22F, the cull mark MT in a
predetermined shape (in the shape of circle) may be displayed, and
its size may vary according to the number of pieces of the culled
music content MCZ. In this case, the distance between the thumbnail
images SG may vary according to the size of the cull mark MT.
[0211] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the number of
vertical lines of the cull mark MT indicates the approximate number
of pieces of the culled music content MCZ. However, the present
invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG.
23A, the cull mark MT with numerical numbers may be displayed below
the thumbnail images SG. In this case, the numerical characters may
directly indicate the number of pieces of the culled music content
MCZ. As shown in FIG. 23B, the cull mark MT with several vertical
lines and the numerical characters may be displayed.
[0212] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the sizes of
the thumbnail images SG on the content display section 8 are the
same. However the present invention is not limited to this. As
shown in FIG. 24A corresponding to FIG. 21B, the horizontal and
vertical size of thumbnail images SG may be changed: the thumbnail
images SGP with reduced length and the thumbnail images SGR with
reduced width may be displayed.
[0213] In this case, the center of each thumbnail image SG
displayed on the content display section 8 may be fixed as shown in
FIG. 24A. Alternatively, the distances between the thumbnail images
SG may be always constant.
[0214] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiment, the focus frame
FC is fixedly displayed on the substantially center of the content
display section 8. However the present invention is not limited to
this. For example, the focus frame FC1 may be displayed on the
rightmost or leftmost thumbnail images SG on the content display
section 8. Instead of the focus frame fixedly displayed, the focus
frame FC1 may be move from side to side in accordance with the
selection operation of the selection dial 11.
[0215] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the pieces of
the extracted music content MCA are extracted, in accordance with
the formula (2), by comparing the priority evaluation value PV
whose data configuration is like one shown in FIG. 14 with the
extracted threshold value THA. However the present invention is not
limited to this. The pieces of the extracted music content MCA may
be extracted using evaluation values calculated by other
methods.
[0216] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the cull mark
MT is displayed on the content display section 8 based on the
pieces of the culled music content MCZ. However the present
invention is not limited to this. The cull mark MT may be not
displayed.
[0217] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the display
level LV is switched between the five levels: the all display level
LV1, the weekly display level LV2, the monthly display level LV3,
the annual display level LV4 and the highest evaluation display
level LV5. However the present invention is not limited to this.
The display level may include four or less, or six or more
levels.
[0218] In this case, besides the all display level LV1, the weekly
display level LV2, the monthly display level LV3, the annual
display level LV4 and the highest evaluation display level LV5,
there may be a display level LV that extracts the number one and
second place pieces of music content MC on each annual ranking to
display their thumbnail images SG. In addition, there may be a
display level LV that extracts the piece of music content MC whose
total sales during each period of ten years is top to display their
thumbnail images SG. In this manner, there may be various kinds of
display level LV.
[0219] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the pieces of
the extracted music content MCA are extracted from the all content
row LC0 using the extraction conditions such as thresholds TH1 to
TH5. However the present invention is not limited to this. For
example, the pieces of the culled music content MCZ may be culled
(removed) from the all content row LC0 using the thresholds TH1 to
TH5 as cull condition.
[0220] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the cull mark
MT varies according to the number of pieces of the culled music
content MCZ. However the present invention is not limited to this.
The cull mark MT may be always the same regardless of the number of
pieces of the culled music content MCZ.
[0221] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, all the pieces
of music content MC are arranged in order of release data like the
all content row LC0 (FIG. 15). However the present invention is not
limited to this. The pieces of music content MC may be displayed in
various orders, such as Japanese syllabary order, alphabetical
order, Greek alphabetical order, order of total sales, order of
tempo, and the like.
[0222] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, five thumbnail
images SG are displayed on the content display section 8. However
the present invention is not limited to this. The content display
section 8 may display four or less, or six or more thumbnail images
SG in accordance with the size and shape of the content display
section 8. In this case, the size of thumbnail image SG may be the
same even if the display level LV is switched after the zoom change
operation.
[0223] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, five thumbnail
images SG are displayed on the content display section 8 side by
side in horizontal direction, and the time axis bar display
sections TB1 and TB2 are displayed side by side in horizontal
direction. However the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, as shown in FIG. 25, the content display section 8,
the time axis bar display sections TB1 and TB2 and the like may be
placed side by side in vertical direction. In accordance with that,
the thumbnail images SB may be also displayed in vertical
direction, and the cull mark MT may be displayed between the
thumbnail images SG.
[0224] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiment, the time axis
bar display sections TB1 and TB2 (FIG. 5 and the like) are placed
linearly on the front panel 7. However the present invention is not
limited to this. The curved time axis bar display sections TB3 and
TB4 may be displayed around the selection dial 11 and the zoom dial
12 disposed at the bottom center of the front panel 7 as shown in
FIG. 26. In this case, the movements of the selection dial 11 and
zoom dial 12 become correlated with that of the focus frame FC2.
This improves the usability of the audio device.
[0225] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio
device 1 that stores and plays back the pieces of music content MC
is applied. However the present invention is not limited to this. A
content playback device that stores and plays back various content
data, such as video data, still image data and text data, may be
applied.
[0226] Alternatively, a navigation device that indicates a route
from a start point to destination on a map may be applied. If the
device displays icons such as petrol stations and restaurants on a
route from the start point to the destination, it may cull the
icons in accordance with the zoom change operation. In this case,
their priority evaluation values PV may increase if they are close
to the route. Alternatively, their priority evaluation values PV
may increase if the user often utilizes them.
[0227] Furthermore, an information processing device (such as a
personal computer) capable of managing data in flies and managing
the files by hierarchical folders may be applied. In this case, the
device may switch the layer of folder from one to another in
accordance with the zoom change operation, and extracts a
representative file from each folder on the switched layer to
display them side by side on a screen. In this case, their priority
evaluation values PV may increase if their update dates are
relatively new. Alternatively, their priority evaluation values PV
may increase if the user often utilizes them. In this manner, the
files may be extracted and displayed using the priority evaluation
values PV.
[0228] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the user
rotates the rotatable selection dial 11 (FIG. 11) and the rotatable
zoom dial 12 to perform the selection operation and the zoom change
operation. However the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, the user pushes a selection button and a zoom button,
which are the same type of push button as the operation buttons 9,
to perform the selection operation and the zoom change
operation.
[0229] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio
device 1 with hardware configuration is applied. However the
present invention is not limited to this. For example, an
electronic device, such as personal computers and mobile phones
capable of playing back music and displaying information, may be
applied. In this case, the electronic device may execute an audio
player program, a thumbnail image display program and the like to
display a content display section whose capability is almost the
same as the content display section 8. In addition, the content
display section may display thumbnail images SG after culling some
of them. In this case, the user may operate keys and a mouse to
perform the selection operation and the zoom change operation.
[0230] In addition, a storage medium for storing the audio player
program, the thumbnail image display program and other programs
includes the ROM 20B of the control section 20, the hard disk drive
22 and an external storage medium such as the optical disc 4 and
the small memory card 6. The programs stored in the external
storage medium may be installed on the hard disk drive 22.
Alternatively, the audio player program, the thumbnail image
display program and other programs may be acquired through a
communication cable such as Universal Serial Bus (USB) cables and
"Ethernet (Registered Trademark)" cables, or a wireless Local Area
Network (LAN) such as IEEE 802.11 a/b/g (IEEE: Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
[0231] Furthermore, in the above-noted embodiments, the audio
device 1, which is equivalent to the data display apparatus,
includes: the display condition setting section 20D, which is
equivalent to extraction condition setting means; and the
arrangement section 20E, which is equivalent to extraction data
display means. However the present invention is not limited to
this. The data display apparatus may be equipped with other circuit
components which are equivalent to the extraction condition setting
means and the extraction data display means.
[0232] The data display apparatus, data display method, data
display program and graphical user interface according to an
embodiment of the present information may be also applied to
various content playback devices capable of playing back various
kinds of content.
[0233] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that
various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and
alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other
factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims
or the equivalents thereof.
* * * * *