This application claims the benefit of the
Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0037257, filed on April 25, 2006
, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal, and
corresponding method that allows a user to create images and associated sounds on
a display unit of the mobile terminal.
Discussion of the Related Art
Personal mobile terminals such as a folding type cellular
phone include a display on the outside of the terminal so a user can view status
information, the current time, etc. when the terminal is folded closed. However,
the information displayed is preset by the manufacturer of the terminal and can
not be changed or set by the user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to
address the above-noted and other problems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a
mobile terminal and corresponding method that allows a user to conveniently and
easily produce and change information displayed on a display of the terminal by
simply touching the display.
To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance
with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the
present invention provides in one aspect a method of providing data in a mobile
terminal. The method includes detecting whether or not at least one luminous element
among a plurality of luminous elements included in a display of the terminal has
been contacted, and controlling a luminescence of said at least one luminous element
if the detecting step determines the at least one luminous element has been contacted.
In another aspect, the present invention provides A mobile
terminal including a display unit including a plurality of luminous elements, a
detecting unit configured to detect whether or not at least one luminous element
among the plurality of luminous elements has been contacted, and a controlling unit
configured to control a luminescence of said at least one luminous element if the
detecting unit determines the at least one luminous element has been contacted.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention
will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it
should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while
indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by illustration only,
since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention
will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide
a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute
a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together
with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according
to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the mobile terminal shown
in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing
multimedia data in a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating images being
continuously played on a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating images being
played in a slide mode on a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a mobile terminal according
to another embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram of the mobile terminal shown
in FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing
multimedia data in a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments
of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
The following description refers to various types of mobile
terminals such as a mobile phone, a digital broadcast terminal, an MP3 player, a
PDA (personal digital assistant), a PMP (portable multimedia player), etc. In addition,
multimedia data associated with the present invention includes data containing music,
images, etc. Further, an image associated with the present invention includes a
single picture or animation.
Turning first to FIG. 1, which is block diagram of a mobile
terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the
mobile terminal 100 includes an input unit 110, a control unit 120, a display unit
130, a detecting unit 140, a storage unit 150, a wireless communication unit 160,
and an audio output unit 170.
The input unit 110 includes a plurality of function keys
111-117. A detailed description of the function keys 111-117 will be provided throughout
this description. As shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 130 includes a plurality
of luminous elements 131. In addition, each luminous element 131 converts electricity
into light. For example, the luminous elements 131 may be a light emitting diode
(LED), a semiconductor laser, an organic electroluminescent device (OELD), an inorganic
electroluminescent device, etc.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the plurality of the luminous
elements 131 can be arranged on the display unit 130 in a matrix form. In addition,
the detecting unit 140 detects when a user contacts the display unit 130. For example,
the user may contact the display unit 130 using a stylus 10 (see FIG. 2) or by using
his or her finger. Thus, the detecting unit 140 can be configured as a touch panel,
a touch sensor, etc.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the detecting unit 140
is provided to a plane on which the luminous elements 131 are arranged. Further,
the detecting unit 140 determines a coordinate value of the position of the display
unit 140 touched. In one example, the display unit includes 16x24 luminous dots
131 to form the display unit 140. Thus, the detecting unit 140 determines which
column and row was touched for each luminous element 131.
Further, the terminal 100 may be placed into a hold-released
mode or a hold-set mode. The hold-release mode is a mode in which the detecting
unit 140 can detect when the luminous elements 131 are contacted via the stylus
10. The hold-set mode is a mode in which the detecting unit 140 can not detect when
the luminous elements 131 are touched. The user can toggle between these two modes
by selecting the fifth function key 115.
Therefore, when one of the luminous elements 131 is touched,
the detecting unit 140 transmits a corresponding signal to the control unit 120.
That is, the corresponding signal includes information about which luminous element
131 was touched (e.g., a column and row number), how many times a luminous element
131 was touched (e.g., once, twice, three times, etc.) or any other information
needed by the control unit 120.
Therefore, the control unit 120 is able to control a luminescence
value of the touched luminous element(s) 131. For example, the control unit 120
may turn on or turn off a corresponding luminous element 131, change a brightness
value, change a color, etc. Further, the luminescence control can be performed based
on a number of times a luminous element 131 is touched. For example, if a luminous
element 131 is touched an odd number of times, the luminous element 131 is turned
on. On the contrary, if a luminescence element 131 is touched an even number of
times, the luminous element 131 is turned off.
In addition, the first function key 111 can be used to
turn off all currently turned-on luminous elements 131. Thus, the function key 111
can be used to delete a currently displayed luminous image. In other words, if the
first function key 111 is pressed by a user, all turned-on luminous elements are
turned off.
The control unit 120 can also control a color variation
for turned-on luminous elements. In more detail, the second function key 112 can
be manipulated by the user to change or set the color variation of the luminous
elements 131. For instance, assuming that a luminous element has variable colors
of white, yellow, red, blue, and green, the colors can then be varied in a sequence
of white→yellow→red→blue→green if an upward key 112a
(see FIG. 2) of the second function key 112 is pressed.
Further, at least one luminous element at one side among
the plurality of the luminous elements 131 is configured to emit light that corresponds
to the current color mode. For instance, and as shown in FIG. 2, if a current color
mode is a yellow mode, the luminous elements "m" at one side emits yellow light.
Further, when the user changes the current yellow color mode to the red mode, the
luminous elements "m" emit a red color. Therefore, the user can easily see what
the current color mode is. Note that FIG. 2 illustrates four luminous elements "m"
for emitting the current color mode. However, any number may be used.
In addition, rather than using the function keys 112a and
112b to vary the color, the color variation can be performed based on a number of
times the user contacts the display unit 130. For instance, assume a luminous element
has variable colors of white, yellow, red, blue, and green. Then, the color is varied
in accordance with the number of times the user contacts a portion of the display
unit 130. For example, the color of the luminous element corresponding to the contacted
position can be changed in a sequence of off→white→yellow→red→green→blue
according the number of times the user sequentially touches a predetermined contact
position.
Thus, in this example, the luminous elements can be turned
on and off and the color of the elements can be changed based on a number of times
the user contacts the display. Therefore, the second function key 112 can be omitted
in this example (or used for another function). In addition, each luminous element
131 can be touched to vary a color of that particular luminous element 131 (rather
than changing all currently emitting luminous elements).
Turning next to Figure 3, which is a flowchart illustrating
a method of providing an image or multimedia data in a mobile terminal according
to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGs. 1 and 2 will also be referred to
in this description. As shown, the detecting unit 140 determines if the user contacts
the display unit 130 (step S10). The user can contact the display unit 140 using
a stylus or his or her finger, for example. For example, the user can touch a particular
luminous element a certain number of times.
The control unit 120 then controls (e.g., turns on and
off, varies the color, etc.) the touched luminous element based on the number of
times the user contacted the luminous element (step S20). In addition, the control
unit 120 can also be configured to control a sound for the touched luminous element.
In more detail, the set sound may be a tone or an instrumental sound for the luminous
element. For instance, if luminous elements are arranged in a matrix form, an intrinsic
tone can be set for each luminous element such as 'do', 're', and 'mi' to the '1st
column & 1st row', '2nd column & 1st row', and
'3rd column & 1st row', respectively. Alternatively, an instrumental
sound such as a piano sound, a guitar sound, and a drum sound can be assigned to
the '1st
column & 2nd row', 2nd column & 2nd row', and
'3rd column & 2nd row' luminous elements, respectively.
Therefore, as a user contacts different positions on the
display unit 130 using the pointing device 10, different musical sounds can be played.
In addition, the played music is output via the audio output unit 170. Further,
the played music can be recorded using a separate function key (not shown) provided
to the input unit 110 or another function key.
Alternatively, the music may be stored by contacting the
corresponding luminous element. For example, if a luminous element arranged on 16th
column and 24th row is contacted an odd number of times, the recording
mode is turned on. On the contrary, if a luminous element arranged on 16th
column and 24th row is contacted an even number of times, the recording
mode is turned off.
Further, the mobile terminal 100 can be set to generate
sounds or music when the display unit 120 is touched only if the hold-set mode is
released. In this instance, the hold-set or hold-release command signal for sound
generation can be generated using the seventh function key 117 of the input unit
110.
Thus, the user can create an image on the display unit
113 by touching certain luminous elements. The user can also set a particular color
or sound for each luminous element (as discussed above).
In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the method determines
if the user wants to store the created image or sounds (step S30) If the user wants
to store the created image or sound pattern (yes in step S30), the control unit
120 stores the appropriate information for the corresponding luminous elements in
the storage unit 150 (step S40). That is, the appropriate information is the information
used for recreating the create image or sound pattern. For example, the information
may include a color, sound, display time period, etc. for each luminous element.
Further, to store the information, the user may press the
third function key 113 to instruct the control unit 120 to perform the storing operation.
An example will now be given regarding the storing operation. First, assume there
are a total of 384 luminous elements arranged in a 24*16 matrix form. Then, the
positional information (e.g., coordinate value or matrix index), color information
(e.g., red, blue, etc.), sound information, display time period for each currently
turned-on luminous element, etc. is stored in the storage unit 150. Optionally,
image information for a plurality of different displayed images can be stored. Of
course, the image information may include luminescence information for each image.
In addition, the musical notes assigned to each element may be stored as a musical
arrangement. The musical arrangement can also be stored together with the image,
such that music is played together with the displayed image.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the method determines whether
or not the user wants to display a stored image or play a stored musical arrangement
(step S50). If the user wants to display or play the stored image or music (yes
in step S50), the control unit 120 executes the requested function (step S60). In
more detail, the stored image can be displayed based on the stored luminescence
information for each luminous element of the display unit 130. Similarly, the stored
musical arrangement can be played via the audio output unit 170.
In addition, as shown in steps S70 and S80 in FIG. 3, the
stored images or multimedia data can be transmitted to another party. That is, the
multimedia data or image information can be transmitted to the other party via the
wireless communication unit 160 based on the particular transmission control signal
used by the control unit 120. The sixth function key 116 may be used to perform
the transmission process.
That is, the wireless communication unit 160 is a communication
device transmitting image information or multimedia data to the other party via
a wireless communication network according to a transmission command signal generated
from the sixth function key 116 being manipulated. Further, to transmit the image
information and multimedia data, a phone number of the other party is first input
and the desired image information or multimedia data is selected. Therefore, the
sixth function key 116 preferably includes a numeral keypad, a send button, and
an end button.
In addition, when the user has stored a plurality of images,
the stored plurality of images can be displayed in time series. For example, FIG.
4 is a conceptional diagram illustrating images being continuously played (e.g.,
in a time series) using a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present
invention. In more detail, image information for a first image-1 and image information
for a second image-2 in FIG. 4 are stored. Then, the user can sequentially display
the stored first and second images to present a character that winks.
The stored images may also be displayed in a slide mode.
For example, FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating characters of the word
"HELLO" being displayed in a slide mode. In addition, the fourth function key 114
of the input unit 110 can be used to play images. For example, images can be played
by pressing the fourth function key 114 for a short amount of time. Continuous play
of the images can be performed by pressing the fourth function key 114 for a long
period of time.
In addition, when playable music or a bell sound is stored,
the music and bell sounds can be played in a continuous manner or slide manner.
Further, the images and music or bell sounds can be played together. That is, the
images are displayed on the display unit 130 and the music or bell sounds are output
via the audio output unit 170.
Further, although not shown in the drawings, the mobile
terminal 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may provided with
a key to execute a separate toolbox to enable luminous elements arranged in a box
shape (or other shape) to emit light by a single input of the key. For instance,
if a user selects a rectangle shape from a plurality of different shapes in a toolbox
and then touches the pointing device 10 against a specific position of the display
unit 130, the luminous elements in a rectangular pattern in a preset progress direction
are sequentially or simultaneously illuminated.
Turning now to FIG. 6, which is a block diagram of a mobile
terminal 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown,
the mobile terminal 200 includes an input unit 210, a control unit 220, a display
unit 230, a detecting unit 240, a storage unit 250, a wireless communication unit
260, and an audio output unit 270.
Some of these elements are similar to the elements shown
in 1. For example, the display unit 230 includes a plurality of luminous elements
such as a light emitting diode (LED), a semiconductor laser, an organic electroluminescent
device, an inorganic electroluminescent device, etc. As shown in the example of
FIG. 7, the luminous elements are arranged on the display unit 230 in a matrix form.
Further, the detecting unit 240 detects when a pointing
device 10 contacts the display unit. That is, the detecting unit 240 can be a touch
panel, touch sensor, etc. that is provided to a plane of the display unit 230. Therefore,
the detecting unit 240 detects whether the pointing device has contacted the display
unit 230 and what portion of the display unit is touched.
Further, similar to the embodiment discussed above, the
mobile terminal 200 may be placed in a hold-release mode or a hold-set mode. The
hold-release mode allows the detection unit 240 to detect input, and the hold-set
mode prevents the detecting unit from detecting any input. The first function key
211 included in the input unit 210 may be used to toggle between these two modes.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, in the present embodiment,
the display unit 230 is divided into a display area 231, a luminescence-off area
232, and a color variation area 233. The display area 231 includes a plurality of
the luminous elements that emit light when contacted. Further, if the luminescence-off
area 232 is contacted with the pointing device 10, the control unit 220 recognizes
the contact as an image deleting command and then turns off all of the luminous
elements in the display area 231.
In addition, if the position contacted with the pointing
device 10 corresponds to the color variation area 233, the control unit 220 determines
which portion of the color variation area 233 is contacted. That is, the control
unit 220 determines which area m1, m2, m3, m4, or m5 in the color variation area
233 is contacted. A current color mode is then changed into a color mode matching
the corresponding area.
For instance, assuming that color modes corresponding to
the areas m1, m2, m3, m4, and m5 are white, yellow, red, green, and blue, respectively,
if the position contacted with the pointing device 10 corresponds to the area m3,
a currently luminous color can be changed into a red mode. In addition, the color
variation includes not only a variation of one color of one luminous element turned
on the display area 231 but also includes variations of all colors for all luminous
elements turned on in the display area 231.
Thus, the detecting unit 240 transfers information for
the presence or non-presence of the contact and information for the contacted position
to the control unit 220. Then, the control unit 220 is able to control the luminescence
of the luminous elements corresponding to the contacted position. Further, the luminescence
elements can be turned off by contacting the luminous-off area 232 with the pointing
device 10.
In addition, the control unit 220 can control the luminescence
characteristics of each luminous element based a number of times the particular
luminous element is contacted. For instance, if the luminous element is contacted
an odd number of times, the luminous element is turned on, and if the luminous element
is contacted an even number of times, the luminous element is turned off.
A similar situation applies to a sound set for the luminous
element. As discussed above, the set sound may be a tone or an instrumental sound.
For instance, if luminous elements are arranged in a matrix form, an intrinsic tone
can be set for each luminous element such as 'do', 're', and 'mi' to the '1st
column & 1st row', '2nd column & 1st row', and
'3rd column & 1st row', respectively. Alternatively, an instrumental
sound can be assigned to each luminous element such as a piano sound, a guitar sound,
and a drum sound to the '1st column & 2nd row', 2nd
column & 2nd row', and 3rd column & 2nd row', respectively.
Therefore, when the user contacts different positions of
the display unit 130 using the pointing device 10, music can be played in various
ways according to various instrumental sounds. That is, the played music is output
via the audio output unit 270. The played music can also be recorded as well using
a separate function key (not shown in the drawing) provided to the input unit 210
or another standard function key. The recording function can also be performed by
contacting a corresponding luminous element provided to the display unit 230. For
instance, if the luminous element arranged on 16th column and 24th
row is contacted an odd number of times, the recording mode can be turned on, and
if the luminous element arranged on 16th column and 24th row
is contacted an even number of times, the recording mode is turned off.
Further, the process of generating sounds when a luminous
element is contacted can be set to operate only when the mobile terminal 200 is
set in the hold-release mode. That is, the first function key 211 may be used to
toggle between the different hold-set and hold release modes. The fifth function
key 215 may also be used to set the record mode on and off.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, the luminous elements turned
on by the above method can be used to display an image in the display area 233.
That is, the luminescence information for each luminous element is used by the control
unit 220 to display an image on the display area 233 of the display unit 230. The
user can also store images or sounds via the storage unit 250 under the control
of the control unit 220.
That is, the use can select the second function key 212
to store a created image or sound. For instance, if as shown in FIG. 7, when there
are a total of 384 luminous elements arranged in 24*16 matrix form, position information
(coordinate value or matrix index) and color information (e.g., red, blue, etc.)
for the currently turned-on luminous elements can be stored. As discussed above,
image information for a plurality of displayed images can also be stored. In this
instance, the image information includes luminescence information for each of the
images.
Turning now to FIG. 8, which is a flowchart illustrating
a method for providing images and multimedia information on the mobile terminal
200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIGs. 6 and 7 will also
be referred to in this description.
First, the detecting unit 240 detects when the display
unit 230 is contacted (step S110) and what position of the display unit 230 is contacted
(step S120). For example, the control unit 220 determines if any luminous elements
in the display area 231 are contacted (step S130). If no luminous elements are contacted
in the display area (no in step S130), the control unit 220 determines whether a
luminous element in the luminous-off area 232 is contacted (step S190). If no luminous
elements are contacted in the luminescence-off area 232 (no in step S190), the control
unit 220 determines in which area of the m1, m2, m3, m4 or m5 areas in the color
variation area 233 are contacted (step S210).
In addition, if a luminous element(s) is contacted in the
display area 231, the control unit 220 appropriately controls the luminous element(s)
to emit light having a certain color and/or to play a particular sound (step S140)(as
discussed above). Further, the method also determines if the user has requested
the luminous information be stored (step S150). That is, the control unit 220 determines
if the user has selected the second function key 212. If the user has requested
the luminous information be stored (yes in step S150), the control unit 120 stores
the luminous information in the storage unit 250 (S160).
In addition, if the detecting unit 240 determines the luminous-off
area 232 has been contacted (yes in step S190), the control unit 220 appropriately
controls the luminescence-off area (step S200). That is, the control unit 220 turns
on or off the luminous elements in the display area 231. The control unit also similarly
varies the colors of the luminous elements in the display area 231 when the different
areas m1 to m5 are selected in the color variation area 233 (step S210).
In addition, similar to the embodiment discussed in FIG.
3, the method also determines if the user wants to play back the stored image(s)
or sound(s) (step S170). That is, the control unit 220 determines whether or not
the user has selected the third function key 213 requesting the luminous information
be played. Further, the third function key 213 can be used to display the images/sounds
by pressing the third function 213 key for a short period of time. The images/sounds
may also be continuously played by holding down the third function key. In addition,
as mentioned above, the stored images may be played together with music or bell
sounds.
If the user has requested the information be played back
(yes in step S170), the control unit 220 displays the selected luminous elements
in the display area 231 and outputs any stored sounds associated with the displayed
image via the audio output unit 270 (step S180).
Similar to the first embodiment in FIG. 3, the user can
also transmit the stored luminous information (image, music, etc.) to another user
(steps S220 and S230). That is, the user can select the fourth function key 214
to transmit the stored information (image, sounds, etc.) to another party via the
wireless communication unit 260 according to a transmission control signal of the
control unit 220. Further, the fourth function key 214 includes a numeral keypad,
a send button, and an end button and operates in a similar manner as sixth function
key 116 in FIG. 1.
Further, the played music (bell sound included) can be
stored as multimedia data together with the image information. In addition, a plurality
of stored images can be played in time series as shown in FIG. 4 or in a slide mode
as shown in FIG. 5 (similar to the first embodiment).
Accordingly, the present invention provides the following
effects or advantages.
First of all, a user is able to directly produce an image
to be displayed on an exterior of a terminal. Hence, the user can easily draw images
on the terminal. Secondly, the user can easily input commands on the terminal via
a single push or touch of a luminous element. For example, the user can delete,
change a color mode, store information, playback stored information, perform a continuous
play operation, set a hold mode, etc. via the terminal according to an embodiment
of the present invention.
Thirdly, numerous luminous elements can be selected and
used to represent an image with varying colors, to thereby create an attractive
exterior portion of the terminal. Fourthly, a plurality of similar images may be
produced and stored to automatically be played as a moving image.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing
from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, it is intended that the present
invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they
come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.