Electronic frame and image displaying method of electronic frame

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10445857-B2
Application number	US-201615746057-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 24, 2016
Priority date	Jul 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electronic frame and an image displaying method of an electronic frame. The electronic frame according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention detects, through an optical sensing unit, parts that are hidden by a frame, sets only a display area that is not hidden by the frame as a valid area, resizes an image so that the image matches the valid area of the display, and displays the image. Accordingly, even if the size of the frame is changed, a phenomenon in which a part of the image is not shown due to the frame could be prevented, as an image-resizing is adjustably performed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic frame comprising:
a display for displaying an image;
a frame supporting the display along edge areas of the display;
an optical sensor disposed at a position having an area where at least a part of the edge areas of the display overlap with the frame; and
a controller configured to:
determine a first area hidden by the frame in the display according to a sensing signal of the optical sensor;
resize the image from a first size to a second size such that the second size of the image is to match a size of a second area of the display aside from the first area; and
display, in the second area, the resized image having the second size that matches the size of the second area.

2. The electronic frame of claim 1 , wherein the optical sensor includes a transparent film sensor for detecting a current due to light transmission, and the transparent film sensor is attached to a vertex area in which a first edge and a second edge of the display intersect.

3. The electronic frame of claim 2 , wherein the vertex area to which the transparent film sensor is attached includes a crossing area in which a first frame supporting the first edge and a second frame supporting the second edge intersect, and a display area not hidden by the frame.

4. The electronic frame of claim 3 , wherein the controller is configured to:
recognize, as the first area, an area where a current of a predetermined value or more is not detected due to the light is not transmitted by the frame; and
recognize, as the second area, an area where a current of the predetermined value or more is detected due to the light transmission.

5. The electronic frame of claim 2 , wherein the vertex area to which the transparent film sensor is attached is a crossing area in which a first frame supporting the first edge and a second frame supporting the second edge intersect.

6. The electronic frame of claim 5 , wherein the display includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), and
wherein the transparent film sensor recognizes, as the first area, an area through which light of a backlight unit of the liquid crystal display is transmitted when the image is displayed on the display.

7. The electronic frame of claim 2 , wherein the transparent film sensor comprises:
a first transparent film sensor attached to a first vertex area in which the first edge and the second edge of the display intersect; and
a second transparent film sensor attached to a second vertex area in which a third edge and a fourth edge of the display intersect.

8. The electronic frame of claim 2 , wherein the transparent film sensor is a transparent photovoltaic film.

9. The electronic frame of claim 1 , further comprising a memory,
wherein the controller is configured to:
store, in a memory, a scale factor for resizing the image according to a size of the first area;
resize the image to be displayed on the display based on the scale factor; and
display the resized image on the second area.

10. The electronic frame of claim 9 , wherein the scale factor is changed according to the size of the frame.

11. The electronic frame of claim 9 , wherein the controller is configured to display a marker including information on the scale factor on the display with the image.

12. The electronic frame of claim 11 , further comprising a wireless communication unit,
wherein the controller is configured to:
transmit the information on the scale factor to an external terminal through the wireless communication unit upon request of the external terminal; and
receive the resized image based on the scale factor from the external terminal through the wireless communication unit.

13. The electronic frame of claim 1 , further comprising a wireless communication unit for receiving the image data, and
wherein the image is received from an external terminal through the wireless communication unit.

14. An image displaying method of an electronic frame comprising:
displaying an image on a display;
detecting a sensing signal of an optical sensor attached to an edge of the display;
determining a first area hidden by a frame in the display according to a sensing signal of the optical sensor;
resizing the image from a first size to a second size such that the second size is to match a size of a second area of the display aside from the first area; and
displaying, in the second area of the display, the resized image having the second size that matches the size of the second area.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the calculating the first area comprises setting a scale factor for resizing the image according to a size of the first area and storing the scale factor in a memory.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
when a second image is a next image after a first image is displayed on the display after the first image displayed on the display is resized based on the scale factor,
resizing the second image based on the scale factor; and
displaying the second image on the second area.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the optical sensor includes a transparent film sensor for detecting a current due to light transmission, and the transparent film sensor is attached to a vertex area in which a first edge and a second edge of the display intersect.

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Choi Jiho
• Jang Saehun
• Choe Dami
• Yeo Junhee
• Kim Boram

Classifications

• G02F1/13318

  Circuits comprising a photodetector · CPC title

• G06T3/40 Primary

  Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting · CPC title

• G02F1/13338

  Input devices, e.g. touch panels · CPC title

• G09G2340/0442

  Handling or displaying different aspect ratios, or changing the aspect ratio · CPC title

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title