Seamless screen display during expansion or reduction of a flexible display of an electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12322320-B2
Application number	US-202318122372-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 16, 2023
Priority date	Nov 16, 2020
Publication date	Jun 3, 2025
Grant date	Jun 3, 2025

Abstract

An electronic device according to various embodiments comprises: a flexible display including a main display region and at least one extendable display region that can be extended from the main display region; and a processor operatively connected to the display, wherein the processor is configured to: control the display to display first content on the main display having a first size while the electronic device is in a slide-in state, slide the display out to extend same to a second size based on touch input information about the display region being received, control the display to display second content on the extendable display region or the entire display region while the state of the electronic state is being switched into a slide-out state, and complete displaying of the second content and display the first content on at least a part of the display based on switching of the state of the electronic state to the slide-out state being completed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a flexible display comprising a display area including a main display area and at least one expandable display area expandable from the main display area; and
at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, operatively connected to the display,
wherein the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to:
control the display to display a first content in the main display area having a first size while the electronic device is in a slide-in state;
based on first touch input information of the display area being received, obtain a snapshot by capturing the first content displayed in the main display and slide the display out to expand the flexible display to a second size;
display a second content in an entire display area including the main display area and viewable area of the expandable display area while the state of the electronic device is being switched into a slide-out state, the second content including the snapshot expanded to a size corresponding to the entire display area; and
based on the switching of the state of the electronic device into the slide-out state being completed, terminate the displaying of the second content and display the first content on at least a part of the flexible display.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on second touch input information of the display area being received, slide the display out to expand the flexible display to the second size, and display a background screen in the entire display area including the main display area and viewable area of the expandable display area while the state of the electronic device is being switched into a slide-out state; and
while displaying the first content in the main display area, adjust and display a size of the background screen in real time to correspond to a size of the expandable display area in the expandable display area.

3. The electronic device of claim 2 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on expansion of the display being completed, detect the completion through a display size detector; and
configure an environment of a split screen such that the split screen is split into the main display area and the expandable display area, and provide guide information on the split screen.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
control the display to display the first content in the main display area; and
control the display to display a third content in the expandable display area, and
wherein the third content comprises an application icon screen or an execution screen of an application selected on the application icon screen.

5. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to terminate the split screen and update the first content to a final resolution to correspond to the entire display area having the second size.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 ,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust and control the display to display the snapshot in real time to correspond to sizes of the main display area and the expandable display area while the state of the electronic device is being switched into the slide-out state.

7. The electronic device of claim 6 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on expansion of the flexible display being completed, detect the completion through a display size detector;
delete the snapshot displayed on the flexible display; and
update a screen regarding the first content to a final resolution to correspond to the display area having the second size and display the updated screen.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first content comprises an application which does not allow dynamic resolution change.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on a touch input being detected, display the snapshot obtained by instantaneously capturing the first content in the main display area, and expand the snapshot up to a size of 1 cm or less and then reduce the snapshot back to the main display area; and
adjust and display the size of a background screen in real time to correspond to the size of the expandable display area in the expandable display area of the flexible display.

10. The electronic device of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
based on the state of the electronic device being switched into the slide-out state,
configure an environment of a split screen such that the split screen is split into the main display area and the expandable display area, and provide guide information on the split screen;
control the display to display the first content in the main display area; and
display a third content in the expandable display area, and
wherein the third content comprises an application icon screen or an execution screen of an application selected on the application icon screen.

11. The electronic device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to terminate the split screen and update the first content to a final resolution to correspond to the entire display area having the second size.

12. An electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a flexible display comprising a display area including a bendable section, at least a part of which is configured to be inserted into or withdrawn from an inner space of the housing; and
at least one processor comprising processing circuitry operatively connected to the display, and
wherein the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, is configured to:
control the display to display a first content on the flexible display having a first size;
based on touch input information of the display area being received, slide the flexible display in to reduce the flexible display to a second size less than the first size;
control the display to display a second content in the display area while the electronic device is in a slide-in state, wherein the second content comprises a background screen;
control the display to display a snapshot obtained by instantaneously capturing the first content in real time in an upper end area of the flexible display to correspond to a size of the upper end area; and
adjust and display a size of the background screen in real time in a remaining lower end area of the display to correspond to a size of the remaining lower end area,
wherein the upper end area is determined based on a horizontal length of the display and a vertical length corresponding to the horizontal length of the display while the electronic device is in the slide-in state,
wherein a ratio of the horizontal length and the vertical length is maintained to be constant, and
wherein the lower end area of the display corresponds to a remaining area other than the upper end area of the display.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:
based on a slide-in operation of the electronic device being completed, detect the completion through a display size detector; and
configure an environment of a split screen such that the split screen is split into the upper end area and the remaining lower end area, and provide guide information on the split screen.

14. The electronic device of claim 12 ,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to adjust and display the snapshot in an area of the display to correspond to a size of the display while the electronic device is in the slide-in state.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Seungjin
• Kim Mooyoung
• Park Joonyung
• Yeom Donghyun
• Lee Gwanghui
• Lee Minwoo
• Jung Woojun

Classifications

• G09G2356/00

  Detection of the display position w.r.t. other display screens · CPC title

• G09G2354/00

  Aspects of interface with display user · CPC title

• G09G2340/0407

  Resolution change, inclusive of the use of different resolutions for different screen areas · CPC title

• G09G2320/08

  Arrangements within a display terminal for setting, manually or automatically, display parameters of the display terminal · CPC title

• G09G2320/0686

  with two or more screen areas displaying information with different brightness or colours · CPC title