Description A DISPLAY DEVICE

[1] The present invention relates to a display device wherein menus are presented to the user independent from the image.

[2] Menus are generally used in display devices such as televisions, video recording devices, DVD players and satellite receivers. Menus are used for communicating information like volume level, channel information, color settings and time to the user and for making various adjustments. Menus have different views for each information or adjustment to be communicated to the user.

[3] In display devices, menu and video information are located at separate layers. The menu layer and the video layer are later combined with a technique named alpha blending and the menu is shown on the video image on the screen.

[4] In the Japanese patent document No. JP2003162275, an application within the state of the art, alpha blending technique is used for transferring the menu to the screen. In the said document, video signals and alpha values are determined and the said video and menu signals are combined and the combined signals are displayed on the screen.

[5] However since with the said alpha blending technique the menu is transferred onto the video image, the menu causes the video image to be closed. There are several implementations in the state of the art realized to address the problem of video images getting blocked by the menu.

[6] In the Japanese patent document No. JP2003131656, an application within the state of the art, it is enabled to locate the marks coming from the video's own contents to avoid overlapping of the menus with marks like writings contained by MPEG video format. After locating the marks within the content of the video, menus are ensured to be displayed on the screen without overlapping with these marks.

[7] In the Japanese patent document No. JP200412073, an application within the state of the art, the same technical problem is solved by transferring the video image to an external screen which is bigger than the video's normal standard. When video is being displayed at a part of the external screen, menu information is shown in the areas on the screen where the video is not displayed.

[8] The objective of the present invention is to realize a display device where the menu information does not overlap with the video images displayed on the screen.

[9] In the display device realized to fulfill the objective of the present invention and defined in Claim 1 and in its dependent claims, while images like broadcast flow, video are being transferred to the screen, the menus to be displayed under the control of the user are transferred to a projection surface other than the screen. Menus are transferred to the projection surface by focusing light on at least one diffraction

element. The number of diffraction elements to be used is decided according to the number of different menu views required to be transferred to the projection surface. The projection surface is produced of a transparent material in order for the transferred information to be able to be read. The controller decides on which menu view will be transferred to the said projection surface.

[10] In another embodiment of the invention, diffraction elements are positioned on a carrier. It is shed light onto the carrier with a light source. Upon movement of the carrier, the beams emitted from the light source are transmitted in sequence to the diffraction element decided by the controller. The diffraction element disperses the light and transmits it to the projection surface.

[11] In a further embodiment of the invention, in addition to the number of diffraction elements, the number of light sources is also selected in proportion to the number of different menu views. Each diffraction element is driven by a light source. The controller is connected to the light sources. The controller drives the light source which is connected to the diffraction element that it wants to operate.

[12] In another embodiment of the invention, the projection surface is a suitable division on the frame or cabin of the screen of the display device. Cabin of the display device is partially or fully produced from a transparent material.

[13] In a further embodiment of the invention, sizes of the menus displayed on the projection surface can be adjusted by a controller. Thus users with sight difficulties can enlarge the menus as much as they want and later can return them to their original sizes.

[14] The display device realized to fulfill the objective of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which;

[15] Figure 1 is the schematic view of the inventive display device.

[16] Figure 2 is the schematic view of an embodiment of the inventive display device.

[17] Figure 3 is the schematic view of another embodiment of the inventive display device.

[18] Figure 4 is the schematic view of a further embodiment of the inventive display device.

[19] The components shown in the figures are numbered as follows:

[20] 1. Display device

[21] 2. Light source

[22] 3. Diffraction element

[23] 4. Controller

[24] 5. Projection surface

[25] 6. Screen

[26] 7. Carrier

[27] 8. Cabin

[28] The inventive display device (1) comprises at least one light source (2); at least one diffraction element (3) that disperses the light coming from the light source (2); a controller (4) which regulates operation of the light source (2) and the diffraction element (3) together with the menus (A) that are displayed when the user is controlling the display device (1); a transparent projection surface (5) where the menus (A) are displayed; a screen (6) where images like the broadcast flow or video are displayed; and a cabin (8) where the screen (6) is positioned.

[29] A part of the outer surface of the cabin (8) is used as a projection surface (5). The part of the outer surface of the cabin (8) which is used as a projection surface (5) and on which the menu is displayed is transparent.

[30] The light source (2) is a lighting element like a laser or a LED (Light Emitting

Diode) which will focus light on the diffraction element (3).

[31] The diffraction element (3) is a transmitter like a lens, prism or a DOE (Diffractive

Optical Element) which disperses the light coming thereon by diffracting.

[32] The projection surface (5) is made of glass or a transparent material in order to allow displaying menu data such as pictures, charts, and writings.

[33] The projection surface (5) and the screen (6) are separate pieces.

[34] In the display device (1), a plurality of menus is used depending on the information desired to be transmitted to the user or on the adjustment that the user will make.

[35] In the inventive display device (1), images coming from the video or from the broadcast that the user will watch are transferred to the screen (6). The menus (A) displayed by the controller (4) upon demand of the user are transferred to a transparent projection surface (5) which is positioned outside of the screen (6) and which can be seen by the user.

[36] The diffraction element (3) transfers the menus (A) to the projection surface (5). In order for the diffraction element (3) to transfer the menus (A) to the projection surface (5), light should be delivered from the light source (2) to the diffraction element (3). The algorithm at the controller (4) decides which menu (A) view will be displayed at the projection surface (5). The number of diffraction elements (3) to be used in the display device (1) is decided according to the number of different menu (A) views to be transferred to the projection surface (5). Each diffraction element (3) forms at least one view on the projection surface (5).

[37] In one embodiment of the invention, the display device (1) comprises at least one carrier (7) on which diffraction elements (3) are arranged and which, by moving, enables the diffraction elements (3) to change position according to the light source (2). In this embodiment the light source (2) is fixed. The carrier (7) is rotated around its own axis (B) or another axis. Diffraction elements (3) are positioned on the carrier (7)

in an appropriate order. The light source (2) delivers light onto the diffraction elements (3) on the carrier (7). During projection of the menus onto the projection surface (5), the controller (4) decides to which diffraction element (3) light will be delivered according to the view of the menu (A) and enables the carrier (7) to move so as to ensure that the light emitted from the light source (2) reaches the related diffraction element (3). Thus each view in the menu (A) is regularly displayed on the projection surface (5).

[38] In another embodiment of the invention, the display device (1) comprises as many diffraction elements (3) and light sources (2) as the number of different menu (A) views. Light sources (2) and diffraction elements (3) are fixedly positioned. Each light source (2) is connected to a diffraction element (3) and all light sources (2) are connected to a controller (4). The controller (4) drives the related light source (2) according to the number of different menu (A) views to be displayed on the projection surface (5) and the driven light source (2) exposes the diffraction element (3), to which it is connected, to light. Thus, each different view in the menu (A) is displayed on the projection surface (5).

[39] In another embodiment of the invention, the part where the menu (A) is displayed is the frame region surrounding the screen (6). The frame is the part where the cabin (8) surrounds the screen (6). This embodiment allows the user to easily view the menu (A) on the frame region around the screen (6), while watching the video displayed on the screen (6). Thus, images on the screen (6) and the menus (A) do not overlap and also the user is enabled to read the menu (A) data on a wider medium without tiring her/his eyes.

[40] In a further embodiment of the invention, sizes of the menus (A) displayed on the projection surface (5) can be adjusted by means of the controller (4) in line with the user's request. The user can decide to enlarge or downsize the menus (A) while taking into consideration the watching distance.

[41] With the said invention, the problem of overlapping of the video images displayed on the screen (6) and the menus (A) is resolved. Projection of the menus (A) on a surface other than the screen (6) has enabled watching the images on the screen (6) while monitoring the menus (A) at the same time and has provided ease of use.