Mobile terminal

Abstract

To display a horizontally oblong movie on a vertically oblong display portion, the movie may be displayed with being rotated 90 degrees by a CPU while the display portion is held in an orientation where the display portion is wider than tall. Since this arrangement puts a heavy load on the CPU, the mobile terminal according to the invention is adapted to implement the movie rotation by processings in the display portion. More specifically, an image memory in the display portion has a foursquare figure each side of which has a length the same as a longer side of a display panel of the display portion. A picture data is written on the memory in the same direction as a direction in which the picture data is read out to be transferred to the panel by the driver portion, and the driver portion rotates the picture data when transferring it.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A mobile terminal including a vertically oblong image display, the mobile terminal comprising: 
 an image memory for storing image data, the image memory being capable of storing an amount of data larger than that which can be displayed on the image display;    a driver for reading out the image data stored in the image memory and providing that data to the display, wherein the driver is adapted to rotate the image data to enable display of the rotated image data on the display.    
     
     
         2 . The mobile terminal according to  claim 1  wherein the image memory provides storage for a matrix of pixels which matrix has a shorter side and a longer side, a number of pixels of the shorter side of the matrix being larger than a number of pixels of a longer side of the display panel.  
     
     
         3 . The mobile terminal according to  claim 1 , wherein the driver reads out the image data stored in the image memory, after which the driver causes the image data to displayed in a rotated orientation on the display.  
     
     
         4 . The mobile terminal according to  claim 3 , wherein an amount of the image data corresponding to one row of the matrix of the image memory is written on a corresponding row of the image memory, and the driver reads out the amount of the image data written on the corresponding row of the image memory, after which the driver has the amount of the image data displayed in the rotated orientation on the display panel.  
     
     
         5 . The mobile terminal according to  claim 1  wherein the driver rotates the image data when reading out the image data from the image memory.  
     
     
         6 . A mobile terminal including a memory which stores data, a display on which an image is displayed, and a controller which controls the memory and the display, and wherein the display comprises: 
 an image memory which stores image data which is supplied from the image memory under control of the control portion;    a driver which reads out the image data stored in the image memory; and    a rectangular display panel which displays the image data;    the image memory being capable of storing a quantity of data larger than a quantity of data displayed on the display, and wherein    the driver is adapted to rotate the image data stored in the image memory and have the rotated image data displayed on the display panel according to an orientation of the image data and the rectangular display panel.    
     
     
         7 . A mobile terminal including a first unit, a second unit and a hinge which foldably connects the first unit and the second unit, and wherein the first unit includes a first display portion for displaying an image which can be seen when the first and second units are opened, and a second display portion having a screen smaller than the first display, the second unit incorporating a memory for storing data and a controller for controlling the memory, the first display and the second display, and wherein 
 the second display comprises:    an image memory which stores image data, the data being provided from the memory under control of the controller;    a driver which reads out the image data stored in the image memory and outputs the image data; and    a vertically oblong display panel which displays the image data outputted from the driver, wherein    the image memory is capable of storing a volume of data larger than a volume of data displayed on the screen, and the driver is adapted to rotate the image data stored in the image memory and have the rotated image data displayed on the screen.    
     
     
         8 . A mobile terminal according to  claim 7 , wherein the image memory is capable of storing a volume of data larger than a volume of data displayed on the first display portion.  
     
     
         9 . A mobile terminal comprising an oblong display panel on which an image is displayed, the mobile terminal further comprising: 
 a display memory capable of storing a volume of data larger than a volume of data displayed on the display panel; and    a driver which operates when an oblong image data having a longitudinal direction different from that of the oblong display panel is written on the display memory, the driver portion reads out the image data, and rotates the image data to make the longitudinal direction of the image data coincide with that of the display panel.    
     
     
         10 . A mobile terminal comprising a first unit, a second unit and a connecting member which foldably connects the first unit and the second unit, and wherein 
 the connecting member is adapted such that the connecting member has a first central axis about which the first and second units are relatively pivotable to fold the mobile terminal, and a second central axis which is perpendicular to the first axis and about which the first and second units are relatively rotated, and    the connecting member is disposed at one of two marginal portions of the units on the first center axis.    
     
     
         11 . A mobile terminal including an imaging portion, a display portion, a memory portion and a control portion, the mobile terminal further comprising: 
 a data bus connecting the imaging portion, the display portion, the memory portion and the control portion one another; and    an image bus connecting the imaging portion and the display portion, the image bus being different from the data bus and being exclusively used for displaying an image.    
     
     
         12 . A mobile terminal according to  claim 11 , wherein the imaging portion comprises a sensor for capturing an optical image; an analog-to-digital converter for converting analog data of the optical image into digital image data; a signal processor for converting the digital image data into YUV format; a bus interface for supplying the YUV format data; and an RGB converter for converting the image data from YUV format into RGB data; and an RGB interface for supplying the RGB data to the image bus.  
     
     
         13 . A mobile terminal comprising an imaging portion and a display portion, wherein: 
 the display portion includes an image memory for storing image data; a driver for reading out the image data stored in the image memory; a display panel for displaying the image data from the driver portion; and a display controller for controlling the image memory and the driver memory; wherein    the image memory is capable of more data than an amount of data displayed on the display panel, and    the display controller detects an object in the image data stored in the image memory, and controls reading operation of the driver portion such that the object is displayed in a middle region of the display panel.    
     
     
         15 . A display device including an oblong display panel for displaying an image, the display device comprising: 
 a display memory capable of storing a volume of data larger than a volume of data displayed on the display panel;    a driver which operates such that when an oblong image data having a longitudinal direction different from that of the oblong display panel is written to the display memory, the driver reads out the image data and causes it to be displayed on the display panel rotated so the longitudinal direction of the image data coincides with that of the display panel.    
     
     
         16 . A mobile terminal including a memory portion which stores data, a display portion on which an information is displayed, and a control portion which controls the memory portion and the display portion, wherein 
 the display portion comprises:    an information memory which stores data, the data being forwarded from the information memory under control of the control portion;    a driver which reads out the information data stored in the information memory and then outputs the information data; and    an oblong display panel which displays the information data outputted from the driver; wherein    the information memory is capable of storing a volume of data larger than a volume of data displayed on the display portion; and    the driver portion is adapted to rotate the information data stored in the information memory and display it on the display panel when the information data stored in the information memory is oblong in a different direction than the oblong display panel.