A method for intelligent television UI smooth switching to high resolution

Abstract

This invention relates to television display technology and discloses a method for smoothly switching the UI of a smart TV to high resolution. This method enables UI elements requiring high-resolution display to be displayed smoothly in the Video layer, avoiding display lag, missing elements, or flickering anomalies. In this invention, during the initial page loading stage, all UI elements are simultaneously loaded and displayed in the OSD layer. Simultaneously, in the background, UI elements requiring high-resolution display are converted into data supported by the Video layer. Then, a high-resolution transition is performed: the UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually hidden in the OSD layer, and gradually displayed in the Video layer. Based on this invention, the goal of displaying key UI elements in high resolution can be achieved without increasing hardware costs, and there are no brief black screens or abrupt display issues, thus improving the user's visual experience.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to television display technology, and more specifically to a method for smoothly switching a smart TV UI (user interface) to a high resolution. Background Technology

[0002] As screen resolutions increase, besides the common 1080P, 4K and 8K resolutions are gradually becoming mainstream. However, due to the limitations of TV systems, the conventional UI display method is displayed on the OSD (on-screen display) layer, which only supports up to 1080P. Compared to the TV screen resolution, a UI display that is always 1080P cannot satisfy users. On the other hand, the Video layer, located below the OSD layer, uses hardware decoding and is displayed via the GPU, which can achieve resolutions of 4K and above. Therefore, if UI elements requiring high-resolution display (such as images) can be transferred to the Video layer for display, the display resolution of these elements can be significantly improved. However, because displaying the UI through the Video layer results in a slower loading speed, if no measures are taken, converting these UI elements into high-resolution images before displaying them through the Video layer will cause these UI elements to lag significantly behind other elements. From the user's perspective, they will see other UI elements displayed before these UI elements, resulting in partial display delays (black screens in some areas) or flickering, leading to a poor user experience. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The technical problem to be solved by this invention is to provide a method for smoothly switching the UI of a smart TV to a high resolution, so that UI elements that require high resolution display can be displayed smoothly in the Video layer, avoiding abnormal situations such as display lag, missing content, or flickering.

[0004] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is as follows:

[0005] A method for smoothly switching a smart TV UI to a high resolution includes the following steps:

[0006] During the initial page loading phase, all UI elements are loaded and displayed synchronously in the OSD layer. While loading, UI elements requiring high-resolution display are converted into data that the Video layer can support in the background. Then, a high-resolution transition is performed: the UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually hidden in the OSD layer, and the UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually displayed in the Video layer.

[0007] Furthermore, the UI elements requiring high-resolution display have a resolution of 4K or higher.

[0008] Furthermore, the smart TV has a GPU and hardware decoding capabilities that support 4K or higher resolution displays.

[0009] Furthermore, the methods for progressively hiding UI elements requiring high-resolution display at the OSD layer and progressively displaying UI elements requiring high-resolution display at the Video layer include, but are not limited to:

[0010] The UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually hidden by smoothly reducing their transparency in the OSD layer. Meanwhile, the converted data of the UI elements requiring high-resolution display is decoded, loaded, and drawn in the Video layer step by step.

[0011] The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0012] During initial page load, all UI elements are simultaneously loaded and displayed on the OSD layer in the normal manner. This ensures that all UI elements appear in the user's view simultaneously, preventing any missing UI elements or black screen areas. While displaying normally, UI elements requiring high-resolution display are converted to data supported by the Video layer. Then, these high-resolution UI elements are progressively hidden on the OSD layer, while they are progressively displayed on the Video layer. This achieves the effect of higher-resolution UI elements replacing those on the OSD layer that are only capable of displaying at 1080P resolution. This process is smooth, without abrupt transitions. From the user's visual perspective, the details of the high-resolution UI elements are gradually enhanced, and the resolution gradually increases, ultimately achieving a high-resolution display effect for these UI elements. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 This is a flowchart illustrating the method for smoothly switching the UI of a smart TV to a high resolution in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0014] The display layers of a TV screen include a VIDEO layer and an OSD layer above the VIDEO layer. The VIDEO layer is controlled by the smart TV's video processor, while the OSD layer is controlled by the smart TV's OSD generator, thus achieving the overlay of the VIDEO layer's display and the OSD layer's content. Conventional UI display methods directly load and display on the OSD layer, supporting a maximum resolution of only 1080P, which is insufficient for user needs. The VIDEO layer, however, uses hardware decoding via the GPU, supporting resolutions above 4K. Therefore, displaying UI elements requiring high-definition display (such as large images) on the VIDEO layer undoubtedly improves the display resolution. However, a problem arises: the VIDEO layer loads UI elements more slowly, causing these elements to lag significantly behind other elements, resulting in blackouts or flickering in parts of the UI interface during display.

[0015] Therefore, to solve the above problems, this invention provides a method for smoothly switching the UI of a smart TV to high resolution. This method loads and displays all UI elements synchronously on the OSD layer during initial page loading, ensuring that all UI elements appear simultaneously in the user's view without any missing UI elements or black screen areas. While displaying normally, UI elements requiring high resolution are converted to data supported by the Video layer. Then, the UI elements requiring high resolution are gradually hidden on the OSD layer, while those requiring high resolution are gradually displayed on the Video layer. This achieves the effect of higher-resolution UI elements replacing the UI elements on the OSD layer that are currently displayed at a maximum resolution of 1080P. This process is smooth and seamless, without abrupt changes. From the user's visual perspective, the details of the UI requiring high resolution are gradually enhanced, and the resolution gradually increases, ultimately achieving a high-resolution display effect for these UI elements.

[0016] Example

[0017] In this embodiment, the first step is to distinguish between UI elements that require high-resolution display and those that do not; here, "high-resolution" refers to 4K or higher resolution. Since high-resolution displays consume more hardware resources, for the sake of device performance stability, we generally select a limited number of elements to be highlighted. Therefore, in practice, images with 4K or higher resolution are typically chosen as UI elements requiring high-resolution display. Other UI elements (such as text or low-resolution images) are displayed in the conventional way, which means displaying them directly on the OSD layer, with a maximum supported resolution of 1080P.

[0018] Based on this, the method flow for smoothly switching the smart TV UI to high resolution implemented in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 1 As shown, it includes the following implementation process:

[0019] S1. Determine whether UI elements require high-resolution display;

[0020] In this step, for the UI display, the corresponding files will contain relevant information about the content to be displayed. By parsing this information, the smart TV can determine which UI elements need to be displayed in high resolution, i.e., highlighted. For ease of description, these UI elements will be referred to as "critical UI" below. In one exemplary implementation, image elements with a resolution of 4K or higher can be designated as critical UI. Other UI elements are referred to as "normal UI".

[0021] S2. Load and display the content in the OSD layer using conventional methods;

[0022] In this step, the conventional method of loading and displaying on the OSD layer means displaying it in the existing way without changing the UI loading process and method. It only supports a maximum display resolution of 1080P. The display effect of materials with a resolution higher than 1080P will also be reduced to 1080P.

[0023] This step loads and displays both critical and general UI elements synchronously on the OSD layer using standard methods, ensuring that users see the complete UI interface as soon as they open the page, without any missing UI elements.

[0024] S3, key UI processing conversion;

[0025] In this step, while the key UI elements are loaded into the OSD layer using the conventional method in step S2, these key UI elements are converted into data frames that can be displayed in the Video layer. This process is performed in the system background and is invisible to the user.

[0026] S4, key UI high-resolution transition display;

[0027] In this step, after preparing the key UI data to be displayed in the Video layer, it is necessary to switch the display of this key UI to a higher resolution. This means switching the display of the corresponding key UI from the OSD layer to the Video layer to achieve a higher resolution. In one exemplary implementation, after preparing the Video layer data, the OSD layer is notified to gradually reduce the transparency of its displayed key UI portion, thus gradually hiding this portion of the key UI. Simultaneously, since the Video layer uses hardware decoding, the decoding is also performed gradually, with each decoding and rendering process progressively enhancing the display of the key UI. When the Video layer completes decoding, the transparency of the key UI portion in the OSD layer is set to full transparency. This synchronizes the OSD layer's transparency gradient processing time with the Video layer's decoding and loading time for this portion of the key UI. From the user's visual perspective, this part appears increasingly clear and has a higher resolution, ultimately achieving the effect of highlighting this key UI portion at a high resolution. Because this process is a smooth transition, there will be no abrupt changes in clarity, resulting in a better visual experience for users.

[0028] It should be noted that the smart TV in this invention is not limited to any operating system, as long as it is a smart device with an independent operating system and a screen that supports high-resolution display. In order to implement the solution of this invention, it is required to have a GPU that supports outputting 4K or higher resolution data and corresponding hardware decoding capabilities. In addition, the loading and display method of the UI in this invention is not fixed, and the UI display order is not fixed. That is, for the entire UI, it does not affect the implementation logic of this invention regardless of which part is loaded first. Furthermore, since different chipsets may implement high-resolution UIs differently and the rendering effects may be different, this invention does not limit the decoding, loading and display method of key UIs in the Video layer. Furthermore, regarding the high-resolution UI transition display method in this invention, in addition to the method mentioned in the above embodiments of gradually changing the display transparency of the key UI in the OSD layer and simultaneously gradually decoding, loading, and rendering this part of the key UI in the Video layer, other similar animation implementation methods can also be used, as long as the key UI displayed in the OSD layer can be gradually hidden, while the key UI in the Video layer can be gradually revealed to achieve the purpose of smooth switching. Therefore, this invention does not limit the switching method between the OSD layer display and the Video layer display.

[0029] Finally, although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and all such changes and variations shall not depart from the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for smooth switching of a smart TV UI to high resolution, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: During the initial page loading phase, all UI elements are loaded and displayed synchronously in the OSD layer. While loading, UI elements requiring high-resolution display are converted into data that the Video layer can support in the background. Then, a high-resolution transition is performed: the UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually hidden in the OSD layer, and the UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually displayed in the Video layer.

2. The method for smoothly switching a smart TV UI to a high resolution as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The UI elements that require high-resolution display have a resolution of 4K or higher.

3. The method for smoothly switching a smart TV UI to a high resolution as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The smart TV has a GPU and hardware decoding capabilities that support 4K or higher resolution displays.

4. A method for smoothly switching a smart TV UI to a high resolution as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The method of progressively hiding UI elements that require high-resolution display at the OSD layer and progressively displaying UI elements that require high-resolution display at the Video layer includes: The UI elements requiring high-resolution display are gradually hidden by smoothly reducing their transparency in the OSD layer. Meanwhile, the converted data of the UI elements requiring high-resolution display is decoded, loaded, and drawn in the Video layer step by step.

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